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Yamaha GMT94 has signed Australian rider Anthony Gobert to ride its YZF-R6 in the opening rounds of the Supersport World Championship. The eight-time world superbike race winner will substitute for the injured David Checa. Checa crashed in testing last week and broke his arm, forcing him out of the opening races in Qatar and Australia. After undergoing a successful operation on Friday the Spaniard is expected to return to the saddle by the end of March, leaving the team needing a replacement ri

To celebrate the Japanese Grand Prix in Motegi this Sunday, Jorge Lorenzo’s no. 48 Fiat Yamaha will race with an unusual and original livery. The Spanish rider’s YZR-M1 will carry the image of comic-book hero Arsenio Lupin III, the celebrated ‘Gentleman Thief’ made famous in the Japanese Manga series created by Kazuhiko Kato, or ‘Monkey Punch’. The celebratory fairing is the creation of the team’s title sponsor Fiat and the image will also appear on a limited series of Fiat 500 ca

Gauloises Yamaha Team riders Valentino Rossi and Colin Edwards got their first taste of the Istanbul Park circuit today as bright sunshine and moderate temperatures welcomed the MotoGP World Championship to Turkey for the first time. The riders had an extra half hour of free practice this morning as they aimed to get to grips with the new track, which proved to be somewhat trickier than expected, with several riders running off the circuit throughout the day. Gauloises Yamaha Team riders Valen

“I think it’s difficult to say, but maybe this is even better than the first championship with Yamaha in 2004. In 2004 I arrived after three championships in a row; the change was very big and no one expected me to win then, not even us to be honest! But this year is great too because I didn’t start as the number one favourite after losing for two years. The taste of this is something special. “In 2006 I lost because of bad luck; I still won the most races and was the fastest on track f

Valentino Rossi will start from second position for tomorrow's Grand Prix of Spain in Jerez after an exciting and extremely close qualifying battle today, while his team-mate Colin Edwards will be just behind him in fourth having lost out on third position in the dying moments of the session. It is Rossi's eighth consecutive top-three start for Yamaha, the Italian having started from the front row in the final six races of 2006 and at this season's opener in Qatar. After struggling for grip onc

Andrew Pitt will start tomorrow's two-race sixth round of the Superbike World Championship from the front row of the grid after qualifying his Yamaha Motor Italia YZF-R1 third in today's superpole session at a hot Misano. The Australian set his best lap of the weekend in the one-lap qualifying run to the delight of his Yamaha Motor Italia squad. The former supersport world champion has run strongly throughout the practice sessions and was able to make minor improvements to give greate

Yamaha Motor Italia's Andrew Pitt rode a super-smooth lap during today's superpole session to take a front row start for tomorrow's races in Imola, with team-mate Noriyuki Haga on the second row after making big improvements to his machine set-up. Having worked methodically on finding a good race setting throughout the four one-hour practice sessions, Pitt demonstrated his ultimate pace with a blistering 1:49.433 lap time to take third on the grid for tomorrow's races. Despite being almost half

The MotoGP World Championship returns to its oldest venue this weekend with a fresh new challenge awaiting it at the legendary Dutch TT. With major changes having taken place at the Assen circuit since last season, the whole of the Northern Loop section making way for a new car park and expanded viewing areas, the Camel Yamaha Team venture into the unknown this weekend as they look to extend their winning run to three straight races. The 76th edition of the Dutch TT welcomes MotoGP Wo

Yamaha Monster Motocross Team's David Philippaerts still leads the 2008 FIM MX1-GP World Championship after finishing in 4th position overall under decent weather conditions at the new Fairyhouse circuit for the Grand Prix of Ireland and the thirteenth round of fifteen. As the campaign heads towards its penultimate stages next week, Philippaerts was just two points away from his eighth podium of the season in Dublin but keeps hold of the red number plate - for the tenth time in thirteen events

Camel Yamaha Team rider Valentino Rossi slid out of the Grand Prix of Valencia today and lost his grip on the MotoGP World Championship for the first time in six years on the final day of an implausibly dramatic season. Nicky Hayden (Honda) lifted the title after claiming third place behind surprise winner Troy Bayliss and Loris Capirossi (both Ducati), with Rossi recovering to cross the line in 13th place but missing out on the title by just five points. The fifth lap mishap came after a bad s

Jorge Lorenzo Jorge Lorenzo took a brilliant sixth victory of the season at Laguna Seca today, romping home to win by over three seconds from Casey Stoner. His team-mate Valentino Rossi made a triumphant return to the podium just seven weeks after breaking his right leg, overhauling Andrea Dovizioso during a thrilling last ten laps to finish third. Starting from pole for the fifth time in a row, Lorenzo lost ground to his rivals at the fearsome downhill turn one

Cal Crutchlow Having wrapped up the 2010 World Superbike Championship on a high in Magny Cours with a race win and a second place finish on his YZF-R1 two weeks ago, Cal Crutchlow ended his season with the Yamaha Sterilgarda World Superbike Team by clinching fifth in the standings and claiming the ‘rookie of the year’ title. With just a few days rest under his belt he has started his move up from World Superbike to MotoGP with Yamaha by getting straight to busin

Starting the second half of the 2008 World Enduro Championship in style Italian UFO Course Yamaha rider Simone Albergoni narrowly missed out on claiming the Enduro 1 class win on day one of the Grand Prix of Wales, claiming an eventual second place behind Yamaha France rider Marc Germain. With the opening day of the fifth round of the series the wettest of the calendar so far, it also proved to be one of the hardest, but despite the atrocious conditions the two Yamaha riders battled one anothe

Yamaha Factory Racing riders Valentino Rossi and Colin Edwards started their final pre-season preparations today as the Official MotoGP Test began in Jerez. The Andalusian circuit, which will play host to the second round of the MotoGP World Championship in March, will provide the teams with the last chance to fine-tune their 800cc MotoGP motorcycles before the season gets started in Qatar. After three consecutive races in warmer climes, it was a wet return to European shores this morning when t

Fiat Yamaha Team rider Valentino rounded off a difficult weekend with a strong ride in today's Malaysian Grand Prix, bringing his Yamaha M1 home in fifth position from ninth on the grid. His team-mate Colin Edwards, who started from 13th, finished 11th. The usual hot and steamy Sepang conditions ensured that the 21-lap race would be a test of stamina for all 20 riders on the grid and, after being hampered by grip issues throughout practice, the Yamaha pair were not expecting an easy race. Howe

Valentino Rossi moved two races clear at the top of the championship with his fifth win of the season today, enjoying an easy ride home after his closest rival Casey Stoner crashed out on lap seven. Rossi, starting from second, lost some time at the first corner getting past John Hopkins and for the first couple of laps Stoner looked in danger of clearing off, but the Italian soon found his rhythm and was gradually making up time on the Australian when he saw him slide off into the gravel. The