Onward and upward for Marlboro Yamaha Team.

Marlboro Yamaha Team riders Max Biaggi and Carlos Checa roll up at Catalunya this weekend aiming to maintain their impressive forward progress of recent weeks. Some superb work from Yamaha's racing department in Japan has pushed the mighty YZR-M1 towards the front of the MotoGP pack at the last two GPs in France and Italy, where Biaggi and Checa both qualified in the top three.

A fortnight back at Mugello, Biaggi scored the M1's best-ever finish, coming home a close-run second, and now he wants to go one better. Checa had set the early pace at Mugello, taking provisional pole on day one, and though some cruel luck consigned him to a fourth-place finish, he knows he's ready to fight for victory when things go his way.

The main reasons for the M1's extra performance are a new chassis and seat/tank unit, used for the first time at Mugello, and new parts for the bike's innovative computer-controlled engine-braking system, run for the first time at Le Mans. Last week both Biaggi and Checa tested at Valencia to further improve the performance of these latest upgrades, and they will have each of their bikes equipped with the new chassis and seat/tank units this weekend.

After Sunday's racing the MotoGP season moves into its northern European phase, with the next three events in the Netherlands, on Saturday June 29th, Britain, on Sunday July 14th and Germany, on Sunday July 21st.