Alex Asigno

Valentino Rossi and Colin Edwards continued their relentless march towards the first race of the season with another promising day’s work in Sepang today. Having concentrated on trying new parts for Yamaha yesterday, it was Michelin’s turn today and the Yamaha Factory Racing riders spent most of the day testing new tyres, with the Malaysian temperatures providing the ideal proving ground for the latest generation of Michelin rubber. The Yamaha pair consolidated yesterday’s good work with another day of fast times, both dipping under the 990cc lap record pace on race tyres. Tomorrow both riders will complete a long-run, before the team packs up and heads west to Qatar for the next round of pre-season testing. Valentino Rossi Position: 1st Time: 2'02.099 Laps: 53 “Today we tested some new tyres for Michelin, both front and rear. We haven’t found any special improvements to the front since the last test, but for the rear we tried something interesting to improve the edge grip. I’m very happy because I think we’re working in the right direction and we have definitely made improvements in this area. We have also continued to work on the stability in braking, changing the set-up in order to improve this even more. Finally today we worked on the engine mapping, as this year fuel consumption is going to be a very important factor. I am gaining more understanding of this new bike every day and I have a really good feeling with it. Tomorrow we will make a long run in order to compare with our data from the last test, and it will be interesting to see how all the improvements we’ve made this week make a difference to the performance of the bike over a race-distance.” Colin Edwards Position: 2nd Time: 2'02.118 Laps: 44 “It was pretty warm today and I had to go out in the hottest part of the day to test tyres, so that was quite hard work! Anyway we got through a whole lot more stuff today and things are getting better and better. We tested a couple more new things for Yamaha and then did a lot of tyre work with Michelin. Looking back at the last test, just a couple of weeks ago, everything has evolved so much since then it’s amazing! We’ve moved forward an incredible amount over just five days of testing so far this year, so that bodes well. Last time here I was doing low 2’03s comfortably, but this time I’m doing low 2’02s lap after lap and they’re coming so easily, without me really having to push too hard at all. We’ve got a long run to do tomorrow and a few more loose ends to tie up, but we’re in good shape!” Davide Brivio - Team Director Today both riders focused on tyres and we had some new material from Michelin. It was a very interesting day all round. Generally speaking, in these two days we have made small but important improvements compared to the previous test here. Tomorrow both riders will make a long-run and we will see if these improvements will be crucial towards race-performance.” Unofficial Lap Times 1. Valentino Rossi (ITA) Yamaha 2'02.099 2. Colin Edwards (USA) Yamaha 2'02.118 3. Randy de Puniet (FRA) Kawasaki 2'02.554 4. Makoto Tamada (JPN) Yamaha 2'02.745 5. Olivier Jacque (FRA) Kawasaki 2'03.761 6. Sylvain Guintoli (FRA) Yamaha 2'05.002 7. Andrew Pitt (AUS) Ilmor 2'07.923 Sepang Lap Record (990cc) Loris Capirossi (Ducati) 2006 - 2'02.127 Sepang Best Lap (990cc) Valentino Rossi (Yamaha) 2006 - 2'00.605

Colin Edwards and Valentino Rossi proved they are more than ready for the challenge ahead with their new 800cc Yamahas by clocking some outstanding times today, on the third and final day of testing in Sepang. Both took the chance to try new Michelin qualifying tyres and Edwards stunned his crew by dipping well under the current pole position record, set by Rossi at last year’s race on the old 990cc Yamaha, with a lap of 2’00.248. Rossi also came close to his own pole record with a time of 2’00.793. Both riders spent the day continuing to work on set-up and tyre-testing before completing long runs, enabling them to see the benefits of their latest developments under race-like conditions. The Yamaha Factory Racing Team will now pack up and head west for the next stage of testing in Qatar on February 13th-15th. It will be the first time this season that the entire MotoGP class will be on track together and Rossi and Edwards are looking forward to seeing how their 800cc bikes fare at a new track alongside a full field of their competitors. Colin Edwards Position: 1st Time: 2'00.248 Laps: 46 “We started off this morning by testing a couple more front tyres and a different bike setting, just generally playing around with a few things. At the end of the morning we tried another new rear tyre which was pretty good too, and then we had two qualifiers to try. I came in from the first one thinking that I’d probably done a low 2'01; I’d made a couple of small mistakes and thought I could have been faster, so I couldn’t believe it when it was around the 2’00.6 mark. The next qualifier was pretty unbelievable and the bike just felt perfect, so I’m really pleased with that time. The long run was pretty interesting…I’d already done about 30 laps in the morning session and I was feeling pretty tired, I went off a bit too hard at the start and was giving it all I had, it was feeling great but then after about 14 laps I was seeing double! I slowed it down for a bit but there wasn’t much point pushing it so I came in a bit early. Anyway things were still improved from the last time here so we were happy. Overall it’s been a really great test; the bike is unbelievable, better than ever even with less power!” Valentino Rossi Position: 2nd Time: 2'00.793 Laps: 43 “It was another really positive day for us, and I am so happy because the bike is feeling great. During these three days we have worked a lot on the suspension set-up, in order to fix the problems we had in braking, and I think we’ve done a very good job on that. We’ve been pretty fast all week, quicker than during the January test, and the long run today was faster too which is important. I am also pleased that Colin is going so well, he made a fantastic time today, he’s very fast! We also worked again today on the engine mapping, as I said yesterday; fuel consumption is going to be crucial for everyone this year and we can’t afford to make mistakes! I am sure that we can still improve in every area and now we have the chance to carry on like this in Qatar next week, where we will also have the first race in one month. Next week will be a very important test!” Davide Brivio - Team Director “We leave Sepang in the certainty that we’ve made a very good test and we have improved the situation with both riders. Colin has made a great improvement since January’s test and I think that no one has ever ridden so fast here in Sepang as he did today! This shows that the 800cc bikes are already faster than the 990s! We are working very well and the general development of the new bike is going very well. Now we go to Qatar for the next test and we know that will be a very important test for two reasons: first, we will be testing in a different circuit, so we will have the chance to confirm what we’ve learnt here at another track and second, we will meet all the other teams there and will be able to see our level alongside them.” Unofficial Lap Times 1. Colin Edwards (USA) Yamaha 2'00.248 2. Valentino Rossi (ITA) Yamaha 2'00.793 3. Randy de Puniet (FRA) Kawasaki 2'02.071 4. Olivier Jacque (FRA) Kawasaki 2'02.607 5. Makoto Tamada (JPN) Yamaha 2'03.380 6. Sylvain Guintoli (FRA) Yamaha 2'04.636 7. Andrew Pitt (AUS) Ilmor 2'07.373 Sepang Lap Record (990cc) Loris Capirossi (Ducati) 2006 - 2'02.127 Sepang Best Lap (990cc) Valentino Rossi (Yamaha) 2006 - 2'00.605

The Yamaha Factory Racing Team’s second test of 2007 got underway in Sepang, Malaysia today, with Valentino Rossi and Colin Edwards back out onboard their prototype 800cc machines for another three-day test. With most teams having chosen to test in Australia last week, Yamaha decided to return to Sepang and take advantage of the relatively quieter atmosphere this week, sharing the track with just five other riders from Tech 3 Yamaha, Kawasaki and Ilmor. With temperatures slightly lower than at the previous test, Edwards and Rossi, who set the first and second fastest times of the day respectively, spent the day working on the set-up of the new bike and testing some new parts for Yamaha and Ohlins. Both riders were very happy with the day’s work and reported significant improvement to the stability of the bike under braking, laying the groundwork for what they hope will be two more encouraging and fruitful days of testing as the March 10th deadline of the first race looms ever closer. Colin Edwards Position: 1st Time: 2’02.175 Laps: 47 "Well I’m definitely feeling better than I did last time…I think everyone was a little bit rusty after the break but it’s ‘situation normal’ again now and I’m feeling much stronger on the bike. I’m pretty happy with today’s work; I’m already fast and the bike keeps on feeling better and better. Over the first 42 laps we did today we only used two different rears so it’s clear that the tyres are working well too. We concentrated on Yamaha stuff today and we made a huge step forward with the rear shock. We knew things still weren’t perfect in that area, but we’ve made a big change today and the stability of the bike under braking has improved 100% as a result. Tomorrow we’re going to focus more on tyres with Michelin and hopefully things will keep on improving." Valentino Rossi Position: 2nd Time: 2’02.221 Laps: 40 "Today we worked a lot on bike set-up and we’ve tried a few different directions, focusing mainly on the new rear shock we have from Ohlins and on the braking. What we’ve seen and understood today is very positive and this makes me very confident about the next few days of testing. We decided to come back to Sepang, where there would be fewer teams testing, in order to be more relaxed and less focused on lap times. This is the way we are planning to work throughout the test. Anyway, my lap times are already fast so of course we’ll keep trying to improve in the next two days. Tomorrow we will concentrate more on working with Michelin and testing new tyres. At the moment we’re waiting for some new engine parts from Japan; we’re looking for more horsepower, but this is the bike we have and I am very happy about how things are going at the moment." Davide Brivio - Team Director "Today has been a good first day, in a nice relaxed atmosphere without too many other people around. Today we focused almost exclusively on set-up work and we had some new material to try, which has given our riders a better feeling with the bike. We’ve clearly improved the general set-up for both riders and also made some great steps on the braking, which was one of our key areas to work on during this test. We got some very useful information today, which we can continue to develop over the next two days, and I am happy with the results of our first day." Unofficial Lap Times 1. Colin Edwards (USA) Yamaha 2'02.175 2. Valentino Rossi (ITA) Yamaha 2'02.221 3. Randy de Puniet (FRA) Kawasaki 2'02.966 4. Makoto Tamada (JPN) Yamaha 2'03.219 5. Olivier Jacque (FRA) Kawasaki 2'03.959 6. Sylvain Guintoli (FRA) Yamaha 2'06.558 7. Andrew Pitt (AUS) Ilmor 2'08.640 Sepang Lap Record (990cc) Loris Capirossi (Ducati) 2006 - 2'02.127 Sepang Best Lap (990cc) Valentino Rossi (Yamaha) 2006 - 2'00.605

Yamaha Motor Company Ltd and Valentino Rossi will continue to race together until the end of the 2008 season. The next two seasons will see Rossi ride as part of Yamaha’s Official Factory Team, with which he has already won two MotoGP World Championship titles since joining the Factory in 2004. The Italian, who turns 28 this month, has won 25 Grand Prix during his three seasons with Yamaha and currently stands third in the all-time Grand Prix winners list. Rossi, who is spearheading the rider development of Yamaha’s new 800cc motorcycle in the run-up to the new MotoGP season, will be back in action next week for Yamaha’s second test of the year in Sepang, Malaysia. Lin Jarvis, Managing Director of Yamaha Motor Racing, commented "We are thrilled to confirm that our partnership with Valentino will continue for a fifth year in 2008, and it’s especially good to have completed all contract negotiations before the start of the rapidly approaching 2007 racing season. This now leaves Valentino free to concentrate solely on the job in hand – winning back the World Championship! The past three years with Valentino have been a huge success for the Yamaha brand worldwide, Valentino is a great champion and there is no doubt in our minds that he remains the best possible person to continue to lead Yamaha’s MotoGP effort for the foreseeable future." "I’m very happy I renewed the contract with Yamaha until the end of 2008 so now I can just concentrate on racing this season" said Rossi. "I think that last year, when we fought back from what seemed an impossible situation to come so close to taking the title, showed what a fantastic team we are and this is why I want to stay with Yamaha. The past three years with Yamaha have been very positive and this is why I am pleased to stay. The atmosphere in our garage is always relaxed and happy and I think that this is something very special and difficult to find. I have great faith in Yamaha and I am very excited about my future and the future of the 800cc bike with them. We are ready to challenge with the new 800cc and now this agreement gives us the chance to launch this challenge for the next two years". Davide Brivio, Team Director of Yamaha Factory Racing, commented: "During the last three seasons we have won on our debut with Valentino in 2004, dominated in 2005 and lost in 2006: to extend the contract for a further year at the end of a difficult season like the last one is the greatest demonstration of the trust Valentino has placed in this Team. This is the great motivation for everyone; Valentino, the engineers, the mechanics, all the staff and, of course, all those who, like me, have lived and continue to live through the victories and the defeats so intensely. We will continue to enjoy ourselves on track and to provide enjoyment for the huge numbers of passionate fans of two-wheeled sport; together we will look forward to the next two seasons with great energy."

