Corser gives Yamaha debut podium

Troy Corser gave his Yamaha Motor Italy WSB Team something to cheer with a hard fought podium finish in the second race at today's opening round of the 2007 Superbike World Championship in Qatar.

With team-mate Noriyuki Haga digging deep to finish fourth, it was a promising start for the 2007-model YZF-R1, which was making its world championship debut at the Losail circuit.

Having proved its pace by taking Corser to pole in qualifying, the new R1 wasn't quite able to repeat its performance over the race distance - although things started promisingly as the red Yamahas hit the front on the opening laps of the first race. The R1s fought a four-way battle for the lead with Max Biaggi (Suzuki) and James Toseland (Honda) but it soon became obvious that the Corser and Haga were suffering more than their rivals in the warm conditions when they started to fall off the pace after six laps. Haga struggled for front end grip as his tyre wore while Corser's machine vibrated heavily due to his rear tyre spinning on the rim. In the circumstances both men rode well to bring their machines home in the top 10, Haga eighth and Corser ninth.

In the second race the Yamaha men were able to battle with Biaggi and Toseland for around 11 laps before dropping off the pace. Corser and Haga were able to stay closer to the leading duo and maintained their third and fourth places to the flag, the Japanese rider only just fending off Fonsi Nieto (Kawasaki) as he crossed the line.

Team YZF Yamaha's Shinichi Nakatomi scored points for 12th place in the opening race, although the Japanese rider finished just outside the points, in 17th, in the second.

Biaggi and Toseland each took a win and a second place to jointly lead the championship. The Italian won the day's opener, his first ever superbike race, while British rider Toseland held the advantage in the second. Corser's podium sees him leave Qatar fourth in the championship while Haga heads to next weekend's second round, held at Australia's Phillip Island circuit, sixth in the standings.

Troy Corser (Yamaha Motor Italy WSB Team) "The first race was really tough because but the tyre was more consistent in the second and that meant that I could stay with James and Max for longer. I decided to stick with the same tyre choice and tried to put the problems we had in the first race out of my mind. I was ok when I was with them as the slipstream helped me make up a little bit down the straight, but when they made a break I didn't have an answer to them. Overall though it's been a positive start. It's my first weekend with Yamaha, on a new bike, and we've finished on the podium. We've got a very good chassis and I feel really comfortable riding the bike, so if we can make the tyres last then there's no reason why we can't get a good result at Phillip Island next weekend."

Noriyuki Haga (Yamaha Motor Italy WSB Team) "It has been a difficult day because after about six laps my front tyre is gone! For race two we made some changes and used the softer rear tyre, but already we used the hardest option on the front. I did the best possible today and I am looking forward to next weekend."

Shinichi Nakatomi (Team YZF Yamaha) "It was good to score some points in the first race. We are learning about this new bike all the time so we will be stronger as the year goes on. The second race was more difficult as more riders finished but I am hoping to get more points next weekend."

Massimo Meregalli (Team Coordinator - Yamaha Motor Italy WSB Team) "While we were all very happy with our performance in qualifying yesterday we also knew that it would be difficult in the races today. We have a new motorcycle this year and tyre wear was a problem at this race especially with Noriyuki, maybe because of his riding style. But we were not the only team to experience problems and thankfully we understand what has happened and how we can work to improve the bike. There are many positives to take from this weekend and if Troy hadn't have had his problems in the first race I am sure he would have been on the podium twice."

