Alex Asigno

Both the Yamaha Motor Italia WSB Team and Yamaha World Supersport Team found success in testing this week at the Czech circuit of Brno. The teams participated in an official two-day test in their role as development teams for FGSport, along with a selection of other teams. Brno is a naturally rising and falling circuit and is very popular with all riders, making it the perfect place for the Yamaha teams to do tyre testing with Pirelli prior to the next race, which is at Brno in three weeks time. Haga had a good round at this track in 2006, taking the Superpole and Best Race Lap records there and his team mate, Corser, has also had a good relationship with the Czech circuit, taking three wins there to date as well as achieving pole twice. The main objective of the test was to try out a variety of tyres as well as find the right set-up for the up coming race. Despite damp, blustery and unseasonably cool conditions, Haga proved fastest on day one, setting a lap time of 2’01.0, which was 1.5 second faster than his best lap in 2006. Corser finished the day fifth fastest with a best time of 2’02.3. Day two saw all riders put in a good number of laps on both qualifying and race tyres despite the temperature barely reaching 20°C, a good ten degrees lower than normally found at Brno at this time of year. Corser and Kagayama set the equal fastest time of the test overall, with them both achieving a 2’00.4 on qualifying and race tyres. Haga opted not to use qualifiers though, and finished the day early as his wrist started to ache following his crash at Misano. In addition to the Superbike teams, the Supersport teams were also out in force. Last year proved a good race for the Yamaha World Supersport Team at this circuit, with Curtain and Parkes finishing first and second respectively. Positive after taking second at the last race in Misano, Parkes went fastest on day one ahead of Sofuoglu. On day two he took almost a second off his best time to finish third fastest overall. Following West’s departure, Steve Martin re-joined the team this week to help out at the test. Martin has already ridden the 2007 YZF-R6 this season when he stood in for Curtain at Assen in April so it took him no time at all to get to grips with the bike again. He went fourth fastest overall, ending up only 0.2 seconds behinds Parkes. Both teams will test at Vallelunga, Italy, on 7-8 July prior to returning to Brno on 22nd July for the ninth race of the 2007 season. Troy Corser (Yamaha Motor Italia WSB Team) “This has been a good opportunity to test a lot of different tyre compounds as well as various suspension settings. Overall, I’d say it’s been a positive test for me; my lap times have been quicker than last year’s race or qualifying times. It’s been good preparation for the race, although it’s a shame about the wet and blustery conditions on day one. The lower temperatures also caused some issues as the tyres that had been brought for the test are designed for the more usual hotter temperatures at Brno.” Noriyuki Haga (Yamaha Motor Italia WSB Team) “We’ve been concentrating just on tyre testing with Pirelli. The problem was that the track temperature has been much lower than usual so we couldn’t test in race conditions. The data we’ve got may or may not prove useful in the race, we will have to wait and see in a few weeks. The bike set-up is good, though, and we have another opportunity for testing in two weeks time. As well as the weather hampering testing, my wrist is still sore from the Misano crash. It has only been ten days since the race and I reckon it is 80% recovered but it still hurts towards the end of the day. This has prevented me from riding to my full potential but I am confident it will be 100% repaired by the next race.” Massimo Meregalli (Team Coordinator, Yamaha Motor Italia WSB Team) “I’m 99% certain that the weather conditions we’ve had here this week are not what we will have here in three weeks for the race! Therefore, most of what we’ve done and achieved will change when it comes to the race weekend. What we did find, though, has given us confidence and shown our potential at this circuit. Nori is still having some problems with his wrist and finished early because of the pain, but he has been focused throughout practice and found a good set-up and rear tyre for hotter conditions as well as setting some good lap times. Troy has also posted some good times and, most importantly he has found a good set-up and rear tyre. He also tested some chassis solutions and has been quite satisfied with how it’s gone. The competitiveness of the team is now so good and we are at the top of our game in all conditions and circuits. The team and riders have all worked hard to achieve this.” Broc Parkes (Yamaha World Supersport Team) “We’ve tested lots of race parts, including chassis components and tyres and I’ve had both bikes going full-time with totally different set-ups to try and find the best one for the race. It’s gone well, though and I’m confident for the race.” Steve Martin (Yamaha World Supersport Team) “The test has gone okay for me and, I hope, the team. I haven’t ridden a bike for a couple of months now so it was good to get back on one. Getting back on the R6 wasn’t too hard, having ridden it for the Yamaha team back in April. It was just a case of getting back up to speed. We’ve been testing a selection of different tyre compounds and brake solutions and I think we’ve made some good progress. It’s been good to be here with the team and I’m glad I’ve been able to help them out these past two days.” Terrell Thien (Team Manager, Yamaha World Supersport Team) “The test has been good for us. The weather has been cool and I’m not sure how much the data we’ve gathered will help us choose tyres for the race weekend as the Pirelli’s are known for being very temperature sensitive. We’ve tested various parts, brake systems and shocks as well as chassis positions and had some good results. We’re happy that Steven has agreed to work with us just for this test. I feel that the team work has been excellent and everyone’s worked well together. Overall, it’s been a good test for us.” WSB Fastest Times Kagayama: 2’00.4 (race); 2’00.4 (qualifier) Corser: 2’00.4 (race); 2’00.4 (qualifier) Haga: 2’00.8 (race) Toseland: 2’00.9 (race); 2’00.3 (qualifier) Lanzi: 2’01.0 (race); 2’00.4 (qualifier) Bayliss: 2’01.1 (race); 2’00.2 (qualifier) Biaggi: 2’01.2 (race) Nieto: 2’01.6 (race); 2’00.8 (qualifier) Rolfo: 2’01.7 (race); 2’01.4 (qualifier) Laconi: 2’01.8 (race) WSS Fastest Times Charpentier: 2’04.1 Sofuoglu: 2’04.1 Parkes: 2’04.4 Martin: 2’05.2 Kallio: 2’05.5 Veneman: 2’05.5 Foret: 2’05.6 Riba: 2’05.9 Click here to view the news

UFO Corse Yamaha rider Simone Albergoni claimed his second successive double podium result at a round of the '07 World Enduro Championship when the Italian claimed a runner-up and third place finish in the Enduro 1 class at the GP of USA, round five of the WEC series. Having stood on the podium twice at his home round of the championship in Italy Simone came agonisingly close to collecting his first win of the season on day one in Hancock when he placed just four seconds behind current Enduro 1 class leader Juha Salminen from Finland. With Albergoni finishing in second and third over the two days his Spanish team-mate Cristobal Guerrero didn't fair quite as well and placed in sixth and fifth while Yamaha France rider Marc Germain claimed fourth on day one and a well deserved second position on day two. The opening day of the GP of USA was one of, if not the, toughest day of the '07 WEC series held so far this season. With each of the event's three special tests run within the same time check all riders were given just four five-to-ten minute breaks during the gruelling seven hours of riding. With heavy rain prior to the event leaving many sections of the course and special tests extremely wet the rocky terrain ensured a physically demanding event. Despite the challenging conditions UFO Yamaha rider Simone Albergoni rose to the occasion and pushed six-time enduro world champion Juha Salminen harder than any rider has this season. Despite a steady start Albergoni upped his pace as the day progressed and in winning four of the six special tests came within four seconds of being the first rider to beat Salminen this season. Making few mistakes all day Albergoni finished comfortably ahead of third place rider Bartosz Oblucki from Poland. Narrowly missing out on a podium result Yamaha France rider Marc Germain placed fourth on day one, just over five seconds behind Oblucki. A rider that normally excels in slippery, grassy conditions Germain showed that despite the severity of the Hancock special tests he was 100 per cent focused on a podium result. Two places behind Germain in sixth Cristobal Guerrero saw his day spoiled by two costly mistakes in the rock littered extreme test. Having pushed Salminen hard on day one Simone Albergoni started day two determined to go one better and claim his first win of the '07 WEC season. But despite his best efforts it wasn't to be as Salminen upped his pace and placed comfortably ahead of the Italian. Looking assured of a second runner-up result Albergoni ran into trouble on the very last special test of the event when his chain derailed on the extreme test. Losing around 20 seconds Albergoni placed in third. Showing that his day one result was no fluke Yamaha France rider Marc Germain again rode well on day two and thanks in part to mistakes from some of his closest rivals claimed the runner-up spot behind Salminen. For UFO Yamaha rider Cristobal Guerrero day two brought with it more disappointing luck as the young Spaniard, like Albergoni, derailed his chain on the final extreme test, costing him considerable time and dropping him to fifth. Claiming sixth on day two having finished in seventh on day one was the UFO Corse Yamaha team's third rider Maurizio Micheluz. Simone Albergoni (UFO Corse Yamaha) Enduro 1 class - Day 1 Second, Day 2 Third: "Day one was really good for me. Finishing second and really close to Salminen is my best result of the season so far - it's always good to finish so close to the rider leading the championship. I felt pretty good all day although the conditions were really difficult. The second day wasn't so good. I made some mistakes and on the third lap my chain came off on the extreme test, which cost me some time. Finally I finished third because Oblucki and Guerrero had some problems, so things ended pretty good for me with two podium results." Cristobal Guerrero (UFO Corse Yamaha) Enduro 1 class - Day 1 Sixth, Day 2 Fifth: "I crashed twice on the extreme test on day one and only put in one good time on that test so it meant that I was pushing hard all day to make up for those mistakes. I ended up finishing in sixth, which wasn't so bad but not as good as I could have finished. The second day wasn't so good for me. It was possible to finish second but my chain came off on the last extreme test, which cost me a lot of time and ended my chances of second. I finished in fifth. All day things went well but then right at the end of the day it went bad. I guess that can happen some times." Crowd: 1500 Weather: Sunny 2007 Enduro 1 United States 23/07/2007 Race 1 Pos. Rider Manu. Nat. Total Time 1 Juha Salminen KTM FIN 47'30.200 2 Simone Albergoni Yamaha ITA 0'4.140 3 Bartosz Oblucki Husqvarna POL 0'38.640 4 Marc Germain Yamaha FRA 0'44.000 5 Alessandro Belometti KTM ITA 0'49.660 6 Cristobal Guerrero Yamaha ESP 0'52.040 7 Maurizio Micheluz Yamaha ITA 1'32.590 8 Mike Hartmann KTM GER 3'53.400 9 Anthony Roberts Honda AUS 8'15.180 10 Juraj Dozsa KTM SVK 10'8.880 11 Steve Leivan Yamaha USA 15'2.330 Race 2 Pos. Rider Manu. Nat. Total Time 1 Juha Salminen KTM FIN 48'14.070 2 Marc Germain Yamaha FRA 1'26.320 3 Simone Albergoni Yamaha ITA 1'47.240 4 Bartosz Oblucki Husqvarna POL 1'53.350 5 Cristobal Guerrero Yamaha ESP 1'56.930 6 Maurizio Micheluz Yamaha ITA 2'24.680 7 Alessandro Belometti KTM ITA 2'30.270 8 Mike Hartmann KTM GER 4'35.080 9 Juraj Dozsa KTM SVK 9'42.090 10 Kyle Nelson Honda USA 15'44.930 Rider Standings 21/07/2007 Pos. Rider Manu. Nat. Points 1. Juha Salminen KTM FIN 250 2. Simone Albergoni Yamaha ITA 182 3. Marc Germain Yamaha FRA 175 4. Cristobal Guerrero Yamaha ESP 170 5. Alessandro Belometti KTM ITA 167 6. Bartosz Oblucki Husqvarna POL 163 7. Maurizio Micheluz Yamaha ITA 128 8. Mike Hartmann KTM GER 117 9. Anthony Roberts Honda AUS 79 10. Luca Cherubini TM ITA 59 11. Frederik Georgsson KTM SWE 56 12. Juraj Dozsa KTM SVK 51 13. Danielle Tellini KTM ITA 50 14. Joan Jou Yamaha ESP 45 15. Damien Miquel Kawasaki FRA 40 Manufacturer Standings 21/07/2007 Pos. Manufacturer Points 1. KTM 250 2. Yamaha 204 3. Husqvarna 163 4. Honda 109 5. TM 65 6. Suzuki 59 7. Kawasaki 48 RACE REPORT 23/07/2007 Aubert holds on third position in championship despite crash in USA Hoping to make up for the disappointment of scoring no points on the second day of the fourth round of the '07 WEC series UFO Corse Yamaha team rider Johnny Aubert saw his chances of a podium finish on day one of the GP of USA ended when he crashed on the event's enduro test, squashing his right middle finger between his handlebars and one of the many rocks that littered the test. Losing two-and-a-half minutes due to his fall and injured finger Johnny continued but due to the time he'd lost was only able to place sixth - a good result considering the immediate and extensive swelling to his finger. Narrowly missing out on placing fifth, were it not for his crash Aubert would likely have placed as runner-up. On day two Aubert tried his best to match the pace of battling Finns Mika Ahola, who topped day one, and reigning class champion Samuli Aro. With the two setting a blistering pace Aubert opted to settle for third mid way through the day yet still placed comfortably ahead of fourth place finisher Valtteri Salonen. Johnny Aubert (UFO Corse Yamaha) Enduro 2 class - Day 1 Sixth, Day 2 Third: "I crashed in the enduro test and squashed one of my fingers on my right hand between the handlebar and a rock, which was really painful and made things difficult for me on day one. I lost two and a half minutes in that one test, so that wasn't good at all. I still managed to finish in sixth, which considering how painful my finger was wasn't too bad. I really wanted to push as hard as I could on the second day, to try and make up for my disappointments on day one. But Ahola and Aro were too fast so there was no way I could win. Half way through the day I decided not to push too hard and to settle for third. I tried to push for a good result but things didn't quite go as well as I hoped they would this weekend." Crowd: 1500 Weather: Sunny 2007 Enduro 2 United States 23/07/2007 Race 1 Pos. Rider Manu. Nat. Total Time 1 Mika Ahola Honda FIN 46'4.960 2 Stefan Merriman Aprilia AUS 1'31.560 3 Fabien Planet KTM FRA 1'32.630 4 Samuli Aro KTM FIN 1'42.020 5 Mike Lafferty KTM USA 3'20.230 6 Johnny Aubert Yamaha FRA 3'25.170 7 Nathan Kanney Husqvarna USA 3'29.750 8 Fabrizio Dini Yamaha ITA 3'30.150 9 Nicolas Paganon Aprilia FRA 3'56.610 10 Nicolas Deparrois Husqvarna FRA 3'57.700 11 Valtteri Salonen HusaBerg FIN 3'59.110 12 Xavier Galindo KTM ESP 5'46.510 13 Aaron Kopp Christini USA 9'38.080 Race 2 Pos. Rider Manu. Nat. Total Time 1 Mika Ahola Honda FIN 47'4.870 2 Samuli Aro KTM FIN 0'3.450 3 Johnny Aubert Yamaha FRA 1'19.310 4 Valtteri Salonen HusaBerg FIN 2'40.620 5 Fabien Planet KTM FRA 2'42.540 6 Stefan Merriman Aprilia AUS 2'49.660 7 Mike Lafferty KTM USA 3'30.690 8 Fabrizio Dini Yamaha ITA 3'40.820 9 Nicolas Paganon Aprilia FRA 3'58.600 10 Nicolas Deparrois Husqvarna FRA 4'1.580 11 Nathan Kanney Husqvarna USA 4'33.180 12 Xavier Galindo KTM ESP 4'56.830 13 Justin Tucker Yamaha USA 15'33.540 14 Ryan Brown GasGas USA 23'50.040 15 Dan MC Caslin KTM USA 35'42.460 Rider Standings 21/07/2007 Pos. Rider Manu. Nat. Points 1. Mika Ahola Honda FIN 233 2. Samuli Aro KTM FIN 207 3. Johnny Aubert Yamaha FRA 187 4. Fabien Planet KTM FRA 162 5. Stefan Merriman Aprilia AUS 158 6. Valtteri Salonen HusaBerg FIN 114 7. Fabrizio Dini Yamaha ITA 108 8. Xavier Galindo KTM ESP 105 9. Jari Juha Mattila Beta FIN 102 10. Nicolas Deparrois Husqvarna FRA 101 11. Rodrig Thain Suzuki FRA 79 12. Nicolas Paganon Aprilia FRA 71 13. Nathan Kanney Husqvarna USA 59 14. Patrick Caps GasGas BEL 51 15. Thierry Klutz Sherco BEL 51 Manufacturer Standings 21/07/2007 Pos. Manufacturer Points 1. Honda 233 2. KTM 211 3. Yamaha 199 4. Aprilia 166 5. Husqvarna 115 6. HusaBerg 114 7. Beta 102 8. Suzuki 79 9. GasGas 60 10. Sherco 51 11. BMW 25 12. Kawasaki 15 13. TM 9 14. Christini 8 Click here to view the news

UFO Corse Yamaha rider Simone Albergoni put his disappointing result at the opening round of the '07 World Enduro Championship series behind him at round two of the series staged in Puerta Lumbreras, Spain, where the Italian placed in third and second position in the Enduro 1 class. Feeling completely at home on his WR250, and having recorded some strong results in the opening rounds of the Italian Enduro Championship ahead of the Spanish event, Simone showed that despite his frustrating start to the WEC series he now has the speed to battle for E1 class victory. With conditions much different to those found at the series' opening winter enduro in Sweden, day one proved to be extremely difficult in places as a result of heavy rain on Friday evening. Leaving each of the events three special tests extremely slippery it was Finn Juha Salminen who managed to deal with conditions the best and claimed victory ahead of Italian Alessandro Belometti with Albergoni 10 seconds behind in third. Winning the third timed test of the day had it not been for a costly mistake in the day's eighth timed tests Simone would have placed as runner-up. Following Albergoni home on day one, and finishing less than half a second behind his more experienced team-mate, was Spaniard Cristobal Guerrero. Encouraged by his home crowd Guerrero, like Albergoni, topped one special test to claim his best result since winning the Enduro Junior world championship in '05. On day two it was again Finn Salminen that set the pace winning all but four of the day's special tests in the E1 class. But behind the six-time enduro world champion both Simone Albergoni and Cristobal Guerrero managed to get ahead of Alessandro Belometti to claim the runner-up and third place positions respectively. With Albergoni winning two special tests to place 28 seconds behind Salminen. Guerrero again placed less than one second behind his team-mate in third. In finishing third Cristobal claimed his first ever podium finish in senior WEC competition. Disappointingly for the UFO Corse Yamaha team's third E1 class rider Maurizio Micheluz the second round of the '07 WEC series didn't go as well as the Italian had hoped. Having shown good speed in the Italian championship Maurizio struggled to get to grips with the conditions and as a result placed in seventh on both days. Simone Albergoni (UFO Corse Yamaha) Enduro 1 class - Day 1 third, Day 2 second: "I am really pleased with the way the GP of Spain has gone because the first round of the championship in Sweden was terrible. I am really happy because I now have a good feeling with the bike and am able to push hard. Finishing third on day one was really good. The start of the season was difficult for me because I struggled to adjust to my Yamaha as quickly as I hoped I would, but now I am really pleased with the performance of the bike. "The second day was tough - there were several riders that we really fast so to finish second is great. I had a really good fight with my team-mate Cristobal Guerrero, which was good. I am much happier with my result and the way I am riding." Cristobal Guerrero (UFO Corse Yamaha) Enduro 1 class - Day 1 Fourth, Day 2 Third: "It's been a great weekend for me and my first podium finish in the WEC since I won the Enduro Junior championship in '05. On day one I missed the podium by one second, which was disappointing but at the same time it was good to know that my speed was good enough to fight with the riders at the top of the class. I only made one crash so it was a good day. "Day two was really tough. The tests were much rougher than on day one and it was really close between myself, Simone Albergoni, Bartosz Oblucki and Alessandro Albergoni. I could have finished second but Simone finished less than one second ahead of me. I am really pleased with the way the weekend has gone. I'm looking forward to Portugal now." Maurizio Micheluz (UFO Corse Yamaha) Enduro 1 class - Day 1 Seventh, Day 2 Seventh: "It's been a bad weekend for me. I didn't feel good on the bike and just didn't have a good feeling with the special tests. I finished seventh on both days, which isn't good. I crashed many times on day one and things weren't much better on day two. I hope things will be better in Portugal." Temp: 20 Crowd: 5600 Weather: Sunny 2007 Enduro 1 Spain 29/04/2007 Race 1 Pos. Rider Manu. Nat. Total Time 1 Juha Salminen KTM FIN 50'3.520 2 Alessandro Belometti KTM ITA 50'14.070 3 Simone Albergoni Yamaha ITA 50'44.690 4 Cristobal Guerrero Yamaha ESP 50'45.140 5 Marc Germain Yamaha FRA 51'8.520 6 Bartosz Oblucki Husqvarna POL 51'33.690 7 Maurizio Micheluz Yamaha ITA 51'50.430 8 Julien Gauthier Honda FRA 52'10.220 9 Mike Hartmann KTM GER 52'12.080 10 Luca Cherubini Honda ITA 52'47.890 11 Anthony Roberts Honda AUS 52'57.100 12 Miquel Damien Kawasaki FRA 53'40.870 13 Danielle Tellini KTM ITA 54'23.110 14 Gonzalo Reis KTM ITA 55'14.550 15 Gregory Eyries Yamaha FRA 55'35.030 Race 2 Pos. Rider Manu. Nat. Total Time 1 Juha Salminen KTM FIN 49'53.300 2 Simone Albergoni Yamaha ITA 50'21.750 3 Cristobal Guerrero Yamaha ESP 50'21.830 4 Alessandro Belometti KTM ITA 50'23.930 5 Bartosz Oblucki Husqvarna POL 50'48.840 6 Marc Germain Yamaha FRA 50'51.260 7 Maurizio Micheluz Yamaha ITA 51'14.940 8 Luca Cherubini Honda ITA 52'17.090 9 Julien Gauthier Honda FRA 52'21.400 10 Mike Hartmann KTM GER 52'26.210 11 Fabio Mossini Honda ITA 53'15.260 12 Anthony Roberts Honda AUS 53'16.410 13 Danielle Tellini KTM ITA 53'49.770 14 Miquel Damien Kawasaki FRA 50'1.470 15 Gonzalo Reis KTM ITA 54'29.070 Rider Standings 28/04/2007 Pos. Rider Manu. Nat. Points 1. Juha Salminen KTM FIN 100 2. Alessandro Belometti KTM ITA 72 3. Bartosz Oblucki Husqvarna POL 69 4. Cristobal Guerrero Yamaha ESP 66 5. Simone Albergoni Yamaha ITA 62 6. Marc Germain Yamaha FRA 59 7. Maurizio Micheluz Yamaha ITA 49 8. Mike Hartmann KTM GER 41 9. Tomi Peltola Suzuki FIN 38 10. Frederik Georgsson KTM SWE 36 11. Niklas Gustafsson KTM SWE 34 12. Anthony Roberts Honda AUS 33 13. Julien Gauthier Honda FRA 25 14. Luca Cherubini Honda ITA 24 15. Tobias Burman KTM SWE 21 Manufacturer Standings 28/04/2007 Pos. Manufacturer Points 1. KTM 100 2. Yamaha 72 3. Husqvarna 69 4. Honda 44 5. Suzuki 38 6. Kawasaki 16 7. TM 3 RACE REPORT 29/04/2007 Johnny Aubert wins first Enduro 2 race Yamaha mounted Frenchman Johnny Aubert produced the best result of his enduro career to date at the second round of the '07 WEC series staged in Puerto Lumbreras where he topped the highly competitive Enduro 2 class on both days aboard his WR450. Hardly putting a foot wrong on day one, and then managing to claim victory on day two despite two falls and constant pressure from reigning E2 world champion Samuli Aro, Aubert signalled his intentions to claim his first enduro world title in '07. With conditions in Spain starting wet on day one following heavy rain on Friday evening Aubert started the event in the best possible way by winning the six opening special tests on day one. Dropping just a few seconds to his E2 championship rivals on the seventh test of the day the former motocross rider then returned to his winning ways and topped a further three special tests before the day's close to win by close to one minute. Placing along side Aubert on the podium were Finn Mika Ahola and Australian Stefan Merriman. With conditions much drier and much rougher on day two than they were on day one Aubert again started well and topped the first three tests on day two. Opening up a slender lead at the head of the E2 class only to lose it following two crashes, Johnny remained focused during the second half of the day and maintained his lead to claim a deserved win. Winning a total of eight special tests in the E2 class on day two Aubert also finished as the event's overall fastest competitor on both days one and two. Finishing on the podium alongside Aubert on day two were Finns Samuli Aro and Mika Ahola. Italian UFO Corse Yamaha team rider Fabrizio Dini recorded two top 10 results aboard his WR450 in Spain placing in 10th on day one and in ninth on day two. Johnny Aubert (UFO Corse Yamaha) Enduro 2 class - Day 1 First, Day 2 First: "Day one was a little strange for me because I won the race quite easily. I didn't make any mistakes and felt really comfortable on all the special tests. Day two was a little harder because the special tests got really rough, but I still rode well. I crashed twice, and got stuck in a big rut in the extreme test on one lap, but still managed to stay at the top of the E2 results. Samuli Aro was also really fast, which meant that if I had made one more mistake I would have lost the lead, but I managed to stay in front and won like I did on day one. It's my first double victory so I am really pleased. I hope I can continue like this in Portugal next weekend." Temp: 20 Crowd: 5600 Weather: Sunny 2007 Enduro 2 Spain 29/04/2007 Race 1 Pos. Rider Manu. Nat. Total Time 1 Johnny Aubert Yamaha FRA 49'10.520 2 Mika Ahola Honda FIN 50'8.540 3 Stefan Merriman Aprilia AUS 50'33.870 4 Fabien Planet KTM FRA 50'56.410 5 Samuli Aro KTM FIN 51'7.070 6 Jari Juha Mattila Beta FIN 51'25.170 7 Rodrig Thain Suzuki FRA 51'31.890 8 Xavier Galindo KTM ESP 51'39.370 9 Nicolas Deparrois Husqvarna FRA 52'1.110 10 Fabrizio Dini Yamaha ITA 52'16.280 11 Thierry Klutz Sherco BEL 52'37.570 12 Nathan Kanney Husqvarna USA 53'17.950 13 Joel Smets BMW BEL 54'32.560 14 Emmanuel Albepart Honda FRA 54'43.560 15 Sascha Eckert BMW GER 54'55.700 Race 2 Pos. Rider Manu. Nat. Total Time 1 Johnny Aubert Yamaha FRA 49'16.350 2 Samuli Aro KTM FIN 49'23.310 3 Mika Ahola Honda FIN 49'42.130 4 Stefan Merriman Aprilia AUS 50'20.590 5 Fabien Planet KTM FRA 50'29.140 6 Rodrig Thain Suzuki FRA 50'50.750 7 Xavier Galindo KTM ESP 51'8.130 8 Nicolas Deparrois Husqvarna FRA 51'11.360 9 Fabrizio Dini Yamaha ITA 51'18.680 10 Jari Juha Mattila Beta FIN 51'28.500 11 Thierry Klutz Sherco BEL 52'34.310 12 Patrick Caps GasGas BEL 52'41.180 13 Emmanuel Albepart Honda FRA 52'54.010 14 Felipe Zanol Yamaha ESP 53'9.370 15 Nathan Kanney Husqvarna USA 53'35.290 Rider Standings 28/04/2007 Pos. Rider Manu. Nat. Points 1. Mika Ahola Honda FIN 89 2. Samuli Aro KTM FIN 85 3. Johnny Aubert Yamaha FRA 82 4. Stefan Merriman Aprilia AUS 62 5. Fabien Planet KTM FRA 62 6. Jari Juha Mattila Beta FIN 59 7. Xavier Galindo KTM ESP 45 8. Valtteri Salonen HusaBerg FIN 42 9. Rodrig Thain Suzuki FRA 39 10. Nicolas Deparrois Husqvarna FRA 39 11. Fabrizio Dini Yamaha ITA 36 12. Thierry Klutz Sherco BEL 33 13. Patrik Wicksell KTM SWE 33 14. Nicolas Paganon Aprilia FRA 32 15. Nathan Kanney Husqvarna USA 27 Manufacturer Standings 28/04/2007 Pos. Manufacturer Points 1. Honda 89 2. KTM 87 3. Yamaha 82 4. Aprilia 63 5. Beta 59 6. Husqvarna 42 7. HusaBerg 42 8. Suzuki 39 9. Sherco 33 10. GasGas 22 11. BMW 12 12. TM 9 Click here to view the news