The Yamaha Factory Racing Team rounded off their first test of 2007 in fine style today, with Valentino Rossi topping the unofficial time sheets after three days of testing. Both Rossi and his team-mate Colin Edwards made more positive progress with Yamaha’s new prototype 800cc machine and the team closed the test feeling confident about their level of performance at this stage of the season. Although they finished the day a little earlier than usual, both riders completed their full agenda of work, once again trying several new tyres for Michelin, with Rossi also concentrating on improving the balance of the bike when braking. Rossi’s best time of 2’00.936 was set on a qualifying tyre and is close to his pole position time from last year’s Grand Prix, when he was riding the old 990cc machine. Close behind him was Suzuki’s John Hopkins with a time of 2’01.026, whilst Edwards, who did not use a qualifying tyre today, was eighth fastest with a lap of 2’02.266. Whilst most teams will now head directly to Phillip Island for another test, Yamaha Factory Racing have instead elected to return to Sepang in ten days time, with another three-day test on 5th, 6th and 7th February. Valentino Rossi Position: 1st Time: 2’00.936 Laps: 30 “Today was another good day for us. We concentrated a lot on braking and definitely made some improvements, although I think we can still make it even better and this is something we will work on when we come back here. We had an important technical meeting today and came to some interesting conclusions, which will help Yamaha’s engineers to continue to improve our new bike. We’ve got through our entire programme for this test, including testing many new tyres for Michelin. Today I also had the chance to try a qualifying tyre and I was able to go below 2.01; I think that Michelin have done a very good job over the winter. We tried the 16” tyre again and I am still sure that it’s good for us, although we still need more time to work on it with Michelin. Overall it’s been a very positive test for us. Most of the other teams will go to Phillip Island now, but we will return here in ten days with more new things to test. We still need to work on the engine, although for this early stage it’s very good. So far we have concentrated on power delivery, rather than on the power itself, but this only the first test of the year so there is plenty more time!” Colin Edwards Position: 8th Time: 2’02.266 Laps: 22 “I’m heading home feeling really happy after three excellent day’s work. We didn’t do so much today, 22 laps, but it was enough to back up what we’ve learnt this week and finish feeling sure about everything. We changed direction with tyres a bit today and went towards the package Valentino's been using and that definitely improved things even more; my fastest lap was on a race tyre similar to the one he’s been using quite a bit. We didn’t try a qualifier, but I really felt that I got into the ‘zone’ on the race tyre and that was when my best time came. We tried a new front and a new rear as well and they were both great, the tyre situation in general is really good. We played around a bit with the setting too and tested a few things Valentino's been using, but actually I preferred my setting so we came back to that. So that’s it for the first test and it’s been really encouraging. A quick rest now and then we’ll be back for more!” Davide Brivio - Team Director “We’ve finished this first test of 2007 with both riders and the team feeling good. Valentino and Colin shared a lot of information between one another and this is very important in this development period. The times are already very satisfying and this means that we’re working in the right direction, even if there’s still a lot of work to do! The final conclusion of this test is very positive but we need to keep working hard; we have clear ideas about what we need to do. We’re coming back here again soon and we will have new items to test, especially tyres, and we will be able to continue to fine-tune the set-up of the new 800. 10th March is getting closer and closer so we have to just keep on working!” Unofficial Lap Times: 1. Valentino Rossi (ITA) Yamaha 2’00.936 2. John Hopkins (USA) Suzuki 2’01.026 3. Loris Capirossi (ITA) Ducati 2’01.274 4. Dani Pedrosa (SPA) Honda 2’01.664 5. Chris Vermeulen (AUS) Suzuki 2’01.691 6. Randy de Puniet (FRA) Kawasaki 2’01.878 7. Nicky Hayden (USA) Honda 2’01.884 8. Colin Edwards (USA) Yamaha 2’02.266 9. Casey Stoner (AUS) Ducati 2’02.407 10. Marco Melandri (ITA) Honda 2’02.489 11. Carlos Checa (SPA) Honda 2’02.583 12. Alex Barros (BRA) Ducati 2’02.630 13. Toni Elias (SPA) Honda 2’02.927 14. Alex Hoffman (GER) Ducati 2’03.040 15. Shinya Nakano (JPN) Honda 2’03.077 16. Makoto Tamada (JPN) Yamaha 2’03.308 17. Kenny Roberts (USA) Team KR 2’03.330 18. Olivier Jacque (FRA) Kawasaki 2’03.592 19. Shinichi Ito (JPN) Bridgestone Test 2’03.97 3 Sylvain Guintoli (FRA) Yamaha Did not ride Sepang Lap Record (990cc): Loris Capirossi (Ducati) 2006 – 2’02.127 Sepang Best Lap (990cc): Valentino Rossi (Yamaha) 2006 – 2’00.605

A second day of testing in Malaysia today saw the Yamaha Factory Racing Team continue to come on in leaps and bounds with the development of their new prototype 800cc motorcycle. With rain threatening for tomorrow’s third and final day of testing, both Valentino Rossi and Colin Edwards elected to take advantage of clear skies and complete their long-run today, the first for either rider on the new bike. Initial feedback was good and Rossi especially was very pleased with the performance of his Yamaha under race conditions. Edwards, who was trying a different set-up and tyre package to his team-mate in order to gather as much information as possible for Yamaha’s engineers and Michelin, was less comfortable during his long-run, but importantly was able to identify some of the key areas in which the team still need to focus their attention over the coming tests. Both riders improved on their times from yesterday, with Edwards dipping under the old 990cc lap record pace with a fastest lap of 2’01.930, set during the morning on race tyres. He was just behind Suzuki’s John Hopkins, who topped the unofficial time sheets for the second day running in a time of 2’01.806. Rossi posted the fifth fastest time of the day after completing 57 laps, with a time of 2’02.619. The Yamaha Factory Racing Team will complete their final day of this first test tomorrow. Colin Edwards Position: 2nd Time: 2'01.930 Laps: 60 "I’m not sure if it’s to do with the fact that I’m getting old, or just that I’ve been off the bike for six weeks, but this week it seems that I’m much stronger in the morning than in the afternoon! The morning felt really good today, Michelin had me working in one direction and Valentino in another and I was quite excited about how everything was feeling and about the times I was able to do. I did my best time on a race tyre and it was coming pretty easily. Michelin have worked seriously hard over the winter and the new front tyres they’re bringing us are just getting better and better, so congratulations to them. This afternoon was much harder and it was pretty hot out there too. The package I used for the long-run wasn’t so good, it definitely wasn’t the right direction for the rear tyre and it was hard work for me. Anyway Valentino's package worked well and that’s why we’re here after all – to work out what does work and what doesn’t! It’s given us some clear answers and now we can use tomorrow to double check what we’ve learned this week and finish on a good note." Valentino Rossi Position: 5th Time: 2’02.619 Laps: 57 "Today I made my first long-run with the new bike, because I was worried about the weather for tomorrow. It was important to be able to see the level of the bike over a long distance, so we didn’t want to risk waiting for the last day. I am very happy about how it went; the performance of the bike and tyres was very good. We still need to improve the braking a bit, but I am sure it will get better as we continue to work on the set-up. The temperature at noon was very high and the sun felt like a sword beating down on my helmet, but it was still great fun and I really enjoyed myself! Of course with the 990cc bike the top speed was a bit faster, but overall with the new bike the pace on a long-run isn’t so different, because it puts less stress on the tyres so their performance remains higher for longer. The physical effort is similar for both bikes, and I feel very motivated after the long-run today. We tested the 16” front tyre today; we still need to work more on this, but the initial feeling is very good and the handling is a bit better with it. The bike is more stable in the corner and therefore I have more confidence. I think in the end it could be a good solution, but we need more time to be sure. Tomorrow we have other tyres to test and we will just continue to work on the general set-up of the bike." Davide Brivio - Team Director "It has been another good day for us here in Malaysia. Every day we understand more and more about our new bike and we gain more experience about the right way to work and ride with this new 800cc Yamaha. Today both riders made a long-run, which is always an important indication of how we are progressing. Valentino's was very positive and we gathered a lot of important information from it. Colin had more difficulty and showed some of the problem areas we need to work on, but he also gained positives from today and his best time this morning was very fast. Of course we’ve got a lot of work to do, but that is the reason for testing! Tomorrow we will continue like this, working on the set-up of our bike and also testing some new tyres for Michelin." Unofficial Lap Times 1. John Hopkins (USA) Suzuki 2'01.806 2. Colin Edwards (USA) Yamaha 2'01.930 3. Chris Vermeulen (AUS) Suzuki 2'02.275 4. Alex Barros (BRA) Ducati 2'02.538 5. Valentino Rossi (ITA) Yamaha 2'02.619 6. Loris Capirossi (ITA) Ducati 2'02.793 7. Randy de Puniet (FRA) Kawasaki 2'02.806 8. Nicky Hayden (USA) Honda 2'02.948 9. Dani Pedrosa (SPA) Honda 2'03.098 10. Casey Stoner (AUS) Ducati 2'03.190 11. Marco Melandri (ITA) Honda 2'03.253 12. Shinya Nakano (JPN) Honda 2'03.633 13. Carlos Checa (SPA) Honda 2'03.681 14. Shinichi Ito (JPN) Bridgestone Test 2'03.700 15. Kenny Roberts (USA) Team KR 2'03.800 16. Alex Hoffman (GER) Ducati 2'03.895 17. Toni Elias (SPA) Honda 2'04.124 18. Olivier Jacque (FRA) Kawasaki 2'04.171 19. Makoto Tamada (JPN) Yamaha 2'04.350 20. Sylvain Guintoli (FRA) Yamaha 2'04.892 Sepang Lap Record (990cc) Loris Capirossi (Ducati) 2006 - 2'02.127 Sepang Best Lap (990cc) Valentino Rossi (Yamaha) 2006 - 2'00.605

