Jerry Burgess hails Yamaha YZR-M1 machine

Yamaha’s factory YZR-M1 MotoGP machine will be remembered as one of the greatest bikes in racing history, according to Valentino Rossi’s crew chief Jerry Burgess.

Burgess and Rossi transformed the YZR-M1 into an unbeatable force in 2008 and 2009 after rampant Casey Stoner and Ducati crushed the Japanese factory in the inaugural 800cc world championship in ’07.

Yamaha’s YZR-M1 won only four races in 2007, but romped to 11 victories in ’08 and another ten last season.

And Burgess lavished praise on Yamaha after it claimed the Triple Crown of rider, team and constructor world titles for the second successive season.

He said: “It was fantastic and Yamaha has done a great job. In 2007 we came up against a Ducati that was like a nitro burner and the Bridgestone tyres had made a quantum leap forward and Michelin had done nothing, so we were really getting hammered.

“We got off the Michelin’s for ’08 and the bike continued to improve and last year we had the speed of the Ducati and a more refined package.

“I love it and it is exactly what any chief mechanic should set out to do and that’s make our bike rideable for anybody that gets on it. I think this is the NSR of this new generation.”

Burgess and Valentino Rossi will be back in action together to begin their 2010 preparations at the Sepang circuit in Malaysia on February 4.