Season's best for Yamaha Motor Italia

Yamaha Motor Italia enjoyed its best day of the season at Silverstone today, with Noriyuki Haga racing to two second places and Andrew Pitt fighting through from 11th on the grid to take fourth and fifth place finishes. Haga raced into the lead in both outings, only to be caught by championship leader Troy Bayliss (Ducati). The pair had a fantastic battle each time, with the Ducati rider just managing to pull a slight gap on the charging Haga in both races. Having had only limited dry weather practice, the ever-popular Japanese star made a few minor suspension changes to his YZF-R1 for the second race, allowing him to run closer to Bayliss than in the first but unable to quite make a decisive move on the dominant Australian. For Pitt the Silverstone races were made difficult after qualifying on the third row in Saturday's wet conditions, although the Australian was able to show his true pace in the dry races. In both races Pitt made a good start and lapped faster than the leaders as he scythed through the field to challenge James Toseland (Honda) for the third step on the podium. However, the Yamaha rider used up too much of his front tyre and was unable to close the gap on the Brit, using his head to bring his YZF-R1 home for 24 points over the two races. Race one had been delayed following two huge crashes on the first lap. Thankfully no riders were injured but the incidents brought the red flags out and a delay while marshals cleared up the carnage. Both races followed a similar pattern with local favourite Toseland winning the battle for third. In the championship Bayliss extends his lead to 76 points over second placed Troy Corser (Suzuki). Haga moves up two places to third in the championship, just 16 points behind Corser, with Pitt maintaining his sixth place in the points standings. Yamaha Motor France's Norick Abe retained his ninth place in the championship, finishing 10th and 11th in the races. It was a difficult weekend for the Japanese star, who was troubled by the wrist injury he sustained in Monza. Team-mate Shinichi Nakatomi did not race after crashing on a wet patch in the morning warm-up. The Japanese rider has broken the radius bone in his right arm but hopes to be fit to race in Misano in four weeks time. Sebastien Gimbert retired from both races with electrical problems on another Yamaha Motor France bike. Twenty-one-year-old wild-card Tommy Hill, who grabbed the headlines by setting pole position in Saturday's wet superpole rode sensibly to take a pair of 12th place finishes on his Virgin Mobile Yamaha. Round six of the series takes place at Misano on 25 June. Copyright-free photography (for editorial use) and further information on Yamaha's racing activities, including a regular column by Noriyuki Haga, can be found at www.yamaha-racing.com. Noriyuki Haga (Yamaha Motor Italia) "I enjoyed the battles with Troy today and all weekend I had a good feeling with the bike in both the wet and dry. It's a shame that we weren't able to test much in the dry. I had to make some suspension changes between the races and it improved the bike but still I did not have enough traction in the last laps. But I am happy with the results and to move up the championship. We have some more testing planned before the race in Misano. We have already had a good test at Misano so I am looking forward to a good race there as well." Andrew Pitt (Yamaha Motor Italia) "I'm fairly happy with that. I felt I was in with a good shot at the podium but I just couldn't keep the lap times going at the end. I was using the softest front tyre, which I think the other guys had too, but my style pushes the front quite hard and I had to ride very aggressively in the opening laps. At the end the front was moving around a fair bit and it was getting hard to hang on to Toseland. What I've got to do now is make sure that I get the Saturdays right so that I don't give myself as much to do on the race day because I have proved that the bike is working well and I am capable of getting up on the podium." Norick Abe (Yamaha Motor France) "I did my very best and our settings were not so