KYT OFFERS 2016 OVERALL CHAMPION A GOLDEN TICKET TO WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP

KUALA LUMPUR, MALAYSIA, Satheswaran Mayachandran, chief executive officer of Asia Sports Group (ASG) confirms a sponsorship deal with KYT, one of the world’s largest helmet production manufacturing company, in conjunction with the upcoming FIM Asia Supermoto Championship 2016. Amongst the sponsorship deal, the Indonesian-based helmet producer will offer a lucrative prize for the overall race champion; a full-expense wildcard entry to contend in a world championship race.

With the surging supermoto market in Asia, KYT plays a pivotal role in elevating the race’s standard in the eyes of our fans and enthusiasts. We are pleased that a major brand as such has entrusted our race as the epitome for motorsport marketing to further enhance sales, marketing and brand positioning in the Asia market,” said Mayachandran.

The Movistar Yamaha MotoGP team arrived in Assen in high spirits after securing their fourth consecutive victory of the season in Catalunya a little more than two weeks ago. Riders Jorge Lorenzo and Valentino Rossi are looking forward to returning to action at the 'Cathedral of Speed' this weekend as they aim to take over the lead in the championship standings.

Following a thrilling race and a productive test in Barcelona a fortnight ago, the Movistar Yamaha MotoGP team head North for the Motul TT Assen. Last year's race in the Netherlands saw Valentino Rossi storm to a brilliant victory, whilst Jorge Lorenzo made it a double podium for Yamaha. This year the Factory Yamaha teammates are again keen to feature at the front of the pack during an extra special eighth round of the MotoGP World Championship as it will be the first time the Dutch GP is held on a Sunday instead of the traditional Saturday race.

Lorenzo is looking to bounce back on Dutch soil following an unlucky DNF in Catalunya at the last round. The Mallorcan holds second place in the championship and hopes to step on the top step of the rostrum in Assen for the fifth time in his Grand Prix racing career. He previously secured a win in 125cc (2004), 250cc (2006 and 2007) and MotoGP class (2010) and is eager to apply some of the findings from the post-Catalunya test to his set-up for this weekend.

What is it with the MotoGP bikes? Backward spinning engines? And they're growing wings now! No, we're not quite to the point of having flying motorcycles and there should not be any need for the race suits to be equipped with parachutes anytime soon – the airbags will suffice, as those wings are designed to prevent take off.

Every manufacturer in MotoGP is trying them to keep both wheels on the ground under acceleration, something that the backward spinning crankshaft they all have adopted is also helping. The sophisticated wheelie control that the factory bikes were using until the end of last year has been replaced with the unified software imposed by the 2016 MotoGP regulations, a simpler system that does not have the ability to self-adjust as was the case before. Until the end of last season the electronic package of the top teams had evolved to a point where it was learning by itself.

The ECU (electronic control unit) was programmed for each corner of a particular track, as it still is with the new unified software, but was able to assess its own interventions, from lap to lap, and to make necessary adjustments in real time, as the race progressed. The electronic technicians still had to work at optimizing the way the system worked to give the desired feeling to their riders but the fine tuning of the interventions was coming from the ECU itself.

Movistar Yamaha MotoGP's Valentino Rossi returned to the top rostrum today after a brilliant performance at the Circuito de Barcelona-Catalunya, celebrating his second victory of the season. Teammate Jorge Lorenzo suffered from a premature ending to the Gran Premi Monster Energy de Catalunya after a race incident caused by Andrea Iannone.

Movistar Yamaha MotoGP's Valentino Rossi charged to an impeccable victory today at the Circuito de Barcelona-Catalunya, taking his second win of the season at the Gran Premi Monster Energy de Catalunya.

Jorge Lorenzo also set a strong pace over the first stages of the race, but he was unable to hold his lead due to front tyre grip issues. Riding in fifth place, he was looking to take home vital points for the championship, until Andrea Iannone clipped him and caused a DNF for them both.

The historic Le Mans circuit in France awaits MotoGP riders for the fifth round of the 2016 World Championship this weekend and following the positive GP of Spain, Team SUZUKI ECSTAR’s Aleix Espargaró and Maverick Viñales are both enthusiastic to take advantage of the work done in last Monday’s test.

Espargaró arrives in France after very positive improvements he made in Spain. After a tough start to the season, he has found confidence back in his GSX-RR, and at Jerez, finally got back to his normal competitiveness. He is also determined to put last year’s Le Mans event behind him, when he suffered a bad crash in FP3; which affected his overall performance.

