Alex Asigno

Valentino Rossi's hopes of securing the runner-up spot in the championship ended in the unluckiest of fashions today, when a technical issue brought the injured Italian's race to a premature end in Valencia. His Fiat Yamaha team-mate Colin Edwards also had a disappointing race and finished 13th in his final race for the Factory Team, after starting from 15th. Having broken three bones in his hand after crashing in qualifying yesterday, Rossi bravely decided to race, his 192nd consecutive start since his 125cc debut in 2006. Forced to start from 17th after completing only five laps in qualifying, he needed to finish 15th or higher in order to secure second place in the championship from Pedrosa, who started on pole. By mid-race distance he had gone one better, having passed Anthony West, Shinya Nakano and Makoto Tamada to take 14th.However on lap 18 Rossi ran into unexpected problems with his bike and he was forced to retire, only able look on as Pedrosa went on to win the race and take the championship runner-up spot by just one point. Edwards meanwhile had made up three places from his starting position to 12th, but was limited by a lack of grip and unable to make any headway to the next group of riders. A late battle with Carlos Checa however, who was riding in his last MotoGP race, went the way of the Spaniard and Edwards was forced to settle for 13th across the line and ninth place in the championship on his Fiat Yamaha farewell. Lin Jarvis, Managing Director of Yamaha Motor Racing, commented after the race, "This final race has been a very disappointing end to a long and hard season. I feel very sorry that our machine failed Valentino today and denied him the second place in the championship that he surely deserved. His ride today with a broken hand showed his fighting spirit and his passion for racing. Colin's last race for the Yamaha Factory Team was also a disappointing end to his season. I would like to anyway thank Colin for his commitment to Yamaha and for his great teamwork during the last three years. We also look forward to having him in the Yamaha family as our next-door neighbour in 2008. Last but not least I would like to thank all members of the Factory Team and the Yamaha MotoGP staff for their tireless dedication and commitment all year long. We will now put our full focus on next year. We have a lot of work ahead of us in order to come back stronger and faster and to return to winning ways for the 2008 MotoGP World Championship." Colin Edwards - Position: 13th Time: +46.572 "There's really nothing to say about today so I'll just leave that be! It was my last race with the Factory Team and everyone knows I wanted a better goodbye than this, but there was little I could do today. I'm very thankful to everyone in this team for the last three years, which have without doubt been some of the most memorable of my racing career. A huge thanks to Yamaha, to Michelin and to everyone in the team; it's been great fun. I'm very glad I'm staying with Yamaha and now I'm just looking forward to getting started with the new bike!" Valentino Rossi - Position: DNF Time: 11 Laps "I have no words. For sure, after today, I can say that it's not just a matter of misfortune. I did everything I could in order to be on the grid today, because I wanted to try and confirm my second place in the championship, which I think I deserved. I was riding very fast, even though my bike was not perfect. When I got into 14th place, I told myself that my task was done, but I was feeling quite good and I wanted to try to pass some more riders. Unfortunately however I felt that I had a problem with my bike and I was forced to come in. Now we are checking the data to understand what happened, because at the moment it's not so clear. I will need 20 days to fix my hand and then I will be back in Jerez to start my winter testing programme. I'd like to thank Claudio Costa and Marco Montanari, as well as everyone at the Clinica Mobile, because they made a great effort with my hand to enable me to race today." Davide Brivio - Team Director "We hoped for a much better end to the season and we would like to say sorry to Valentino because he made a great effort to race with his broken hand. Unfortunately a technical problem stopped him from getting the second place and we're very sad about this. Our engineers are doing everything they can now to understand what happened today, because Valentino felt that he had a problem and that the engine was not working properly. From our first analysis we are not yet sure what the problem was, so we have decided to send the engine back to Japan for further investigation. Colin was only able to finish 13th and it's a shame also that he couldn't finish the season and his Factory Team career on a better note. We're glad however that he's staying in the Yamaha family and we wish him all the best. It seems that Valencia hasn't been a very lucky track for us over the last couple of years, but what happened today will just give us a stronger motivation for next season. We start testing again this month and we will do everything we can to be at the top of the championship again next year. Thanks to the team and everyone involved; there have been some very difficult moments this year but we will try again in 2008." Season ends on a high note for Dunlop Yamaha Tech 3 Team The Dunlop Yamaha Tech 3 Team finished 2007 at the Valencia Grand Prix with its most impressive performance of the year. Both riders secured Dunlop's best qualifying result in the premier class since 2002 as Sylvain Guintoli and Makoto Tamada started from the second row of the grid in fifth and six positions, respectively. In the race, Sylvain created another personal best being the first Yamaha across the finish line with both riders scoring championship points as victory went to local hero Dani Pedrosa with Sylvain claiming the "Rookie of the Year" award. Guintoli, after being as high as eighth place during the 30-lap race had to settle for 11th place after a race long duel with the factory bikes of Carlos Checa, Tony Elias and Randy De Puniet while Makoto, who celebrated his 31st birthday on the day, was also embroiled in the same battle and finished 15th. Sylvain Guintoli - Position: 11th Time: +38.763 The start of the race wasn't that great but then I got into a good rhythm to have a good battle with Randy and Barros and Elias. It was good fun race and considering my start I am happy to finish where I did and to be the first Yamaha homes as a great bonus. It is pretty emotional for me at the moment. We had such a great season. It was the best season ever for me and I feel a bit sad. I think the team all agree that we did better than we expected. The aim at the start was to progress, learn the category and a MotoGP bike and try to beat my teammate whenever possible. From the start I think we showed that we had the pace and the motivation whilst Dunlop put in an enormous amount of hard work and were equally motivated. The season was definitely very positive for the entire team and I wish them all the best for next year. Makoto Tamada - Position: 15thTime: +56.879 During the race I had a very good pace but after about half way the performance of the tyre dropped down a little bit and I also felt some vibration from the rear so I lost a bit of confidence in pushing hard and lost contact with the riders I was fighting with. I'm not too happy with the race but I would like to thank the team and Dunlop for the opportunity to race in this team. I didn't get the results that I was really looking for but the team and the guys from Dunlop never stopped working to try and improve things. They couldn't have done anything more to help me this year and I wish everyone much success in the future. Herve Poncharal - Dunlop Yamaha Tech 3 Team Manager Definitely a very good weekend for us. Our best qualifying result by far with our two riders on the second row and I was very proud to end up our relationship with Dunlop on a high note in qualifying and a solid result in the race. The race was tough but we managed to keep a good rhythm although the start was not excellent as usual, unfortunately. Sylvain pushed hard through the entire race and there is nothing to be ashamed of. The tyres were consistent all race long, we were the first Yamaha across the line something so that is something I'm really proud of and both riders were in the points again but this is the end of the adventure of Yamaha Tech 3 and Dunlop. I would like to thank all the Dunlop technicians, fitters and engineers that have been involved in the project because they have been behind us 100%, always motivated and always working very hard. I would also like to thank both my riders as we have had a really incredible ambience in the garage all year. There was never any problem between the riders and team and certainly for me on the human side 2007 is the best year I have ever had with two riders. I'm sad to see them leave but happy to see Sylvain go to a good team and I wish all the best to Makoto in his endeavours for next year. I also wish all the best for Dunlop and hope they can return to MotoGP as soon as possible. Meanwhile I'd like to congratulate Dunlop on their 15th consecutive 250cc and 10th consecutive 125cc World Championships. Race 1 - 30 Laps Pos., Rider, Manu., Nat., Total Time 1, Daniel Pedrosa, Honda, ESP, 46'43.533 2, Casey Stoner, Ducati, AUS, 0'5.447 3, John Hopkins, Suzuki, USA, 0'20.404 4, Marco Melandri, Honda, ITA, 0'24.827 5, Loris Capirossi, Ducati, ITA, 0'25.804 6, Chris Vermeulen, Suzuki, AUS, 0'25.804 7, Alex Barros, Ducati, BRA, 0'29.470 8, Nicky Hayden, Honda, USA, 0'30.333 9, Randy De Puniet, Kawasaki, FRA, 0'30.895 10, Toni Elias, Honda, ESP, 0'31.030 11, Sylvain Guintoli, Yamaha, FRA, 0'38.763 12, Carlos Checa, Honda, ESP, 0'42.506 13, Colin Edwards, Yamaha, USA, 0'46.572 14, Shinya Nakano, Honda, JPN, 0'50.220 15, Makoto Tamada, Yamaha, JPN, 0'56.879 16, Anthony West, Kawasaki, AUS, 1'15.369 Best Lap Rider, Manu., Nat., Total Time Daniel Pedrosa, Honda, ESP, 1'32.748 Rider Standings 04/11/2007 Pos., Rider, Manu., Nat., Points 1, Casey Stoner, Ducati, AUS, 367 2, Daniel Pedrosa, Honda, ESP, 242 3, Valentino Rossi, Yamaha, ITA, 241 4, John Hopkins, Suzuki, USA, 189 5, Marco Melandri, Honda, ITA, 187 6, Chris Vermeulen, Suzuki, AUS, 179 7, Loris Capirossi, Ducati, ITA, 166 8, Nicky Hayden, Honda, USA, 127 9, Colin Edwards, Yamaha, USA, 124 10, Alex Barros, Ducati, BRA, 115 11, Randy De Puniet, Kawasaki, FRA, 108 12, Toni Elias, Honda, ESP, 104 13, Alex Hofmann, Ducati, GER, 65 14, Carlos Checa, Honda, ESP, 65 15, Anthony West, Kawasaki, AUS, 59 16, Sylvain Guintoli, Yamaha, FRA, 50 18, Makoto Tamada, Yamaha, JPN, 38 Team Standings 04/11/2007 Pos., Team, Points 1, Ducati Marlboro Team, 533 2, Rizla Suzuki, 371 3, Repsol Honda Team, 369 4, FIAT Yamaha Team, 365 5, Honda Gresini, 297 6, Pramac D'Antin, 181 7, Kawasaki Racing Team, 176 8, Tech3 Yamaha, 88 9, Honda LCR, 65 10, Konica Minolta Honda, 47 11, Team Roberts, 14 Manufacturer Standings 04/11/2007 Pos., Manufacturer, Points 1, Ducati, 394 2, Honda, 313 3, Yamaha, 283 4, Suzuki, 241 5, Kawasaki, 144 6, KR212V, 14

