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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

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

The Yamaha Monster Motocross Team will be hoping to strike extra fear into their FIM Motocross World Championship rivals in 2008 thanks to a new alliance with Monster Energy drinks. The factory-backed Grand Prix squad – now entitled ‘Yamaha Monster Motocross Team’ thanks to the title sponsorship - will benefit from a high-profile three year joint programme with one of the new powerful movers in motorcycle racing for their attempt on the MX1-GP title. Monster Energy, a product of California-bas

UFO Corse Yamaha team rider Simone Albergoni got his 2008 Enduro 1 World Championship campaign off to an impressive start at the Grand Prix of Sweden, staged in Ostersund, where the Italian was runner-up on day one and then again finished on the podium with third place on day two. The series' only winter enduro is typically an event in which many southern European riders struggle, due to the frozen terrain and sub-zero riding conditions. Albergoni defied expectations and showed just how determin

Yamaha's Josh Hill toasted a fine maiden AMA-SX triumph in front of almost 41,000 fans at the Metrodome in Minneapolis last Saturday for round eleven of seventeen in the 2008 championship. The 18 year old steered his YZ450F to the chequered flag ahead of Ryan Dungey and Kevin Windham. Series leader Chad Reed was a protagonist in the Main Event but a crash dropped him down the race order and he finished seventh for the second week in succession. Reed, who was struggling with sickness and sat ou

Yamaha Monster Motocross Team’s Joshua Coppins is facing a rush to be fully fit for the opening round of the 2008 FIM MX1-GP World Championship in two weeks after an incident while training Saturday morning (22nd March) caused the New Zealander to break two toes on his right foot and undergo immediate surgery. The 31 year old travelled to the Dunkirk circuit in France to begin his motos in the early stages of Saturday morning to avoid a crowded venue later in the day. However his intentions we

Fiat Yamaha Team rider Jorge Lorenzo began his first ever MotoGP race on home soil in perfect fashion today, finishing the first day of practice in Jerez in first position at the front of an all-Yamaha top three. The young rookie, who lies second in the championship after an impressive debut in Qatar, was under lap record pace in the afternoon session and looks on-course to give his passionate home fans an exciting weekend. Lorenzo was fifth fastest in the morning session but gradual work on h

Home hero Jorge Lorenzo continued his impressive rookie assault on the MotoGP class with an outstanding pole position in Jerez today, smashing the existing pole record by almost a second aboard his Fiat Yamaha M1 in front of thousands of Spanish fans. The youngest rider on the grid produced a masterful qualifying display to take his second consecutive pole position and his 3rd at this circuit. After topping the time sheets yesterday, Lorenzo continued gradually refining his set-up throughout t

Valentino Rossi reached another milestone in his career today, joining an elite group of riders who have stood on the premier class podium 100 times today after riding his Fiat Yamaha M1 to second place in Jerez. The seven-time world champion formed part of a podium double for the Fiat Yamaha Team as his team-mate Jorge Lorenzo finished third, claiming his second consecutive podium in his rookie season. Starting from fifth, Rossi did not get the best of starts and finished the first lap in six

UFO Corse Yamaha team rider Simone Albergoni continued his impressive form in the 2008 World Enduro Championship claiming two podium finishes at the second round of the series, the Grand Prix of Portugal staged in Vale de Cambra. Earning a well-deserved victory on Day1 Simone battled hard on Day2 to place 2nd and finished less than six seconds behind winner Ivan Cervantes despite a costly mistake on the extreme test. Having recorded his best ever start to a world championship season at the recen

Yamaha's Chad Reed got back to winning ways with his seventh victory of the 2008 AMA Monster Energy Supercross championship in Toronto last weekend. The Australian reengaged his title quest to claim the twelfth round of the campaign and lead the series by 20 points with just five events remaining. After missing the podium for the two last races Reed was faultless across an extremely difficult, muddy and rutted terrain that saw many of his peers taste Canadian mud at some stage. Yamaha's Josh H

The Fiat Yamaha Team's young Spanish rookie Jorge Lorenzo, who boasts an outstanding record of two pole positions and two podiums from his two MotoGP starts, put in more impressive work today during a one-day test in Jerez. After joining his team-mate Valentino Rossi as part of a Fiat Yamaha double podium yesterday, he posted the fastest time of the day and completed a total of 94 laps. Another day of Andalucian sunshine today provided Lorenzo and his crew with the chance to work on general se

The Grand Prix of the Netherlands at the Eurocircuit in Valkenswaard, close to the city of Eindhoven, opens the 2008 FIM Motocross World Championship this weekend and Yamaha’s strong arm faculty equipped with potent YZ machinery will go to the start-gate in earnest for the first time this year. The first round of fifteen in an ’08 series that visits thirteen countries and two continents will see Yamaha once more fit the role of protagonists in the MX1-GP (premier class with 450cc four-stroke m

Yamaha has long recognized that not only many women ride motorcycles, but that they like to ride fast on a race track too. The most recent proof comes in the shape of current Womens’ Road Racing European Champion in the 1000 class Nina Prinz, who will team up with Yamaha in 2008. Twenty-five-year-old Nina, from Mannheim/Leutkirch in Germany, won all three 2007 European Women Championship races sanctioned by the UEM (European Motorcycle Union). This success landed her with the opportunity to de

Having missed the official FGSport tests in March the Yamaha Motor Italia WSB Team had to work particularly hard on the first day of the Valencia race weekend to set times just inside the top ten of the 30 riders who entered this third round of the 2008 season. Corser's best time was only 0.618 seconds from fastest man Max Neukirchner (Suzuki) and put him ninth in a session where the top 15 riders qualified within a second of provisional pole. Haga was tenth, only 0.124 seconds from Corser, as

The Yamaha Monster Motocross Team will be hoping to strike extra fear into their FIM Motocross World Championship rivals in 2008 thanks to a new alliance with Monster Energy drinks. The factory-backed Grand Prix squad – now entitled ‘Yamaha Monster Motocross Team’ thanks to the title sponsorship - will benefit from a high-profile three year joint programme with one of the new powerful movers in motorcycle racing for their attempt on the MX1-GP title. On the eve of the first Grand Prix of fifte