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2008 World Champion Valentino Rossi rode an inch-perfect race in energy-sapping conditions at Sepang today to take his ninth win of the season and his 150th career podium. He is only the second rider in the history of the sport to pass this milestone, the other being Giacomo Agostini, whose all-time win record Rossi has already broken this season. Rossi's Fiat Yamaha team-mate Jorge Lorenzo meanwhile had a disappointing day, with his challenge ending in the gravel trap on lap 12. With temperatu

After dominating for the entire 2008 season, German Yamaha rider Nina Prinz has takenthe title on her YZF-R1, her second consecutive championship win, at the third and final round of the Women’s European Championship at Albacete (Spain) on Sunday. The reigning European champion from Mannheim / Leutkirch was in predictably consistent form all weekend, despite the atrocious qualifying and racing conditions. Nina went into the final round leading the championship with 50 points, followed by seco

Yamaha dominated in style at the finale of the UEM Road Racing European Championship last weekend.The formidable YZF-R1 and YZF-R6 have proved again this year to be the ultimate track weapons for racing success. The top four riders in the Superstock 1000 class where all riding Yamaha YZF-R1 machines. Carmelo Morales and Javier Del Amor (Team L’Oreal Men Expert LGS) took first and third respectively on their Yamaha machines whilst Bernat Martinez (Team Bernat) took a well deserved second on hi

The final round of the '08 World Enduro Championship, staged in Mende, France, proved to be a challenging one for UFO Corse Yamaha team riders Simone Albergoni and Maurizio Micheluz as both were unable to secure podium finishes at the GP of Europe. However Yamaha France rider Marc Germain performed well finishing in a strong runner-up position on Day1 and 3rd on Day2. With the French event bringing the '08 WEC series to a close, Albergoni, Germain and Micheluz, as well as injured UFO Corse Yamah

Noriyuki Haga (Yamaha Motor Italia WSB Team) took a race win and a second place at the Magny-Cours races to go second in the championship with one round remaining. Troy Corser (Yamaha Motor Italia WSB Team) recovered from sixth in race one to finish third in race two and now sits third overall, nine points behind his team-mate Haga. Haga was imperious in race one after his strong qualifying performances and Superpole win, taking the lead from fast-starting Troy Bayliss before blasting away to

The fifteen year-old star-in-the-making Loris Baz (Yamaha France Junior Team) took a hard fought second place in Saturday’s European Superstock 600 Championship race, and in taking the podium he also took the championship in his rookie year. The close race was a constant battle with fellow Yamaha riders Linfoot and Gines, and Baz was only outbraked by Linfoot on the entrance to the final corners of the Magny-Cours circuit. Baz happily shares the success of his championship victory with Martia

Fiat Yamaha rider and 2008 World Champion Valentino Rossi recovered from yesterday's mishap to charge through the field from the fourth row at Phillip Island today, eventually taking second behind Casey Stoner. His team-mate Jorge Lorenzo took a second consecutive fourth place after a race long battle with several other riders. A mistake during qualifying yesterday had left Rossi with strained neck muscles and a grid position of 12th, but the Italian relishes a challenge and he was already up t

The 62nd Motocross of Nations saw the biggest media attendance of the year for a European race and a large contingent of the press corps crowded the Monster Energy hospitality unit on Saturday to see David Philippaerts select a canvas print from a dedicated gallery compiled to celebrate a title-winning campaign and present it to the Wings for Life foundation. Ten images of the Yamaha Monster Motocross Team including action shots of Philippaerts and Josh Coppins as well as photographs from the v

American racing sensation Ben Spies has signed up to the Yamaha factory World Superbike Team to partner 23 yr old British rider Tom Sykes for the 2009 season. The 24yr old American rider from Dallas is fresh from a record third championship win in a row, taking the AMA Superbike Championship crown again for 2008. Spies is only the fourth rider in the history of AMA Superbike to win three consecutive titles and 3rd on the all-time AMA Superbike wins list with a total of 28 AMA Superbike wins. Thi

Despite being down to just two riders for the penultimate round of the 2008 World Enduro Championship due to the injury sustained by Spaniard Cristobal Guerrero at this year's ISDE in Greece, the UFO Corse Yamaha team put in a strong showing at their home round of the WEC series in Piediluco, Italy with Maurizio Micheluz claiming the team's best E1 class results with 3rd on Day1 and 4th on Day2. With Albergoni riding just 15 days after cracking a shoulder blade at the ISDE, Maurizio Micheluz le

Yamaha Monster Motocross Team’s Josh Coppins took 4th position overall in the MX1 class at a cloudy and sometimes wet Donington Park for the 62nd Motocross of Nations, assisting his country, New Zealand to a final finish of 8th place. MX1 World Champion David Philippaerts steered his YZ450FM for Italy and fought with American number one James Stewart in the first moto taking 3rd spot but a brace of crashes in his second race left him the outside the top twenty. The circuit that hosted the 200

“I think it’s difficult to say, but maybe this is even better than the first championship with Yamaha in 2004. In 2004 I arrived after three championships in a row; the change was very big and no one expected me to win then, not even us to be honest! But this year is great too because I didn’t start as the number one favourite after losing for two years. The taste of this is something special. “In 2006 I lost because of bad luck; I still won the most races and was the fastest on track f

Valentino Rossi rode a perfect race to win Yamaha's home Grand Prix in Japan today, claiming the 2008 MotoGP World Championship title in the process. In doing so the 29-year-old Italian became only the second rider in history to recapture the title after two years, the other being Giacomo Agostini, whose all-time victory record Rossi surpassed at the last race in Indianapolis. This is Rossi's third title with Yamaha, his sixth in the premier class and eighth in total in a career spanning 12 yea

A packed Monster Energy hospitality facility within the Donington Park paddock for the 62nd Motocross of Nations witnessed Yamaha Monster Motocross Team riders David Philippaerts and Josh Coppins draw away the covers on the brand new 2009 YZ450F Yamaha Motocross Team Replica. The special limited edition motorcycle - a mirror image of the factory bikes that were steered to 1st and 5th positions in the 2008 FIM MX1-GP World Championship - were unveiled to a hoard of the world’s media at the bigg

To celebrate the Japanese Grand Prix in Motegi this Sunday, Jorge Lorenzo’s no. 48 Fiat Yamaha will race with an unusual and original livery. The Spanish rider’s YZR-M1 will carry the image of comic-book hero Arsenio Lupin III, the celebrated ‘Gentleman Thief’ made famous in the Japanese Manga series created by Kazuhiko Kato, or ‘Monkey Punch’. The celebratory fairing is the creation of the team’s title sponsor Fiat and the image will also appear on a limited series of Fiat 500 ca

The Yamaha World Supersport team has signed British Superbike rider Cal Crutchlow to partner Frenchman Fabien Foret for the 2009 World Supersport Championship. The 22yr old British rider is highly competitive and is no stranger to championship success. In the current British Superbike Championship Crutchlow has scored a respectable ten podiums including two wins and three pole position starts. He is fourth in the standings on 265 points, chasing third place fellow Brit Tom Sykes, who also steps