Haga and Toseland serve up Magny Cours stunner

It may 'only' have been the battle for second place in the 2006 Superbike World Championship, but Yamaha Motor Italia's Noriyuki Haga and Honda rider James Toseland certainly served up an end of season thriller at Magny Cours today.

Along with outgoing world champion Troy Corser (Suzuki), Haga and Toseland gave the fans probably the best racing of the year as they traded positions corner after corner in the day's opening race.

Haga did a remarkable job to even catch the leading group after running wide under braking on the first lap. That put the Japanese rider way down to 13th in the pack but, undeterred, Nitro Nori lit the afterburners to charge through the pack and challenge for the lead by lap nine of the 23 lap race.

The leading quartet, with new world champion Troy Bayliss (Ducati) hanging in the background, traded places with the outcome of the race hanging in the balance until the final lap, with Toseland leading the Yamaha man across the line by one tenth of a second, Corser no more than a few lengths behind.

Race two proved to be more of the same for the fans, although this time Haga was unable to challenge for the lead as Bayliss, Corser and Toseland fought it out a few seconds ahead of him. The Japanese rider had retained the same machine settings for the second outing, but found that his rear tyre performance was less impressive than in the opener. Bayliss went on to take his 12th win from 24 races, with Corser second and Toseland third. The result sees Haga repeat his 2006 performance, ending the year third in the standings.

Haga's team-mate Andrew Pitt ended his best ever season with a fine fifth place in race two. The Australian suffered disappointment in the opener when he slid off on lap two, but showed typical grit to pull his R1 out of the sand trap and finish the race, albeit just outside the points. In the second outing Pitt struggled for front end feel and ran just behind the leading group to take fifth at the flag and fifth in the championship, missing out on fourth place to Corser by just five points.

Sebastien Gimbert   

The Yamaha Motor France squad had a mixed day at their home race. Shinichi Nakatomi was the top individual performer, showing stunning speed as race one wore on to charge through to tenth, although the Japanese rider ended his debut world championship season in the gravel, crashing out of race two. Countryman Norick Abe took 13th and 12th place finishes, with local favourite Sebastien Gimbert retired from the opener with brake problems and took 11th in race two. In the championship, Abe finished 13th, Nakatomi 17th and Gimbert 19th on the kit part development bikes.

Noriyuki Haga (Yamaha Motor Italia) "The first race was good fun with some big fighting with James and Troy. I made a mistake under braking but the bike worked very good and I was able to push hard and catch the leaders. For the second race we kept everything the same but unfortunately rear tyre performance was not as good and after two or three laps I knew that it would be very hard to win the race. I am a little disappointed not to be able to take second in the championship today. I only finished 10 points behind Toseland in the championship and it for sure there were some places where we lost points."

Andrew Pitt   

Andrew Pitt (Yamaha Motor Italia) "We went for a softer front tyre in race two and on the brakes, going into corners, it was moving a little bit. It was never one I really liked, but I used the harder one in race one and crashed. I didn't quite have the speed in the early laps, and I just hung in there and got back up to fifth, which was an ok result to end the season on. We've had a good season I'd like to thank Yamaha for giving me this opportunity to run at the front of the championship for the past two years."

Shinichi Nakatomi   

Norick Abe (Yamaha Motor France) "So-so! This weekend everything was pretty bad with the set-up in qualifying and afterwards. Other times we can improve on race day but this time it maybe got worse. The lap times were not as good as in qualifying. I don't know why. I have raced two years in this team and everyone is so kind, it is like a family now."

Shinichi Nakatomi (Yamaha Motor France) "In race one I had a good finishing position, up on what I could do normally. In race two we changed the settings a little bit and they were better, and I was behind Walker and Kagayama. I pushed and pushed but the front washed out and I fell down."

Sebastien Gimbert (Yamaha Motor France) "My races were unbelievable. I had a problem in race one with a warped brake rotor and no brakes. Then I had no grip in the second race. But I finished 11th and scored good points."

Massimo Meregalli (Yamaha Motor Italia) "Having both riders in the top five is a fine achievement for our team, although there has to be some disappointment as our target at the start of the season was to go for the title. We've improved a lot this year and it gives us a good base for next season. Today Noriyuki made the same tyre choice for the two races, but in the second the rear did not work the same. In the first race it had been perfect but in the second the bike started to slide after around two laps. Andrew was not so confident with the front end today and couldn't push as hard as he wanted to. In the end he did the best he could and fifth in the championship is a good result."

