The following release is from Yamaha...

World Endurance champions Phase One are to campaign the new 2004-model Yamaha YZF-R1 in this year’s seven round world championship.

The British-based team will be officially supported by Yamaha, receiving assistance from Yamaha Motor Racing and Yamaha Motor UK.

The decision to run the 1000cc R1 means that Phase One is returning to the Yamaha brand after a 15-year absence. Experienced Belgian Stephane Mertens will ride the machine alongside British riders Dean Ellison and Andy Notman.

“Endurance racing is great way to promote the new R1,” commented Yamaha Motor Racing manager Laurens Klein Koerkamp. “It requires not only performance and speed but is also a real test of a machine's reliability. For many years the Phase One team has proven itself to be real specialists in the class and naturally we’re pleased that they have chosen the new R1 to defend their world title.”

Explaining the team’s decision to join Yamaha, Phase One team manager Russell Benney added: “It’s great to be recognised for our successes and the enthusiasm shown by Yamaha is second to none. The quality of the parts supplied by Yamaha is fantastic. We’ll be using YEC (Yamaha Engineering Corporation) parts for the engine and doing our own chassis development The technical input from Wilco Zeelenberg (Yamaha Motor Racing’s Technical Coordinator) will also be a great help.

“We’ll be starting the season with less weight and more power than at the end of 2003, which is a great place to be. It’s a massive uphill challenge to prepare for the first race at Assen in April, but we’ll be ready. Our chassis consultants have been warned to expect a tidal wave of work and we’ll be testing at Almeria and Nogaro in March, as well as running at least one six-hour race distance shakedown before Assen.”

The 2004 Endurance World Championship starts on Easter Monday, April 12, with a 500km race at Assen, The Netherlands.