Yamaha Factory Racing Team riders Valentino Rossi and Colin Edwards got the new year off to a promising start at the first MotoGP test of the season in Sepang, Malaysia today, setting the third and fourth fastest times respectively. With all teams now running new 800cc prototype machines, in accordance with the new MotoGP engine capacity limits, the 20-strong field of riders enjoyed good weather throughout the day and Yamaha's two factory riders made the most of a full day of testing. Both riders had completed two tests on the new bike before Christmas and followed on from where they left off today, concentrating on double-checking the information they gathered during those tests and developing the set-up of the new bike, whilst also finding time to test some new Michelin tyres. The fastest lap of the day, a time of 2'02.277, was set by Suzuki rider John Hopkins, with his team-mate Chris Vermeulen second with a best lap of 2'03.049. Rossi and Edwards were close behind, the Italian setting a best time of 2'03.184 from 67 laps and his American team-mate fourth with a lap of 2'03.337 after 61 laps. "I am feeling very confident at the start of this test and the new season. I've made the most of my holidays, had a good rest and I think I am starting in the best shape possible. Everyone is very motivated and excited now! The bike I am riding here is basically the same as the one I rode in Jerez at the last test and everything feels very good with it still. You have to ride these bikes slightly differently to the old 990cc bikes, you need to be slightly softer, but we understand more about them every day. Some things still need to be improved but the chassis is good and we don't have any of the problems we had at the start of last season. We need to be fast from the start this year and at the moment it seems that's the case. The power delivery of the bike is good, better than I hoped for at this early stage of the season, and I am feeling quite confident overall about the situation we're in. Today we mainly worked on setting and tyres and we've definitely made a good start to the new year, now we will try to continue like this for the next two days. "It's been good to have a bit of a break and some time at home with the family, but I'm excited about the new season and it's good to be back on the bike! The rain held off so we got started on time this morning. The bike feels pretty similar to what we were riding before Christmas, of course there are some subtle tweaks here and there and some new stuff, but nothing too drastic and it still feels really good. This morning we worked on tyres with Michelin before testing a couple of new things with the bike this afternoon, but mostly we were just backing up everything we worked out at the last two tests, double and triple-checking every setting to ensure that we're working in the right direction. It's obvious that everyone's already at a high level and the times are fast, so it's going to be hard work for us all from now on!" Davide Brivio - Team Director "It's good to get back to work after the winter break and it has been a positive first day for us here in Sepang. The bikes were assembled at Yamaha in Japan last week and they have started the year in their black 'winter-test livery', with yellow stickers for Valentino and red for Colin. Today we've worked on basic set-up and we haven't had any problems so far. All the information we gathered at the tests before Christmas has been taken into account and once we felt confident with this latest version of the 2007 bike, we were also able to spend some time testing new tyres for Michelin. We've definitely started our job well today and worked in a productive manner. Despite a poor weather forecast, the rain has held off and we've been able to use all the track time available to us. Hopefully this will continue and we can keep on working hard through the next two days and make the most of this important first test." Unofficial Lap Times 1. John Hopkins (USA) Suzuki 2'02.277 2. Chris Vermeulen (AUS) Suzuki 2'03.049 3. Valentino Rossi (ITA) Yamaha 2'03.184 4. Colin Edwards (USA) Yamaha 2'03.337 5. Nicky Hayden (USA) Honda 2'03.413 6. Loris Capirossi (ITA) Ducati 2'03.538 7. Randy de Puniet (FRA) Kawasaki 2'03.542 8. Dani Pedrosa (SPA) Honda 2'03.620 9. Makoto Tamada (JPN) Yamaha 2'03.785 10. Casey Stoner (AUS) Ducati 2'03.944 11. Alex Hoffman (GER) Ducati 2'04.003 12. Alex Barros (BRA) Ducati 2'04.011 13. Kenny Roberts (USA) Team KR 2'04.088 14. Carlos Checa (SPA) Honda 2'04.101 15. Shinya Nakano (JPN) Honda 2'04.138 16. Marco Melandri (ITA) Honda 2'04.270 17. Shinichi Ito (JPN) Bridgestone Test 2'04.641 18. Toni Elias (SPA) Honda 2'04.710 19. Olivier Jacque (FRA) Kawasaki 2'04.718 20. Sylvain Guintoli (FRA) Yamaha 2'07.403 Sepang Lap Record Loris Capirossi (Ducati) 2006 - 2'02.127 Sepang Best Lap Valentino Rossi (Yamaha) 2006 - 2'00.605

For the third time since the conception of the new technical regulations of the Dakar the Yamaha WR450F has been victorious in the hotly contested 450cc motorcycle class. David Frétigné won the class in 2004 and 2005 and Helder Rodrigues came close in 2006 when he finished ninth overall as best Yamaha rider. This year Rodrigues managed to clinch the 450 class title. The Portuguese Enduro star finished two and half hours behind race winner Cyril Despres (KTM >450cc) to match Frétigné’s best performance in 2005 with a fifth position overall. Quad rider Josef Machanek caused more reason for celebrations in the Yamaha camp with his overall victory in the Quad category. The Czech proved the speed and endurance of his Banshee YFZ350 by leading only five fellow competitors from 13 starters over the finish line. Helder Rodrigues’ fifth position overall places him as second best privateer rider behind Norwegian Pal Anders Ullevalseter (KTM), who finished fourth overall, but on a bigger capacity bike. Besides consistency, Helder showed some fearsome speed on the more technical stages. He finished second in the sandy opening leg, won the second and tenth stage and finished third in the 16 km beach special on the last day. On the stages where top speed was less advantageous, Rodrigues always made sure to claw back time on the bigger bikes. The accumulated experience of his previous two Dakar participations helped Rodrigues to celebrate his first African stage win this year; “The stage of day 10 was very technical, which allowed me to battle with bikes from the bigger categories. With my 450, I lost out somewhat on the straight sections, but I was able to make up for this on the technical parts. I’ve had a good day and this victory is very important for the team, and me as well, because it’s the first time that I’ve won a special stage in Africa. Previously, my best was a third place last year”. Rodrigues continued by confirming he exceeded his own expectations, and vows to be back next year even stronger; “My aim was to be in the top five and to win one stage. I am fifth in the overall rankings and I won two stages. So I am more then happy. We all worked well together. The team was better and so was the Yamaha. I was unable to give priority to preparing the Dakar because of my endurance race commitments. But next year, I’ll change priorities and dedicate more time to preparing for the Dakar”. Besides the winning success of Rodrigues there have been other great achievements of WR450F riders. The Frenchman Michel Marchini finished seventh overall and second in the 450 class, while Dutchwomen Mirjam Pol again managed to finish as runner-up female. She has left 84 males in her wake and 49th overall is a significant improvement over her 80th place last year. Although it is not an official category victory, Mirjam is in fact the fastest woman on a 450, as her French opponent Ludivine Puy (KTM) finished in front of her on a bigger capacity machine. The formidable result for the 23-year-old sports teacher did not come easy and she has had some ups and downs since leaving Lisbon; “At the end of the marathon stage in Foum Zguid, I started running a fever and it got worse the next day. Then during the stage to Zouerat I landed badly after a jump and twisted my right ankle. I did not think much of it in the beginning, but the pain kept me awake all night.” With her ankle tightly strapped, the strong Dutchwoman kept on going. “I don’t care so much about my ranking or about the other women in the race. Ludivine Puy was better than me this year”, she admits looking at the rankings. During the stage to Atar, Mirjam deserved a fair-play award when she stopped to give another top female competitor Swedish Annie Seel some fuel. Most of the seasoned contestants judged the 2007 Dakar to be a little bit easier then previous editions. Over half of the 245 motorcyclist, 132 to be precise, made it to the finish, a percentage that is slightly higher then past events. Helder Rodrigues led the following 29 fellow WR450F riders over the finish line on the beach at Dakar: Position Name Total time Difference to winner 5 RODRIGUES (POR) 54:07:34 02:30:41 7 MARCHINI (FRA) 54:37:20 03:00:27 15 MACEK (CZE) 59:16:38 07:39:45 16 PAIN (FRA) 59:18:50 07:41:57 17 ALGAY (FRA) 59:55:25 08:18:32 22 CROQUELOIS (FRA) 60:53:28 09:16:35 29 COTTET (SUI) 61:34:43 09:57:50 33 VAYSSIE (FRA) 62:17:07 10:40:14 43 GADIOUX (FRA) 66:17:39 14:40:46 48 WILLEMSEN (HOL) 67:45:05 16:08:12 49 POL (HOL) 67:48:12 16:11:19 58 IRVINE (MEX) 70:04:49 18:27:56 60 RONCONI (ITA) 70:30:53 18:54:00 70 CARON (FRA) 73:04:56 21:28:03 80 MIOTTO (ITA) 75:15:16 23:38:23 81 VULLIET (FRA) 75:45:18 24:08:25 83 VULLIET (FRA) 76:08:56 24:32:03 91 CHIRENT (FRA) 78:33:05 26:56:12 92 TRISCONI (SUI) 78:44:56 27:08:03 95 STIJKEL (HOL) 79:36:27 27:59:34 98 ZUIDINGA (HOL) 80:55:33 29:18:40 103 BIANCHI (POR) 82:13:53 30:37:00 113 VILLY (FRA) 85:29:34 33:52:41 114 JAYEZ (AFG) 86:51:40 35:14:47 115 ANO (FRA) 87:58:56 36:22:03 116 MELLONI (ESP) 88:33:32 36:56:39 117 DE GROOT (HOL) 88:46:45 37:09:52 118 BROWET (BEL) 89:22:59 37:46:06 124 OHASHI (JAP) 95:45:39 44:08:46 126 KIRISHIMA (JAP) 96:30:12 44:53:19

With a stage-win, a second place and six other top 15 finishes Yamaha WR450F rider Helder Rodrigues (POR) is the current leader of the category up to 450cc. Helder is closely chased by Frenchman Michel Marchini, also riding a Yamaha WR450F. With nine of the 15 riding days and already 5000 km absolved, the riders are now less then a week away from the finish of the grueling 2007 edition of the Dakar rally. Top Yamaha man David Frétigné held the 450cc class lead up to stage seven, but then misfortune hit him hard and he was forced to retire. David crashed heavily in the dunes on the seventh leg from Zouérat to Atâr, the last stage before the rest day. David explained; "After the fuel stop around 350 km's in the stage my bike did not run well and I crashed when the engine stopped when I was descending a dune. I went over the handle bars and the bike landed on top of me and the foot peg hit me in my right side, injuring my ribs." Despite the aggravation David remounted straight away and carried on with his crash damaged bike in order not to loose too much time on the leaders. "The fuelling problems continued and David lost a further one and a half hours doing the necessary repairs. David arrived very tired and frustrated at the finish line; "To make things worse, just on the day when I have a problem the stage was made ten km longer due to poor visibility!" After the finish it became clear that David's condition was pretty bad with two fractured and one broken rib; 'I did not sleep at all and it felt like somebody was poking a knife in my right side". The next morning David decided to retire from the race; I'm not able to restart in this condition and be competitive, I would have to take unnecessary risks just for making up the numbers. I came here to finish each of the stages in the top six, close to the podium overall and win the 450cc class, that is now impossible, so it is better to quit." With Frétigné out, Yamaha's hopes are now on Helder Rodrigues who had one of his toughest days on the Sunday stage. This 589 km special stage was the longest and possibly the hardest day of the rally; very difficult to navigate and with a very rocky surface. Rodrigues was one of the riders to get lost early on, costing him a detour of 15 km, yet he recovered strongly to finish 12th overall. Yesterday, Monday 15 January,Rodrigues further improved his position in the overall standings with a seventh position finish, Marchini came in eight minutes later to trail Rodrigues on 40 minutes in the overall standings and second in the 450 class. The leaders overall (bikes over 450cc capacity) are the factory supported Coma (Spa), followed by Despres (Fra) and Casteu (Fra). Yamaha rider Josef Machacek (CZE) is on top of the Quads leaderboard.

