Graves/Yamaha Announces 2006 Supermoto Team - Backing it in with a few more tires.

Cypress, CA (December 16, 2005) - Yamaha Motor Company, USA is proud to announce the 2006 Graves/Yamaha Factory Supermoto team. Returning racers Doug Henry and Mark Burkhart will be joined by Brandon Currie, the newest racer to the growing Graves/Yamaha Supermoto effort.

Perhaps the most famous face on the Supermoto circuit, Doug Henry has his sights on capturing yet another AMA championship. Henry, a former Yamaha motocross champion, had a season of highs and lows in 2005. After winning X-Games gold in Los Angeles, Doug carried momentum back to the AMA Supermoto series where he had a commanding lead in the championship point’s race. A practice crash injury derailed Henry’s championship hopes in 2005 but, true to form, Doug is back with a vengeance and plans to stay in front of his competition, mainly teammate Mark Burkhart.

Mark Burkhart will make the move to the premier Supermoto class on the all-new 5-speed Yamaha YZ450F. Burkhart, who clinched the AMA Lites Championship at the penultimate round, moved to the Supermoto class for the last race of the year in Reno, Nevada and absolutely dominated the field. Burnishing his resume with a Lites Championship and 1-1 finishes in his only Supermoto race of the season, Burkhart was quickly promoted to the Supermoto team for 2006.

With the addition of Burkhart to the Supermoto class, the Graves/Yamaha team wanted to expand its efforts and find a racer to fill its championship pedigree in the Supermoto Lites class on the YZ250F. Brandon Currie, 2nd place overall in the 2005 AMA Supermoto Lites series, will be rewarded for his efforts with full-factory support. Currie has a new team, a new aluminum-framed YZ250F, and the best wrenches in the business behind him as he battles for his first AMA championship.

“In our first year, we won the Lites championship, finished 1st and 3rd at X-Games, and led a majority of the Supermoto series until Henry’s unfortunate crash,” explains Chuck Graves of Graves Motorsports. “With Henry and Burkhart testing, practicing, and pushing each other and the speed Currie has shown in his first few rides, we feel Yamaha should again be out in front of both packs next year.”