UFO Corse Yamaha team rider Simone Albergoni got his 2008 Enduro 1 World Championship campaign off to an impressive start at the Grand Prix of Sweden, staged in Ostersund, where the Italian was runner-up on day one and then again finished on the podium with third place on day two. The series' only winter enduro is typically an event in which many southern European riders struggle, due to the frozen terrain and sub-zero riding conditions. Albergoni defied expectations and showed just how determined he is to win this year's E1 title by posting two solid results despite admitting that he certainly doesn't feel at home racing with spiked tyres. Heading to Finland ten days prior to the Swedish opener for preparation, Simone mixed consistency with speed on day one and never dropped lower than fifth in the class on any of the day's seven special tests. Finishing just eight seconds behind eventual E1 class winner Mika Ahola on the event's opening test, Simone held off hard charging WEC newcomer Eero Remes from Finland and after one-hour of special test action placed as a deserved runner-up. On day two Simone was again quick, despite the unfamiliar conditions. Although not starting Sunday as well as he had on Saturday, and not managing to get to grips with the fast motocross test, three solid enduro test performances saw him end the day third, just 18 seconds behind former double E1 world champion Ivan Cervantes. Up next on the WEC tour are the second and third rounds of the series, which will take place in Portugal and Spain - events that will be much more to Simone's liking. Competing alongside Albergoni for the UFO Corse Yamaha team in the E1 class Maurizio Micheluz placed in seventh on both days - results the Italian was pleased with considering the frozen terrain. Performing well on the motocross test on day one, Maurizio was again at his best on the motocross tests on day two managing to record the third fastest E1 class time on the last lap of the event. Although consistent on both days, and like Micheluz riding strongly on the event's fast and flowing motocross section, Spaniard Cristobal Guerrero was unable to perform as well as he'd hoped as several crashes hampered his results. Cristobal preparations for the meeting were hampered due to the shoulder injury he sustained at the final round of the Indoor Enduro World Cup but he was still able to secure two top ten results with eighth on day one and ninth on day two. Simone Albergoni (UFO Corse Yamaha) Enduro 1 class - Day 1: 2nd, Day 2: 3rd "I'm really pleased with my results this weekend. In 2007 and 2006 I really struggled with the conditions and my results were bad, which made things difficult for me for the rest of the season as I was always trying to catch up lost points. Finishing second on day one and third on day two is fantastic. I hoped that I would get two podium results but to get them is a really great start to the championship. Day one went really well. I wasn't as fast on the motocross on day two as I was on day one, but my enduro tests were still good. I didn't expect to be as fast as I was. I have to thank Mika Ahola because I spent some time training with him in Finland before this GP." Cristobal Guerrero (UFO Corse Yamaha) Enduro 1 class - Day 1: 8th, Day 2: 9th "Things didn't go as well as I hoped they would here in Sweden - it is difficult riding in these strange conditions. Although there wasn't as much snow as there could have been it was still difficult. My training before the race was also not the best because of my shoulder injury. I hoped for better results but I crashed too many times. I hope I can perform better in Portugal and Spain." Maurizio Micheluz (UFO Corse Yamaha) Enduro 1 class - Day 1: 7th, Day 2: 7th "The most important thing for me this weekend was simply to survive. I knew that the race would be tough for me so I just wanted to finish both days as well as I could. I finished seventh on day one, but not too far behind the other southern European riders. My special test times on day two were quite good and I finished seventh again, which I'm happy with. I am looking forward to the rest of the championship now and won't miss coming back to the winter enduro next year!" Race 1 Pos., Rider, Manu., Nat., Total Time 1, Mika Ahola, Honda, FIN, 68'8.110 2, Simone Albergoni, Yamaha, ITA, 1'43.120 3, Eero Remes, KTM, FIN, 1'45.280 4, Marc Germain, Yamaha, FRA, 2'20.120 5, Bartosz Oblucki, Husqvarna, POL, 2'33.780 6, Ivan Cervantes, KTM, ESP, 2'45.370 7, Maurizio Micheluz, Yamaha, ITA, 2'48.650 8, Cristobal Guerrero, Yamaha, ESP, 3'49.450 9, Niklas Gustafsson, Honda, SWE, 4'22.660 10, Jordan Curvalle, Suzuki, FRA, 5'50.220 Race 2 Pos., Rider, Manu., Nat., Total Time 1, Mika Ahola, Honda, FIN, 49'15.050 2, Ivan Cervantes, KTM, ESP, 1'44.580 3, Simone Albergoni, Yamaha, ITA, 2'3.320 4, Eero Remes, KTM, FIN, 2'7.990 5, Niklas Gustafsson, Honda, SWE, 2'21.280 6, Marc Germain, Yamaha, FRA, 3'5.140 7, Maurizio Micheluz, Yamaha, ITA, 3'14.430 8, Bartosz Oblucki, Husqvarna, POL, 3'30.560 9, Cristobal Guerrero, Yamaha, ESP, 3'51.050 10, Frederik Georgsson, KTM, SWE, 3'57.280 Rider Standings 15/03/2008 Pos., Rider, Manu., Nat., Points 1, Mika Ahola, Honda, FIN, 50 2, Simone Albergoni, Yamaha, ITA, 42 3, Eero Remes, KTM, FIN, 38 4, Ivan Cervantes, KTM, ESP, 37 5, Marc Germain, Yamaha, FRA, 33 6, Bartosz Oblucki, Husqvarna, POL, 29 7, Niklas Gustafsson, Honda, SWE, 28 8, Maurizio Micheluz, Yamaha, ITA, 28 9, Cristobal Guerrero, Yamaha, ESP, 25 10, Jordan Curvalle, Suzuki, FRA, 11 11, Frederik Georgsson, KTM, SWE, 11 Manufacturer Standings 15/03/2008 Pos., Manufacturer, Points 1, Honda, 50 2, KTM, 42 3, Yamaha, 42 4, Husqvarna, 29 5, Suzuki, 11 ---------- RACE REPORT - 16/03/2008 Albert takes podium double in Sweden Chasing his first World Enduro Championship Frenchman Johnny Aubert got his 2008 WEC season off to a decent start at the Grand Prix of Sweden where the UFO Corse Yamaha rider placed on the podium on both days having claimed a well deserved 2nd spot on day one and a 3rd place finish on day two. Coming into the '08 series havng claimed the outright win at last year's ISDE in Chile, Aubert, who enjoyed solid results at the GP of Sweden in both '07 and '06, again showed that despite his relative lack of experience in winter conditions he can certainly produce the goods. Just 28 seconds behind E2 class winner Joakim Ljunggren on day one, Johnny overcame a less than perfect opening test to remain ahead of seven-time world champion Juha Salminen, despite the Finn's best efforts to push Aubert back into third. Hoping that he would be able to finish on the podium as he had in seasons past, Johnny surprised even himself by finishing ahead of several experienced Scandinavian participants. Although he wasn't able to repeat his runner-up result on day two, Aubert dropped just one position to again finish on the podium. With only 30 seconds separating the top three E2 class riders at the end of the second outing, Johnny again placed behind Ljunggren but both riders were overtaken by Salminen as the Finn took the top slot. Starting the championship with two podium results Aubert now heads to Portugal and Spain for rounds two and three of the WEC; events he won in '07. Finishing in 9th position on day one and in 12th position on day two, Fabrizio Dini managed to complete both days of the WEC opener without major problems - something that several riders were unable to do. Never expecting to enter the top section of the standings, Fabrizio scored a handful of hard earned championship points and now looks forward to returning to more standard race conditions. Johnny Aubert (UFO Corse Yamaha) Enduro 2 class - Day 1: 2nd, Day 2: 3rd "I am pleased with my weekend. Finishing second on day one was a great start to the championship and finishing third on day two is also really good. With some very fast Scandinavian riders in the E2 class, to finish on the podium on both days is good. I hoped before the race that I could take a podium, so to do that is very pleasing. There was a little bit less snow this year, which helped me. I only spent a few days training before the race, so I'm pleased with the way my bike was. I am looking forward to the next two rounds of the championship now. Last year I won rounds two and three, so of course I would like to do the same again this year. I am not sure what type of special tests there will be but my physical condition is really good so if the races are hard I am ready for that." Fabrizio Dini (UFO Corse Yamaha) Enduro 2 class - Day 1: 9th, Day 2 12th "Finishing ninth on day one was quite good for me. It was much better than my results the two previous years. The conditions were very strange because there wasn't so much snow on the special tests and there was a lot of water and mud. But it was the same for everyone. I was 12th on day two, which wasn't as good but I started the day badly and crashed about five times. Things got better after the first lap but I am just pleased that there will be no more snow at the next rounds of the series." Race 1 Pos., Rider, Manu., Nat., Total Time 1, Joakim Ljunggren, HusaBerg, SWE, 61'10.080 2, Johnny Aubert, Yamaha, FRA, 0'28.550 3, Juha Salminen, KTM, FIN, 0'40.180 4, Valtteri Salonen, HusaBerg, FIN, 0'45.360 5, Antoine Meo, Husqvarna, FRA, 0'46.140 6, Rodrig Thain, TM, FRA, 2'56.200 7, Alessandro Belometti, KTM, ITA, 3'37.120 8, Fritz Andersson, KTM, SWE, 4'9.870 9, Fabrizio Dini, Yamaha, ITA, 4'50.890 10, Alessandro Zanni, Honda, ITA, 5'22.840 Race 2 Pos., Rider, Manu., Nat., Total Time 1, Juha Salminen, KTM, FIN, 49'34.020 2, Joakim Ljunggren, HusaBerg, SWE, 0'21.080 3, Johnny Aubert, Yamaha, FRA, 0'30.520 4, Valtteri Salonen, HusaBerg, FIN, 0'41.290 5, Jari Juha Mattila, Honda, FIN, 0'44.880 6, Antoine Meo, Husqvarna, FRA, 1'19.490 7, Alessandro Belometti, KTM, ITA, 2'23.260 8, Simo Kirssi, BMW, FIN, 2'36.930 9, Rodrig Thain, TM, FRA, 2'49.210 10, Fritz Andersson, KTM, SWE, 2'55.900 Rider Standings 15/03/2008 Pos., Rider, Manu., Nat., Points 1, Joakim Ljunggren, HusaBerg, SWE, 47 2, Juha Salminen, KTM, FIN, 45 3, Johnny Aubert, Yamaha, FRA, 42 4, Valtteri Salonen, HusaBerg, FIN, 36 5, Antoine Meo, Husqvarna, FRA, 31 6, Alessandro Belometti, KTM, ITA, 28 7, Rodrig Thain, TM, FRA, 27 8, Fritz Andersson, KTM, SWE, 24 9, Jari Juha Mattila, Honda, FIN, 16 10, Simo Kirssi, BMW, FIN, 13 11, Fabrizio Dini, Yamaha, ITA, 12 12, Alessandro Zanni, Honda, ITA, 11 Manufacturer Standings 15/03/2008 Pos., Manufacturer, Points 1, HusaBerg, 47 2, KTM, 45 3, Yamaha, 42 4, Husqvarna, 31 5, Honda, 27 6, TM, 27 7, BMW, 13 Click here to view the news

Fiat Yamaha Team rider Valentino Rossi took an impressive victory in Shanghai today, his second at the circuit having won the inaugural Chinese Grand Prix with Yamaha in 2005. It was Rossi's 89th career victory but his first in seven races, since Estoril last year, as well as his first on Bridgestone tyres. Rossi had looked strong from Friday morning and he was clearly in good shape for the race, but after two days of high temperatures and sunshine, heavy rain throughout the morning threatened to turn the established order on its head. The rain ceased in the late morning however and the track began to dry out with the aid of a warm wind, meaning the race was finally declared dry. Starting from second on the grid behind Colin Edwards, Rossi crossed the line first time in fourth but had made it back to second by the end of the third lap, passing Casey Stoner and pole-sitter Colin Edwards in the process. His next target was Dani Pedrosa and he made his move on the Spaniard at the end of the back straight to take the lead. From then on the Italian led to the chequered flag but it was nail-bitingly close for the majority of the remaining 17 laps, with less than half a second between them and the pair the only two lapping consistently in the 1'59s. On lap 19 Pedrosa began to tail off and Rossi eventually took victory by 3.890 seconds, with Casey Stoner over 15 seconds back in third. The other side of the garage had an almost equally happy day as Jorge Lorenzo shook off the pain from his fractured ankle to take a brave fourth place, something that was unimaginable after his crash on Friday morning. Rossi is the fourth different rider to win in four races this season and the championship is wide open, with Lorenzo seven points off Pedrosa in second and Rossi just two points behind him in third. Valentino Rossi - Position: 1 Time: 44'08.061 "After seven races it is a great feeling to win again; I am very happy! This is a very important result for us because above all I was able to ride exactly how I wanted from start to finish and this was great fun for me. I had a great battle with Pedrosa and he pushed me hard and to be doing 1'59s until the end was unbelievable! All weekend we were hoping the rain wouldn't come so when we saw it this morning we were quite disappointed, then it started to dry out so we were praying that it would dry completely; we were lucky today! We worked very well with Bridgestone and together with their technicians we made a late tyre change and it was the right choice because my tyre worked very well until the end, as my times showed! It's the first win for us with Bridgestone so this is a great moment also for this reason and I want to say thank you to them. We were fast from Friday morning here and step by step we've found the perfect set-up and today the hard work paid off for everyone. We've had four races and four different winners so this shows how close the championship is, now we need to keep going because our rivals are all very near. Lorenzo did a great race today with his injuries, so this is a good day for everyone in the team. Thank you to my team and everyone at Yamaha, it's great to be here again." Davide Brivio - Team Manager "We needed this! It's a fantastic feeling for everyone to win again and Valentino did a perfect job today. There are many good things about this particular win; it's the first with Bridgestone, the first for a long time and also it's put us right back in touch for the championship after a poor start in Qatar. It's important that we continue like this but everyone has a great motivation and confidence is running high in our garage. Congratulations to Jorge for a great result in his condition, it's just the fourth race but our team is in good shape!" Jorge Lorenzo, the Fiat Yamaha Team's outstanding rookie, shook off the injuries he suffered in his crash on Friday to take a superb fourth place in China today on his 21st birthday. After fracturing his left ankle and badly bruising parts of his right leg, it was easy to forget that the Spaniard had also undergone surgery on his right arm less than a fortnight ago, leaving him to contest today's race with only one limb in full working order! With the weather turning bad today it was a nervous morning for the riders but it gradually dried out throughout the middle of the day and the 22-lap race was run in the dry. Lorenzo started from fourth but the early part of the race was a trial of endurance for the Michelin-shod rider as he slipped back through the field to as low as 9th at one stage. He then settled in 8th for seven laps before suddenly finding his rhythm on lap 12 and going on to pass four riders in as many laps.With Casey Stoner some way in front of him, fourth was as far as he could go but it was a brilliant result for the youngest rider on the grid after what has been one of the most difficult weekends of his career. Jorge Lorenzo - Position: 4 Time: +0'22.494 "Without a doubt, this result today is like a victory for me. On Friday I couldn't imagine being able to ride, then yesterday it was a little bit better and then finally today I was not able just to ride, but to be competitive and enjoy myself as well! I've ridden with a lot of pain in both legs but the staff of the Clinica Mobile made it possible for me to keep going, so I want to thank them. I lost a lot of places early on but in the second half of the race I found my rhythm and then step by step I started to move forwards; in fact I think I made more overtakes than in any race so far in this category! I stalled the engine on the start line for the warm-up lap, which was a scary moment, but luckily I was able to restart and it wasn't a problem. I want to say congratulations to Valentino for a great victory today as well, I think it's going to be an exciting year. I didn't have any pain in my arms today so hopefully the recent operation has been a success. Now I'm flying back to Barcelona to have treatment on my ankles and I will do everything I can to be back to my physical best in Le Mans. I want to thank Michelin, because my tyres were very good today, as well as Yamaha and all of my guys. I've had a great 21st birthday!" Daniele Romagnoli - Team Manager "Jorge did an incredible job today, I don't think that anyone expected him to do this well after what happened on Friday and in his current physical condition. We were luckily able to find a good set-up very quickly despite missing out on the first day, and overall I think that we can be very happy with a job well done. We found a good tyre with Michelin and it seems that Jorge was able to find a good rhythm. Thank you to the staff of the Clinica Mobile because they played a huge part in enabling Jorge to ride like this. Congratulations to Valentino for his win, I hope that we can all keep going strongly!" Masahiko Nakajima - Team Director "We've waited a long time to get back to winning ways! All of the Yamaha staff are very happy to win again with Valentino and I want to share this moment with Valentino's fans around the world! It's been a tough weekend and it was a big battle with Pedrosa, but it was an exciting and impressive race. I really want to congratulate Valentino and now we want to continue to improve the bike for the championship fight. We've done a great job with Bridgestone this weekend and we really appreciate their work, they helped us to win today! For Jorge it was a very tough weekend but he tried his best throughout to ride the bike and the team staff did an excellent job to make a bike which could be ridden by such an injured rider. It was very good team-work and an amazing result today. It was a hard, hard race for him but he showed how strong he is. Michelin provided us with good tyres, both for qualifying and the race, and I am very happy for all of our staff and look forward to the next race." Edwards and Toseland secure solid points for Tech 3 in Shanghai The Tech 3 Yamaha team consolidated fourth position in the Team world championship today after Colin Edwards and James Toseland collected a solid points haul in a tough Shanghai MotoGP race. Edwards, who started from pole position for the third time in his career, had to settle for eighth place after his podium challenge ended when he ran off track at the end of the back straight on lap six. Edwards was holding a comfortable third place at the time and pulling away from reigning world champion Casey Stoner. Edwards lost four places, which he was never able to recover despite a determined ride in the second half of the 22-lap race. James Toseland had a tough Shanghai debut as today's race was run in much cooler conditions than the first two days. Heavy rain that fell earlier the 125 and 250 races cleared in time for the MotoGP clash, but despite a typically dogged display, the British rider finished 12th. Colin Edwards - Position: 7 Time: +0'29.780 "I'm not particularly happy with that if I'm being honest. I knew what pace I could run and was just pushing as hard as I could in the beginning to try and get away from the guys behind me. I knew Casey was going to be there but I don't know what Valentino and Dani had but they were flying. As soon as they passed me they were gone. I was running third and I came into the hairpin after the back straight and braked at the same place but the rear end came up and I did the longest nose wheelie I've ever done in my entire life. I kept waiting for it to come back but at the end I had to let the brake off to get the rear wheel on the ground and I ran wide. I only lost three seconds but it was the places I lost that mattered. I rode as hard as I could and I'm tired of saying it, but I could not do anything else. We just missed something in the package today. At the end we needed to refine a couple of things to make it a little bit better but at the end of the day I made a mistake. But if I hadn't made it I still wasn't going to be on the podium. It just wasn't going to happen today. I wanted the temperature to be cooler but maybe not as cool as it was. I was licking my lips in the beginning because I thought some other guys had packages that would have worked better when it was hotter but it didn't happen. I have to say thanks to my guys for their effort this weekend. We got a pole position but obviously I expected more in the race. We'll look to put things right in Le Mans when I'll be giving it my all for Tech 3 and Michelin in their home race." James Toseland - Position: 12 Time: +0'43.191 "I don't want to be finishing 12th but in my first season this type of result is going to happen. I had a few problems with the set-up all weekend, which hasn't helped with me learning the track. I got a decent start but really found it difficult with the setting I had. We were going to try something this morning but it was wet and we gambled with it for the race. On paper it looked really good but unfortunately it wasn't quite right. You don't need too many problems to finish 12th in MotoGP. I had a small problem and it was costing me a lot of time in the important places and that was the difference between a top eight finish and being down in 12th. On the brakes the weight transfer was really fast. As I was on the brakes and turning in the rear was skating and not planted on the way into the corner. I was waiting too long for it to load up again before I could get on the power. The problem with the 800s is they don't have a great deal of torque so you have got to keep the corner speed up. If you are struggling to get into the corner and carry that corner speed you can't square anything off so I was finding it difficult on the entry and exit. Because of that I was slow mid-corner and on the exit, but losing that time costs you a second a lap and that is massive against these guys. That is the disadvantage of not knowing the track though. My guys worked really hard to help me learn the track and I'll try and pay them back with a good result in France next time out. This is a French team and I'll be desperate to do well for them." Herve Poncharal - Tech 3 Yamaha Team Manager "It was an incredible feeling yesterday to get our first pole position since 2002 and thanks to Colin and Michelin for that. Colin did a great job but we knew it was going to be a difficult race. Colin had a really good start and he led the first lap, and even when Valentino and Dani pulled away we were confident we could get a podium finish. Casey wasn't catching Colin and at one stage Colin was pulling away. But then he went straight on at the hairpin and he lost a bit of time. It is a great shame because although we were not going for the win, I think a podium was a possibility. We missed it this time but I'm sure there will be other opportunities. We still got some good points from both riders and I am not too disappointed. James had a tough weekend but as always he applied himself 100 per cent and he never stopped trying to improve. He will have learned a lot again and he was aggressive as usual in the first few laps. Overall it was a good weekend. We got a pole position, James and Colin are sixth and seventh in the championship so now we have to keep working and getting more confident. Colin was the first non-factory rider today so there are a lot of positives to be taken from the weekend." Race 1 - 22 Laps Pos., Rider, Manu., Nat., Total Time 1, Valentino Rossi, Yamaha, ITA, 44'8.061 2, Daniel Pedrosa, Honda, ESP, 0'3.890 3, Casey Stoner, Ducati, AUS, 0'15.928 4, Jorge Lorenzo, Yamaha, ESP, 0'22.494 5, Marco Melandri, Ducati, ITA, 0'26.957 6, Nicky Hayden, Honda, USA, 0'28.369 7, Colin Edwards, Yamaha, USA, 0'29.780 8, Toni Elias, Ducati, ESP, 0'30.225 9, Loris Capirossi, Suzuki, ITA, 0'31.440 10, Shinya Nakano, Honda, JPN, 0'35.969 11, Andrea Dovizioso, Honda, ITA, 0'36.246 12, James Toseland, Yamaha, GBR, 0'43.191 13, Randy De Puniet, Honda, FRA, 0'43.442 14, John Hopkins, Kawasaki, USA, 0'45.855 15, Sylvain Guintoli, Ducati, FRA, 0'46.330 16, Alex De Angelis, Honda, SMR, 0'50.593 17, Anthony West, Kawasaki, AUS, 1'5.593 Best Lap Rider, Manu., Nat., Total Time Valentino Rossi, Yamaha, ITA, 1'59.273 Rider Standings 04/05/2008 Pos., Rider, Manu., Nat., Points 1, Daniel Pedrosa, Honda, ESP, 81 2, Jorge Lorenzo, Yamaha, ESP, 74 3, Valentino Rossi, Yamaha, ITA, 72 4, Casey Stoner, Ducati, AUS, 56 5, Loris Capirossi, Suzuki, ITA, 33 6, James Toseland, Yamaha, GBR, 33 7, Colin Edwards, Yamaha, USA, 31 8, Nicky Hayden, Honda, USA, 29 9, Andrea Dovizioso, Honda, ITA, 26 10, John Hopkins, Kawasaki, USA, 26 11, Marco Melandri, Ducati, ITA, 23 12, Shinya Nakano, Honda, JPN, 22 13, Toni Elias, Ducati, ESP, 15 14, Chris Vermeulen, Suzuki, AUS, 14 15, Randy De Puniet, Honda, FRA, 11 Team Standings 04/05/2008 Pos., Team, Points 1, FIAT Yamaha Team, 146 2, Repsol Honda Team, 110 3, Ducati Marlboro Team, 79 4, Tech3 Yamaha, 64 5, Rizla Suzuki MotoGP, 47 6, Honda Gresini, 29 7, Kawasaki Racing Team, 29 8, JIR Scot Team, 26 9, Team Alice, 19 10, Honda LCR, 11 Manufacturer Standings 04/05/2008 Pos., Manufacturer, Points 1, Yamaha, 90 2, Honda, 81 3, Ducati, 56 4, Suzuki, 34 5, Kawasaki, 26 Click here to view the news

