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Yamaha Motor Italia WSB Team rider Noriyuki Haga could not have had two bigger contrasts in his raceday at Valencia, taking a superb win in the second 23-lap contest, but crashing out of the opener at high speed. His team-mate Troy Corser was rewarded for a consistent first race ride with a podium finish in third, and then went on to score a fighting fifth in race two. Corser's podium came in a race where 20 riders finished and there were many high profile incidents. Corser was a lonely third

The opening Grand Prix of the 2008 FIM MX1-GP World Championship has been a busy but positive outing for the Yamaha Monster Motocross Team as David Philippaerts and Josh Coppins took fifth and sixth positions respectively through the deep, dark and technically challenging sand at the Eurocircuit in Valkenswaard today. After unveiling the new all-black liveries for the YZ450FMs in front of an extravagant fire display on Friday evening for a group of international media, (a gallery of images can

As with the opening two rounds of the '08 World Enduro Championship, Simone Albergoni recorded the UFO Corse Yamaha team's best results in the Enduro 1 class at the Grand Prix of Spain in Sitges. Narrowly missing out on a podium result on day one when he finished fourth, Albergoni placed a comfortable third on day two and now holds the same position in the E1 championship standings. Although unsatisfied with his performances on the opening day, Simone showed that he had the speed to run with h

Chad Reed moved up to third place in the all-time AMA Supercross victories table after clinching the 34th win of his career and the eighth of the 2008 championship at the Texas Stadium in Dallas last Saturday. The Australian led from the second lap until the chequered flag for his second triumph in the space of a week. The 25 year old owned the thirteenth round of seventeen and now stands 27 points ahead of Kevin Windham. In front of more than 46,000 fans, Reed enacted a fine performance to fo

A two day test for the Yamaha Motor Italia WSB Team at their home circuit of Monza was expected to be an opportunity to run the latest Pirelli development tyres in readiness for the Monza round on 11 May. With the high-speed 5.793km track drenched with rain on both days, however, the team had to adapt their plans. Noriyuki Haga and Troy Corser went to these tests, held at a circuit only a short distance from their Gerno di Lesmo team headquarters, with the natural confidence that a race win (f

Last week at a sunny Ricardo Tormo circuit in Valencia on Spain’s east coast, a gathering of Yamaha racing teams and riders from thirteen countries occupied thirty-one pit-boxes at the MotoGP venue to take part in the sixth edition of the distinguished YRT (Yamaha Race Training) programme. Fifty teams and one hundred and one riders from national Supersport standard to FIM Superstock 1000 level meant that over three hundred personnel filled the site. The objective was to improve the participant

Jorge Lorenzo topped off an incredible opening month in MotoGP with his maiden premier class victory today, his first ever career win at Estoril. After three pole positions and two podiums, the Fiat Yamaha Team rookie went one step further to win the Portuguese Grand Prix in fine style, taking joint first in the championship standings in the process. It was also the second double podium of the season for the team, with Valentino Rossi finishing third. The first lap was a close battle between L

Yamaha's Chad Reed defied chest and back pain to score 12th position in Detroit for the fourteenth round of the 2008 Monster Energy AMA Supercross championship last weekend. The Australian crashed heavily in practice and had to visit hospital prior to being released to take his slot in the gate for the main event at Ford Field. Reed used his AMA provisional 'joker' (that enables riders in the top ten of the standings to miss one qualification and still be eligible to compete) after his acciden

During the first round of the European Championship Road Racing Women’s 1000cc held at Misano Adriatico (Italy) last weekend, Nina Prinz (Team Yamaha Motor Germany) debuted on the R1 and took it to an impressive victory. The reigning European champion, from Mannheim/Leutkirch in Germany, had been consistently fast during all qualifying sessions and dominated throughout the weekend, even during qualifying where she competed against many men from the open class. Starting from pole-position in th

After his hard fought third in yesterday’s Portuguese Grand Prix, Fiat Yamaha Team rider Valentino Rossi was back out on track today for a one-day test at Estoril. The team are anxious to take every chance to continue the crucial development process between the Yamaha M1 and the Bridgestone tyres and today’s test was focused on just this. Rossi tested a wide range of new rubber compounds with an eye to the next race in China, at which Bridgestone has a strong record, and the 29-year was very p

Fiat Yamaha Team rider Jorge Lorenzo is recovering well after undergoing a successful operation on his right arm. The 20-year-old has suffered from pain due to Compartmental Syndrome, often referred to as ‘Arm Pump’, during the first three races and the operation was performed yesterday afternoon by Dr. Xavier Mir, head of arm surgery at the Institut Universitari Dexeus in Barcelona. The procedure, which is fairly common amongst MotoGP riders, aims to loosen the muscle compression inside the a

UTag Yamaha.com’s Kenneth Gundersen is likely to miss the rest of the 2008 FIM MX1-GP World Championship after he was diagnosed with a torn anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee and further damage inside the joint. His place on the YZ450F will be taken by team-mate Carlos Campano this weekend at Bellpuig for the Grand Prix of Spain while the British crew find a replacement. Gundersen – who missed almost two campaigns of racing after a cartilage problem with his right leg in 2004/05 – lan

Yamaha Monster Motocross Team’s Josh Coppins is ready to lift his push for the 2008 MX1-GP World Championship up a gear this weekend at Bellpuig for the Grand Prix of Spain and the second round of the series after almost two weeks of training and further recuperation from his broken toes. The New Zealander has spent ten days at the home of former world champion Jacky Vimond in the south west of France and has been clocking up track kilometres that he desperately missed in the wake of his injur

David Philippaerts finished as runner-up and gained his first podium result with the YZ450FM, giving the Yamaha Monster Motocross Team their maiden silverware of the FIM 2008 World Championship, after just one moto in a torrid and swampy Grand Prix of Spain at a soaked Bellpuig. Almost eleven hours of rain from the early hours of Sunday morning through to the close of the afternoon rendered the hillside circuit almost un-passable and the second MX1 moto was cancelled as the heaviest period of

Yamaha's Chad Reed battled through the pain of his fractured shoulder to take a decent second position to main title rival Kevin Windham in front of almost 49,000 fans last weekend at the Edward Jones Dome in St Louis for the fifteenth round of seventeen in the Monster Energy AMA Supercross championship, also an FIM World Championship. Reed seized the lead on the first lap of the main event, taking place just one week after his heavy practice crash in Detroit, but was powerless to prevent Wind

MX2-GP World Champion Antonio Cairoli recently took delivery of Yamaha’s extreme 4x4 Rhino vehicle to continue his off-road exploits, although perhaps with less need for a helmet and boots! The 22 year old Sicilian, of the Yamaha Red Bull De Carli team, travelled to the headquarters of Yamaha Motor Italy to pick-up his new mode of transportation. “I asked Yamaha last year ‘if I won the world championship, would I be able to have a Rhino?’ and they were very helpful,” he said. “After the season