Yamaha Motor Germany and R6 on the pace in Phillip Island

Yamaha Motor Germany today completed their final test before next month's opening round of the Supersport World Championship. The team spent three days at the Phillip Island circuit in Australia, with riders Kevin Curtain and Broc Parkes both completing over 1000 trouble-free kilometres and lapping their home circuit at lap record pace. Having given their machines a shakedown test in Valencia last month, the team travelled to Australia with updated machines fitted with a range of new Öhlins suspension parts. Good weather greeted the riders present at the legendary circuit, with the strong winds that blighted Yamaha Motor France's test a few days earlier all but gone. Riding alongside Yamaha's Australian national superbike team, Curtain was the fastest of the Yamaha Motor Germany riders clocking a best of 1:35.6, Parkes was less than a second behind his experienced team-mate with a 1:36.4. Having found a good base setting at Valencia, the team worked on fine-tuning the R6 package, experimenting with the bike's electronics and slipper clutch in a bid to improve corner speed. Tyre supplier Pirelli brought along a range of new rubber for the test, while the new suspension parts proved an improvement over the off-the-shelf components used at the Valencia test. Both riders declared themselves happy with developments and have found a satisfactory base setting for next month's opening race.

Round one of the series takes place at the Losail circuit in Qatar on Saturday 25 February with Phillip Island playing host to the second round eight days later. Kevin Curtain "I'm really, really happy with how it's gone. The difference between this bike and the 2005 one is night and day. The energy it takes us to do the same lap times is just so much less and overall the package is far better. The weather has been good to us as well. There wasn't much wind and this morning (Wednesday) was the best I've ever seen Phillip Island. There was not a cloud in the sky and virtually no wind. The ocean looked beautiful and it was a magical experience riding around there." Broc Parkes "After hurting my ankle in Valencia it took me a day to get back into the swing of things but by the second day I felt comfortable again. Luciano Zaza (suspension technician) brought over so much stuff and although we've found a pretty good base there's still a bit more to come from the suspension. I'm not at my best riding around on my own so on the last day Kevin and I did a race simulation together. I was able to run right with him and run the same lap times. We had a bit of a battle, so that was good for my confidence. We've had three really good days and the lap times have been good. I don't want to get carried away though. We've done the times in perfect conditions but there was no one else here to compare ourselves to, so the proof will only come in Qatar. One thing is for sure though, we are much further ahead of where we were at this time last year." Terrell Thien (Team Manager) "We made a good decision to come to Phillip Island as we have found perfect testing conditions. The first day was maybe a little too hot, but better too hot than too cold, although and after that the temperatures were just right. We've tried four different (specification) of front forks internals and even more rear shocks. The team worked well together and I was happy to arrive and find both riders in really good shape. We came with a big test schedule and were able to get through everything we needed to get a good base setting."