Last Sunday the 28th October the International Oceania MX race took place in Australia. The event is a kind of a mini MX des Nations just for the two states down under; Australia and New Zealand. The best professional, junior and women riders of both countries competed at the Barrabool circuit west of Melbourne to determine who could call themselves the best Motocross nation in Oceania. Yamaha Motocross Teamrider Joshua Coppins won all his races, but that was not enough to get New Zealand the title. "I really enjoyed myself this weekend" smiled Coppins."I set the fastest time in practice and qualifying on Saturday and stayed out of trouble on Sunday and managed to win all my races.The track was fast and technical which I liked and we had good weather with some wind in the morning making it a bit dusty." Despite Coppins' wins, Team New Zealand was unable to pry the trophy from a hungry Aussie team."NZ did well in the professional and women's classes, with a great ride from our Katherine Prumm, but we really struggled in the junior class which I guess is where we lost out to Australia". With Josh's third place in his first ever Supermotard race a fortnight ago in Mettet, Belgium and a second place at the Weston Beach race in the UK a little over a week ago it is clear the "Lizard" has made a full recovery from his shoulder injury that cost him the 2007 MX1 World Championship title. Any doubts about Coppins' fitness vanished as he negotiated the deep sandy dunes of Weston beach on a production 2008 YZ450F. "I didn't know what to expect from this race." admitted Coppins. "I have heard a lot about the Weston Beach race and now that I have one under my belt I'm going to be back for more. I rode a complete standard YZ450F 2008 model and was amazed how well the bike pulled and held up in the deep sand. We ran stock suspension and a standard fuel tank so I just had to stop more often to re-fuel which is obviously where I lost some time "I took it easy on the first lap and was around 20th position after the start. Mike Brown and Steve Ramon were long gone, but then 'Brownie' cooked his clutch and after the first hour I was two minutes behind Steve. I got a rhythm going and closed down the gap to 50 seconds by the time the organisers red flagged the race so I was pumped with my riding and fitness." "I loved doing these events and am going to stay on a little longer in Australia for a bit of a holiday before heading back home to Motueka." added the Yamaha Motocross Team star.

Fiat Yamaha Team rider Valentino rounded off a difficult weekend with a strong ride in today's Malaysian Grand Prix, bringing his Yamaha M1 home in fifth position from ninth on the grid. His team-mate Colin Edwards, who started from 13th, finished 11th. The usual hot and steamy Sepang conditions ensured that the 21-lap race would be a test of stamina for all 20 riders on the grid and, after being hampered by grip issues throughout practice, the Yamaha pair were not expecting an easy race. However some last-minute alterations worked wonders and Rossi especially was able to lap consistently at the same pace as the leaders throughout, recording the second fastest lap of the race on the penultimate lap. The Italian dropped two places at the start but quickly found his rhythm and pegged back Nicky Hayden, marking the start of a spirited ride which saw him pass four riders in as many laps. Soon finding himself in fifth with a gap of more than three seconds to Randy de Puniet, Rossi put his head down and kept pushing, trying to close the gap to the Frenchman. Despite steadily gaining ground on him to the flag, it was not quite enough and he had to settle for fifth. Edwards too made up some places early on and looked to have ninth place secure with two laps to go. However Hayden, who had earlier dropped behind Edwards when running off the track, passed him in the closing stages and Texan was relegated to tenth place. Today's race was won by Casey Stoner, with Marco Melandri and Dani Pedrosa taking second and third. Rossi now lies 24 points clear of Pedrosa in the championship standings, meaning he has to take just a single point during the final race to secure second place, whilst Edwards' six-point haul sees him hold on to eighth position. The final Grand Prix of the season takes place in Valencia, Spain, in a fortnight's time. Valentino Rossi - Position: 5th Time: +4.733 "Of course I'm disappointed with fifth place, but I am very happy with my race today. It's a pity because we had great potential this afternoon and, if we had been able to start from the front row, I think we could have fought for the victory. We made some modifications today and luckily everything worked much better during the race than it had during practice. We were fast this afternoon, we had a great rhythm but unfortunately we really lost the race yesterday in qualifying! I took some time to find my rhythm at the start of the race but once I did I realised I had a great pace and that my bike and tyres were working very well. I tried to catch de Puniet but, even though I was a tiny bit faster than him, the difference was only one or two tenths and so it wasn't enough to be able to make up three seconds. My Michelin tyre worked very well to the end today so this is encouraging for Valencia, where we will be trying one more time to win before the end of the season. Colin Edwards - Position: 10th Time: +29.746 "I got a bad start and had a bad few corners, but once I'd got settled I managed to get past a couple of guys and push on a bit. After a while I got Vermeulen and Hopkins in my sights and I was trying pretty hard to close the gap to them, but I couldn't get closer than about 0.8 seconds. Towards the end I started to feel pretty light-headed - I was feeling the remnants of when I was sick earlier in the week - and everything was really a bit of a blur for the last few laps. I had a terrible headache and in this heat it's hard to concentrate if you're not at 100%, and unfortunately I couldn't hold Hayden off at the end. It's been another tough weekend for us but once again it could have been worse and I want to say thanks again to everyone for working so hard and keeping morale going during a difficult couple of races." Davide Brivio - Team Dorector "Valentino ran a great race today but unfortunately he was penalised by his starting position and the first lap, when he had to take some time to find his rhythm. We saw today that the pace he had could have allowed him to fight at the front, but we lost a lot of ground during practice and qualifying and this afternoon we suffered for that. Colin also made some big improvements today but at the end of the day he, too, could only do the best he could from a bad grid position. Today everything worked well, especially for Valentino, and it's a great pity we weren't in a position to make the most of it. We will try once more in Valencia and let's hope we can finish the season on a high note." Malaysian malaise for Dunlop Yamaha Tech 3 The Malaysian Grand Prix held in stifling conditions at the Sepang circuit near Kuala Lumpur did not provide the results the team was expecting. After travelling from the cold climes of southern Australia in early spring to the humidity of the tropics, Casey Stoner continued his dominant form in 2007 with another victory. As has been the case many times this year, variable weather conditions in practice combined with problems associated with a newly laid surface guaranteed that the weekend would be far from plain sailing. For the first time this season neither of the Dunlop Yamaha Tech 3 Team riders, Sylvain Guintoli and Makoto Tamada were able to score any championship points. Makoto Tamada - Position: 18thTime: +59.596 That was a very hard race and it has been a very hard weekend to find something but we never could get there. Friday and Saturday were very difficult but we seemed to find something this morning that we thought would work but again we were wrong. During the race the grip level was very low and didn't seem to improve during the race. Sylvain Guintoli - Position: 19thTime: +1'23.119 I'm really disappointed in myself as the entire package worked really well for me today with the bike and tyres. I had a bad start and then on the second lap I had a coming together with Kurtis Roberts and I never really recovered. I knew if I got a good start I would be able to battle with Checa, Nakano and a few others but I blew it from the very beginning. I pushed really hard but I was making too many mistakes as on this track you have to be very smooth. I just didn't ride well today and the more I pushed the more mistakes I made. Herve Poncharal - Dunlop Yamaha Tech 3 Team Manager This was a weekend to forget. We never had the right pace in race configuration all weekend but after a fairly good qualifying session we expected better than what happened in the race. Now we have to forget about this weekend and look ahead to the final round at Valencia where hopefully we can finish the season on a high note. Race 1 - 21 Laps Pos., Rider, Manu., Nat., Total Time 1, Casey Stoner, Ducati, AUS, 43'4.405 2, Marco Melandri, Honda, ITA, 0'1.701 3, Daniel Pedrosa, Honda, ESP, 0'2.326 4, Randy De Puniet, Kawasaki, FRA, 0'3.765 5, Valentino Rossi, Yamaha, ITA, 0'4.773 6, Toni Elias, Honda, ESP, 0'17.667 7, Chris Vermeulen, Suzuki, AUS, 0'20.950 8, John Hopkins, Suzuki, USA, 0'22.198 9, Nicky Hayden, Honda, USA, 0'22.450 10, Colin Edwards, Yamaha, USA, 0'29.746 11, Loris Capirossi, Ducati, ITA, 0'34.923 12, Alex Barros, Ducati, BRA, 0'35.667 13, Nobuatsu Aoki, Suzuki, JPN, 0'44.113 14, Carlos Checa, Honda, ESP, 0'44.486 15, Anthony West, Kawasaki, AUS, 0'49.658 16, Shinya Nakano, Honda, JPN, 0'51.726 17, Chaz Davies, Ducati, GBR, 0'58.905 18, Makoto Tamada, Yamaha, JPN, 0'59.596 19, Sylvain Guintoli, Yamaha, FRA, 1'23.119 20, Kurtis Roberts, KR212V, USA, 1'50.960 Best Lap Rider, Manu., Nat., Total Time Casey Stoner, Ducati, AUS, 2'2.108 Rider Standings 21/10/2007 Pos., Rider, Manu., Nat., Points 1, Casey Stoner, Ducati, AUS, 347 2, Valentino Rossi, Yamaha, ITA, 241 3, Daniel Pedrosa, Honda, ESP, 217 4, Marco Melandri, Honda, ITA, 174 5, John Hopkins, Suzuki, USA, 173 6, Chris Vermeulen, Suzuki, AUS, 169 7, Loris Capirossi, Ducati, ITA, 155 8, Colin Edwards, Yamaha, USA, 121 9, Nicky Hayden, Honda, USA, 119 10, Alex Barros, Ducati, BRA, 106 11, Randy De Puniet, Kawasaki, FRA, 101 12, Toni Elias, Honda, ESP, 98 13, Alex Hofmann, Ducati, GER, 65 14, Carlos Checa, Honda, ESP, 61 15, Anthony West, Kawasaki, AUS, 59 17, Sylvain Guintoli, Yamaha, FRA, 45 18, Makoto Tamada, Yamaha, JPN, 37 Team Standings 21/10/2007 Pos., Team, Points 1, Ducati Marlboro Team, 502 2, FIAT Yamaha Team, 362 3, Rizla Suzuki, 345 4, Repsol Honda Team, 336 5, Honda Gresini, 278 6, Pramac D'Antin, 172 7, Kawasaki Racing Team, 169 8, Tech3 Yamaha, 82 9, Honda LCR, 61 10, Konica Minolta Honda, 45 11, Team Roberts, 14 Manufacturer Standings 21/10/2007 Pos., Manufacturer, Points 1, Ducati, 374 2, Honda, 288 3, Yamaha, 278 4, Suzuki, 225 5, Kawasaki, 137 6, KR212V, 14