Yamaha makes steady progress with the new YZF-R1 The all-new YZF-R1 was given its first 2007 testing shakedown by Yamaha Motor Italia riders Troy Corser and Noriyuki Haga, at the final official Pirelli tests of the close season. Corser took the equal fourth best time of the three days, with a lap of 1’32.2, set on day two - some 0.2 seconds under the current race lap record pace. Haga also had to rely on a day two best to set his fastest mark of the sessions, a 1’32.8, in what was another largely closely contested outing for the five Superbike teams in attendance. For this second outing with the new R1, the team had limited preparation time. Meaning that not all of the usual adjustments in chassis/ swingarm combination were available to the riders, and thus the ultimate best times were limited. Corser, despite this temporary handicap, was still a force on his home circuit while Haga found a good race set-up on the final day. Both riders managed to gather important information for the final test in Qatar next February. Fastest rider at the test was Troy Bayliss, who scored a new Superbike track best of 1’30.7, with his team-mate Lorenzo Lanzi half a second behind. Troy Corser (Yamaha Motor Italia) "The top speed and the engine feel is not bad, but we are struggling a bit with rear grip coming out of corners. We are a bit too sideways. So the lap times are not coming for us at the moment. I’m pretty happy with the bike and the team is working well, but we just need a bit more testing, and this is only the third day of riding a Yamaha at Phillip Island. We need to adjust the swingarm angle. We could use a hard tyre and get the same grip and push as a qualifier. But it’s not that disheartening because despite having some troubles we are not that far away on lap time. I know where I’m losing time and how much time I’m losing, and I’m confident we can fix it." Noriyuki Haga (Yamaha Motor Italia) "Finally I found a good setting and good acceleration, but I still had problems with a few things, same as Troy. Today I made 20 laps in a long run, which went very good, but after eight laps the rear problem started and the tyre started grooving. We need more testing with the new parts.” Massimo Meregalli (Team Coordinator - Yamaha Motor Italia) " We did not experience a rear grip problem in Qatar during the last test, so this was an important test. Now we can make the necessary changes to the specs to become fully competitive with our new R1. In discussion with the riders and chief mechanics, we know what the solution is for the set-up and we will test the parts here during race weekend. It is not a big thing, but we simply did not have time to bring these parts here now. Noriyuki made a good race simulation today." OFFICIAL WSB TESTS: AUSTRALIA Circuit: Phillip Island Circuit Length: 4.445km Race Lap Record: 1'32.402 (Troy Bayliss, 2006) Fastest Lap Ever: 1' 30.7 (Troy Bayliss, 2007, at this test) Temp: 25ºC World Superbike 1. Bayliss Ducati Xerox 1’30.7 2. Lanzi Ducati Xerox 1’31.2 3. Toseland Honda Ten Kate 1’31.7 4. Corser Yamaha Motor Italia 1’32.2 5. Laconi Kawasaki PSG-1 1’32.2 6. Kagayama Suzuki Alstare 1’32.3 7. Nieto Kawasaki PSG-1 1’32.3 8. Biaggi Suzuki Alstare 1’32.4 9. Haga Yamaha Motor Italia 1’32.8 10. Rolfo Honda Ten Kate 1’33.2 Pirelli Test Session: Australia Circuit: Phillip Island Date: 13 - 15 January 2007 Temp: 25ºC Weather: Sunny, cooler in mornings Curtain equal fastest and at record pace Yamaha World Supersport Team riders Kevin Curtain and Broc Parkes completed their latest schedule of long haul testing in an ultimately successful fashion, with Curtain setting the joint fastest lap of the test and Parkes carrying out a satisfactory long run to simulate a real race. Curtain tied for the new circuit Supersport best ever lap with Honda rider Kenan Sofuoglu, each setting a remarkable 1’33.9 - more in 2006 Superbike territory than Supersport. The new selection of rear tyres the team tested proved able in terms of permitting a few fast lap times, but the rears operated best in the lower track temperatures of the morning sessions. The main competitors had quite some difficulties countering the lap times of Curtain, resulting in many crashes. Parkes suffered a crash on the second day and a trivial problem with his repaired bike on the morning of the final day stopped him improving his still impressive best of 1’34.8 even more. Nonetheless, the team tested all their new equipment and the new tyre solutions, in readiness for the start of the season on February 24th, at Losail, in Qatar. This test was the first outing under direct ownership of Yamaha Motor Europe. Although the team still operates from their Yamaha Motor Germany workshop, the overall management and ownership of the team is transferred to the European headquarter of Yamaha in the Netherlands. This enables the team to benefit from Yamaha Motor Europe’s experience and resources. Kevin Curtain (Yamaha World Supersport Team) "I did a 1’33.9, and I was really impressed! Pretty good for a 600. Today was obviously good in terms of the outright lap times but we have quite a big rear endurance problem on the tyres that give the best lap time, and I think most people have the same. We always have a known quantity tyre that we can fall back on for the race and in general my test has been really good right from the start. The front has been good here, and we know what works and doesn’t work. We basically used the setting from the recent Qatar tests as a base point." Broc Parkes (Yamaha World Supersport Team) "A pretty good test but yesterday I crashed one of my bikes and we didn’t use it again that day, and then we put a new gearbox in the other bike. Due to my crash, I suffered a problem with chattering and that cost us a lot of time in the morning, when the conditions where best, so I couldn’t improve my time. In the afternoon we did a race simulation and that was really good. We used a tyre from last year on the back for that and of course the individual times were not as good. Track temperature has been a big question here." Terrell Thien (Team Manager - Yamaha World Supersport Team) “We could only set our very best times when the track temperature is around 20 degrees, and above 30 everything goes slower. So for long runs in these conditions we have to use an older spec tyre, without the same outright grip, but with the endurance. For our work, everything was on schedule, if not a little ahead. That allowed us to work on some electronics, and if we use all the electronics we have, it saves the rear tyre a lot. This may be the way for the future." OFFICIAL SBK TESTS: AUSTRALIA Circuit: Phillip Island Circuit Length: 4.445km Race Lap Record: 1'36.399 (Broc Parkes, 2006) Fastest Lap Ever: 1' 33.9 (Curtain and Kenan Sofuoglu, 2007, at this test) Temp: 25ºC World Supersport 1. Curtain Yamaha World Supersport Team 1’33.9 2. Sofuoglu Hannspree Honda 1’33.9 3. Nannelli Ducati SC Caracchi 1’34.3 4. Charpentier Hannspree Honda 1’34.4 5. Parkes Yamaha World Supersport Team 1’34.8 6. Veneman Hoegee Suzuki 1’35.6 7. Foret Kawasaki Gil Motorsport 1’35.7 8. Riba Kawasaki Gil Motorsport 1’36.0 9. Kallio Hoegee Suzuki 1’37.0

Yamaha WR450F mounted riders have dominated the opening two stages that took the caravan from the start in the Portuguese capital Lisbon to the ferry crossing bound for Africa at the Spanish harbor of Malaga. Portuguese enduro stars Helder Rodrigues and Ruben Faria won a stage each to lead the bike category into Morocco. Ruben Faria was the surprise winner of the opening leg, beating his country man Helder Rodrigues by 16 seconds in the very tough deep sand of the first special stage. The circumstances took a lot of engine power and resulted in a fuel consumption that was higher than expected. Because of that, Ruben Faria had to nurture his fuel load towards the end, but saw his attempts for home glory rewarded. Rodrigues, the top Yamaha finisher of the 2006 Dakar, countered on day two by winning the mountainous hard packed special in Spain, holding a 47 seconds advantage overall on Faria. By leading the standings Rodriques seems well on the way to improve his ninth position finish of last year, although this early in the rally he takes things steady. Yamaha's frontman David Frétigné had a less favorable start to his fourth Dakar campaign. Nevertheless he managed to finish 12th on the first day and 8th on the second, bringing him a 9th position in the overall ranking. Day three of the rally will take the riders from Nador to El Rachidia. This first leg on the African continent is a serious one with total length of 648 km, including a specials stage of 252 km. Helder Rodrigues (POR), winner 2nd stage and 1st overall "I meant to hit hard in the opening stage in my home country, but I just missed the victory by a tiny margin. I'm happy to win the stage of day two though. Now we hit Africa and we will see what we can do, I'm taking it on a day by day basis". Ruben Faria (POR), winner 1st stage and 2nd overall "I decided to go for an all-out attack, because I knew that it was my chance to win the stage. I had to slow down a bit towards the end to reduce fuel consumption and I reckon I could have ridden even faster. It was a very different route from last year, much more sand, I really like that. But it was exhausting too, I had to overtake at least 80 other competitors! Day two was a great stage again, although it wasn't as good as the first since I had a fall and hurt my knee. I just hope the injury isn't too bad. I'm not totally reassured, so I will be going to hospital for a few examinations. David Frétigné (FRA), 9th overall "On day one I had problems with my brakes and that cost me valuable time. The special stage of day two was pretty hazardous and slippery, easy to get it wrong if you loose your concentration. But my bike works perfectly now and that makes all the difference, I was able to get a good feeling with the bike and into a good riding rhythm. A stage like the one of day two is very complicated, because you can lose a lot if you take too many risks and make a mistake, but it is also important to have a good pace in order to stay in contention. It's a rather difficult balancing act."

Shortly after New Year, on January 6th, the 29th edition of the Dakar Rally will traditionally kick off the 2007 motor sport season. Ever since the first event ‘The Dakar’ has been the most grueling test for both man and machine, whereby for bike competitors things are quite a bit rougher then for the car drivers. For the second time in the event’s history the caravan will start from the Portuguese capital Lisbon, when a total of 525 competitors from 42 nationalities will embark on the intimidating journey across some of the toughest desert landscapes on earth. Formerly known as the Paris-Dakar, the current race is the lasting legacy of one man and his dream: the pioneering French motorcycle racer, late Thierry Sabine. Back in 1977, Sabine was a bike competitor on the tough Abidjan-Nice rally who stranded in the deep Libyan sands. Although he was defeated by the challenging conditions, Sabine fell in love with the harsh beauty of the desert and vowed he would return. One year later, on December 1978, Sabine’s unique event was ready and the first Paris-Dakar took off from Place du Trocadéro in Paris. Since then the event has withstood many challenging issues mostly connected with safety and politics. In 1986 the number of entrants soared to 603, while the event nearly perished in 1993 when only 154 competitors enlisted. Since that low point the Dakar has recovered year by year and although both the name and the routes have changed, the spirit of the original event lives on. Sabine’s vision says it all; ‘it’s a ‘challenge to those who go; a dream for those who stay behind.’ Yamaha is the most victorious motorcycle manufacturer with nine overall victories and has been involved in the rally from the very beginning. At the tender age 21 years old Cyril Neveu won the first event on the iconic XT500, a feat he repeated in the following year. The Dakar’s most successful competitor, Stephan Peterhansel, made the biggest contribution to Yamaha’s victory tally which consists out of the following victories; 1979 Cyril Neveu (F) 1980 Cyril Neveu 1991 Stephan Peterhansel (F) 1992 Stephan Peterhansel 1993 Stephan Peterhansel 1995 Stephan Peterhansel 1996 Edi Orioli (I) 1997 Stephan Peterhansel 1998 Stephan Peterhansel After Peterhansel’s last win Yamaha withdrew officially from the rally to return to the event five years later putting their latest groundbreaking technology to the ultimate endurance test. Back then Dakar rookie David Frétigné caused a stir by winning three stages as he challenged the big capacity twin cylinder bikes on his revolutionary WR450F 2-Trac mono cylinder, the first off-road competition motorcycle to have two-wheel drive. “Fretos” convincingly won the 450 class in 2004 and 2005, but on the many long ‘flat-out’ desert stretches the lower top speed of a 450 single cylinder prevents it to fight for the overall victory, yet Frétigné managed to finish fifth overall in 2005. For this year’s edition Frétigné (#12) is again one of Yamaha’s favorites, although he saw his participation endangered when his new Spanish team failed to put together a competitive team. With two months to go, Yamaha and other loyal sponsors came to David’s aid enabling him to organize his own set up. With the support of long term technical partner Franck Helbert, Frétigné is confident to score a career best result; “On paper, one can’t win with a 450, but I still aim for podium finishes. With the imposed top speed of 160 km/h for bikes on some of the very fast stretches, two stages where no technical assistance is allowed and the 450cc bonus points system, we can challenge the factory teams with the bigger bikes. If we are smart in terms of management and race strategy we might be able to close the performance gap completely From the 230 motorcyclists, 57 will be equipped with WR450F machines in either 2-trac or rear wheel drive specification. Some other competitors to look out for are the 27-year-old Portuguese rider Helder Rodriques (#10), who scored a ninth position finish overall in 2006. Yamaha Team Holland fields a strong effort with five times sidecar world champion Daniel Willemsen (#233), who looks forward to enter his first Dakar participation, while Daniel’s team mate Mirjam Pol (#93) aims to go one better after finishing second in the female class last year. What is sure is that the majority of the starters will not make it to the finish, while the skilled and fortunate ones will see their superhuman efforts rewarded when they ride on the Dakar beach, the traditional finish of the monster event. On the 21st of January after 7.915 km, including 4.309 km of timed special stages we will know who made it and who didn’t.

