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Andrew Pitt took his first ever win in the Superbike World Championship at Misano today as team-mate Noriyuki Haga gave the Yamaha Motor Italia squad its first ever double podium finish in the class. After colliding with another rider and failing to score in the opening race, the Australian rode intelligently to win race two while many top riders crashed out behind him. Making his intentions clear from the start, Pitt set the fastest lap of race two as he pulled away from the pack with world champion Troy Corser (Suzuki). When Corser crashed out on lap eight, Pitt found himself out in front of former world champions James Toseland (Honda) and Troy Bayliss (Ducati). When both Toseland and Bayliss made mistakes the Yamaha Motor Italia rider was able defend a five second lead over the battle for second, contested by Haga, Alex Barros (Honda) and Chris Walker (Kawasaki). Pitt rode sensibly to finish over two-and-a-half seconds ahead of Barros to give his team their first win of the season. Barros eventually took second place in what was a ferocious race long battle, with Haga getting the final podium spot from Walker on the last lap. Earlier in the day Haga finished fifth, his 27 point haul moving him up to second place in the championship. There were more mixed fortunes in the Yamaha Motor France camp. Norick Abe turned around a horrific qualifying session to score tenth and 13th place finishes from 22nd on the grid. Team-mate Sebastien Gimbert was 12th in race one but retired in race two, while Shinichi Nakatomi was unable to capitalize on his 13th place qualifying. The Japanese rookie crashed out of the opener and finished outside the points in the second heat.
With half of the season gone, Bayliss continues to lead the championship, 94 points ahead of Haga. Pitt's win sees him remain sixth in the championship but moves Yamaha into third place in the manufacturers standings. Round seven of the series takes place at Brno in the Czech Republic on July 23. Andrew Pitt (Yamaha Motor Italia) "It feels incredible to get that first win. I saw that Troy (Corser) was making some mistakes so I tried to keep the pressure on him. When he went down I saw that the lead was about 1.3 seconds over the next guy. For all I knew there was a big line of guys behind me so I tried to concentrate as there were a lot of laps to go. When I went past and saw 'six seconds' on my pit board I thought the mechanics had made a mistake and it was 0.6 seconds. Then, when we got down to the last five laps I knew that I could take it easier and enjoy things a bit more. It's a great feeling and I really have to thank my team. We did a lot of testing on used tyres because we knew that it was important to be consistent throughout the race. In the first race the bike was running wide on a full fuel load but for the second we completely changed the front end and run harder springs which made a big improvement." Noriyuki Haga (Yamaha Motor Italia) "Two very hard races. It was so hot and the tyre was gone after about five laps. I pushed very hard and spent the last 20 laps of each race fighting with the bike as well as with the other riders. I am very happy with the result though as it moves me to second in the championship. We had a good test at Brno recently so I am looking forward to riding there next month." Norick Abe (Yamaha Motor France) "To me this is the worst track! Until