Circuit Length: 5380 Temp: 26 Weather: Sunny     2007 WSB Qatar 24/02/2007 Race 1 - 18 Laps Pos. Rider Manu. Nat. Total Time 1 Max Biaggi Suzuki ITA 36'10.115 2 James Toseland Honda GBR 0'1.483 3 Lorenzo Lanzi Ducati ITA 0'13.906 4 Yukio Kagayama Suzuki JPN 0'14.819 5 Troy Bayliss Ducati AUS 0'17.305 6 Max Neukirchner Suzuki GER 0'24.931 7 Roberto Rolfo Honda ITA 0'25.165 8 Noriyuki Haga Yamaha JPN 0'27.320 9 Troy Corser Yamaha AUS 0'31.237 10 Ruben Xaus Ducati ESP 0'31.669 11 Steve Martin Honda AUS 0'42.355 12 Shinichi Nakatomi Yamaha JPN 0'46.845 13 Alessandro Polita Suzuki ITA 0'59.207 14 Jakub Smrz Ducati CZE 1'0.296 15 Dean Ellison Ducati GBR 1'21.043

Race 2 - 18 Laps Pos. Rider Manu. Nat. Total Time 1 James Toseland Honda GBR 36'9.433 2 Max Biaggi Suzuki ITA 0'0.738 3 Troy Corser Yamaha AUS 0'7.386 4 Noriyuki Haga Yamaha JPN 0'14.984 5 Fonsi Nieto Kawasaki ESP 0'15.033 6 Yukio Kagayama Suzuki JPN 0'15.911 7 Lorenzo Lanzi Ducati ITA 0'16.664 8 Troy Bayliss Ducati AUS 0'23.249 9 Ruben Xaus Ducati ESP 0'24.282 10 Max Neukirchner Suzuki GER 0'33.480 11 Regis Laconi Kawasaki FRA 0'34.004 12 Michel Fabrizio Honda ITA 0'37.297 13 Joshua Brookes Honda AUS 0'42.064 14 Karl Muggeridge Honda AUS 0'42.359 15 Alessandro Polita Suzuki ITA 0'46.206 17 Shinichi Nakatomi Yamaha JPN 0'51.300

Best Lap Rider Manu. Nat. Total Time Max Biaggi Suzuki ITA 1'59.194

 Rider Standings 24/02/2007

Pos. Rider Manu. Nat. Points 1. Max Biaggi Suzuki ITA 45 2. James Toseland Honda GBR 45 3. Lorenzo Lanzi Ducati ITA 25 4. Troy Corser Yamaha AUS 23 5. Yukio Kagayama Suzuki JPN 23 6. Noriyuki Haga Yamaha JPN 21 7. Troy Bayliss Ducati AUS 19 8. Max Neukirchner Suzuki GER 16 9. Ruben Xaus Ducati ESP 13 10. Fonsi Nieto Kawasaki ESP 11 11. Roberto Rolfo Honda ITA 9 12. Steve Martin Honda AUS 5 13. Regis Laconi Kawasaki FRA 5 14. Shinichi Nakatomi Yamaha JPN 4 15. Michel Fabrizio Honda ITA 4

Manufacturer Standings 24/02/2007

Pos. Manufacturer Points 1. Honda 45 2. Suzuki 45 3. Ducati 25 4. Yamaha 24 5. Kawasaki 11

RACE REPORT 24/02/2007 Podium for Curtain in tough Qatar opener    It was a day of mixed emotions, and results, for the Yamaha World Supersport team in Qatar but overall it was a good day for Kevin Curtain, grabbing 20 important points after finishing second in today's opening round of the 2007 Supersport World Championship.

Starting from pole position, Curtain was able to quickly build up a lead. However the Australian was unable to shake off the attentions of Sebastien Charpentier and Kenan Sofuoglu (both Honda) and was involved in a three-way battle for the lead in the opening half of the race.

The Yamaha man pushed his rivals hard but was unable to quite keep his rivals in touch as an incorrect rear tyre selection caused his machine to spin up and lose fractions of a second. Curtain rode a lonely but sensible race to maintain a podium finish and was rewarded when world champion Charpentier crashed out of the lead two laps from the end, moving the Yamaha man up to second place at the flag.

Similar tyre selection problems meant that team-mate Broc Parkes' bad luck at the Losail circuit continued when he was forced to retire after five laps, his second retirement at this venue in as many years. The Australian had seemingly solved the chatter problems that plagued him during qualifying as he moved up from seventh on the grid to fourth place at the end of the first lap. However he suffered severe tyre degradation and, unable to maintain race pace, he was forced to retire for safety reasons.