Corser and Haga prove new R1's abilities at Losail test The second significant test session in the run-up to the 2007 season proved to be another giant step for the all-new YZF-R1 and despite poor track conditions in the early sessions and having a mountain of development parts to work through, both Yamaha Motor Italia riders, Troy Corser and Noriyuki Haga, were able to set fast times. Corser, highly impressive on the new machine at such an early stage in its development, proved to be second quickest rider overall, with a 1’58.9 best lap, while Haga had to wait until he got close to an optimum set-up to record a 1’59.7, less than a second from Corser. Fastest rider on show was 2006 champion, Troy Bayliss, with a 1’58.1. The Yamaha Motor Italia team had three different chassis specs in Losail, increasing in stiffness from standard to increasingly heavily braced, and the same number of rear swingarms, one near standard and two full race versions. The riders had to work their way through various combinations to choose the best one as a base, as well as try out the new generation of Pirelli tyres. Corser also tried out the full 2007 spec rear suspension unit. Troy Corser - Yamaha Motor Italia "Even given the conditions in the first couple of days this test has been good for us. We tried out three different rear swingarms, and three chassis, and worked our way through the various combinations of each. Trying out various new tyres at the same time makes it a bit harder but we are pretty happy overall. The longest run I did was about ten laps on the final afternoon and I think Troy Bayliss and I were about the only ones who could get the tyres to do a longish run. I only stopped my long run because the tyre had spun on the rim. We still have some things to work though, because we lost time by having to go in and out of the pits so much to change tyres. We still have a few things to go over again at Phillip Island but the main thing is that I feel comfortable on the bike after only a short time riding it. We were not that worried about lap times this test, as it was more about getting a feeling with the bike - but the lap times were coming in any case." Noriyuki Haga - Yamaha Motor Italia "We have new swingarms and chassis to test but it is very hard to evaluate them when the track is the way it was in the first couple of days. But in the end we found a good combination of chassis and swingarm, but we did not get such a good feeling from the tyres as we hoped. We still need to work on the set-up of the back end of the bike because with so little grip from the track it is difficult to know the exact direction to take. On fresh tyres we can do the times. We did a long run but we could have made a longer one if we had more duration from the tyre life." Massimo Meregalli - Team Coordinator - Yamaha Motor Italia "We are really happy about the test and the riders have delivered us a good reward for all the hard work we have put in during the last three months on the new R1. We worked really hard and the bike is already good. We go home to do some more work before we got to Australia, where we can make our final preparations for the start of the season." Laurens Klein Koerkamp - Yamaha Racing Manager “The riders had a lot of material to work though, various chassis specs and swing arms to test, and there were a lot of options. Noriyuki found this difficult at first, but near the end he did a large quantity of laps and found a way. He set a constant range of fast laps in his longest run. Troy was fast from the beginning so you can easily see his experience of testing and in set-up. That is what we expected when we signed him, and it is clearly coming out now. His feedback is concise, clear, accurate and easy to understand for the engineers. And he is fast! Now, we need to go to Phillip Island to reconfirm what we found here. The biggest positives are how well the new bike is going, even at this stage, and how well Troy has worked with the team.” OFFICIAL SBK TESTS: QATAR Circuit: Losail, Doha Circuit Length: 5.380km Race Lap Record: 2'00.061 (Noriyuki Haga, 2006) Fastest Lap Ever: 1' 58.1 (Troy Bayliss, 2006, at this test) Temp: 21ºC Unofficial times 1. Bayliss Ducati Xerox 1’58.1 2. Corser Yamaha Motor Italia 1’58.9 3. Biaggi Suzuki Alstare 1’58.9 4. Toseland Honda Ten Kate 1’59.1 5. Laconi Kawasaki PSG-1 1’59.2 6. Lanzi Ducati Xerox 1’59.3 7. Nieto Kawasaki PSG-1 1’59.5 8. Haga Yamaha Motor Italia 1’59.7 9. Kagayama Suzuki Alstare 2’00.1 10. Rolfo Honda Ten Kate 2’01.7 Pirelli Test Session: Qatar Circuit: Losail, Doha Date: 19 - 21 December 2006 Temp: 21ºC Weather: Sunny, windy on first two days Curtain and Parkes go 1-2 in Supersport Yamaha Motor Germany team-mates Kevin Curtain and Broc Parkes had a busy three days in Qatar but found the optimum settings to handle the difficult track conditions, which were present almost throughout the test. The warmer final day provided a window of opportunity for the entire team and all the parts and machine settings scheduled to be tested were finally evaluated, resulting in impressive lap times. Curtain was fastest of all, by a single tenth of a second, setting a 2’02.5 with Parkes on 2’02.6, as they rolled out a new standard in the class at Losail. Despite the fast lap times the track conditions, even on day three, were not ideal for good rear tyre duration, although the team was particularly pleased to have found a front tyre from the new batch of choices, which withstood the demands of a gritty and relatively cold track surface. Kevin Curtain - Yamaha Motor Germany "Today was heaps better than the previous two, in terms of set-up and grip. We made big improvements to the suspension and we had lots of things to test. Unfortunately the first day was like riding around on a sandy tennis court! You couldn’t test anything and the sand chewed out the tyres in two laps. Today the wind went away as well and a bit of rubber on the track helped traction. We got a good gauge on what tyres will work or won’t work but we still have to work on the rears. Pirelli will sort that out, I’m sure." Broc Parkes - Yamaha Motor Germany "It ended up pretty good. You could say perfect except for a crash I had in the morning of day two, but it went pretty well otherwise. We got through everything that we wanted to. The tyres worked well but the distance for the rear is the problem. It was too cold and too sandy on the surface and it needs to be warmer as well. Our times ended up really good but it would have been nice to have some even more competitive bikes around to benchmark us. I feel right on the bike, which is important." Terrell Thien - Yamaha Motor Germany Team Manager “Not such an easy test as it was hard to find tyres, set-up and everything. But on the last day we found a good set-up, good tyres, but we still have some issues with the duration of the rears. For fronts we should be sorted, even if it is warmer or colder in the race. The times are particularly good in the early laps but the track was quite cold at this test, and it should be hotter for the race." Pirelli Test WSS: Qatar Circuit: Doha, Losail Circuit Length: 5.380km Lap Record: 2'03.921 (Sebastien Charpentier, 2006) Fastest Lap Ever: 2'02.5 (Kevin Curtain, 2006, at this test) Temp: 21ºC Unofficial times 1. Parkes Yamaha Motor Germany 2’02.5 2. Curtain Yamaha Motor Germany 2’02.6 3. Nannelli Ducati SC Caracchi 2’03.3 4. Foret Kawasaki Gil Motorsport 2’04.5 5. Riba Kawasaki Gil Motorsport 2’05.2.

New 2007 factory Yamaha Motocross team rider Marc de Reuver completed his first laps with his works YZ450FM in Italy last week and then guided a production 450cc YZ to victory in the high-profile RedBull Knockout beach race in Holland at the weekend. The 23 year old De Reuver, who finished fifth in the 2006 MX2 World Championship and makes his debut in the MX1 class for the 2007 Grand Prix campaign, completed his first Yamaha test in Italy, where he spent 3 very positive days with his new team. “We started testing with the stock bike, moved onto the kitted version and then the factory YZ450FM. More or less right from the beginning I was happy with what I was riding,” commented Marc. “The Yamaha is very different from what I had before and it was up to the quality of what I was expecting. Everyone knows the level and reputation of the Rinaldi team so it was great to start working with them.” “I found the group very professional,” he continued. “There were six people working for me and I have never had something like that before. There was an engine specialist, someone for the suspension and basically whatever I needed. Every day we would have a meeting altogether and for me the whole environment was very productive and efficient.” “We rode on a hard pack course then went to a slightly sandier circuit before going to Rinaldi’s track, which is long and narrow and very technical. The strongest part of the bike for me was the handling. The Yamaha feels very stable and I felt like I always knew what the bike was doing.” As the Netherlands’ top rider, De Reuver will retain a high profile alongside fellow new Yamaha recruit Josh Coppins next season and will push to be the first Dutchman to claim victory in the MX1 class since the inception of the category in 2004. “I feel very confident and for sure I know that I can be inside the top five, I have the right tools to do the job,” he commented. Racing Manager Carlo Rinaldi was enthused by De Reuver’s early efforts. “We started the test with the production bike and Marc was satisfied already from the beginning, he commented that it felt comfortable and safe. We then went forward with a step by step process to build the bike for him using the materials we had. We had a good few days and found a decent base from which to get the bike ready for next season. Watching Marc ride was very positive and I was impressed with how he took to the Yamaha.” After his promising first test-session, De Reuver travelled back to his homeland for his first race outing on a Yamaha in the RedBull Knockout race, that took place on November 12 on the beach of Scheveningen. In a field numbering near 500 competitors, including recognised names such as Steve Ramon (3rd in the 2006 MX1-GP) and ex-GP star Erik Eggens, De Reuver showed his superiority in the sand and guided a stock YZ450F to first position to earn his Yamaha spurs. “There was quite a bit of pressure because we had made some commercials that had been going out on Dutch TV from October and then Steve Ramon entered the race at the last minute,” he recalled. “It was good fun though; I love beach races. The long straight was a bit dangerous and I knew the beach specialists would be quick, but the YZ450F I rode from Yamaha Motor Netherlands was well prepared and overall it was an exciting experience.”

Following Camel’s recent announcement, Yamaha Factory Racing would like to express its thanks to Camel and Japan Tobacco International for their partnership and support over the 2006 MotoGP season. Our thanks go out to all those involved in the project; they have formed an important part of our team over the past year. It has been a great honour for Yamaha to work with such an experienced sponsor and Camel’s enthusiasm throughout the season has been greatly appreciated by the entire Yamaha Factory Racing Team and the Yamaha Motor Group.

