Haga takes the double win at team's home round

A moment Haga had been working towards came today when he took race wins in both races at the home round of the Yamaha Motor Italia Team.

Haga went down to sixth at the start of race one behind Corser but quickly started to work his way up through the grid setting the fastest lap three times . By lap five Haga was battling with Toseland for the lead while Corser fought with Biaggi for sixth place. Haga won the fight for first and went on to complete a textbook race and take his first win at Monza in front of a record breaking 108,000 strong crowd.

Corser had less fortune than Haga in race one, running wide at Lesmo on two consecutive laps and struggling to make up any time on fifth place until errors by Bayliss and Biaggi on lap 14 significantly reduced the gap. The retirement of Rolfo right at the end of the race gave Corser a fifth place finish.

Haga got another bad start in race two but once again made his way up to second place by lap three. On lap seven Haga made his move to pass Toseland who he had been tailing and then set about putting some space between him and the rest of the field. From there on it was just up to Haga to bring the bike home safely to take his second win of the day. This completed a good weekend for the rider with him taking Superpole, both race wins and setting the fastest lap of the race in race one on the 2007 R1.

Corser got a good start and moved up from fifth to fourth and then fought hard in a battle between Biaggi and Rolfo for four laps with the riders swapping positions frequently. As the race progressed Corser struggled to keep pace with the pack and had to settle for sixth and ten points.

Today's excellent results puts Haga back in fierce contention for the championship as he now stands in second place and only 35 points behind lead man Toseland. Corser is in fifth having taken 21 points away from this weekend. Yamaha also lies second in the manufacturer standings with first place within reach.

Noriyuki Haga (1st and 1st - Yamaha Motor Italia) "Today was perfect - the perfect end to a perfect weekend. I have taken Superpole, won both races and got the fastest lap in the second race. This weekend the bike was feeling good and we didn't make any big changes to the set-up which is unusual for me. We focused on the engine because this is such a fast track and the results speak for themselves.

I would like to say thank you to the Team, Yamaha, Santander and all the other sponsors and people who have worked hard to make this possible. Taking the double win at the team's home round feels good and it is made all the sweeter as I have never won here before."

Troy Corser (5th and 6th - Yamaha Motor Italia) "This weekend has been very difficult; it has not gone to plan at all. Somehow I don't seem to be able to get the same top speed that Haga can achieve even though the bikes are the same. I had a couple of scary moments coming out of Lesmo when the back of the bike would let go and start coming round. I had it on Friday and then we seemed to solve the problem but I had it again in both races today. We have two days testing at Misano in the coming week so I really hope we can find out what's causing this and solve it before Silverstone."

Massimo Meregalli (Team Coordinator - Yamaha Motor Italia) "This has been a fantastic day - a double win at our home round where we have had over 800 guests today. Haga is now second in the championship and Yamaha are second in the manufacturer championship also. Haga rode very well, made no mistakes and really pushed hard. We had lots of fans here today because it is our home round and we are based very close to here. The atmosphere was exciting and I am sure we gave the fans some good racing.

I am really sorry for Troy - the positions he finished in today are not a true reflection of his capability and the effort he is putting in. We have a two-day test at Misano next week and we are going to work really hard to sort out the problem.

I would like to thank everyone involved in the team for all their hard work - today has been a good reward for us all."

Circuit Length: 5792 Temp: 26 Crowd: 108,000 Weather: Dry     2007 WSB Monza 13/05/2007 Race 1 - 18 Laps Pos. Rider Manu. Nat. Total Time 1 Noriyuki Haga Yamaha JPN 32'4.428 2 Troy Bayliss Ducati AUS 0'8.403 3 Max Biaggi Suzuki ITA 0'9.703 4 James Toseland Honda GBR 0'13.587 5 Troy Corser Yamaha AUS 0'14.898 6 Yukio Kagayama Suzuki JPN 0'14.954 7 Lorenzo Lanzi Ducati ITA 0'19.517 8 Michel Fabrizio Honda ITA 0'24.120 9 Karl Muggeridge Honda AUS 0'24.682 10 Max Neukirchner Suzuki GER 0'29.197 11 Joshua Brookes Honda AUS 0'32.654 12 Ruben Xaus Ducati ESP 0'34.054 13 Marco Borciani Ducati ITA 0'37.386 14 Alessandro Polita Suzuki ITA 0'37.704 15 Jakub Smrz Ducati CZE 0'41.377

