PETRONAS Yamaha Sepang Racing Team rider Fabio Quartararo has taken the 2019 MotoGP Rookie of the Year title, securing the award in style with a sensational sixth podium finish of the season at the Grand Prix of Japan. Team-mate Franco Morbidelli rounded out a dream day for the squad by coming home in sixth place at the Twin Ring Motegi for another strong finish.
Quartararo rode a textbook race at Motegi to secure second position, getting stuck into the fight with world champion Marc Marquez as soon as the lights went out and trading the top spot with him numerous times. Settling into second as the race progressed, Quartararo was able to manage his tyres to the chequered flag to secure the rookie honours as well as extending his lead in the Independent Riders’ classification to 38 points and moving up to sixth in the overall championship fight.
Morbidelli was also able to get involved in the podium battle early in the race, running in third behind his team-mate in the early laps. Dropping back as the race progressed, he was still able to score his fourth top-six finish from the past five races. Morbidelli also scored valuable points at Motegi to further secure his place within the top ten in the World Championship and to help the team edge closer to the Independent Teams’ championship, where they now command a healthy 76-point lead.
It won’t be long until MotoGP action gets underway again, with next weekend’s Australian Grand Prix kicking off on Friday 25th October, before Sunday 27th October’s race at Phillip Island.
Marc Marquez (Repsol Honda Team RC213V) has become the 2019 FIM*1 MotoGP World Champion at Round 15, the Thailand Grand Prix (held on October 6 at Chang International Circuit in Buriram). This is Marquez’s fourth consecutive premier class title and sixth time he has taken the MotoGP Championship in his career.
It was a weekend of celebration for PEPSON PLASTICS HUSQVARNA RACING as the 2019 National Enduro Championship drew a close in Port Elizabeth. For star rider William Oosthuizen the event marked a particularly significant moment as he received the first national title of his career.
The Proudly Bidvest bLU cRU Yamaha team attended the sixth and final round of the MSA National Enduro series hosted by the Rover Racing club, with the goal of wrapping up the National Championship titles in E2, Masters and the all-important Manufacturers award.
Lloyd Kirk came into the sixth round after having contracted flu in Turkey during the Sea to Sky event and not feeling well at all. “My goal for this race was just to finish the race and stay hydrated.” Lloyd placed a respectable seventh for the day and secured second place in the E1 championship. “This has been a rather challenging season for me and I’m really happy to take second place in the E1 championship.”
Denzil “The General” Torlage had a great ride aboard his YZ250X. “The course was very physical with the thick sand stealing my momentum around almost every turn.” Denzil finished the day off in fourth place and secured third place in the Masters championship. “This season was rather challenging but I remained injury free and consistent,” Stated Torlage.
To preserve the company's heritage in Europe, Yamaha Motor Europe has launched its Yamaha Motor Collection Hall. Racing heroes, Yamaha Motor Europe management, motoring journalists and key figures from the motorcycle world were in attendance, 25th September last, to mark the official opening of the hall, containing the Yamaha Motor Europe Collection. 
Stephan Peterhansel's 1991 Dakar winning Yamaha YZE750 can be seen alongside the 2009 World Superbike Championship dominating YZF-R1 that Ben Spies took to victory in his maiden year on the world stage. Motocross fans can enjoy many legendary race machines, including Stefan Everts 2006 MX World Championship winning Yamaha YZ450F, and an evolution of that machine that kept up the victory achievements, Adrien Van Beveren's 2015 l'Enduropale du Touquet winning YZ450F. 
The Yamaha Motor Europe Collection also provides a unique insight into Yamaha's development past, with the 2007 MT-03 concept on display, along with icons from the past, including the 1961 Yamaha MF1, 1969 YL1 and the 1968 YAS1. Add in the 1986 XJ650 Turbo amongst many others and the collection is truly a feast for a two-wheel enthusiast. 
"The Yamaha Motor Europe Collection Hall is dedicated to the memory of our past in racing, and to the memory of what has revved the heart of our customers. A "home" for our iconic models and it has two vocations: first to inspire our engineers and designers in their process of creating future models, and second, support the credibility and the emotional value of our novelties, in the respect of our past creations."
Yamaha Motor Europe is pleased to announce that it has secured the services of Toprak Razgatlioglu for the 2020 FIM Superbike World Championship. Razgatlioglu, who claimed his first WorldSBK race victory in Magny-Cours at the weekend, will partner Michael van der Mark in the Pata Yamaha WorldSBK Team.
