The Yamaha Owners Club

Yamaha Motor Europe and KTM Sport Motorcycles were disappointed to learn of the press release on Saturday 7th August by the Italian Motorcycle Federation (FMI) revealing that Yamaha Monster Energy Motocross Team’s David Philippaerts and Red Bull KTM’s Tony Cairoli have been unable to be considered for the final selection for the Italian team due to certain conditions to represent their country in the 2010 Motocross of Nations at Thunder Valley in Colorado on September 26th.

After discussions with the Italian Federation, in which Yamaha Motor Europe and KTM Sport Motorcycles were willing and fully open for negotiation regarding representation on the official Italian team jersey, we were disappointed to learn that 2008 MX1-GP World Champion Philippaerts and reigning MX1-GP World Champion Cairoli (presently 3rd and 1st in the 2010 standings respectively) were eliminated from the final short-list. We would like to clarify that both riders are available but the condition of the FMI that there will be no space allowed at all for the manufacturer or its sponsors on the front of jersey is not acceptable to both Yamaha and KTM. The FMI was only prepared to open two tiny spaces on the sleeve of each jersey and despite several efforts from Yamaha and KTM a compromise for a frontal space was not reached. Yamaha and KTM had already accepted for the FMI to decide the base colour and to add their own sponsors on the jersey, if not in conflict with existing team partners.

Discussions of this nature are not unusual for the Motocross of Nations with many riders, teams, brands and companies represented by the three best riders from each country around the globe coming together under one umbrella. For virtually all other teams a compromise as proposed by Yamaha and KTM is considered very much acceptable for all parties involved. Other countries allow the riders to use their regular GP clothing without or virtually without any modification.

Manufacturers and title sponsors/partners finance a whole season of international and national racing activities up to and including the Motocross of Nations; this includes staff, infrastructure, technical support and development, all at considerable cost. In our opinion visible manufacturer and sponsor branding is a necessary requirement to allow top athletes to continue to represent their teams and importantly shine and bring positive attention for their respective nationalities at the very highest level.

Yamaha and KTM sincerely regret that both riders will seemingly not be able to enter the Motocross of Nations for Italy in 2010, which we regard as a fantastic event for motocross followers all around the world and prestigious for all participants. Yamaha and KTM remain open to a solution so that fans of motocross and the Italian team in an era when the country is proving to be strong in the discipline will not be deprived.

Yamaha Motor Europe N.V. and KTM Sport Motorcycles

Yamaha Monster Energy Motocross Team's David Philippaerts put in a noteworthy performance at Lommel in front of almost 24,000 spectators to finish arguably one of the toughest rounds of the FIM MX1-GP World Championship in 4th position overall. The Italian motored to 4th and 6th in the two motos of the Grand Prix of Limburg under bright skies for the eleventh round of fifteen in the 2010 season.

After scoring 10th and 9th in the past two years the technically and physically difficult lumps and bumps of the Lommel sand seemed to be an unhappy hunting ground for the Italian but two excellent starts - in which he fully utilised the potency of the 2010 YZ450FM to rally his way around the open first turn into the top three -helped the 25 year old bury his Belgian jinx.

DP19 was part of a four rider tussle for 3rd in the first moto and pushed his energy levels fully into reserve to make sure of 4th by the end of the 35 minutes and 2 laps. Another pulsating encounter with Clement Desalle was ended in the second race after the 2008 world champion tipped off his machine briefly while trying to overtake the Belgian. He lost ground but still kept a decent rhythm in testing conditions to classify 6th.

David Philippaerts, Yamaha Monster Energy MX Team:

"I did not have the best start yesterday in the heat race but the team did some good work and we were much better today. I had a good line around the first corner and tucked in behind Nagl, who always seems to be right at the front. So I was really happy with the performance and the tactic at the start and it made things easier for sure. I was riding well in the first moto and was consistent with the lap-times and this is important at Lommel. I had a crash with Desalle in the second moto, and incidents like this are part of the sport. I liked the track more this year compared to 2009; it is faster and more similar to somewhere like Lierop, which I really enjoy and for my style is better. To finish fourth overall is very good for me here and I am in good shape. We go to Loket now and I like this place. I won in 2008 because I was angry from my result in Lommel the week before and I took a podium result last year in difficult times. We will see what we can do next week. The bike is running well and we will keep on working."

Ken De Dycker, Yamaha Monster Energy Ricci MX Team:

"Today went OK and I was not expecting too much. With everything that has gone on in the last weeks and not being able to ride because of my arm I have to be happy with seventh and fifth. I was perhaps a bit too slow in the first moto but I wanted to save something for the second. The second was better and I think with some training this week I will be sharper for Loket. Normally I don't get blisters but my hands are covered in them now so that's just an indication of the bike time I have missed since Sweden."

