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Følgende i en pressemeddelelse fra Yamaha mandag morgen:

YAMAHA CONFIRMS VALENTINO ROSSI
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> Yamaha Motor Co., Ltd. has concluded an agreement with 2003 World Champion
Valentino Rossi to head its MotoGP line-up in 2004 and 2005. Rossi will join
Yamaha's wholly-owned factory racing team from 1st January and will begin
the 2004 championship on board the Yamaha YZR-M1 in South Africa on 18th
April.
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> Rossi eventually won nine of the 16 races in this year's MotoGP World
Championship having sealed his third consecutive premier class title with a
victory in the Malaysian Grand Prix on 12 October. He celebrated the feat
with emphatic race wins the following weekend in Australia and at the season
finale in Valencia, Spain on Sunday, 2 November. The 24-year-old Italian's
three MotoGP crowns followed a glittering career in the smaller classes that
saw him take 125cc and 250cc World Championships before stepping up to
motorcycle racing's premier series.
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> Rossi and Honda held a joint press conference at the Valencia circuit
after last weekend's race to announce the end of their four-year
relationship. The formal announcement cleared the way for Yamaha to conclude
an agreement with Rossi.
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> "We are all extremely happy that Valentino will be joining Yamaha in
2004," commented Mr Lin Jarvis, Managing Director of Yamaha Motor Racing.
"In our discussions with him it is clear that he relishes the challenge of
achieving our goal in MotoGP as much as we do. He is an incredible talent
and will make a huge difference. Obviously there is a lot of hard work ahead
of us, but we are confident that we can give Valentino the means to achieve
more World Championships and we look forward to the challenge ahead. This is
a very important step in our plan to re-establish Yamaha as a leading force
in Grand Prix racing."
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> Rossi will be joining Spaniard Carlos Checa in the Yamaha factory team
based near Monza in Italy and run by team director Davide Brivio. Checa's
current team-mate, Italian Marco Melandri, will move to the Tech 3 Yamaha
team (currently the Gauloises Yamaha Team). Managed by team principal Hervé
Poncharal, the French based squad is a close partner of Yamaha. The
combination ensures a strong line-up for Yamaha in 2004 and both teams will
continue under the Yamaha-Altadis umbrella sponsorship agreement with the
Gauloises and Fortuna brands. Final colours and co-sponsors for the 2004
season have yet to be announced.