A title-worthy performance from Yamaha's San Manuel rider Chad Reed, after pulling back from a first corner crash to finish second, at Qwest Field in Seattle for the penultimate round of the 2008 Monster Energy AMA Supercross series (also an FIM World Championship) means that the Australian carries a ten point advantage to Las Vegas in search of his second crown next week. Yamaha of Troy's Jason Lawrence claimed the West Region Lites series with his YZ250F. Reed embarked on one of his finest rides this season - a term that has seen him net eight victories and twelve podiums - rallying from last position to exchanges some brusque moves with Andrew Short on the final lap and obtained the runner-up slot for the second week in succession. The 25 year old was still not at optimum fitness with his YZ450F after suffering a broken shoulder during practice in Detroit. "I don't know what's going on with my crashing, but I ran into the back of Millsaps and went down, and I just tried to come through and be smart. This result feels good; I'd rather take a 10-point lead into the final than be 10 points down," said the former champion who has set records this season and had led the title chase since the first round in Los Angeles. "I knew the start was going to be really important tonight, and I didn't think it was going to be possible to come through and get back up on top. There's another race, and another opportunity, and we minimized the points-loss as much as possible," he continued. "This title is going to be a lot of fun in Vegas, and I want to thank Shorty - that was a nice little move at end there, and it ripped the bars right out of my hands. We fought back and got him in the last corner, so that felt pretty good." "It's going to be fun in Vegas," he added. "The opposition has taken this title to a whole new level, and I can't wait." Reed holds ten points over Seattle victor Kevin Windham. Even if his rival wins in Nevada then he needs only to finish sixth to wrap up the championship. Yamaha had cause to celebrate when Jason Lawrence placed a blue machine on the second step of the podium the same evening and in doing so picked up his first West Coast Lies crown. The teenager managed the feat with six podium results, including three wins from a total of eight events. He was joined on the podium by Broc Hepler in third place. "I'm happy about that. That was our goal," the champ said of his success. "I would've never thought that I would win the supercross title before I would win the outdoor title, but maybe I'll get them both in one year!" The seventeenth and final round (including the East-West Lites Shootout) will take place at the Sam Boyd stadium this weekend. Race 1 - 20 Laps Pos., Rider, Manu., Nat., Total Time 1, Kevin Windham, Honda, USA, 17'45.680 2, Chad Reed, Yamaha, AUS, 0'2.374 3, Andrew Short, Honda, USA, 0'3.792 4, David D Millsaps, Honda, USA, 0'7.761 5, Tim Ferry, Kawasaki, USA, 0'8.982 6, Josh Grant, Honda, USA, 0'19.748 7, Josh Hill, Yamaha, USA, 0'33.303 8, Nicholas Wey, KTM, USA, 0'34.478 9, David Vuillemin, Suzuki, FRA, 0'36.645 10, Heath Voss, Honda, USA, 0'40.270 11, Charles Summey, Yamaha, USA, 0'53.909 12, Ryan Clark, Honda, USA, -1 Laps 13, Jeff Gibson, Kawasaki, USA, -1 Laps 14, Jason Thomas, Honda, USA, -1 Laps 15, Manuel Gomes Rivas, Kawasaki, ESP, -1 Laps 16, Chris Gosselaar, Honda, USA, -1 Laps 17, Tyler Bright, Honda, USA, -1 Laps 18, Travis Preston, Kawasaki, USA, -2 Laps 19, Dusty Klatt, Kawasaki, USA, -2 Laps 20, Bryan K Johnson, Honda, USA, -3 Laps Rider Standings 26/04/2008 Pos., Rider, Manu., Nat., Points 1, Chad Reed, Yamaha, AUS, 340 2, Kevin Windham, Honda, USA, 330 3, David D Millsaps, Honda, USA, 262 4, Andrew Short, Honda, USA, 261 5, Josh Hill, Yamaha, USA, 210 6, Tim Ferry, Kawasaki, USA, 205 7, Nathan Ramsey, Yamaha, USA, 173 8, David Vuillemin, Suzuki, FRA, 158 9, Nicholas Wey, KTM, USA, 144 10, Paul Carpenter, Honda, USA, 135 11, Charles Summey, Yamaha, USA, 130 12, Heath Voss, Honda, USA, 120 13, Travis Preston, Kawasaki, USA, 96 14, Jason Thomas, Honda, USA, 92 15, Eric Sorby, Honda, USA, 83 26, Grant Langston, Yamaha, RSA, 38 41, Broc Hepler, Yamaha, USA, 3 Manufacturer Standings 26/04/2008 Pos., Manufacturer, Points 1, Yamaha, 361 2, Honda, 352 3, Kawasaki, 283 4, Suzuki, 207 5, KTM, 148 Click here to view the news

A sun-blessed and roasting Grand Prix of Portugal at the stunning Agueda circuit was the perfect remedy for the FIM Motocross World Championship after the sea of rain and mud that washed out the Spanish visit last weekend. The splendid stage for round three of fifteen, south of the city of Porto, witnessed the Yamaha Monster Motocross Team score a double podium result with David Philippaerts finishing second and Josh Coppins third on the works YZ450FMs. Philippaerts won a moto and was second in the other race, while Coppins seized his first silverware of the season after a thrilling move past champion Steve Ramon for third spot on the final corner of the last lap. On the podium Philippaerts picked up the red-plate to signify his new status as MX1-GP championship leader for the first time. He is also the first Italian to sit at the top of the points table since the inception of the MX1-GP class in 2004. The dry circuit provided a technical test for the riders with the combinations of jumps and alternate line options meaning that the 'perfect' lap was tough to find and mistakes were heavily punished by the high pace. Philippaerts suffered a fast crash on Saturday that left the Italian with a sore back and lack of sensation in his arms during the qualification practice. He was still a bit stiff Sunday morning but put aside any discomfort to remain one of the protagonists in the first moto. After hunting down Billy Mackenzie and taking the lead on the seventh lap of twenty-one the 24 year old kept a good rhythm to retain control of the race until the chequered flag. It was his first moto success for the team and his first set of '25' points since the Grand Prix of Belgium last August. In Moto2 the Italian did not have the best first lap and had to work hard from fifth position to take advantage of another error by Mackenzie and also a crash by Jonathan Barragan to rise to second place. Although he tied on points with overall winner Sebastien Pourcel, the second moto ranking determined the final standing. It was the second consecutive runner-up position for Philippaerts. Josh Coppins tried a new rear suspension set-up on Saturday as well as some experimentation with different Pirelli tyres. The New Zealander was unable to match the pace of his peers at the start of both motos (even though he exited the gate in the top five both times) but was easily one of the strongest riders at the end of the races. In the first he pushed Mackenzie hard to take fifth but it was his determination and dogged pursuit of the lagging Ramon in the final two laps of the second sprint that really gave an indication of the Kiwi's 'steel'. Closing down some four seconds to the back of the Belgian, Coppins took the fight for third right to the last corner where he cut tighter and snatched the position - and the last podium spot - by four tenths of a second. The result was a message but the manner in which he delivered it was equally devastating, that Coppins - who missed five weeks of riding through two broken twos on his right foot prior to the start of the campaign - is hungry for the title. The championship standings now make good reading for the team. Philippaerts holds a 6 point gap over Ramon while Coppins is third and just 19 behind. Yamaha are second in the manufacturer's standings by 6 points. The Yamaha Monster Motocross Team now travel back to their Italian base near Parma for several days and a free weekend before packing up and heading east across to Europe to the impressive Sevlievo circuit and the Grand Prix of Bulgaria. The meeting will precede the squad's home round at Mantova seven days later. David Philippaerts, Yamaha Monster Motocross Team: 2nd "I am really happy to have the red plate because this is the first time for me. The first moto was unbelievable. My start was pretty average but I passed Mackenzie and Barragan and found some effective lines. When Sebastien came near in the last moments I looked to pull another second on him and controlled it until the end. I started well in the second moto but on the second corner my line meant that I had to be careful and lost some time, which let Sebastien and Mackenzie escape. It was a long race so I did not want to go crazy at the beginning and also the track was not easy. I knew the others would slow their pace by the end so I wanted to be strong the whole distance. My aim now is to try and stay in the top five each GP and this will be good for the championship." Josh Coppins, Yamaha Monster Motocross Team: 3rd "It was an exciting end to the Grand Prix and one that even I did not expect. I could see that Steve was fading and, of course, after last year I always like to pass Steve, so I put in that extra effort. He went wide in the last corner and I could not believe that. My eyes lit-up and I made the pass. We tried a new rear shock during Saturday which was a bit softer and suited me better. We also tested some tyres with a different compound moose and also sliced some of the nobs on the rubber. I think we had a pretty good set-up so I was happy with the bike. The extra options the team provided made things even better, which I was surprised about. It was finally nice to have a real race; a race where the best rider wins instead of the terrain being good for some or just being a lottery. Today it was Pourcel but it was a GP where the degree of racing fitness and skill comes into it and that was really positive. It has been a tough season for me so far with a few 'downs'. I don't quite have the speed at the moment, especially at the start of the race; all I have is the consistency in the laps I make. I have to be patient, which is hard because I am not a patient person! With sixth, fourth and third things have gone well but you always want better. Everyone around me has been really supportive and I am sure I will get up to a higher level very soon. I was one of the strongest out there at the end, and this makes me proud." Mino Raspanti, Racing Manager, Yamaha Monster Motocross Team: "I really great Grand Prix for us; to have both riders on the podium is really good. They continue to work hard and perform well. David's win was deserved I am very happy for Josh also. These are some difficult moments for him but he is trying so hard. David and Josh are both happy with the bikes and Josh more so after we made a small change with the shock. We will work now and look ahead to Bulgaria, and Mantova the week after." Race 1 - 21 Laps Pos., Rider, Manu., Nat., Total Time 1, David Philippaerts, Yamaha, ITA, 38'56.063 2, Sébastien Pourcel, Kawasaki, FRA, 0'4.287 3, Jonathan Barragan, KTM, ESP, 0'12.368 4, Billy MacKenzie, Honda, GBR, 0'16.139 5, Joshua Coppins, Yamaha, NZL, 0'17.169 6, Steve Ramon, Suzuki, BEL, 0'34.548 7, Marc De Reuver, Honda, NED, 0'40.307 8, Tanel Leok, Kawasaki, EST, 0'41.921 9, Mike Brown, Honda, USA, 0'44.229 10, Clement Desalle, Suzuki, BEL, 0'46.637 11, Julien Bill, Honda, CHE, 1'3.842 12, Maximilian Nagl, KTM, GER, 1'6.481 13, Marcus Schiffer, KTM, GER, 1'9.133 14, Ken De Dycker, Suzuki, BEL, 1'11.582 15, James Noble, KTM, GBR, 1'12.339 16, Alex Salvini, Suzuki, ITA, 1'13.578 17, Manuel Priem, Kawasaki, BEL, 1'16.105 18, Kornel Nemeth, KTM, HUN, 1'18.885 19, Alessio Chiodi, TM, ITA, 1'26.162 20, Pierre A. Renet, Suzuki, FRA, 1'28.134 Race 2 - 21 Laps Pos., Rider, Manu., Nat., Total Time 1, Sébastien Pourcel, Kawasaki, FRA, 39'42.975 2, David Philippaerts, Yamaha, ITA, 0'8.473 3, Joshua Coppins, Yamaha, NZL, 0'11.360 4, Steve Ramon, Suzuki, BEL, 0'11.774 5, Mike Brown, Honda, USA, 0'16.237 6, Billy MacKenzie, Honda, GBR, 0'22.697 7, Jonathan Barragan, KTM, ESP, 0'29.193 8, Marc De Reuver, Honda, NED, 0'35.176 9, Kornel Nemeth, KTM, HUN, 0'39.940 10, Tanel Leok, Kawasaki, EST, 0'48.334 11, Clement Desalle, Suzuki, BEL, 0'50.370 12, Maximilian Nagl, KTM, GER, 0'52.219 13, Carlos Campano, Yamaha, ESP, 1'2.410 14, James Noble, KTM, GBR, 1'14.846 15, Pierre A. Renet, Suzuki, FRA, 1'22.129 16, Marcus Schiffer, KTM, GER, 1'31.529 17, Paulo Goncalves, Honda, POR, 1'38.142 18, Alex Salvini, Suzuki, ITA, 1'44.695 19, Marvin Van Daele, Suzuki, BEL, 1'48.894 20, Manuel Priem, Kawasaki, BEL, 1'51.571 Rider Standings 27/04/2008 Pos., Rider, Manu., Nat., Points 1, David Philippaerts, Yamaha, ITA, 102 2, Steve Ramon, Suzuki, BEL, 96 3, Joshua Coppins, Yamaha, NZL, 83 4, Billy MacKenzie, Honda, GBR, 79 5, Ken De Dycker, Suzuki, BEL, 77 6, Maximilian Nagl, KTM, GER, 58 7, Jonathan Barragan, KTM, ESP, 54 8, Sébastien Pourcel, Kawasaki, FRA, 52 9, Tanel Leok, Kawasaki, EST, 50 10, Kornel Nemeth, KTM, HUN, 48 11, Clement Desalle, Suzuki, BEL, 43 12, Mike Brown, Honda, USA, 42 13, Marc De Reuver, Honda, NED, 40 14, Manuel Priem, Kawasaki, BEL, 40 15, Kevin Strijbos, Kawasaki, BEL, 36 16, Marcus Schiffer, KTM, GER, 27 17, James Noble, KTM, GBR, 20 18, Tom Church, Kawasaki, GBR, 20 19, Aigar Leok, Yamaha, EST, 20 20, Alex Salvini, Suzuki, ITA, 19 28, Carlos Campano, Yamaha, ESP, 8 Manufacturer Standings 27/04/2008 Pos., Manufacturer, Points 1, Suzuki, 108 2, Yamaha, 102 3, Kawasaki, 92 4, KTM, 85 5, Honda, 82 6, TM, 13 ---------- RACE REPORT - 27/04/2008 Sensational Cairoli sweeps Portuguese GP MX2-GP World Champion Antonio Cairoli stormed the Grand Prix of Portugal at a sun-soaked Agueda circuit in front of 18,000 spectators to win both motos and claim his first victory of the season and also take the lead in the 2008 standings after three rounds of fifteen. Despite still suffering from the last affects of a throat infection - he only stopped taking antibiotics on Friday - Cairoli was back to his stylish and ruthless best; the sort of form and spectacular flamboyance that won 13 from 14 Grand Prix in 2007. The Sicilian of the Yamaha Red Bull De Carli team defeated main title rivals Tyla Rattray and Tommy Searle with two dominant displays on his YZ250F. Across the dry, stony and technical terrain the reigning number one shone as brightly as the blue sky overhead. A fantastic duel with Searle in the first laps of Moto1 was decided when Cairoli attempted and succeeded with an audacious overtaking move that saw him gain the lead and brake away from the Briton. The second moto was over from the second corner, when number '222' was in no mood for further games. Yamaha Ricci Racing's Nico Aubin, who celebrated his 20th birthday yesterday with a pit-board salutation from his team in the first session Saturday morning and also received a pie in the face from his French peers in the evening, was 5th overall with results of 8th and 4th. The Frenchman suffered from a crash in the first moto that caused him to lose positions but was more consistent in the second after sprinting away from Stephen Sword. Team-mate and Grand Prix of Spain victor Davide Guarneri admitted that the heat of the scorching Saturday timetable left him fighting for breath during the qualification race in which he captured third. The Italian rode to a decent 5th after vying for fourth during one stage of the moto but had to pull up to avoid his fallen team-mate which kept him outside the top four. In the second race a poor start meant a lot of work but he came through the pack before being hit to the ground by local hope Rui Goncalves. From that point 12th was all he could salvage to take 7th. Cairoli's triumph means that he now holds an advantage of 5 points from Rattray. Guarneri is fourth and Aubin in seventh. Alessandro Lupino qualified for his second Grand Prix of the season and just the third of his career. The teenager scored two points with 19th position in Moto1. Some good news for the De Carli crew is that Matteo Bonini has recovered from his dislocated shoulder and subsequent operation and will begin to ride this week. The Italian could be in action as early as the Grand Prix of Bulgaria in a fortnight but will almost certainly bring the team back to full strength for their home round at Mantova on May 18th. The fourth round of the FIM World Championship will take place at the Sevlievo circuit in two weeks time. The Grand Prix will also witness the start of the inaugural Women's World Championship. Antonio Cairoli, Yamaha Red Bull De Carli: 1st "I am starting to get a much better feeling with my bike because in the winter we tested and practiced a lot with the 450. It was nice to have a 'normal' race because with the sand and then the mud last week I did not get a chance to have a look at my condition. I am really happy with the race today though. We had some fun in that first moto and Tommy had some good lines. His style is similar to mine; we both play a lot with the bikes on the jumps. We fought for three or four laps but then I had some more speed through one section and decided to make the break once the move worked. I only stopped taking antibiotics for my throat infection on Friday, so physically it was a hard day and now I can look after my body with the free weekend we have. Taking the lead in the championship is important but there is a long journey ahead still." Nicolas Aubin, Yamaha Ricci Racing: 5th "The result is not so good and I could not take two top four positions, which I was capable of. I need better starts in the next GP. I'm pleased with my speed and physical condition I just need to get nearer the front right at the beginning. The level in MX2-GP this year is very close so getting those good starts is more important than ever." Davide Guarneri, Yamaha Ricci Racing: 7th "It was so hot and hard today. In the first moto I made a good start, around the top seven. When I was in sixth I tried to pass Sword but in one corner I found Aubin had crashed and was right there in the middle of the line and I lost some time there, fifth was OK though. In the next moto I was quite far back at the start and after two laps I pushed hard and passed many riders. I was in the top seven and tried Goncalves for sixth but in one corner he went straight on and took me out. I was a bit tired when I restarted and took twelfth." Race 1 - 22 Laps Pos., Rider, Manu., Nat., Total Time 1, Antonio Cairoli, Yamaha, ITA, 40'22.503 2, Tommy Searle, KTM, GBR, 0'6.909 3, Tyla Rattray, KTM, RSA, 0'10.391 4, Stephen Sword, Kawasaki, GBR, 0'43.783 5, Davide Guarneri, Yamaha, ITA, 0'46.371 6, Rui Goncalves, KTM, POR, 0'47.906 7, Steven Frossard, Kawasaki, FRA, 0'55.172 8, Nicolas Aubin, Yamaha, FRA, 0'55.725 9, Gautier Paulin, Kawasaki, FRA, 1'9.019 10, Jeremy Van Horebeek, KTM, BEL, 1'18.458 11, Xavier Boog, Suzuki, FRA, 1'19.138 12, Wyatt Avis, Honda, RSA, 1'33.412 13, Anthony Boissiere, KTM, FRA, 1'37.467 14, Marvin Musquin, Honda, FRA, 1'39.138 15, Carl Nunn, Suzuki, GBR, 1'40.158 16, Joel Roelants, KTM, BEL, 1'41.942 17, Elliott Banks-Browne, Suzuki, GBR, 1'52.164 18, Gregory Aranda, Kawasaki, FRA, 1'57.571 19, Alessandro Lupino, Yamaha, ITA, -1 Laps 20, Shannon Terreblanche, Suzuki, RSA, -1 Laps Race 2 - 22 Laps Pos., Rider, Manu., Nat., Total Time 1, Antonio Cairoli, Yamaha, ITA, 39'45.757 2, Tyla Rattray, KTM, RSA, 0'12.867 3, Tommy Searle, KTM, GBR, 0'17.992 4, Nicolas Aubin, Yamaha, FRA, 0'33.529 5, Stephen Sword, Kawasaki, GBR, 0'44.135 6, Rui Goncalves, KTM, POR, 0'50.537 7, Carl Nunn, Suzuki, GBR, 0'56.905 8, Shaun Simpson, KTM, GBR, 1'0.459 9, Manuel Monni, Yamaha, ITA, 1'3.120 10, Jeremy Van Horebeek, KTM, BEL, 1'7.252 11, Gautier Paulin, Kawasaki, FRA, 1'12.610 12, Davide Guarneri, Yamaha, ITA, 1'21.877 13, Jeremy Tarroux, KTM, FRA, 1'25.215 14, Shannon Terreblanche, Suzuki, RSA, 1'28.935 15, Gregory Aranda, Kawasaki, FRA, 1'38.980 16, Anthony Boissiere, KTM, FRA, 1'49.453 17, Julien Vanni, KTM, FRA, 1'58.650 18, Elliott Banks-Browne, Suzuki, GBR, -1 Laps 19, Gert Krestinov, KTM, EST, -1 Laps 20, Joel Roelants, KTM, BEL, -1 Laps Rider Standings 27/04/2008 Pos., Rider, Manu., Nat., Points 1, Antonio Cairoli, Yamaha, ITA, 126 2, Tyla Rattray, KTM, RSA, 121 3, Tommy Searle, KTM, GBR, 102 4, Davide Guarneri, Yamaha, ITA, 86 5, Rui Goncalves, KTM, POR, 81 6, Stephen Sword, Kawasaki, GBR, 80 7, Nicolas Aubin, Yamaha, FRA, 78 8, Shaun Simpson, KTM, GBR, 60 9, Manuel Monni, Yamaha, ITA, 60 10, Jeremy Van Horebeek, KTM, BEL, 57 11, Xavier Boog, Suzuki, FRA, 55 12, Joel Roelants, KTM, BEL, 49 13, Gautier Paulin, Kawasaki, FRA, 48 14, Erik Eggens, Suzuki, NED, 38 15, Jeremy Tarroux, KTM, FRA, 34 16, Carl Nunn, Suzuki, GBR, 27 17, Steven Frossard, Kawasaki, FRA, 23 18, Marvin Musquin, Honda, FRA, 23 19, Gert Krestinov, KTM, EST, 23 20, Anthony Boissiere, KTM, FRA, 22 21, Evgeny Bobryshev, Yamaha, RUS, 20 27, Alessandro Lupino, Yamaha, ITA, 8 Manufacturer Standings 27/04/2008 Pos., Manufacturer, Points 1, Yamaha, 141 2, KTM, 137 3, Kawasaki, 86 4, Suzuki, 81 5, Honda, 28 Click here to view the news

