2012 MotoGP Championship
For the second consecutive year, Akrapovic will support Yamaha Factory Racing as the official sponsor. The team, along with riders Jorge Lorenzo and Ben Spies, will formerly announce the partnership during the official unveiling of the 2012 Yamaha Factory Racing Team in Jerez, Spain, March 22.
This exciting combination once again brings together the formidable pairing of technical expertise within the blue ribbon class of road racing.
As in 2011, a bespoke Akrapovic exhaust will be used by Yamaha Factory Racing to ensure the full potential of its all-new 999cc YZR-M1 is realized. With riders Jorge Lorenzo and Ben Spies in the saddles, the 2012 YZR-M1 is sure to be a formidable weapon.
Crafted from selected titanium alloy, the Akrapovic YZR-M1 high-performance exhaust system brings important additional weight saving to the YZR-M1. Every component in the exhaust’s construction – coupling springs, coded-standard welds that link the many exhaust sections, mounts and the silencer – are designed with minimum weight in mind. This lack of weight is just one key to the YZR-M1’s agility.
The Akrapovic exhaust used on the YZR-M1 is created by Akrapovic engineers working in close conjunction with the technical gurus of Yamaha Racing. Akrapovic created the front sections of the exhaust in accordance with a supplied and extremely complex CAD model. But the exhaust muffler design is entirely Akrapovic – and unique.
Technical brilliance doesn’t just stop at the construction and production stage. Every system is protected with an anti-oxidation coating, and a special treatment on joint sections to ensure stable working tolerances during the high stress load given under severe racing conditions. It is details like these that once again made Akrapovic the number one choice for the Yamaha Factory Racing Team.
In 2011, Yamaha celebrated 50 years of racing glory. Akrapovic, the leading manufacturer of premium performance exhaust systems for motorcycles and cars, also has history of racing success – to date, in 21 years of manufacturing, Akrapovic exhausts have assisted 64 world champions secure their titles.
Last year Akrapovic and Yamaha Motor Europe entered into an agreement whereby the Slovenian exhaust specialist would supply a range of aftermarket exhausts for the vast Yamaha motorcycle range, to be distributed Europe-wide through official Yamaha dealers. This working relationship has moved on considerably with Akrapovic and Yamaha Factory Racing again joining forces.
Slavko Trstenjak (Head of Akrapovic Racing R&D) says: "MotoGP is the elite class of road racing and for Akrapovic to be involved in such a high-level event alongside Yamaha Factory Racing is a great honor – and a great challenge.
"To work with such illustrious company as Yamaha means continual development of the YZR-M1 exhaust system – something Akrapovic is used to because the same exacting standards are applied with every exhaust we manufacture.
"To be selected once more as an official technical sponsor to Yamaha Factory Racing clearly shows Yamaha understands Akrapovic has the passion, technology and engineering skill required to make a winning product."
