In the event, fans of The Doctor got to witness the legend ride a lap around the exhibit's short race track and afterwards, he shared some interesting stories from his storied career in MotoGP. After Rossi did his part in the event, Yamaha decided to top off the already exciting gathering with a special tribute motorcycle.
Christened as Yamaha R1 GYTR VR46 Tribute, the special edition motorcycle gets a one-off livery designed by none other than Aldo Drudi, Rossi's helmet designer and great friend. Apart from the livery, this special edition R1 also gets Genuine Yamaha Technology Racing (GYTR) performance parts.



The signature 999cc crossplane inline-4 of this R1 gets GYTR electronic throttle, slipper clutch, head gasket, radiator kit, air funnel set, and an Akrapovic exhaust system. Additionally, it gets a GYTR handlebar set, handlebar switches, brake lever protector, adjustable rearsets, and Marchesini wheels.
There are other special parts too such as the carbon fibre fairings, and a carbon fibre subframe; parts straight from Yamaha's WSBK development effort. Finally, chassis adjustments are a result of an underslung swingarm assembly, adjustable triple clamp kit, and fully adjustable Öhlins suspension and steering damper.
Finally, the Yamaha R1 GYTR VR46 Tribute gets a Marelli REX 140 ECU, a dedicated wiring harness, and a WSBK spec air filter. Braking is handled by a full Brembo braking setup and the numbers are recorded via a Chrome Lite dashboard with GPS.
As mentioned earlier, Valentino Rossi has spent the majority of his time in MotoGP at Yamaha winning four world championships with the YZF-M1 prototype machine. The Yamaha R1 GYTR VR46 Tribute may not be the M1, but it still serves as a fitting ode to The Doctor's contributions not only to Yamaha but the MotoGP championship on the whole.
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