Alex

Riding again for the Yamaha Factory Racing Team will be Katsuyuki Nakasuga, the defending champion and current holder of four consecutive titles in the pinnacle JSB1000 class of the All Japan Road Race Championship, and MotoGP regular Pol Espargaró, who put Yamaha in pole position last year with an incredible flying lap, despite it being his first time to race at Suzuka and aboard the YZF-R1. The two star riders that helped bring Yamaha its stunning Suzuka 8 Hours win last year will be joined by Alex Lowes, who rides for Yamaha in its return to the World Superbike Championship this year. The team manager will be Wataru Yoshikawa, the current manager of Yamaha's All Japan Road Race Championship factory team. As for the YART Yamaha Official EWC Team led by manager Mandy Kainz, it will field team regular Broc Parkes, who is competing this season in the Endurance World Championship, and Kouta Nozane and Takuya Fujita, two young but top riders competing in the All Japan Championship's premier class. Also, this year will see Monster Energy as the main sponsor of both Yamaha teams. Monster Energy is a key partner in Yamaha's quest for victory in racing series around the world, such as the MotoGP World Championship, the Motocross World Championship and the AMA Supercross Championship. Yamaha's entries will have the valuable support of Monster Energy and a host of other sponsors as they battle to repeat last year's success at Suzuka. As Yamaha Motor celebrated its 60th anniversary last season, concerted global efforts were made to energize our racing activities, such as the introduction of the new YZF-R1 to the race scene. The result was not only a victory at the previous Suzuka 8 Hours but also numerous wins and championship titles in production-based racing in Japan, Europe and North America. These successes did much to boost Yamaha's presence in the world's markets. Yamaha is pursuing a more aggressive policy for racing activities this season, which includes returning to the World Superbike Championship, and this entry of two factory teams in the Suzuka 8 Hours is another example of this strengthened policy. Yamaha will be aiming to win a second consecutive victory this year in the legendary Suzuka 8 Hours and further strengthen the presence of the YZF-R1 in Japan and abroad. And like last year, we will be seeking new gains in technological expertise, promoting development of human resources and sharing the excitement and rewarding experiences of motorsport as an embodiment of our "Revs your Heart" Brand Slogan. Read original release on yamaha-motor.com

Loket may have remodelled their layout to include a new jump and corner section and moved the start gate back to the original position but the course was still stony and slippery and tested the full range of a rider's feel for traction and grip. The technical edge was increased by the hard-pack around what is otherwise a flowing and relatively easy racing course. Watched by 24,000 spectators Febvre set-off from his second Pole Position of the season won through Saturday's Qualification Heat. He settled into second place behind Evgeny Bobryshev and bided his time until the Russian slightly dropped his pace before taking control on lap six. From there Romain built a comfortable advantage to seize his eighth moto triumph. In the second race Febvre had to work a bit harder and found some resistance to his designs on victory from Clement Desalle. The duo swapped positions briefly and enjoyed an intense scrap before '461' was able to make the break on lap seven of nineteen. Bobryshev was also part of the leading trio. Jeremy Van Horebeek finished fifth in the final Grand Prix listing. '89' made a reasonable getaway in the first moto and quickly found himself in fifth position and chasing Clement Desalle. The two Belgians circulated together for the entire race with the gap between them growing and shrinking at various stages. When Gautier Paulin crashed JVH bumped up to fourth. In the second outing Van Horebeek was not able to exit the gate with the leaders and had to push hard to recover from twelfth until fifth, again with Kevin Strijbos for company. DP19 Yamaha Racing's David Philippaerts was fighting hard for a top ten slot in the first moto until a crash on the penultimate lap meant that the Italian needed to have six stitches inserted into a cut on his right arm. He did not take to the line for the second moto as he also knocked his head and was genuinely roughed-up by the fall. With World Champion Tony Cairoli choosing not to enter the Grand Prix at Loket and also opting out of the next fixture to fix a fractured arm, the MXGP standings make even better reading for Febvre with an 88 point gap over Gautier Paulin. Van Horebeek's form has also added numerical weight and he has 294 points and eighth position. Philippaerts rests with thirteenth. Round fourteen of MXGP follows hard after Loket with the Grand Prix of Belgium entering the daunting sand of Lommel next weekend.