Fiat Yamaha Team

Fiat Yamaha Team aiming to confirm triple crown at Valencian season finale

The highs and lows of another stunning MotoGP season draw to a close this Sunday at the traditional season-ending finale at Valencia in Spain. The Fiat Yamaha Team of Valentino Rossi and Jorge Lorenzo have swept all before them this year, dominating the season by taking ten race wins between them and putting on some of the most entertaining racing displays of recent years. Rossi clinched his ninth World Championship title last time out in Malaysia and, with the Teams' title already in the bag and Yamaha looking odds-on to confirm the Manufacturers' title this weekend, the Japanese marque is hoping to take its second consecutive ‘Triple Crown,' the third since Rossi joined in 2004.
A ninth world title shows that Rossi's star shows no sign of waning yet but the 30-year-old admitted in Sepang that this season has been one of his toughest, due largely to his determined young team-mate. His six wins this year are less than he has taken in any of his other eight championship-winning seasons but he will be determined to try to increase that by one and round off the season on the highest possible note this weekend by finishing on top of the podium. The Italian hero admits that the tight and twisty track is not one of his favourites but he has two wins to his name there and a further three podiums, including third place last year.

Lorenzo's second season in MotoGP has been even more spectacular than his first, with four wins and some stunning battles with his much older and more experienced team-mate. The 22-year-old has never won at the Ricardo Tormo circuit but has some great memories from the track, having finished as runner-up in 2005 before clinching the first of his two 250cc titles there in 2006. The Mallorcan needs just one point from this last race in order to confirm second place in the championship, which he says will be more than enough of a prize for him in just his second MotoGP season, but he, too is determined to end the year on a high note and will be aiming for the podium at the very least.

The championship will wrap up in the usual spectacular Spanish style in front of some 130,000 race-day fans, packed into the unique stadium-style surroundings of the track. The layout is characterised by a never-ending burst of tight corners connected by short straights, whilst the long penultimate looping left-hander and the fast entry to turn one contrast with the otherwise geometric flip-flop chicanes and slow speed corners of the infield.

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Updated Information

2009/10/01

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2009/09/15

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2009/08/25

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What is MotoGP, Road Racing World Championship Grand Prix?

The MotoGP is the pinnacle class of world championship road racing that developed primarily in Europe after FIM (Federation Internationale de Motocyclisme) consolidated the regulations for motorcycle competition for the first time in 1949. In the past, the pinnacle class was the 500cc class of the Road Race World Championships, but in 2002 the regulation was changed to create the MotoGP class in which 2-stroke machines of up to 500 cc and 4-stroke machines of up to 990 cc competed together. Then the regulation was changed again in 2004 to limit the MotoGP class to 4-stroke machines only, and the displacement limit was reduced to 800 cc in the regulation from the 2007 season. We are heading for a new development in the MotoGP with further changes from 2009 to unify tire use to Bridgestone tires only.
The bikes to be used are factory machines developed solely for the MotoGP. With a light chassis of around 150kg, the new bikes have a maximum output of over 200 hp and will reach speeds of over 320km/hr. The latest electronic control technology is employed throughout the new machines.
Competitors compete for position in approximately a 40-minute races on paved circuit with a length of 4~5km, with laps capped to about 110 to 120 km.
Italian riders, including Valentino Rossi and Giacomo Agostini, have the best all-time records, winning a total of 19 titles in this premier class. Yamaha has a total of 13 titles, including ten in the GP500 and three in the MotoGP.

The Riders

Valentino Rossi FIAT YAMAHA TEAM	Jorge Lorenzo FIAT YAMAHA TEAM	Colin Edwards Monster Yamaha Tech 3	James Toseland Monster Yamaha Tech 3

The Teams

Yamaha, with its 2008 winning of the triple crown of rider, manufacturer and team titles, will attempt to repeat last year's performance by competing in the 2009 MotoGP with four riders from two teams. With the name of its sponsor FIAT AUTOMOBILES, the Fiat Yamaha Team enters riders Valentino Rossi, who won the rider title in 2008, and Jorge Lorenzo. Rossi has his eight-member support team, including manager Davide Brivio and crew chief Jeremy Burgess. Lorenzo also has an eight-member support team, including manager Daniele Romagnoli, crew chief Ramon Forcada.
Helve Ponsharal, leader of the Monster Yamaha Tech 3, has kept the same roster of riders as last year, with last season's 7th ranked Colin Edwards, and James Toseland, who fought hard to obtain a ranking of 11th in his first MotoGP season. Both are competing on the YZR-M1.

The Machine

YZR-M1

This is the factory machine that has been developed specifically for MotoGP competition since 2002. The "M" in its name stands for the "Mission" of feeding back the technologies gained in race development to Yamaha's production models and the other Mission to win the MotoGP championship. The 2009 model is a further development of the 2008 champion machine, with a focus on improved acceleration.

YZR-M1