Razgatlioglu immediately made his mark in the premier production class, securing two podium finishes in his debut season with second place at Donington Park and third place in the penultimate round in Argentina.
After two thrilling days of riding on the international stage for the first time at the Monster Energy Motocross of Nations, the 2019 YZ bLU cRU FIM Europe Cup came to an end on Sunday with the YZ125 race.
As the gate dropped practice leader Pumpurs took the holeshot to establish a very strong lead. Behind him Bruce also built on his practice pace to take second, battling with Spanish rider #252 Raul Sanchez behind. As the track got more challenging every rider put their head down over the 20-minute race. With Pumpurs sitting unchallenged in first place he took the victory nearly a minute clear, followed home by Sanchez, who battled past Bruce, in second and third respectively to complete the podium at the weekend’s most difficult and entertaining bLUcRU SuperFinale race.
KTM has put a lot of effort and all of its of electric know-how that’s evolved over the last 10 years into the development of the KTM SX-E 5. The result is a highly competitive electric minicycle with a comparable power output to the KTM 50 SX, yet with minimal maintenance and noise.
This innovative junior bike has an electric motor powered by an ultra-modern lithium-ion battery pack with a robust housing for maximum protection and safety was really at the core of the development of this new model. The power is smooth and controllable offering rideability benefits over other bikes in its class, whilst also providing fantastic agility on the motocross course. Like its combustion counterpart, the KTM SX-E 5 is fitted with WP XACT 35 air fork technology, as well as the WP XACT shock absorber, and it also features high-quality components such as premium disc brakes, cast footpegs, tapered aluminum handlebars and proper race ergonomics. In fact, the KTM SX-E 5 has undergone the same development process as the bigger SX models as raced by the Red Bull KTM Factory Racing Team. It’s truly an exciting, safe, innovative yet racy machine that will create new riding possibilities for riders and tracks in the future.
The YART Yamaha EWC team saw their chance of a first win at Circuit Paul Ricard go up in flames just four hours into the restarted Bol d'Or, when Loris Baz crashed out of the race lead after hitting oil dropped by a rival.
Erwan Nigon, running third aboard the SRC Kawasaki, was the first to go down on the oil closely followed by Baz, whose bike then collided with the Kawasaki. Both bikes caught fire and were almost completely destroyed before marshals managed to extinguish the flames. Fortunately, both the riders and the marshals walked away uninjured.
It was Niccolò Canepa who took the restart for YART Yamaha, with the former Endurance World Champion doing a double stint in the tricky conditions, on a track that was initially fully wet but was starting to dry rapidly as a result of the blustery wind whipping around the circuit. Despite some minor technical issues, Canepa managed to progress from third to second before pitting early to switch to slicks and to hand the bike over to Baz.
With thunderstorms and more heavy rain forecast during the night Race Direction, after consultation with the Team Managers, decided to suspend the race until 06.00 the following morning, when weather conditions were predicted to improve.
The Monster Energy Yamalube Yamaha Factory Racing Team scored the results needed for Cameron Beaubier to retain his number-one plate in a spectacular come-from-behind run for the MotoAmerica Superbike Championship. Beaubier and Garrett Gerloff capped off the season in dominant fashion finishing first and second, respectively, at Barber Motorsports Park on September 20-22.
With the championship still in sight, Beaubier lined up again in Sunday’s race hoping for a repeat performance. That nearly went up in a puff of dirt going into the first corner as he was pushed wide into turn one. He recovered but was shuffled back to sixth. As champions do, he kept fighting while Gerloff was once again out front setting the pace. Beaubier was able to move his way through the pack fairly quickly and take the number two spot by lap five. He caught up to his teammate and moved into the lead four laps later. Once again, the pair set a fast pace and kept it on two wheels to get the job done, securing Beaubier’s fourth MotoAmerica Superbike Championship and Yamaha’s 10th AMA Superbike title. It also marked Beaubier’s sixth win of the season and his 17th podium. The cherry on top for a successful weekend was an all-Yamaha YZF-R1 podium with Mathew Scholtz joining the factory riders on the podium.
It was a solid end to an impressive year for the sophomore Superbike rider. The Texan overcame challenges and really hit his stride in the second half of the season. After scoring his first career win in the premier class in race two at Laguna Seca, he backed it up with three more victories and earned a total of 15 podiums to end the year third in the standings.