Fiat Yamaha Team riders Valentino Rossi and Colin Edwards are faced with a difficult challenge for tomorrow's Malaysian Grand Prix in Sepang after struggling during qualifying this afternoon. The team worked hard throughout the day to rectify the lack of grip from which both riders have been suffering, but they were unable to find a competitive package and the pair now face a daunting task for tomorrow's 21-lap race when they start from ninth and thirteenth positions. The rain stayed away today and during this morning's session, with temperatures in the low 30s and conditions of the newly improved track becoming increasingly more consistent as more rubber was laid down, times improved all round. Rossi and Edwards both made some positive steps forward and finished the session in seventh and thirteenth, confident of more improvements this afternoon. However this was not to be and a lack of grip on race tyres this afternoon kept the pair down in the lower orders, before they made their qualifying challenges in the last 15 minutes. Rossi briefly held second after his first qualifying lap but several riders went faster and a small mistake with his second tyre meant he was unable to improve again. Ninth place puts him on the outside of the third row, whilst Edwards will start from the head of the fifth row after failing to find a comfortable rhythm with either of his qualifying tyres. Valentino Rossi - Position: 9th Time: 2'02.466 Laps: 22 "This morning things were feeling better for us and we were a little bit more confident. Unfortunately this afternoon, with the higher temperatures, our tyres didn't work in the same way and we were much slower and sliding quite a lot. With the qualifying tyre I was quite confident and they worked quite well, as they have all season, and I thought there was a chance for the front row. With the second one I thought we could improve again but I had a slide in the third section and lost some time, and so now we are on the third row. I am quite disappointed because our race pace is not good at the moment and we needed to be on the front row to give us the best chance possible for tomorrow. It will be difficult to use the warm-up to our advantage because the conditions are different to those we will probably have during the race, but anyway we will do what we can and try to make the best from the situation." Colin Edwards - Position: 13th Time: 2'03.040 Laps: 19 "There's really very little to say about today and I think it's better if I say "no comment!" We've got some big problems and it hasn't been fun. I want to say thanks to all my guys; they're working so hard to try and make a difference and find a way to improve things and I know they won't give up at any point. It's going to be a very hard race but it's not over till it's over so we'll just have to wait and see what we can improve before 3pm tomorrow and what happens after the lights go out." Davide Brivio - Team Director "We're in quite a difficult position and now we have to try our hardest to find a better package for the race. At the moment we just don't have enough grip and both riders are struggling to contend with this, so we are quite slow. This morning both Valentino and Colin made some good improvements but this afternoon we were unable to continue in the same way. We couldn't find the right combination to challenge with today but we have some ideas and we will be doing our utmost to give both of them a more competitive package for tomorrow's race." Qualifying 1 Pos., Rider, Manu., Nat., Total Time 1, Daniel Pedrosa, Honda, ESP, 2'1.877 2, Casey Stoner, Ducati, AUS, 2'1.918 3, Marco Melandri, Honda, ITA, 2'1.944 4, Randy De Puniet, Kawasaki, FRA, 2'2.107 5, Anthony West, Kawasaki, AUS, 2'2.202 6, Nicky Hayden, Honda, USA, 2'2.225 7, Chris Vermeulen, Suzuki, AUS, 2'2.301 8, Toni Elias, Honda, ESP, 2'2.432 9, Valentino Rossi, Yamaha, ITA, 2'2.466 10, John Hopkins, Suzuki, USA, 2'2.697 11, Loris Capirossi, Ducati, ITA, 2'2.708 12, Alex Barros, Ducati, BRA, 2'3.022 13, Colin Edwards, Yamaha, USA, 2'3.040 14, Shinya Nakano, Honda, JPN, 2'3.233 15, Sylvain Guintoli, Yamaha, FRA, 2'3.408 16, Carlos Checa, Honda, ESP, 2'3.525 17, Chaz Davies, Ducati, GBR, 2'4.197 18, Makoto Tamada, Yamaha, JPN, 2'4.314 19, Nobuatsu Aoki, Suzuki, JPN, 2'4.604 20, Kurtis Roberts, KR212V, USA, 2'5.404

The Fiat Yamaha Team head straight from Australia to Malaysia this week as they contest the second Grand Prix in just seven days, with the penultimate race of the season set to take place at the Sepang International Circuit in Kuala Lumpur. Yamaha have been the most successful manufacturer in MotoGP at the ultra modern circuit, taking three victories from eight visits, and their strong record in Malaysia stretches back to the first ever race in the country back in 1991, when John Kocinski took 500cc honours at Shah Alam. The most recent Malaysian Grand Prix was also won by Yamaha, with Valentino Rossi taking his fourth premier-class win at Sepang following a stunning battle with Loris Capirossi last season. Rossi is keen to repeat that performance this weekend as he aims to become the first MotoGP rider ever to score 100 career podiums in the class - his third place finish at Phillip Island last Sunday having taken his tally to an unsurpassed 99. Rossi's team-mate Colin Edwards is also targeting a return to the podium after a dry spell of eight races since his last top-three finish at Donington Park. Sepang is one of the widest tracks on the calendar, measuring 16 metres across in some areas, and high track temperatures are always a factor in the tropical climate. With four major hairpins, and some fast and frequent changes of direction in its 5,542m layout, Sepang provides a stern workout for the entire bike set-up and its largely consistent, if demanding, climate makes it the ideal winter testing venue. However, after being completely resurfaced since preseason testing back in February, the teams will have to wait until first free practice on Friday morning to see how useful previous data will be for set-up this weekend. Valentino Rossi - "Our target is unchanged" Valentino Rossi's impressive career podium tally in MotoGP includes six from the past six seasons at Sepang, including those four victories. After extending his advantage over Dani Pedrosa in the battle for the important runner-up spot in the championship at the last round, the Italian is again targetting the top step of the podium as he aims to finish a difficult season on a high note. "I did everything I could in Australia but we couldn't challenge Stoner so our target for the final two races is unchanged - to fight for the win," says Rossi. "Sepang is another of my favourite tracks and I've had some great races there. Last year's battle with Loris was especially memorable, and I would really like to have the chance to fight like that with my rivals again this year. "We know that our bike generally goes well there and we have a lot of data from so much testing there, even if our bike has changed quite a bit from the start of the year when we were last there and the track has also, but hopefully we will be able to find a good package and be competitive. We have two races left and we are going to be doing everything we can to win them both so we can end the season in a good way." Colin Edwards - "Still determined" After another disappointing weekend in Australia, Colin Edwards prefers to focus on the positive preseason tests the team enjoyed at Sepang back in February, when both riders dipped under 990cc lap record pace during an extensive tyre workout. Edwards has not enjoyed the best of luck at Sepang in the past and has yet to finish above tenth place but he is confident of turning that around this weekend. "Despite only finishing ninth I did leave Phillip Island feeling like we salvaged something from the weekend because at times it was looking like it was going to be a lot worse and I think we learnt something," reflects Edwards. "For Malaysia, Michelin are bringing some stuff that I know from testing works for me on this bike at this track - we just have to hope it works just as well with the new surface. Hopefully if we put it together with what we learnt about the bike in Australia then we'll be in good shape. "The YZR-M1 went brilliantly at Sepang in preseason testing - now we will have to see how much better our rivals are there after a full season of development. Anyway, I'm glad to be going straight there from Australia because there's no time to sit about feeling disappointed about what happened Phillip Island. I'm still determined to get a good result before the end of the season and Sepang is a good place to do it." Davide Brivio - "A few question marks" It promises to be a busy weekend for Fiat Yamaha Team Director Davide Brivio, who arrived in Malaysia early this week to check out the newly resurfaced Sepang circuit. With weather forecasts predicting rain and the Grand Prix Commission set to announce a decision over tyre regulations for next season, there is plenty for the Italian to think about both off and on the track in Malaysia. "We had a great test here in February but it looks like the resurfacing has changed the track a lot so we don't know what the grip will be like," says Brivio. "It means we go there in pretty much the same shape as everybody else, with some doubts about what we tested here. The weather forecast we have is predicting rain each afternoon so there are question marks over the track and the conditions. "Apart from that, this is a circuit we have enjoyed a lot of success at in the past and Valentino has won here many times so we have to be confident. It will also be an important weekend because of the decision over a possible single-tyre rule for next year. Once it is made we can decide our exact development strategy for next season so we are all looking forward to hearing how it will work out. Then we can look ahead to making a stronger challenge next year." Valentino Rossi : Information Age: 28 Lives: London, UK Bike: Yamaha YZR-M1 GP victories: 88 (61 x MotoGP/500cc, 14 x 250cc, 12 x 125cc) First GP victory: Czech Republic, 1996 (125cc) First GP: Malaysia, 1996 (125cc) GP starts: 189 (129 x MotoGP/500cc, 30 x 250cc, 30 x 125cc) Pole positions: 49 World Championships: 7 Grand Prix (1 x 125cc, 1 x 250cc, 1 x 500cc, 4 x MotoGP) Colin Edwards: Information Age: 33 Lives: Conroe, Texas Bike: Yamaha YZR-M1 First GP: Japan, 2003 (MotoGP) GP starts: 81 x MotoGP World Championships: 2 World Superbike Sepang: Lap Record L. Capirossi (Ducati) 2006, 2'02.127 Sepang: Best Lap V. Rossi (Yamaha) 2006, 2.00.605 Grand Prix Results: Sepang 2006 1. V. Rossi (Yamaha) 43'07.829 2. L. Capirossi (Ducati) +0.849 3. N. Hayden (Honda) +3.863 10. C. Edwards (USA) Yamaha +19.909