this morning I was so bad, always 20-something! We tried a few different settings for the race and they worked a bit better. In the first race a lot of riders fell and I gained some positions, but I think I passed about ten riders. I was losing the rear a lot in race one so we adapted the settings again for race two and in the beginning the lap times were better. In the hotter conditions in the afternoon, towards the end of the race, I was having lots of slides again and pushing the front. Compared to qualifying, it was much better." Shinichi Nakatomi (Yamaha Motor France) "A very hot race but in race one I made a mistake and fell. I had a better rear tyre choice of race two and felt better in this one but did not score any points. My injuries did not give me any real problems in the race." Massimo Meregalli (Team Coordinator - Yamaha Motor Italia) "A great day for us as a team and individually for our riders. I am very happy to see Andrew take his first win in superbike and I am sure this will be so important for his confidence. Nori has moved into second place in the championship and this is the first time that our team has had two riders on the same podium in superbike. I'm very proud of the progress we have made, because at the start of the season I would have said that this would be one of the worst tracks for our bike. Now our target is to ensure we maintain these results at every track between now and the end of the season." Race classification WSB Round: 6 - Misano Circuit: Misano Circuit Length: 4060 Lap Record: 1' 34.913 (Troy Bayliss, 2002) Fastest Lap Ever:ย 1' 33.525 (Troy Bayliss, 2002) Race: 25 Lapsย Pos.ย Rider Manufacturerย Nat. Total Timeย 1ย ย T. Bayliss Ducatiย AUSย 40' 6.480ย 2ย ย J. Toseland Hondaย GBRย +6.493ย 3ย ย Y. Kagayama Suzukiย JPNย +10.141ย 4ย ย A. Barros Hondaย BRAย +15.017ย 5ย ย N. Haga Yamahaย JPNย +15.376ย 6ย ย R. Laconi Kawasakiย FRAย +16.763ย 7ย ย L. Lanzi Ducatiย ITAย +23.857ย 8ย ย F. Nieto Kawasakiย ESPย +34.167ย 9ย ย R. Xaus Ducatiย ESPย +35.254ย 10ย ย N. Abe Yamahaย JPNย +35.335ย 11ย ย K. Muggeridge Hondaย AUSย +39.423ย 12ย ย S. Gimbert Yamahaย FRAย +39.609ย 13ย ย F. Foret Suzukiย FRAย +39.755ย 14ย ย V. Iannuzzo Suzukiย ITAย +44.065ย 15ย ย R. Rolfo Ducatiย ITAย +48.495ย 16ย ย A. Pitt Yamahaย AUSย +48.587ย Race 2: 25 Lapsย Pos.ย Rider Manufacturerย Nat. Total Timeย 1ย ย A. Pitt Yamahaย AUSย 40' 18.671ย 2ย ย A. Barros Hondaย BRAย +2.717ย 3ย ย N. Haga Yamahaย JPNย +6.559ย 4ย ย C. Walker Kawasakiย GBRย +7.100ย 5ย ย Y. Kagayama Suzukiย JPNย +7.276ย 6ย ย M. Fabrizio Hondaย ITAย +13.916ย 7ย ย L. Lanzi Ducatiย ITAย +14.148ย 8ย ย J. Toseland Hondaย GBRย +15.065ย 9ย ย R. Xaus Ducatiย ESPย +15.434ย 10ย ย F. Foret Suzukiย FRAย +20.579ย 11ย ย F. Nieto Kawasakiย ESPย +21.440ย 12ย ย T. Bayliss Ducatiย AUSย +23.417ย 13ย ย N. Abe Yamahaย JPNย +25.602ย 14ย ย K. Muggeridge Hondaย AUSย +26.088ย 15ย ย R. Rolfo Ducatiย ITAย +26.712ย 16ย ย V. Iannuzzo Suzukiย ITAย +33.556ย 17ย ย S. Martin Petronasย AUSย +34.766ย 18ย ย S. Nakatomi Yamahaย JPNย +37.406ย 19ย ย R. Laconi Kawasakiย FRAย +40.146ย 20ย ย I. Clementi Ducatiย ITAย +47.341ย Fastest Race Lap:ย ย Pos.ย Rider Manufacturerย Nat. Total Timeย 1ย ย A. Pitt Yamahaย AUSย 1' 35.123ย Championship standings WSB Pos.