Yamaha ditch Gauloises

Yamaha said in a statement on Friday that Franco-Spanish tobacco giant Altadis/Seita's sponsorship of its two factory teams would not continue in 2006.

Yamaha have been backed by the Fortuna (Spain) and Gauloises (France) brands for the last three seasons, with Italian Rossi winning the title with them in 2004 and 2005 after switching from Honda.

European legislation banning tobacco advertising in the EU came into force this year and several cigarette brands have thus withdrawn from motor sport.

In Formula One, West's sponsorship of McLaren has ended while British American Tobacco have sold their BAR team to Honda. A Yamaha team spokeswoman said however that Friday's announcement was purely a commercial matter.

Yamaha will announce their 2006 MotoGP programme next month. Rossi's contract expires at the end of next year and he has been testing with the Ferrari F1 team, who are in partnership with US cigarette brand Malboro leading to speculation that Rossi will no longer suffer a conflict of interest should he ride with both.