Green Bay, WI – August 26, 2016
Yamaha Motor Corporation, U.S.A., a global leader in powersports and power products technology and innovation, has ramped up its YXZ1000R Side-by-Side racing efforts with its official sponsorship of Greaves Motorsports, and multi-time TORC short-course off-road champions Johnny & CJ Greaves. In addition, Yamaha has been named the official support vehicle and power products provider for Greaves Motorsports, which includes a full range of generators and pressure washers.
In the upcoming 2017 TORC Series, three-time Pro2WD champion and current Pro4WD title holder, CJ Greaves will be competing in the PRO Stock UTV class aboard the Yamaha YXZ1000R. CJ will debut the newly built YXZ1000R in the final 2016 TORC event, which will be held at Crandon International Raceway in Crandon, WI on Sept 1-4. This will be the very first short-course World Championship UTV race held at Crandon International.
Johnny Greaves commented, “We are very excited about the opportunity to partner with Yamaha for the 2017 TORC Series. It’s really a perfect fit for our program! Almost all of our current partners are already involved with Yamaha and/or UTV racing, including Monster Energy, Toyota, Maxxis Tires, Method Wheels, Fox Shox, and Impact Racing. in addition, we are very excited to announce our partnership with Graves Motorsports, a well-known manufacturer of performance parts for Yamaha powersports products, including the YXZ1000R.”
This is a new class for TORC, and the series made an announcement earlier in the year that the UTV Class would be added to three of the 2016 rounds. Also, starting in 2017, UTV would be a PRO class at all pro events. When CJ heard this and watched the first race, his immediate reaction was, “Dad, those things are hauling butt. I would love to try one!” After spectating at the first event, the team agreed that the only way to win the class would be with a Yamaha YXZ1000R. It features the first-ever three-cylinder, 998cc engine; a sequential five-speed manual transmission; and a fully adjustable FOX racing suspension.
After multiple discussions with representatives from Yamaha Motor U.S.A.’s Racing Division–including Keith McCarty, Motorsports Racing Division Manager, and Donnie Luce, Off-Road Coordinator–we decided to kick the program into high gear and see if it was possible to have a UTV ready for the first-ever World Championship race at Crandon International. The vehicle arrived with two weeks to build and test it, and YES, the mission was completed. The YXZ1000R is ready to rock!
We would like to thank all the partners involved in helping to bring this project to fruition: YAMAHA MOTOR CORPORATION, U.S.A. – MONSTER ENERGY – GRAVES MOTORSPORTS – FOX SHOX – MAXXIS TIRES – METHOD WHEELS – IMPACT RACING – AMSOIL – VICTORY SIGN
You can watch the final race LIVE on www.torcseries.com, and it will also be broadcast on both RED BULL TV and NBC on Saturday, October 8, 2016, at 2:00 p.m. EST. For racing updates, you can also follow the team on social media–Instagram: @johnnygreaves22 and @cjgreaves33; Twitter: @pro4champ; Facebook: @johnnygreaves, @cjgreaves and @GreavesMotorsports. Also check out www.johnnygreaves.com
For more information about Yamaha, visit www.yamahamotorsports.com