Yamaha Motor Racing president Kouichi Tsuji has attempted to play down the factory’s decision to replace its MotoGP project leader ahead of the 2019 season by insisting it was a matter of personnel “rotation.”
Sepang CEO Razlan Razali describes the new Petronas Yamaha MotoGP team as an ‘ambitious underdog’ at its 2019 launch to mark a new era for the Malaysian squad.
Moriwaki-Althea Honda are not in testing action at Jerez. BMW WorldSBK Team only used transponders for the final hour of track action. 1. Stefan Bradl GER HRC MotoGP Test Team 1m 39.152s 60 laps*
The Moriwaki-Althea Honda team are not in testing action at Jerez while no times were recorded for the BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team. 1. Alex Lowes GBR Pata Yamaha 1m 40.442s 77 laps
Dani Pedrosa kept his cards close to his chest, but it was well known that the 31-time MotoGP winner was in discussions with the new Petronas-backed Sepang Yamaha team after losing his Honda seat to Jorge Lorenzo.
With Hafizh Syahrin preparing for the second year of what is hoped will be a long relationship with Tech3, the new Petronas Yamaha team has its sights set on another young Malaysian to become its first home MotoGP rider.
With pre-season testing preparations being finalised and targets being drawn up for the 2019 MotoGP world championship, Crash.net looks over what key objectives each manufacturer will be desperate to get right.
The 2019 World Supersport entry list has been officially published by championship organisers with a 25-rider grid set to contest the upcoming campaign.
Maria Herrera will become the first female to contest a full campaign in the World Supersport championship after securing a deal with MS Racing Yamaha who steps up from World Supersport 300 in 2019.
A new year welcomes in a brand-new season of MotoGP and naturally everything is to play for with familiar faces in new places, teams at crossroads and a couple of new eras which begin in 2019.
Fabio Quartararo was the most surprising of the four 2019 MotoGP rookie signings. The young Frenchman had gone almost two and a half years without a podium when he snatched a shock debut victory, for Speed Up in the Moto2 class, at Catalunya in June.
Franco Morbidelli has been encouraged by new crew chief Ramon Forcada’s work with the Petronas Yamaha team and is “very curious to see how we can translate our work onto the track”.
Yamaha Racing Manager Andrea Dosoli says expanding the manufacturer’s efforts in World Superbikes must improve its development pace to catch the front-runners and has warned the teams “we need to fight at the front rather than fight with each other.”
Four days into the preseason and Maverick Viñales was gushing over the early version of Yamaha’s 2019 M1, stating, “I think this is the bike to be competitive and the bike to win the title.”
His team-mate may intimate differently. But at the close of preseason testing in 2018, Valentino Rossi was clear: “We have a lot work to do if we want to be competitive.” Another stark warning for Yamaha bosses.