Race 2 - 18 Laps Pos. Rider Manu. Nat. Total Time 1 Noriyuki Haga Yamaha JPN 32'5.318 2 James Toseland Honda GBR 0'2.691 3 Troy Bayliss Ducati AUS 0'2.841 4 Roberto Rolfo Honda ITA 0'3.188 5 Max Biaggi Suzuki ITA 0'3.551 6 Troy Corser Yamaha AUS 0'13.034 7 Yukio Kagayama Suzuki JPN 0'17.246 8 Regis Laconi Kawasaki FRA 0'18.410 9 Karl Muggeridge Honda AUS 0'29.017 10 Jakub Smrz Ducati CZE 0'29.686 11 Michel Fabrizio Honda ITA 0'30.371 12 Max Neukirchner Suzuki GER 0'31.982 13 Ruben Xaus Ducati ESP 0'32.165 14 Robertino Pietri Yamaha VEN 1'32.292 15 Dean Ellison Ducati GBR 1'41.840

Best Lap Rider Manu. Nat. Total Time Max Biaggi Suzuki ITA 1'46.172

Rider Standings 13/05/2007 Pos. Rider Manu. Nat. Points 1. James Toseland Honda GBR 229 2. Noriyuki Haga Yamaha JPN 194 3. Max Biaggi Suzuki ITA 191 4. Troy Bayliss Ducati AUS 164 5. Troy Corser Yamaha AUS 135 6. Lorenzo Lanzi Ducati ITA 107 7. Ruben Xaus Ducati ESP 106 8. Max Neukirchner Suzuki GER 81 9. Roberto Rolfo Honda ITA 77 10. Michel Fabrizio Honda ITA 60 11. Yukio Kagayama Suzuki JPN 60 12. Regis Laconi Kawasaki FRA 51 13. Fonsi Nieto Kawasaki ESP 46 14. Jakub Smrz Ducati CZE 44 15. Joshua Brookes Honda AUS 40 17. Shinichi Nakatomi Yamaha JPN 19

Manufacturer Standings 13/05/2007 Pos. Manufacturer Points 1. Honda 238 2. Yamaha 217 3. Ducati 209 4. Suzuki 191 5. Kawasaki 77

RACE REPORT 13/05/2007 West takes third for Yamaha in World Supersport   This weekend's newcomer, Anthony West, to the Yamaha World Supersport Team rode a gutsy race today to come third in the sixth round of the World Supersport Championship. Until this weekend Anthony West had not ridden a four-stroke bike since 2004 or ever ridden the Monza circuit before. Broc Parkes was running in second and looking confident when a technical fault ended his race early.

West got off to a bad start and moved down from 14th to 18th as he got entangled in a first chicane scrum. But undeterred he put his head down and had moved up to sixth by lap six. He then found himself in a three-way battle with Veneman and Fujiwara but had passed both riders within two laps to then focus on Charpentier. Within one lap he had made up the 1.2 seconds on Charpentier and out-braked him going into the chicane. By this point in the race the young Australian was putting his fastest laps of the race, consistently hitting the 1'50s.

With only three laps to go West then challenged Foret and Nannelli for second place with the riders swapping places every lap until on the last lap when West made a late challenge for second at the chicane only to be retaken aggressively by Foret at the Parabolica.

Having had such a successful start to the weekend and after qualifying fourth Parkes had an unlucky end today. In the race he got off to a good start and took the lead at the first corner. He lost the lead to Sofuoglu on lap three but was sitting confidently behind him waiting for the right opportunity to overtake when a technical fault caused his bike to stop, ending his race.

Roccoli had a disappointing race after qualifying in eighth yesterday. He started well enough but then made a mistake and lost several places. He finished in 11th taking five points away.

Anthony West (3rd - Yamaha World Supersport Team) "That was a tough race - I had to fight very hard out there but it was good. I was happy when I got to eighth place and started to relax into the race. I then realized I could catch the front runners so focused on them. When I caught up with Foret and Nannelli I could feel my tyres were wearing off so let them fight it out in front of me with a view to making a late challenge.

