Fiat publicly announced its break-up, via Twitter, with Yamaha over the holidays, putting an end to the four-year relationship.

Since the news of Valentino Rossi’s defection in 2011, most observers were expecting Fiat to dissolve the partnership with the high-performance motorcycle manufacturer. And the Italian automaker didn’t seem too impressed by the racing team’s decision to keep the reigning champion, Jorge Lorenzo, within its ranks, and to sign Rookie of the Year Ben Spies, who’ll be racing a factory machine for the very first time. So the news didn’t come as much of a surprise to the motorcycle world.

Since 2007, Fiat was Yamaha’s main sponsor in the 800-cc class of the MotoGP series. At the time, the Italian automaker was looking to reach a younger crowd than the Formula 1 supporters.

Source: Asphalt and Rubber