Yamaha Monster Energy MX Team re-signs Philippaerts and Paulin for 2011

Yamaha Motor Europe is happy to announce that David Philippaerts and
Gautier Paulin will again represent the factory Yamaha Monster Energy
Motocross Team for the 2011 FIM MX-GP World Championship.

The Italian and Frenchman will extend
their current association with the Italian set-up into next year’s
campaign. Philippaerts will be aiming to recapture the MX1-GP title he
secured in his first season with Yamaha in 2008 while Paulin is slated
to attempt the MX2-GP series in which he was primed to be a major
protagonist this term until an unfortunate pre-season leg break caused
him to miss the first four rounds.

Philippaerts gave the new and innovative
rear-slating YZ450FM its debut Grand Prix win last month in France and
is currently third in the world championship table with four podium
appearances from the ten rounds run so far. The 25 year old has also
grabbed two pole positions. Paulin has been building up to speed since
his return at the Catalan round in mid-May and grabbed his first
silverware (and for the team since they last contested the MX2-GP
category in 2005) with third position on the YZ250FM last week in
Sweden.

“2011 will be my fourth year with Yamaha
and I am happy to have made a new deal,” said Philippaerts. “We have
been working hard this season to get the new bike up to its best level
and we have had some very good races and some moments of bad luck on
the way. The important thing for me is that I feel at home with the
team. They want to win as much as I do and the support is there every
week for me to be able to do my best. I think we will have an even
better year in 2011.”

"The accident at the start of season was
a big shame because we had all been working hard to be in the best
shape but we are returning now to the level we originally planned for,”
commented Paulin. “I am pleased we have reached a deal for 2011 and I
know I am in the best place to achieve what I want and reach the same
goals that Yamaha and Monster Energy are also pushing for."

“We are really happy that David and
Gautier will again be among our main title contenders for 2011,”
commented Yamaha Motor Europe Racing Manager Laurens KleinKoerkamp.
“They are two professional and pleasant individuals and are doing a
good job in 2010 with the new machinery and some difficult
circumstances in the case of Gautier who was so unlucky with his
injury. We will be in the second year of developing the YZ450FM and the
YZ250FM and to have riders who are already down the road with this
technology is of course an advantage.”

“It is clear that signing these two very
good riders for another year is important and positive for the team and
Yamaha,” said Rinaldi Group Principal Michele Rinaldi. “David will
enter another year with what is now still a new bike, and Gautier will
be at the form and speed that he is reaching at this moment. I would
also like to thank Yamaha Motor Europe and our sponsors, especially
Monster Energy, for their excellent support and for allowing our
project and team to go on at the highest level.”