Two Podiums for Yamaha Motor Italia WSB Team

Troy Corser and Noriyuki Haga each took a second podium position in today's World Superbike races at Misano after starting in pole and third respectively.

Haga got a good start in race one and maintained his second with his team mate right behind him in third and Bayliss leading the pack. Together with Biaggi in fourth, the pack created some distance from the rest of the field with all four riders battling throughout the race. Haga and Bayliss had an exciting fight for the lead on lap 16 but it was Bayliss who came out on top with Haga second, Biaggi third and Corser fourth. Then, on the penultimate lap Biaggi tried to overtake Haga the second curvone corner but crashed, taking both riders out. As a result of this Corser grabbed second place and his 111th Superbike podium.

Race two saw the Yamaha Motor Italia team mates challenge each other for second place in the first couple of laps before Haga won the battle. Haga then turned his attention to front man Bayliss whom he diced with for first place. Unfortunately, he started to feel sick due to painkilling injections he had been given following injuries received in the race one incident. He was forced to relax his challenge on Bayliss and settle for second as his condition worsened.

Following his battle with Haga early on in the second race, Corser found himself battling with Biaggi and Kagayama for the rest of the race. Despite a last lap charge to overtake Kagayama Corser had to accept fifth place and eleven points.

Corser has now scored over 300 points at the same circuit - 325 to be precise. This has only been achieved three times before and by only two riders. Carl Fogarty achieved this record at Assen (350 points) and Donington Park (308 points), while Corser first achieved it in Phillip Island (330 points).

Shinichi Nakatomi had a mixed day today but finished 14th in race two to take two points away. He was forced to retire from the first race on lap seven with engine problems.

Today's results have reduced Yamaha's championship points deficit to just seven behind Ducati. Haga sits in third five points behind Bayliss and an accessible 26 behind Toseland. Corser remains fifth in the championship standings with the next race in a month's time. The team has two tests before the next round, which is at Brno.

Troy Corser (2nd and 5th - Yamaha Motor Italia WSB Team) "Today has been unbelievably disappointing after such a good day yesterday. In race one I had a rear grip problem and didn't get a good start either. Those two factors together just made for a tough race. I changed bikes between the two races and the engine in the second bike felt better but the set-up wasn't quite right, giving me all sorts of problems. I kept losing the front throughout the second race. I was actually crashing at one point but I landed back on the bike, hit the screen and managed to keep going. It is such a disappointment after getting my fortieth pole yesterday - a sorry end to an otherwise good weekend."

Noriyuki Haga (DNF and 2nd - Yamaha Motor Italia WSB Team) "I was unlucky in race one. Mistakes can happen to anyone; I'm not angry about the incident in race one but I'm very disappointed that there has been no acknowledgement or apology for what happened. That isn't professional in my book.

I hurt my right elbow and wrist in the race one incident and so had to have some painkillers for the second race. The race was going well when, about halfway through, I started to feel sick, which was caused by the painkillers. I had to slow down. Also, only a few laps into the race my rear brake pedal broke leaving me without any rear brake. All in all I am quite happy with second. But today was an unlucky day for me."

Massimo Meregalli (Team Coordinator, Yamaha Motor Italia WSB Team) "Mistakes can happen but it was perhaps unexpected from such an experienced rider; Nori was unlucky to be involved. Today was a good opportunity for us to get more points in our campaign to catch Toseland but we haven't achieved that. The day didn't go as planned but the result is actually quite good for the team as we don't traditionally have a good record at Misano. I am very pleased that we were able to fight for wins in both races here as it means, if we can do it here, we can do it anywhere. Nori's second race was very good considering he felt ill and it is a good result for Troy to get pole as well as a second place."

Shinichi Nakatomi (DNF and 14th - Team Yamaha YZF) "The first race was frustrating for me; I was very disappointed to have to retire. In race two I managed to make up some places but lost a couple at the end of the race. At least I have two more points."

