The Yamaha Owners Club

The final round of the '08 World Enduro Championship, staged in Mende, France, proved to be a challenging one for UFO Corse Yamaha team riders Simone Albergoni and Maurizio Micheluz as both were unable to secure podium finishes at the GP of Europe. However Yamaha France rider Marc Germain performed well finishing in a strong runner-up position on Day1 and 3rd on Day2. With the French event bringing the '08 WEC series to a close, Albergoni, Germain and Micheluz, as well as injured UFO Corse Yamaha rider Cristobal Guerrero, officially claimed 3rd, 4th, 5th and 6th place positions respectively in the Enduro 1 world championship.

For Albergoni hopes that the final event of the season would bring with it rewarding end-of-season results failed to materialise as Italy's number one enduro rider was unable to finish in the top three. Despite performing well throughout the opening day's competition, including a test win early on, Albergoni finished 4th. On day two Albergoni dropped one position to 5th despite riding consistently during the day. Having set his sights on claiming his first enduro world championship title this season, and having started the year with impressive results at the first three rounds of the series, Albergoni's disappointment was clear after the event.

Improving on his '07 world championship position of 7th, Maurizio Micheluz' outing in France were typical of several of those he endured during 2008 as he spent much of both days battling for the fourth place before he ended up finishing 7th on both days. Although disappointed at having not finished higher, Maurizio was pleased to have ended the year 5th in the competitive Enduro 1 world championship standings.

2008 AMA Motocross Champion, Motocross of Nations winner and undoubtedly one of the main stars of American motocross and supercross, James Stewart, will make his first European appearance on his new Yamaha YZ450F at the Bercy SX in Paris, France, in just over two weeks time.

The 22 year old from Florida only recently joined up with his San Manuel Band of Mission Indians/Land M Racing Supercross team and displayed that his combination with the 2008 AMA Supercross title-winning YZ450F will be a forceful one by winning both nights of the lucrative US Open indoor event in Las Vegas, beating reigning AMA champion Chad Reed.

“You always want to do good for the first time; to be fast on this track, and to be winning, it’s a good step. I had four days on the bike, and I’m stoked. I think we’re going to be really good going into the future,” said six-time champion Stewart who completed a perfect 2008 outdoor motocross campaign by winning every single moto (24) of the 12 rounds.

“We’ve still got a lot of work to do,” he added. “I’ve got a lot of time to figure this thing out though, and everybody from Yamaha and San Manuel, helped me out and they made it really easy to get on.” 
“Seeing James Stewart start out on a winning note with the Yamaha YZ450F was a real high point,” said Supercross team manager Jim Perry afterwards. “With his brilliant speed and his charisma, he’s a true champion and I’m glad to have him on our team.”