‘King Kenny’ Roberts and Yamaha celebrated at the Goodwood Festival of Speed

Every year since 1993, the Goodwood Festival of Speed has celebrated the history of motor racing and its heroes. Once again this year, many big names travelled to the south of England last weekend: from Valentino Rossi, Carl Fogarty, Casey Stoner, Troy Bayliss, Nicolo Bulega and Alvaro Bautista to Formula 1 world champion Lando Norris.

Set against the impressive backdrop of the Duke of Richmond’s historic estate

, this festival presents itself not merely as an ordinary motorsport event, but as a living museum where famous racing machines from bygone eras burn rubber side by side with the innovations of tomorrow.

For Yamaha Motor Europe, the event provided the ideal stage to celebrate more than 70 years

of engineering excellence. The paddock was teeming with some of the Japanese manufacturer’s most legendary racing machines, including Wayne Rainey’s 1992 YZR500.

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Of course, ‘King Kenny’ Roberts was there too. The three-time 500cc World Champion had come to the festival to ride the historic Grand Prix

bike. But the American also had a spot of fun on the modern interpretation – the XSR900 GP. After performing a burnout on the

starting line, Kenny waved to the countless fans lining the track.

“I’ve been riding historic Grand Prix bikes here all weekend – and then I hop on the XSR900 GP and it’s simply like being in heaven,” gushed Roberts. “I signed for Yamaha when I was 19 and have always felt a special connection ever since. It was brilliant for me to be able to showcase the GP in front of all these fantastic people. Most road bikes are heavy and unwieldy. But this bike feels

like a 250cc: it’s light, agile and has torque – loads of it. That’s exactly what I like.”

‘King Kenny’ certainly fulfilled his role as a brand ambassador for Yamaha to perfection at the Goodwood Festival of Speed.