If there were any question about how important the emerging markets are to motorcycle manufacturers, the recent visits from high profile riders answer them.

Fiat Yamaha Riders Valentino Rossi and Jorge Lorenzo yesterday rounded off a successful three-day visit to Indonesia, widely considered one of the most important markets for Yamaha.

Rossi came straight from testing in Malaysia last week, while Lorenzo flew out from Spain, where he has been recuperating at home from an injured hand. Rossi visited Medan first, Indonesia's third largest city, where he took part in a press conference alongside Yamaha Motor Indonesia top management.
 
The press conference officially launched the ‘Semakin di Depan' sponsorship, which will see Yamaha Motor Indonesia's ‘One Step Ahead' logo carried on the YZR-M1 and the riders' leathers this season. Rossi then visited ‘PT.Alfa Scorpii', Indonesia's second largest Yamaha Main Dealer, for the opening ceremony of its new show room along with over 400 customers and media.

After his trip to Medan the World Champion moved on to Indonesia's second largest city Surabaya, where he visited PT. Surya Timur Sakti Jatim, Indonesia's largest Yamaha Main Dealer, to continue to spread the ‘Semakin di Depan' word. Finally he visited the DBL Arena to meet around 4,000 Yamaha customers.
 
Lorenzo meanwhile headed to Indonesia's ‘Flower City' Bandung, where he too took part in an important press conference to launch the ‘Semakin di Depan' sponsorship. As well as the press conference he enjoyed a warm welcome at an exclusive fan meet and greet where he signed hundreds of autographs and met many local media.

After the Spaniard had visited Bandung, he moved on to Jogjakarta, the city where the traditional Indonesian art of batik is practiced, to meet more Yamaha customers there and take part in some outdoor activities at one of the biggest malls in Jogjakarta.

Both riders will return home now for two weeks before the final pre-season test in Qatar, when Lorenzo hopes to be fully recovered from his injury and Rossi will look to continue his dominant start to the pre-season.