bad, considering we had so little set-up time in dry conditions. We changed the settings between the two races and the lap times were better, even if the position went down. I would not normally be happy with 10th or 11th places, but today we did our best. A very hard track, and a very physical race considering my wrist is still not 100 percent." Tommy Hill (Virgin Mobile Yamaha) "I was very nervous on the grid, until remembered that I was on pole because I won superpole, which calmed me down a bit. We finished pretty much were we expected to finish, but I couldn't believe the speed of the world superbike guys from the very first lap. Normally in a British championship race people build up to speed but here everyone races at 110 percent from the very first lap." Sebastien Gimbert (Yamaha Motor France) "Three big crashes were not what I needed this weekend. My bike misfired with an electrical problem in both races. The problem seems to be some wires damaged in the practice crashes but it is disappointing because it is now three races and no results." Shinichi Nakatomi (Yamaha Motor France) "I crashed on a slippery part of the track and my arm is broken. I will miss the tests we have planned but I am hoping to be back for the races in Misano." Massimo Meregalli (Team Coordinator - Yamaha Motor Italia) "Both our riders did an excellent job today and we have reached our goals for the weekend. Our target was to take points from Corser and leave with Nori third in the championship, which we have achieved. Andrew also rode very well from the third row, especially in the second race when he was so close to a podium finish. Again we made some small steps forward with the bike. They are small steps but it is encouraging that they are working and we are going in the right direction. We now have a test at Brno with all the other Pirelli development teams before Misano, where I am confident of a good performance." Martial Garcia (Team Manager - Yamaha Motor France) "A very difficult weekend for us and a bad day for Nakatomi, who broke his right radius bone. A simple break but a break all the same. Gimbert had three crashes and we saw the result of that today. The wiring loom had been damaged, but we did not realise at the time and in each race he had a misfire, which caused him to retire. Only Abe saved our honour, with two hard rides after a lack of practice time - although he is not so happy because he expected more." Race classification WSB Round: 5 - United Kingdom Circuit: Silverstone Circuit Length: 3619 Lap Record: 1' 26.299 (Troy Bayliss, 2006) Fastest Lap Ever:  1' 26.299 (Troy Bayliss, 2006) Race: 28 Laps  Pos.  Rider Manufacturer  Nat. Total Time  1   T. Bayliss Ducati  AUS  40' 49.894  2   N. Haga Yamaha  JPN  +0.890  3   J. Toseland Honda  GBR  +1.705  4   R. Xaus Ducati  ESP  +8.285  5   A. Pitt Yamaha  AUS  +12.303  6   C. Walker Kawasaki  GBR  +23.716  7   R. Laconi Kawasaki  FRA  +25.483  8   K. Muggeridge Honda  AUS  +26.049  9   A. Barros Honda  BRA  +29.650  10   N. Abe Yamaha  JPN  +32.208  11   F. Nieto Kawasaki  ESP  +39.607  12   T. Hill Yamaha  GBR  +41.550  13   L. Lanzi Ducati  ITA  +41.935  14   Y. Kagayama Suzuki  JPN  +50.385  15   G. Nannelli Honda  ITA  +52.726  Race 2: 28 Laps  Pos.  Rider Manufacturer  Nat. Total Time  1   T. Bayliss Ducati  AUS  40' 42.003  2   N. Haga Yamaha  JPN  +1.585  3   J. Toseland Honda  GBR  +12.058  4   A. Pitt Yamaha  AUS  +14.561  5   A. Barros Honda  BRA  +16.826  6   T. Corser Suzuki  AUS  +21.230  7   R. Xaus Ducati  ESP  +22.056  8   C. Walker Kawasaki  GBR  +22.549  9   K. Muggeridge Honda  AUS  +22.708  10   F. Nieto Kawasaki  ESP  +34.025  11   N. Abe Yamaha  JPN  +34.739  12   T. Hill Yamaha  GBR  +35.112  13   Y. Kagayama Suzuki  JPN  +35.518  14   R. Laconi Kawasaki  FRA  +36.322  15   M. Fabrizio Honda  ITA  +47.850  Fastest Race Lap:   Pos.  Rider Manufacturer  Nat. Total Time  1   T. Bayliss Ducati  AUS  1' 26.299  Championship standings WSB Pos.  