Noriyuki Haga secured a second place for his Yamaha Motor Italia WSB Team after another unsettled race day for the Japanese star, with a crash in race one preventing him from a potential double points score at one his favourite tracks. In the first race Haga fell on lap two, after colliding with Ruben Xaus at the slow De Strubben left hand corner, while Corser went on to fight in the leading group for most of the race, only dropping back to fifth in the later stages and finishing 11 seconds from the win after 22 laps. The second race of the day was run in warmer conditions than the first, with a track temperature of 31 degrees, and it offered Haga a real chance to make up for his first race disappointments. He ran eventual race winner Troy Bayliss close, taking second place by a margin of 0.082 seconds. Corser experienced a drop in front tyre performance and slipped back from a possible podium finish to tenth. Bayliss won both races to extend his championship lead. Corser remains third in the championship standings, thanks to his Assen scores, on a total of 89 points. Haga holds on to sixth position, with 67 points, as thoughts now turn to the team's home race in Monza. Team YZF Yamaha rider Shinichi Nakatomi was 15th in each Assen race, scoring points both times as he battled hard in the midfield, finding a better race two set-up than he had in the opener. David Checa (Yamaha GMT94) dislocated his hip after a heavy fall in race one. It is very likely he will need to sit out Monza race weekend and perhaps even the American round. His team-mate Sebastien Gimbert was close to two points scores, but missed out by placing 17th in each event. Noriyuki Haga (DNF and 2nd - Yamaha Italy WSB Team) "When I overtook Ruben I touched with him and then we fell. In race two I pushed hard all through the race and when I was following Bayliss he tried to get away near the end. But I could stay with him and even caught back up with him. I was following, waiting to see where I could pass but in the last few laps he rode the corners on a tight line and had good acceleration. I am disappointed with the first race and satisfied with the second, but not satisfied enough." Troy Corser (5th and 10th - Yamaha Italy WSB Team) "Towards the end of race one the rear tyre, maybe after two-thirds distance, lost grip on the right hand side. On the long rights, onto the back straight, it was spinning but not pushing. In race two I struggled with the front tyre a bit and used it up. I had no front left at the end. It was a bit rough with a couple of riders at one point, but that's normal, just racing." Massimo Meregalli (Team Manager, Yamaha Motor Italia WSB Team) "After yesterday we were expecting really good results, but we did not have good fortune on raceday. Nori did a fantastic second race and he showed his true desire and ability to go for the win - and he was only 0.082 seconds away. Troy worked hard to find good settings all weekend, and he had issues with grip on race two. Now we go home and race at Monza next time. We would like to do what we did last year, take a double win…" Shinichi Nakatomi (15th and 15th - Team YZF Yamaha) "I had a front tyre problem after ten laps and it became impossible to push. For race two we fitted a different front tyre, and it was better, but some riders were difficult to overtake. Overall, not so good, but we took points in both races. Next event we will change the settings and go for a better position." Christophe Guyot (Team Manager Yamaha GMT94 Team) " A difficult weekend for us on balance after some high points. Davide Checa has dislocated his hip after his crash and we will have to see how he is before the next race at Monza. Sebastien rode as hard as he could but he just missed out on points." Round 4: Assen, Netherlands Track length: 4555m Opened: 1955 Fastest Superbike Lap: 1:38.355 (Troy Bayliss, Ducati, 2008) Lap record: 1'39.395 (Max Neukirchner, Suzuki) Last year's winners: Troy Bayliss (Ducati) and James Toseland (Honda) Race 1 - 22 Laps Pos., Rider, Manu., Nat., Total Time 1, Troy Bayliss, Ducati, AUS, 36'50.907 2, Carlos Checa, Honda, ESP, 0'2.132 3, Max Neukirchner, Suzuki, GER, 0'2.179 4, Yukio Kagayama, Suzuki, JPN, 0'10.919 5, Troy Corser, Yamaha, AUS, 0'11.051 6, Jakub Smrz, Ducati, CZE, 0'11.979 7, Ryuichi Kiyonari, Honda, JPN, 0'15.184 8, Makoto Tamada, Kawasaki, JPN, 0'18.395 9, Gregorio Lavilla, Honda, ESP, 0'18.634 10, Max Biaggi, Ducati, ITA, 0'20.699 11, Regis Laconi, Kawasaki, FRA, 0'25.759 12, Kenan Sofuoglu, Honda, TUR, 0'26.064 13, Ayrton Badovini, Kawasaki, ITA, 0'35.582 14, Karl Muggeridge, Honda, AUS, 0'36.266 15, Shinichi Nakatomi, Yamaha, JPN, 0'37.215 16, Ruben Xaus, Ducati, ESP, 0'37.286 17, Sebastien Gimbert, Yamaha, FRA, 0'39.037 18, Russel Holland, Honda, AUS, 0'45.162 19, Shuhei Aoyama, Honda, JPN, 1'4.895 20, Arie Vos, Ducati, NED, 1'5.022 21, Loic Napoleone, Yamaha, FRA, 1'22.777 22, Roberto Rolfo, Honda, ITA, -2 Laps Race 2 - 22 Laps Pos., Rider, Manu., Nat., Total Time 1, Troy Bayliss, Ducati, AUS, 36'46.238 2, Noriyuki Haga, Yamaha, JPN, 0'0.082 3, Carlos Checa, Honda, ESP, 0'6.336 4, Ruben Xaus, Ducati, ESP, 0'7.575 5, Max Neukirchner, Suzuki, GER, 0'8.011 6, Yukio Kagayama, Suzuki, JPN, 0'13.999 7, Gregorio Lavilla, Honda, ESP, 0'15.215 8, Jakub Smrz, Ducati, CZE, 0'16.376 9, Makoto Tamada, Kawasaki, JPN, 0'17.269 10, Troy Corser, Yamaha, AUS, 0'18.380 11, Fonsi Nieto, Suzuki, ESP, 0'18.926 12, Max Biaggi, Ducati, ITA, 0'21.452 13, Karl Muggeridge, Honda, AUS, 0'23.794 14, Roberto Rolfo, Honda, ITA, 0'29.847 15, Shinichi Nakatomi, Yamaha, JPN, 0'30.252 16, Regis Laconi, Kawasaki, FRA, 0'31.249 17, Sebastien Gimbert, Yamaha, FRA, 0'31.328 18, Ayrton Badovini, Kawasaki, ITA, 0'39.814 19, Kenan Sofuoglu, Honda, TUR, 0'49.956 20, Russel Holland, Honda, AUS, 0'51.554 21, Shuhei Aoyama, Honda, JPN, 0'51.642 22, Loic Napoleone, Yamaha, FRA, 1'2.682 23, Arie Vos, Ducati, NED, 1'2.729 Best Lap Rider, Manu., Nat., Total Time Max Neukirchner, Suzuki, GER, 1'39.395 Rider Standings 27/04/2008 Pos., Rider, Manu., Nat., Points 1, Troy Bayliss, Ducati, AUS, 178 2, Carlos Checa, Honda, ESP, 108 3, Troy Corser, Yamaha, AUS, 89 4, Fonsi Nieto, Suzuki, ESP, 85 5, Ruben Xaus, Ducati, ESP, 81 6, Noriyuki Haga, Yamaha, JPN, 67 7, Max Neukirchner, Suzuki, GER, 66 8, Max Biaggi, Ducati, ITA, 54 9, Gregorio Lavilla, Honda, ESP, 48 10, Lorenzo Lanzi, Ducati, ITA, 42 11, Yukio Kagayama, Suzuki, JPN, 41 12, Ryuichi Kiyonari, Honda, JPN, 39 13, Michel Fabrizio, Ducati, ITA, 37 14, Jakub Smrz, Ducati, CZE, 35 15, Makoto Tamada, Kawasaki, JPN, 28 21, Shinichi Nakatomi, Yamaha, JPN, 9 22, David Checa, Yamaha, ESP, 5 23, Sebastien Gimbert, Yamaha, FRA, 3 Manufacturer Standings 27/04/2008 Pos., Manufacturer, Points 1, Ducati, 190 2, Yamaha, 126 3, Suzuki, 113 4, Honda, 109 5, Kawasaki, 37 ---------- RACE REPORT - 27/04/2008 Foret and Parkes Almost There At Assen Fabien Foret and Broc Parkes, both from the Yamaha World Supersport Team, were tantalisingly close to a podium finish apiece at Assen, after a classic high-speed multi-rider battle for the win, which finally went to Andrew Pitt. Foret was only 0.201 seconds from victory itself, in fourth place after 21-laps. He had fought through from a bad start, completing the first lap down in 13th place. Parkes finished only 0.283 seconds from the win and his fifth place means that both riders scored good points in the championship chase, after starting from the front row of the race. Parkes had to ride with a fractured left hand, after a Friday practice crash, and battled manfully in the first few places for almost the entire race, even after losing power from his left hand as the race progressed. In the championship Parkes is third on 49 points, Foret is fourth on 46 points, with leader Joan Lascorz on 70, after taking third place today. Massimo Roccoli (Yamaha Team Italia Lorenzini by Leoni) fell from his machine on lap two, while sitting inside the top ten places. Yamaha Spain riders Angel Rodriguez and David Salom left Assen without any points, as Rodriguez crashed on lap 9, while ranked 11th, and Salom just missed a point by finishing 16th. Fabien Foret (4th - +0'0.201 - Yamaha World Supersport Team) "I had another bad start and my fault, I don't know why. I had to push very hard and that made the tyres wear more. I don't think I found the perfect machine settings, and I am not sure if I made the right choice of front tyre. It may have been better with the other one I considered today, but it is always easy to speak about what could have been after the race. The fourth place is not so bad, and the championship is long. It will be better in the next tracks. No big drama today but I expected something better." Broc Parkes (5th - +0'0.203 - Yamaha World Supersport Team) "It was chaos out there today and everyone just wanted to go at each other. At one stage, lap ten maybe, I felt not too bad then after that my hand just started to get more and painful and once the tyres started to go I couldn't move around like I wanted to, I just had to sit on and ride it. Even with a painkiller you just can't use your hand properly when it's injured. The worst parts were during braking. I just couldn't do what I wanted to. A good race, but we always want to be on the podium. I actually thought there were a couple of more laps to go because everyone had their pit boards out at the same time, so I could hardly see my own one!" Wilco Zeelenberg (Team Manager, Yamaha World Supersport Team) "Some race for sure, and a there was a big line up of riders fighting for the win. We are little bit disappointed not to be on the podium, but our main rivals were fast all the time in the whole race so we have to accept that we were fourth and fifth. Fabien still struggled a bit settings wise, and Broc with a broken hand, so what can we say about finishing so close to the podium places? A lot of good riders finished behind us. David Salom: (16th- +0'27.619 - Yamaha Spain World Supersport Team) "In the start I´ve been beaten by two riders. It was like starting all over again from the 19th position. I didn´t feel comfortable during the race, I couldn´t find my rhythm. It´s a pity because this is my third race just out of the points" Massimo Roccoli (DNF - Yamaha Team Italia Lorenzini by Leoni) "I was happy with the way the bike was set-up after the warm-up this morning. I was running well after the first lap and feeling calm and ready for a long race. Then I lost the front on one of the fast right-handers and that was me finished, because the bike went ever and over in the gravel." Angel Rodriguez: (DNF - Yamaha Spain World Supersport Team) "My start was not so bad, I was fightingwith the riders ahead but in the final line I´ve braked too strong and I crashed. It´s a shame because I had a good rhythm and my bike, my tyres and team had worked very strong to achieved a better result" Round 4: Assen, Netherlands Track length: 4555m Opened: 1955 Fastest Supersport lap: 1:40.130 (Gianluca Viziello, Honda) Lap record: 1:42.096 (Kenan Sofuoglu, Honda) Last year's winner: Kenan Sofuoglu, (Honda) Race 1 - 21 Laps Pos., Rider, Manu., Nat., Total Time 1, Andrew Pitt, Honda, AUS, 36'10.751 2, Jonathan Rea, Honda, GBR, 0'0.014 3, Joan Lascorz, Honda, ESP, 0'0.150 4, Fabien Foret, Yamaha, FRA, 0'0.201 5, Broc Parkes, Yamaha, AUS, 0'0.283 6, Joshua Brookes, Honda, AUS, 0'0.447 7, Barry Veneman, Suzuki, NED, 0'2.050 8, Gianluca Vizziello, Honda, ITA, 0'2.346 9, Craig Jones, Honda, GBR, 0'2.714 10, Matthieu Lagrive, Honda, FRA, 0'3.073 11, Mark Aitchinson, Triumph, AUS, 0'4.070 12, Chris Walker, Kawasaki, GBR, 0'4.863 13, Robbin Harms, Honda, DNK, 0'5.088 14, Ivan Clementi, Triumph, ITA, 0'16.644 15, Ilario Dionisi, Triumph, ITA, 0'21.630 16, David Salom, Yamaha, ESP, 0'27.619 17, Miguel Praia, Honda, POR, 0'27.773 18, Vesa Kallio, Honda, FIN, 0'27.898 19, Graeme Gowland, Honda, GBR, 0'39.320 20, Mirko Giansanti, Honda, ITA, 0'39.321 21, Kev Coghlan, Honda, GBR, 0'41.111 22, Danilo Dell'omo, Honda, ITA, 0'46.341 23, Lorenzo Alfonsi, Honda, ITA, 0'48.878 24, Ron van Steenbergen, Honda, NED, 0'56.714 25, Santiago Barragan, Honda, ESP, 0'57.194 26, Jurjen Uitterdijk, Yamaha, NED, 1'7.115 27, William De Angelis, Honda, ITA, 1'8.851 Best Lap Rider, Manu., Nat., Total Time Gianluca Vizziello, Honda, ITA, 1'42.130 Rider Standings 27/04/2008 Pos., Rider, Manu., Nat., Points 1, Joan Lascorz, Honda, ESP, 70 2, Andrew Pitt, Honda, AUS, 50 3, Broc Parkes, Yamaha, AUS, 49 4, Fabien Foret, Yamaha, FRA, 46 5, Joshua Brookes, Honda, AUS, 43 6, Jonathan Rea, Honda, GBR, 41 7, Craig Jones, Honda, GBR, 39 8, Robbin Harms, Honda, DNK, 28 9, Gianluca Vizziello, Honda, ITA, 26 10, Matthieu Lagrive, Honda, FRA, 20 11, Chris Walker, Kawasaki, GBR, 20 12, Barry Veneman, Suzuki, NED, 19 13, Gianluca Nannelli, Honda, ITA, 17 14, Massimo Roccoli, Yamaha, ITA, 16 15, Mark Aitchinson, Triumph, AUS, 15 19, David Salom, Yamaha, ESP, 8 Manufacturer Standings 27/04/2008 Pos., Manufacturer, Points 1, Honda, 95 2, Yamaha, 71 3, Triumph, 25 4, Kawasaki, 20 5, Suzuki, 19 ---------- RACE REPORT - 27/04/2008 Pirro scores first podium of the season Michele Pirro was second in today's race with an impressive ride on a Yamaha Lorenzini by Leoni YZF-R1. It was his first podium for 2008 after strong performances and two podium finishes in the previous season. The young Italian was the top finishing Yamaha rider after Sylvain Barrier (YZF Yamaha Junior Team) crashed at post 15. Yamaha Motor Italia Junior Team rider Claudio Corti looked set for this first race win of the season but finished the weekend on a low after crashing out on lap ten of the Assen circuit. Michelle Pirro (2nd - Yamaha Motor Italia Lorenzini by Leoni) "I have to learn to start better and to take advantage of having a clear track in front of me because I can lap very fast and make it difficult for the guys to keep up. There is much risk in the field with lots of contact between riders. I'm very happy because I didn't make any mistakes and I've taken a very important podium for the championship." Claudio Corti (DNF - Yamaha Motor Italia Junior Team) "I'm sorry for the team as the bike was working perfect. It was the worst moment for the crash. I'm sorry I made the mistake but we will be in front at Monza on track." Race 1 - 13 Laps Pos., Rider, Manu., Nat., Total Time 1, Maxime Berger, Honda, FRA, 22'24.450 2, Michele Pirro, Yamaha, ITA, 0'0.904 3, Xavier Simeon, Suzuki, BEL, 0'2.848 4, Alessandro Polita, Ducati, ITA, 0'4.811 5, Andrea Antonelli, Honda, ITA, 0'5.481 6, Raymond Schouten, Yamaha, NED, 0'9.544 7, Matej Smrz, Honda, CZE, 0'16.932 8, Davide Giugliano, Suzuki, ITA, 0'17.289 9, Kenny Foray, Yamaha, FRA, 0'17.672 10, Marko Rohtlaan, Honda, EST, 0'19.588 11, Domenico Colucci, Ducati, ITA, 0'19.898 12, Matteo Baiocco, Yamaha, ITA, 0'23.074 13, Danny De Boer, Suzuki, NED, 0'25.288 14, Gareth Jones, Suzuki, AUS, 0'25.595 15, Yoann Tiberio, Kawasaki, FRA, 0'29.279 16, Rene Mahr, Yamaha, GER, 0'30.097 17, Fabrizio Perotti, Suzuki, ITA, 0'31.915 18, Gregory Junod, Yamaha, CHE, 0'37.255 19, Denis Sacchetti, MV Agusta, ITA, 0'38.303 20, Ronald ter Braake, Honda, NED, 0'40.461 Best Lap Rider, Manu., Nat., Total Time Michele Pirro, Yamaha, ITA, 1'42.076 Rider Standings 27/04/2008 Pos., Rider, Manu., Nat., Points 1, Maxime Berger, Honda, FRA, 34 2, Xavier Simeon, Suzuki, BEL, 32 3, Michele Pirro, Yamaha, ITA, 30 4, Davide Giugliano, Suzuki, ITA, 28 5, Alessandro Polita, Ducati, ITA, 26 6, Brendan Roberts, Ducati, AUS, 25 7, Andrea Antonelli, Honda, ITA, 11 8, Claudio Corti, Yamaha, ITA, 11 9, Raymond Schouten, Yamaha, NED, 10 10, Kenny Foray, Yamaha, FRA, 10 11, Matej Smrz, Honda, CZE, 9 12, Chris Seaton, Suzuki, AUS, 8 13, Barry Burrell, Honda, GBR, 7 14, Marko Rohtlaan, Honda, EST, 6 15, Michele Magnoni, Yamaha, ITA, 6 22, Sylvain Barrier, Yamaha, FRA, 2 Manufacturer Standings 27/04/2008 Pos., Manufacturer, Points 1, Ducati, 38 2, Suzuki, 36 3, Honda, 34 4, Yamaha, 31 5, Kawasaki, 2 Click here to view the news