The bike feels really good now I've had a weekend to get to know it, it is fast too. I couldn't have done so well without such a good bike, it gave me lots of confidence. And the team is one of the most professional teams I have worked with - I would like to thank them for their efforts this weekend."

Broc Parkes (DNF - Yamaha World Supersport Team) "I can't believe the bad we had today. I had a really good bike and got a good start making sure I didn't go too crazy on the first lap. Sofuoglu came past me but I could see he wasn't consistent so I tagged onto him and was starting to get into a flow when the bike just stopped. The team and I have worked so hard to get the bike set up and this was shaping up to be the perfect opportunity for my first race win of the season. Now we just have to put this behind us and look forward to the next race which is at Silverstone. I normally go well there and have got second there before."

Massimo Roccoli (11th - Yamaha Team Italia) "I made a braking mistake at one point and I lost six places. Normally I prefer to have no one in front of me to be fast, but that cannot always be. The damage wasn't too bad but my expectation for today was higher than my results. I am not happy with today's race."

Circuit Length: 5792 Temp: 23 Crowd: 108,000 Weather: Dry     2007 WSS Monza 13/05/2007 Race 1 - 16 Laps Pos. Rider Manu. Nat. Total Time 1 Kenan Sofuoglu Honda TUR 29'44.471 2 Fabien Foret Kawasaki FRA 0'3.992 3 Anthony West Yamaha AUS 0'4.043 4 Gianluca Nannelli Ducati ITA 0'4.598 5 Barry Veneman Suzuki NED 0'8.348 6 Katsuaki Fujiwara Honda JPN 0'10.323 7 Yoann Tiberio Honda FRA 0'22.621 8 Lorenzo Alfonsi Honda ITA 0'25.613 9 David Salom Yamaha ESP 0'25.668 10 Simone Sanna Honda ITA 0'25.702 11 Massimo Roccoli Yamaha ITA 0'25.857 12 Miguel Praia Honda POR 0'26.562 13 Vesa Kallio Suzuki FIN 0'26.618 14 David Checa Yamaha ESP 0'31.074 15 Joan Lascorz Honda ESP 0'33.737 17 Sebastien Gimbert Yamaha FRA 0'43.971

Best Lap Rider Manu. Nat. Total Time Kenan Sofuoglu Honda TUR 1'50.550

Rider Standings 13/05/2007 Pos. Rider Manu. Nat. Points 1. Kenan Sofuoglu Honda TUR 145 2. Fabien Foret Kawasaki FRA 87 3. Katsuaki Fujiwara Honda JPN 53 4. Gianluca Nannelli Ducati ITA 43 5. Barry Veneman Suzuki NED 41 6. Andrew Pitt Honda AUS 40 7. Robbin Harms Honda DNK 39 8. David Salom Yamaha ESP 34 9. Massimo Roccoli Yamaha ITA 33 10. Broc Parkes Yamaha AUS 27 11. Pere Riba Kawasaki ESP 26 12. Lorenzo Alfonsi Honda ITA 26 13. Kevin Curtain Yamaha AUS 25 14. Craig Jones Honda GBR 25 15. Vesa Kallio Suzuki FIN 24 19. David Checa Yamaha ESP 20 23. Sebastien Gimbert Yamaha FRA 9

Manufacturer Standings 13/05/2007 Pos. Manufacturer Points 1. Honda 145 2. Kawasaki 97 3. Yamaha 82 4. Suzuki 48 5. Ducati 43

RACE REPORT 13/05/2007 Baiocco takes Monza Superstock win for Yamaha

Today's FIM Superstock 1000 Cup race was always going to be exciting following on from the drama at the last round in Assen but no one could have predicted the result as Matteo Baiocco took the win at his home round while Yamaha Team Italia team mates Corti and Pirro both crashed out.

Pirro, Corti, Van Keymeulen and Baiocco had been running in the top five throughout the weekend in qualifying with Pirro taking his second pole position of the season and Corti taking second. Baiocco qualified in fourth with Didier Van Keymeulen rounding up the Yamaha domination in fifth.

