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The 25th edition of the Starcross International at Mantova in Italy kick-started the 2008 European motocross calendar last weekend and it was a positive meeting for the Yamaha Motocross Team as David Philippaerts took his first overall victory on the YZ450FM and Josh Coppins filled second position. The inaugural race of the year saw factory representation from all the manufacturers and a large quota of world championship riders line the gate. Across the three 20 minute and 2 lap motos on the r

Yamaha owned the top steps of the podiums in both the AMA Supercross and Lites West Coast classes last Saturday in San Diego. Chad Reed clinched his fourth victory in succession on the San Manuel YZ450F, and fifth from the six rounds of seventeen held so far. Jason Law steered the Yamaha of Troy YZ250F to his third win on the trot and of his career. In front of more than 64,000 fans in the Qualcomm stadium Reed edged his lead in the standings of the AMA series (also an FIM World Championship)

The 2008 World Supersport Championship season will witness a rejuvenated official Yamaha presence through all 14 rounds of the series, with long time Yamaha servant Broc Parkes now joined by 2002 World Champion Fabien Foret (both Yamaha World Supersport Team). The experienced squad now enters the fray equipped with a freshly sharpened Yamaha YZF-R6 under its expert care. Both Parkes and Foret won World Supersport Championship races last year, and their most important priority is to see who can

Noriyuki Haga and Troy Corser (both Yamaha Motor Italia WSB Team) made their final pre-race preparations for the 2008 World Superbike season at the Losail International Circuit today; the same venue that serves as the championship kick off on Saturday 23 February. The Losail track surface was not in as good condition as it was for the team’s previous winter test around the 5.380km circuit in Qatar, but the main objective of this showing was to ensure that all the latest equipment would be in p

The 2007 FIM MX2-GP Motocross World Championship was very much a success story for Yamaha De Carli rider Antonio Cairoli. The Sicilian blazed a path through the season’s statistics book on his YZ250F. Along with the 10 GP wins and 21 moto chequered flags the double world champ’s consistency meant that he only dropped out of the top two twice from 28 MX2-GP races. Add an MX1-GP debut triumph, an Italian MX2 title and a European Supercross championship and it hard to believe how Cairoli can top th

San Manuel Yamaha rider Chad Reed saw his run of five consecutive victories come to an end in Houston for the seventh round of seventeen in the 2008 AMA Supercross series, a FIM World Championship, but the Australian continued his 100% podium record with second position and guards a 32 point lead in the competition. The 42nd Supercross in Houston did not witness a fourth straight sweep for Yamaha in both classes even though Jason Lawrence did also climb the rostrum in second spot in the Lites

YZ450FM, 450F and YZ250F machinery were dominant forces in the first round of the 2008 Italian Motocross championship as Yamaha riders captured all the overall podium places in both MX1 and MX2 categories at a sunny Montevarchi circuit last weekend. It was another successful double-act for Yamaha Motocross Team’s Josh Coppins and David Philippaerts after their 1-2 results at the Mantova Starcross International last week. This time it was Coppins’ turn to take the top step of the rostrum after

Troy Corser set the early pace at the first round of the 2008 World Superbike season in Qatar, posting a first day qualifying time of 1'59.627 on race tyres and getting to within half a second of the current lap record. Corser's fellow Yamaha rider Noriyuki Haga secured a provisional front row position of fourth, despite falling heavily two-thirds of the way through the hour long qualifying session. Conditions at Losail were problematic for all riders, with a strong and gusting wind blowing do

Troy Corser had mixed fortunes on raceday at Losail, taking a fine third in race one but slipping backwards in race two to finish seventh as his tyres lost grip at half race distance. His team-mate Noriyuki Haga recovered from a crash in race one to secure an eventual 14th, and he was also in a leading position for much of race two, before the same lack of traction experienced by Corser made him drop through the field. He ended up 13th. Corser, the Superpole winner yesterday, was in sparkling e

Yamaha Motocross Team riders again picked up more silverware in the 2008 pre-season period with David Philippaerts winning both motos at a bright Castiglione Del Lago for the second round of the Italian championship while Josh Coppins swept all three races at the Valence International meeting in southern France; beating a host of world championship peers including 2007 number one Steve Ramon. The New Zealander won the popular French event for the second year in succession and took holeshots in

Yamaha's Chad Reed finished off the AMA Supercross podium for the first time this year after a crash during the main event of round eight of the series at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta meant that the Australian crossed the finish line in sixth position. The 30th SX event in Atlanta (the first was won by Bob Hannah with a Yamaha) would not see Reed extend his career tally of podium results to 81. The YZ450F rider won his Heat, and also grabbed the holeshot, but slipped off his San Manuel machine w

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

Troy Corser went through one race of joy and endured one non-finish at the challenging Phillip Island circuit in Australia, taking a masterful second place in race one but falling out of contention for the podium places in race two. On his home track, Corser had to work hard with his Yamaha Motor Italia WSB Team to find a good raceday set-up and he made adjustments between races to improve it still more, finding great gains until his race finished early. Noriyuki Haga celebrated his 33rd birthd

After missing the top five in an AMA Supercross event for the first time in 88 starts last week Yamaha's Chad Reed bounced back to record his sixth victory of the season and finished ahead of brand-mate Josh Hill at the RCA Dome in Indianapolis last weekend. The Australian headed a YZ450F '1-2' on the podium of the ninth round from seventeen in the series - an FIM World Championship - to give Yamaha their fourth win at the venue and first since 2002. The 25 year old, who took some time to get

Fiat Yamaha Team rider Jorge Lorenzo sealed a weekend to remember in Qatar at the first ever MotoGP night race by finishing second on an impressive premier-class debut. The reigning double 250cc World Champion started from pole for the fifth consecutive year at this track, following three 250cc and one 125cc pole, and proved he will be a force to reckon with in 2008 with a mature ride to the runner-up spot behind Casey Stoner. Lorenzo made a tentative start and dropped several places from his

Reed seventh in Daytona quagmire The heavens opened and created a swamp at the Daytona Speedway for the tenth round of the 2008 AMA Supercross series, a FIM World Championship. Yamaha San Manuel's Chad Reed was three corners from his seventh victory of the season before being forced to retire. To make matters worse for the Australian he was later penalised for cutting the sodden track and dropped to seventh place for his lowest standing of the season so far. Despite the drama and eventual ou