Yamaha Superkart exhibition at Laguna Seca

Eight-time MotoGP World Champion Valentino Rossi arrived at the Laguna Seca circuit a day in advance to participate in a Superkart exhibition organized by Yamaha along with three other legendary Yamaha riders - King Kenny Roberts, Eddie Lawson and Wayne Rainey. All the four riders driving Yamaha TZ 250 engine-powered Superkarts, completed four laps around the iconic 3.601km race-track in Claifornia. The lap times of these karts were marginally slower by just a few seconds than the MotoGP prototypes. Rossi and the three Americans hold an impressive 18 Grand Prix World Championship titles between them, including three each for Yamaha.

The Italian rider commented, "Honestly I was bit nervous about the Superkarts before because I know how fast these things are! I sometimes drive one in Italy with friends, just for fun, but I know that Kenny, Eddie and Wayne like to race and they're quite serious! Also this isn't the easiest track... Anyway, it was great fun and I enjoyed myself a lot. The kart is quite incredible; the gearbox is very good and in the hard braking areas it's really impressive. It feels very fast and it's possible to have a lot of fun. I'm looking forward to getting back on my bike tomorrow however!"