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 Windham from seizing control. The result was nevertheless the Australian's eleventh podium of the season on the San Manuel YZ450F and means that his points lead was only cut to 13 with two races to go. "I was a long way from 100 percent tonight, going from twelfth last week to second is huge for me," he said. "I was back and forth this week seeing doctors and trying to just get everything taken care of. We made huge gains this week, and there were a lot of people who supported me. Unfortunately, we've been in this position a lot, so you learn over the years.Last weekend was just survival, while this weekend, I felt pretty good in practice. The track just got really gnarly in the main event, and the whoops were really tough, and I couldn't hang with Windham. I had to let go of my pride and look at the bigger picture, and that's tough. I felt, for the rest of the track, I had what it took to win; I just didn't have what it took in the whoops." "I feel like I'm still in control of this thing," he added. "To salvage a second this weekend, it was huge for me, and I think it was huge for my competitors. You can see that a lot of them are really motivated, still we got out there, got a good start, and I did what I had to do." Reed's team-mate Nathan Ramsey took a season-best finish with fourth place. Josh Hill was sixteenth. AMA Motocross Champion Grant Langston has missed the entire Indoor campaign with an eye affliction but hopes to begin riding very soon to prepare for his Outdoor defence. "He's coming over this week to start riding so that we can check him out, but we're still not completely sure he's going to be ready for Glen Helen," said team manager Jimmy Perry. "But that is the plan, for him to be ready to go come Glen Helen. His eye seems to be healing very slowly, so we'll have to wait and see." The penultimate Supercross meeting takes place at the Qwest Field in Seattle next weekend. Race 1 - 20 Laps Pos., Rider, Manu., Nat., Total Time 1, Kevin Windham, Honda, USA, 18'7.740 2, Chad Reed, Yamaha, AUS, 0'7.765 3, Andrew Short, Honda, USA, 0'16.083 4, Nathan Ramsey, Yamaha, USA, 0'22.079 5, Thomas Hahn, Kawasaki, USA, 0'26.788 6, David D Millsaps, Honda, USA, 0'31.473 7, Justin Brayton, KTM, USA, 0'37.787 8, Paul Carpenter, Honda, USA, 0'42.197 9, Travis Preston, Kawasaki, USA, 0'51.429 10, Jason Thomas, Honda, USA, 0'66.715 11, Nicholas Wey, KTM, USA, -1 Laps 12, David Vuillemin, Suzuki, FRA, -1 Laps 13, Heath Voss, Honda, USA, -1 Laps 14, Eric Sorby, Honda, USA, -1 Laps 15, Bryan K Johnson, Honda, USA, -1 Laps 16, Josh Hill, Yamaha, USA, -1 Laps 17, Jeff Gibson, Kawasaki, USA, -1 Laps 18, Kevin W. Johnson, Yamaha, USA, -1 Laps 19, Troy Adams, Honda, USA, -2 Laps 20, Kelly Smith, Kawasaki, USA, -20 Laps Rider Standings 19/04/2008 Pos., Rider, Manu., Nat., Points 1, Chad Reed, Yamaha, AUS, 318 2, Kevin Windham, Honda, USA, 305 3, David D Millsaps, Honda, USA, 244 4, Andrew Short, Honda, USA, 241 5, Josh Hill, Yamaha, USA, 196 6, Tim Ferry, Kawasaki, USA, 189 7, Nathan Ramsey, Yamaha, USA, 173 8, David Vuillemin, Suzuki, FRA, 146 9, Paul Carpenter, Honda, USA, 135 10, Nicholas Wey, KTM, USA, 131 11, Charles Summey, Yamaha, USA, 120 12, Heath Voss, Honda, USA, 109 13, Travis Preston, Kawasaki, USA, 93 14, Jason Thomas, Honda, USA, 85 15, Eric Sorby, Honda, USA, 83 25, Grant Langston, Yamaha, RSA, 38 39, Broc Hepler, Yamaha, USA, 3 Manufacturer Standings 19/04/2008 Pos., Manufacturer, Points 1, Yamaha, 339 2, Honda, 327 3, Kawasaki, 267 4, Suzuki, 195 5, KTM, 135 Click here to view the news

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 water lashed the sea of mud. The track had already been cut after numerous MX2 machines could not make the three steep step-ups only 20 minutes prior but the majority of MX1-GP riders were concerned about the conditions and the second sprint was eventually annulled leaving the results from the first race to decide the overall result. Josh Coppins was fourth through the slime and seat-high ruts in Moto1 and ensured that the team had their two riders within the top four in perhaps the hardest race conditions seen this century. It was all a stark contrast to the blue skies and sunshine of Saturday that saw the track, hard, dusty and fast with the top nine qualifiers split by just two seconds. With the drastic change in weather came a different race approach as the slow speed and care used by the riders turned the race into an exercise of survival and in which the wild alterations in the lap-chart, as people slipped and crashed throughout the 15 laps, was confusing to follow. Lap-times almost doubled. Philippaerts rode particularly well after becoming involved in a first corner crash with several others. The Italian soldiered on to move up the standings. He should have been joined in the top three by Coppins who was holding a steady second place behind leader and eventual winner Steve Ramon. The New Zealander however could not avoid two stationary riders on the step-ups and the needed time to remount and restart after his slip. With one just moto completed in extraordinary circumstances the world championship standings show that Philippaerts lies third, 15 points from the lead while Coppins is fourth, just 8 behind his team-mate. Round three will take place at Agueda in Portugal next week. David Philippaerts, Yamaha Monster Motocross Team: 2nd "I am very happy. After that start and the crash I did not expect to finish second. The Yamaha is so easy to ride and that is important in these conditions. Being third in the championship is a decent position for me. From the first GP last year I had two zeros in the points, but now I already have a podium. I was ready to race in that second moto but I was also prepared to go along with the majority for what they wanted to do. It was quite dangerous out there, the bike would stick in the mud over the jumps and you had to take some risks, having said that, I had some fun as I quite like the water!" Josh Coppins, Yamaha Monster Motocross Team: 4th "What a surreal weekend. In those conditions you just have to keep going and going. There is no strategy. You do need some luck but at the same time you have to be smart and not make too many big mistakes or bad decisions. Saturday was completely different and I was actually hoping for a bit of rain in the evening because it would slow the track and make it more technical. The race could have been better but I made a mistake and got caught out by two guys who were stuck on the hill and I could not avoid them. Anything at all could have happened in the second moto so overall, with sixth in the first round and fourth here, I can't be too disappointed. We will head to Portugal straight away Sunday evening and we'll stop somewhere and try to get everything cleaned!" Massimo Raspanti, Racing Manager, Yamaha Monster Motocross Team: "It was a really strange GP for everybody but I am happy because David made second and Josh was fourth. Josh had a small problem on one of the uphills and without this then he for sure would have been on the podium also. The difficulty of the race means that we are happy with the results and we made good points for the championship." Race 1 - 15 Laps Pos., Rider, Manu., Nat., Total Time 1, Steve Ramon, Suzuki, BEL, 40'49.290 2, David Philippaerts, Yamaha, ITA, 0'35.461 3, Ken De Dycker, Suzuki, BEL, 0'49.535 4, Joshua Coppins, Yamaha, NZL, 1'22.141 5, Tanel Leok, Kawasaki, EST, 2'3.530 6, Kevin Strijbos, Kawasaki, BEL, 2'25.114 7, Tom Church, Kawasaki, GBR, 2'28.305 8, Billy MacKenzie, Honda, GBR, 2'40.776 9, Clement Desalle, Suzuki, BEL, -1 Laps 10, Lauris Freibergs, Yamaha, LVA, -1 Laps 11, Alex Salvini, Suzuki, ITA, -1 Laps 12, Kornel Nemeth, KTM, HUN, -1 Laps 13, Alessio Chiodi, TM, ITA, -1 Laps 14, James Noble, KTM, GBR, -1 Laps 15, Manuel Priem, Kawasaki, BEL, -1 Laps 16, Pierre A. Renet, Suzuki, FRA, -1 Laps 17, Marvin Van Daele, Suzuki, BEL, -1 Laps 18, Marcus Schiffer, KTM, GER, -1 Laps 19, Maximilian Nagl, KTM, GER, -1 Laps 20, Loic Leonce, Yamaha, FRA, -2 Laps Rider Standings 20/04/2008 Pos., Rider, Manu., Nat., Points 1, Ken De Dycker, Suzuki, BEL, 70 2, Steve Ramon, Suzuki, BEL, 63 3, David Philippaerts, Yamaha, ITA, 55 4, Joshua Coppins, Yamaha, NZL, 47 5, Billy MacKenzie, Honda, GBR, 46 6, Maximilian Nagl, KTM, GER, 40 7, Kevin Strijbos, Kawasaki, BEL, 36 8, Manuel Priem, Kawasaki, BEL, 35 9, Kornel Nemeth, KTM, HUN, 33 10, Tanel Leok, Kawasaki, EST, 26 11, Clement Desalle, Suzuki, BEL, 22 12, Tom Church, Kawasaki, GBR, 20 13, Aigar Leok, Yamaha, EST, 20 14, Jonathan Barragan, KTM, ESP, 20 15, Lauris Freibergs, Yamaha, LVA, 16 16, Marcus Schiffer, KTM, GER, 14 17, Mike Brown, Honda, USA, 14 18, Marc De Reuver, Honda, NED, 13 19, Marvin Van Daele, Suzuki, BEL, 13 20, Alessio Chiodi, TM, ITA, 11 Manufacturer Standings 20/04/2008 Pos., Manufacturer, Points 1, Suzuki, 75 2, Yamaha, 55 3, KTM, 51 4, Honda, 48 5, Kawasaki, 45 6, TM, 11 Click here to view the news

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 injury several weeks before the start of the GP campaign in Holland. Coppins took a brave sixth position at Valkenswaard and insists that the time spent riding and training with coach Vimond, has been a positive experience ahead of the trip to Spain. “I have ridden more in these past two weeks than the five before Valkenswaard. It has been really helpful both physically and mentally. I felt that I was not prepared at all for Holland but now I am actually looking forward to going to Spain,” said the 31 year old who dominated both motos at a rain-hit 2007 Spanish Grand Prix. “My foot has been getting better and even though I have not been able to run or swim yet we are now at a point where I do not need to wear a special boot when I’m on the bike.” “Last year was obviously an awesome race for me, two comfortable moto wins, you can’t ask for more than that,” he added reflecting on his Bellpuig victory. “I like the track when it is a bit wet, technical and rutty as opposed to hard, dusty and fast. I am interested to see what I will be capable of this weekend. Going into Valkenswaard I wasn’t even that sure if I could finish and I took sixth place which I was very satisfied with. The championship will begin for me in these next few races.” Meanwhile team-mate David Philippaerts – after recovering from a cold – was trying to squeeze in riding sessions back at his home near Milan but constant showers across northern Italy did not assist his cause. The 24 year old captured fifth position on his debut with the YZ450F in the sand of Valkenswaard and now heads to several circuits that are a little more to his taste. “Bellpuig is a good track and I quite like it because it is similar to places we have in Italy,” he remarked. “The GP last year was quite strange because the practice was cancelled on Saturday because of rain and we only rode on Sunday. There was not much time to see the different lines coming up.” “I feel 100% now and I’m looking forward to the race,” he enthused when pressed about the illness he suffered in the wake of the first round. “We did not escape the rain in Italy and I was out riding only three times so I hope it keeps dry in Spain; when it rains it helps those Belgians!” Bellpuig, close to the city of Lleida in the west of Catalunya, in the north-east region of Spain, has been the traditional home of the Grand Prix since the turn of the century. The hillside setting involves some steep and spectacular set-ups/downs and can offer a fast layout when dry. Yamaha have won three out of four MX1-GP events there from 2004 and the year that the class was established. The forecast for the weekend predicts overcast skies although decent temperatures with a maximum of 23 degrees. Click here to view the news

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 – landed awkwardly during Saturday practice for the season-opening Grand Prix two weeks ago at Valkenswaard in Holland. The Norwegian, a GP Yamaha rider for the last two years, had a lot of pain and travelled back to his home on Sunday. Examinations revealed the extent of the injury and he is set to go under the surgeon’s knife in the first week of May after swelling around the knee has subsided. "It is a real shame for Kenneth, Yamaha, the team and all our sponsors,” said Team Manager Steve Dixon. “Kenneth had worked so hard over the winter and leading up to the first GP we were looking forward to some good results. I have never worked with someone as dedicated and as professional as Kenneth, he is so determined to achieve his goal and whilst he stayed in England I have witnessed that commitment.” “I really hope Kenneth can make a full recovery and we will hope to finish what we set out to do in 2009, albeit a year later.” Dixon also confirmed the new role for current MX2-GP rider and former Spanish Champion Carlos Campano. “We have moved Carlos up to the MX1 class so we can fulfil our MX1 obligations, as there simply does not seem to be any replacement riders around this early in the season,” he said. “We will have to adapt as the season goes on to maximise our coverage and profile on the track." Click here to view the news

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 arm in order to relieve pain and loss of strength, which typically occurs with Compartmental Syndrome when the muscle is under stress. The decision was taken yesterday to go ahead whilst the joint world-championship leader has the maximum possible time to recover before the next race, which is in China on 4th May. Lorenzo held a press conference this afternoon in Barcelona together with his manager Dani Amatriain, his mother María Guerrero and Dr. Xavier Mir. He will fly to London within the next few days to continue his recuperation programme at home. Dr Mir commented this afternoon: “The operation has been a success and the wounds are healing quickly. We decided to only operate on one arm because we believe it is better to enable Jorge to arrive in the best shape in China. Many riders have had this kind of operation and time has shown that they often don’t need the operation on the other arm. Jorge now starts his recovery and, with an elite athlete such as him, we expect it to be quicker than usual.” Jorge Lorenzo “I was a little bit scared before the operation but today I’m very happy because it seems that everything has gone as well as we could have hoped! It was a hard decision to make but I think it was the best one for us because China is close, but not too close and we have time to recover. I have had pain at all three races, including Portugal, and at times it was very hard to ride the bike at the maximum, so we knew that the operation was the right course of action. “Together with my surgeon we decided to operate on only one arm, the right, because in this way the recovery will be quicker than if we had done both. It seems that, with many other riders, doing just one arm has solved the problem. At the moment we believe that this is enough, but we will reassess after the next race. “The doctor assures me that I will be in China and able to ride. There isn’t so much time but this is the last possible opportunity before the summer break, without having to miss races. I have some time to recover now and I will be doing the maximum to make sure I am in good shape in China – in fact I’ll be there whatever, even if I have to ride with only one hand! “Now I will return to my home in London as soon as possible and relax there before I fly to China. The biggest problem at the moment is that it’s quite hard to do things for myself, so my mother is going to have to look after me!” Click here to view the news

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 pleased with the day’s results. He tested new front and rear tyres as well as some qualifying tyres, and improved set-up and feeling in all areas. After 90 laps his best time of the day, 1’36.707, put him second behind Dani Pedrosa and he also bettered his fastest lap from yesterday on race tyres. Jorge Lorenzo, Valentino’s team-mate and the impressive winner of yesterday’s Grand Prix, did not test today as he flew to Barcelona to have an operation on his right arm after suffering pain due to Compartmental Syndrome in the last three races. The procedure is a common one amongst MotoGP riders and Lorenzo and his team of specialists decided to go ahead with it today as he will now have nearly three weeks of recovery time before the next race. Together with his surgeon, Dr Xavier Mir, Lorenzo will hold a press conference at 1500 hours tomorrow and further information will be available immediately afterwards. Davide Brivio - Team Manager “Today was all about tyres, set-up and our ongoing task of improving the Yamaha-Bridgestone package. We tried new front and rear race tyres and also some new qualifying tyres, and we found some good solutions to take with us to China. We were able to improve rear grip and durability especially and these are two key areas for us. Valentino worked very hard today and completed 90 laps, and he deserves to be happy with a job well done. Of course we are always working on the general setting and we hope that we’re going to be arriving in China now with an even better bike than we had this weekend. Thank you to everyone for another long weekend of hard work and now there’s some time to relax before we make the trip to China.” Test Times 1. Dani Pedrosa (SPA) Repsol Honda 1'36.455 2. Valentino Rossi (ITA) Fiat Yamaha Team 1'36.707 3. Andrea Dovizioso (ITA) JiR Team Scot MotoGP 1'36.791 4. Nicky Hayden (USA) Repsol Honda 1'36.928 5. Colin Edwards (USA) Tech 3 Yamaha 1'37.145 6. Randy De Puniet (FRA) LCR Honda MotoGP 1'37.146 7. Casey Stoner (AUS) Ducati Marlboro 1'37.330 8. Chris Vermeulen (AUS) Rizla Suzuki 1'37.617 9. Shinya Nakano (JPN) San Carlo Honda Gresini 1'37.725 10. James Toseland (GBR) Tech 3 Yamaha 1'37.767 11. Loris Capirossi (ITA) Rizla Suzuki MotoGP 1'37.781 12. Alex De Angelis (RSM) San Carlo Honda Gresini 1'37.782 13. John Hopkins (USA) Kawasaki Racing 1'38.023 14. Toni Elias (SPA) Alice Team 1'38.695 15. Anthony West (AUS) Kawasaki Racing 1'39.065 16. Sylvain Guintoli (FRA) Alice Team 1'39.223 17. Marco Melandri (ITA) Ducati Marlboro 1'39.725 Estoril: Lap Record J. Lorenzo (Yamaha) 2008, 1'37.404 Estoril: Best Lap J. Lorenzo (Yamaha) 2008, 1'35.715 Click here to view the news

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 the Women’s round, Nina led the entire race lapping a considerable three seconds per laps faster than her rivals, some on 1000ccc machinery other on 600cc. Over the race distance of 10 laps she managed to create a comfortable 32 second gap and thus take victory with relative ease. Susie Grayson from Great Britain finished 3rd aboard her YZF-R1. With the first round completed in the women’s championship the team looks forward with confidence towards the remaining two rounds, the next being held in Assen (the Netherlands) on the 15th of June. A secondary championship that the team attends with riders; Jorg Teuchert, Andrzej Pawalec and Nina Prinz, is the German Superbike Championship (IDM) starting in two weeks time at the Lausitzring. Nina will be competing among 58 other (male) riders in a very competitive field. With the official support of the promising Nina Prinz, Yamaha is aiming to increase the popularity of female motorcycle riding and racing. Nina Prinz “This first race was really perfect! The bike worked great and we had no problems at all during any of the sessions. In qualifying it was quite difficult to put in a fast lap as it was busy on the track with 36 riders, of which only 10 were reasonably competitive. It was a nice experience to be the fastest one out there, even faster than the men in the open class. The woman’s championship is nice but the real challenge for me will be the IDM. I think I will be able to learn a lot there. I hope to score some points in IDM but it for sure will not be easy.” Michael Galinski (Team Manager - Team Yamaha Motor Germany) “It is a great result for Nina and the team! The bike really worked perfect this weekend. During the sessions we have been working on the best set-up and it obviously worked out well, also thanks to the threaded Dunlop tyres that performed very well. Nina is very analytical and capable of setting her bike up, pretty amazing for a 25-year-old. We now look forward to the two remaining races in this class and of course the IDM Superbike races ahead. I think it will be possible for her to score some points in that class as well. We now have a three day test at Lausitzring with 30 other teams where she can get accustomed to the slick tyres for the next IDM Superbike race. We will do our very best to give Nina the best package possible.” Click here to view the news

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 accident that saw a diagnosis of a fractured scapula (shoulder blade), and likely some lung bruising among other small ailments. The 25 year old was coughing up blood at one point but was determined not to miss the race. Gingerly placing his YZ450F - on which he has taken eight victories this season - into the gate, further misfortune struck the series leader when he went down with a gaggle of other riders on the first corner. From that moment Reed looked to salvage what he could by working his way through the pack to claim 12th and lose just 11 points to main title rival Kevin Windham. "I just put my head down and went for it; I tried to be the best lapper out there," Reed commented. "I can't believe I crashed in the first turn. That's unbelievable. To feel the way I do, crash in the first turn and come back to 12th, this is a win right here. If we're standing in Vegas and we're the champions, this is the one that got it done." "I've been here before," he added. "With a 27-point lead, I'm not going to just stand and watch it go. I've always been able to go out there and grit my teeth, but this was possibly the worst race of my life. I spent four hours in the hospital, and I was scared for my life, to be honest. I've never coughed up so much blood in all my life. I'm happy to be here." Reed now holds an advantage of 16 points over Windham. There will be precious little time for the former champion to recover however with the final three rounds in St Louis, Seattle and Las Vegas taking place in the next three weeks. It is unlikely that AMA Motocross champion Grant Langston will make a return to supercross before the end of the season. The South African had a retinal problem that has kept him on the sidelines for most of the campaign and he is now looking towards a defence of his outdoor crown next month. Josh Hill was fourth and is the second highest Yamaha rider in the standings. The Detroit event was only the fourth race from fourteen in which a YZ450F has not made the top three. In the Lites division Ryan Morais was able to obtain his best finish of the year so far with second place. Also in the United States, Yamaha held a high profile at the Moto X World Championships in San Diego. YZ machinery ruled Supermoto X (Mark Burkhart), Speed and Style (Nate Adams), Moto X Racing (Broc Hepler) and Freestyle (Nate Adams) competitions. Race 1 - 20 Laps Pos., Rider, Manu., Nat., Total Time 1, David D Millsaps, Honda, USA, 17'0.620 2, Tim Ferry, Kawasaki, USA, 0'2.267 3, Kevin Windham, Honda, USA, 0'12.172 4, Josh Hill, Yamaha, USA, 0'24.752 5, Andrew Short, Honda, USA, 0'27.848 6, Travis Preston, Kawasaki, USA, 0'49.485 7, David Vuillemin, Suzuki, FRA, 0'49.795 8, Charles Summey, Yamaha, USA, -1 Laps 9, Heath Voss, Honda, USA, -1 Laps 10, Jason Thomas, Honda, USA, -1 Laps 11, Kelly Smith, Kawasaki, USA, -1 Laps 12, Chad Reed, Yamaha, AUS, -1 Laps 13, Nathan Ramsey, Yamaha, USA, -1 Laps 14, Ryan Clark, Honda, USA, -1 Laps 15, Eric Sorby, Honda, USA, -1 Laps 16, Keith Johnson, Yamaha, USA, -1 Laps 17, Nicholas Wey, KTM, USA, -1 Laps 18, Paul Carpenter, Honda, USA, -2 Laps 19, Shaun Skinner, Honda, USA, -2 Laps 20, Jacob Marsack, Honda, USA, -3 Laps Rider Standings 12/04/2008 Pos., Rider, Manu., Nat., Points 1, Chad Reed, Yamaha, AUS, 296 2, Kevin Windham, Honda, USA, 280 3, David D Millsaps, Honda, USA, 229 4, Andrew Short, Honda, USA, 221 5, Josh Hill, Yamaha, USA, 191 6, Tim Ferry, Kawasaki, USA, 189 7, Nathan Ramsey, Yamaha, USA, 155 8, David Vuillemin, Suzuki, FRA, 137 9, Paul Carpenter, Honda, USA, 122 10, Nicholas Wey, KTM, USA, 121 11, Charles Summey, Yamaha, USA, 120 12, Heath Voss, Honda, USA, 101 13, Travis Preston, Kawasaki, USA, 81 14, Eric Sorby, Honda, USA, 76 15, Jason Thomas, Honda, USA, 74 23, Grant Langston, Yamaha, RSA, 38 38, Broc Hepler, Yamaha, USA, 3 Manufacturer Standings 12/04/2008 Pos., Manufacturer, Points 1, Yamaha, 317 2, Honda, 302 3, Kawasaki, 251 4, Suzuki, 186 5, KTM, 121 Click here to view the news