Martial Garcia (Team Manager, Team Yamaha YZF) "Race one was difficult for us today with Tomi suffering from engine problems. He got a good start in race two and was having a good race when he unfortunately had to slow down one some of the last laps. We came here hoping to get two good results but at least we got fourteenth and two points."   Circuit Length: 4060 Temp: 27 Crowd: 68,000 Weather: Dry     2007 WSB Misano 17/06/2007 Race 1 - 24 Laps Pos. Rider Manu. Nat. Total Time 1 Troy Bayliss Ducati AUS 38'52.856 2 Troy Corser Yamaha AUS 0'2.374 3 Yukio Kagayama Suzuki JPN 0'8.965 4 James Toseland Honda GBR 0'11.110 5 Roberto Rolfo Honda ITA 0'18.709 6 Lorenzo Lanzi Ducati ITA 0'20.467 7 Regis Laconi Kawasaki FRA 0'2.072 8 Ruben Xaus Ducati ESP 0'25.424 9 Max Neukirchner Suzuki GER 0'30.891 10 Jakub Smrz Ducati CZE 0'37.724 11 Marco Borciani Ducati ITA 0'44.898 12 Mauro Sanchini Kawasaki ITA 1'1.538 13 Luca Morelli Ducati ITA 1'37.781 14 Dean Ellison Ducati GBR -1 Laps 15 Christian Zaiser MV Agusta AUT -1 Laps

Race 2 - 24 Laps Pos. Rider Manu. Nat. Total Time 1 Troy Bayliss Ducati AUS 38'43.506 2 Noriyuki Haga Yamaha JPN 0'2.537 3 Max Biaggi Suzuki ITA 0'6.386 4 Yukio Kagayama Suzuki JPN 0'8.905 5 Troy Corser Yamaha AUS 0'9.130 6 James Toseland Honda GBR 0'13.967 7 Ruben Xaus Ducati ESP 0'16.708 8 Roberto Rolfo Honda ITA 0'16.781 9 Lorenzo Lanzi Ducati ITA 0'17.312 10 Max Neukirchner Suzuki GER 0'33.065 11 Regis Laconi Kawasaki FRA 0'33.605 12 Fonsi Nieto Kawasaki ESP 0'41.251 13 Jakub Smrz Ducati CZE 0'42.723 14 Shinichi Nakatomi Yamaha JPN 0'56.644 15 Mauro Sanchini Kawasaki ITA 1'0.739

Best Lap Rider Manu. Nat. Total Time Noriyuki Haga Yamaha JPN 1'36.356

 Rider Standings 17/06/2007

Pos. Rider Manu. Nat. Points 1. James Toseland Honda GBR 260 2. Troy Bayliss Ducati AUS 239 3. Noriyuki Haga Yamaha JPN 234 4. Max Biaggi Suzuki ITA 217 5. Troy Corser Yamaha AUS 182 6. Lorenzo Lanzi Ducati ITA 133 7. Ruben Xaus Ducati ESP 130 8. Roberto Rolfo Honda ITA 109 9. Max Neukirchner Suzuki GER 100 10. Yukio Kagayama Suzuki JPN 89 11. Regis Laconi Kawasaki FRA 76 12. Michel Fabrizio Honda ITA 59 13. Jakub Smrz Ducati CZE 53 14. Fonsi Nieto Kawasaki ESP 50 15. Joshua Brookes Honda AUS 40 17. Shinichi Nakatomi Yamaha JPN 24

Manufacturer Standings 17/06/2007

Pos. Manufacturer Points 1. Ducati 284 2. Yamaha 277 3. Honda 274 4. Suzuki 233 5. Kawasaki 102 6. MV Agusta 1

RACE REPORT 17/06/2007 Yamaha 1st and 2nd in Supersport Race    The Yamaha World Supersport Team took first and second in an exciting two-part race today at Misano with Anthony West taking the win and Broc Parkes finishing second. This is the first time since Brands Hatch last season that the both riders in the team have stepped on the podium together.

The pair started the race on the front row with Parkes in pole and West in second. Unfortunately Broc got a bad start and went back to fifth while Anthony leapt into the lead and wasted no time setting the fastest lap. Parkes had climbed up to second place and was chasing West when the race was red flagged doe to oil on the circuit.

The race was re-started, with times being calculated on aggregate, and West and Sofuoglu fought for the led from the off. The pack of riders behind, which included Parkes, were in a close battle of their own, allowing West and Sofuoglu to get some distance ahead. But by lap 12 Parkes had broken through to third and set about catching the leaders. It was only two laps later when Parkes made his move on Sofuoglu but was re-taken when he dropped back suddenly on lap 20. This was caused by him hitting the pit lane limiter as he swerved the bike while removing a visor tear-off.

Meanwhile West had put in a textbook performance and lead the race from lap 14 to take his second win for the Yamaha World Supersport Team. Parkes took second by 0.143 seconds from Sofuoglu after recovering from his tear-off incident.

Massimo Roccoli got a good start in the second heat of the race to go from tenth to fifth where he was contending with Parkes for position. He put in a strong performance to finish fourth.

