The rumor broke late Friday afternoon when several websites reported that Andrea Dovizioso had signed with Yamaha Tech3 for the 2012 season after spending ten years with Honda.

This rumor has now been officially confirmed and Dovizioso will be fielded alongside Cal Crutchlow and will be riding a satellite Yamaha next year, when MotoGP reverts back to the 1000cc format. The Italian hopes that he’ll then be considered for a Yamaha full factory ride in 2013, when both Jorge Lorenzo and Ben Spies’ contracts expire.

Andrea Dovizioso:

“I’m happy to have reached this agreement with Tech 3 for next year and I want to thank Hervé Poncharal for the opportunity he is giving me. I am excited to become part of Hervé’s squad and to be teamed with Cal. I am sure this new challenge will be exciting, motivating and fun. Now that 2012 is sorted I want to focus on finishing the season in the best possible way.”



Continue reading: Andrea Dovizioso and Yamaha Tech3 deal officially confirmed

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If last year it was broken legs in MotoGP, this year it’s fractured collarbones, with three MotoGP riders breaking them in less than four weeks. Dani Pedrosa in May and still out of action, a heroic Colin Edwards who broke his right one eight days ago, but it’s his ribs that are hurting him the most and none the less he was able to qualify 8th today and now Cal Crutchlow.

The British rider crashed out during his third lap in this afternoon’s qualifying session at Silverstone probably due to a cold tire and sustained a left collarbone fracture and a concussion and will be undergoing surgery at the Oxford Hospital later this evening or early tomorrow.

Hopefully plating Crutchlow’s collarbone will not create any problems to his left shoulder as the Yamaha Tech3 rider underwent shoulder surgery last December to repair damaged ligaments and tendons.

Continue reading: Cal Crutchlow to undergo surgery

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Our French speaking cousins at Motosblog.fr had the opportunity to talk to Hervé Poncharal, Yamaha Tech3 and Moto2 boss the other day, and since we don’t often hear from the other side of the Alps, we thought that a translation of the interview would be an interesting read.

Motosblog: Hervé, we saw at Sepang two very different Tech3 riders. Edwards, the “old wolf” who was testing well, while Crutchlow was trying to understand his bike, what do you think?

HP: Just to get started, I’ll tell you Vincent that we’ll see a great season, the last of the 800cc will be the most exciting and most beautiful ever.

Continue reading: Interview with Hervé Poncharal Yamaha Tech3 boss

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Herve Poncharal’s Moto2 Tech3 team will be completely changing it’s rider line-up next season. The French manager has announced he’ll be fielding Bradley Smith and Mike di Meglio in 2011, dropping both Raffaele di Rosa and Yuki Takahashi.

Bradley Smith will be moving up from the 125cc class to debut in Moto2, while Mike di Meglio, the 2008 125 cc World Champion raced for for Aspar’s (first RSV then Suter) Moto2 team this season. Smith is currently fourth in his championship, while di Meglio is 20th in the Moto2 rankings.

Smith will begin his preparations for the 2011 season immediately after the final round in Valencia next weekend, making his debut on Monday, November 8 and Yamaha Tech3 veteran Colin Edwards is expected to take some timeout from his MotoGP testing, to give some precious feedback on the new 2011 Mistral chassis Moto2 bike.

Continue reading: Poncharal changes Moto2 line-up in 2011 with Smith and Di Meglio

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Cal Crutchlow will be riding in MotoGP for the next two years as announced today by the Yamaha Tech 3 team. The British rider already has plenty of experience riding Yamaha bikes, but it will be interesting to see how his fortunes turn out in MotoGP racing. Crutchlow had already made his desire to move to MotoGP clear and after rumours that he would have been testing the Yamaha Tech3 bike in Brno, we’re hardly surprised.

Crutchlow is considered a talented and exciting rider and he’s moving into the Tech3 MotoGP team to replace Ben Spies, who’s getting a ride with the Yamaha factory team. He will be hoping to produce some similar results from his Superbike to MotoGP transition to those of Spies. Of his two-year contract, Crutchlow says:

“It is hard for me to explain how excited I am about the prospect of riding in MotoGP next season with the Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Team. Joining MotoGP is like a dream come true for me, and I want to thank Yamaha and Herve Poncharal for giving me such a wonderful opportunity. Yamaha have been fantastic to me and without their incredible support I wouldn’t be where I am today. And I’m really looking forward to working with the Tech 3 Team.

Continue reading: Cal Crutchlow confirms MotoGP move to Yamaha Tech 3

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A little more than a week ago we posted a story that Loris Capirossi was being linked as one of the hopefuls to ride in Tech 3 as a replacement rider, if Colin Edwards was getting pushed up to ride Valentino Rossi’s M1. This story was shattered when Yamaha announced that they were putting 41 year old Wataru Yoshikawa test rider in the saddle.

Apparently the speculation that Capirossi was wanting the change has sparked some interesting and conflicting news reporting, because MCN, has Paul Denning, Rizla Suzuki team manager, dismissing the rumor as ‘ridiculous’ also adding that he and Herve Poncharal had talked about the stories, coming to the conclusion that it was just “idle paddock gossip mongering.”