The long 2006 MotoGP season finally drew to a close for Yamaha today as the team rounded off the year with a final day’s work in Jerez, before the start of the winter testing ban tomorrow. Rossi and Edwards spent their last day on track continuing with general development work of Yamaha’s new prototype 800cc motorcycle, testing different chassis, new suspension settings and a variety of new tyres for Michelin under sunny Spanish skies. The fastest lap of the day was set by Honda rider Dani Pedrosa with a time of 1’39.910, followed closely by Valentino Rossi who set a time of 1.40.123 on his 69th and final lap of the day, nearly half a second under his own lap record pace. Edwards was seventh fastest in the unofficial time sheets after a best lap of 1’41.254 from 41 laps. After 17 races and more than 30 additional days of testing this year, Rossi, Edwards and the entire Yamaha MotoGP set-up will now head home for the winter holidays. They will reconvene for the first test of 2007 in Sepang, Malaysia on 22nd January. Valentino Rossi (2nd - 1’41.254, 69 laps) “We had a very good test today; it’s been very productive for us because we were able to check many different things for our new bike. We continued to test tyres with Michelin in order to find the correct direction for their development and we also kept working with the chassis and were able to try some different suspension settings. We’ve got some very good information for the Yamaha engineers and now they will work hard over the winter in order to have everything ready for the next test in January. The weather was good today, warm and sunny and in these conditions it was fun to ride on this track, which is one of my favourites. This has been an important test and I am really pleased with the level that we have got to in a short space of time. Of course we still have a lot of work to do, but now it’s finally the end for this year and it’s time to have a rest so we can come back ready to fight in January!” Colin Edwards (7th – 1’41.254, 41 Laps) “I had a small technical problem near the end of the day so I had to stop a little bit early, but other than that it’s been another good day all round. We tested quite a lot more front tyres but honestly the best tyre package we found was what we tried first thing in the morning straight out of the box; that felt pretty good! Other than that we just kept on playing around with the general set-up, trying to learn as much as possible about the new bike. We tried a different chassis today, it’s one Valentino's been testing and it’s definitely the best one so far. We weren’t really looking for times but we ran pretty consistently in the low 41’s all day and I definitely felt like I could have found a bit more if I’d needed to push hard. Overall it’s been a really good test and I am pretty excited about the new bike; we’ve come on in leaps and bounds in just the six days I’ve ridden it. Now I am heading home and looking forward to a nice relaxing Christmas with the family before we get going again in January!” Davide Brivio - Camel Yamaha Team Director “We’ve been able to do a great job throughout these November tests and everyone has worked very hard. All three tests have been very important for us in order to get as much information as possible for Yamaha to work with over the winter, the engineers have done a good job with the bike and now they will put everything together over the break. In January we will have our final 2007 bikes and then we can start our real preparation for the long season ahead.” Unofficial Lap Times 1. Dani Pedrosa (SPA) Honda, 1’39.910 2. Valentino Rossi (ITA) Yamaha, 1’40.123 3. Marco Melandri (ITA) Honda, 1’40.524 4. Chris Vermeulen (AUS) Suzuki, 1’40.766 5. John Hopkins (USA) Suzuki, 1’41.049 6. Shinya Nakano (JPN) Honda, 1’41.142 7. Colin Edwards (USA) Yamaha, 1’41.254 8. Alex Barros (BRA) Ducati, 1’41.276 9. Loris Capirossi (ITA) Ducati, 1’41.492 10. Casey Stoner (AUS) Ducati, 1’41.595 11. Tadayuki Okada (JPN) Honda Test Rider, 1’43.392 12. Vittoriano Guareschi (ITA) Ducati Test Rider, 1’44.071 13. Jeremy McWilliams (GBR) Ilmor, 1’44.661 14. Andrew Pitt (AUS) Ilmor, 1’44.983 Jerez Lap Record: Valentino Rossi (Yamaha) 2005, 1’40.596 Jerez Best Lap: Loris Capirossi (Ducati) 2006, 1’39.064

The last MotoGP test of the season got underway at the Andalucian circuit of Jerez today, with unexpectedly cold temperatures delaying the start of activity until late morning for the Yamaha duo of Valentino Rossi and Colin Edwards. Unfortunately, it then began to rain soon after track temperatures had risen to suitable level and Rossi and Edwards, testing Yamaha’s new prototype 800cc motorcycle side-by-side for the first time, were only able to complete a few laps in the dry. Rossi nonetheless topped the unofficial time sheets at the end of the day, posting a top time of 1’41.745 after 17 laps. Edwards was third fastest in the dry with a lap of 1’42.293 and the Texan also took the chance to try out his new bike in the wet, completing 36 laps in total before calling it a day. Sandwiched between the Yamaha pair was Suzuki rider John Hopkins, who set the second fastest time of 1’42.161 out of a total of 12 riders testing. Valentino Rossi (1st – 1’41.745, 16 laps) “I’m very happy to see that we have no chatter here, because we had quite a lot of problems in the first race last season. This is one of my favourite tracks and it’s a great pleasure for me to be able to ride comfortably again at it; it feels like another track compared to last March! Our new bike seems to work well and so far I am very happy with it. Unfortunately we only had time for a few laps before the bad weather stopped us just when we were about to begin to test some different things, but anyway we have made a good start. Even though the bike is clearly going well for both Colin and I at the moment, we know that we have a lot of work to do and so these next two days are going to be very important to us. I have some new stickers on my bike and a new helmet; they’re a reference to the legend of King Arthur and ‘Excalibur’! I want to show everyone that we are ready to fight back and that we’re ready to do our very best throughout these winter tests. Let’s hope the weather is good tomorrow so we can begin our task properly!” Colin Edwards (3rd – 1’42.293, 35 Laps) “It was pretty cold this morning, not really what we were hoping for! We had to hang around until about 11.30 before it was warm enough to go out; it’s not really such a great idea for us to ride when it’s only 18 degrees on track! Once we finally got out there things actually felt pretty good straight away and I was happy with how the bike was adapting to a different track. We’d played around a bit with the geometry in Malaysia but I think that for here we probably need to go back a bit to what Valentino had originally, just to calm the bike down a little in some of the fast corners. Once it started raining we decided to get out there and do some laps in the wet, just to get an idea of how the new bike goes in the rain. I think that was the most productive thing we did all day because, once we were running without much traction in the wet, we could see that we do have a few issues to sort out with relation to the engine braking. We did about 15 laps in the rain, played around with a few settings and started to understand what was going on. It definitely hasn’t been a wasted day, despite the weather, and we’ll carry on tomorrow and see what we can do.” Unofficial Lap Times 1. Valentino Rossi (ITA) Yamaha, 1’41.745 2. John Hopkins (USA) Suzuki, 1’42.161 3. Colin Edwards (USA) Yamaha, 1’42.293 4. Dani Pedrosa (SPA) Honda, 1’44.030 5. Loris Capirossi (ITA) Ducati, 1’44.307 6. Chris Vermeulen (AUS) Suzuki, 1’44.394 7. Marco Melandri (ITA) Honda, 1’44.876 8. Casey Stoner (AUS) Ducati, 1’45.574 9. Shinya Nakano (JPN) Honda, 1’46.200 10. Jeremy McWilliams (IRE) Ilmor, 1’47.216 11. Vittorio Guareschi (ITA) Ducati Test Rider, 1’50.386 12. Alex Barros (BRA) Ducati, 1’59.078

Antonio Cairoli claimed his second big international prize in his young career by sealing the 2006 SX UEM championship. The 2005 MX2 world champion scored enough points at the 24th Fiat Supercross of Genova event held last weekend to claim the SX title. Earlier in the year Cairoli already won the Italian MX2 championship and finished as vice world champion in the MX2-GP class, making 2006 an almost prefect season. After Cairoli won the SX race in Milan earlier this year he succeeded in beating rival Renet in Geneva for the final race of the three round SX UEM championship. The victory even came a little unexpected as it was never a main goal of the Sicilian to challenge for SX glory; "Honestly I never considered this championship to be one of my main goals, I don’t even do special training for indoor SX races. But after competing at Bercy (Paris) and Milan I discovered that I was able to compete with the top European riders. I won the first round at Milan and prior to this last race I was only five points behind leader Renet, so I thought I’d better go to Genova!” said Cairoli. “It was a good race for me, I was fastest in most of the sessions and won the qualification and semifinal. At SX events the public is always fantastic and they really supported me, they were a real motivator! In the final I was away quickest, but same as in Bercy, Grant passed me soon after the start. I couldn’t really catch him. With Alessi I believe I could have fought until the end for the second place, but I made a small mistake and crashed when I hit a bale with my handlebar. I was able to defend third position and fortunately Degli Espositi passed Renet which handed me the title. To win this title is a real pleasure because I’m a big Supercross fan. I believe I can still improve my style and riding, but to carry the title of European SX Champion is not bad for now. I really want to thank the public for supporting me and of course my team who made a perfect supercross setting to my YZ250F. My team boss Claudio de Carli is now deciding what will be the next race to compete in, but first we take a very welcome break in December.” Results Genova: 1 Grant , 2 Alessi, 3 Cairoli, 4 Mills, 5 Degli Espositi, 6 Renet, 7 Pellegrini, 8 Izoird, 9 Meo, 10 Dami Classification EC: 1 Cairoli 41, 2 Renet 41, 3 Mills 33, 4 Grant 25, 5 Aubin 25