Yamaha De Carli Team rider Antonio Cairoli secured the 2007 Italian championship title at the last of round of the six race championship held at the Gazzane di Preseglie track in Brescia. Cairoli, as defending 2006 champion, entered the last round with a ten points lead on fellow Yamaha rider Manuel Monni and managed to seal his championshipby winning the first moto, while his closest rival placed seventh when penalized for overtaking under a yellow flag. Needing only two points from the second moto Cairoli took things steady and finished second behind winner Monni. The 2007 Italian championship turned out to an all Yamaha affair with the first four riders riding a YZ250F, while 16 year old Team Yamaha de Carli rider Alessandro Lupino, finished in sixth position. With a light early-morning rain watering the track to create optimal racing conditions it was Portuguese Rui Goncalves (KTM) who got the hole shot, but Cairoli soon got by to take the chequered flag without being challenged. Exciting however was the battle between Yamaha Team Ricci rider Davide Guarneri and Manuel Monni for second, it was Monni who eventually took the flag as runner up, but he was later demoted five positions for overtaking under a yellow flag. Only needing two points to secure the championship Cairoli could have been forgiven to just cruise home in the second moto, but as expected ‘Tonio’ diced for the win with Guarneri and Monni. But as the laps accumulated Cairoli settled for a podium while the other two went for the win, a slide of Guarneri finally gave Monni a much deserved moto win. Cairoli confirmed that winning the Italian International championship does mean a lot to him; ‘I had to dig deep today to secure the title, but I’m happy it paid off because winning this championship is really important to me. It’s been hard tough, I have not been able to train regularly the last month and I feel that my condition is weakened a bit. After a long season I feel the batteries need to be recharged. I’m sorry Manuel did not get a real shot at the title today due to his penalty, he was really strong today and deserved to win the second moto. Compliments also to Matteo (Bonini) for finishing in third overall despite having to deal with many injuries this year’. Cairoli will not have much time to recover from the long 2007 motocross season with the second round of the European Supercross championship race on the calendar for coming weekend at Bilbao (Spain), yet another championship title the Sicilian star needs to defend! Standings 2007 Italian Championship 1. Antonio Cairoli / Yamaha De Carli - 277 points 2. Manuel Monni/ Team Yamaha RSC - 261 points 3. Matteo Bonini/ Yamaha De Carli - 221 points 4. Davide Guarneri / Yamaha Team Ricci - 213 points 5. Angelo Pellegrini / Honda - 180 points 6. Allesandro Lupino / Yamaha De Carli - 151 points

Fiat Yamaha Team rider Valentino Rossi claimed his tenth consecutive career podium at Phillip Island today, taking third place and clocking the fastest lap of the race in the process. Team-mate Colin Edwards finished ninth in a race that was won by Casey Stoner, with Loris Capirossi second. Starting second on the grid, Rossi slipped to fourth but passed Dani Pedrosa on lap two, only to make a small mistake at the end of the lap, briefly touching the grass at the start of the main straight and letting Pedrosa back past. On lap four of 27 he managed to get in front of the Spaniard once again and he then set off after Nicky Hayden, who was running second behind Stoner. Despite setting the fastest lap on lap seven, Rossi was unable to make much headway until lap 11, when he passed Hayden for second. As Stoner gradually extended his advantage in front however it became clear that Rossi's fight would be for the runner-up spot as he became embroiled in a three-way battle with Capirossi and Pedrosa. After several changes of position between the trio Pedrosa tailed off and it briefly looked like another being another vintage Rossi-Capirossi showdown, but with little grip left in his tyres Rossi was unable to keep pace with his compatriot and he eventually crossed the line three seconds adrift, with Stoner several seconds ahead of Capirossi. After failing to find a comfortable setting throughout the practice sessions, Edwards made a change to his setting for the race and, although it took him some laps to adapt and he dropped a few positions early on, he kept pushing throughout and was able to peg back several places. He finished ninth and claimed seven points, which moves him up one place in the championship to eighth. Rossi's 16-point haul meanwhile sees him move 29 points clear in second place, ahead of Pedrosa. The team now heads directly to Sepang for the Malaysian Grand Prix in just seven days time. Valentino Rossi - Position: 3rd Time: +10.038 "Honestly I'm not too disappointed today because I know I did everything I could have possibly done. I started okay and in the opening laps I felt like I could go quite fast and have the chance to fight at the front. I passed Pedrosa and at that stage I was quite close to Hayden and Stoner, but then I made a small mistake coming onto the straight and lost a bit of time. I managed to pass Pedrosa again but then I wasn't able to close the gap to Stoner, even though I was riding at the maximum. In places I had fun and I made some good passes; at the end especially I was hoping for a great battle with Capirossi, like the old days, but by then the grip from my rear tyre was very poor and I had to slow down to make sure I would arrive to the end. I am very happy that I was on the podium because this is a special place and it's always a big emotion to stand there with all the crowds in pit lane. Today with Casey I think it was a bit like for me in Mugello! Anyway, now we go straight to Malaysia, where our bike usually goes well, so once again we will do the maximum and try for the win." Colin Edwards - Position: 9th Time: +35.073 "After the problems we'd had all weekend we made a big change to the tyres and to our setting for the race, more towards what Valentino was running, so it was pretty different to what I'd been used to all weekend. I got pinched a bit at the start and had to go round the outside of a few people, and then I had a huge moment at the end of the first lap where it nearly flicked me off and I lost a few places. Once I'd got the measure of how to ride it though it actually felt okay and I did a 31.9 at one point, which I hadn't been close to all weekend. I gave it everything I had today and, although I can't be happy with ninth, after the nightmare I'd had all weekend I think it could have been worse. It's been great to have so many family and friends here as ever and I want to say a huge thank you to my guys; they've had to work so hard changing the bike around so much and they've done a great job as always." Davide Brivio - Team Director "At the beginning of the race Valentino was keeping the same pace as the riders in front and we were all hoping for a battle until the last corner. Unfortunately it was not possible because after some laps the grip went down and we had to settle for finishing third. We had hoped for a better result today and it's a real pity because we all love this track; it's a magic place for us. Colin made a big effort and did a very good job because he was able to climb some positions in the second half of the race. If he'd had a faster pace from the beginning, he could have made a very good race. Unfortunately we struggled a lot with his bike throughout the weekend and this was the best we could do with him. It was not a disaster today because we were able to confirm Valentino's second place in the championship and we will keep on defending it in the last two races. Now we go to Sepang and we will be fighting for the win again." More championship points for Dunlop Yamaha Tech 3 In a weekend marred by extreme changes in the weather, the Dunlop Yamaha Tech 3 Team managed to gain more championship points as Sylvain Guintoli brought his Yamaha M1 home in 14th position at the Australian Grand Prix held at Phillip Island while his team mate Makoto Tamada finished in 16th. Sunshine was only seen on race day which made machine setup and tyre selection over the two days of practice extremely difficult as the track was either fully wet or damp for most of the time. Qualifying was held in dry but cold conditions, which allowed Sylvain to take full advantage of the Dunlop qualifying tyres to put him on the third row of the grid. Sylvain Guintoli - Position: 14th Time: +54.324 Although I had a good start, I lost quite a lot of places on the first lap waiting for enough heat to get into the tyre. Once that happened I was able to set a good pace and match the lap times of the riders in front of me. It took me a long time to get past Chaz Davies by which time the others had made too much of a gap on me and I wasn't able to reduce it with the number of laps remaining. Makoto Tamada - Position: 16th Time: +1'12.904 I was very happy with the bike setting we had and the front tyre was great but I didn't have a lot of side grip in the rear. It was ok when I was right on the side of the tyre but I didn't have much feeling throwing the bike into the corners and also picking it up on the exits. Herve Poncharal - Dunlop Yamaha Tech 3 Team Manager After the lift from Motegi this was a very disappointing weekend for us as we came here with high hopes of a good result. We didn't find the best settings with the weather but that is no excuse. Qualifying was good as Sylvain was on the third row in front of some more fancied riders but in the race we lacked grip in the crucial first couple of laps. We then started lapping at the same pace as the guys in front but we had lost over five seconds to them in the opening laps, which is just too much. We expected a lot better so we are all disappointed. Race 1 - 27 Laps Pos., Rider, Manu., Nat., Total Time 1, Casey Stoner, Ducati, AUS, 41'12.244 2, Loris Capirossi, Ducati, ITA, 0'6.763 3, Valentino Rossi, Yamaha, ITA, 0'10.038 4, Daniel Pedrosa, Honda, ESP, 0'11.663 5, Alex Barros, Ducati, BRA, 0'19.475 6, Randy De Puniet, Kawasaki, FRA, 0'27.313 7, John Hopkins, Suzuki, USA, 0'29.243 8, Chris Vermeulen, Suzuki, AUS, 0'34.883 9, Colin Edwards, Yamaha, USA, 0'35.073 10, Marco Melandri, Honda, ITA, 0'36.971 11, Carlos Checa, Honda, ESP, 0'37.721 12, Anthony West, Kawasaki, AUS, 0'38.426 13, Shinya Nakano, Honda, JPN, 0'47.430 14, Sylvain Guintoli, Yamaha, FRA, 0'54.324 15, Toni Elias, Honda, ESP, 1'10.471 16, Makoto Tamada, Yamaha, JPN, 1'12.904 17, Kenny Roberts, KR212V, USA, 1'13.020 Best Lap Rider, Manu., Nat., Total Time Valentino Rossi, Yamaha, ITA, 1'30.801 Rider Standings 14/10/2007 Pos., Rider, Manu., Nat., Points 1, Casey Stoner, Ducati, AUS, 322 2, Valentino Rossi, Yamaha, ITA, 230 3, Daniel Pedrosa, Honda, ESP, 201 4, John Hopkins, Suzuki, USA, 165 5, Chris Vermeulen, Suzuki, AUS, 160 6, Marco Melandri, Honda, ITA, 154 7, Loris Capirossi, Ducati, ITA, 150 8, Colin Edwards, Yamaha, USA, 115 9, Nicky Hayden, Honda, USA, 112 10, Alex Barros, Ducati, BRA, 102 11, Toni Elias, Honda, ESP, 88 12, Randy De Puniet, Kawasaki, FRA, 88 13, Alex Hofmann, Ducati, GER, 65 14, Carlos Checa, Honda, ESP, 59 15, Anthony West, Kawasaki, AUS, 58 16, Sylvain Guintoli, Yamaha, FRA, 45 18, Makoto Tamada, Yamaha, JPN, 37 Team Standings 14/10/2007 Pos., Team, Points 1, Ducati Marlboro Team, 472 2, FIAT Yamaha Team, 345 3, Rizla Suzuki, 325 4, Repsol Honda Team, 313 5, Honda Gresini, 248 6, Pramac D'Antin, 168 7, Kawasaki Racing Team, 155 8, Tech3 Yamaha, 82 9, Honda LCR, 59 10, Konica Minolta Honda, 45 11, Team Roberts, 14 Manufacturer Standings 14/10/2007 Pos., Manufacturer, Points 1, Ducati, 349 2, Honda, 268 3, Yamaha, 267 4, Suzuki, 216 5, Kawasaki, 124 6, KR212V, 14

The Fiat Yamaha Team of Valentino Rossi and Colin Edwards will run a special one-off livery on their bikes and leathers for the Australian Grand Prix in Phillip Island this weekend, starting from Free Practice. The livery has been inspired by the famous ‘Abarth' brand, a division of Fiat Automobiles SpA. The Abarth brand has been re-launched by Fiat this year with several new models and this weekend's livery is designed to celebrate that. The livery uses all the elements of the logo - the Scorpion, which is synonymous with the brand, the white and red flag and the word ‘Abarth'. This will be the last livery change of the season for the team.

