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There are few more historic and scenic motorsport circuits in the world than Spa Francorchamps, situated in the depths of southern Belgium. The venue was an appropriate setting for the 2008 Bikers’ Classics, an event attended and enjoyed by 40,000 people over three days that saw a glittering and nostalgic array of machinery and former world champions, Grand Prix victors and racers from a by-gone era turn back the clock. The Bikers’ Classics is unique and nowhere is there such a gathering of mo

The all British line up of Cal Crutchlow and James Toseland wrapped up a successful final day of testing in Valencia this afternoon. Both Crutchlow and Toseland had spent the two day test at the Ricardo Tormo circuit working through electronic and chassis settings on their R1 superbikes ahead of the 2010 season next year. Day two saw big improvements from both riders as the times came down, covering some 60 laps each, despite neither of them getting the opportunity to take advantage of t

Camel Yamaha Team begin final race preparations at Jerez test   Camel Yamaha Team riders Valentino Rossi and Colin Edwards began their final three days of pre-season testing at Jerez de la Frontera in Southern Spain today. The 4.423 km Jerez circuit, which will play host to the season-opening Grand Prix in two weeks time, provides the last chance for the World Champion and his team-mate to perfect the set-up of their YZR-M1s before the curtain goes up on the new MotoGP season. Following last

Camel Yamaha Team positive despite problems in Jerez   Camel Yamaha Team riders Valentino Rossi and Colin Edwards both improved considerably on yesterday's lap times in Jerez today, but are still hard working hard with Michelin to find a way to rid the M1 of the vibration problems that they are both experiencing here. A new batch of Michelin tyres and some set-up changes brought some improvements to the package today, but the riders are still not able to use the M1 at its full capacity and are s

Pre-season testing draws to a close in Jerez   Valentino Rossi and Colin Edwards completed their final pre-season test in Jerez today in front of hordes of Spanish fans, after riding thousands of kilometres during a total of fifteen days' testing since January. Following a strong showing at the Barcelona Test last week, the Camel Yamaha Team's preparations have suffered something of a set back here and both riders have been hampered by vibration problems throughout the three days of this test.

World Champion Stefan Everts continued his excellent run of results in the build-up to the 2006 Grand Prix season by dominating the first round of the Belgian Championship yesterday in a soggy Moerbeke-Waas. The Belgian guided his factory YZ450FM to first position in all three motos and led the last race from start to finish. It was another confident display from the 33 year old who has now won all of the four events he has contested (the first three being the Internationals in Italy, France an

Camel Yamaha Team ready to begin title defence at Jerez The Camel Yamaha Team returns to southern Spain next weekend to begin the defence of its MotoGP World Championship titles. With Valentino Rossi taking the riders' crown for the fifth successive season, adding to both the team and manufacturers' titles in the year of Yamaha's 50th Anniversary, the factory outfit faces a tough challenge to live up to its 2005 success but the team is approaching the new campaign with optimism and fresh motiva

UFO Corse Yamaha rider Johnny Aubert finished the opening round of the 2006 World Enduro Championship with two impressive third place positions in the competitive Enduro 2 class. Making his WEC debut at the Swedish event, the former motocross rider showed that not only is he a fast learner, but that he has the speed to challenge the series' more established riders for podium positions. Placing less than one-minute behind class winner Samuli Aro on day one, Aubert managed to win one of the day's

Rinaldi Yamaha rider Stefan Everts continued his victorious pre-season form by taking another overall triumph at the Valance International in France yesterday. The Belgian and reigning MX1 World Champion has won every major 'warm-up' event since the motocross calendar cranked into life at Mantova, Italy in February. His fifth success in as many weeks arrived thanks to another 1-1 set of results. He holeshotted both motos and enjoyed a tussle with KTM's Mickael Pichon in the first race before d

Camel Yamaha Team rider Valentino Rossi kicked off his MotoGP World Championship defence in fine style today, setting the fastest lap time in the first free practice sessions for the opening round of the 2006 season at Jerez. After light rain showers hit the track this morning, when Rossi decided not to ride and his team-mate Colin Edwards put in just two laps, both riders were able to work without interruption in the afternoon as they aimed to iron out set-up difficulties encountered in recent

Camel Yamaha Team riders Valentino Rossi and Colin Edwards face an uphill battle in the opening round of the MotoGP World Championship tomorrow after vibration problems returned in this afternoon's qualifying practice at Jerez. After making progress with his YZR-M1 machine in yesterday's free practice, Rossi's cause was not helped by an incident early in today's session, when he became the first of five riders to end up in the gravel after oil was spilled on the track by another competitor. Th

WSB : Haga seventh in first qualifying Round: 2 - Australia Circuit: Phillip Island Date: 3 March 2006 Temp: 36ºC Weather: Sunny Noriyuki Haga was the fastest of the Yamaha men in today's opening qualifying session for round two of the Superbike World Championship, held at the Phillip Island circuit in Australia. Haga, who yesterday celebrated his 31st birthday, ended the day seventh fastest, just over a second behind provisional pole sitter Troy Bayliss (Ducati). Having chosen to test in Qa

Camel Yamaha Team riders Valentino Rossi and Colin Edwards made their first formal track appearances of the year today as the MotoGP Official Tests got underway at the Montmelo circuit in Catalunya. The traditional pre-season curtain raiser runs for three days, with a timed 40-minute session determining the winner of a new car in an exciting climax to the action on Sunday afternoon at 1405h. Sporting their new bright-yellow Camel livery, both Rossi and Edwards were in sparkling form throughout

WSB : Second row for Yamaha Motor Italia pairing Round: 2 - Australia Circuit: Phillip Island Date: 4 March 2006 Temp: 37ºC Weather: Sunny Yamaha Motor Italia duo Andrew Pitt and Noriyuki Haga bagged second row starts during today's superpole qualifying session for round two of the Superbike World Championship at Phillip Island in Australia. Having ended combined qualifying with Haga third and Pitt sixth, the pairing was a little disappointed at being unable to maintain their positions on the

Yamaha men continue to dominate on second day at Catalunya Camel Yamaha Team rider Valentino Rossi clocked the fastest time once again on the second day of MotoGP Official Test at the Catalunya Circuit in Spain, after another encouraging session for Yamaha. With Rossi again setting the pace for much of the day, closely followed by his team-mate Colin Edwards, the pair took advantage of the warm afternoon conditions to continue to run through their pre-season testing programme at an impressive r

WSB : Two fourths for Haga in Australia Round: 2 - Australia Circuit: Phillip Island Date: 5 March 2006 Crowd: 55000 Temp: 25ºC Weather: Sunny Yamaha Motor Italia rider Noriyuki Haga battled traction problems to grab a brace of fourth places at round two of the Superbike World Championship at the Phillip Island circuit in Australia. The popular Japanese rider rode hard in the day's two 22-lap races to score 26 valuable points over the two races. Haga had run at the front of the day's opening r