Mixed fortunes for Yamaha in World Superbike at Assen

Both Haga and Corser suffered a day of ups and downs in today's round of the World Superbike Championship at Assen. Haga took second place in race one but suffered a technical failure in race two and was forced to retire. Corser suffered a mechanical fault in race one causing him to crash at high speed but rode through pain in race two to take fourth slot.

Race one started so well for Haga, who had qualified in 15th following a mistake during his Superpole lap yesterday cost him valuable seconds. By the end of the first lap he had already pushed through the field to take seventh and he then carried on through to first place but settled back in fourth with team mate Corser just behind in fifth. On lap 15 Haga made another charge for the front of the pack and overtook Bayliss for second place with only two laps to go. He also contended for first place but had to settle for second.

Corser put in a strong performance and was in a comfortable fifth place for much of the race, moving up to third on the penultimate lap when he overtook Bayliss and Xaus. Both riders were on track for podium finishes but Corser suffered a broken radiator hose clip causing fluid to spray over his rear tyre and making him high-side at a fast part of the circuit.

Both riders got a good start in race two with Corser moving up to fourth and Haga taking fifth slot on lap one. Haga went through to challenge Lanzi and then Bayliss using his usual wild sliding riding style. Haga then focused on closing the gap between him and front man Toseland and he took the lead on lap nine. The two riders were battling for first place when Haga had to pull off the track on lap 11 with an electrical-based engine problem.

Corser spent the main part of the race in a battle for fifth place with Lanzi but took fourth when Lanzi crashed out. The Australian fought the pain of his injuries received in race one to bring his bike home in fourth.

The weekend finished on a good note for Team Yamaha YZF rider Shinichi Nakatomi with him finishing in the points in both races. Settings alterations made throughout the weekend gave the team one of their best results so far this season with the Japanese rider taking seven points away from Assen.

The weekend's results means that Haga goes to Monza third in the championship, 20 points behind Biaggi who is in second. Corser lies in fifth in the championship.    Noriyuki Haga (2nd and DNF - Yamaha Motor Italia) "In race one I got a good result considering where I started. From the fourth row to the podium isn't bad for one race! The bike was feeling good and the suspension modifications we made worked well. In race two I made a good start but then a problem forced me to retire which is unlucky as I was on target to get a good result again. This has been a bit of a mixed day but I am sure Monza will be better." Troy Corser (DNF and 4th - Yamaha Motor Italia) "The incident in race one was so unlucky. I can't believe that such a small part can do that - it shouldn't have happened. That just put me out of serious contention for race two. I have a very sore left hip which has been X-rayed and they say nothing is broken. I am going to get further checks tomorrow as I can't believe how sore it is. Everything else feels okay at the moment, we will see."

Massimo Meregalli (Team Coordinator, Yamaha Motor Italia) "Race one was going very well until a really minor problem on Troy's bike cost him a podium position and caused him some injuries. In the same race Haga got a really good start from fifteenth to finish second. It was a very mixed result for the team.

In race two Haga was making similar progress as he had done in the first race but a different problem to Troy's forced him to retire and lose valuable points. Corser did a good job under the circumstances in race two. After his race one crash he had to have painkillers and was still in pain during the second race. He has definitely shown his determination today."    Shinichi Nakatomi (13th and 12th - Team Yamaha YZF) "In race one I got a good start, gaining a couple of positions until I nearly had a high-side on the back part of the circuit. For race two we changed the front tyre compound and it was better. I am confident the next race will be better as we are working on some modifications which are sure will help."

Martial Garcia (Team Manager, Tam Yamaha YZF) "Race one was satisfying, we are starting to bear the fruits of our hard work. We had the second top speed of the race even though we made a wrong choice for the front tyre. The bike is working well and Nakatomi's confidence is much improved. For race two we made some small modifications which helped further. Shinichi has better confidence with the frame and the engine now."   Circuit Length: 4555 Temp: 19 Weather: Sunny     2007 WSB Assen 29/04/2007 Race 1 - 22 Laps Pos. Rider Manu. Nat. Total Time 1 James Toseland Honda GBR 37'2.097 2 Noriyuki Haga Yamaha JPN 0'0.663 3 Ruben Xaus Ducati ESP 0'3.698 4 Troy Bayliss Ducati AUS 0'7.134 5 Lorenzo Lanzi Ducati ITA 0'9.312 6 Max Biaggi Suzuki ITA 0'9.534 7 Yukio Kagayama Suzuki JPN 0'18.286 8 Fonsi Nieto Kawasaki ESP 0'18.403 9 Roberto Rolfo Honda ITA 0'19.873 10 Max Neukirchner Suzuki GER 0'22.914 11 Jakub Smrz Ducati CZE 0'29.602 12 Michel Fabrizio Honda ITA 0'40.961 13 Shinichi Nakatomi Yamaha JPN 0'41.008 14 Dean Ellison Ducati GBR 1'12.714 15 Marek Svoboda Yamaha CZE -2 Laps