ย Riderย Manufacturerย Nat. Pointsย 1ย ย Troy Bayliss Ducatiย AUS 254ย 2ย ย Noriyuki Haga Yamahaย JPN 160ย 3ย ย James Toseland Hondaย GBR 157ย 4ย ย Troy Corser Suzukiย AUS 149ย 5ย ย Alex Barros Hondaย BRA 146ย 6ย ย Andrew Pitt Yamahaย AUS 128ย 7ย ย Lorenzo Lanzi Ducatiย ITA 80ย 8ย ย Ruben Xaus Ducatiย ESP 70ย 9ย ย Chris Walker Kawasakiย GBR 64ย 10ย ย Fonsi Nieto Kawasakiย ESP 61ย 11ย ย Norick Abe Yamahaย JPN 60ย 12ย ย Yukio Kagayama Suzukiย JPN 56ย 13ย ย Karl Muggeridge Hondaย AUS 52ย 14ย ย Regis Laconi Kawasakiย FRA 52ย 15ย ย Roberto Rolfo Ducatiย ITA 48ย 18ย ย Shinichi Nakatomi Yamahaย JPN 18ย 19ย ย Sebastien Gimbert Yamahaย FRA 11ย Manufacturers standings WSB Pos. Manufacturer Pointsย 1ย Ducati 260ย 2ย Honda 196ย 3ย Yamaha 189ย 4ย Suzuki 188ย 5ย Kawasaki 98ย 6ย Petronas 4ย WSS : Roccoli gives Yamaha breakthrough win at Misano Round: 6 - Misano Circuit: Misano Date: 25 June 2006 Crowd: 61000 Temp: 31ยบC Weather: Sunny Yamaha Team Italia youngster Massimo Roccoli took his and the latest Yamaha YZF-R6's first world supersport win in a tough round six at Misano today. In blisteringly hot conditions, the boy from nearby Rimini held his nerve to fend off compatriot Simone Sanna (Honda) for an emotional win. The 21-year-old former Yamaha R6 cup champion led the race from lap three and showed maturity beyond his years to withstand intense pressure from the former 125cc Grand Prix winner who remained just centimetres from the Yamaha's rear wheel throughout the race. Polesitter Broc Parkes ended the race third on his Yamaha Motor Germany YZF-R6. The Australian run set a new lap record on lap two and ran with the leading duo for much of the race, only to slip back as he struggled for rear grip in the closing laps due to selecting a different rear tyre option to the majority of the grid. Yamaha GMT94's David Checa recovered from a poor start to gain his best result in the class. The Spaniard started from the front row but found himself swamped going into the first corner but fought through from tenth to take fourth at the chequered flag. Kevin Curtain had a tough weekend on the other Yamaha Motor Germany machine. Last year's runner-up was forced to start from the fourth row of the grid after being plagued by set-up problems during qualifying. The Australian was further hampered by a bout of sickness on race day but he was still able to ride a gritty and professional race to sixth place, keeping his hopes of lifting the championship well and truly alive. In a good day for the R6 riders, Yamaha Team Italia's Gianluca Vizziello ended the race seventh after being passed by Curtain on the final lap. Spanish privateer Xavi Fores made it six Yamahas in the top ten and continued his fantastic season with tenth position on his SLM Racing-entered machine. World champion Sebastien Charpentier (Honda) retains his place at the head of the leader board, despite missing the race at Misano through injury. He leads Curtain by the reduced gap of 30 points. Parkes is third, 12 points behind his team-mate, with Roccoli a further three points behind in fifth. Massimo Roccoli (Yamaha Team Italia) "It's incredible. My bike was perfect today. I went fast from the first lap and pushed hard for the whole race. I had no problems with arm pump like in previous races and I knew from Friday that I could have a good race here. I hoped for a podium but I did not expect to win. I was not sure if Sanna could pass me on the last lap so I just pushed as hard as I could. I'm very happy for the team and my fans and want to thank them for their support." Broc Parkes (Yamaha Motor Germany) "That was such hard work it feels like I've ridden about