All four Yamaha-shod riders got good starts in the race with Corti taking the lead early on from Pirro. In the first three laps Corti, Pirro and Van Keymeulen all fought hard for the lead, with each taking the top slot at some stage. On lap four Corti high-sided whilst in the lead ending his race and just missing Van Keymeulen in the process, who had to take to the grass. Pirro took this chance to grab the lead and proceeded to build a good gap between him and Van Keymeulen.

Meanwhile Baiocco, riding for the Umbria Bike Team, was in his own battle for third with Dionisi until he managed to break away on lap eight to pass Van Keymeulen for second place. Van Keymeulen found himself heading back to fifth as his tyres started to wear off which allowed Dionisi and Aitchison through.

Pirro was all set to take the win when he crashed on the penultimate lap. Baiocco took up the lead position on his 2007 R1 and held off the other riders to take his first race win in the Superstock championship.

Today's result means that Baiocco now leads the championship with 60 points. Pirro and Corti both still have 45 points but have moved down to fifth and sixth respectively but Van Keymeulen has now joined them on 45 points in seventh position. In the manufacturer standings Yamaha lead with 90 points. With only four rounds gone the 2007 Superstock Championship is certainly close and the next round is in two weeks at Silverstone, UK.

Matteo Baiocco (1st - Umbria Bike) "This is a dream come true to win on this track in front of this crowd. I had a perfect last lap - I overtook Aitchison at the chicane and then Dionisi at the Ascari corner. I must thank the team because my R1 was perfect."

Michele Pirro (DNF - Yamaha Team Italia) "I don't know why I crashed, I am so disappointed. It was an important occasion for me to take a step forward in the championship standings. But I don't want to cry now because the season is so long and I must focus on going forward."

Claudio Corti (DNF - Yamaha Team Italia) "I have some pain in my hand and back but nothing serious. I let a very good result go but I am already thinking forward to the next race. Congratulations to Baiocco, his victory is certainly a good prize for him."

Circuit Length: 5792 Temp: 22 Crowd: 108,000 Weather: Dry     2007 Superstock Monza 13/05/2007 Race 1 - 11 Laps Pos. Rider Manu. Nat. Total Time 1 Matteo Baiocco Yamaha ITA 20'19.109 2 Mark Aitchison Suzuki AUS 0'0.004 3 Ilario Dionisi Suzuki ITA 0'0.136 4 Didier Van Keymeulen Yamaha BEL 0'0.510 5 Xavier Simeon Suzuki BEL 0'5.949 6 Marko Jerman Suzuki SVK 0'7.712 7 Sheridan Morais Ducati RSA 0'8.132 8 Rene Mahr Yamaha GER 0'14.693 9 Danilo Dell'omo MV Agusta ITA 0'14.743 10 Nicolo Canepa Ducati ITA 0'15.193 11 Daniel Sutter Yamaha CHE 0'20.413 12 Arne Tode Honda GER 0'20.731 13 Cederic Tangre Yamaha FRA 0'21.135 14 Marko Rohtlaan Honda EST 0'21.565 15 Brendan Roberts Ducati AUS 0'21.794

Best Lap Rider Manu. Nat. Total Time Mark Aitchison Suzuki AUS 1'49.575

 Rider Standings 13/05/2007

Pos. Rider Manu. Nat. Points 1. Matteo Baiocco Yamaha ITA 60 2. Mark Aitchison Suzuki AUS 58 3. Nicolo Canepa Ducati ITA 57 4. Ilario Dionisi Suzuki ITA 50 5. Didier Van Keymeulen Yamaha BEL 45 6. Michele Pirro Yamaha ITA 45 7. Claudio Corti Yamaha ITA 45 8. Xavier Simeon Suzuki BEL 38 9. Rene Mahr Yamaha GER 26 10. Marko Jerman Suzuki SVK 21 11. Sheridan Morais Ducati RSA 19 12. Matej Smrz Honda CZE 15 13. Cederic Tangre Yamaha FRA 14 14. Arne Tode Honda GER 13 15. Danilo Dell'omo MV Agusta ITA 13

Manufacturer Standings 13/05/2007

Pos. Manufacturer Points 1. Yamaha 90 2. Suzuki 71 3. Ducati 60 4. Honda 27 5. MV Agusta 17 6. Kawasaki 4