Race 2 - 22 Laps Pos. Rider Manu. Nat. Total Time 1 Troy Bayliss Ducati AUS 36'54.133 2 James Toseland Honda GBR 0'0.009 3 Max Biaggi Suzuki ITA 0'7.439 4 Troy Corser Yamaha AUS 0'12.379 5 Roberto Rolfo Honda ITA 0'23.052 6 Michel Fabrizio Honda ITA 0'23.158 7 Max Neukirchner Suzuki GER 0'23.311 8 Fonsi Nieto Kawasaki ESP 0'24.147 9 Jakub Smrz Ducati CZE 0'29.660 10 Regis Laconi Kawasaki FRA 0'32.301 11 Yukio Kagayama Suzuki JPN 0'32.389 12 Shinichi Nakatomi Yamaha JPN 0'39.091 13 Joshua Brookes Honda AUS 0'39.128 14 Luca Morelli Ducati ITA -1 Laps 15 Marek Svoboda Yamaha CZE -1 Laps

Best Lap Rider Manu. Nat. Total Time Troy Bayliss Ducati AUS 1'39.906

 Rider Standings 29/04/2007

Pos. Rider Manu. Nat. Points 1. James Toseland Honda GBR 196 2. Max Biaggi Suzuki ITA 164 3. Noriyuki Haga Yamaha JPN 144 4. Troy Bayliss Ducati AUS 128 5. Troy Corser Yamaha AUS 114 6. Ruben Xaus Ducati ESP 99 7. Lorenzo Lanzi Ducati ITA 98 8. Max Neukirchner Suzuki GER 70 9. Roberto Rolfo Honda ITA 64 10. Michel Fabrizio Honda ITA 47 11. Fonsi Nieto Kawasaki ESP 46 12. Regis Laconi Kawasaki FRA 43 13. Yukio Kagayama Suzuki JPN 41 14. Jakub Smrz Ducati CZE 37 15. Joshua Brookes Honda AUS 35 16. Shinichi Nakatomi Yamaha JPN 19

Manufacturer Standings 29/04/2007

Pos. Manufacturer Points 1. Honda 205 2. Ducati 173 3. Yamaha 167 4. Suzuki 164 5. Kawasaki 69

RACE REPORT 29/04/2007 Yamaha put up a spirited fight but are unlucky  

Everything was looking positive today for the Yamaha World Supersport Team when on the penultimate lap Parkes crashed out while in second, dashing the teams hopes of a podium finish. Up until that point the young Australian had been having a great race and was looking very strong. With Parkes crashed out it was left up to Steve Martin to grab six points for the team's championship cause.

Broc got a good start from third and found himself in a race-long battle at the front between Sofuoglu, Pitt, Foret and Charpentier. A fierce fight with Charpentier on lap eight saw Parkes challenging for third position with the riders swapping places every turn but he was unable to maintain the pace and moved back to fifth place when Foret overtook. He settled in fifth for the middle part of the race waiting for the last few laps before making a charge on lap 17. It was on lap 20 that Parkes lost the front going into the left-hand bend of Strubben corner and crashed out.

Martin had an unlucky start off the line from sixth place and went down to 14th. He then spent the remainder of the race trying to make up places and succeeded in overtaking to tenth place. This was a good achievement considering the rider had only had three hours on the bike since being taken on as a replacement rider for Kevin Curtain last week. After Parkes' crash Sofuoglu went on to win the race with Pitt behind in second and Foret in third.

Roccoli had a disappointing result today after a very good weekend of practice and qualifying. Having qualified fifth the rider then struggled in the race due to a wrong tyre choice and had to settle for the points rather than the race win. He finished in 14th.