Martial Garcia (Team Manager - Yamaha Motor France) "Sebastien was not so lucky with a warped disc in race one. In race two, finishing between Barros and Abe was a good result. Abe got some useful points for the team, and it was too bad that he did not have enough grip. The tenth of Nakatomi was very nice, although he fell in race two. I would like to thank everyone for their efforts in 2006."

Circuit Length: 4411 Temp: 22 Crowd: 61000 Weather: Sunny     2006 WSB Magny Cours 08/10/2006 Race 1 - 23 Laps Pos. Rider Manu. Nat. Total Time 1 James Toseland Honda GBR 38'53.856 2 Noriyuki Haga Yamaha JPN 0'0.115 3 Troy Corser Suzuki AUS 0'0.412 4 Troy Bayliss Ducati AUS 0'3.000 5 Yukio Kagayama Suzuki JPN 0'7.152 6 Chris Walker Kawasaki GBR 0'14.906 7 Alex Barros Honda BRA 0'17.330 8 Lorenzo Lanzi Ducati ITA 0'17.474 9 Regis Laconi Kawasaki FRA 0'25.257 10 Shinichi Nakatomi Yamaha JPN 0'25.883 11 Michel Fabrizio Honda ITA 0'31.542 12 Max Neukirchner Suzuki GER 0'33.422 13 Norick Abe Yamaha JPN 0'36.159 14 Roberto Rolfo Ducati ITA 0'40.867 15 Joshua Brookes Kawasaki AUS 0'50.110 18 Andrew Pitt Yamaha AUS 0'57.659

Race 2 - 23 Laps Pos. Rider Manu. Nat. Total Time 1 Troy Bayliss Ducati AUS 38'54.239 2 Troy Corser Suzuki AUS 0'1.282 3 James Toseland Honda GBR 0'3.388 4 Noriyuki Haga Yamaha JPN 0'8.524 5 Andrew Pitt Yamaha AUS 0'11.836 6 Karl Muggeridge Honda AUS 0'14.126 7 Lorenzo Lanzi Ducati ITA 0'15.217 8 Chris Walker Kawasaki GBR 0'18.212 9 Yukio Kagayama Suzuki JPN 0'20.224 10 Alex Barros Honda BRA 0'23.387 11 Sebastien Gimbert Yamaha FRA 0'28.965 12 Norick Abe Yamaha JPN 0'33.071 13 Michel Fabrizio Honda ITA 0'33.125 14 Max Neukirchner Suzuki GER 0'35.223 15 Pierfrancesco Chili Honda ITA 0'40.136

Best Lap Rider Manu. Nat. Total Time Troy Bayliss Ducati AUS 1'40.370

 Rider Standings 08/10/2006

Pos. Rider Manu. Nat. Points 1. Troy Bayliss Ducati AUS 406 2. James Toseland Honda GBR 320 3. Noriyuki Haga Yamaha JPN 313 4. Alex Barros Honda BRA 240 5. Andrew Pitt Yamaha AUS 239 6. Troy Corser Suzuki AUS 234 7. Yukio Kagayama Suzuki JPN 204 8. Lorenzo Lanzi Ducati ITA 160 9. Chris Walker Kawasaki GBR 150 10. Fonsi Nieto Kawasaki ESP 139 11. Michel Fabrizio Honda ITA 122 12. Karl Muggeridge Honda AUS 113 13. Norick Abe Yamaha JPN 108 14. Regis Laconi Kawasaki FRA 103 15. Ruben Xaus Ducati ESP 103 17. Shinichi Nakatomi Yamaha JPN 48 21. Sebastien Gimbert Yamaha FRA 18

Manufacturer Standings 08/10/2006

Pos. Manufacturer Points 1. Ducati 425 2. Honda 398 3. Yamaha 388 4. Suzuki 352 5. Kawasaki 221 6. Petronas 19

RACE REPORT 08/10/2006 Curtain takes runners-up slot in France   Kevin Curtain   

Yamaha Motor Germany's Kevin Curtain took the runners-up spot in the 2006 Supersport World Championship after crashing out at Magny Cours today.

The Australian needed to finish eighth or higher to deny Sebastien Charpentier (Honda) the world title for the second year, but crashed out of fourth place on the eighth lap of 22. Charpentier went on to win the race from team-mate Kenan Sofuoglu and become the first rider to win the championship two times.

Curtain's still-injured team-mate Broc Parkes rode a brilliant race to take the final podium position. The Australian, who won at Magny Cours 12 months ago, stayed with the leaders for the opening part of the race but slipped back to take the flag 10 seconds behind the leader.

