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blank_page2008 Grand Prix of Ireland winner Tanel Leok will line-up alongside former double MX2 World Champion Antonio Cairoli as the Yamaha Red Bull De Carli team switch their emphasis to the premier MX1-GP world championship for 2009. The 23 year old Estonian has been drafted into the formidable Italian set-up and will have his first taste of the ’08 title-winning machine the YZ450F during winter tests. Leok first came to prominence at the start of the century by winning Junior Wor

Yamaha World Superbike rider Tom Sykes gave a tantalizing glimpse of his race pace today in the first qualifying session at the historic Monza circuit. The British rider put in strong consistent fats laps for the duration of the session, ending it in second place, just over 0.3 seconds behind leader Michele Fabrizio. Sykes had been fast all day and had spent the morning and the qualifying session fine tuning the set up for the weekend's racing. He finished the morning 's free practice session in

With just days to go before the 2008 FIM World Enduro Championship begins with the Grand Prix of Sweden, the UFO Corse Yamaha team are busy putting the final touches to what they are confident will be a successful season with their WR450F and WR250F machinery. The series opener is being staged for the third successive season in Ostersund, deep within the heart of Scandinavia’s frozen north, the 16-day championship only weeks later will head to warmer climes in Portugal and Spain before continuin

Yamaha riders played their part in the annual ‘Superbiker’ race in Mettet, Belgium. The legendary Superbiker is one of the world’s most important non-championship supermoto races. A 25.000 strong crowd witnessed the clash of styles with stars invited from supermoto, motocross and racing categories. Stefan Everts, fresh from a dominant supermoto win in the Belgian championship last weekend, showed probably his best speed ever at Mettet. Unfortunately Everts had bad starting positions in both f

The Spanish round of the Superbike World Championship takes place at the Ricardo Tormo circuit on the outskirts of Valencia. The modern venue is well known to all the superbike riders, as it is a favourite location for winter testing and the host of the first official FG Sport test, held between round two at Phillip Island and this weekend's third round of the championship. Valencia is a tight and twisty circuit built with spectators in mind. Surrounded by grandstands, fans can see almost the

Brno in the Czech Republic is the venue for this weekend's seventh round of the Superbike World Championship, with the Yamaha Motor Italia squad looking forward to the event for a variety of reasons. The historic circuit was the venue of the team's first world superbike race win last year, when Noriyuki Haga came through from 18th in qualifying to win the second race by over three seconds. And with team-mate Andrew Pitt going to Czech on the back of his first win in the class in the l

Round 1: Losail, Qatar Track length: 5400m Opened: 2004 Fastest superbike lap: 2:01.244 (Troy Corser, Suzuki) Lap record: 2:01.852 (Sebastien Gimbert, Yamaha) Last year's winners: Troy Corser and Yukio Kagayama (both Suzuki) The 2006 Superbike World Championship gets underway this weekend at the Losail circuit in Qatar with Yamaha Motor Italia looking to build on a race-winning debut season in 2005. Having tested twice at the Middle Eastern circuit during the winter break, riders Noriyuki H

After a break of almost a month the Superbike World Championship enters its hectic final leg with round nine of the series at Assen in the Netherlands this weekend. With four rounds over the next six weekends it promises to be a busy time for the teams and riders in what has been a thrilling championship so far. One man who can surely be expected to be in the thick of the action is Yamaha Motor Italia's Noriyuki Haga, who is the closest rival to series leader Troy Bayliss (Ducati). T

Round four of the Superbike World Championship sees the series move to the historic Monza circuit in Italy, the fastest racetrack on the entire calendar. With top speeds often exceeding 300kph down the long home straight, the first of three Italian races this year is always an exciting slipstream battle on this unique circuit. For the Yamaha Motor Italia world superbike team this race takes on an extra importance, as their headquarters is based just a few kilometres from the circuit. While the

The penultimate round of the 2006 Superbike World Championship takes place this weekend at the famous Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari in the town of Imola, the championship's third visit of the year to Italy. The technically demanding circuit is steeped in heritage thanks mainly to its history as a Formula One circuit but it is also famous as a bike venue too, having hosted the classic Imola 200 events during the Seventies and, more recently, Grand Prix and superbike racing. The circuit's surface

The Yamaha Motor Italia squad travels to this weekend's final round of the 2006 Superbike World Championship with Noriyuki Haga looking to take the runner-up slot in the championship from Honda rider James Toseland. While Troy Bayliss (Ducati) celebrated his second world title in Imola last weekend, the British rider overtook Haga in the battle for second place and holds a two point advantage going into the final race. Haga had a difficult time in Imola, where set-up problems restricted him to

This weekend sees the Superbike World Championship move to the famous Brands Hatch circuit in England for round eight of what is proving to be a pulsating series. Brands is traditionally the highlight of the season, with the year's biggest crowd flocking to see some of the best racing of the year. An old-fashioned race track, Brands Hatch provides a challenging mix of fast, blind corners and radical elevation changes to test the riders' skill, bravery and machine set-up skil

The Superbike World Championship makes its second visit of the year to Italy this weekend, when the Misano Adriatico circuit plays host to round six of what is proving to be an exciting championship. The question on everyone's lips is who can stop Ducati's Troy Bayliss from extending his run of seven consecutive race wins. The man most likely to break that domination looks like being Yamaha Motor Italia's Noriyuki Haga. Haga has been supremely consistent this season, failin

The Yamaha Sterilgarda world Superbike Team wrapped up a successful two day test in Misano this afternoon, fresh from James Toseland’s two podiums in Assen. Riders Cal Crutchlow and James Toseland spent the two days testing further changes to their 2010 R1 race-bikes as they prepare for the next round of the championship at the legendary Monza circuit next week. Toseland spent the first day focussing on the electronics, and ended the day second fastest on unofficial timing (no transponde

Today the Yamaha Motor Italia WSB Team finished a two-day test hot on the heels of last weekend’s races at Monza. Following on from Haga’s double win at Monza the team went straight to the Misano circuit on the Adriatic coast of Italy where they participated in a private test alongside key riders from Ducati, Kawasaki and DFX Honda. The focus of the two-day session was for the team to test various new parts and for the riders to learn the new Misano circuit. From 2007 races at Misano will now g

Yamaha Motor Italia rider Noriyuki Haga shone in first qualifying at a damp and windy Silverstone today, ending the day in fourth place with team-mate Andrew Pitt an equally strong sixth. Morning practice took place in wet conditions and although the track was mostly dry for the one-hour afternoon qualifying, the tricky conditions caught out many big name riders and led to two stoppages caused by riders crashing. Haga, who gave the Yamaha YZF-R1 its first world superbike podium finish at Silve