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 Lorenzo, Rossi and Dani Pedrosa with Lorenzo just prevailing over the line. Rossi however then passed him into turn one and pushed on ahead, leaving his team-mate to defend second position from Pedrosa, who was right on his tail. It began to spot with rain but Lorenzo kept his head and kept in touch with Rossi, despite pressure from Pedrosa behind him. On lap 11 Pedrosa made it past Lorenzo and stayed in front of him for two laps, but the Mallorcan was clearly cruising and, after setting the fastest lap of the race so far on lap 12, the Michelin-shod rider passed Pedrosa into turn one and set off after Rossi. He made his move later that lap in typically flamboyant fashion with a bold pass at the chicane and from then on it was a one-man-show as he extended his lead and eventually crossed the line 1.817 seconds in front of Pedrosa, who had passed Rossi on lap 15. At just 20 years of age, Lorenzo's victory today makes him the youngest rider in premier-class history to take three successive podiums and he now shares the championship lead with Dani Pedrosa on 61 points. Rossi consolidates third with 47 points whilst Fiat Yamaha top the Team's table and Yamaha the Constructor's. Jorge Lorenzo 1st - 45'53.089 "I feel like I'm in heaven! First of all I have to say thank you to Yamaha and to Fiat because without their confidence in me I wouldn't be here now. I can't believe it and it's really impossible for me to describe my feelings, I'm so happy for everyone! My team did a fantastic job and my Yamaha and my Michelin tyres worked very, very well today. The start of the race was quite crazy because there were some drops of rain and it looked like it might get worse. Anyway I just carried on and really I can't remember the details of exactly what happened…I remember making my pass on Valentino; I know it was quite a risk so I'm sorry to him but at that point I felt that I could make it and get away from him, so I took the chance and it worked. I'm so proud of everyone, to be here after just three races and at the top of the championship as well is something that I could never have even dreamed of. We can't afford to relax now however because Pedrosa and Rossi are here as well and they are two very fast and clever riders. I had some pain again in my arms today so tonight we will make a decision about whether or not I will have the operation before China, but for now I'm just going to enjoy this moment!" Danielle Romagnoli - Team Manager "This is a dream come true for all of us; Jorge rode an unbelievable race. Watching him fight with the others it was impossible to believe that it is only his third race and now here he is, already a winner! Thanks to the team because they did a fantastic job to set the bike up and Yamaha and Michelin together gave us a fantastic package to work with. We had planned a test tomorrow but this will depend on the decision about Jorge's operation. There are three weeks until the next race so there is plenty of time for him to recover if he chooses to go ahead with it. Now we're looking forward to another exciting weekend with Jorge in China!" Valentino Rossi extended his Estoril podium record with third place today, meaning he has now finished on the podium at all of his nine career visits to the Portuguese track. Valentino Rossi 3rd +12.723 "At the end of the day this isn't a bad result for us because we expected this to be quite a difficult track for us. My M1 worked well today; I got a good start and was able to stay at the front to begin with and have some fun. My Bridgestone tyres were working well but I was thinking about trying to conserve them as much as possible because I knew 28 laps was going to be hard. Unfortunately I couldn't stay with Lorenzo and Pedrosa in the later stages and I started to slide a little bit, but anyway to have two podiums in a row with Bridgestone is very important because we're still in the learning stages of our relationship. I think we've made another step forward this weekend and we have an important test tomorrow - I hope in China we will be able to fight for the win!" Davide Brivio - Team Manager "Valentino defended very well today despite difficult conditions for us and we took a good podium and some important points. We expected it to be hard and I want to thank the team and our engineers for working hard all week and keeping the level of our Yamaha-Bridgestone package at the maximum. We're looking forward to another 15 races and we hope that in China we'll be in attacking form and able to get our first win with Bridgestone! We will work on tyres and settings for China tomorrow and then everyone will have a good rest before the next challenge." Masahiko Nakajima - Team Director "Very impressive! This weekend Jorge has been very consistent and to get a third pole position and then go on to win is fantastic. He showed a strong drive in the race and proved that he can keep his concentration at the maximum for the entire race. I want to congratulate him for a great achievement and thank him on behalf of everyone at Yamaha. "Unfortunately for Valentino we are still struggling a bit in some areas but anyway the combination between our chassis and the Bridgestone tyres is improving race by race. Step-by-step we are making progress and for sure here in Estoril everything went even better than in Jerez. This is a very unusual track; it requires a very delicate chassis balance because it has the slowest average speed in the world championship but also some very high-speed areas. In conclusion, I am happy with Valentino's podium in these difficult conditions and I am confident that next time we will improve even more together with Bridgestone. Fighting fourth for Edwards, Toseland seventh Colin Edwards claimed his best result of 2008 with a determined ride to fourth place in Estoril today, while a hard fought seventh moved James Toseland into the top five of the MotoGP world championship standings. Lying sixth and tantalisingly close to the leading bunch for the opening nine laps, Edwards comfortably held onto the fourth place that he seized on lap 17 after a mistake by fellow American Nicky Hayden. He briefly threatened to close on Valentino Rossi in third as he posted his fastest lap on lap 19 of 28 with a 1.38.083, but settled for his best result since the German GP last July. The race started in tricky and unpredictable conditions as light rain showers fell at several sections on the circuit, leaving riders unsure of exactly how hard to push in the early stages. The light rain certainly had an impact on Toseland's normal aggressive start. He slipped down to 11th on lap one, but fought back to overtake Loris Capirossi, Chris Vermeulen and Casey Stoner. The British rider only lost his chance of a third consecutive top six finish when Stoner passed him with eight laps remaining. Toseland and Edwards though ensured that Yamaha claimed four of the top seven places, and today's result strengthened Tech 3 Yamaha's fourth position in the all-important Team world championship standings. Colin Edwards 4th +17.223 "When you are sitting on the grid with big rain spots on the visor, it is the worst feeling because you just don't know what to expect. I actually got a good start but then somebody was out of the seat in turn one in front of me and then somebody else did the same at the second corner. I thought, 'it must be real slick because of the rain.' And it was a bit like being on ice. I just got my head down but it seemed they were just driving away from me. I was on it and the electronics were kicking in and working but I wasn't really going anywhere. Basically I couldn't build any heat in the tyre early on. Running that different tyre from Michelin for acceleration grip instead of maximum corner speed, for those conditions it didn't really work. Had it been dry from the start we'd have been good to fight for the podium. But with a bit of moisture I couldn't get any heat in the side of the tyre and no edge grip in the middle of the corner. Once I got heat into it I was motoring, which proved had it been dry, I'd gone for a good direction with Michelin. I wanted to be on the podium but I'll settle for fourth. It' something to build on and now we have got the new engine we can look forward with a lot of confidence. It was my best result for a long time so thanks to Tech 3 Yamaha and Michelin for that." James Toseland 7th +32.361 "It is another solid finish and I've moved into fifth in the championship, so I've got to be pleased with that. But it was a tough weekend. Losing that hour of dry set-up time on Friday was pretty crucial, but I still got a second row and top seven on a track I don't know. Honestly though I wasn't aggressive enough at the start. When we were coming to the grid I saw Rossi pointing to the sky but it was only spitting, and I thought they'd take it a bit easy at the start. I'd got spots of rain on my visor and those conditions are not nice and not knowing the track and a bit of inexperience with the tyres I just didn't realise how hard you can push. But I didn't get a great start and that lack of experience cost me because I wasn't sure where to brake for the first corner. I braked too early and got baulked. I got into a consistent pace and was running 38s but losing that hour on the first day meant the set-up wasn't spot on. It wasn't bad but it could have been better. The rear shock was too soft under acceleration and pumping. So when I opened the throttle that pumping just ran me a bit wide on the exit. The package I have got now with the new engine is better than that, and that's what makes it frustrating. I'm not as happy with this as my other results because the bike is capable of more. It was another good day for the Tech 3 team and Michelin so I'll be looking to get closer to the front in China." Herve Poncharal - Team Manager "What an incredible day for Yamaha, and I am glad Colin and James contributed to that. I have to say a big thanks to both of them because it was a very difficult race in extremely demanding conditions with the light rain making it hard to gauge how hard to push. Both of them rode a very strong race and fourth and seventh is a great result for the team. It is easily our best of the season so far and gives us a great platform to build on for the rest of the season. We are clearly moving forward together as a team and the future is looking very promising. Now we have everything clear with James and Yamaha we can look forward to getting better and better, particularly now we have the new engine from Yamaha to help us achieve the results we want. I'd also like to offer my warmest congratulations to Jorge Lorenzo on his first win for Yamaha and Michelin. I'm sure it won't be his last." Race 1 - 28 Laps Pos., Rider, Manu., Nat., Total Time 1, Jorge Lorenzo, Yamaha, ESP, 45'53.089 2, Daniel Pedrosa, Honda, ESP, 0'1.817 3, Valentino Rossi, Yamaha, ITA, 0'12.723 4, Colin Edwards, Yamaha, USA, 0'17.223 5, John Hopkins, Kawasaki, USA, 0'23.752 6, Casey Stoner, Ducati, AUS, 0'26.688 7, James Toseland, Yamaha, GBR, 0'32.631 8, Chris Vermeulen, Suzuki, AUS, 0'36.382 9, Loris Capirossi, Suzuki, ITA, 0'38.268 10, Shinya Nakano, Honda, JPN, 0'39.476 11, Alex De Angelis, Honda, SMR, 1'1.306 12, Toni Elias, Ducati, ESP, 1'3.867 13, Marco Melandri, Ducati, ITA, 1'9.525 14, Sylvain Guintoli, Ducati, FRA, 1'9.634 15, Randy De Puniet, Honda, FRA, 1'11.542 Rider Standings 13/04/2008 Pos., Rider, Manu., Nat., Points 1, Jorge Lorenzo, Yamaha, ESP, 61 2, Daniel Pedrosa, Honda, ESP, 61 3, Valentino Rossi, Yamaha, ITA, 47 4, Casey Stoner, Ducati, AUS, 40 5, James Toseland, Yamaha, GBR, 29 6, Loris Capirossi, Suzuki, ITA, 26 7, John Hopkins, Kawasaki, USA, 24 8, Colin Edwards, Yamaha, USA, 22 9, Andrea Dovizioso, Honda, ITA, 21 10, Nicky Hayden, Honda, USA, 19 11, Shinya Nakano, Honda, JPN, 16 12, Chris Vermeulen, Suzuki, AUS, 14 13, Marco Melandri, Ducati, ITA, 12 14, Randy De Puniet, Honda, FRA, 8 15, Alex De Angelis, Honda, SMR, 7 Team Standings 13/04/2008 Pos., Team, Points 1, FIAT Yamaha Team, 108 2, Repsol Honda Team, 80 3, Ducati Marlboro Team, 52 4, Tech3 Yamaha, 51 5, Rizla Suzuki MotoGP, 40 6, Kawasaki Racing Team, 27 7, Honda Gresini, 23 8, JIR Scot Team, 21 9, Team Alice, 10 10, Honda LCR, 8 Manufacturer Standings 13/04/2008 Pos., Manufacturer, Points 1, Yamaha, 65 2, Honda, 61 3, Ducati, 40 4, Suzuki, 27 5, Kawasaki, 24 Click here to view the news

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’s understanding in terms of the technical set-up and tuning of the 2008 YZF-R6 or the 2007/2008 YZF-R1 for Supersport, Superbike and FIM Superstock competition. The tuition was geared to helping racers and their teams learn about their machinery and how to optimise set-up with the use of the latest range of Yamaha’s YEC racing parts. Racing engineers from Yamaha Motor Corporation and Yamaha Motor Europe and specialists from Ohlins and 2D were on-hand to lend their expertise and advice. At the flat and twisty Spanish track every rider was able to count on at least seven hours of testing over the three day period to apply the theory to practice. For the practical elements of the course a full tyre service was available and the only time that the action ground to a halt over the three days was when the group paused to take-in the second round of the 2008 MotoGP championship occurring that same weekend further south at Jerez (in which Fiat Yamaha M1 riders Valentino Rossi and Jorge Lorenzo obtained podium positions). The other hours in the programme were filled by workshops dealing with: - Fuel Injection Matching System: How to use the possibilities of fuel injection mappings, ignition mappings, altering engine braking, gear-shift timing, throttle opening speed and other characteristics via a YEC ECU and laptop - YEC Tools: The correct working procedure and how to use the tools for piston and piston ring installation, camshaft attachment, valve timing adjustment and other alterations - YEC Racing Parts: What was new and how best to use the valuable components found at www.yamaha-racingparts.com Funded by Yamaha Motor Europe and Yamaha Motor Corporation, once again YRT proved to be a big success and with the participating numbers continuing to grow annually, the gathering has now become an integral fixture on the pre-season schedule for many European campaigners. “The Yamaha Race Training again has been a very successful event and we were lucky with the weather this year as all of the track sessions were dry and clean,” commented Yamaha Motor Europe’s Racing Communications Manager Leon Oosterhof. “We have been organising this unique occasion since 2002 and this year we had more participants than ever before; this is very rewarding for us.” “As with every year we wanted to offer the YRT to a select group of our racing customers to help them become more competitive for the 2008 racing season,” he continued. “During the intensive three-day test, our race engineers were able to impart their experience and knowledge to the teams to help them reach better performance, with a special focus this year on how to utilise and benefit from the tuning options that our 2008 YEC ECUs offer.” “The 2008 YEC ECU set permits us to adjust many parameters to achieve the best engine set-up and maximum control, and the workshops at the YRT helped us to refresh our technical knowledge and that was very welcome, it was a great event,” remarked the Peko Racing team from Switzerland. “YRT is important for us to reach maximum performance for the highly competitive Spanish Championship,” commented local crew Laglisse. “The three days were very busy with the track sessions and workshops, thanks to Yamaha for investing in this!” “We owe big thanks to Yamaha, we learned how to reach a better set-up of the bike by adjusting our mappings with the laptop,” said the Yam74 set-up from France. “The overall feeling of the bike after the three days is better.” Click here to view the news

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 (for Nori) and a podium finish (for Troy) at the most recent Valencia round gave them. However, each was to leave disappointed with their complete lack of dry track time, albeit glad to not have fallen on such a treacherous surface. Claudio Corti, a Yamaha Superstock 1000 FIM Cup regular and the team’s new test rider, continued on track on day two, but neither Haga nor Corser added to their respective 25 and 29 first day lap totals, such was the ferocity of the rain and the amount of standing water on the Monza asphalt. Next stop for the team is the fourth round of the World Superbike Championship, at Assen on April 27. Troy Corser (29 laps - Yamaha Italy WSB Team) “The whole track is like swimming pool, too much water sitting around the place to be safe. We did some tests on the electronics and the traction control yesterday, got a feel for how the chassis is, but you can’t get too much out of a test like that when it is that wet. You simply can’t push hard enough to get any bike to do what you want to do, and it was easy to have a small crash - or a big one. We did no laps at all on day two. Yesterday was bad enough and it really wasn’t worth the risk today.” Noriyuki Haga (25 laps - Yamaha Italy WSB Team) “We hoped and expected to have good weather here, but it wasn’t to be! Rain and more rain, you could easily have a shower it is so heavy. Monza is a very high-speed track so we were careful and only rode some laps yesterday to do some running-in of parts and checks on a few other things. The track surface was like a river on day two so we decided not to run.” Massimo Meregalli (Team Manager, Yamaha Motor Italia WSB Team) “What terrible weather! On day one the guys did only a few laps. The main reason to come here was to test some new tyres, but it was just impossible. So we worked on some electronics, but pretty much that was it. Day two was even worse than today and neither Troy nor Nori rode. Just Claudio, but he has been doing two or three laps then into the pits. We’re a bit disappointed but only about the rain.” Click here to view the news

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 form part of yet another excellent night's racing for Yamaha with young hotshot Josh Hill taking second position for the third '1-2' of the campaign for the YZ450F. Hill fought with Davi Millsaps (even surviving a scary moment when the Honda rider landed on him) and Kevin Windham and was understandably excited to capture the fourth podium of an impressive season so far. "I feel like I've given a lot of wins away this year - four, to be exact - and we're just trying to go out there and win this title," said Reed who now needs another 14 wins to match Ricky Carmichael's total (Jeremy McGrath has a mighty 72). "Tonight was awesome. I'm so happy for Josh Hill to get up here and put Yamaha 1-2." "It should be a lot more, but I made a lot of mistakes," he added regarding his points lead of more than one main event (a win counts for 25). "I really want to win this title, and before this season ever started, we did our work and put our heads down and we never shied away from the goal. We lost a competitor [James Stewart], but we're still out there fighting for this thing, and that's all that counts." "The track was real slick, and I just spun off that double, and he was already committed," said Hill remembering the clash with Millsaps. "I think I have a tire mark on my shoulder from it. I actually still jumped the rhythm section. It was kind of a hectic main event. I was making mistakes all over, but I had the stamina to finish it." "It's awesome," he added about his achievement and the fact that he has become a regular protagonist; now fifth in the points table. "These guys are the guys I looked up to my whole life, and it's just awesome to be racing with them." Tyler Bowers was fifth in the Lites class and lies seventh in the standings. The AMA schedule, also an FIM World Championship, moves to MI Ford Field in Detroit next weekend with only four races remaining. Race 1 - 20 Laps Pos., Rider, Manu., Nat., Total Time 1, Chad Reed, Yamaha, AUS, 17'56.530 2, Josh Hill, Yamaha, USA, 0'1.872 3, David D Millsaps, Honda, USA, 0'3.670 4, Kevin Windham, Honda, USA, 0'4.572 5, Tim Ferry, Kawasaki, USA, 0'18.308 6, Andrew Short, Honda, USA, 0'21.398 7, Charles Summey, Yamaha, USA, 0'31.811 8, Paul Carpenter, Honda, USA, 0'43.715 9, Troy Adams, Honda, USA, 0'49.143 10, Travis Preston, Kawasaki, USA, 0'50.911 11, Nathan Ramsey, Yamaha, USA, 0'52.685 12, Heath Voss, Honda, USA, 0'58.930 13, Jason Thomas, Honda, USA, -1 Laps 14, Nicholas Wey, KTM, USA, -1 Laps 15, Eric Sorby, Honda, USA, -1 Laps 16, Dusty Klatt, Kawasaki, USA, -1 Laps 17, Antonio Balbi, Honda, USA, -1 Laps 18, Jeff Gibson, Kawasaki, USA, -1 Laps 19, Bryan K Johnson, Honda, USA, -2 Laps 20, Keith Johnson, Yamaha, USA, -2 Laps Rider Standings 05/04/2008 Pos., Rider, Manu., Nat., Points 1, Chad Reed, Yamaha, AUS, 287 2, Kevin Windham, Honda, USA, 260 3, Andrew Short, Honda, USA, 205 4, David D Millsaps, Honda, USA, 204 5, Josh Hill, Yamaha, USA, 173 6, Tim Ferry, Kawasaki, USA, 167 7, Nathan Ramsey, Yamaha, USA, 147 8, David Vuillemin, Suzuki, FRA, 123 9, Paul Carpenter, Honda, USA, 119 10, Nicholas Wey, KTM, USA, 117 11, Charles Summey, Yamaha, USA, 107 12, Heath Voss, Honda, USA, 89 13, Troy Adams, Honda, USA, 72 14, Eric Sorby, Honda, USA, 70 15, Mike Alessi, Suzuki, USA, 69 23, Grant Langston, Yamaha, RSA, 38 36, Broc Hepler, Yamaha, USA, 3 Manufacturer Standings 05/04/2008 Pos., Manufacturer, Points 1, Yamaha, 299 2, Honda, 277 3, Kawasaki, 229 4, Suzuki, 172 5, KTM, 117 Click here to view the news