Yamaha Motor Italy Lorenzini by Leoni racer Massimo Roccoli had a good day in Qatar. Coming from the third row, the 22-year-old from Rimini made a rocket propelled start and was as high as fourth on the opening lap. He settled into a race-long battle with Gianluca Nannelli (Ducati) in the lower half of the top 10, holding off his fellow Italian to take seventh place by one tenth of a second.

Katsuaki Fujiwara (Honda) took third place to join Curtain and Sofuoglu on the podium. With just one race gone, the championship standings are as per today's results: Sofuoglu leading the way on 25 points with Curtain five behind in second place.

Kevin Curtain (Yamaha World Supersport team) "Second place is a good start in terms of the championship, although I'm disappointed I didn't have a chance to fight for the lead. In the end we used the wrong tyre and the bike was spinning up everywhere, so in the circumstances it's a good result. We've made some good progress with the bike over the winter and I'm looking forward to racing at my home circuit next week. Phillip Island is a place I know like the back of my hand and I'll be giving it 200 percent to try and go one better than we have today."

Massimo Roccoli (Yamaha Motor Italy Lorenzini by Leoni) "Not such a bad start to the season. I made a very good start and was able to have a good battle with Nannelli and a few others. I said yesterday that top 10 would be a good result so seventh is a pleasing start to the season for me."

Broc Parkes (Yamaha World Supersport team) "I'm really disappointed but when the tyre went off my lap time dropped by around three seconds and I just couldn't continue. We've had a tough weekend as we couldn't seem to get as good a set-up or lap time as we did in testing, although I was confident we could get some decent points today. I made a good start but after a few laps the tyre was gone and I had to pull in because it was too dangerous to stay out."

Circuit Length: 5380 Temp: 26 Weather: Sunny     2007 WSS Qatar 24/02/2007 Race 1 - 18 Laps Pos. Rider Manu. Nat. Total Time 1 Kenan Sofuoglu Honda TUR 37'22.452 2 Kevin Curtain Yamaha AUS 0'3.413 3 Katsuaki Fujiwara Honda JPN 0'6.228 4 Fabien Foret Kawasaki FRA 0'13.759 5 Pere Riba Kawasaki ESP 0'13.857 6 Robbin Harms Honda DNK 0'14.534 7 Massimo Roccoli Yamaha ITA 0'18.650 8 Gianluca Nannelli Ducati ITA 0'18.775 9 Barry Veneman Suzuki NED 0'19.291 10 Vesa Kallio Suzuki FIN 0'20.595 11 Javier Fores Honda ESP 0'20.817 12 Craig Jones Honda GBR 0'22.398 13 Lorenzo Alfonsi Honda ITA 0'26.903 14 David Salom Fuentes Yamaha ESP 0'28.568 15 Gianluca Vizziello Yamaha ITA 0'34.516 Best Lap Rider Manu. Nat. Total Time Sebastien Charpentier Honda FRA 2'3.921

Rider Standings 24/02/2007 Pos. Rider Manu. Nat. Points 1. Kenan Sofuoglu Honda TUR 25 2. Kevin Curtain Yamaha AUS 20 3. Katsuaki Fujiwara Honda JPN 16 4. Fabien Foret Kawasaki FRA 13 5. Pere Riba Kawasaki ESP 11 6. Robbin Harms Honda DNK 10 7. Massimo Roccoli Yamaha ITA 9 8. Gianluca Nannelli Ducati ITA 8 9. Barry Veneman Suzuki NED 7 10. Vesa Kallio Suzuki FIN 6 11. Javier Fores Honda ESP 5 12. Craig Jones Honda GBR 4 13. Lorenzo Alfonsi Honda ITA 3 14. David Salom Fuentes Yamaha ESP 2 15. Gianluca Vizziello Yamaha ITA 1

Manufacturer Standings 24/02/2007 Pos. Manufacturer Points 1. Honda 25 2. Yamaha 20 3. Kawasaki 13 4. Ducati 8 5. Suzuki 7