When Yamaha’s MotoGP team lost its sponsorship from Petronas, it seemed like the buzzards had begun circling around the Japanese company’s racing efforts. Thankfully for GP racing fans, our friends at MotoMatters got word that Petronas’ departure was making way for a new sponsor, JX Nippon Oil & Energy Corporation.

Now formally announcing that JX Nippon Oil will sponsor Yamaha Racing’s factory MotoGP squad, our pre-season attention can now shift to see if Jorge Lorenzo and Ben Spies will have some new livery on display when Yamaha makes its formal 2012 team unveiling…oh, and how fast the 2012 Yamaha YZR-M1 will be against the factory Ducati Desmosedici GP12 and Honda RC213V. Something mildly related to all this is after the jump.

MotoGP rider Anthony West announced today his withdrawal from racing for the 2012 season, and likely his retirement from racing altogether. The Australian rider has had an up and down career, with two seasons in the premier class, along with the occasional forays and the 2009 season in World Supersport racing.

His best season, the 2003 250cc championship, saw West place seventh overall, scoring a single win and four total podium finishes during his run. Ant West spent the past two seasons riding in the Moto2 Championship for MZ-RE Honda, and was about to return to the premier class with the Speed Master team on a Aprilia CRT bike, but now says he won’t be able to compete because of a lack of personal sponsorship..

Last week we got news that Yamaha Racing and Petronas were concluding their three-year collaboration in MotoGP, as the Malaysian oil company’s contract with Yamaha came to an end, and was not to be renewed. Following Yamaha’s abysmal ability to keep or gain sponsorships for its racing efforts lately, the initial reaction to the news of Petronas’ departure was very grave in the MotoGP paddock. However, our friends at MotoMatters have confirmed that Yamaha will be replacing Petronas (not the Harry Potter spell, thanks irks) with Nippon Oil subsidiary brand ENEOS.

Calling it the “natural conclusion” of their partnership, Yamaha’s MotoGP team and Malaysian oil giant Petronas have split ways after three years of racing sponsorship. Concluding a deal that is reportedly worth $8 million a year to the factory MotoGP team, Yamaha’s loss of Petronas will surely be felt in the team’s pocketbook, assuming of course that the Japanese manufacturer cannot replace the company with another on its sponsor roster.

After losing title sponsor Fiat for the 2011 season (due almost entirely to Yamaha’s inability to retain Valentino Rossi), Petronas and Yamaha Motor Kenkana Indonesia (Yamaha’s Indonesian arm) were left as the team’s main backers and official sponsors. Now with the loss of Petronas, many of the names on the side of the Yamaha YZR-M1 are those belonging to the tuning fork brand, leaving the financial burden for Yamaha’s MotoGP racing effort to come squarely out of one Yamaha coffer or another.

Surely to be taken as a sign of the decreased value of racing in MotoGP to race sponsors, this news has to be especially troubling for Yamaha, as it continues to lose its biggest sponsorship accounts, one after another. While it would appear that the Japanese manufacturer will have to foot another $8 million a year out its internal budget, the only silver lining to the situation could be the hope that the loss of Petronas is making way for a more lucrative sponsor. We wouldn’t hold our breath on that one though.

We heard rumors that Segway was sponsoring the MotoCzysz Isle of Man TT effort, but passed them off as too crazy to be true, as the rumors also suggested a three-bike team at the Isle, which we knew not to be true. Now we get official word that Segway is indeed sponsoring the Portland-based company, but not just at the Isle of Man TT, but throughout the 2011 racing season. We’re not sure which races that will be exactly for MotoCzysz, but you can count on an appearance at the FIM/TTXGP Laguna Seca round at the very least.

The press release goes on to say that “this combination results in a world class team of mechanical, electrical, and software engineers whose years of experience and knowledge will lead both companies to successes not only at the track but also with new vehicles in the marketplace,” which to us sounds like MotoCzysz has been busy hot-rodding a different kind of two-wheeled electric vehicle up in Portland. I can’t speak for the whole A&R crew, but personally I’d pay good money to see Michael Czysz on a Segway.

Despite newly announced title sponsor Samsung, British Superbike squad Crescent Racing will not enter John Hopkins as a wildcard entry for the Donington Park round of World Superbike racing as previously expected. Instead, both the American rider and his new teammate, reigning BST Champion Jon Kirkham, will be entered for the British WSBK round at Silverstone later in the season.

Originally, the team had announced that Hopkins would race at Donington, but with a rider new to the team testing today at Cartagena, it seems as though Crescent Suzuki has decided to wait to join the WSBK fray. They will continue their testing March 8th at Guadix, Spain in advance of the BSB opener at Brands Hatch on April 25th.