2006 FIM International Six Days Enduro – Taupo New Zealand (November 14-19 November) Germain finishes fourth in E1 class Yamaha France rider Marc Germain has finished in fourth place in the overall Enduro 1 class at the 81st running of the International Six Days Enduro (ISDE) staged in Taupo, New Zealand. Competing aboard his WR250F Marc performed brilliantly to win the E1 class on the opening day of the competition and continued to perform well on days two, three and four despite being disadvantaged by being the first rider in the event. On day five, the wettest day of the competition, Marc placed just 17th in the E1 class but he showed great speed again at the sixth and final day’s motocross race, which placed him just outside the top three in the E1 final standings. Topping the Enduro 1 class in New Zealand was former World Enduro Champion Juha Salminen, who returned to international enduro competition after two years of racing in the US GNCC series. In winning the Enduro 1 class Salminen helped Finland win the Trophy Team competition. Finishing as runner-up in E1 was Italian Simone Albergoni, who also placed second in this year’s E1 world championship. Third was reigning E1 world champion Ivan Cervantes. Backing up Marc Germain’s strong performance UFO Corse Yamaha rider Maurizio Micheluz ended the event in eighth in the Enduro 1 class, producing one of Italy’s best individual performances. Finishing in sixth, 10th, fifth, eighth and sixth respectively on the first five days Maurizio added a solid ISDE performance to his season of strong WEC results. Early in the week former world championship motocross rider Darryl King was well placed in the Enduro 1 class aboard his WR250F but was forced to retire from the event on day three due to an injured elbow. Finishing close behind Micheluz in the final E1 class standing Australian Yamaha rider Christopher Hollis placed an eventual 10th while countryman Anthony Roberts finished his week in 14th on his WR and French veteran David Fretigne piloted his Yamaha to 15th having placed third on day one. Mark Germain (Yamaha France) Enduro 1 class – Fourth: “On day one I knew I could win because I like flat, grassy special tests. Once the special tests started to get rougher I wasn’t quite fast enough. It was an advantage being the first rider on day one but after that it’s difficult being the first rider on the special tests. I found that the course on day four was not so hard for me, despite the weather not being so good. We spent a long time riding on big stone roads in the forest. Being the first rider in the event the tracks were pretty nice to ride, but with the soft ground I think that it would have been difficult for the riders at the back of the entry. It’s been a great race but there were not so many spectators during the week. The organisation was really good, the track was well marked, and I liked the special tests – for me it has been a good six days.” Maurizio Micheluz (UFO Corse Yamaha) Enduro 1 class – Eighth: “It has been a difficult event, especially on day four and five. The conditions are very soft in many places, which made it hard to not make any mistakes on some of the special tests because of the ruts. But I have enjoyed the race, especially the third day, which was my best. I am also pleased with my riding during the week. I didn’t make too many mistakes and generally everything went well.” Merriman on the podium in E2 class UFO Corse Yamaha rider Stefan Merriman claimed a well deserved podium at the end of the 81st ISDE finishing third in the highly competitive Enduro 2 class. Although competing for Australia the New Zealand born rider had a promising start aboard his WR450F with a victory on day one taking an early E2 class lead. Placing in third on day two Merriman then finished as runner-up on days three, four and five to claim his eventual third place in the finalrankings. Winning the Enduro 2 class was Finn Samuli Aro. Competing for the Finnish Trophy team along with E1 class winner Juha Salminen Samuli won just two of the event’s six days in the E2 class but his consistency ensured that come the end of the competition he was the rider to beat in E2. Following Samuli home was countryman Mika Ahola in the runner-up position. Taking part in his first ever ISDE competition as part of the French Trophy team UFO Corse Yamaha rider Johnny Aubert performed like an experienced six days rider and claimed an impressive fifth overall in the Enduro 2 class. Finishing third on the opening day Johnny then finished in fifth on days two, three, four and five to place close behind US rider Kurt Caselli. Stefan Merriman (UFO Corse Yamaha) Enduro 2 class – Third: “The event certainly hasn’t been easy, it’s been really challenging on days four and five. Just staying upright on some of the special tests has been tough and trying to push 100 per cent has been really difficult. As far as Six Days go I reckon it’s one of the best we’ve had for several years. I reckon that some of the Club team riders must have found it tough from day three onwards because there were some really difficult sections on the course and tests. The Australian team has ridden really well. The weather and terrain conditions suit the Scandinavians and the British riders more than the Aussies, so the team result is great. I’m disappointed that I wasn’t able to win the E2 class but there are so many things that have to go right in the six days to win. I caught quite a lot of riders on the special tests, which cost me time, but dealing with slower riders is a part of the ISDE.” Johnny Aubert (UFO Corse Yamaha) Enduro 2 class – Fifth: “I was not exactly sure what to expect from my first ISDE but I am happy that it has gone well for me. I think that the French team have also ridden well, and I am proud to have been a part of it. I have learned a lot from this experience and although the conditions changed a lot during the week I enjoyed the event. The final motocross race was amazing, it was an incredible feeling racing against Joel Smets.” Stefan Merriman 81st ISDE – Results Enduro 1 class 1. Juha Salminen (KTM) 2.31:19.08; 2. Simone Albergoni (Honda) 2.34:16.59; 3. Ivan Cervantes (KTM) 2.34:56.99; 4. Marc Germain (Yamaha) 2.35:37.88; 5. Eero Remes (Honda) 2.36:49.19; 6. Ricky Dietrick (Kawasaki) 2.37:53.51; 7. Petri Pohjamo ™ 2.38:23.31; 8. Maurizio Micheluz (Yamaha) 2.38:33.65; 9. Marc Bourgeois (Husqvarna) 2.38:55.28; 10. Christopher Hollis (Yamaha) 2.39.06.12; 11. Fredrik Georgsson (KTM) 2.40:03.04; 12. Niklas Gustafsson (KTM) 2.40:08.38; 13. Thomas Oldrati (Husqvarna) 2.40:17.64; 14. Anthony Roberts (Yamaha) 2.40:49.60; 15. David Fretigne (Yamaha) 2.40:59.56 Enduro 2 class 1. Samuli Aro (KTM) 2.34:15.10; 2. Mika Ahola (Honda) 2.34:41.34; 3. Stefan Merriman (Yamaha) 2.34:51.99; 4. Kurt Caselli (KTM) 2.35:01.54; 5. Johnny Aubert (Yamaha) 2.35:19.92; 6. Shayne King (Honda) 2.37:09.75; 7. Jari Mattila (Honda) 2.38:46.87; 8. Joakim Ljunggren (Husaberg) 2.39:15.42; 9. Glenn Kearney (Suzuki) 2.39:16.27; 10. Emmanuel Albepart (Honda) 2.39:50.09; 11. Paul Whibley (Honda) 2.40:04.54; 12. Joel Smets (Suzuki) 2.40:19.11; 13. Jake Stapleton ™ 2.40:19.11; 14. Joshua Strang (Kawasaki) 2.40:42.12; 15. Jimmy Jarrett (Suzuki) 2.40:48.89 Trophy Team competition 1. Finland 9:50.59 - Mika Ahola E2; Samuli Aro E2; Jari Mattila E2; Petri Pohjamo E1; Juha Salminen E1; Marko Tarkkala E3 2. France 24:59.89 - Emmanuel Albepart E2; Johnny Aubert E2; David Fretigne E1; Marc Germain (Yamaha) E1; Seb Guillaume E3; Fabien Planet E3 3. Spain 29:56.83 – Ivan Cervantes E1; Xacob Agra E2; Joan Jou E2; Oriol Mena E3; Cristobal Guerrero E3; Xavier Galindo E3 4. Italy 33:15.53 - Simone Albergoni E1; Maurizio Micheluz E1; Roberto Bazzurri E2; Fabrizio Dini E2; Alessio Paoli E3; Alessandro Zanni E3 5. Sweden 34:01.32 - Bjorne Carlsson E3; Joakim Ljunggren E2; Andreas Toresson E2; Daniel Persson E3; Fredrik Georgsson E1; Niklas Gustafsson E1 6. Australia 34:42.04 - Damian Smith E1; 2. Glenn Kearney E2; Stefan Merriman E2; Anthony Roberts E1; Bradley Williscroft E3; Jake Stapleton E2

Colin Edwards completed his first test of the 800cc era with another good morning’s work at Sepang today, making more progress on the development of Yamaha’s new prototype machine and finishing the day with the 3rd fastest time in the process. Edwards once again spent the time working on general set-up with his team, especially chassis and suspension, as well as testing some new tyres for Michelin. Suzuki rider John Hopkins was fastest again with a best lap of 2’01.64, followed by his team-mate Chris Vermeulen, who recorded a time of 2’02.04. Edwards was third with a time of 2’02.43 after 32 laps. The Camel Yamaha Team will reconvene for the final test of 2006 in Jerez, Spain, on 28th-30th November, when Colin Edwards will be re-joined by team-mate Valentino Rossi. Colin Edwards (3rd – 2’02.43, 32 Laps): “Today was another really good day. I was quicker again and it felt really good to be able to consistently run fast times comfortably. We got a lot of great work done on a variety of things, even though we only tested in the morning. We did a fair bit for Michelin, they’ve got some good stuff and it seems pretty clear what the right direction is for us to go in with regards to tyres. We’ve played about with the chassis and the suspension, as well as a few other things, and when we came to add everything together you could see we were making some good progress. As far as getting input for the final bike they’re going to roll out for us next year, I think we’ve done a pretty good job during these three days. I’m really happy with my first test on the 800, we seem to get on okay and now I am looking forward to the next test in Jerez, where I am sure Valentino and I together can make even more progress.” Daniele Romagnoli – Colin Edwards’ Crew Chief: “This has been an encouraging first test for our team and for Colin with Yamaha’s new 800cc bike. We’ve changed quite a bit with the overall set-up and we’ve definitely made some big improvements from the bike we first tried on Wednesday. We’ve also worked quite a lot on tyres with Michelin and found some options that seem to be working well for us. The most important thing is that Colin already seems to be getting on very well with the bike, he can ride it well and he’s been fast all week. We’re very satisfied with this first test and it seems like we’re in good shape for this stage of development.” Unofficial Lap Times (800cc Bikes) 1.John Hopkins (USA) Suzuki, 2’01.64 2.Chris Vermeulen (AUS) Suzuki, 2’02.04 3.Colin Edwards (USA) Yamaha, 2’02.43 4.Nicky Hayden (USA) Honda, 2’03.28 5.Makoto Tamada (JPN) Yamaha, 2’03.36 6.Toni Elias (SPA) Honda, 2’03.55 7.Carlos Checa (SPA) Honda, 2’04.27 8.Tadayuki Okada (JPN) Honda Test Rider, 2’04.44 Sepang Lap Record: Loris Capirossi (Ducati) 2006, 2’02.127 Sepang Best Lap: Valentino Rossi (Yamaha) 2006, 2’00.605

After yesterday’s torrential downpour, the rain stayed away today and the sun came out at Sepang for the second day of MotoGP testing at the Malaysian track. Yamaha pilot Colin Edwards, who is riding Yamaha’s new 800cc motorcycle for the first time this week, was able to complete 48 laps and make significant improvements to the setting of his bike, despite suffering a small slide into the gravel in turn one at one stage. Edwards was luckily unhurt and was able to continue working on the same bike after a short time. The two Suzukis of John Hopkins and Chris Vermeulen where fastest today, putting in times of 2’02.77 and 2’02.78 respectively. Having set the fastest time yesterday, Edwards was able to improve on that and finished the day third fastest with a best lap of 2’02.91. Following yesterday’s washout, Yamaha have elected to stay for one more half day of testing tomorrow before heading home for a short break ahead of the final test of the year in Jerez. Colin Edwards (3rd – 2’02.91, 48 Laps): “The sun came out today, luckily, but the track was still wet this morning so we had to wait until about eleven before we could get going. Anyway things felt pretty good straight away and we were able to start doing some real work, playing around with some new stuff and just generally improving the setting all over. We then tested some new front tyres for Michelin and the second one especially felt really good. As a result I was pushing quite hard and just held onto the brake a little too long into turn one, which is when I came off. It wasn’t a big crash; I was trying to find the limit and it just bottomed out. Anyway it wasn’t a great drama and within half an hour I was back out on the same bike. After that we just kept on tweaking away at the setting; we ruled a few things out and some things in and made a lot of progress. I feel like we’ve accomplished a lot in a short time and now we’ve just got a few more things to try out tomorrow before we head home.” Davide Brivio - Camel Yamaha Team Director: “Today was a good day and, although we had to wait for the track to dry, we had time to get through a lot of work. Colin went well today and he was able to give some very important information to our engineers, as well as put in some good lap times. We managed to complete everything we had scheduled for the day and we’re pleased with his progress. Finally we have decided to stay for one more half day of testing tomorrow to make up for the time we lost yesterday, and then we will have a short break before the next test in Jerez, which is also going to be very important for the ongoing development of our bike.” Unofficial Lap Times (800cc Bikes) 1.John Hopkins (USA) Suzuki, 2’02.77 2.Chris Vermeulen (AUS) Suzuki, 2’02.78 3.Colin Edwards (USA) Yamaha, 2’02.91 4.Nicky Hayden (USA) Honda, 2’03.74 5.Toni Elias (SPA) Honda, 2’03.87 6.Carlos Checa (SPA) Honda, 2’04.08 7.Makoto Tamada (JPN) Yamaha, 2’04.65 8.Tadayuki Okada (JPN) Honda Test Rider, 2’05.70 Sepang Lap Record: Loris Capirossi (Ducati) 2006, 2’02.127 Sepang Best Lap: Valentino Rossi (Yamaha) 2006, 2’00.605

