Mckinley Kyle Paz to join 8th edition of VR46 Master Camp

Pinoy one of just five in the world to qualify

Pinoy racer, Mckinley Kyle Paz, will be one of only five participants of the VR46 Master Camp. This eighth edition of the Camp will be the second run this year following the one held in May, and will feature four riders from Southeast Asia—two from Thailand, one from Malaysia, one from Canada, and the first-ever participant from the Philippines, Paz.

VR46 Master Camp is a training program to develop young riding talent run in cooperation with Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP rider Valentino Rossi’s VR46 Riders Academy. It will be held in Italy over the five days in September, from the 4th to 8th. The program will build on the participating riders’ experience to up their skills, knowledge and motivation.

After this 8^th edition, the Master Camp will have seen racers from 15 different countries participate since its inception. Just as in previous editions, these young racers will go through a week long curriculum of training and instruction under the guidance of the VR46 Riders Academy’s staff and affiliated MotoGP riders, heading to venues like Rossi’s Motor Ranch in his hometown of Tavullia and the Misano World Circuit Marco Simoncelli.

Yamaha began work in 2015 to establish the infrastructure for young prospects to step up through the ranks of motorcycle racing in order to discover and develop talented riders who can flourish on the world stage. The Yamaha VR46 Master Camp programme was created in 2016 as part of these efforts and has been held seven times to date. The 37 mostly teenage participants so far—including one female racer—compete in various championships primarily with the YZF-R25 and YZF-R3 and hail from 14 countries in all: Australia, Brazil, Canada, Finland, France, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Malaysia, the Netherlands, Spain, Thailand, Ukraine and the United States.

Previous Master Camp graduates have shown marked improvement, such as posting stronger results in their respective series upon returning, or stepping up to full-season rides in higher classes and categories of racing. More than a few are racing in series like the World Supersport 300 (WorldSSP300) Championship, CEV Moto2 European Championship and the Asia Road Racing Championship, and their upward progress as racers is expected to continue.

“We are very excited to see the level of these riders, because we have heard a very positive buzz about them. Sincerely, we will make them work hard and they will be tired after each and every day, but I’m also sure that they will enjoy every minute of it because the schedule is full of fun activities," said Valentino Rossi, MotoGP rider.