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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

The Yamaha Gariboldi Racing Team will be making a credible push for the 2009 European Motocross Championship and therefore helping to strengthen the future of Yamaha’s off-road racing programme.   With the age limit of 23 years coming into force for the 2010 FIM MX2-GP Motocross World Championship, a shrewd view to the new generation of competitive talent has become a even higher priority for Yamaha and their aim in continuing a distinguished line of success at the top of the motocross ladder

The final day of MotoGP testing in Qatar today saw the times tumble yet again, as several riders opted to try qualifying tyres and three of them, Yamaha rider Valentino Rossi included, dipped under the 1’55 mark. As usual on the final day of a test, both Rossi and team-mate Colin Edwards tried their 800cc Yamaha’s on a long-run, enabling them to gather crucial information about tyre performance and fuel consumption ahead of the first race here in three week’s time. Edwards’ was in fact forced to

The World Superbike Championship goes to Assen this weekend and with Queen’s Day falling on the Monday after the race the Yamaha Motor Italia WSB Team will be celebrating this Dutch national holiday by wearing special team clothing over the weekend. Queen’s Day, or Koninginnedag as it is called in Dutch, is a day of celebration of the Dutch monarchy. Queen Juliana started the festival on the date of her birthday (30th April) and when Queen Beatrix succeeded the throne in 1980 she kept the same

French-run Team Yamaha GMT94 took the chequered flag in the famous but also grueling Bol D’Or 24hrs Endurance race this weekend, completing 801 laps on their YZF-R1 machine and beating second place by five laps. The race took place at the circuit of Magny-Cours (France) in front of almost 100,000 spectators; it started at 15.00 hrs on Saturday and ran through the night to finish at 15.00 hrs on Sunday afternoon. The three riders were Sébastien Gimbert, David Checa, who both also ride for Team Y

Yamaha has today confirmed that Troy Corser and Noriyuki Haga will remain with the Yamaha Motor Italia World Superbike Team in 2008. A flamboyant and much-loved character, Haga has worked with Yamaha for many years and his WSB career highlights include second in 2000 and third title position in 2004, 2005 and 2006. Currently Haga is fighting for the 2007 title with only 41 points separating him in second place from front man Toseland, having caught up 25 points at the last round in Lausitz. Wit

After having contested in the World Supersport Championship for the last two years, the Yamaha GMT94 team will move up to the World Superbike Championship in 2008. In addition to this and following on from their Bol d’Or win in 2007, Yamaha GMT94 will continue to enter the world’s two most demanding Endurance races – the Le Mans 24 Hours and the Bol d’Or 24 Hours. The Guyot Motorcycling Team was founded in 1992 by Christophe Guyot - himself a former rider and passionate sportsman - with the ai

With a stage-win, a second place and six other top 15 finishes Yamaha WR450F rider Helder Rodrigues (POR) is the current leader of the category up to 450cc. Helder is closely chased by Frenchman Michel Marchini, also riding a Yamaha WR450F. With nine of the 15 riding days and already 5000 km absolved, the riders are now less then a week away from the finish of the grueling 2007 edition of the Dakar rally. Top Yamaha man David Frétigné held the 450cc class lead up to stage seven, but then misfor

Yamaha have had a good day in the first qualifying session today at the fifth round of the World Superbike Championship in Assen. In sunny, warm and dry weather Haga took provisional second qualifying place and Corser finished in fifth with both riders promising more progress tomorrow. Noriyuki Haga started the afternoon qualifying session in fourth place but went on to top the board in front of Xaus and Toseland with only five minutes to go. Unfortunately, in the dying minutes of the session T

In a day of dramatic racing, Yamaha came away with both their rider and manufacturer championship still hopes alive. Haga came third and fourth in today's races with Corser finishing in fifth in the second race after a DNF in race one. Race one had a spectacular start as Corser lost the front and crashed out on the first lap while Haga almost crashed but managed to move into third in front of Toseland. He then proceeded to take the fastest lap three times to catch Bayliss and Biaggi who were b

Camel Yamaha Team riders Valentino Rossi and Colin Edwards began key set-up work on their Yamaha YZR-M1 machines for the Grand Prix of Qatar in relatively mild temperatures of 27ºC today. After excelling at this track in pre-season tests the riders were keen to gauge the bike's performance against the other main contenders in the MotoGP class and after two intense free practice sessions they ended the day in optimistic moods about their chances for Saturday's race.  Following on from a disappo

The Camel Yamaha Team move on to the Middle East next weekend with the objective of making up for lost points and pride following a disappointing start to the season in the opening round at Jerez. The Grand Prix of Qatar represents the ideal opportunity of a reprieve, with Valentino Rossi and Colin Edwards having performed well in pre-season testing at the Losail International Circuit in February. A further day of testing following the Jerez race provided the team with another opportunity to w

Yamaha signed a new partnership agreement with Spanish tourism company Intur Sports which will see the Japanese manufacturer's factory motocross team known as Yamaha Intur Sports Motocross Team. INTUR SPORTS is a newly formed branch of the world renowned Intur Group, a family owned enterprise dedicated to the tourist industry in Spain. Today, the group owns six hotels in Spain, three of which are in the Benicasim area approximately 280 km south of Barcelona. The Intur Group network also include

Yamaha Intur Sports Motocross Team rider and reigning MX1 World Champion Stefan Everts left the opening round of the 2006 series having increased his record-career total of GP victories to 88 and proved his rhetoric concerning the new aluminium frame YZ450FM was completely founded. 16,000 spectators flocked to the Zolder circuit in Belgium for the Karcher Grand Prix of Flanders, the first race of fifteen in this season's campaign. Teammate Cedric Melotte managed tenth position overall. Rainfal

The Camel Yamaha Team remained in Jerez yesterday for an intense afternoon of testing in an effort to find some answers to the problems they faced over the course of the season's opening weekend. Valentino Rossi and Colin Edwards completed 72 and 76 laps respectively and made some positive steps towards understanding the cause of the vibration that kept their lap times down during the weekend's practice sessions and forced them to start from the fourth row of the grid for sunday's race. Rossi,

Noriyuki Haga set the fastest Yamaha lap at a three-day official SBK practice session in Valencia, finishing sixth overall on his Yamaha Motor Italia R1, with a time of 1'35.259. He worked his way through a full testing programme and undertook an extensive evaluation of new parts and modified machine settings, in preparation for the forthcoming Valencia race on 23 April. Troy Bayliss (Ducati) set a new Superbike track best in the morning session of the final day, with a 1'33.758. Haga, unlike m