Everything changed in the 2010 season: new team, new environment, new machines and a new race class. Yuki switched to Tech 3 in France and went straight into battle on the newly established Moto2 class race circuit. His goal, naturally enough, was to be crowned the first ever Moto2 champion. Yuki’s machine was a true Tech 3 original; little is known about the machine because, apart from his team-mate De Rosa, it is used by relatively few riders. When set up properly, however, the machine has the potential to deliver a genuine advantage at race time, so Yuki spent a great deal of effort during the lead-up period working to get the machine into the best possible condition.

As in previous years, the opening race in Qatar was a night race. Yuki finished 11th in the first practice round on Friday night but improved to second place in the free practice session on Saturday morning, and was feeling fairly confident about the race itself. Machine setup and tire selection was based on his race strategy, and the minimum line was set at the second row. Despite being caught by other riders during the time attack, Yuki ended up in fifth position on the grid, largely in line with expectations.

Yuki was just settling in after a reasonable start when De Angelis and Bradl collided right in front of him. Thanks in part to this accident, Yuki was able to head into the home straight of the opening lap in fourth position. He remained with the top group thereafter and matched it with his rivals. After dropping back to fifth at one point, he regained fourth position in the fifth lap and gained third position in the sixth lap. On the eighth lap, just as he was about to clinch second place after getting inside Elias at the hairpin on Corner 6, Yuki fell over the front of his bike. He ran back to his machine and tried to restart, only to discover that the clutch lever was bent out of shape and broken beyond repair…