On Behalf of Yamaha Motor Corporation Co. LTD About the Passing Away of Norifumi (Norick) Abe It is with great sadness that we learn of the death of Norifumi (Norick) Abe (32) on October 7, 2007, following a traffic accident. Norick Abe, as he is fondly known by motorcycle race fans around the world, was competing this season in the JSB1000 class of the All-Japan Championships from the “Y'S GEAR Racing” team. Norick was riding a motorcycle in Kawasaki City, Kanagawa Pref. when he met with an accident at about 6:20 pm and he was pronounced dead at 8:50 pm at the hospital where he was taken for treatment. In 1993, Norifumi Abe became the youngest rider ever to win the pinnacle 500cc class of the All Japan Road Race Championships. The following year he was competing in the All Japan Superbike Championship when he joined the Yamaha camp and started competing in the World GP500cc class. From 1995 he began competing full-time in the World GP500cc class, where he eventually compiled a record of three wins, four 2nd places and 10 3rd places in his GP career. This year he returned to the All Japan Championships and also competed in the Suzuka 8 hours World Endurance Championship race in July. During his career Abe was widely known and loved by the fans as a leading figure in the domestic race scene as well as abroad. Comment from Takashi Kajikawa, President, Yamaha Motor Co., Ltd. “I am deeply saddened to hear this tragic news. Loved by fans in Japan, Europe and the Americas and throughout Asia, Norifumi Abe was an irreplaceable ambassador of motor sports worldwide. Here in Japan the fans were especially excited to see Abe return to the All Japan circuit after 14 years of international competition, and certainly their sense of loss at his passing is great. We pray that his soul rests in peace and we send our deepest condolences to his family and loved ones.” Norifumi Abe Profile Place of birth: Tokyo, Japan Born on Sept. 7, 1975 2007 team: Y'S GEAR Racing Career: 1993: Champion of All Japan GP500 class 1994: World Road Race Championships GP500 class debut 1995: 9th in World GP500 class 1996: 5th in World GP500 class (won Japan GP) 1997: 7th in World GP500 class 1998: 6th in World GP500 class 1999: 6th in World GP500 class (won Rio GP) 2000: 8th in World GP500 class (won Japan GP) 2001: 7th in World GP500 class 2002: 6th in MotoGP 2003: 16th in MotoGP (spot participation) 2004: 13th in MotoGP 2005: 13th in World Superbike Championship 2006: 13th in World Superbike Championship 2007: Ranking 3rd in All Japan JSB1000 class (at the end of round 6)

The wooded hills of Brno, thronged by 141,632 spectators, proved a less than happy hunting ground for the Fiat Yamaha Team at today's Czech Grand Prix. Valentino Rossi was dogged by traction problems almost from the start and was only able to hang on for seventh, whilst Colin Edwards slid out of the race on the second lap. Starting from sixth, Rossi slipped one place at the start but regained his starting position by the end of lap one, behind Loris Capirossi. The Italian then spent several laps on his fellow countryman's tail before he was able to pass him on lap eight of 22, but by then Rossi was suffering from grip problems and was unable to push on and clear a gap from the chasing pack. A few laps later he was passed by Chris Vermeulen and then by Capirossi, before Randy de Puniet began to threaten him in the closing stages and he was forced to use all his skills to keep the Frenchman behind him to the line. Edwards meanwhile failed to finish a race for only the third time in his Yamaha career, making a rare mistake on lap two and losing the front. He rejoined the race briefly but was unable to continue, coming into the pits on the next lap. The race was won by Casey Stoner, who extends his championship lead over Rossi to 60 points. Edwards remains seventh with 93 points. The MotoGP paddock now has one weekend off before the San Marino Grand Prix, when Grand Prix motorcycle racing returns to Misano for the first time in 14 years. Valentino Rossi - Position: 7thTime: +22.485 "We expected a difficult race today because we knew our potential here wasn't very high after the last two days. However it was even worse than we expected! I tried to keep my rhythm going but, after only seven or eight laps, the tyre started to slide a lot on the right side and from then on I wasn't able to open the throttle. "Throughout the weekend we have done everything to try to find more traction. We have changed the setting a lot to try to find a way to make the tyre work, but unfortunately during the race we had no grip. Also, with the setting we had to use, we had to sacrifice some of our corner speed and this also slowed us down. It was very difficult today. I was able to do 1.59s to start with but after a few laps the tyre made a big step down and then I just had to wait for the end of the race. "I had a hard time with Capirossi at the start; in some parts I was faster than him but I couldn't overtake him because he was pulling away from me on the straights. Eventually I got past him but he stayed with me and I couldn't pull clear. I pushed as hard as I could; at that time I wasn't too fast but not too slow either, but after that my tyre was finished and then Vermeulen came, then Loris again...I am sad because I wasn't even able to try to fight with them today. Towards the end I had to push at the limit to stay in front of de Puniet and luckily I managed, but we were a very long way from a good performance. I tried to change my style, to ride in a different way to help the situation, but it was no good. "We have a test now but in reality our situation is quite bad and we have a few different problems to deal with. We will try to make the best of the next two days of work and to try to find something different for the next few races. We have to wait and see what we find, but for sure it's going to be very difficult. This is a very hard moment that we're in. We have six races to go and we just have to work as hard as we can to try to find a way to make some good results."

Josh Coppins still leads the world championship despite missing his second Grand Prix in a row. The New Zealander has seen his advantage narrowed from 77 to 43 and now to 12 as main rival Steve Ramon could only finish fifth. Yamaha Motocross Team's Marc de Reuver was seventeenth after scoring points in just one moto in front of 18,500 people. De Reuver started the third-to-last meeting of the year in sixteenth position after riders of both classes on a wet Saturday had only 45 minutes to practice and qualify on the brand new course created for this Grand Prix and with a view towards the 61st Motocross of Nations in September 2008. The heavy rain on Friday and Saturday meant that the track was deep and swampy and could not cope with a full practice programme. The schedule was vastly reduced and thankfully the showers stayed away from Sunday even though a chilly wind swept the open circuit. The track itself drew compliments from most of the paddock for its challenging layout and big array of jumps, but the riders were not able to really test the terrain until good work had been carried out by the circuit staff to prepare the course for Sunday. The landings and take-offs were still dangerous and difficult due to the softness of the mud. De Reuver rode his own pace to pick up nine points for twelfth position in race one but did not look capable of breaking into the top ten. The second outing was not positive for the Dutchman as he simply could not get to grips with the track from the rear of the field and retired from the moto. Joshua Coppins is hopeful of being able to ride for the first time this week since fracturing his shoulder in the Czech Republic. The British Grand Prix will take place next Sunday at Donington Park - another new racing course - before the Grand Prix of the Netherlands wraps up the season at Lierop in two weeks time. Kenneth Gundersen took his first steps towards a return to the MX1 by entering the premier category with a view towards assisting Yamaha's plight to retain the manufacturer's title and gained two points for 19th in the first moto but crashed out of the second. Marc de Reuver, Yamaha Motocross Team: "Practice and qualifying was OK but there was not much time on the track and it was really muddy. I was sixteenth, which was nothing special. In the first heat I was twenty-third at the start and I came up to twelfth but I had a really bad start in the second heat and could not get a rhythm. I wasn't jumping anything and could not get into it today." Carlo Rinaldi, Team Manager, Yamaha Motocross Team: "Josh still has a twelve point lead so it could have been a lot worse today and we are happy about that but we are really disappointed for Marc. We expected a quite good race at least. He had two very bad starts but there was no reaction afterwards."

Joshua Coppins is recovering well from his left shoulder injury sustained at round 11 of the MX1 World Championship held at Loket (Czech Republic) on the 29th of July, but unfortunately his present condition does not permit him to enter the Grand Prix of Northern Ireland held coming weekend at the Moneyglass Demense circuit. Coppins missed the Belgian Grand Prix two weeks ago and now had to decide to cancel his participation in round 13 of the championship as well. Joshua does the very maximum to speed up his recovery, traveling between Belgium, Germany and the UK to seek specialist treatment. The extensive medical attention to the small crack in the neck of the glenoid of his left shoulder is having the desired healing effect, as confirmed by a CT scan made earlier this week which showed good progression of the bone coming back together. At his home base in Belgium, Dr. Claes has been consulted on the therapy which includes the use of a new magnetic 'ortho-pulse' device, massage and acupuncture given by a German naturopath improving blood flow and other advanced medical techniques. Josh has also started with an intense physiotherapy program including a lot of swimming to improve movement in his shoulder, recently he expanded his training with road cycling and mountain biking, but he won’t ride his YZ450FM just yet. Expectation is that after another positive CT scan scheduled for next week Tuesday, Joshua can start riding his bike again to prepare for the British Grand Prix held on the 26th of August. He hopes to enter that race still leading the world championship. Before his crash at Loket Coppins held a very comfortable advantage of 107 points, but prior to this weekends Grand Prix of Northern Ireland his buffer has diminished to 43 points on second placed Steve Ramon with Sebastian Pourcel also still in contention with 83 points behind Coppins. Most likely the MX1 World Championship will go down to the wire until the last race of the series held at Lierop (NL) on the 2nd of September. While Coppins is on his way to return to racing, Yamaha Team Ricci rider Kenneth Gundersen will enter the MX1 class at Moneyglass Demense. The 25 year old Norwegian is considering a move to this class for 2008 and considers his entry as a good test to see how competitive he can be. He hopes for good results that will contribute to Yamaha’s position in the manufacturers standing in MX1, which has shrunk to just one point over Suzuki. He will race on a YZ450F machine with YRRD kit (Yamaha Rinaldi R and D) prepared by his own team.