Rider  Manufacturer  Nat. Points  1   Troy Bayliss Ducati  AUS 225  2   Troy Corser Suzuki  AUS 149  3   Noriyuki Haga Yamaha  JPN 133  4   James Toseland Honda  GBR 129  5   Alex Barros Honda  BRA 113  6   Andrew Pitt Yamaha  AUS 103  7   Lorenzo Lanzi Ducati  ITA 62  8   Ruben Xaus Ducati  ESP 56  9   Norick Abe Yamaha  JPN 51  10   Chris Walker Kawasaki  GBR 51  11   Fonsi Nieto Kawasaki  ESP 48  12   Roberto Rolfo Ducati  ITA 46  13   Karl Muggeridge Honda  AUS 45  14   Regis Laconi Kawasaki  FRA 42  15   Michel Fabrizio Honda  ITA 37  17   Shinichi Nakatomi Yamaha  JPN 18  23   Sebastien Gimbert Yamaha  FRA 7  Manufacturers standings WSB Pos. Manufacturer Points  1  Ducati 226  2  Suzuki 161  3  Honda 156  4  Yamaha 153  5  Kawasaki 75  6  Petronas 4  WSS : Silverstone brings double podium for Yamaha Motor Germany Round: 5 - United Kingdom Circuit: Silverstone Date: 28 May 2006 Crowd: 71000 Temp: 15ºC Weather: Dry Yamaha Motor Germany riders Broc Parkes and Kevin Curtain took advantages of development work on their Yamaha YZF-R6s to finish second and third in a sunny fifth round of the Supersport World Championship at Silverstone today. Having brought a new development of the YZF-R6 engine with more mid-range power to Silverstone, the Australians pushed defending world champion Sebastien Charpentier (Honda) hard over the opening laps. Parkes set the fastest lap of the race on lap four, however a lack of dry-weather set-up time, brought on by two day's of wet practice, meant that the Yamaha riders dropped off the pace slightly as the rear end grid decreased from around half distance. The team-mates then engaged their own personal duel before Parkes was able to pull out a slight advantage on his more senior colleague and take second at the flag. Yamaha Team Italia rider Massimo Roccoli had a good race at Silverstone, ending the day in sixth place after a thrilling race-long battle with Yamaha privateer Xavi Fores and Honda riders Robbin Harms, Mattieu Lagrive and Johan Stigefelt. Harms just finished at the front of the train, with Fores ending the day in seventh. Yamaha GMT94's David Checa came from dead last at the end of the first lap to finish 11th. The result sees Curtain consolidate his second place in the championship, 40 points behind Charpentier after five of the 12 championship rounds. Parkes moves up to fourth place with Roccoli sixth. The sixth round of the championship takes place at Misano in Italy in one month's time. Broc Parkes (Yamaha Motor Germany) "The bike is working really well at the moment but we didn't have a lot of time to set it up this weekend. But on Sunday afternoon I found something that was working pretty well. I felt a lot better at quarter distance into the race, but at that time I really didn't get the chance to get past Sebastien. But things are good for me, getting better and better, but it hasn't been easy for me this year, after some good qualifying performances but problems in the races. So I'm happy to score this and I'm looking forward to getting better and better." Kevin Curtain (Yamaha Motor Germany) "Things were going ok until I ran out of rear grip. I changed to my second bike this morning, after the free practice of warm-up. In general we did not have a lot of dry time for set-up because it has been raining so much this weekend. But it was important to get a good haul of points after losing a whole bunch in Monza." Massimo Roccoli (Yamaha Team Italia) "A difficult race because Silverstone is a physically demanding circuit and we had very little time in the dry. I couldn't hold Harms off in the end but I'm pleased with sixth and getting some more good championship points." Terrell Thien (Team Manager - Yamaha Motor Germany) "We are really happy with the results today, especially with all the new parts we've brought this weekend. Seeing both riders on the podium is good for the team spirit, especially after the DNF in Monza. We are looking forward to the three day test in Brno. This is a track that really suits the Yamaha. We should be able to make some improvements to the suspension because the bike is so new and we are learning about it with every lap we do." Race classification WSS Round: 5 - United Kingdom Circuit: Silverstone Circuit Length: 3619 Lap Record: 1' 29.027 (Sebastien Charpentier, 2005) Fastest Lap Ever:  1' 28.750 (Sebastien Charpentier, 2005) Race: 28 Laps  Pos.  