Yamaha's 50 Greatest Sporting Moments

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Yamaha History, 1955-1959 | Yamaha History, 1960-1969

In 50 years of racing, Yamaha has scored some notable sporting successes. Here's our run-down of the 50 most memorable sporting events in Yamaha's celebrated half-century.

1. 50) 1988 - Yamaha's first World Superbike win with Mick Doohan on the FZR750R
2. 49) 1986 - Yamaha OX66 powered car wins the first round of the Japanese F2 Championship.
3. 48) 1988 - Fabrizio Pirovano wins in World Superbike with the FZ750
4. 47) 1999 - Christer Lindholm wins his second German Pro-Superbike championship for Yamaha
5. 45)1998 - Niall Mackenzie makes it three British Superbike championships in a row for Yamaha
6. 44) 1973 - Yamaha wins the Japanese National Trial Championship for the first time.
7. 43) 1968 - Bill Ivy completes first ever 100mph lap of the Isle of Man TT course on a 125cc machine
8. 42) 1991 - Udo Mark wins first German Pro-Superbike championship for Yamaha on OW-01
9. 41) 1992 - Yamaha takes outright Isle of Man TT lap record with Carl Fogarty on an OW-01 - 123.61mph average speed
10. 40) 1989 - First win for the Yamaha OW-01 in World Superbike in the hands of Fabrizio Pirovano.
11. 39) 1996 - Norick Abe's home win at Suzuka 500cc GP race
12. 38) 1994 - Wataru Yoshikawa wins All-Japan Superbike championship with the YZF750
13. 37) 1993 - Fabrizio Pirovano takes the first World Superbike win in Portugal for the YZF750
14. 36) 1986 - Carlos Lavado wins 250cc GP World title
15. 35) 1992 - Pirovano wins both races in the wet at World Superbike round at Monza, Italy on the OW-01
16. 34) 1989 - Yamaha enters the F1 World Championship for the first time
17. 33) 1982-1983-1984 - Yamaha win back-to-back riders titles in the 250cc class with Jean-Louis Tournadre, Carlos Lavado and Christian Sarron
18. 32) 2001 - Everts crowned 500cc MX World Champion
19. 31) 2004 - Yamaha wins Isle of Man Formula One race with John McGuinness and takes the lap record to 127.68mph
20. 30) 1998 - Simon Crafar wins the British GP on the Red Bull YZR500
21. 29) 1995 - Yamaha wins the Granada-Dakar Rally.
22. 28) 1998 - Doug Henry wins the AMA National Motocross Championship on his YZ400F
23. 27) 1979 - Kenny Roberts takes his second World Championship
24. 26) 2003 - Everts wins MXGP title
25. 25) 2004 - Stefan Everts wins MX1 title, his fourth with Yamaha
26. 24) 2000 - Noriyuki Haga takes Yamaha YZF-R7's first race win in World Superbikes
27. 23) 1973 - Yamaha win manufacturers World Championship in 250cc Motocross for the first time
28. 22) 1993 - Yamaha wins Paris-Dakar Rally for the third consecutive year.
29. 21) 1990 - Wayne Rainey wins his first 500cc title for Yamaha
30. 20) 1986 - Eddie Lawson wins his second 500cc title for Yamaha
31. 19) 1997 - Haga takes the YZF750 to home win at Sugo World Superbike round
32. 18) 1991 - Yamaha takes first three places in the Paris-Tripoli-Dakar Rally
33. 17) 1978 - Kenny Roberts takes his first 500cc World Championship
34. 16) 1998 - Yamaha wins the Paris-Dakar event for the seventh time
35. 15) 1968 - Phil Read takes the 125/250cc Grand Prix title double for Yamaha
36. 14) 1962 - We win 250cc and 350cc classes of the first All Japan Road Race Meeting
37. 13) 1988 - Eddie Lawson wins his third 500cc championship with Yamaha
38. 12) 1990 - Yamaha wins both riders and manufacturers titles in both 500cc and 250cc classes of Road Race World Championship with Wayne Rainey (500cc) and John Kocinski (250cc)
39. 11) 1955 - Yamaha enters into its first race the, Mount Fuji Ascent, with the YA1
40. 10) 2000 - Olivier Jacque wins the World 250cc GP championship with team-mate Shinya Nakano
second
41. 9) 1993 - Tetsuya Harada wins the World 250cc championship at first attempt
42. 8) 1984 - Eddie Lawson takes his first world title for Yamaha
43. 7) 1992 - Wayne Rainey takes his third consecutive title for Yamaha
44. 6) 2005 - Stefan Everts takes fifth consecutive title for Yamaha, making it a double with Antonio Cairoli winning the MX2 class
45. 5) 2004 - Valentino Rossi's maiden Yamaha win: The scene was set in Welkom, South Africa - could Valentino win his first race for Yamaha? He did. And then got off his bike to kiss it in a moment of real emotion. In doing so, Vale was the first rider to win back-to-back races on different makes of motorcycle and beating Giacomo Agostini's 35-year-old record run of 22-consecutive podium finishes. He was also the first rider since Barry Sheene to win the opening race on four consecutive seasons and he also ended Yamaha's longest run without a podium finish in our history
46. 4) 1980 - Kenny Roberts seals his third world title: Roberts came to Europe and dominated for three straight years, becoming the first rider to win a trio of back-to-back titles since Agostini and the last until Yamaha's Wayne Rainey a decade later
47. 3) 1975 - Yamaha and Giacomo Agostini win the 500cc World Championship: The first 500cc class win by a Japanese manufacturer and the first for a two-stroke machine
48. 2) 1991 - Wayne Rainey secures his second World title: Rainey and the YZR500 dominated in a time
of the greats: Mick Doohan, Kevin Schwantz, Eddie Lawson, Wayne Gardner and John Kocinski - but Wayne towered above them all and took the title with six wins to Schwantz's five
49. 1) 2004 - Valentino Rossi wins the MotoGP championship: Many people said it couldn't be done. Valentino and the Yamaha YZR-M1 would take a season to get to grips with each other surely? Instead Vale, Yamaha and the Gauloises team took the title in dominant fashion winning nine of the 16 races, six pole positions and three fastest laps