three races out there! I just struggled for rear grip today. I knew after about four or five laps that it was going to be tough and I had a lot of slides and big moments. I could see that Roccoli and Sanna had a lot more grip than me and I just had to settle for third. Maybe we could have chosen a different rear tyre and that would have improved things. Third is not a bad result, but I felt that we could have got more than that today." David Checa (Yamaha GMT94) "I am still too used to the bigger bikes I race in endurance. I was fifth into the first corner but then I got pushed wide by Harms, then I was pushed wide by Sofuoglu, so I decided that I should keep my tyres and get by those guys later. I had a soft front set-up to conserve the tyre in this heat. If there were more laps left I would have caught up with Broc in front, because he had killed his tyre at the end." Kevin Curtain (Yamaha Motor Germany) "We have had problems with the front this weekend, and we thought it was one thing, but it wasn't so we went the wrong way with set-up for two days. We had a bit of a change of set-up overnight and things seemed better, but by this time we had not had a chance to test which tyre was going to go the distance for the race. I ran out of rear grip and I think Broc was in the same boat. I woke up this morning and I wondered who was rocking the motorhome! I went to the Clinica Mobile and I was all right before the race - and when you get on the bike you forget everything anyway." Gianluca Vizziello (Yamaha Team Italia) "I did my best today. I had a good start but when I pushed hard the bike started sliding and I lost the riders in front of me. With seven laps to go tyre was really finished so I decided to stay in my position and score some good championship points." Race classification WSS Round: 6 - Misano Circuit: Misano Circuit Length: 4060 Lap Record: 1' 37.628 (Broc Parkes, 2006) Fastest Lap Ever:ย 1' 36.846 (Simone Sanna, 2003) Race: 23 Lapsย Pos.ย Rider Manufacturerย Nat. Total Timeย 1ย ย M. Roccoli Yamahaย ITAย 37' 55.059ย 2ย ย S. Sanna Hondaย ITAย +0.242ย 3ย ย B. Parkes Yamahaย AUSย +4.936ย 4ย ย D. Checa Yamahaย ESPย +6.492ย 5ย ย R. Harms Hondaย DNKย +9.805ย 6ย ย K. Curtain Yamahaย AUSย +10.147ย 7ย ย G. Vizziello Yamahaย ITAย +13.168ย 8ย ย K. Sofuoglu Hondaย TURย +14.740ย 9ย ย J. Stigefelt Hondaย SWEย +16.107ย 10ย ย X. Fores Yamahaย ESPย +19.665ย 11ย ย M. Berger Kawasakiย FRAย +19.835ย 12ย ย W. De Angelis Hondaย ITAย +24.121ย 13ย ย M. Lagrive Hondaย FRAย +24.221ย 14ย ย A. Vos Hondaย NEDย +25.557ย 15ย ย M. Sanchini Yamahaย ITAย +26.474ย Fastest Race Lap:ย ย Pos.ย Rider Manufacturerย Nat. Total Timeย 1ย ย B. Parkes Yamahaย AUSย 1' 37.628ย Championship standings WSS Pos.ย Riderย Manufacturerย Nat. Pointsย 1ย ย Sebastien Charpentier Hondaย FRA 116ย 2ย ย Kevin Curtain Yamahaย AUS 86ย 3ย ย Broc Parkes Yamahaย AUS 74ย 4ย ย Robbin Harms Hondaย DNK 74ย 5ย ย Massimo Roccoli Yamahaย ITA 71ย 6ย ย Yoann Tibero Hondaย FRA 50ย 7ย ย Xavi Fores Yamahaย ESP 45ย 8ย ย Johan Stigefelt Hondaย SWE 42ย 9ย ย Kenan Sofuoglu Hondaย TUR 35ย 10ย ย Gianluca Vizziello Yamahaย ITA 26ย 11ย ย Katsuaki Fujiwara Hondaย JPN 22ย 12ย ย David Checa Yamahaย ESP 21ย 13ย ย Joshua Brookes Ducatiย AUS 21ย 14ย ย Simone Sanna Hondaย ITA 20ย 15ย ย Christian Zaiser Ducatiย AUT 15ย 32ย ย Didier Van Keymeulen Yamahaย BEL 2ย Manufacturers standings WSS Pos. Manufacturer Pointsย 1ย Honda 145ย 2ย Yamaha 118ย 3ย Ducati 34ย 4ย Kawasaki 32ย 