In recent years it seemed that the decline of the super-sports market, as motorcyclists have turned to adventure bikes and other less high-performance alternatives, might result in some Japanese firms abandoning the sector altogether. Yamaha's launch of a new, race-developed YZF-R1, the successor to the famed 1998 model of the same name, is an emphatic statement to the contrary.

Indeed, the new R1 is more like Valentino Rossi's YZR-M1 MotoGP racer than any of its predecessors. Yamaha's research showed that riders who continue to buy super-sports bikes tend to be hardcore enthusiasts who use their bikes on a racetrack. Hence the decision to shift the emphasis from road to circuit performance, and base this R1 not on the previous model but on the M1 racer.