Having come to Assen fifth in the championship Parkes goes into the sixth round in two weeks in ninth place with 27 points and everything to work for. Yamaha also had a very good result today in the FIM Superstock 600 Cup with eight R6-shod riders finishing in the top ten.    Steve Martin (10th - Yamaha World Supersport Team) "I got a very bad start and just couldn't come back from there. I got stuck in a group and didn't feel I had enough rear grip to really push it or brake hard. I wanted to be more aggressive but there wasn't much I could do. If I had to do that race again I would try and get more rear grip - that was the only problem on an otherwise good bike and set up. The team has been really good to work with all weekend, I'm sorry I couldn't re-pay their efforts with a higher end result."    Broc Parkes (DNF - Yamaha World Supersport Team) "I got away okay at the start and found myself in a big battle with the front runners. Some of the Honda guys in that group were very committed and I was just trying to avoid being taken out. I did my best to conserve my tyres and then make a late charge at the end. The problem was I wasn't confident in the front brakes and I lost the front as I started to push harder. I'm gutted to crash out of second place."

Massimo Roccoli (14th - Yamaha Team Italia) "I decided to try a medium rear tyre in the race which was a gamble and didn't work because the tarmac temperature was lower today than yesterday. I was very fast at the beginning of the race but after the first three laps the rear tyre was finished. The second half of the race was very difficult and I focused on just finishing in order to provide the team some more data to work from."   Circuit Length: 4555 Temp: 19 Weather: Sunny     2007 WSS Assen 29/04/2007 Race 1 - 21 Laps Pos. Rider Manu. Nat. Total Time 1 Kenan Sofuoglu Honda TUR 36'4.418 2 Andrew Pitt Honda AUS 0'4.043 3 Fabien Foret Kawasaki FRA 0'5.479 4 Barry Veneman Suzuki NED 0'8.140 5 David Salom Yamaha ESP 0'8.900 6 Sebastien Charpentier Honda FRA 0'11.090 7 David Checa Yamaha ESP 0'14.847 8 Vesa Kallio Suzuki FIN 0'19.545 9 Davide Giugliano Kawasaki ITA 0'19.880 10 Steve Martin Yamaha AUS 0'20.084 11 Lorenzo Alfonsi Honda ITA 0'21.940 12 Pere Riba Kawasaki ESP 0'26.792 13 Simone Sanna Honda ITA 0'36.477 14 Massimo Roccoli Yamaha ITA 0'37.156 15 Arie Vos Honda NED 0'39.459 18 Gianluca Vizziello Yamaha ITA 0'41.140

Best Lap Rider Manu. Nat. Total Time Kenan Sofuoglu Honda TUR 1'42.096

 Rider Standings 29/04/2007

Pos. Rider Manu. Nat. Points 1. Kenan Sofuoglu Honda TUR 120 2. Fabien Foret Kawasaki FRA 67 3. Katsuaki Fujiwara Honda JPN 43 4. Andrew Pitt Honda AUS 40 5. Robbin Harms Honda DNK 39 6. Barry Veneman Suzuki NED 30 7. Gianluca Nannelli Ducati ITA 30 8. Massimo Roccoli Yamaha ITA 28 9. Broc Parkes Yamaha AUS 27 10. Pere Riba Kawasaki ESP 26 11. Craig Jones Honda GBR 25 12. Kevin Curtain Yamaha AUS 25 13. David Salom Yamaha ESP 24 14. Sebastien Charpentier Honda FRA 23 15. Vesa Kallio Suzuki FIN 21 17. David Checa Yamaha ESP 18 21. Gianluca Vizziello Yamaha ITA 10 22. Sebastien Gimbert Yamaha FRA 9

Manufacturer Standings 29/04/2007

Pos. Manufacturer Points 1. Honda 120 2. Kawasaki 77 3. Yamaha 66 4. Suzuki 37 5. Ducati 30

RACE REPORT 29/04/2007 Yamaha 1, 2 and 3 in Superstock 1000 at Assen    Yamaha dominated the podium in today's third round of the FIM Superstock 1000 Cup with the rookie rider Pirro taking his first win on the R1. Team mate Corti finished second and TTSL-MGM rider van Keymeulen took third to round up an excellent day for the three diapason manufacturer.

The three Yamaha riders, all using the new 2007 R1, had already taken the top three qualifying slots in yesterday's qualifying session with Corti in pole, van Keymeulen second and Pirro third. Belgian rider van Keymeulen got a good race start to take the lead but was quickly overtaken by Pirro by lap three. Corti rounded up the front group. New to the Yamaha Team Italia squad this season, Pirro came to Assen keen to show that his second place at Valencia was no fluke and he proved this by setting the fastest lap twice by lap five before van Keymeulen responded to knock over two seconds off the lap record.

