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WSB : Pitt on front row for Qatar opener Round: 1 - Qatar Circuit: Losail Circuit Date: 24 February 2006 Temp: 30ºC Weather: Sunny Yamaha Motor Italia rider Andrew Pitt will start tomorrow's two 18-lap races from the front row of the grid after an impressive superpole lap saw him set the third fastest time. Team-mate Noriyuki Haga also put in a strong qualifying performance and will start from the second row, in sixth position. Rule changes for this season means that special soft qualifying t

It was a day of mixed emotions for the Yamaha Motor Italia team in Assen. Andrew Pitt grabbed two superb second places to move up to fourth in the championship but team-mate Noriyuki Haga dropped down to third after he failed to finish either race. The day's first race was wet and, with little more than 15 minutes rain testing in the morning warm-up, was to prove something of a lottery that caught out all of the main title contenders. Starting from second on

Yamaha Motor Italia warmed up for their second home race of the season with a productive day of practice in Misano today. Andrew Pitt spent the day's two one hour sessions working on finding good race settings for his Yamaha YZF-R1 in the hot conditions. The Australian was able to try out all the Pirelli tyre options at his disposal and settle on his likely choices for the race. Pitt posted the sixth best time of the session, a 1:35.448, despite being held up in traffic. W

Andrew Pitt took his first ever win in the Superbike World Championship at Misano today as team-mate Noriyuki Haga gave the Yamaha Motor Italia squad its first ever double podium finish in the class. After colliding with another rider and failing to score in the opening race, the Australian rode intelligently to win race two while many top riders crashed out behind him. Making his intentions clear from the start, Pitt set the fastest lap of race two as he pulled away from the pac

WSB : Podium for Haga and Pitt in Qatar thriller Round: 1 - Qatar Circuit: Losail Circuit Date: 25 February 2006 Crowd: 1000 Temp: 30ºC Weather: Sunny Yamaha Motor Italia riders Noriyuki Haga and Andrew Pitt took a podium finish apiece as the 2006 Superbike World Championship fired into life with two sensational races at the Losail circuit in Qatar. The duo each took a third place finish, although Haga could well have stood on the top step of the podium had he not crashed on the final lap of t

Andrew Pitt continued his rich vein of form at Imola today, scoring a podium finish in the day's opening race to move up to fourth in the championship ahead of next weekend's final round of the season. The Yamaha Motor Italia rider backed up his hard fought third place in race one with a tremendous fourth around the demanding Imola circuit in race two. Meanwhile team-mate Noriyuki Haga fought set-up problems to post a fourth and sixth place finish, keeping his hopes of finishing second in this

Positive first outing for Haga and Corser on the All-New R1 After working hard to make the first race version of the 2007 YZF-R1 ready for a two day Pirelli Development Teams’ test at Valencia, the Yamaha Motor Italia team enjoyed two positive days of work under clear Spanish skies. Troy Corser set a best of 1’34.9 with a race set-up, with Noriyuki Haga on a 1’35.1, on qualifying tyres. Both existing team rider Haga and new signing Corser made back-to-back evaluations of the 2006 and 2007 mode

In the second round of the Women’s Road Racing European Championship at the TT circuit of Assen Nina Prinz again showed her class leading abilities on her Yamaha YZF-R1. As with the first round, there was no real competition for the German Yamaha rider. The reigning European champion from Mannheim / Leutkirch was quickest all weekend, and never looked as if she was going to struggle with the competition. In the qualifying sessions, the Superstock Yamaha YZF-R1 proved it’s superior abilities in

Following yesterday’s heavy rain, thick fog delayed the start of the second day of testing in Jerez this morning before giving way to sunshine and a dry track, providing the Yamaha Factory Team with the chance to get some important work under their belts. Valentino Rossi and Colin Edwards both focused on general set-up work today and were pleased to see good improvements to the performance of their 800cc Yamahas since their last test here in November. Rossi and Edwards were consistently fast thr

The new-look Rinaldi Yamaha Team completed their first competitive outing at the Mantova Starcross International yesterday as Josh Coppins scored second position overall and Marc de Reuver placed seventh in the final MX1 classification. The Mantova sand was divided by a stellar entry list as the cream of the Grand Prix motocross paddock cranked into life after the winter slumber.The race was the first proper introduction into a ‘new era’ with Coppins and De Reuver for the defending MX1 World Ch

2008 will be a big season in the short but spectacular career of double Women’s World Cup winner Katherine Prumm. The new Yamaha recruit is busy getting to grips with her new YZ250F in her native New Zealand and will shortly travel over to Europe to begin tests with the Van Beers team in preparation for the first ever FIM Women’s World championship, beginning at the MX1/MX2-GP Bulgarian Grand Prix on May 11th. Articulate and friendly Prumm is a very worthy ambassador for her discipline and a fi

The fourth round of the FIM Motocross World Championship will take place at one of the best circuits on the calendar this weekend as the visit to Sevlievo not only kicks the series back into life after a two week break but also initiates the first meeting of five in the first ever Women’s World Championship. Van Beers Yamaha’s Katherine Prumm, a double Women’s World Cup winner, is struggling for full fitness after rupturing her right ACL (Anterior Cruciate Ligament) while practicing this week.

Double FIM Women’s World Cup winner Katherine Prumm took her new YZ250F to first position in the opening round of the Australian Women’s championship at Tivioli in Brisbane and the 19 year old’s success was just one of several eye-catching results for the ‘Blue Army’ last weekend as Antonio Cairoli earned his MX1 spurs in Italy, and Kenneth Gundersen enjoyed a maiden MX1 bow for his new team in Great Britain. Prumm comfortably owned the first Australian national on the hard and difficult circu

Prumm on steady recovery path The final round of the FIM Women’s World Championship this weekend at the Lierop circuit for the Grand Prix of Benelux will not be able to count on the participation of one of the main stars of the series. Double Women’s World Cup winner and Yamaha rider Katherine Prumm is currently recovering from operations to her right knee and left wrist as well as the collarbone break that prematurely ended her season while leading the standings of the inaugural championsh

Yamaha rider and one of the leading figures in Women’s World Championship motocross, Katherine Prumm, was given good cause for optimism after a seven hour operation to repair three broken vertebrae was successful earlier this week.   The 20 year old New Zealander is now facing a six month period of recuperation and rehabilitation.   Prumm damaged her T6, T9 and T12 in a practice crash last week and the subsequent surgical procedure involved reparation through her back and extensive work to f

Double Women’s World Cup winner Katherine Prumm will undergo surgery in the coming days after a practice crash in her native New Zealand left the 20 year old with several broken vertebrae.   The YZ250F rider, who led the 2008 FIM Women’s World Championship before her season was curtailed by a broken collarbone, over-jumped a triple step-down and in the ensuing tumble caused damage to her spine with the T6, T9 and T12 most affected.   Prumm who was training in preparation for attempts at th