With FIM MX1 World Championship leader Josh Coppins out of action due to a small shoulder break and second rider Marc de Reuver unable to get to grips with narrow and fast circuit at Namur, Yamaha Motocross Team were unfortunately without a representative for the Grand Prix of Belgium and the twelfth round of fifteen in the 2007 series watched by a 31,000 crowd today. The injury to Coppins - that hopefully should only mean a one race absence - and De Reuver's unsuccessful attempts to post a lap-time that put him in the top thirty on Saturday meant that the Italian team were not able to count on a rider for Sunday's races for the first time ever in their long and successful history. Prior to last week's GP of Czech Republic, Coppins had been present on the podium at nine of ten races, winning five. After Sebastien Pourcel won the Grand Prix with David Philippaerts second and Tanel Leok third, Coppins' advantage in the rider's standings has been reduced from 77 to 43 points - Steve Ramon was fifth overall - with three rounds (Ireland, Britain and Holland) remaining and 150 points left to win. For De Reuver a practice crash and a lack of confidence around the 'enduro-esque' 2500m circuit (tight, bumpy, dark and tree-lined) saw him miss the qualification cut-off mark for the first occasion since he entered Grand Prix racing in 2001. The world championship will reconvene at Moneyglass Demense for the Grand Prix of Northern Ireland in two weeks time and the meeting will be the first of three weekends in a row leading to the climax of the season. Carlo Rinaldi, Team Manager, Yamaha Motocross Team: "We honestly don't know what happened with Marc and I don't think he does either. He is completely lost at the moment in terms of confidence and motivation. He did not complain about the bike but admitted that he was scared out there. We are trying to support him as much as possible in many different ways but something needs to click inside of him and there is only so much we can do. There is no more news about Josh's injury at the moment. We have to wait a bit more to see what condition he might be in for Ireland. He will try to ride just before the GP."

In a day of dramatic racing, Yamaha came away with both their rider and manufacturer championship still hopes alive. Haga came third and fourth in today's races with Corser finishing in fifth in the second race after a DNF in race one. Race one had a spectacular start as Corser lost the front and crashed out on the first lap while Haga almost crashed but managed to move into third in front of Toseland. He then proceeded to take the fastest lap three times to catch Bayliss and Biaggi who were battling for first. Having caught Bayliss, Haga tousled and swapped places with him many times before Bayliss made it stick on lap 17. The battle up front had given Toseland the chance to catch up and challenge Haga for third position; a challenge which he eventually won. Race two was equally exciting with the usual suspects of Bayliss, Biaggi, Haga, Toseland and Corser up front and challenging for position. Bayliss took an early lead but Haga was quick to chase, along with Biaggi. Corser, in fifth, fought to get past Toseland until Toseland crashed allowing Corser to get on with catching the front runners up. The fight for first place turned into a three-way battle between Bayliss, Haga and Biaggi until Biaggi squeezed past the Yamaha rider for second place on lap 13. From there on the positions remained the same until the chequered flag. Shinichi Nakatomi had one of the best rides of his WSB career today, taking a pair of ninth place finishes. He made a good start in race one to move up to ninth, where he finished. Race two's start wasn't as good as he went down to 15th but he focused on the job in hand and managed to claim ninth by the end of the race. The outcome of today's races is that Haga now lies third in the championship, 4 points behind Biaggi and 33 points behind Toseland. With 50 points still up for grabs at the final round next weekend all three riders will be looking for the all-important win. Yamaha lies second in the manufacturer championship but only 3 points adrift of Honda. Both championships will be decided next weekend at Magny-Course.

Team Yamaha Ricci’s Nicolas Aubin ended an impressive breakthrough season in which he won his first Grand Prix, finished a career-best sixth in the MX2 World Championship and by assisting France to second place in front of a huge 74,000 crowd packed into the impressive Budds Creek circuit, Maryland USA for the 61st Motocross of Nations. On a typically American track that was quick, technical, lined with jumps and blessed with hot sunshine. The temperatures in the mid 30’s gave the racing an extra physical edge and tested the best riders (three per Nation with one representative each in MX1, MX2 and MX Open classes) from around the globe with twenty countries entering the gate for the three 30 minute and 2 lap motos mixing the categories. The scoring system worked in reverse compared to a Grand Prix with the first classified participant taking one point, second position two points and then continuing down the order to last place. The Nation will the lowest score from five accumulated results (the worst finish can be discarded) earned overall victory. On this occasion it was the USA for the third year in a row. Aubin was making his Nations debut for 2001 winners France and gave his country their third share of silverware since that historic day at Namur six years ago. The youngster rode to results of tenth and sixth in the two motos against the larger machines of the MX1 and MX Open fields. He was third overall in the MX2 class and provided an exciting piece of action in the first race when he clashed with Tommy Searle, only losing out on ninth by a fraction of a second at the finish line. With the USA dominating each moto thanks to Ryan Villopoto and Ricky Carmichael it was left to the rest of the world to fight for podium slots. France beat Belgium by just one point and Italy were some way adrift in fourth. MX2 World Champion Antonio Cairoli was unlucky to take only fourteenth and a DNF. Cairoli was originally on the point of being unable to compete as his YZ250F arrived just in time for practice on Saturday having been held up through US customs. The 21 year old Sicilian struggled on the rough and bumpy track. He had his line cut by another rider in the first moto versus the MX1 machines and crashed, damaging his front brake and forcing a retirement. In the second race he had to enter the pits with a badly buckled front wheel as a result of a collision on the second lap. He re-entered the race but could not break into the top thirteen. USA for the third year in a row. Team-mate Davide Guarneri was also feeling the demands of the surface with his first outing on the YZ450F in the Open category. He was fifteenth and sixteenth. USA for the third year in a row. 2007 AMA Motocross Champion Grant Langston had a tough day for South Africa. His first moto was wrecked by a spate of crashes and a problem with his rear brake. He then rode better in Moto2 to finish third and give the team their highest result. With Gareth Swanepoel crashing and breaking his foot South Africa was twelfth in the closing ranking. USA for the third year in a row. Former World and American Supercross Champion Chad Reed posted the best race classification on YZ machinery across the classes at Budds Creek with a decent ride to second position in the opening moto, beating Carmichael. The Australian was luckless in the next race as he became caught up in a second turn pile-up and then retired as he could not shift gears. Australia were plagued with ill fortune and finished last as Andrew McFarlane was hit on the start straight of the first moto and pulled out of the event in pain while Michael Byrne had technical problems. Credit must be given to Bike it Yamaha Dixon’s Carlos Campano who enjoyed his best race meeting of 2007 with fourth position overall in MX2 and was Spain’s most consistent rider with fourteenth and seventh. The Spanish national champion has struggled with a knee injury this season. Jubilo Yamaha’s Akira Narita was thirty-sixth and twenty-third on the YZ450F as Japan finished seventh in the final ranking. The Motocross calendar is not quite over for Cairoli and Guarneri with two races of the Italian Championship remaining in October and then the six-round European Supercross Championship also to contest. Nico Aubin will be part of the French team for the prestigious Bercy Supercross.

Weather and tyre issues brought about an end to Valentino Rossi's slim title chances today, as he finished 13th in Motegi despite a heroic ride which saw him lead the race at one point. His Fiat Yamaha team-mate Colin Edwards suffered similar problems in what was an extraordinary race, finishing one place behind Rossi in 14th. With the asphalt still wet after a morning of light rain, the riders started with wet-weather tyres on a fast-drying track. Rossi got a poor start from second on the grid and crossed the line for the first time in seventh place, with Edwards behind him in eighth. An outstanding ride from the seven-time World Champion then saw him fight his way back to the front, making up five seconds on the leaders and taking the lead on lap 14. The racing line by now was almost completely dry however, and behind him most riders had already opted to pit and change onto their second bikes with slick tyres. When Rossi eventually came in to change one lap later he had built up such a lead that he was able to re-join the race in second place, behind eventual winner Loris Capirossi, but Yamaha's jubilation was short-lived as Rossi immediately ran into serious issues with his front tyre and was forced to pit again. He rejoined the race in 15th but was able to make up only two places to the finish as he struggled with grip. Edwards, who was in third place when Rossi came in for the first time, rejoined in eighth but had similar tyre problems and also dropped back through the field to cross the line two seconds behind his team-mate. Casey Stoner took sixth place, which was enough to secure him the World Championship title. Rossi remains second and 26 points clear of Dani Pedrosa, who failed to finish the race, while Edwards drops two places down the standings to ninth, with three races remaining

Yamaha has today confirmed that Troy Corser and Noriyuki Haga will remain with the Yamaha Motor Italia World Superbike Team in 2008. A flamboyant and much-loved character, Haga has worked with Yamaha for many years and his WSB career highlights include second in 2000 and third title position in 2004, 2005 and 2006. Currently Haga is fighting for the 2007 title with only 41 points separating him in second place from front man Toseland, having caught up 25 points at the last round in Lausitz. With only two rounds remaining on 30th September (Vallelunga, Italy) and 7th October (Magny Cours, France) Haga is taking the fight for WSB crown all the way to the wire. So far this season he has already won four races, including taking the double win at the team’s home circuit of Monza. This year has been Corser’s first season with the Yamaha Motor Italia WSB Team but it has been a fruitful one, with him gaining eight podium positions so far this season. Corser has also had a good and close working relationship with Haga, with the two riders working together to help develop a championship winning machine in the YZF-R1. The two-times World Superbike Champion has 13 years of experience in the class, including 40 pole positions and an impressive 114 podium positions, 33 of which have been race wins.