By lap 11 the three Yamaha-shod riders had left the rest of the pack nine seconds behind and on lap 12 Corti took the opportunity to pass van Keymeulen before sizing up and passing his team mate for the race lead on the penultimate corner of the last lap. Corti took the race win but was subsequently penalized 0.3 seconds for overtaking van Keymeulen under a waved yellow flag. This penalty pushed Corti back into second, providing Pirro with his first win for Yamaha Team Italia in his first season on the YZF-R1.

Matteo Baiocco, riding an R1 for the Umbria Bike Team, had an excellent weekend finishing in fifth.

Pirro's win today means he leaps from sixth in the championship to second with 45 points where he is just six points behind Canepa. Corti lies in third, also on 45 points with Baiocco in fifth and van Keymeulen in seventh. Van Keymeulen's finish is a good result considering the rider came to Assen with injuries sustained at the Le Mans 24hr race last week.

Yamaha now leads the championship with 65 points to Ducati who are on 51 points. The next round of the FIM Superstock 1000 Cup is in two weeks at Monza, Italy.     Michele Pirro (1st - Yamaha Team Italia) "I am very happy. I think that my victory is my rightfully mine because I stayed in front for virtually the whole race. I lost the lead on the last lap because the back marker Corti and I were overtaking didn't respect the signals. I am sorry for Claudio for the penalty but those are the rules."    Claudio Corti (2nd - Yamaha Team Italia) "I didn't see the yellow flag. I am very angry because to win was very important for me. The positive things are that I am now very near the top of the leader board and I am now in a position to challenge for the title."    Didier van Keymeulen (3rd - TTSL-MGM Racing) "At Le Mans I burnt my foot badly because the exhaust made contact with the foot peg which got hot and burnt through my boot. I also have very sore arms because of the length of time I was riding for. I had five injections for the pain in my arms today which helped. In the race I was able to keep up well with the other riders but I started to lose control of the front from lap six onwards. I had to back off, which is when Pirro and Corti passed me. I know I can compete with both these riders but I felt it was wiser to finish on the podium today than to risk not finishing at all."   Circuit Length: 4555 Temp: 19 Weather: Sunny     2007 Superstock Assen 29/04/2007 Race 1 - 13 Laps Pos. Rider Manu. Nat. Total Time 1 Michele Pirro Yamaha ITA 22'27.536 2 Claudio Corti Yamaha ITA 0'0.920 3 Didier Van Keymeulen Yamaha BEL 0'0.513 4 Ilario Dionisi Suzuki ITA 0'9.257 5 Matteo Baiocco Yamaha ITA 0'13.319 6 Nicolo Canepa Ducati ITA 0'14.996 7 Brendan Roberts Ducati AUS 0'15.569 8 Xavier Simeon Suzuki BEL 0'15.796 9 Matej Smrz Honda CZE 0'19.816 10 Danilo Dell'omo MV Agusta ITA 0'20.396 11 Raymond Schouten Yamaha NED 0'27.508 12 Ronald ter Braake Kawasaki NED 0'28.404 13 Rene Mahr Yamaha GER 0'30.659 14 Cederic Tangre Yamaha FRA 0'30.863 15 Marko Rohtlaan Honda EST 0'35.346

Best Lap Rider Manu. Nat. Total Time Didier Van Keymeulen Yamaha BEL 1'42.548

 Rider Standings 29/04/2007

Pos. Rider Manu. Nat. Points 1. Nicolo Canepa Ducati ITA 51 2. Michele Pirro Yamaha ITA 45 3. Claudio Corti Yamaha ITA 45 4. Mark Aitchison Suzuki AUS 38 5. Matteo Baiocco Yamaha ITA 35 6. Ilario Dionisi Suzuki ITA 34 7. Didier Van Keymeulen Yamaha BEL 32 8. Xavier Simeon Suzuki BEL 27 9. Rene Mahr Yamaha GER 18 10. Matej Smrz Honda CZE 15 11. Cederic Tangre Yamaha FRA 11 12. Marko Jerman Suzuki SVK 11 13. Sheridan Morais Ducati RSA 10 14. Arne Tode Honda GER 9 15. Brendan Roberts Ducati AUS 9

Manufacturer Standings 29/04/2007

Pos. Manufacturer Points 1. Yamaha 65 2. Suzuki 51 3. Ducati 51 4. Honda 23 5. MV Agusta 10 6. Kawasaki 4