Yamaha GMT94's David Checa finished fifth at his team's home race, his best result since taking fourth place at Misano in June, although it was a bad end to the season for Yamaha Team Italia. Massimo Roccoli crashed out at the final chicane on the second lap while team-mate Gianluca Vizziello scored just two points for 14th position.

The results see Charpentier win the title by seven points from Curtain, with Sofuoglu taking third ahead of Parkes. Roccoli who, like Curtain and Parkes, won one round on his YZF-R6 this year, ends the year in sixth.

Yamaha has re-signed Curtain and Parkes to lead its world supersport challenge in 2006. Roccoli has also demonstrated his commitment to the brand by signing a two year extension to his contract with Yamaha's Italian distributor, Yamaha Motor Italia.

Kevin Curtain (Yamaha Motor Germany) "I just don't know what to say. It all seemed too good to be true and we came back to reality with a bang. That's my first race crash of the year and I just can't believe that it had to happen today. I don't really know what happened, I was running with Checa and was trying to pull a bit of a gap on him as we had almost touched a few times. I was going through the long left when I just lost the front and went down. I'm feeling down just now but I know that I'll be able to refocus and come back to challenge for the title next year."

Broc Parkes   

Broc Parkes (Yamaha Motor Germany) "It's been a very disappointing day for us and I can't believe that Kevin hasn't won the championship. Our team has put so much into this season and after Brands Hatch it seemed that we had two chances at the title. Sebastien has taken the opportunity and I must congratulate him and his team, because they have done a great job. After Assen I lost my own chance of winning the championship when I crashed and got injured, but today I was ready and willing to help Kevin. I thought that he was behind me, in fourth, and it was only when the race finished I knew that he was out. I'm so disappointed for Kevin but I feel that I have ridden well in these last two races. I like this circuit and fully fit I could probably have run with Sebastien and Kenan today. I felt the power drain out of my body at about half distance and I was happy to bring it home on the podium. I want to win the title so badly next year and I'll be training hard over the winter to make sure that we come back fitter and stronger."

David Checa (Yamaha GMT94) "I got a good start and I thought I had a shot at the podium but the headwind lowered our top speed today. I was chasing Curtain when he just lost the front and I had a similar experience when I lost both wheels. I thought I would crash but the bike picked itself up. I think we showed what we could do today, with a little more power we might have been further up."

Gianluca Vizziello (Yamaha Team Italia) "I destroyed my first bike in the morning warm-up and I had to ride my spare bike in the race, with which I do not have as good a feeling. I tried to get some points for the championship but I am sorry for the team as I could not make a good performance today."

Massimo Roccoli (Yamaha Team Italia) "I was trying to recover from a bad start when my front wheel touched the kerb and I went down at the final chicane. I'm disappointed, because I lost any chance of fifth in the championship, but it has been a good season with our win at Misano the definite high point."

Circuit Length: 4411 Temp: 27 Crowd: 61000 Weather: Sunny     2006 WSS Magny Cours 08/10/2006 Race 1 - 22 Laps Pos. Rider Manu. Nat. Total Time 1 Sebastien Charpentier Honda FRA 38'14.775 2 Kenan Sofuoglu Honda TUR 0'3.779 3 Broc Parkes Yamaha AUS 0'10.879 4 Gianluca Nannelli Ducati ITA 0'19.556 5 David Checa Yamaha ESP 0'22.790 6 Robbin Harms Honda DNK 0'25.745 7 Katsuaki Fujiwara Honda JPN 0'29.437 8 Johan Stigefelt Honda SWE 0'31.609 9 Stephane Chambon Kawasaki FRA 0'35.190 10 Yoann Tibero Honda FRA 0'37.552 11 Simone Sanna Honda ITA 0'52.996 12 Mauro Sanchini Yamaha ITA 0'55.346 13 Gregory Leblanc Honda FRA 0'55.462 14 Stuart Easton Ducati GBR 0'59.631 15 Vesa Kallio Yamaha FIN 1'4.252

Best Lap Rider Manu. Nat. Total Time Sebastien Charpentier Honda FRA 1'42.506

 Rider Standings 08/10/2006

Pos. Rider Manu. Nat. Points 1. Sebastien Charpentier Honda FRA 194 2. Kevin Curtain Yamaha AUS 187 3. Kenan Sofuoglu Honda TUR 157 4. Broc Parkes Yamaha AUS 145 5. Robbin Harms Honda DNK 117 6. Massimo Roccoli Yamaha ITA 96 7. Yoann Tibero Honda FRA 80 8. Johan Stigefelt Honda SWE 70 9. Gianluca Vizziello Yamaha ITA 69 10. Xavi Fores Yamaha ESP 49 11. David Checa Yamaha ESP 44 12. Gianluca Nannelli Ducati ITA 43 13. Katsuaki Fujiwara Honda JPN 39 14. Simone Sanna Honda ITA 32 15. Stephane Chambon Kawasaki FRA 31

