ing CEO Massimo Rivola said,
"We need to know if the rider is
on the market. If he is on the mar-
ket, if he is available then we will
try our best to convince him."
This season Vinales has
hired a new personal manager,
Giovanni Balestra, while his
father Angel, who was not part of
his inner circle in recent times,
was present in his garage over
the weekend at Assen.
Of the split, Yamaha's Manag-
ing Director Lin Jarvis said, "It
is with sadness that we will say
farewell to Maverick at the end
of the year. We are in the middle
of our fifth season together and
over the years we have achieved
many highs but also had to man-
age many lows.
"After the German GP, which
was the most difficult weekend
of our partnership, we had
important discussions in Assen
and came to the conclusion that
it would be in the interest of both
parties to go our separate ways
in the future. Yamaha will put
in their maximum effort—as we
always have done—to give full
support to Maverick and finish
this season in the very best way
possible."
In his time at Yamaha, Vinales
has won eight times and claimed
16 further podium finishes. But
across those four and a half
seasons, he has worked with
three different crew chiefs as he
searched for the magic formula
to help him rediscover the form
that saw him win three of his first
five races for the factory. Not
once has he sustained a cham-
pionship challenge.
Neil Morrison
VOLUME 58 ISSUE 26 JUNE 29, 2021 P25
Webb Nominated For ESPY Award
T
wo-time (2019 and 2021)
Monster Energy AMA Super-
cross Champion Cooper Webb
has been nominated for the pres-
tigious ESPY Award in the Best
Athlete, Men's Action Sports
Category. The ESPY Awards,
which was created by ESPN in
1993, are given for Excellence in
Sports Performance.
Webb joins an elite few mo-
torcycle racers who have been
nominated in the past: Chad
Reed, Ricky Carmichael, Travis
Pastrana, James Stewart, Ryan
Dungey, Ryan Villopoto and now
Webb. Of these, only Pastrana
and Dungey have won the award.
Dungey won it two years in a row
in 2015 and 2016.
Webb is competing in the Best
Athlete, Men's Action Sports
category against Japanese
snowboarder, Yuto Totsuka,
Norwegian snowboarder Marcus
Kleveland and two-time World
Surfing League champion Ga-
briel Medina.
This year marks the 29th itera-
tion of the ESPY Awards which
will be broadcast live on Satur-
day, July 10 at 8:00 p.m. ET on
ABC from The Rooftop at Pier 17
at the Seaport in New York City.
Sports fans can vote across 32
different categories for their fa-
vorite athletes, plays and sports
moments from this past year.
Fan Voting Taking Place Now
Through Friday, July 9 at ESPYS.
com.
CN
Cooper Webb has
been nominated for an
ESPY Award in the Best
Athlete, Men's Action
Sports category.
