2011 Yamaha MotoGP
Rumors have saturated the MotoGP paddock for the past few weeks regarding some management changes at the Yamaha Factory team, and on Monday, one was confirmed.
After the final round of the 2010 MotoGP Championship in Valencia, the current team manager of Valentino Rossi will be leaving Yamaha. Davide Brivio, who has been with Yamaha for 19 years, has not made any official statement about where he’s going in 2011.
During his time with Yamaha, Brivio had various roles, including team manager of the factory World Superbike Team, then Team Manager at the factory MotoGP team and the Team Manager of Rossi and his crew.
In a statement, Yamaha says: “Yamaha would like to express its sincere thanks and appreciation for the long collaboration and specifically for his involvement in the highly successful partnership with Valentino Rossi over the past seven years. We wish Davide all the best for the future.”
Taking over Brivio’s MotoGP spot on Yamaha is the current factory World Superbike team manager, Massimo “Maio” Meregalli. The man’s career with the World Superbike Team reached a high in 2009, securing the World Championship title with American rider Ben Spies; the Texan is joining the Yamaha MotoGP factory team in 2011 besides this year’s champ Jorge Lorenzo, so he will be united with Meregalli.
Over the five year tenure under Massimo’s management, the World Superbike Yamaha team achieved an impressive 24 Superpoles, 104 podiums and 33 race wins with riders including Spies, Noriyuki Haga, Troy Corser, Cal Crutchlow, Andrew Pitt and James Toseland. The team also secured the World Superbike Constructors’ Championship in 2008 for Yamaha.
Massimo was team manager of the Yamaha Motor Italia Supersport Team and, more recently, as Team Manager of the championship-winning World Superbike Team. Massimo will begin his new role on Monday, Nov. 8. Yamaha says he will work together with Team Manager Wilco Zeelenberg to form an experienced and unified management team for 2011 and beyond.
Taking over Massimo’s position at World Superbike will be Andrea Dosoli, 38, who brings a wealth of road racing experience to his new role with the team. Dosoli has been chief mechanic, responsible for data acquisition, MotoGP team manager and Moto2 team manager/co-owner for the duration of the 2010 season.
Andrea will take on the responsibility of team management with the World Superbike Team on Nov. 10. Further details of the complete 2011 actory MotoGP Team organization will be issued on Monday Nov. 8, in Valencia.