From a press release issued by Yamaha Belgarda:

YAMAHA BELGARDA SIGNS FABIEN FORET!

Fabien Foret was born on the 29th January 1973 in Angouleme (France) and made his Supersport World Championship debut in 2000. He won the Supersport World Championship title in 2000. Fabien Foret “I am very happy to sign for Yamaha Belgarda because I know how competitive the bike is already and so I will be able to concentrate on trying to win the world title straightaway. I cannot wait for the November tests when I’ll be able to throw my leg over the R6 for the first time. I am sure that the Yamaha-Foret partnership is going to be a very successful one and give us all a lot of pleasure.”

The other Yamaha Belgarda rider in 2004 is Dutchman Jurgen van den Goorbergh who was re-signed after his excellent results in 2003 – his debut season on four-stroke production based bikes. Jurgen van den Goorbergh “2003 has been a year of apprenticeship for me on 4-strokes and in a new class, but I was still able to fight for the championship. Thanks to all the good experience I gained this year, I’ll be able to go all-out for the title in 2004.”

Claudio Consonni (Yamaha Belgarda S.p.A Racing Manager) “We are sure and happy that we have two riders who can win the Supersport World Championship in 2004. They are a perfect mix of an attacker and a thinker! It’s the first time in Belgarda’s Racing history without an Italian rider. A sorry fact, but we are are more and more an international team and we must try and compete with the strongest squad. It doesn’t mean that there are no up and coming riders in Italy, but just that our present structure does not allow for Italian rider at present.”

Now let’s all look forward to the winter tests!