Viñales, in contrast, had positive feelings about the track last year and he is now eager to test the GSX-RR’s improvements at such a tight track. The recent race in Jerez left him the desire to further improve, as he is getting closer-and-closer to the fastest riders on track. The progress made so far has given him hope for better results, and Le Mans holds good memories; a circuit where he has tasted victory in the past.

Fresh from their stunning 1-2 finish in yesterday's Gran Premio de España, Movistar Yamaha MotoGP riders Valentino Rossi and Jorge Lorenzo were back on track today at the Circuito de Jerez for a one-day Official IRTA test. Yesterday's second place podium finisher Lorenzo was the second fastest rider of the day whilst race winner Rossi wrapped up his post-celebrations testing day in fourth.

The Movistar Yamaha MotoGP Team spent an extra day in Jerez today, following on from yesterday's stunning 1-2 race victory in the Gran Premio de España to take part in a one-day Official IRTA Test.

Aside from the three options of front tyre Michelin brought for the MotoGP field to test, the Movistar Yamaha team also focused on several elements to evaluate over the day. Lorenzo and Rossi tested multiple electronic settings for their YZR-M1s and made a further test of a rear fuel tank.

Movistar Yamaha MotoGP's Valentino Rossi highlighted why he is the most successful rider at Circuito de Jerez today and rode one of the strongest races of his career to receive a standing ovation as he jumped onto the top step of the podium for the Gran Premio de España. Jorge Lorenzo also put in a stunning effort under the Andalusian sunshine and made it a perfect 1-2 for the Movistar Yamaha MotoGP team.

The Movistar Yamaha MotoGP team dominated the scenes in Spain as Valentino Rossi and Jorge Lorenzo set off from first and second place of the grid. They didn't relinquish the first two places once to any other riders and gave Yamaha a perfect one-two podium.

Starting from pole the nine-time world champion had a strong start and took the holeshot with his team-mate following his every move like a shadow. Two laps of tense racing action followed as they pushed each other to the limit. Rossi tried to make his YZR-M1 as wide as possible as Lorenzo tried to steal the lead. He had a brief success, but Rossi immediately responded. Realising the threat that was coming from behind, the Doctor dropped the fastest lap of the race on lap three, a 1'40.090s, and created a 0.7s gap to his pursuers. With clear track in front of him and behind him, Rossi put the hammer down and checked out.

Reigning MotoGP world champion Jorge Lorenzo will make the switch from Yamaha to Ducati for the 2017 and 2018 MotoGP seasons.

Rumors began circulating before the MotoGP season had even started that Ducati had prepared a highly lucrative offer for Jorge Lorenzo, backed by the combined finances of longtime sponsor tobacco giant Phillip Morris and Ducati owners Audi, both of whom are keen to see the team return to winning races and championships.

The deal was confirmed last week after a nearly simultaneous statements from Yamaha and Ducati.

Malaysia-based Motorsport Event Organiser to Host First Round of FIM Asia Supermoto Championships in Australia.

Asia Supersports Group (ASG) recently secured a 3-year deal with the Newcastle City Council to host the first round of FIM Asia Supermoto Championships in the second most populous area of New South Wales, Australia. Satheswaran Mayachandran, chief executive officer of ASG, disclosed that the group has selected Australia as the first round which will be held on 3 and 4 September 2016.

ASG, the exclusive rights holder of the FIM Asia Supermoto Championships sanctioned by the Federation Internationale de Motocyclisme of Asia (FIM Asia), has embarked on a journey to promote supermoto as a major motorsport event in the region. The first series of championship held in 2015 featured over 18 top international riders from 12 countries including Brunei, China, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, Latvia, Malaysia, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Taiwan, Thailand and United Kingdom.

Marc Marquez stormed to a masterful victory at the Circuit of the Americas this afternoon to secure a tenth consecutive race victory on U.S. asphalt and extend his lead in the 2016 MotoGP World Championship.

The 23-year-old grabbed first place from reigning World Champion Jorge Lorenzo (Yamaha) exiting the first corner. Lorenzo counter-attacked later the same lap at the Turn 11 hairpin but ran wide and Marquez retook the lead. From there he set about establishing an astonishingly fast pace that no one could get close to matching. By lap ten he was almost four seconds ahead of Lorenzo and in the closing stages he had extended his advantage to eight seconds, before he eased off on the final lap to cross the line 6.1 seconds ahead, only slightly less than his winning advantage in Argentina last Sunday.

Marquez’s 135th Grand Prix gave him his 52nd win across all three classes, his 26th MotoGP victory and his 32nd pole position in the premier class. It also extended his championship advantage to 21 points over Lorenzo after three races.