Yamaha Sterilgarda World Superbike YZF-R1 rider Cal Crutchlow made it two in a row today at Silverstone, delivering the double win at his home race. The British rider ended a flawless weekend´s riding with a masterful display of race craft. A good start from pole position in race one saw him quickly into second behind Johnny Rea. Crutchlow then played the waiting game, comfortably following the Honda rider just 0.1 seconds behind until mid race before taking the lead. He surrendered briefly to Rea but then re-took quickly and pulled away to build a 1.6 second lead as he crossed the line to claim his maiden win of the championship. Race two saw a repeat of the first with Crutchlow quickly settling in behind Rea, again maintaining a gap of just 0.1 to 0.2 seconds until just three laps from the end when he again pulled out to take the lead. The Yamaha YZF-R1´s incredible pace saw him take the fastest lap of the race on the penultimate lap, building a two second advantage as he crossed the line to deliver the long awaited double victory for Yamaha.

Team mate James Toseland made the most of his less than perfect grid position start in both of today´s two superbike races. The first saw him move as high as sixth whilst chasing down the Aprilias of Max Biaggi and Leon Camier before finally settling for eighth at the line. The second race saw an even more determined Toseland pushing on hard. The British rider spent much of the race battling with Leon Haslam for fourth place having carved through the ranks and taken championship leader Biaggi mid race for fifth. The battle between the two Brits went to the chequered flag with Toseland less than four tenths behind Haslam across the line.

Cal Crutchlow´s incredible performance means he leaves Silverstone having jumped up from tenth to fifth in the rankings, now sitting on 188 points, 55 points behind Carlos Checa in third. Team mate James Toseland remains in sixth place, now on 179 points as they head to the Nurburgring at the beginning of September after the summer break.

James Toseland, Yamaha Sterilgarda World Superbike Team (8th, 5th)
?Race one was ok, the set up we used wasn´t perfect but I made the most of it. We made a massive change from race one to race two, we switched to something closer to what Cal was using in the first race, it´s the first time we tried it and it really helped us. Hopefully we´ve found a good direction for the next race. A big thanks to the team for the change between the races, it got me from where I was in the first to not too far off the podium in the second. Leon Haslam rode a great race and really covered his lines, I could have been more aggressive with him but I didn´t want to spoil his championship chances.?

Massimo Meregalli, Yamaha Sterilgarda World Superbike Team Manager
?This kind of feeling has been missing and finally I got it back today. Cal delivered a fantastic weekend, he proved that he was the fastest here in all the practices. He rode two really good races, I have to give my compliments to him, he rode perfectly. These results come thanks to all the efforts the team have put in over the last few months. James also proved he was fast and on the pace, the crash yesterday was unfortunate and mean that he couldn't do the last Superpole heat and so had a less than perfect start. He had some problems in the first with the balance of the bike but was much better in the second. We came here with big expectations and finally we have some good results.?

Jorge Lorenzo took a brilliant sixth victory of the season at Laguna Seca today, romping home to win by over three seconds from Casey Stoner. His team-mate Valentino Rossi made a triumphant return to the podium just seven weeks after breaking his right leg, overhauling Andrea Dovizioso during a thrilling last ten laps to finish third.

Starting from pole for the fifth time in a row, Lorenzo lost ground to his rivals at the fearsome downhill turn one and was relegated to third first time around. For the first few laps there was little he could do except hang on behind Pedrosa and Stoner but on the sixth lap Stoner ran wide and Lorenzo stormed through to take second. By now Pedrosa was nearly a second clear but Lorenzo's pace had begun to improve and he started to push as hard as he could and exert some pressure on his fellow Spaniard. On lap twelve, with the gap now narrowed to half a second, Pedrosa crashed out and left Lorenzo in the lead and from then on it was plain sailing for the 23-year-old as he expertly controlled his advantage over Stoner to bring it home and take his second win on US soil. Today's victory was his 11th in MotoGP, his 32nd in all classes and his 10th successive podium.

Rossi had suffered all weekend with pain in both his leg and his shoulder and today looked like it was going to be a tough day for the reigning champion, unable as he was to make any further headway after passing Nicky Hayden for fifth position. Once Pedrosa had crashed out however and with Ben Spies exerting pressure on him from behind Rossi's fighting instinct kicked in as he spied a podium possibility, gradually closing down a two second gap to Dovizioso to come within striking distance with six laps remaining. On the 27th lap he made his move and passed his countryman, managing to hold him off over the last couple of laps to make a popular return to the podium.

With exactly half of the season gone Lorenzo heads the championship with an impressive 72-point lead over Pedrosa, whilst Rossi is 120 points adrift of his team-mate in fifth position. Both riders will enjoy a two and a half week holiday now and the Italian will be more glad than anyone for the time off, during which he will be working on his fitness in an effort to be back to his best next time out in Brno.

Jorge Lorenzo - Position: 1stTime: 43.54.873
"I am so happy to win here at Laguna Seca, it's something I've always dreamed of. I rode so well today, right on the limit and I had to push very hard to stay in touch with Dani. He is always so strong on race day but I knew if I kept the pressure on him then there was a chance he would make a mistake and I would be able to catch him. I'm sorry he crashed but from then on it was very easy for me because I had a big gap from Casey. I really enjoyed riding my M1! I have a big lead in the championship but there is half of the season left and it wouldn't be the first time a rider has lost the title with such a big lead, so we can't take anything for granted. I am really looking forward to some time to relax now after two very busy months. Thanks to everyone in my team for doing a brilliant job."