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Saturday, 05 April 2008 |
The Yamaha Monster Motocross Team will be hoping to strike extra fear into their FIM Motocross World Championship rivals in 2008 thanks to a new alliance with Monster Energy drinks. The factory-backed Grand Prix squad – now entitled ‘Yamaha Monster Motocross Team’ thanks to the title sponsorship - will benefit from a high-profile three year joint programme with one of the new powerful movers in motorcycle racing for their attempt on the MX1-GP title.
On the eve of the first Grand Prix of fifteen in the 2008 MX1-GP World Championship the heart of the press corps headed north of Valkenswaard – location of the Eurocircuit, venue of the GP of the Netherlands – to see Philippaerts, Coppins and key personnel from Yamaha Motor Europe and Monster Energy present the new all-black factory YZ450FMs for the imminent season.
After the beach demonstration that saw Philippaerts manfully steer a snowmobile for the first time and Coppins actually getting some air under his wheels on the ATV, the riders and team took the covers off the works machinery and then joined in a small Q+A before a dinner took place. Over forty journalists and photographers from Europe, USA and Japan gathered to witness proceedings.
“For six years we have been pushing hard for titles with a lot of success, and as this is the first time that we will be wanting our red plate back everyone is more motivated than ever this season,” said Yamaha Motor Europe’s Racing Division Manager Laurens Klein Koerkamp. “In Josh Coppins we have a strong and fast rider who came so close to our fourth championship in four years last season and with David we have some new young blood that we hope will be capable of some very good results. We will be on the attack in the premier-class in 2008. I would also like to extend a deep welcome to Monster Energy and we look forward to a prosperous relationship together.” |
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Friday, 04 April 2008 |
Having missed the official FGSport tests in March the Yamaha Motor Italia WSB Team had to work particularly hard on the first day of the Valencia race weekend to set times just inside the top ten of the 30 riders who entered this third round of the 2008 season.
Corser's best time was only 0.618 seconds from fastest man Max Neukirchner (Suzuki) and put him ninth in a session where the top 15 riders qualified within a second of provisional pole. Haga was tenth, only 0.124 seconds from Corser, as each attempted to match their machine's settings and initial tyre choices against the unpredictable Valencia track surface.
Both Corser and Haga are proven race winners at this challenging stadium-style circuit, and with their experienced team behind they fully expect to find fully competitive race set-ups for Sunday's two 23-lap Superbike races.
The GMT94 team had received new parts in time for the Valencia race allowing them to run 4 kilo's lighter compared to previous race and therefore closer to a Superbike spec than the Endurance machines they have been running up to now.Sebastien Gimbert (Yamaha GMT94) finished 15th in the first timed session and should he keep this position or better it in tomorrow's session, he will qualify for Superpole. His team-mate David Checa was only 1.260 seconds from pole but finished the opening day 19th.
In a remarkably close opening qualifying session, run on race tyres throughout, Team YZF Yamaha rider Shinichi Nakatomi finished 21st fastest, but only 1.282 seconds from provisional pole. |
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Thursday, 03 April 2008 |
Yamaha has long recognized that not only many women ride motorcycles, but that they like to ride fast on a race track too. The most recent proof comes in the shape of current Womens’ Road Racing European Champion in the 1000 class Nina Prinz, who will team up with Yamaha in 2008.
Twenty-five-year-old Nina, from Mannheim/Leutkirch in Germany, won all three 2007 European Women Championship races sanctioned by the UEM (European Motorcycle Union). This success landed her with the opportunity to defend her title on Yamaha’s YZF-R1 Superbike flagship, which she will race for the first time at Misano (I) on 13 April, then Assen (NL) on 15 June and the final Championship round will be held at Albacete (ESP) on 12 October.
Nina and her R1 will also be competing in the male-dominated IDM German Superbike Championship for Team Yamaha Motor Germany, riding alongside former 2000 World Supersport champion Jörg Teuchert and Polish rider Andrzej Pawalec.
On her signing Nina says; “I am very please to have signed with Yamaha for this season! During my first two outings on the R1 at Misano and during the Yamaha Race Training in Valencia last week, I was really impressed by the bike in terms of power and stability. The team has prepared a perfect bike for me and being part of this outfit hopefully enables me to progress further. With experienced riders as Jörg aboard, I can really learn a lot. Both championships are very competitive but my goal is to score as many points as possible in the IDM and consolidate my championship title status in the Womens Championship this year. The fact that Yamaha actively supports female riders is a very positive development for the sport and for us women in particular!”
Nina got into motorcycle racing via minibikes and got really serious when she entered the national ADAC Junior Cup in Germany in 2000. Since then she has graduated through National Supersport racing, improving all the time, before adding some IDM Superbike experience and European Womens’ Championship rides to her portfolio in 2006. Nina simply dominated the 2007 UEM series.
Nina is the second female star that is officially supported by Yamaha. Reigning FIM Motocross Women’s World Cup champion Katherine Prumm from New Zealand will race on a Yamaha YZ250F in the newly established 2008 Women Motocross World Championship. Both Nina and Katherine hope to continue their success with Yamaha and contribute to the increasing popularity of female motorcycle riding and competition. |
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Wednesday, 02 April 2008 |
The Grand Prix of the Netherlands at the Eurocircuit in Valkenswaard, close to the city of Eindhoven, opens the 2008 FIM Motocross World Championship this weekend and Yamaha’s strong arm faculty equipped with potent YZ machinery will go to the start-gate in earnest for the first time this year.
The first round of fifteen in an ’08 series that visits thirteen countries and two continents will see Yamaha once more fit the role of protagonists in the MX1-GP (premier class with 450cc four-stroke motorcycles) and MX2-GP (250cc four-stroke motorcycles) categories.
The Yamaha Monster Motocross Team bring their freshly painted YZ450FMs to Holland hoping to re-capture the title they narrowly missed out on in 2007 and add to their splendid tally of three championships from four years since the MX1-GP classification was established. Josh Coppins and new recruit David Philippaerts have had an excellent pre-season with four wins through events in Italy and France. Coppins, who won five Grand Prix, took nine podiums and led more laps than any other rider in his first season with Yamaha last year, has been recovering from two broken toes on his right foot after a freak accident while training two weeks ago.
“Things are coming along well, it should be OK to race although the weekend will be more about damage-limitation for the championship instead of setting myself any specific targets,” said the recently turned 31 year old who won In Valkenswaard to mark a memorable Yamaha debut twelve months ago. |
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