5ย Suzuki 10ย Superstock : More points for Corti in Misano Round: 4 - Misano Circuit: Misano Date: 25 June 2006 Crowd: 61000 Temp: 28ยบC Weather: Sunny Yamaha Team Italia rider Claudio Corti brought his YZF-R1 SP home fifth in a dramatic fourth round of the FIM Superstock 1000 Cup at Misano. Starting from the front row, the 18-year-old Italian led briefly in the opening stages before slipping back as he struggled with set-up problems. After crashing in the morning warm-up, the current European Superstock 600 Champion was forced to race with his spare bike and was unable to exactly replicate the settings of his preferred machine.ย Corti spent most of the race battling for third with Luca Scassa (MV Agusta), Brendan Roberts (Suzuki) and Riccardo Chiarello (Kawasaki) but looked set for sixth until picking up a position on the final lap, when Chiarello slid off. The Yamaha rider took to the grass but stayed upright to gain 11 championship points. Corti now lies fourth in the championship, on 50 points. The championship top three was reflected in today's race. Alessandro Polita (Suzuki) was the runaway winner and now leads the championship by 27 points from today's second placed rider, Ayrton Badovini (MV Agusta). Scassa eventually claimed the third spot on the Misano rostrum to move one point ahead of Corti in the championship standings, in third. Claudio Corti (Yamaha Team Italia) "I had a big crash in the morning practice and although I was ok the bike was very badly damaged. We didn't have enough time to repair the bike, so we had to use a spare. We didn't have enough time to set it up properly and I didn't have the same speed I had the rest of the weekend. Fifth is not so bad in the circumstances but I had wanted to do better at this circuit." Race classification FIM Superstock 1000 Cup Round: 4 - Misano Circuit: Misano Circuit Length: 4060 Lap Record: 1' 37.526 (Alessandro Polita, 2006) Fastest Lap Ever:ย 1' 37.526 (Alessandro Polita, 2006) Race: 15 Lapsย Pos.ย Rider Manufacturerย Nat. Total Timeย 1ย ย A. Polita Suzukiย ITAย 24' 48.301ย 2ย ย A. Badovini MV Agustaย ITAย +6.602ย 3ย ย L. Scassa MV Agustaย ITAย +9.519ย 4ย ย R. Roberts Suzukiย AUSย +10.777ย 5ย ย C. Corti Yamahaย ITAย +18.127ย 6ย ย E. Rocamora Yamahaย ESPย +19.192ย 7ย ย S. Saltarelli Kawasakiย ITAย +31.703ย 8ย ย M. Smrz Hondaย CZEย +31.965ย 9ย ย R. Cooper Hondaย GBRย +32.011ย 10ย ย R. Chiarello Kawasakiย ITAย +33.028ย 11ย ย A. Martinez Mas Kawasakiย ESPย +34.306ย 12ย ย M. Baiocco Yamahaย ITAย +35.749ย 13ย ย C. Tangre Suzukiย FRAย +36.451ย 14ย ย M. Jerman Suzukiย SVKย +37.936ย 15ย ย D. Dell'omo Suzukiย ITAย +43.021ย Fastest Race Lap:ย ย Pos.ย Rider Manufacturerย Nat. Total Timeย 1ย ย A. Polita Suzukiย ITAย 1' 37.526ย Championship standings FIM Superstock 1000 Cup Pos.ย Riderย Manufacturerย Nat. Pointsย 1ย ย Alessandro Polita Suzukiย ITA 95ย 2ย ย Ayrton Badovini MV Agustaย ITA 68ย 3ย ย Luca Scassa MV Agustaย ITA 51ย 4ย ย Claudio Corti Yamahaย ITA 50ย 5ย ย Enrique Rocamora Yamahaย ESP 39ย 6ย ย Riccardo Chiarello Kawasakiย ITA 33ย 7ย ย Alex Martinez Mas Kawasakiย ESP 29ย 8ย ย Denis Sacchetti Kawasakiย ITA 27ย 9ย ย Matteo Baiocco Yamahaย ITA 23ย 10ย ย Ivan Silva Kawasakiย ESP 20ย 11ย ย Ilario Dionisi Yamahaย ITA 19ย 12ย ย Simone Saltarelli Kawasakiย ITA 18ย 13ย ย Sheridan Morais Suzukiย RSA 18ย 14ย ย Richard Cooper Hondaย GBR 14ย 15ย ย Danilo Dell'omo Suzukiย ITA 14ย
By Alex Asigno
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