Anthony West (1st - Yamaha World Supersport Team) "It's great to win another race and I'm even happier to win it in the dry because I now feel that I have really proven myself and that people won't necessarily say I only won at Silverstone because of the weather. I was very nervous on the front row but I just focused on watching the gaps open up in front of me. I wasn't sure what to expect in the second half but I saw riders in front making mistakes which gave me confidence and kept me focused. I'd like to thank the Yamaha team for all their hard work and I'm pleased to win for them as much as for me."

Broc Parkes (2nd - Yamaha World Supersport Team "I got a really bad start in the second heat but I just put my head down and worked my way through the pack. It still took me a while to catch Anthony once I'd passed everyone else; I had three seconds to make up and that's not easy to do in a race. Then I ripped off a tear-off and hit the pit lane limiter, which lost me over a second and let Sofuoglu passed. I knew I had to be within half a second at the finish line to beat him overall but we were both riding completely on the limit for the last bit of that race! I've crashed three times now while in second place so, despite the fact that I wanted to catch Anthony, I decided that points are more valuable than to risk another crash at this stage in the championship. I'm just so happy to step on the podium again! Thanks to the team for their efforts and support this weekend, it has all come together nicely."

Massimo Roccoli (4th - Yamaha Team Italia) "I'm disappointed about the first half of the race as there was an eight second gap between me and the riders in front. I was not happy about starting on the third row either but I got a good start in the second half and was in the front group. It is very important to me to have had a good result here. It might be my home track but I don't know it well at all. I want to thank the team for all their efforts this weekend."   Circuit Length: 4060 Temp: 25 Crowd: 68,000 Weather: Sunny     2007 WSS Misano 17/06/2007 Race 1 - 22 Laps Pos. Rider Manu. Nat. Total Time 1 Anthony West Yamaha AUS 36'47.866 2 Broc Parkes Yamaha AUS 0'4.197 3 Kenan Sofuoglu Honda TUR 0'4.340 4 Massimo Roccoli Yamaha ITA 0'15.123 5 Robbin Harms Honda DNK 0'18.429 6 Simone Sanna Honda ITA 0'18.741 7 Javier Fores Honda ESP 0'18.915 8 Katsuaki Fujiwara Honda JPN 0'25.082 9 Gianluca Vizziello Yamaha ITA 0'30.240 10 Sebastien Charpentier Honda FRA 0'31.633 11 Yoann Tiberio Honda FRA 0'32.743 12 Matthieu Lagrive Honda FRA 0'33.093 13 Barry Veneman Suzuki NED 0'33.592 14 Sebastien Gimbert Yamaha FRA 0'35.678 15 Gilles Boccolini Kawasaki ITA 0'37.193

Best Lap Rider Manu. Nat. Total Time Anthony West Yamaha AUS 1'39.109

 Rider Standings 17/06/2007

Pos. Rider Manu. Nat. Points 1. Kenan Sofuoglu Honda TUR 161 2. Fabien Foret Kawasaki FRA 100 3. Katsuaki Fujiwara Honda JPN 77 4. Robbin Harms Honda DNK 70 5. Anthony West Yamaha AUS 66 6. Barry Veneman Suzuki NED 50 7. Broc Parkes Yamaha AUS 47 8. Massimo Roccoli Yamaha ITA 46 9. Gianluca Nannelli Ducati ITA 43 10. Andrew Pitt Honda AUS 40 11. David Salom Yamaha ESP 34 12. Lorenzo Alfonsi Honda ITA 34 13. Simone Sanna Honda ITA 30 14. Pere Riba Kawasaki ESP 30 15. Sebastien Charpentier Honda FRA 29 19. Kevin Curtain Yamaha AUS 25 23. David Checa Yamaha ESP 20 24. Sebastien Gimbert Yamaha FRA 15

Manufacturer Standings 17/06/2007

Pos. Manufacturer Points 1. Honda 181 2. Yamaha 132 3. Kawasaki 111 4. Suzuki 57 5. Ducati 43

RACE REPORT 17/06/2007 Baiocco Takes His Second Win of the Season for Yamaha    Team Umbria Bike rider Matteo Baiocco took his second race win of the season today at the sixth round of the FIM Superstock 1000 Cup. The 23 year old Italian had shown good form all weekend on his YZF-R1, taking the first pole of his Superstock career yesterday. Baiocco led both parts of the two-heat race from start to finish in a textbook ride to retake the lead in the championship from Aitchison.

