Yamaha and James Celebrate!
James and the entire L&M Racing crew were invited down to Yamaha Motor Corp. in Cypress, California on Wednesday to take part in a championship celebration with the entire Yamaha staff. From day one of joining his new team, James was immediately impressed with the family atmosphere that Yamaha creates around its racing program, and never was that made more obvious than on Wednesday afternoon, as the entire staff gathered on the lawn in front of the corporate headquarters to await his arrival and honor his incredible Supercross championship!
James and crew rolled into the Yamaha headquarters in style in this black stretched limo, and you can tell by the smile on his face just how flattered he truly was by the warm reception when he stepped out of the car.
Yamaha supplied all of its employees with white championship t-shirts and copies of James’ number one plate to wave throughout the presentation.
Perhaps the most memorable portion of the presentation was when longtime Yamaha racer and champion, Doug Henry, surprised James with a heartfelt congratulatory speech. Doug is a Yamaha legend, and is the man largely responsible for the development of Yamaha’s four-stroke motocross racing program. Not only did he help with the R&D of the machine in the late ‘90s, in 1997, Doug made history when he won in Las Vegas, marking the first time ever that a four-stroke motorcycle won an AMA Supercross!
In addition to the many kind words, Doug also presented James with the ultimate championship trophy of them all—his 2009 championship-winning YZ450F race bike! “This one will stand in a very special place amongst my collection,” James said. “This bike represents the sweetest of all my championships!”
Henry and Factory Yamaha Racing Manager Keith McCarty look on as James offers thanks and relives the highs and lows of his season with the ecstatic Yamaha faithful.
James enjoys the moment in front of Yamaha’s headquarters before retreating inside the building for a photo session with the appreciative Yamaha employees.
James would once again like to thank everyone at Yamaha for all of the hard work and support throughout the series, as well as his incredible fans for cheering him all the way to the title in Vegas!