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 be seen on www.yamaha-racing.com) Philippaerts and Coppins encountered cold, rainy conditions and negotiated a flooded and heavily rutted track on Saturday. After working their way through two free practice sessions the Italian was able to set the third fastest time while Coppins - using padding in his boot to protect his damaged toes and feeling somewhat unprepared after spending more than two weeks inactive - was content with eighth place in the gate. Sunshine blessed the Grand Prix of the Netherlands, the first round of fifteen in the 2008 campaign, but a cold wind was also present and the terrain provided a very physical test over the two 35 minute and 2 lap motos. In the first race Philippaerts started well and was running as high as second before he survived a big 'moment' that caused him to drop to fourth behind Coppins who was steadily making consistent laps and producing an excellent performance in the conditions. The two team-mates circulated together on the works YZ450FMs for several laps until Philippaerts tried an audacious manoeuvre to grab third and clipped the side of Coppins in the process, causing the Kiwi to briefly fall to sixth. Philippaerts' moto was not quite finished as he was slowed by a backmarker on the last two laps and Steve Ramon was able to pounce and obtain third. The eventful first race was followed by calmer set of laps for Moto2 as Ken de Dycker won once more and Coppins and Philippaerts were again together for a long periods. Towards the end of the duration the 24 year old moved past to take sixth leaving a satisfied Coppins in seventh. The overall standing also formulates the early championship table and Philippaerts lies just 5 points from second while Coppins is 21 points from leader De Dycker. Utag Yamaha.com's Kenneth Gundersen was dealt a hard blow on Saturday after an awkward landing on the sand caused the Norwegian to damage his left knee.The 26 year old flew back to Scandinavia on Sunday for further examination on a suspected ruptured ligament. An initial x-ray at the track revealed a chipped piece of bone in the joint but it is still not clear whether it is the rear or frontal ligament at this stage. Van Beers Yamaha's Aigar Leok was eleventh overall on the YZ450F with finishes of twelfth and tenth. The world championship will head south through Europe to the Bellpuig circuit in Catalunya for the Grand Prix of Spain in two weeks time. David Philippaerts, Yamaha Monster Motocross Team, 5th: "I have to say that I am happy. For my first GP I had good speed and also a nice feeling on the bike. The first moto was not great because I made some small mistakes and was quite nervous but I was glad to see that I could go at the front. In one corner I almost crashed and was completely off the side of the bike; that caused me to lose a lot of time. I pushed hard again but had a problem with my goggles and that was a hassle with the sand. It was because of this I hit with Josh. I wanted to go on the outside but I ran out of room. It was not something I meant to do and just one of those racing incidents. I wanted third position but Pyrhonen blocked me and I lost speed, so Ramon passed me starting the last lap. I was frustrated by this but after I calmed down I was actually content because my goal had been top five and I had taken fourth. In the second heat I started well but lost a lot of positions by getting blocked in the second corner. I came up behind Josh and it took a lot of energy to pass him. I was being extra careful because I did not want to touch again. When I got through I was physically finished. I am happy with the points I took this weekend. I am not far from second place and the championship has started quite well for me." Josh Coppins, Yamaha Monster Motocross Team, 6th: "I did not feel comfortable coming to this GP. I pride myself on being one of the best prepared and hardest working riders out there and the difficult part for me was arriving to this race knowing that I wasn't ready and hadn't done the work; for me that was unacceptable but I had no choice because of the injury. If you had told me at the team launch if I could have sixth position overall on Sunday then I would have taken that result with both hands, especially here in the sand. You know that if you are sitting looking at the bones sticking out of your feet then you have something serious, so to be able to be here and have those finishes is great. I was disappointed after the collision with David in the first moto. I did not have the energy to recover from that. I saw Mackenzie, David and Nagl fighting ahead and I thought 'you just get on with it!'. I was riding my own pace and staying out of trouble. I lost five points there, but anyway, you have to accept these things. Spain should be easier in two weeks and by the time we get to Portugal I should be near the level I want to be." Massimo Raspanti, Team Manager: "For Josh I am really happy, until one week ago we did not know if he would race or not. He could have had third and the collision with David was an unfortunate incident. The second moto was also positive for him and to be honest it is a little bit like a win because he has hardly ridden in the last three weeks. David was quite nervous in the first moto and seemed to tire when he passed Josh but it was not a bad GP for him. I think the next few tracks will be better for both riders and we will be looking at the top three in Spain." Kenneth Gundersen, UTag Yamaha.com: "Obviously I am so disappointed but I have experienced things like this before to know that it is part of racing and you have to accept it. I did not even crash, I just landed at an angle but I knew straight away that something was wrong. The x-ray shows some damage but I don't know how bad it is yet. If it is only the back ligament then this will not be such a disaster." Race 1 - 17 Laps Pos., Rider, Manu., Nat., Total Time 1, Ken De Dycker, Suzuki, BEL, 40'34.767 2, Maximilian Nagl, KTM, GER, 0'7.745 3, Steve Ramon, Suzuki, BEL, 0'38.467 4, David Philippaerts, Yamaha, ITA, 0'38.772 5, Manuel Priem, Kawasaki, BEL, 0'55.614 6, Joshua Coppins, Yamaha, NZL, 0'57.506 7, Kevin Strijbos, Kawasaki, BEL, 0'58.590 8, Marc De Reuver, Honda, NED, 1'22.566 9, Kornel Nemeth, KTM, HUN, 1'31.608 10, Billy MacKenzie, Honda, GBR, 1'40.716 11, Tanel Leok, Kawasaki, EST, 1'45.295 12, Aigar Leok, Yamaha, EST, 1'56.711 13, Bas Verhoeven, Kawasaki, NED, -1 Laps 14, Marvin Van Daele, Suzuki, BEL, -1 Laps 15, Mike Brown, Honda, USA, -1 Laps 16, Sébastien Pourcel, Kawasaki, FRA, -1 Laps 17, Antti Pyrhonen, Suzuki, FIN, -1 Laps 18, Pierre A. Renet, Suzuki, FRA, -1 Laps 19, Marcus Schiffer, KTM, GER, -1 Laps 20, Alex Salvini, Suzuki, ITA, -1 Laps Race 2 - 17 Laps Pos., Rider, Manu., Nat., Total Time 1, Ken De Dycker, Suzuki, BEL, 40'21.042 2, Billy MacKenzie, Honda, GBR, 0'8.194 3, Jonathan Barragan, KTM, ESP, 0'17.689 4, Steve Ramon, Suzuki, BEL, 0'26.506 5, Maximilian Nagl, KTM, GER, 0'30.358 6, David Philippaerts, Yamaha, ITA, 0'57.488 7, Joshua Coppins, Yamaha, NZL, 1'5.791 8, Manuel Priem, Kawasaki, BEL, 1'16.539 9, Kornel Nemeth, KTM, HUN, 1'28.810 10, Aigar Leok, Yamaha, EST, 1'36.497 11, Clement Desalle, Suzuki, BEL, 1'44.295 12, Marcus Schiffer, KTM, GER, 2'1.241 13, Mike Brown, Honda, USA, 2'24.816 14, Kevin Strijbos, Kawasaki, BEL, -1 Laps 15, Tom Church, Kawasaki, GBR, -1 Laps 16, Lauris Freibergs, Yamaha, LVA, -1 Laps 17, Antti Pyrhonen, Suzuki, FIN, -1 Laps 18, Alessio Chiodi, TM, ITA, -1 Laps 19, Marvin Van Daele, Suzuki, BEL, -1 Laps 20, Bas Verhoeven, Kawasaki, NED, -1 Laps Rider Standings 06/04/2008 Pos., Rider, Manu., Nat., Points 1, Ken De Dycker, Suzuki, BEL, 50 2, Maximilian Nagl, KTM, GER, 38 3, Steve Ramon, Suzuki, BEL, 38 4, Billy MacKenzie, Honda, GBR, 33 5, David Philippaerts, Yamaha, ITA, 33 6, Manuel Priem, Kawasaki, BEL, 29 7, Joshua Coppins, Yamaha, NZL, 29 8, Kornel Nemeth, KTM, HUN, 24 9, Kevin Strijbos, Kawasaki, BEL, 21 10, Jonathan Barragan, KTM, ESP, 20 11, Aigar Leok, Yamaha, EST, 20 12, Mike Brown, Honda, USA, 14 13, Marc De Reuver, Honda, NED, 13 14, Marcus Schiffer, KTM, GER, 11 15, Tanel Leok, Kawasaki, EST, 10 16, Clement Desalle, Suzuki, BEL, 10 17, Bas Verhoeven, Kawasaki, NED, 9 18, Marvin Van Daele, Suzuki, BEL, 9 19, Antti Pyrhonen, Suzuki, FIN, 8 20, Tom Church, Kawasaki, GBR, 6 Manufacturer Standings 06/04/2008 Pos., Manufacturer, Points 1, Suzuki, 50 2, KTM, 42 3, Honda, 35 4, Yamaha, 33 5, Kawasaki, 29 6, TM, 3 ---------- RACE REPORT - 06/04/2008 Cairoli launches title defence with runner-up position Yamaha Red Bull De Carli's Antonio Cairoli, the defending MX2-GP World Champion, took the second step of the podium at the Grand Prix of the Netherlands on his YZ250F at a sunny but cold and breezy Eurocircuit in Valkenswaard, a short distance from Eindhoven. Watched by 26,000 spectators Cairoli duelled with title rivals Tommy Searle and eventual winner today Tyla Rattray in both motos after going to the gate in third position. The dark Dutch sand was considerably rough and penalised small mistakes. It provided a harsh physical and mental test for many riders both excited and nervous at the first round of fifteen on the six month calendar. Cairoli had to be content with two second positions today as Rattray proved to be a worthy opponent. The lead changed frequently in the early stages and the first half of the opening moto was particularly riveting as six riders tussled for control. The Sicilian was encouraged by a strong late charge in the second race as he hunted the rear wheel of Rattray on the last two laps; with just one more circulation he might have seized the lead and the GP win. Yamaha Ricci Racing's Nicolas Aubin was one of the protagonists but the Frenchman crashed in the first race when he lost control of the front-end descending one of the heavily rutted hills. He was edged off-line by Searle and fell again in the second race but results of ninth and sixth helped him to seventh overall and the second highest Yamaha representative. Team-mate Davide Guarneri had a tough time through the rutted sand and a first lap crash meant he could do no better than fifteenth in Moto1. He improved this to eleventh in the second sprint and was content to leave Holland with points as he has faced injury problems for the last two seasons. UTag Yamaha.com were unlucky on Saturday. Both Martin Barr and Carlos Campano crashed in their heat races and were not able to make the qualification cut negotiating a wetter and boggier terrain. The 2008 Grand Prix of the Netherlands was a small landmark for new Yamaha Van Beers racer Evgeny Bobryshev as the Russian scored his very first world championship point with a hard-fought twentieth place in Moto2. The next round on the 2008 schedule will take place at Bellpuig for the Grand Prix of Spain in two weeks time. Antonio Cairoli, Yamaha Red Bull De Carli, 2nd: "I am happy with this result because we have been making a lot of tests and effort towards MX1 during the pre-season. I still need a bit more time on my 250, particularly in the sand. At the beginning of the first moto I was not so sharp and Tyla got away. He is really fast on this kind of track I just tried to be as fast as I could without making mistakes. Overall I am feeling good with the bike though and I know much better is to come, especially because I like the next few tracks in Spain, Portugal, Bulgaria and Mantova." Nicolas Aubin, Yamaha Ricci Racing, 7th: "I did not race at my real level today. The bike is good and I am very happy with the engine because I took two very good starts but I could not find a good feeling on the sand. I took some good points for the championship. Tommy went past me and I did not close the gas, I touched his rear wheel and went down but it was one of those things. I like Bellpuig and I am hoping for the podium there." Davide Guarneri, Yamaha Ricci Racing, 11th: "It is not a great day but I really do not like the sand so it is not a disaster. There were so many ruts out there and I found it hard to go quickly. I tried to get good starts but my gate position was not great I took some points in the first moto after the crash. I fell again in the second race but could recover for more points. I know that on more 'normal' tracks I can do much better." Race 1 - 17 Laps Pos., Rider, Manu., Nat., Total Time 1, Tyla Rattray, KTM, RSA, 40'59.119 2, Antonio Cairoli, Yamaha, ITA, 0'15.146 3, Tommy Searle, KTM, GBR, 0'35.267 4, Erik Eggens, Suzuki, NED, 0'39.399 5, Shaun Simpson, KTM, GBR, 0'42.142 6, Rui Goncalves, KTM, POR, 0'47.601 7, Jeremy Van Horebeek, KTM, BEL, 1'0.720 8, Xavier Boog, Suzuki, FRA, 1'1.488 9, Nicolas Aubin, Yamaha, FRA, 1'12.157 10, Joel Roelants, KTM, BEL, 1'25.585 11, Jeremy Tarroux, KTM, FRA, 1'51.275 12, Anthony Boissiere, KTM, FRA, 1'56.631 13, Gert Krestinov, KTM, EST, 1'58.303 14, Rinus Van de Ven, KTM, NED, 2'1.988 15, Davide Guarneri, Yamaha, ITA, 2'8.903 16, Pascal Leuret, Suzuki, FRA, 2'18.796 17, Joaquim Rodrigues, KTM, POR, 2'26.404 18, Wyatt Avis, Honda, RSA, -1 Laps 19, Manuel Monni, Yamaha, ITA, -1 Laps 20, Rob van Vijfeijken, Yamaha, NED, -1 Laps Race 2 - 17 Laps Pos., Rider, Manu., Nat., Total Time 1, Tyla Rattray, KTM, RSA, 39'49.877 2, Antonio Cairoli, Yamaha, ITA, 0'1.246 3, Erik Eggens, Suzuki, NED, 1'8.488 4, Rui Goncalves, KTM, POR, 1'9.622 5, Tommy Searle, KTM, GBR, 1'25.853 6, Nicolas Aubin, Yamaha, FRA, 1'26.419 7, Stephen Sword, Kawasaki, GBR, 1'48.366 8, Xavier Boog, Suzuki, FRA, 1'55.118 9, Shaun Simpson, KTM, GBR, 2'20.438 10, Joel Roelants, KTM, BEL, -1 Laps 11, Davide Guarneri, Yamaha, ITA, -1 Laps 12, Manuel Monni, Yamaha, ITA, -1 Laps 13, Mike Kras, Suzuki, NED, -1 Laps 14, Jeremy Van Horebeek, KTM, BEL, -1 Laps 15, Gautier Paulin, Kawasaki, FRA, -1 Laps 16, Gert Krestinov, KTM, EST, -1 Laps 17, Rob van Vijfeijken, Yamaha, NED, -1 Laps 18, Rinus Van de Ven, KTM, NED, -1 Laps 19, Marcus Norlen, Suzuki, SWE, -1 Laps 20, Evgeny Bobryshev, Yamaha, RUS, -1 Laps Rider Standings 06/04/2008 Pos., Rider, Manu., Nat., Points 1, Tyla Rattray, KTM, RSA, 50 2, Antonio Cairoli, Yamaha, ITA, 44 3, Erik Eggens, Suzuki, NED, 38 4, Tommy Searle, KTM, GBR, 36 5, Rui Goncalves, KTM, POR, 33 6, Shaun Simpson, KTM, GBR, 28 7, Nicolas Aubin, Yamaha, FRA, 27 8, Xavier Boog, Suzuki, FRA, 26 9, Joel Roelants, KTM, BEL, 22 10, Jeremy Van Horebeek, KTM, BEL, 21 11, Davide Guarneri, Yamaha, ITA, 16 12, Stephen Sword, Kawasaki, GBR, 14 13, Gert Krestinov, KTM, EST, 13 14, Manuel Monni, Yamaha, ITA, 11 15, Jeremy Tarroux, KTM, FRA, 10 16, Rinus Van de Ven, KTM, NED, 10 17, Anthony Boissiere, KTM, FRA, 9 18, Mike Kras, Suzuki, NED, 8 19, Gautier Paulin, Kawasaki, FRA, 6 20, Pascal Leuret, Suzuki, FRA, 5 25, Evgeny Bobryshev, Yamaha, RUS, 1 Manufacturer Standings 06/04/2008 Pos., Manufacturer, Points 1, KTM, 50 2, Yamaha, 44 3, Suzuki, 38 4, Kawasaki, 14 5, Honda, 3 Click here to view the news

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 eventually, some seven seconds from the win. Haga crashed out of race one, losing the front at the first corner on lap four as he tried to make up for qualifying 10th in Superpole. In race two Haga led for the second half of the race, and his margin of victory over championship leader Troy Bayliss was 1.551 seconds. Corser, who had been pushing hard throughout and got tangled up with Ruben Xaus for some time, found it impossible to keep his early pace and finished eight seconds from his team-mate. Shinichi Nakatomi secured a fine 11th place in the incident-strewn first race, then finished 16th in race two. David Checa (Yamaha GMT94) followed up his qualifying place of 14th with a point for 15th place, while his team-mate Sebastien Gimbert (Yamaha GMT94) was involved in a three rider crash on lap two of race one and did not start race two, as he only had one machine at his disposal here. Noriyuki Haga (DNF and 1st, 6th - Yamaha Motor Italia WSB Team) "I was upset after race one because I was not expecting to lose the front at that point and I felt the bike was working OK. In the early laps of race two I was a bit worried because I had to use my second bike and I had to get my confidence back in the front. It was OK and when I understood that it was possible to win I pushed hard and didn't make any mistakes, which kept Bayliss behind me." Troy Corser (3rd and 5th - Yamaha Motor Italia WSB Team) "We got a podium in race one but we were lucky. We have struggled with grip, more on the rear and when we spin we don't seem to push. It's OK for the tyre to spin but it didn't have any forward momentum coming off the corners. It feels like I am trying to ride the bike too hard yet not getting the optimum results we want." Massimo Meregalli (Team Manager, Yamaha Motor Italia WSB Team) "We got two podiums this weekend and despite having some troubles in practice and qualifying those are two reasons why our optimism yesterday was deserved. Even if Nori fell in race one, I think in the end we can be very positive about his race two performance." Martial Garcia (Team Manager Team YZF Yamaha) "I was happy with the first race because Nakatomi was only 19 seconds behind the winner and that's progress. We are definitely getting closer to the performance of the top guys and we were only about one second per lap slower than Haga in race two." Christophe Guyot (Team Manager Yamaha GMT94 Team) "We had to stop Sebastien from riding in race two because we only had one bike for him this weekend and the Le Mans 24 hours is coming up soon, so we had to prioritise that. Davide scored a point at home so we are all happy for that." Round 3: Valencia, Spain Track length: 4005m Opened: 1999 Fastest Superbike lap: 1:33.805 (Max Neukirchner, Suzuki) Lap record: 1'35.007 (Neil Hodgson, Ducati) Last year's winners: Ruben Xaus (Ducati) and James Toseland (Honda) Race 1 - 23 Laps Pos., Rider, Manu., Nat., Total Time 1, Lorenzo Lanzi, Ducati, ITA, 37'1.894 2, Troy Bayliss, Ducati, AUS, 0'2.987 3, Troy Corser, Yamaha, AUS, 0'7.287 4, Fonsi Nieto, Suzuki, ESP, 0'11.992 5, Carlos Checa, Honda, ESP, 0'12.824 6, Karl Muggeridge, Honda, AUS, 0'13.125 7, Gregorio Lavilla, Honda, ESP, 0'13.191 8, Regis Laconi, Kawasaki, FRA, 0'13.906 9, Makoto Tamada, Kawasaki, JPN, 0'17.254 10, Roberto Rolfo, Honda, ITA, 0'18.606 11, Shinichi Nakatomi, Yamaha, JPN, 0'19.858 12, Kenan Sofuoglu, Honda, TUR, 0'23.350 13, Russel Holland, Honda, AUS, 0'23.577 14, Jakub Smrz, Ducati, CZE, 0'24.082 15, David Checa, Yamaha, ESP, 0'26.611 16, Max Biaggi, Ducati, ITA, 0'41.168 17, Ayrton Badovini, Kawasaki, ITA, 0'44.405 18, Luca Morelli, Honda, ITA, 0'57.045 Race 2 - 23 Laps Pos., Rider, Manu., Nat., Total Time 1, Noriyuki Haga, Yamaha, JPN, 37'3.590 2, Troy Bayliss, Ducati, AUS, 0'1.551 3, Carlos Checa, Honda, ESP, 0'2.903 4, Ryuichi Kiyonari, Honda, JPN, 0'7.277 5, Troy Corser, Yamaha, AUS, 0'8.051 6, Yukio Kagayama, Suzuki, JPN, 0'9.223 7, Ruben Xaus, Ducati, ESP, 0'10.164 8, Max Biaggi, Ducati, ITA, 0'10.614 9, Regis Laconi, Kawasaki, FRA, 0'17.234 10, Fonsi Nieto, Suzuki, ESP, 0'18.100 11, Gregorio Lavilla, Honda, ESP, 0'18.288 12, Lorenzo Lanzi, Ducati, ITA, 0'18.826 13, Michel Fabrizio, Ducati, ITA, 0'21.770 14, Jakub Smrz, Ducati, CZE, 0'22.872 15, Kenan Sofuoglu, Honda, TUR, 0'25.224 16, Shinichi Nakatomi, Yamaha, JPN, 0'25.224 17, Roberto Rolfo, Honda, ITA, 0'25.509 18, David Checa, Yamaha, ESP, 0'25.615 19, Russel Holland, Honda, AUS, 0'26.503 20, Karl Muggeridge, Honda, AUS, 0'35.171 21, Ayrton Badovini, Kawasaki, ITA, 0'53.240 Best Lap Rider, Manu., Nat., Total Time Noriyuki Haga, Yamaha, JPN, 1'35.131 Rider Standings 06/04/2008 Pos., Rider, Manu., Nat., Points 1, Troy Bayliss, Ducati, AUS, 128 2, Fonsi Nieto, Suzuki, ESP, 80 3, Troy Corser, Yamaha, AUS, 72 4, Carlos Checa, Honda, ESP, 72 5, Ruben Xaus, Ducati, ESP, 68 6, Noriyuki Haga, Yamaha, JPN, 47 7, Max Biaggi, Ducati, ITA, 44 8, Lorenzo Lanzi, Ducati, ITA, 42 9, Max Neukirchner, Suzuki, GER, 39 10, Michel Fabrizio, Ducati, ITA, 37 11, Gregorio Lavilla, Honda, ESP, 32 12, Ryuichi Kiyonari, Honda, JPN, 30 13, Kenan Sofuoglu, Honda, TUR, 22 14, Karl Muggeridge, Honda, AUS, 20 15, Yukio Kagayama, Suzuki, JPN, 18 21, Shinichi Nakatomi, Yamaha, JPN, 7 22, David Checa, Yamaha, ESP, 5 23, Sebastien Gimbert, Yamaha, FRA, 3 Manufacturer Standings 06/04/2008 Pos., Manufacturer, Points 1, Ducati, 140 2, Yamaha, 95 3, Suzuki, 86 4, Honda, 73 5, Kawasaki, 22 ---------- RACE REPORT - 06/04/2008 Foret second at Valencia and Parkes second on points Fabien Foret secured a battling second place for the Yamaha World Supersport Team at Valencia today in a delayed race at the 4.005km circuit in Spain. In addition to Foret's podium, which looked unlikely after he suffered a big crash and slight concussion on Friday, his team-mate Broc Parkes went second in the championship overall by taking fourth place after a solid race. Although neither rider felt that they had the perfect set up to maximise grip on the ever-changing Valencia circuit, each was able to secure important points on yet another day when many of the pre-season favourites made no scores. Foret had Craig Jones for company close behind for much of the 23-lap race that started 40 minutes later than schedule to allow for track repairs from an earlier Superbike crash. Broc Parkes was in line for a podium finish for most of the race and set the race's fastest lap until he was forced to slow because of a reduction in front tyre grip. In the championship, after three rounds, Parkes takes second position with a total of 38 points, while Foret is now third overall, on 33. Despite being 18th on lap one starting from 7th position, Massimo Roccoli (Yamaha Team Italia Lorenzini by Leoni) was seventh in the race today. He was looking to charge into the top five for some time but had to settle for seventh due to a lack of front tyre grip. Yamaha Spain rider David Salom finished 16th and just out of the points. Fabien Foret (Positon: 2nd - Time: +0'1.125 - Yamaha World Supersport Team) "I was much better physically today, just a little tense because I knew that I really could not crash and lose points, especially after a no-score in Qatar in round one. I didn't make a great start off the line but in the first couple of corners I just went around some other riders and soon I was about fifth or sixth. I was able to put together a good race and hold off Craig Jones, who pushed me very hard. In the championship we have taken some good points but I could really do nothing about winning the race today." Broc Parkes (Positon: 4th - Time: +0'10.514 - Yamaha World Supersport Team) "Although fourth is not a bad result, today wasn't my day. I chose the wrong front tyre and that was a big problem in the middle of the race because I had no front grip. I tried to bring it home on the podium but even on the rear I didn't feel I had the perfect set-up. I tried to go with the guys in second and third but I had to settle for fourth, because I didn't have the pace. I saw a lot guys who chose the same front tyre as me go down and I can understand why. I'm second in the championship anyway, so that is a good confidence booster for us all." Wilco Zeelenberg (Team Manager, Yamaha World Supersport Team) "It was a bit of a hot race here and it was really important not to crash as a lot of people went off without any warning. You can lose a lot here and I think we won a lot, because of what we did and because of some other guys falling. Our riders did well to wait and see what was happening, that was our target for the first five or six laps. Second and third in the championship is a good finish to our race weekend." Massimo Roccoli (Position: 7th - Time: +0'19.636 - Yamaha Team Italia Lorenzini by Leoni) "I had a terrible start but I made up a lot of places very quickly. About half way through the race my front tyre was finished so I had to slow down and lost any more chance I had of a better finish." Race 1 - 23 Laps Pos., Rider, Manu., Nat., Total Time 1, Joan Lascorz, Honda, ESP, 37'58.607 2, Fabien Foret, Yamaha, FRA, 0'1.125 3, Craig Jones, Honda, GBR, 0'1.530 4, Broc Parkes, Yamaha, AUS, 0'10.514 5, Gianluca Nannelli, Honda, ITA, 0'17.492 6, Jonathan Rea, Honda, GBR, 0'17.602 7, Massimo Roccoli, Yamaha, ITA, 0'19.636 8, Angel Rodriguez, Kawasaki, ESP, 0'19.694 9, Chris Walker, Kawasaki, GBR, 0'25.230 10, Mark Aitchinson, Triumph, AUS, 0'25.702 11, Katsuaki Fujiwara, Kawasaki, JPN, 0'32.370 12, Gianluca Vizziello, Honda, ITA, 0'33.370 13, Matthieu Lagrive, Honda, FRA, 0'34.706 14, Vesa Kallio, Honda, FIN, 0'39.956 15, Miguel Praia, Honda, POR, 0'40.227 16, David Salom, Yamaha, ESP, 0'40.357 17, William De Angelis, Honda, ITA, 0'41.411 18, Arnaud Vincent, Kawasaki, FRA, 0'53.810 19, Andrew Pitt, Honda, AUS, 0'56.968 20, Didier Van Keymeulen, Suzuki, BEL, 0'59.575 21, Gergo Talmacsi, Honda, HUN, 1'13.069 22, Luka Nedog, Honda, SVN, 1'27.385 23, Attila Magda, Honda, HUN, 1'29.031 Best Lap Rider, Manu., Nat., Total Time Broc Parkes, Yamaha, AUS, 1'37.590 Rider Standings 06/04/2008 Pos., Rider, Manu., Nat., Points 1, Joan Lascorz, Honda, ESP, 54 2, Broc Parkes, Yamaha, AUS, 38 3, Fabien Foret, Yamaha, FRA, 33 4, Joshua Brookes, Honda, AUS, 33 5, Craig Jones, Honda, GBR, 32 6, Andrew Pitt, Honda, AUS, 25 7, Robbin Harms, Honda, DNK, 25 8, Jonathan Rea, Honda, GBR, 21 9, Gianluca Vizziello, Honda, ITA, 18 10, Gianluca Nannelli, Honda, ITA, 17 11, Massimo Roccoli, Yamaha, ITA, 16 12, Chris Walker, Kawasaki, GBR, 16 13, Matthieu Lagrive, Honda, FRA, 14 14, Garry McCoy, Triumph, AUS, 10 15, Barry Veneman, Suzuki, NED, 10 19, David Salom, Yamaha, ESP, 8 Manufacturer Standings 06/04/2008 Pos., Manufacturer, Points 1, Honda, 70 2, Yamaha, 58 3, Triumph, 20 4, Kawasaki, 17 5, Suzuki, 10 ---------- RACE REPORT - 06/04/2008 Corti fifth after 13-Lap thriller Yamaha Motor Italia Junior Team rider Claudio Corti scored a strong fifth in the first race of the 2008 season, after an exciting three rider fight for the last podium place that lit up the final few laps of the race. Corti, now also a test rider for the Yamaha Motor Italia World Superbike Team, took his near-stock Yamaha YZF-R1 to the limit in the final few turns, but in a contest that could have went any of three ways he finished just behind Xavier Simeon and Alessandro Polita. Sylvain Barrier riding for the YZF Yamaha Junior Team scored two point in his opening race, starting from 20th position and finshing in 14th. Claudio Corti (Position: 5th - Time: +0'7.680 - Yamaha Motor Italia Junior Team) "I'm satisfied with fifth place because it is a long season and my goal is the championship, not one race. We had some problems with the front fork settings and the bike felt a little sensitive on the straights sometimes. Third would have been possible but I was not helped after colliding with Simeon.It was a tight and great fight in the last few laps but unfortunately I could not finish third." Sylvain Barrier (Position: 14th - Time: +0'24.896 - YZF Yamaha Junior Team) "I had a good start and I was 12th in the early stages. I tried to have the same rhythm than my opponents but I had a difficult feeling with the tyres. I had some chattering on the back. I liked a lot to race with the other riders." Race 1 - 13 Laps Pos., Rider, Manu., Nat., Total Time 1, Brendan Roberts, Ducati, AUS, 21'17.585 2, Davide Giugliano, Suzuki, ITA, 0'3.795 3, Xavier Simeon, Suzuki, BEL, 0'6.865 4, Alessandro Polita, Suzuki, ITA, 0'7.272 5, Claudio Corti, Yamaha, ITA, 0'7.680 6, Michele Pirro, Yamaha, ITA, 0'11.646 7, Maxime Berger, Honda, FRA, 0'13.281 8, C Seaton, Suzuki, AUS, 0'17.294 9, Barry Burrell, Honda, GBR, 0'17.487 10, Michele Magnoni, Yamaha, ITA, 0'18.254 11, Fabrizio Perotti, Suzuki, ITA, 0'19.910 12, Freddy Foray, Yamaha, FRA, 0'24.142 13, Kenny Foray, Yamaha, FRA, 0'24.451 14, Sylvain Barrier, Yamaha, FRA, 0'24.896 15, Yoann Tiberio, Kawasaki, FRA, 0'24.934 16, Raymond Schouten, Yamaha, NED, 0'25.955 17, Matteo Baiocco, Yamaha, ITA, 0'27.450 18, Filip Backlund, Suzuki, SWE, 0'31.520 21, Danny De Boer, Suzuki, NED, 0'36.987 22, Matt Bond, Suzuki, GBR, 0'41.607 24, Marko Rohtlaan, Honda, EST, 0'42.871 25, Marko Jerman, Yamaha, SVK, 0'45.216 26, Denis Sacchetti, MV Agusta, ITA, 0'51.360 33, Robert Gianfardoni, Yamaha, ITA, 1'16.455 Best Lap Rider, Manu., Nat., Total Time Brendan Roberts, Ducati, AUS, 1'36.610 Rider Standings 06/04/2008 Pos., Rider, Manu., Nat., Points 1, Brendan Roberts, Ducati, AUS, 25 2, Xavier Simeon, Suzuki, BEL, 16 3, Alessandro Polita, Suzuki, ITA, 13 4, Claudio Corti, Yamaha, ITA, 11 5, Michele Pirro, Yamaha, ITA, 10 6, Barry Burrell, Honda, GBR, 7 7, Freddy Foray, Yamaha, FRA, 4 8, Sylvain Barrier, Yamaha, FRA, 2 Manufacturer Standings 06/04/2008 Pos., Manufacturer, Points 1, Ducati, 25 2, Suzuki, 16 3, Yamaha, 11 4, Honda, 7 Click here to view the news