French-run Team Yamaha GMT94 took the chequered flag in the famous but also grueling Bol D’Or 24hrs Endurance race this weekend, completing 801 laps on their YZF-R1 machine and beating second place by five laps. The race took place at the circuit of Magny-Cours (France) in front of almost 100,000 spectators; it started at 15.00 hrs on Saturday and ran through the night to finish at 15.00 hrs on Sunday afternoon. The three riders were Sébastien Gimbert, David Checa, who both also ride for Team Yamaha GMT94 in World Supersport, and Olivier Four. From the start Team Yamaha GMT94 were in the thick of the action but held their nerve to take the lead with a tight margin of 30 seconds back to second place. But, with only four hours to go the second placed Suzuki team crashed out, giving Team Yamaha GMT94 a ten lap lead. Keen to avoid anything that could lose them the lead, the team maintained their focus to take the win. This win is made all the sweeter as this is their first win at the Magny-Cours race. Permanent World Endurance Championship entry Yamaha Phase One Endurance team finished fourth (with riders Warwich Nowland, Glen Richards and Pedro Valcaneras Flores) with Yamaha teams Acrapolis Moto Expert fifth and Endurance Moto 38 finishing seventh. Currently 4 Yamaha teams are in the top 7 of the Endurance World Championship standings. Team Yamaha GMT94, run by former rider and passionate sportsman Christophe Guyot, operate on a strategy focused on two different race programs. They are permanent entries in the World Supersport Championship with riders David Checa and Sébastien Gimbert mounted on Yamaha R6 machinery. In addition, they enter the two most demanding Endurance races in the world on the Yamaha R1, both run in France - the Le Mans 24hrs and the Bol d’Or 24hrs. David Checa (Team Yamaha GMT94) This race has been excellent; the bike and the tyres worked perfectly together and the team has just worked as one to get on the top of the podium. The last four hours were the easiest, after the Suzuki team crashed; it was just about keeping the pace up and not making any silly mistakes. I’d like to thank Yamaha and Team GMT94 for all their support and efforts.” Sébastien Gimbert (Team Yamaha GMT94) “What can I say? To win feels very satisfying! Everything came together well and the race was perfect for us.” Olivier Four (Team Yamaha GMT94) “The bike was set-up well and Sébastien, David and I all worked well together. It feels great to win here! I’d like to thank the team for getting us here.” Christophe Guyot (Team Manager, Team Yamaha GMT94) “I’d like to thank everyone for all their hard work. I’m so happy with the result; it’s just fantastic to win here this weekend! It was a big fight from the beginning of the race and, although we got the lap record we were only leading by 30 seconds at 10.30am on Sunday morning. Then, the Suzuki which was in second place crashed, meaning we were in the lead by ten laps. From then on it was down to the riders to just ride carefully and not risk any crashes. This result is a great proof of the power and reliability of the Yamaha R1.”

Valentino Rossi made a triumphant return to the top step of the podium in Estoril today, sealing his fourth victory of the season with a masterful ride to victory in front of Dani Pedrosa and Casey Stoner. Rossi's eighth consecutive podium finish at this circuit was his first in six races, since his last victory at Assen back in June. Colin Edwards was unable to match his team-mate's pace today and slipped back through the field, eventually finishing in tenth. With 41,566 spectators looking on, Rossi made a poor start from the outside of the front row and slipped to fifth around the first corner, before making up one place and crossing the line first time around behind Nicky Hayden in fourth. He quickly began to put the pressure on Hayden and passed him on lap three, whilst Pedrosa in the meantime picked off Stoner to take the lead. Lap-by-lap Rossi closed the gap and he showed the improved level of his new Yamaha engine when he passed his championship rival on the straight going into lap nine. From then on the race turned into a nail-biting head to head between Rossi and Pedrosa, the pair evenly matched on pace but faster in different areas of the track. With four laps to go Pedrosa ran wide and Rossi came through, only to make a similar mistake moments later, letting the Spaniard back past him. With Pedrosa beginning to slide and Stoner looking menacing in third, Rossi made his move with an inch-perfect pass on the penultimate lap but was forced to keep pushing at the limit to hold on until the end, crossing the line just 0.175 seconds ahead of Pedrosa. Edwards meanwhile suffered with grip issues throughout, finding himself as far down as 17th at one point. The Texan did not give up however and battled back past several riders to finish tenth, taking six points and holding onto seventh in the championship. Rossi's maximum-points haul today means he clo ses the gap to Stoner to 76 points with five races remaining, the next of which comes at Motegi in Japan in one week's time. Valentino Rossi - Position: 1stTime: 45'49.911 "First of all I want to dedicate this victory to Colin McRae, who sadly died yesterday. Colin is one of my idols from when I was very young and it's because of him that I have my passion for rally. It's a very sad day for motorsport and I am glad that I could win for him today. This is a very important victory for us in every way, it's the fourth one of the year so the numbers are starting to look a little bit better, and it's a great, great emotion to win again after so long without even a podium. Today my Yamaha and my tyres worked very well. Our new engine is better and today I was able to keep in the slipstream of the Honda and the Ducati on the straight, and even to go alongside them at some points, so this is very important. Michelin have done some good work on the tyres and today we were maybe stronger than our rivals. Once again we've shown that when the tyres are working well we can fight at the top. I had a great battle with Casey but most of all with Dani and it was fantastic fun to ride like this again, at the maximum and with a lot of good passes. When I passed Dani for the first time I tried to go but he was too good so I knew it was going to come down to the last few laps. At the end Dani started to slide a little and I knew I was stronger on the brakes than him in some places, so I was able to make a good pass. When I came out of the last corner on the second to last lap I could only think about how I lost the championship there last year so I knew I had to be far enough ahead next time around! I want to thank Yamaha, Michelin, my team and everyone around me, this is a great day and it's given us a lot of confidence to keep fighting to the end of the season."

The weather was kind to the World Superbike Championship today as the rain disappeared and the sun came out while Haga and Corser took three podiums between them; one on each step of the podium. Haga took the win in race one and rounded it up with a second place in race two, while Corser finished third in the first race and fifth in the second. Race one started well for Haga as he went from eighth to second in the first few laps. Undeterred by the gap that Bayliss had created between first and second, Haga just put his head down and reduced the margin lap by lap until the two riders were tyre to tyre on lap 14. Haga made his move on the next lap with a traditional Haga-style close pass and then just kept going. He finished the race a clear 11 seconds ahead of the rest of the field; his fourth win of the season. Corser got off to a poor start in race one, almost high-siding in the second corner, and he slid back to ninth before turning the power back on and making way up through the field again. By lap eight he had made his way to fourth position and was hunting down Biaggi 6.2 seconds ahead in third. By lap 18 the gap had reduced to nothing and Corser tried valiantly to pass Biaggi In the end he had to settle for third as his tyres wore off. The second race of the day got off to a mixed start with Corser dropping to sixth and Haga climbing to fifth. Haga wasted no time in passing through the field to once again chase down lead-man Bayliss. Corser meanwhile was challenging Xaus for fifth; a challenge he won going into the first turn. He then focused on finding a way past Toseland for fourth place; a battle which was to last the rest of the race with the riders in the order in which they had begun. By lap nine Haga and Bayliss were dicing with each other and, on lap 14, a mistake by Bayliss gave Haga the chance he was looking for and he grabbed it to take the race lead. But, four laps from the end Bayliss managed to get past Haga, who was forced to settle for second. Team Yamaha YZF rider Shinichi Nakatomi had a good day's racing taking 11th in race one and 15th in race two. Race one was the highlight of the day for the young Japanese rider and he takes six points away with him. Today's results have boosted Haga's second place standing; he is now only 41 points behind first with two rounds still to go. Noriyuki Haga (1st and 2nd - Yamaha Motor Italia WSB Team) "I feel happy with my result in both races today. The first race was the perfect result; even though my tyre started to wear off I was able to take the win. I made a minor suspension change for race two but then didn't get as good a start as I wanted because of a small mistake. This meant I had to use more rear tyre during the race to chase and challenge Bayliss. Towards the end the tyre started sliding and I just couldn't keep up the pace with Troy. Today has reduced the margin on my championship challenge; it has given me more potential to win and I'm now feeling more focused than ever and I'm going to push right to the end for the title. I'd like to thank the team and Öhlins for all their efforts in getting the bike working right this weekend."

The Yamaha World Supersport Team is pleased to announce their rider line up for 2008, ahead of next weekend’s race at Lausitz in Germany. Australian Broc Parkes will remain with the team and he will be joined by the French former Supersport world champion Fabien Foret. 2008 will be Broc’s sixth year challenging in the World Supersport Championship and his fourth with Yamaha. 25 year-old Parkes plans to fight for the world title this year were hampered by injury early on in the season when he broke his collar bone at Donington in April. In spite of this, Parkes has been in contention for top positions at each of the other events this year. Following his first win of the season at Brands Hatch last month, he is now looking to finish the year on a high and is targeting third position in the championship and still has a mathematical chance to finish 2nd. Fabien Foret, aged 34, joins the Yamaha World Supersport team with a good pedigree behind him. He was World Supersport Champion in 2002 and is currently second in the championship, having won this year’s Philip Island round. The Frenchman, who is known for being a hard charger on the track, has ten race wins and twelve more podiums to his name in addition to the title. Foret is no stranger to Yamaha, having ridden in the Supersport championship for the Yamaha Motor Italia team in 2004 and he rode for the German-based team at Lausitz last year as a stand-in rider, where he made a strong impression on the team by finishing third without any prior testing time on the bike. He brings with him a wealth of experience covering entries in Superstock, Supersport and Superbike championships. The 11th round of the 2007 World Supersport Championship will take place this coming weekend in Germany.

