Meanwhile, Gimbert suffered an injury-plagued 2005 campaign but showed his speed early in the year with a lap record in Qatar and a sixth place in Valencia. The Frenchman will again also feature in Yamaha Motor France's squad at the classic 24-hour races of Le Mans and Bol d'Or.

"I am looking forward to a second year in World Superbikes and also staying with the Yamaha Motor France team," he stated. "My leg injury weakened my performances last season but now I am fully fit and feeling strong. The experiences of myself and the team will allow us to go to each circuit with invaluable knowledge and I believe that we can give a greater representation of our abilities."

Yamaha Motor France's squad will again be run by experienced tuner Martial Garcia, whose company is responsible, in conjunction with Yamaha's Japanese headquarters, for the development of Yamaha's YEC racing kit parts development programme for the R1 and R6.

The team expects to use these parts as the base of their 2006 machines and will use the series as an opportunity to test and develop the 2007 range of customer race parts.