From Phil Read's 250cc world title
in 1964 to the recent successes of Stefan
Everts and Olivier Jacque, Yamaha has
scored numerous major titles on both
dirt and asphalt.
24/11/2003 Donny Schmit - a champion
remembered
The world of motocross will forever
remember the name of Donny Schmit, the
1992 250cc World Motocross Champion
whose life was tragically ended just
four years after taking his Yamaha YZ250
to the most treasured title in the sport.
Born 17 January 1967, in Minnesota,
USA, Schmit showed great promise in
the AMA championships, winning the West
Coast Supercross championship in 1986
and the AMA Rookie of the Year award
two years later.
16/10/2003 Bartolini leads the revolution
When Andrea Bartolini's 500cc Motocross
World Championship victory in 1999 was
no ordinary success - if there is even
such a thing. The victory marked the
first world championship success for
Yamaha's YZ-F range of four-stroke motocrossers
- and signaled the start of a revolution
that would see four-stroke machines
take over as the weapons of choice.
23/09/2003 Stefan's magnificent seventh
Few motocross seasons have been as
eagerly anticipated as the one we have
just enjoyed. For years the 500cc and
250cc championships had run in parallel,
each providing champions who could justifiably
claim to be the best rider in the world.
But that was to change in 2003. The
old classes were phased out and replaced
by a new championship, called Motocross
GP, featuring 250cc two-strokes versus
450cc four-strokes. Yamaha retained
the services of six-times world champion
Stefan Everts, who had won the old 500cc
title for the past two seasons and pre-season
the focus was on whether the Belgian
really could beat the reigning 250 champion
Mickael Pichon and his two-stroke Suzuki.
18/08/2003 Everts becomes 'The Best
Ever'
Success in the 2001 500cc World Championship
had given Stefan Everts yet another
nickname to add to his collection. 'Mr.
875' was an acknowledgement of his world
titles in the 125, 250 and 500 classes,
but for 2002 the Belgian had another
target in mind - could he become 'The
Best Ever'?
Joel Robert had won 50GPs and six world
titles in his glittering career during
the Sixties and Seventies and those
records were Everts' focus for the season.
By round three of the championship,
in Teutschental, Germany, Everts had
taken the 51st win of his career and
it wasn't long before he'd raised the
record to 54 GP victories.
14/08/2003 Teuchert wins dramatic
finale
Supersport racing is always unpredictable,
but never has a championship come down
to such a nail-biting end as the 2000
Supersport World Championship, a sensational
season that saw Alpha Technik Yamaha's
Jörg Teuchert win the rider's title
and Yamaha take the honours in the constructors
standings.
Normally failing to score three times
in an 11 race series would rule a rider
out of championship honours but despite
this handicap Teuchert was able to win
this most memorable season of 600cc
production-based racing.
The German had an outstanding start
to the season (two wins and three other
podium finishes in the first seven races)
and such was the unpredictability of
the opposition that he was able to go
to the final race with a mathematical
hope of lifting the title, despite a
run of misfortune that had seen him
fail to score in the three races preceding
the Brands Hatch showdown.
