Triumph and BE1 end agreement by mutual consent Triumph Motorcycles Ltd and BE1 Racing Srl have ended their agreement to compete in the Supersport World Championship with immediate effect. The parties have been unable to agree on the terms of their contract for 2011 and, as a result, BE1 Racing and its contracted riders Chaz Davies and Luca Scassa will compete in the 2011 Supersport World Championship with another manufacturer. “It is with great regret that we make this announcement,” commented Paul Stroud, Triumph’s Sales and Marketing Director. “We had intended to continue our collaboration with BE1 Racing this season, to challenge for the title with the new Daytona 675R, but unfortunately when we came to the final contract negotiations it became clear that our respective business plans were not compatible. We have spent the past few months trying to find a solution to allow us to work together, however with the new season just around the corner and the livelihood and careers of the BE1 Racing staff and riders at stake, we felt that the best option is to end our partnership and for BE1 Racing to enter the 2011 season with another manufacturer. While we are very disappointed not to be working together, I would like to thank Giuliano Rovelli and his BE1 Racing team for their excellent work over the past few seasons. They have proven to be an extremely professional and hard working team, who have been excellent ambassadors for Triumph, and I wish them all the very best for the future.” Giuliano Rovelli, Team Owner and Manager, added: “I am really very sorry that we haven’t been able to reach an agreement with Triumph for the 2011 season because we have put so much into the project and the team was ready to push for the championship. It has been three intense years and Triumph will definitely remain in my blood. I want to thank Triumph management and I wish all the best to everybody in the factory and those subsidiaries that have trusted in the racing project. Now it’s time for my team to start a new venture.” More, from a press release issued by Yamaha: Official Yamaha YZF-R6 back on the grid with the Yamaha ParkinGO Team The 2011 World Supersport Championship will witness the welcome return of the championship winning Yamaha YZF-R6 to the grid with the Yamaha ParkinGO Team. In 2009 the Yamaha YZF-R6 was the track weapon of choice, dominating the World Supersport Championship in the hands of 2011 rookie MotoGP rider Cal Crutchlow. The pairing proved unbeatable with Crutchlow using the full potential of the Yamaha Supersport machine to score ten pole position starts and ten podiums, including five race wins, on his way to the title. The Yamaha World Supersport Team was withdrawn by its owner Yamaha Motor Europe from the championship during 2010. For the 2011 season Yamaha Motor Europe will provide the 2009 championship winning Yamaha R6 race bikes along with Yamaha genuine racing parts to the privately owned ParkinGO Team, for 2011 to be named Yamaha ParkinGO Team. The race bikes will be refreshed and bought up to 2011 level at Yamaha’s racing workshop in Germany before being delivered. Yamaha technical staff will provide behind the scenes support on an ongoing basis throughout the season while the team itself will take responsibility for organization, rider selection and race entry. The Yamaha ParkinGO Team will continue partnerships with some of its own technical partners, although Yamaha Motor Europe will also support negotiations with it’s former technical partners and the team for the season ahead. The ParkinGO Team entered the last three seasons of the World Supersport Championship with a different manufacturer, performing strongly in 2010 with four podiums by rider Chaz Davies and a victory at Imola snatched away by technical problems. The season end saw a top five finish for the team with Davies fourth in the standings and teammate David Salom just behind in fifth. The 2011 line up sees British rider Davies remain with the team, joined by new Italian teammate Luca Scassa who impressed in 2010 as one of the top privateer World Superbike riders. Team owner Giuliano Rovelli, Chief Executive Officer of Oasi S.r.l. Servizi Aeroportuali, was a rider himself in the early nineties and is involved in a number of activities including the ParkinGO Company, the first network of airport parking facilities in Italy. “This is a great opportunity for officially supported R6 machinery to return to the World Supersport Championship,” said Yamaha Motor Europe Racing Manager Laurens Klein Koerkamp. “The R6 is a winning machine which, after taking the World Supersport Championship in 2009, has continued in 2010 with many national titles alongside the European Superstock 600 Championship title, despite not competing at world level. It is our belief and our vision that in today’s circumstances supporting a private team with the materials needed to compete is the appropriate involvement in World Supersport for a manufacturer. “I have known Giuliano for a few years now; in the past we could not find the possibility to do something together. The respect for each other has continued however and when the opportunity became available we were able to come to an agreement within a very short time. It is definitely a challenge to start at this late stage with the preparations, but the team and riders are professional and they will have full access to our information database for setup to progress quickly into the season. We consider the test in Portimao this week mainly as a shakedown for both bike and riders.” “We managed to reach a mutually satisfying agreement with Yamaha Motor Europe in just ten days time,” said Giuliano Rovelli, Yamaha ParkinGO Team owner. “Having the opportunity to work with a manufacturer that has racing in its philosophy makes a big difference. I shared this important decision with the whole team. Chaz Davies and Luca Scassa are professional riders and are looking forward to having the chance to win the World Supersport Championship with a very competitive Yamaha R6!”