The Yamaha Monster Motocross Team will be hoping to strike extra fear into their FIM Motocross World Championship rivals in 2008 thanks to a new alliance with Monster Energy drinks. The factory-backed Grand Prix squad – now entitled ‘Yamaha Monster Motocross Team’ thanks to the title sponsorship - will benefit from a high-profile three year joint programme with one of the new powerful movers in motorcycle racing for their attempt on the MX1-GP title. On the eve of the first Grand Prix of fifteen in the 2008 MX1-GP World Championship the heart of the press corps headed north of Valkenswaard – location of the Eurocircuit, venue of the GP of the Netherlands – to see Philippaerts, Coppins and key personnel from Yamaha Motor Europe and Monster Energy present the new all-black factory YZ450FMs for the imminent season. After the beach demonstration that saw Philippaerts manfully steer a snowmobile for the first time and Coppins actually getting some air under his wheels on the ATV, the riders and team took the covers off the works machinery and then joined in a small Q+A before a dinner took place. Over forty journalists and photographers from Europe, USA and Japan gathered to witness proceedings. “For six years we have been pushing hard for titles with a lot of success, and as this is the first time that we will be wanting our red plate back everyone is more motivated than ever this season,” said Yamaha Motor Europe’s Racing Division Manager Laurens Klein Koerkamp. “In Josh Coppins we have a strong and fast rider who came so close to our fourth championship in four years last season and with David we have some new young blood that we hope will be capable of some very good results. We will be on the attack in the premier-class in 2008. I would also like to extend a deep welcome to Monster Energy and we look forward to a prosperous relationship together.” “Yamaha’s team in MX1-GP is one with a fantastic heritage and a record of results that we like to be associated with,” said Monster Energy spokesman Scott Sepkovic. “We have a strong belief in allying our product with motocross and supercross and this can be seen in our support of youth programmes right through to our top athletes. I want to wish Josh and David all the best for the coming season.” “The main difference you can see with the 2008 race machinery compared with 2007, is the colour,” joked Team Principal Michele Rinaldi, alluding to the departure of the Yamaha blue. “The bike has undergone some modifications to the chassis and suspension, we have gone from 50mm to 48 on the front end, and the engine has also had some work to the cylinder head, valve and exhaust among other things to improve the torque which gives more traction and stability. The noise limit has also been lowered from 96 to 94 decibels and this presented another technical challenge. As ever I am indebted to the work of the team and also our technical crew behind-the-scenes. We will see tomorrow the fruits of our work and hopefully even more so on Sunday afternoon.” “I did not think I could be hungrier than I was last season to win the championship,” said Josh Coppins who came through his outing on the ATV without any problems regarding his healing toes. “However it is obvious that I have some unfinished business from last season. This is the not best start I could have hoped for,” he added referring to the support cast on his right foot “but I will be out there and ready to get this year underway.” “The 2007 bike was already good but I feel the changes we have produced for this year have made it more user friendly - certainly for me - and it is good for your confidence to go to the gate with something you know is capable of delivering the goods,” the 31 year old commented on the 2008 YZ450FM. “It is great to be part of this team, especially for me being Italian; it is so easy to work with them and I feel very comfortable,” admitted Philippaerts, who makes his Grand Prix debut for the team over the weekend. “I think the good feeling I have has been obvious with some decent pre-season races. I am excited to start the season now and can’t wait for tomorrow.” The first day of practice and qualification at the Valkenswaard circuit takes place on Saturday before the two 35 minutes and 2 lap motos for the MX1-GP and MX2-GP classes commence on Sunday. Click here to view the news

Having missed the official FGSport tests in March the Yamaha Motor Italia WSB Team had to work particularly hard on the first day of the Valencia race weekend to set times just inside the top ten of the 30 riders who entered this third round of the 2008 season. Corser's best time was only 0.618 seconds from fastest man Max Neukirchner (Suzuki) and put him ninth in a session where the top 15 riders qualified within a second of provisional pole. Haga was tenth, only 0.124 seconds from Corser, as each attempted to match their machine's settings and initial tyre choices against the unpredictable Valencia track surface. Both Corser and Haga are proven race winners at this challenging stadium-style circuit, and with their experienced team behind they fully expect to find fully competitive race set-ups for Sunday's two 23-lap Superbike races. The GMT94 team had received new parts in time for the Valencia race allowing them to run 4 kilo's lighter compared to previous race and therefore closer to a Superbike spec than the Endurance machines they have been running up to now.Sebastien Gimbert (Yamaha GMT94) finished 15th in the first timed session and should he keep this position or better it in tomorrow's session, he will qualify for Superpole. His team-mate David Checa was only 1.260 seconds from pole but finished the opening day 19th. In a remarkably close opening qualifying session, run on race tyres throughout, Team YZF Yamaha rider Shinichi Nakatomi finished 21st fastest, but only 1.282 seconds from provisional pole. Troy Corser (9th - 1'35.424 - Yamaha Italy WSB Team) "The engine feels not so bad even on the first day and we just need to get the chassis settings right. We haven't got it quite there yet, but that is to be expected after only two sessions. The grip from the track is about normal for Valencia on the first day of practice and I think it will get better as the weekend goes on. We are really starting from day one and some other people are further along. I'm not worried, because I know the track and I know what to do, so we just need to get it right tomorrow." Noriyuki Haga (10th - 1'35.548 - Yamaha Italy WSB Team) "We have found it a little bit more difficult than we expected to find a set-up right away because in some parts of the circuit we have a little bit less grip than others. We should have had more grip in the timed session than we did in the morning session but right now we don't. That is because of the combination of the setting and the tyres. We have to check suspension settings one more time tonight to let us move on tomorrow." Massimo Meregalli (Team Manager, Yamaha Motor Italia WSB Team) "For me, all we are missing is the two day test. Because of that the gap between our two riders and the rest is what we could expect. I am not worried about it and I know there is enough left in the bike and set-up changes for us to catch up tomorrow. Troy and Nori are close on times and we are not so far from the leading rider." Qualifying 1 Pos., Rider, Manu., Nat., Total Time 1, Max Neukirchner, Suzuki, GER, 1'34.806 2, Yukio Kagayama, Suzuki, JPN, 1'34.932 4, Troy Bayliss, Ducati, AUS, 1'35.060 5, Michel Fabrizio, Ducati, ITA, 1'35.080 6, Lorenzo Lanzi, Ducati, ITA, 1'35.085 7, Jakub Smrz, Ducati, CZE, 1'35.262 8, Regis Laconi, Kawasaki, FRA, 1'35.278 9, Troy Corser, Yamaha, AUS, 1'35.424 10, Noriyuki Haga, Yamaha, JPN, 1'35.548 11, Ryuichi Kiyonari, Honda, JPN, 1'35.550 13, Karl Muggeridge, Honda, AUS, 1'35.634 14, Roberto Rolfo, Honda, ITA, 1'35.756 15, Sebastien Gimbert, Yamaha, FRA, 1'35.766 16, Fonsi Nieto, Suzuki, ESP, 1'35.766 17, Ruben Xaus, Ducati, ESP, 1'35.892 18, Gregorio Lavilla, Honda, ESP, 1'35.939 19, David Checa, Yamaha, ESP, 1'36.066 20, Carmelo Morales, Honda, ESP, 1'36.070 21, Shinichi Nakatomi, Yamaha, JPN, 1'36.088 22, Russel Holland, Honda, AUS, 1'36.150 23, Kenan Sofuoglu, Honda, TUR, 1'36.268 24, Max Biaggi, Ducati, ITA, 1'36.305 25, Sergio Fuertes, Suzuki, ESP, 1'36.711 26, Ayrton Badovini, Kawasaki, ITA, 1'36.749 27, Loic Napoleone, Yamaha, FRA, 1'37.288 ---------- QUALIFYING 1 REPORT - 04/04/2008 Parkes in the opening day top four Yamaha World Supersport Team riders Fabien Foret and Broc Parkes had vastly differing experiences during their first day of practice at Valencia, with Parkes finishing fourth on the time sheets and Foret suffering a slight concussion after a crash. Despite not riding in the recent FGSport tests at Valencia on 13 and 14 March, both Parkes and Foret started brightly in the opening unofficial session this morning, with Parkes fastest of all and Foret only 0.6 seconds behind. Against expectations, the overcast afternoon session meant that it was only slightly warmer than the morning but the times of the top riders dropped significantly in any case. Andrew Pitt set a new track best of 1m 36.773 to take provisional pole, with Parkes setting a best of 1m 37.436 to go fourth fastest. Foret rode for only four laps in the official session in the afternoon before he fell. He suffered a highside when his rear end slid and then finally snapped sideways on the exit of the first right hander of the circuit, while he was trying out a new tyre at a high pace. Foret recorded a time of 1m 38.351 was ranked 14th. Massimo Roccoli (Yamaha Team Italia Lorenzini by Leoni) was the closest YZF-R6 rider to Parkes, going 11th quickest with a 1m 38.007 lap. Roccoli had been joint fastest qualifier in the recent official test at Valencia, but was unable to replicate those kind of lap-times today. Yamaha Spain World Supersport Team rider David De Gea only did a handful of laps before being forced to stop riding due to the effects of a previously fractured lower left leg, which had not healed up enough to allow him to put pressure on it. De Gea's team-mate Davide Salom was a disappointed 29th after setting only 12 laps in total in the timed session. Broc Parkes (4th - 1m 37.436 - Yamaha World Supersport Team) "Not too bad for Friday and we knew we would be doing a little bit of catching up because we didn't test here. When we got the end of the session we found a way to go forward but we didn't have enough time left to try it. We found some good and bad things today, so tonight we will absorb it all. I know we can be a lot better." Wilco Zeelenberg (Team Manager, Yamaha World Supersport Team) "We've started well, although we need to be a little bit faster still. We need to improve some points with the front-end feel and also the rear-end is sitting a little bit too far down right now. Nothing dramatic, but every time you speed up you have to make changes. It looked a bit better this morning, when we were right there in terms of lap times. Fabien hit his head quite hard when he fell and had a short concussion. He came back into the garage with time left in the session but we thought it would be better for him to wait until tomorrow to ride again." Massimo Roccoli (11th - 1'38.007 seconds - Yamaha Team Italia Lorenzini by Leoni) "We are slower than we were in tests here last month but the temperatures on the track are very different, in the morning and the afternoon, and we didn't choose the best rear tyre to work with. I am confident that we can find a better way tomorrow and move up the grid." David De Gea (Yamaha Spain World Supersport Team) "I broke my left leg in February and last week the doctor advised me not to enter this weekend. But I wanted to at least try and I tried to test this morning. Under braking it was particularly painful. I have to say that right now my leg is not ready and it does not help that here in Valencia we have a lot of left-hand corners. It´s a shame, but now we have to wait for Assen, where I hope to be ready to ride." Qualifying 1 Pos., Rider, Manu., Nat., Total Time 1, Andrew Pitt, Honda, AUS, 1'36.773 2, Craig Jones, Honda, GBR, 1'37.068 3, Katsuaki Fujiwara, Kawasaki, JPN, 1'37.233 4, Broc Parkes, Yamaha, AUS, 1'37.436 5, Joshua Brookes, Honda, AUS, 1'37.449 6, Joan Lascorz, Honda, ESP, 1'37.538 7, Jonathan Rea, Honda, GBR, 1'37.551 8, Chris Walker, Kawasaki, GBR, 1'37.810 9, Gianluca Vizziello, Honda, ITA, 1'37.899 10, Barry Veneman, Suzuki, NED, 1'37.985 11, Massimo Roccoli, Yamaha, ITA, 1'38.007 12, Matthieu Lagrive, Honda, FRA, 1'38.042 13, Robbin Harms, Honda, DNK, 1'38.108 14, Fabien Foret, Yamaha, FRA, 1'38.211 15, Graeme Gowland, Honda, GBR, 1'38.255 16, Gregory Leblanc, Honda, FRA, 1'38.263 17, Ivan Clementi, Triumph, ITA, 1'38.315 18, Mark Aitchinson, Triumph, AUS, 1'38.565 19, Miguel Praia, Honda, POR, 1'38.604 20, Gianluca Nannelli, Honda, ITA, 1'38.628 21, Vesa Kallio, Honda, FIN, 1'38.659 22, Angel Rodriguez, Kawasaki, ESP, 1'38.666 23, Garry McCoy, Triumph, AUS, 1'38.739 24, Arnaud Vincent, Kawasaki, FRA, 1'38.791 25, William De Angelis, Honda, ITA, 1'38.871 26, Gergo Talmacsi, Honda, HUN, 1'39.083 27, Ilario Dionisi, Triumph, ITA, 1'39.324 28, Mirko Giansanti, Honda, ITA, 1'39.330 29, David Salom, Yamaha, ESP, 1'39.486 30, Lorenzo Alfonsi, Kawasaki, ITA, 1'39.578 31, Didier Van Keymeulen, Suzuki, BEL, 1'39.661 32, Luka Nedog, Honda, SVN, 1'39.710 33, Santiago Barragan, Honda, ESP, 1'40.070 34, Adrian Bonastre, Yamaha, ESP, 1'40.431 35, Danilo Dell'omo, Honda, ITA, 1'40.628 36, Attila Magda, Honda, HUN, 1'41.151 Click here to view the news

Yamaha has long recognized that not only many women ride motorcycles, but that they like to ride fast on a race track too. The most recent proof comes in the shape of current Womens’ Road Racing European Champion in the 1000 class Nina Prinz, who will team up with Yamaha in 2008. Twenty-five-year-old Nina, from Mannheim/Leutkirch in Germany, won all three 2007 European Women Championship races sanctioned by the UEM (European Motorcycle Union). This success landed her with the opportunity to defend her title on Yamaha’s YZF-R1 Superbike flagship, which she will race for the first time at Misano (I) on 13 April, then Assen (NL) on 15 June and the final Championship round will be held at Albacete (ESP) on 12 October. Nina and her R1 will also be competing in the male-dominated IDM German Superbike Championship for Team Yamaha Motor Germany, riding alongside former 2000 World Supersport champion Jörg Teuchert and Polish rider Andrzej Pawalec. On her signing Nina says; “I am very please to have signed with Yamaha for this season! During my first two outings on the R1 at Misano and during the Yamaha Race Training in Valencia last week, I was really impressed by the bike in terms of power and stability. The team has prepared a perfect bike for me and being part of this outfit hopefully enables me to progress further. With experienced riders as Jörg aboard, I can really learn a lot. Both championships are very competitive but my goal is to score as many points as possible in the IDM and consolidate my championship title status in the Womens Championship this year. The fact that Yamaha actively supports female riders is a very positive development for the sport and for us women in particular!” Nina got into motorcycle racing via minibikes and got really serious when she entered the national ADAC Junior Cup in Germany in 2000. Since then she has graduated through National Supersport racing, improving all the time, before adding some IDM Superbike experience and European Womens’ Championship rides to her portfolio in 2006. Nina simply dominated the 2007 UEM series. Nina is the second female star that is officially supported by Yamaha. Reigning FIM Motocross Women’s World Cup champion Katherine Prumm from New Zealand will race on a Yamaha YZ250F in the newly established 2008 Women Motocross World Championship. Both Nina and Katherine hope to continue their success with Yamaha and contribute to the increasing popularity of female motorcycle riding and competition. Click here to view the news