Bervoets says goodbye to factory Yamaha team.

In yesterday's MX GP event at Ernee, France, Marnicq Bervoets said au revoir to the factory Yamaha L&M team, for whom he has raced since 2000.

The Belgian veteran suffered a poor start but rode strongly to make up places and sign off with a sixth place, moving him up to finish seventh in the overall standings.

"This was my last ride for the team and I would have liked to go out on a high note but things didn't quite work out that way," Marnicq admitted. "My start was not so good and this is a difficult track to pass on. I lost even more ground after a few laps as I chased after the leaders. Vincent Turpin was getting in everybody's way and as he forced McFarlane off the track I was in the wrong place at the wrong time and nearly had to stop to avoid crashing myself."

Bervoets looks set to ride a semi-works Yamaha in 2004 with a to be announced team.