Manufacturer Standings 08/10/2006

Pos. Manufacturer Points 1. Honda 277 2. Yamaha 240 3. Ducati 87 4. Kawasaki 62 5. Suzuki 39

RACE REPORT 08/10/2006 Corti takes French win and championship silver   Claudio Corti   

Yamaha young gun Claudio Corti ended his first season in the FIM Superstock 1000 Cup on a high with a win at Magny Cours.

The 19-year-old Yamaha Team Italia racer led for most of the 14-lap race to take his fourth win in the ten race series. The Italian, who won the 600cc superstock class on a YZF-R6 last season, has won more races than any other rider on his YZF-R1 SP and ends the year second in the championship.

Starting on pole position, his third of the season, Corti grabbed the holeshot as behind him four riders went down at the first corner. Low temperatures saw many riders crash out of the race, but Corti rode intelligently to build up heat in his tyres and increase his pace as the race went on.

Fellow Italian Alessandro Polita (Suzuki), who came to France as the champion, passed Corti on lap four and led briefly, but the Yamaha man was able to regain the lead on four laps later and retain it to the chequered flag. Polita came home two seconds behind the Yamaha in second place, with former European supersport champion Matteo Baiocco making it two YZF-R1 SPs on the podium, in third.

Corti's win moves him onto 156 championship points, 21 behind Polita in the final standings and 34 ahead of third placed Ayrton Badovini (MV Agusta).

Claudio Corti (Yamaha Team Italia) "I made a good start and was able to push in the early laps. When I looked behind me I could see that only two riders were behind me, Polita and Baiocco, and this helped me relax. Alessandro passed me but I was able to increase my pace and build up a gap on him. To win here is the best way to end the season I can imagine. Many people have helped me in my career and I would like to dedicate my silver medal to Yamaha, the FMI (Italian motorcycle federation) and my team."

Circuit Length: 4411 Temp: 16 Crowd: 61000 Weather: Dry     2006 Superstock Magny Cours 08/10/2006 Race 1 - 14 Laps Pos. Rider Manu. Nat. Total Time 1 Claudio Corti Yamaha ITA 24'37.791 2 Alessandro Polita Suzuki ITA 0'1.975 3 Matteo Baiocco Yamaha ITA 0'2.705 4 Ilario Dionisi Yamaha ITA 0'6.275 5 Emeric Jonchiere Suzuki FRA 0'11.139 6 Arne Tode Suzuki GER 0'11.475 7 Riccardo Chiarello Kawasaki ITA 0'11.746 8 Herve Gantner Yamaha CHE 0'17.334 9 Marko Jerman Suzuki SVK 0'18.450 10 Enrique Rocamora Yamaha ESP 0'19.786 11 Sheridan Morais Suzuki RSA 0'22.745 12 Olivier Depoorter Yamaha BEL 0'24.472 13 Danilo Dell'omo Suzuki ITA 0'24.812 14 Raphael Chevre Suzuki CHE 0'25.927 15 Petter Solli Yamaha NOR 0'32.251

Best Lap Rider Manu. Nat. Total Time Claudio Corti Yamaha ITA 1'44.667

 Rider Standings 08/10/2006

Pos. Rider Manu. Nat. Points 1. Alessandro Polita Suzuki ITA 177 2. Claudio Corti Yamaha ITA 156 3. Ayrton Badovini MV Agusta ITA 122 4. Luca Scassa MV Agusta ITA 118 5. Brendan Roberts Suzuki AUS 87 6. Matteo Baiocco Yamaha ITA 87 7. Enrique Rocamora Yamaha ESP 78 8. Loic Napoleone Suzuki FRA 58 9. Riccardo Chiarello Kawasaki ITA 57 10. Denis Sacchetti Kawasaki ITA 45 11. Danilo Dell'omo Suzuki ITA 42 12. Richard Cooper Honda GBR 41 13. Sheridan Morais Suzuki RSA 35 14. Ilario Dionisi Yamaha ITA 35 15. Alex Martinez Mas Kawasaki ESP 30

Manufacturer Standings 08/10/2006

Pos. Manufacturer Points 1. Suzuki 209 2. Yamaha 174 3. MV Agusta 153 4. Kawasaki 95 5. Honda 45