Fiat and Yamaha End Partnership Hot

The Fiat Yamaha team is no more. Yamaha has just announced that Fiat will no longer be its title sponsor for the 2011 MotoGP season.

The Fiat Yamaha team won all three MotoGP titles in 2010, and had retained the returning champion Jorge Lorenzo for the 2011 season. But with the exit of Valentino Rossi, many people believed that Fiat would also leave the Yamaha team. That thought was confirmed today when the Yamaha team announced that Fiat would no longer be its title sponsor.

The Fiat Yamaha team had this update on their Twitter page: “The team will change title sponsor and therefore it won't be "Fiat Yamaha Team" anymore.”

Fiat began its partnership with the Yamaha MotoGP team in 2007. The Fiat sponsored Yamaha team has won both the Rider's and the Team's World Championship every year since 2008. 

For the moment, Yamaha does not have a title sponsor. Air Asia, Telefonica, and a few other companies have been rumored to take Fiat's spot, but no contracts have been signed as of yet. It is also unclear if Fiat will begin sponsoring another team, or if they will throw their weight behind Rossi's new home, Ducati. 

The Yamaha team may not currently have a sponsor, but they do have the returning champion and one of the best young riders in the MotoGP with Ben Spies. If Yamaha finds another sponsor, or if they fly under the corporate banner, they are sure to be contenders during the 2011 season.