Was it idle gossip? The original story was picked up when Carlo Pernat, Capirossi’s manager, announced to all in sundry, that his client was disappointed and looking for a change next year and wanted to try to wriggle out of his contract and and move to Tech 3 as a replacement rider before talking about a full time option.

Continue reading: Loris Capirossi Rumors Dismissed as 'Ridiculous'

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This is for all you girls out there who’ve always wanted to be a brolly girl and didn’t know where to start, here’s a great opportunity. The Tech 3 Moto2 team is looking for some lovely ladies to be their grid girls in the inaugural Moto2 world championship this season.

You’ve got to between 18 and 25 and have some modelling experience and the only downside is you don’t get paid, but you do get full paddock access and hospitality with the team (some people would kill for this opportunity).

So if you’re interested grab your best pics and résumé and send them to Herve Poncharal’s Moto2 website. For more info contact them here.

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Yesterday at the Ledenon circuit in the south of France, finally saw the first debut on a race track of Tech3’s Moto2 bike. The chassis was designed and built by chief engineer Guy Coulon who switched from Yamaha Tech3 MotoGP team to Moto2.

Instead of the official riders, Yuki Takahashi and Raffaele de Rosa doing the shakedown, the bike was ridden by French rider Florian Marino. The shakedown didn’t last very long because the bike suffered an elettrical problem that will be resolved before the official tests on December 9th at Valencia.

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The Spies story if finally over. After a couple of weeks of speculation regarding in which Championship series Ben Spies would be really racing for in 2010. Yamaha has officially announced today that Ben Spies will be moving to MotoGP in 2010 and will be joining the Tech 3 Yamaha Team alongside Colin Edwards who has renewed with Tech 3 for another year.

Ben Spies:

“I want to thank Yamaha globally for their faith in me. They have treated me like royalty! Yamaha just recently allowed me to rethink my contract for 2010-2011; I did sign for WSB for 2010 but after Indy I began thinking of the competition and my age versus waiting until 2011. This was not an easy decision, the Yamaha World Superbike Team crew and especially Massimo (Maio) Meregalli have been fantastic and it’s been great fun to put in a season together. I am hoping that I can give Maio, Laurens Klein Koerkamp and everyone else a championship to remember this year with me. My thanks also extend to ‘Infront’, the promoter of the WSB series, especially Paolo Ciabatti. I have enjoyed his series and this first year racing in Europe. Now I have two challenges, to complete this year giving my best and to move towards new goals in MotoGP. Herve Poncharal at Tech 3 is showing his support by allowing me to come on board with my Crew Chief Tom Houseworth and Gregory Wood, my mechanic, who have both been with me since AMA days. We will have learning curves to overcome next year but I am up for the new goal. I hope to have a good year and my goal is to try and stay in the top 6-8 which, given the talented line up, will be a tall order. With the world upside down, there is one constant for me and that’s Yamaha.”

Continue reading: As if We didn't Know It: Ben Spies to MotoGP in 2010

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Fausto Gresini of Team San Carlo Honda Gresini has announced that he will set up a team for the new Moto 2 series, that will replace the present 250cc Championship in 2010.

Speaking to Italian website GPOne, the former 2 times 125 cc World Champion turned team manager said: “ Next Friday when I arrive at Mugello, the first thing I’m going to do after speaking to Carmelo Ezpeleta is to enter Moto 2 with a team.”

“At the begining it’s going to be expensive to build a Moto2” added Gresini, “I think that the right price would be what they ask you for an official Aprilia, and obviously the investment is destined to pay off in the future. The most important thing is that the team will have an important image to sell.”

Continue reading: Fausto Gresini announces Moto 2 Team

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After yesterday’s massive highside during the BMW shootout in Jerez, Monster Yamaha Tech 3 rider James Toseland has been given the all-clear by doctors and discharged from a Cadiz hospital.

Checks confirmed that Toseland had suffered a concussion but avoided other serious injuries and returned to the Jerez paddock later on Sunday evening with crew chief Gary Reynders.

Yamaha Tech 3 Team Manager Herve Poncharal had this to say:

“Unfortunately it was the same kind of crash today to what he had in Sepang. It hurt him. It was his first timed lap after leaving the pit with a fresh tyre. It looks like he should hopefully be ok, even though he was motionless in the gravel for a little while.”

“James was recovering well from the Sepang crash; Qatar was a big step in recuperation for him, and until the crash everything was going a lot better for him here. He was in the group in which we think that he can be and making a lot of progress.”

“Crashing is certainly not the best thing that you can do before starting the first Grand Prix, but we know that James is a fighter. He will be there for the first race and, even though we are not expecting to win, we will try to pick up a few points.”

Source | motogp

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After noticing that Yamaha Tech 3 rider James Toseland was no longer sporting the Red Bull logo on his helmet during the night tests in Qatar, we should have expected that past rumors tying Monster Energy to Yamaha Tech 3 were about to come true.

Monster Energy has infact officially announced that they will become title sponsor of the Tech 3 Yamaha MotoGP team for at least the next two seasons and the team will be called Monster Yamaha Tech3 and that we’ll probably see the new livery during the IRTA tests at Jerez at the end of this month.

Official press release after the jump.

Continue reading: Monster Energy and Yamaha Tech 3 Deal Confirmed

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