Rider Manufacturer  Nat. Total Time  1   S. Charpentier Honda  FRA  41' 54.640  2   B. Parkes Yamaha  AUS  +2.802  3   K. Curtain Yamaha  AUS  +6.767  4   P. Riba Kawasaki  ESP  +17.116  5   R. Harms Honda  DNK  +26.102  6   M. Roccoli Yamaha  ITA  +27.097  7   X. Fores Yamaha  ESP  +27.492  8   M. Lagrive Honda  FRA  +27.492  9   J. Stigefelt Honda  SWE  +29.073  10   K. Fujiwara Honda  JPN  +41.265  11   D. Checa Yamaha  ESP  +41.615  12   M. Berger Kawasaki  FRA  +43.602  13   K. Andersen Suzuki  NOR  +44.079  14   Y. Tibero Honda  FRA  +47.538  15   S. Easton Ducati  GBR  +49.619  Championship standings WSS   Pos.  Rider  Manufacturer  Nat. Points  1   Sebastien Charpentier Honda  FRA 116  2   Kevin Curtain Yamaha  AUS 76  3   Robbin Harms Honda  DNK 63  4   Broc Parkes Yamaha  AUS 58  5   Yoann Tibero Honda  FRA 50  6   Massimo Roccoli Yamaha  ITA 46  7   Xavi Fores Yamaha  ESP 39  8   Johan Stigefelt Honda  SWE 35  9   Kenan Sofuoglu Honda  TUR 27  10   Katsuaki Fujiwara Honda  JPN 22  11   Joshua Brookes Ducati  AUS 21  12   Gianluca Vizziello Yamaha  ITA 17  13   Christian Zaiser Ducati  AUT 15  14   Pere Riba Kawasaki  ESP 13  15   Sebastien Le Grelle Honda  BEL 12  19   David Checa Yamaha  ESP 8  Manufacturers standings WSS Pos. Manufacturer Points  1  Honda 125  2  Yamaha 93  3  Ducati 34  4  Kawasaki 27  5  Suzuki 10  FIM Superstock 1000 Cup : Corti takes first win on R1 at Silverstone Round: 3 - United Kingdom Circuit: Silverstone Date: 28 May 2006 Crowd: 71000 Temp: 19ºC Weather: Dry Yamaha Team Italia rider Claudio Corti took his first win in the FIM Superstock 1000 Cup at Silverstone today. Starting from pole position the Italian protégé battled intensely with championship leader Alessandro Polita (Suzuki) in the opening laps, before pulling away to take a comfortable win at the end of the 15-lap race. Polita held off Ayrton Badovini (MV Agusta) for second. Emilio Rocamora took fifth place on his YZF-R1SP with Ilario Dionsi making it three Yamahas in the top six. In the championship Polita remains in the lead, with a 22 point advantage over second placed Badovini. Corti moves up to third in the standings, 31 points behind the leader. Claudio Corti (Yamaha Team Italia) "It was a hard race because Alessandro was very fast, especially on the first half of the track. We were able to have a good battle and eventually I was able to build a small gap. I'm really happy to have taken my first world championship win on the R1 and I'm hoping to close the gap in the championship in Misano." Race classification FIM Superstock 1000 Cup Round: 3 - United Kingdom Circuit: Silverstone Circuit Length: 3619 Lap Record: 1' 29.615 (Massimo Roccoli, 2005) Fastest Lap Ever:  1' 29.392 (Massimo Roccoli, 2005) Race: 15 Laps  Pos.  Rider Manufacturer  Nat. Total Time  1   C. Corti Yamaha  ITA  22' 38.681  2   A. Polita Suzuki  ITA  +1.251  3   A. Badovini MV Agusta  ITA  +2.118  4   L. Scassa MV Agusta  ITA  +2.266  5   E. Rocamora Yamaha  ESP  +11.713  6   I. Dionisi Yamaha  ITA  +12.548  7   S. Morais Suzuki  RSA  +12.682  8   D. Sacchetti Kawasaki  ITA  +15.355  9   M. Baiocco Yamaha  ITA  +17.405  10   L. Napoleone Suzuki  FRA  +18.546  11   R. Chiarello Kawasaki  ITA  +20.826  12   A. Martinez Mas Kawasaki  ESP  +21.952  13   R. Cooper Honda  GBR  +23.090  14   M. Smrz Honda  CZE  +24.975  15   C. Tangre Suzuki  FRA  +26.119  Fastest Race Lap:   Pos.  Rider Manufacturer  Nat. Total Time  1   C. Corti Yamaha  ITA  1' 29.661  Championship standings FIM Superstock 1000 Cup Pos.  Rider  Manufacturer  Nat. Points  1   Alessandro Polita Suzuki  ITA 70  2   Ayrton Badovini MV Agusta  ITA 48  3   Claudio Corti Yamaha  ITA 39  4   Luca Scassa MV Agusta  ITA 35  5   Enrique Rocamora Yamaha  ESP 29  6   Denis Sacchetti Kawasaki  ITA 27  7   Riccardo Chiarello Kawasaki  ITA 27  8   Alex Martinez Mas Kawasaki  ESP 24  9   Ivan Silva Kawasaki  ESP 20  10   Matteo Baiocco Yamaha  ITA 19  11   Ilario Dionisi Yamaha  ITA 19  12   Sheridan Morais Suzuki  RSA 18  13   Danilo Dell'omo Suzuki  ITA 13  14   Loic Napoleone Suzuki  FRA 10  15   Simone Saltarelli Kawasaki  ITA 9