Valentino Rossi's hopes of a glorious homecoming to Misano ended after just five laps today, when an engine problem forced the Fiat Yamaha Team rider to retire when running strongly in fourth position. Rossi's team-mate Colin Edwards meanwhile struggled with rear grip in the later stages and was only able to bring his YZR-M1 home in his starting position of ninth. With thousands of passionate Italian fans looking on, Rossi started the San Marino Grand Prix from second on the grid with high hopes of an exciting podium battle with chief rival and pole-sitter Casey Stoner. He dropped one place at the start and another a few turns later as first John Hopkins and then Chris Vermeulen came through, but never got the chance to fight back as he lost power in his engine on lap five of 28 and was forced to coast home to the pits. Edwards got a good start and rose to sixth at one point, but a lack of grip on the left side of his rear tyre meant he was unable to make any further headway through the field, eventually slipping to ninth behind Anthony West. With Stoner the eventual winner, today's result sees Rossi's dream of a late-season championship revival slip further away as he now sits 85 points adrift in second, with a possible 125 points left available from five races. Edwards remains seventh with 100 points. The Fiat Yamaha Team will have a one-day test here tomorrow, before heading to Portugal in ten days time for round fourteen. Colin Edwards - Position: 9thTime: +47.146 "I got a good start and managed to miss the big melee with Hayden and de Puniet. Then Checa almost took me out a couple of times and the second time I had to run wide and West and a couple of others came through. Once I'd got sorted again I had my work cut out getting back by West, but then I just got my head down and got going. Unfortunately however, the left-hand side of my tyre then started to give me trouble and I had no grip from then on. There are a lot of quick changes of direction here, turns one-two and four-five for example, and every time I had to flick it left it felt pretty scary. I had to adjust my pace accordingly and from there on in it was just survival and looking to salvage what points I could. It wasn't fun out there today to be honest!" Valentino Rossi - Position: DNFTime: "At the start I felt I was lacking some temperature in my tyres and so I slipped back a little from my starting position. However apart from this I felt quite good, stable, with a good rhythm and confident that things would continue to improve as the temperature in my tyres increased. However on lap five, when I was braking hard, I suddenly felt something go and that was the end of my race. The engine was the same one that I used at the Brno test and also here in practice and it felt quite good; we don't yet know what the problem was today so we will have to wait until our engineers have had time to examine the situation. "It would have been great, and very useful, to have a good result here in Misano today. I like the track a lot and I really wanted to do well in front of all the fans; it was a great emotion for me to see so many people in yellow. Unfortunately this wasn't the case today and now we know that the championship will be very, very difficult. Breaking down after just a few laps is frustrating and unlucky, especially because today we had good expectations and we had been fast during practice. But when bad things like this happen you have only two choices; give up or come straight back and start working again even harder than before. This is what we will do at Yamaha; me, my team, the engineers - everyone involved. We still have five races left and we will keep trying to get the result we deserve. Once again Stoner deserved to win today, so well done to him. We have a lot of work to do before Estoril." Davide Brivio - Team Director "We used the new engine today and unfortunately something went wrong. We don't know yet exactly what, we won't be able to tell until our engineers have had a lot more time to look at it. It might not have been anything to do with the new technology, we need to check but this can happen and this is racing. It's just very disappointing for everyone and especially all the thousands of fans who came today to cheer Valentino on. Colin had some rear grip issues and he tried his best but unfortunately he too was not able to get the result he deserved. We have to look forward to Estoril now and keep working; we know that all the Yamaha engineers are very busy trying to improve our situation and we have confidence in them. Thanks to everyone for their hard work; we know we are capable of winning and so we will just keep trying." Misano disapointing for Dunlop Yamaha Tech3 After an absence of 14 years Grand Prix racing returned to the re-vamped Misano circuit where Dunlop was victorious in the last premier 500cc class race to be held at the circuit with Luca Cadalora on the Marlboro Yamaha. History was not to be repeated for the Dunlop Yamaha Tech 3 Team as Sylvain Guintoli and Makoto Tamada finished in 12th and 14th positions respectively. The weekend had a silver lining however as Sylvain repeated his qualifying performance of the previous race in Brno to start from 11th on the grid. With the first day of practice a washout when the circuit was flooded by devastating rains that caused the abandonment of the day, this ensured that with limited track time, set-up and tyre selection would play an even more important role than usual. Due to a first corner incident that eliminated Dani Pedrosa, Nicky Hayden and Randy De Puniet and then the unfortunate retirement of Valentino Rossi the race was not the spectacle we have come to expect of the MotoGP class. Sylvain Guintoli (12th - Fastest lap 1'36.560) This race was similar to Brno as I think we proved we have a good qualifying package but we expected to struggle during the race because we couldn't find a rear tyre with good enough grip and endurance. The race was ok. The start was good and the first 12 laps I had a good battle with Nakano and we caught the group in front but after 12 laps the rear grip level started to drop away and I lost touch with the group. The second half of the race was not so much fun. I had a 12 second lead over the riders behind me and I just carried on with a fast enough rhythm so I could not be caught. One thing I am happy with is how much I am learning every time I ride the bike and what is needed in qualifying to get a good lap. I hope we can find something for Portugal so that we can fight for the entire race. Makoto Tamada (14th - Fastest lap 1'36.645) The race wasn't so good for me. I had a good feeling for the first 12 laps and was able to keep a pretty good pace but then I had trouble with the rear. The performance stayed the same for a few laps but towards the end it dropped off again so all I could hope to do was ride the bike to make sure I finished. It's been a hard season so I hope we find something for the last races so that I may be able to battle with a few riders for the whole race and not just wait for something to happen. Herve Poncharal - Dunlop Yamaha Tech 3 Team Manager Firstly I would like to apologise to all the fans that turned up as after the incident on the first lap and with Valentino retiring so early in the race it wasn't much of a spectacle when so much was expected of this race on its return to Misano. As for our weekend, this has been another race that has not gone the way we wanted. We have a good qualifying package but we are missing something in the race. We couldn't find a tyre that we were confident that would last us the entire race so we set everything up the best we could. Hopefully we can find some improvement in the race package to compliment the good work we do in qualifying and all the hard work the team is putting in trying to get the results we desire.

Yamaha Motocross Team's Josh Coppins made a brave comeback to the FIM Motocross World Championship despite sustaining a two inch break to his left shoulder only four weeks ago but could not prevent his lead in the standings being lost to rival Steve Ramon. Meanwhile MX1 debutant Antonio Cairoli marked a new highlight in a truly wonderful season of success as the MX2 world champ won his first ever outing in the premier class with a 2008 production YZ450F in front of 28,000 spectators. Coppins was back in action for the first time in two Grand Prix but completed few fast laps and took things easy on Saturday. The New Zealander commented that he was fighting pain in the joint but had medical attention and took to the line on Sunday to attempt to defend the 12 points he held in defiance of Ramon. The many jumps and rough ruts of the track were not ideal for the Kiwi. The first moto at the new track inside the Donington Park MotoGP complex started perfectly as the 30 year old holeshotted on the YZ450FM. However he was unable to keep pace with the leaders and tried his best to remain as high in the classification as possible but was swamped by a group in the final laps and took fourteenth. With the gap down from 12 to 4 points for the second race, Coppins tried again to fight his corner but had to pull into the pits after one lap as the former championship runner-up had no strength in his upper limb and could not control the bike properly. His eighteenth position overall means that he lost the red plate for the first time this year to Ramon and now faces a tough job at Lierop to regain his status. The deserving champion and winner of five Grand Prix this year will need to obtain 14 points or more over Ramon (who is racing with a small fracture in his scaphoid) to claim his first world title. Marc de Reuver was unable to make an impact on proceedings. The Dutchman retired from the first race and did not feel comfortable on the bike or the track. He did not take to the gate for the second moto. 2007 MX2 World Champion Antonio Cairoli could not have done a better job in the MX1 class to give Coppins support and also assist Yamaha's effort to retain the manufacturer's title. The Italian admitted that riding the production 2008 YZ450F after steering his YZ250F to nine Grand Prix victories this year was 'different' and placed more demands on his muscle groups. but still managed an incredible debut triumph by taking second and first positions in the two motos in his usual flamboyant style. He walked the top step with hardly any preparation to riding the 450 and leaving the factory bikes of Kevin Strijbos and Ken de Dycker behind on his production machine. The World Championship will now face a tense and exciting conclusion. The final round of fifteen will take place next week in the deep and rough sand of Lierop for the Grand Prix of the Netherlands.

Valentino Rossi and Colin Edwards rounded off two days of intensive work at Brno today, following Sunday's Czech Grand Prix. After heavy rain yesterday evening the track was still damp this morning, which delayed the start of action, but conditions improved throughout the day and both Rossi and Edwards managed to complete their planned testing programmes. Once again both riders concentrated mainly on tyre testing, trying a variety of new material with Michelin. Rossi also put in laps with the new-specification engine, which he tried for the first time yesterday. The team now have a week's break before they head to Misano for the San Marino Grand Prix. Colin Edwards - Position: 7th Time: 1'58.86 Laps: 50 "It was all about tyres again today and we actually found a front that I'm pretty happy with. It's something of a different theory to what we've been using before but it seems to work so I think we've gained something in that area. We also found something for the rear which we think could be good if we have a little more time to work on it and evolve it. Based on that I think we've definitely made some progress today. It's not going to change overnight but we've just got to go step-by-step, put in the laps and see how we go. I tried a couple more starting maps as well which I'm really happy with. I'm heading home now for a few days rest before Misano and we'll see how we get on there!" Valentino Rossi - Position: 11th Time: 1'59.35 Laps: 69 "We continued today to test many tyres with Michelin, different components and different compounds. We haven't found a miracle tyre yet but we gave a lot of information to Michelin which will hopefully help them in their work for the next races. We used the new engine again for some of the day and found it a little bit better, although we need more time to work on it. Anyway we've given some important information to our engineers so they can continue with the development for the future. We've done a lot of work these two days and I know that Yamaha and Michelin will now do as much as possible with what we've found out here, and we will be ready to try again next week in Misano." Davide Brivio - Team Director "We've worked a lot these two days and both riders have done a lot of laps, which is hard after an intensive race weekend. This is always a very important test, before the last part of the season, and this year has been no different. We've checked many options, especially with Michelin, and we hope that this information will help them to continue to improve the situation in the near future. We know that both Yamaha and Michelin will be working very hard over the next week and we will see how we get on in San Marino!"

After the disappointment of yesterday's Czech Grand Prix, it was back to the drawing board today for Valentino Rossi and Colin Edwards as they embarked on the traditional two-day test at Brno, alongside almost the entire MotoGP paddock. The sun shone until mid-afternoon when it clouded over, eventually giving way to rain at about 4.30 pm. The main focus of the test for both riders is tyre testing with Michelin and they worked through a variety of new material today as they seek to find a better package for the remaining six races, following recent issues. Rossi also got the chance to complete some laps with a new-specification engine, with which he will continue working tomorrow. Colin Edwards - Position: 6th Time: 1'58.81 Laps: 51 "Michelin brought a lot of new stuff for us to try here today and I think, in total, I tried about four fronts and maybe five rears before the rain came. Unfortunately it doesn't seem like we've found a miracle yet! We're in a difficult situation but I am determined to give 110% to help Michelin get back to where they should be. I tried a new shock for Ohlins as well and some starting maps and electronics and everything else seems to be feeling pretty good. We've got another day tomorrow so let's hope it stays dry so we can get through the remainder of our testing programme." Valentino Rossi - Position: 10th Time: 1'59.20 Laps: 66 "We tried a new engine today and I completed about 25 laps with it. Initially we haven't found that it's a lot faster, but anyway this is only the very first step so we need some more time to understand it better and to see how it can help us. Tomorrow we will continue to work with it again, for part of the day at least. We also did some work with tyres, but so far we haven't found anything special. We tried some new fronts but then, when we started to work with some new rear tyres it started to rain and so we weren't able to finish our work. Hopefully tomorrow we will be able to use the whole day, because we still have a lot of work to get through and this is a very important test for us."