malinoskiboss racing part with yamaha
Amsnow
Negotiations between Boss and Yamaha ended with no financial agreement for next season, which means famed Boss racer Robbie Malinoski will not return as Yamaha's main Snocrosser. It is the norm for race programs to re-negotiate contracts each year with the manufacturers, but often racers like Malinoski, who won the 2006 WPSA Pro Stock and Pro Open championships, sign multi-year contracts with crews like Boss. Details about Malinoski's contract with Boss were not released.
"I'm disappointed that things didn't work out between us." Malinoski said of Yamaha. "We've had an amazing year, making history by earning the first Pro Snocross win on a 4-stroke sled. In the end, things just didn't work out during negotiations."
Yamaha entered Snocross last season with its new Nytro race sled. It will forge ahead for next season without Malinoski.
"Our Snocross racing goal remains the same: to develop race sled technology and to prove our 4-stroke high performance capability. Now that we have a year under our belt and another 6 months' time to continue developing, the end result looks very promising. Testing has shown the new sled has tremendous improvements," said Greg Marier, Yamaha's race manager.
This development puts the rumor mill in high gear as far as where Malinoski will land for next season and whom Yamaha will recruit. Some industry insiders are betting that the Canadian Blair Morgan Racing team will pick up countryman Malinoski. Morgan and Malinoski's respect for one another is well known and such a move seems logical. Contacts with knowledge of Arctic Cat's racing efforts tell us Malinoski is not likely to return to that team, adding credibility to the Morgan rumor.
Yamaha has been courting several other riders in order to fill the gap left by Malinoski's departure, but nothing has been formalized.
Malinoski was instrumental last year in helping develop the FX Nytro with Yamaha, and his reputation brought much recognition to Yamaha's fledgling Snocross team. "We will miss Robbie and we appreciate the work he did to help us improve our FX Nytro racer. He is a very talented racer with tremendous abilities. It is unfortunate that we will not have him back with us this winter," said Yamaha's Marier.