Positive first outing for Haga and Corser on the All-New R1 After working hard to make the first race version of the 2007 YZF-R1 ready for a two day Pirelli Development Teams’ test at Valencia, the Yamaha Motor Italia team enjoyed two positive days of work under clear Spanish skies. Troy Corser set a best of 1’34.9 with a race set-up, with Noriyuki Haga on a 1’35.1, on qualifying tyres. Both existing team rider Haga and new signing Corser made back-to-back evaluations of the 2006 and 2007 models, and despite the ’07 model being in its very first stage of development and testing, each rider found real improvements in the performance of the new machine. Haga spent his time on the new machine, while Corser moved on to the ’07 machine after riding most of day one on the previous model. The fastest rider in the test was Max Biaggi (Suzuki) who set a fastest lap of 1’33.9 on race tyres. Noriyuki Haga (Yamaha Motor Italia): "We started yesterday just making a shakedown test on the new ’07 bike. Compared to the ’06 bike it was a good start. It’s already quite a good bike and of course we are only at the first step. We have understood what we need from this test and I am sure it will be even better in Qatar. The feeling from the bike is different, front and rear, and it turns a little bit better than the ’06 bike. The ’07 engine is easier to control because the feeling from the engine is good, although right now we only have one specification of race engine. We need to make some adjustments to the mapping and the take it from there”. Troy Corser (Yamaha Motor Italia): "We tried some new swingarms and experimented with the length of the bike, but even considering that, out lap times weren’t so bad. This was our first day with the new bike because on day one I hardly touched the new bike. For a first full day on the new bike I think we have got some good info to take away and prepare for the Qatar test. I think the new bike overall is maybe already a little bit better than the fully developed ’06 bike. And we have only just started. The ’06 bike feels a bit more nervous, and the new one feels easier to ride overall. It feels more stable under braking, even thought he ’06 bike was good in that respect too. The ’07 just feels even more stable again. We are still working on the throttle but already the ’07 engine pulls right through the midrange to the higher revs. It just feels more linear. We tried some new versions of the development tyres and found an improvement with both front and rear. I’m pretty happy." Massimo Meregalli (Team Coordinator - Yamaha Motor Italia) "We can only think of this test as a positive one. To do so many laps and have so few problems was great. In the end we used the new bike all day on the second day and Troy was faster on the new bike when compared to the old one. We are quite optimistic because we didn’t expect this. Because the bike is new we can expect to experience a few problems. The bike was finished only on Saturday night and after we had run in the engines and checked that everything was working we put them in the trailer and drove straight to Valencia. So we were expecting a few small problems, as usual when all is new. When we go home will have a lot of data to check and we go to the next test with good experience from this first one " OFFICIAL SBK TESTS Circuit: Valencia Circuit Length: 4005km Lap Record: 1' 35.007 (Neil Hodgson, 2003) Fastest Lap Ever: 1' 33.758 (Troy Bayliss, 2006) Temp: 23ºC WSB - fastest time over two days Biaggi, Suzuki 1’33.9 Lanzi, Ducati 1’33.9 Kagayama, Suzuki 1’34.2 Bayliss, Ducati 1’34.2 Toselan, Honda 1’34.2 Nieto, Kawasaki 1’34.8 Corser, Yamaha 1’34.9 Laconi, Kawasaki 1’34.8 Haga, Yamaha 1’35.1 Rolfo, Honda 1’36.7 Pirelli Test Session: Spain Circuit: Valencia Date: 14-15 November 2006 Temp: 23ºC Weather: Sunny Parkes flies solo at Valencia Yamaha Motor Germany rider Broc Parkes was on form once more in testing, posting competitive times despite having a heavy workload of machine and tyre evaluation duties to perform, in the absence of his team-mate Kevin Curtain. His absolute best lap on day two was a 1’37.0, putting him fourth fastest overall. Parkes rode most of the test alone, aided at some points by Yamaha Motor Europe test rider, Jeffry de Vries. Sebastien Charpentier (Honda) was the fastest rider on display, setting a 1’36.4. Broc Parkes (Yamaha Motor Germany) "It would have been good to have another day and I had a lot of work to do as it was. We wanted to get through a lot of new things on the bike and we had to get those worked out properly, so we didn’t devote so much time to testing tyres to start with. We went through a lot of stuff anyway and the bike is working well. I think I did a 1’37 flat, and that was only half a second off the fastest guy, so that was pretty good. We have new quick shifters now and the bike is lighter, so we can move the weight around the bike if we want." Pirelli Valencia Test WSS Circuit: Valencia Circuit Length: 4.005km Lap Record: 1' 38.664 (Sebastien Charpentier, 2006) Fastest Lap Ever: 1' 36.4 (Sebastien Charpentier, 2006 - this test) Temp: 20ºC WSS - fastest time over two days S. Charpentier, Honda 1’36.4 K. Sofuoglu, Honda 1’36.8 G. Nannelli, Ducati 1’36.9 B. Parkes, Yamaha 1’37.0 F. Foret, Kawasaki 1’37.7 B. Veneman, Suzuki 1’38.6 P. Riba, Kawasaki 1’39.3

Colin Edwards got his first chance to try out Yamaha’s brand-new 800cc MotoGP bike today, but his debut on the bike was cut short due to bad weather at Sepang. Torrential rain fell on the Malaysian circuit from 1pm, flooding parts of the track and bringing about scenes reminiscent of September’s Grand Prix, when a similar storm led to the cancellation of Qualifying. The rain did begin to ease up as the afternoon wore on but parts of the track remained underwater and Edwards, along with all other MotoGP riders present, chose to stay in his garage. Nonetheless Edwards and his crew made the most of a dry morning and the American was able to complete 32 laps before it began to rain, forming a positive initial opinion of the new bike in the process and setting the fastest time of the day with a lap of 2’03.56. Second fastest was Suzuki rider Chris Vermeulen with a time of 2’03.90. Colin Edwards(1st – 2’03.56, 32 Laps): “The weather has been a pain but actually we’d already accomplished more or less everything we wanted for the first day. The aim of today was to get on the new bike, do a few laps and just generally get a feel for it. I went out on one tyre for about 15 laps and then on another for 12 and my initial impression was pretty good; in fact the bike feels great for this stage of its development. Obviously power-wise it feels different, but other than that it just feels like it’s rounded-off a bit; not such a knife-edge and a little bit more forgiving. We didn’t change anything drastic from the set-up that Valentino's been running, but just made a few tweaks here and there through the morning to get things working better for me. Hopefully we’ll be a bit luckier with the weather tomorrow and then we can start to really work on it and see where we get to.” Davide Brivio - Camel Yamaha Team Director: “Today the weather didn’t allow us to use the day to our full advantage, but anyway we completed quite a few laps and this was very important to get Colin’s initial comment on our new bike. This is the first taste for him and his information is going to be very important for our engineers. Unfortunately the weather this afternoon was just too bad and it was impossible to carry on, but now we hope for better conditions tomorrow so we can continue what we began today.” Unofficial Lap Times (800cc Bikes) 1.Colin Edwards (USA) Yamaha, 2’03.56 2.Chris Vermeulen (AUS) Suzuki, 2’03.90 3.John Hopkins (USA) Suzuki, 2’04.06 4.Nicky Hayden (USA) Honda, 2’04.69 5.Toni Elias (SPA) Honda, 2’04.98 6.Makoto Tamada (JPN) Yamaha, 2’05.11 7.Tadayuki Okada (JPN) Honda Test Rider, 2’05.90 8.Carlos Checa (SPA) Honda, 2’11.05 Sepang Lap Record: Loris Capirossi (Ducati) 2006, 2’02.127 Sepang Best Lap: Valentino Rossi (Yamaha) 2006, 2’00.605

Just a couple of days after the dramatic finale to his rollercoaster season, Valentino Rossi was back out on track in Valencia yesterday and today, already thinking about next season’s revenge as he got to grips with Yamaha’s new 800cc motorcycle. After the final race of the 990cc era on Sunday, most of his MotoGP rivals were also out on their new bikes as the teams began the long winter of testing in the build-up to the first race next March. Having only ridden the Yamaha 800cc bike briefly on two previous occasions, this test was the first chance for Rossi and his team to assess it in detail and really begin to work on its development. They concentrated on a variety of different set-ups throughout the test with the aim of gathering as much data as possible to aid the Yamaha engineers in their task. Discounting some times from riders who chose to start off on their 990 bikes, which included Rossi for some laps yesterday, the Italian set the seventh fastest lap time of the 800s overall with a time of 1’33.10 yesterday. Rossi’s team-mate Colin Edwards will get his first taste of the new bike at Sepang in two weeks time before both riders head to Jerez together for the final test of the year at the end of the month. Valentino Rossi “It was really good to have two days to rest after such a sad day on Sunday and I’m already feeling much better, in fact I wish the season started in two weeks time! We actually started off the test by doing some laps on the old 990cc bike as we wanted to have one more go at understanding why we lost! Then it was time to finally put it all behind us and get on with the new campaign. It’s been great to be able to try the new bike straight away, when the 990 is still fresh in my mind, as it’s easy to compare and understand the differences. Our bike is already quite good; it’s at a good level for this early stage of development. This is the third time I’ve ridden it and it’s got better each time because they’ve been working hard in Japan. They haven’t made so many big changes yet, just small things like the engine setting, but already it’s a bit faster. Yesterday we were fastest, which was exciting, but today we’ve been trying some different things and we were quite a lot slower. Anyway I’m not worried about that, the most important thing at the moment is to get as much information as possible and really start to understand and get to know the bike. This has been a useful test, I’m already feeling very motivated about the new bike and I am sure that next time I ride it in Jerez it will be even better!”. Davide Brivio – Camel Yamaha Team Director “It was nice to start the 2007 season straight away and not to dwell on the past and this has been a very important test for us with our new 800cc bike. Yesterday Valentino was quite fast which was encouraging. Today we worked on some different things and so he was a bit slower, but at this stage all this information is extremely useful in order to help develop the bike for the next test. Next Colin will have his chance to try the bike and give his opinion and this will also be very important for our engineers. It’s been interesting for us to have a look at our competitors here this week; everyone is already fast so it’s clearly going to be another hard and competitive season and we know we’re all going to have to work very hard through the winter!” Unofficial lap times Wednesday 1st November 2006 1. Valentino Rossi (ITA) Yamaha 990, 1’32.70 2. Toni Elias (SPA) Honda 990, 1’32.73 3. Marco Melandri (ITA) Honda 990, 1’32.90 4. Valentino Rossi (ITA) Yamaha 800, 1’33.10 5. John Hopkins (USA) Suzuki 800, 1’33.14 6. Loris Capirossi (ITA) Ducati 800, 1’33.17 7. Chris Vermeulen (AUS) Suzuki 800, 1’3318 8. Dani Pedrosa (SPA) Honda 800, 1’33.21 9. Casey Stoner (AUS) Ducati 800, 1’33.43 10. Alex Barros (BRA) Ducati 990, 1’33.64 11. Nicky Hayden (USA) Honda 800, 1’33.66 12. Jeremy McWilliams (IRL) Ilmor 800, 1’35.80 13. Andrew Pitt (AUS) Ilmor 800, 1’36.60s Thursday 2nd November 2006 1. Dani Pedrosa (SPA) Honda 800, 1’32.66 2. Chris Vermeulen (AUS) Suzuki 800, 1’32.69 3. John Hopkins (USA) Suzuki 800, 1’32’95 4. Casey Stoner (AUS) Ducati 800, 1’33.96 5. Loris Capirossi (ITA) Ducati 800, 1’33.02 6. Nicky Hayden (USA) Honda 800, 1’33.03 7. Alex Barros (BRA) Ducati 990, 1’33.40 8. Valentino Rossi (ITA) Yamaha 800, 1’33.78 9. Jeremy McWilliams (IRL) Ilmor 800, 1’35.90 10. Andrew Pitt (AUS) Ilmor 800, 1’36.40

The Tech 3 Team is pleased to announce that the Yamaha-Dunlop project will continue in 2007 with a two-rider line-up. After signing Makoto Tamada last week, Tech 3 Yamaha has completed its 2007 squad with the addition of French 250cc rider and current Tech 3 test rider Sylvain Guintoli. Herve Poncharal, Team Principal of Tech 3 Yamaha, said “I am very grateful to Yamaha for supporting us for one more season and enabling us to have two riders on the new 800cc motorcycle. Furthermore, I am very happy to announce that Sylvain Guintoli will be our second rider alongside Makoto Tamada. The Tech 3 Yamaha Team will be the only team to run Dunlop tyres in MotoGP and we are delighted that we will have such a talented line-up to continue with the great work that we’ve done in 2006.” “It’s a dream come true for me to finally step up to the MotoGP class,” added French star Guintoli. “Herve and I have known each other for years and to be given the chance to ride with a Yamaha factory team is a fantastic opportunity for me. I want to thank Herve Poncharal and Yamaha for this chance and I can’t wait to begin working with them.”