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After having contested in the World Supersport Championship for the last
two years, the Yamaha GMT94 team will move up to the World Superbike
Championship in 2008. In addition to this and following on from their Bol d’Or
win in 2007, Yamaha GMT94 will continue to enter the world’s two most demanding
Endurance races – the Le Mans 24 Hours and the Bol d’Or 24 Hours.
The
Guyot Motorcycling Team was founded in 1992 by Christophe Guyot - himself a
former rider and passionate sportsman - with the aim of making motorcycle racing
more accessible to the young people of France. In 2003, the team linked up with
Yamaha Motor France to become a more professional concern and has since gone
from strength to strength, including becoming Endurance World Champion in 2004.
Now known as the Yamaha GMT94 team, the squad operates a strategy focused on two
very different road race classes – sprint racing and endurance racing.
For 2008, the team is moving into the World Superbike Championship,
although they are continuing with the current team line up of David Checa and
Sébastien Gimbert. 2004 Endurance World Champion David Checa, aged 27, has raced
in World Supersport with the Yamaha GMT team for the past two seasons. The
younger brother of Carlos Checa, David’s racing pedigree includes 250GP and
European Supersport before he moved into Endurance racing in 2003. In addition,
that same year he was Pirelli’s WSB control tyre tester and participated in a
handful of WSB races. This WSB experience will stand him in good stead for 2008
as he re-enters the WSB fray once more.
Sébastien Gimbert is also a
long-time member of the Yamaha GMT94 Team, having first joined the team’s
Endurance effort in 2004 and becoming world champion in the same year. Like many
Frenchmen the 30 year-old has specialised in the Endurance scene, having won the
Bol d’Or with Checa and the GMT94 team in 2007 as well winning the Le Mans 24
Hours in 2005. But to date he also has 45 WSB races under his belt. Gimbert
achieved his best WSB result in 2004 when he scored two fourth position finishes
at Magny-Cours. This success was enough to gain him a full-time WSB ride with
Yamaha Motor France the following year, although a broken leg during the season
prevented him from showing his full potential.
As well as contesting the
WSB Championship, David Checa and Sébastien Gimbert will contest the Le Mans and
Bol d’Or races once again in 2008, this time with British rider Steve Plater. In
2007 the Yamaha GMT94 Team won the Bol d’Or for the first time in style with a
five lap lead, after having already won as a team twice the Le Mans 24hrs and
numerous other Endurance events.
Yamaha GMT94 will receive some support
from Yamaha Motor Europe who recognise the importance of Endurance racing in
France and the dream of team owner Guyot to grow steadily to become a future top
contender in World Superbikes.
Profiles
David Checa
Date of Birth:
20/04/1980
Nationality: Spanish
Residence: Barcelona, Spain
Career
Highlights
2007: 12th, World Supersport Championship, 1st Bol d’Or 24 Hours
2006: 11th, World Supersport Championship and 3rd, Le Mans 24 Hours
2005: 1st, Le Mans 24 Hours and 2nd, Bol d’Or 24 Hours
2004: World
Champion Endurance and 1st, Oschersleben 24 Hours and Zhuhaï 6 Hours rounds
2003: 3rd, World Champion Endurance
Sébastien Gimbert
Date of
Birth: 09/09/1977
Nationality: French
Residence: Puy de Velay, France
Career Highlights
2007: 20th, World Supersport Championship, 1st Bol
d’Or 24 Hours
2006: 3rd, Le Mans 24 Hours and 19th, World Superbike
Championship
2005: 1st, Le Mans 24 Hours
2004: World Champion Endurance
2003: 2nd, French Super-production Championship and 1st, Bol d'Or and Spa
24-hour races
From YRC News
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