Cudlin is no stranger to the IDM, winning the Supersport championship on a Yamaha in 2010 and challenging for the Superbike title in 2011 and 2013 in between his MotoGP commitments.

Focused on the Endurance World Championship in 2014, where he finished second for the Suzuki Endurance Racing Team, Cudlin made some IDM appearances for the Weber-Diener Team, winning in Nurburgring - the first for Kawasaki in six years.

Widely tipped to remain with SERT and Weber-Diener for 2015, Cudlin chose to accept an offer "too good to refuse" from Michael Galinski, manager of Team Yamaha Motor Germany.

"I'm very happy to have signed this deal and to have the support of Team Yamaha Motor Germany behind me in 2015. I've admired Michael's team for many years and I know that they go to the racetrack for one reason; to win. That's the priority for them, and obviously it's the priority for me," Cudlin explained.

Cudlin will ride Yamaha's widely anticipated new YZF-R1M in the series and is scheduled to make his debut on the machine in February.

"With Yamaha's release of the new R1, the timing couldn't be better to be a part of this team and, as you can imagine, I'm really excited to ride the new bike for the first time. It looks like an amazing machine."

Michael Galinski was also happy to confirm the experienced Aussie in his rider line up.

"We are pleased to have a rider of Damian's calibre in our team. He's proven himself time and again on many different machines and we're pleased we finally have the chance to work with him. We're looking forward to the new season and we have no doubt Damian will be a strong contender for the championship on the new R1M."

Cudlin will spend his off-season in Australia, preparing himself physically whilst rallying sponsors to support his 2015 campaign.

"I feel like I could finally have the package I need to win the Superbike championship and I want to thank Michael and Yamaha Motor Germany for giving me the opportunity to try and do that." Cudlin said. "It's going to be an exciting season and I can't wait to get started."

Meanwhile  Taree's Josh Hook finished with two top 10 placings in the MFJ All Japan Road Race Championship at Suzuka

Hook rode a CBR1000RR for Honda team FCC TSR in what was the final round of the Japanese series.

He was eighth in the opening race and ninth in the second.

Earlier this year Hook raced at the famed Japanese circuit or on the Honda CBR1000RR in the Suzuka 8 Hour World Endurance where he finished seventh.