Yamaha Motor Racing has
unexpectedly announced that Wataru Yoshikawa, the their
Japanese test rider, will join the Fiat Yamaha Team from
the Barcelona round of the MotoGP World Championship
onwards, meaning the team will only run one bike again
this weekend.
Colin Edwards had been the front runner for the vacant
seat, the team's technical bosses hinting he was their
preferred choice, the experienced American is a former Fiat Yamaha Team rider
and is now racing in MotoGP with the satellite Tech 3 Yamaha team making
a switch back to the factory outfit a relatively simple
undertaking.
Instead the two-time
former Japanese Superbike Champion will ride in the
place of the injured Valentino Rossi, with Rossi's team
and the YZR-M1, until the Italian is back to full
fitness following his broken leg, a decision that is
likely to see the Fiat Yamaha Team suffering badly in
terms of collecting teams' and manufacturers' points
over the next few races. It is expected that Yoshikawa
will be with the Fiat Yamaha Team for at least three
races, after which Yamaha hopes that more should be
known about Rossi's expected return date.
Lin Jarvis, Managing
Director of Yamaha Motor Racing Srl, said: "we have
considered many different scenarios and candidate riders
to fill the temporary vacant seat in the Fiat Yamaha
Team. We had always planned to use a rider from within
the Yamaha Motor and Tech 3 family but for each rider we
considered who is in active competition, their move to
the Fiat Yamaha Team would have created another problem
for their own racing program or for the teams in which
they are engaged. Finally, after a great deal of
consideration, we have selected Wataru Yoshikawa, our
Japanese YZR-M1 Test rider, to join us as our substitute
rider. We provisionally plan for three races (Catalunya,
Sachsenring and Laguna Seca) but we will adjust the plan
accordingly when we know more about Valentino's expected
date of return.
"The benefit of
Wataru's presence in our team will be threefold. Firstly
he brings with him a wealth of experience riding the
YZR-M1. Secondly his presence allows us to fulfill our
contractual obligations and to join the team's quest to
accumulate points for the Team Championship. Thirdly he
will gain valuable first hand MotoGP race experience in
three challenging circuits which will surely be very
useful to assist him and Yamaha with the future
development of the YMR-M1. We look forward to welcoming
Wataru into our team while we wait for Valentino's
return to full fitness."
Wataru Yoshikawa, born
in Tokyo in 1968, won the Japanese Superbike
Championship for Yamaha in 1994 and 1999. Between 1992
and 2002 he made many wild-card appearances in the World
Superbike Championship for Yamaha and in 1996 completed
a full season, finishing 9th. He raced as a wild card
once in MotoGP in 2002, finishing 12th. Since then he
has been heavily involved as a test rider for the Yamaha
MotoGP programme, giving him an in-depth knowledge of
the YZR-M1. Yoshikawa said: "I'm happy to have this
chance to stand-in for Valentino while he is recovering
and to compete in MotoGP again for the first time since
2002, when I raced at Motegi. Looking at the Fiat Yamaha
Team results with the 2010 YZR-M1, I can see that the
winter developments were correct and now I am looking
forward to having the chance to gather some ‘real
racing' data, which will be very helpful for the future
development of the M1."