Baiocco got a good start in the first heat and broke away from the pack with Simeon right behind. The race was then red flagged on lap four after Badovini's bike leaked fluid on the track before bursting into flames. With the race reduced to nine laps from fourteen, Baiocco went on to repeat his good start in the second heat to take the race win and twenty five points. Today's win comes only one week after Baiocco's win in the national Italian championship at Vallelunga last week.

Yamaha Team Italia rider Claudio Corti also had an exciting race finishing fourth after starting in ninth. He suffered a minor elbow injury at the start of the weekend when he crashed in practice on Friday but went on to take six seconds off his time during the qualifying sessions to start on the second row. In the first heat he started well and moved up to third before the red flag. In the second heat he battled throughout the race for fourth, where he eventually finished.

Corti's team mate Michele Pirro struggled in today's race after crashing in qualifying yesterday, losing valuable time in which to find the right set-up. Although he was the fastest rider in Friday's practice, the young rider could only manage a qualifying position of 19th, which he found hard to come back from in the start/stop race.

Baiocco now leads the championship on 95 points with an eight point lead back to Aitchison. Corti lies in sixth on 64 points with team mate Pirro right behind in seventh on 59 points.

Matteo Baiocco (1st - Team Umbria Bike) "I knew I was fast from the first free practice session on Friday. Simeon tried to make my life hard in the race but I closed all his windows of opportunity to pass me. The bike was sliding so much with very little grip but I'm fortunate that I won. I don't want to think about leading the championship again though, because I want to stay focused and on fighting form."

Claudio Corti (4th - Yamaha Team Italia) "I started badly and I struggled because of my bad set up. I lost set-up time because of my crash on Friday and we paid for it today. I tried to attack Dionisi on the last lap today but I couldn't get past. I hope to have a better result here in the national championship round here next weekend and I will use it as an opportunity to sort out some of the issues we had today."

Michele Pirro (13th - Yamaha Team Italia) "Today was very difficult because I started from a way back on the grid, not up the front like normal. My target was to finish in the top ten but that proved impossible. I tried to push but I couldn't due to the bad set-up I had caused by the lack of set-up time I had after crashing in qualifying. I didn't want to crash again today and so couldn't really push for positions."   Circuit Length: 4060 Temp: 28 Crowd: 68,000 Weather: Dry     2007 Superstock Misano 17/06/2007 Race 1 - 3 Laps Pos. Rider Manu. Nat. Total Time 1 Matteo Baiocco Yamaha ITA 15'6.692 2 Xavier Simeon Suzuki BEL 0'0.581 3 Ilario Dionisi Suzuki ITA 0'10.969 4 Claudio Corti Yamaha ITA 0'12.790 5 Nicolo Canepa Ducati ITA 0'13.188 6 Sheridan Morais Ducati RSA 0'13.527 7 Mark Aitchison Suzuki AUS 0'14.415 8 Daniel Sutter Yamaha CHE 0'17.010 9 Rene Mahr Yamaha GER 0'17.015 10 Brendan Roberts Ducati AUS 0'18.154 11 Arne Tode Honda GER 0'19.638 12 Leonardo Biliotti MV Agusta GER 0'23.353 13 Michele Pirro Yamaha ITA 0'23.435 14 Matej Smrz Honda CZE 0'28.126 15 Olivier Depoorter Yamaha BEL 0'30.456

Best Lap Rider Manu. Nat. Total Time Xavier Simeon Suzuki BEL 1'39.337

 Rider Standings 17/06/2007

Pos. Rider Manu. Nat. Points 1. Matteo Baiocco Yamaha ITA 95 2. Mark Aitchison Suzuki AUS 87 3. Nicolo Canepa Ducati ITA 71 4. Xavier Simeon Suzuki BEL 71 5. Ilario Dionisi Suzuki ITA 70 6. Claudio Corti Yamaha ITA 64 7. Michele Pirro Yamaha ITA 59 8. Didier Van Keymeulen Yamaha BEL 45 9. Brendan Roberts Ducati AUS 41 10. Matej Smrz Honda CZE 33 11. Rene Mahr Yamaha GER 33 12. Sheridan Morais Ducati RSA 29 13. Cederic Tangre Yamaha FRA 23 14. Marko Jerman Suzuki SVK 23 15. Arne Tode Honda GER 18

Manufacturer Standings 17/06/2007

Pos. Manufacturer Points 1. Yamaha 126 2. Suzuki 111 3. Ducati 96 4. Honda 48 5. MV Agusta 28 6. Kawasaki 4