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Yamaha Racing News

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Rodrigues leads FIM Rally World Cup after Tunisia event

WR450F rider Helder Rodrigues is fronting the FIM Cross-Country Rallies World Championship after two rounds thanks to his victory last week at the OiLibya Rally of Tunisia. The Portuguese Dakar stage winner finished second at the Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge during April (the opening event of four in the 2011 schedule) but was able to go one better through the North African dunes – six stages and 1800km of riding - heading Jakub Przygonski and Jacek Czachor on the podium. Fellow Yamaha rider Jordi Viladoms was able to reach the finish line first in the final stage but just missed out on the top three. “I am so happy,” said Rodrigues. “I have been waiting a long time for this moment. I want to thank all my partners and the people who believed in me. If I'm here today it’s mainly thanks to all those people. It is obvious that my season has started very strongly and this is great in our preparation for the 2012 Dakar.” Rodrigues heads the standings by five points from Przygonski at the half way stage with riders award points similar to a motocross grand prix event; the winner taking 25, second place 22 and third 20 and so on. Round three will take place over a week at the end of May on the island of Sardinia with the final meeting occurring in Eygpt for the Pharaoh’s Rally in October.
Alex Asigno

Flawless Lorenzo romps to victory as Rossi makes triumphant return to podium

Jorge Lorenzo Jorge Lorenzo took a brilliant sixth victory of the season at Laguna Seca today, romping home to win by over three seconds from Casey Stoner. His team-mate Valentino Rossi made a triumphant return to the podium just seven weeks after breaking his right leg, overhauling Andrea Dovizioso during a thrilling last ten laps to finish third. Starting from pole for the fifth time in a row, Lorenzo lost ground to his rivals at the fearsome downhill turn one and was relegated to third first time around. For the first few laps there was little he could do except hang on behind Pedrosa and Stoner but on the sixth lap Stoner ran wide and Lorenzo stormed through to take second. By now Pedrosa was nearly a second clear but Lorenzo's pace had begun to improve and he started to push as hard as he could and exert some pressure on his fellow Spaniard. On lap twelve, with the gap now narrowed to half a second, Pedrosa crashed out and left Lorenzo in the lead and from then on it was plain sailing for the 23-year-old as he expertly controlled his advantage over Stoner to bring it home and take his second win on US soil. Today's victory was his 11th in MotoGP, his 32nd in all classes and his 10th successive podium. Rossi had suffered all weekend with pain in both his leg and his shoulder and today looked like it was going to be a tough day for the reigning champion, unable as he was to make any further headway after passing Nicky Hayden for fifth position. Once Pedrosa had crashed out however and with Ben Spies exerting pressure on him from behind Rossi's fighting instinct kicked in as he spied a podium possibility, gradually closing down a two second gap to Dovizioso to come within striking distance with six laps remaining. On the 27th lap he made his move and passed his countryman, managing to hold him off over the last couple of laps to make a popular return to the podium. With exactly half of the season gone Lorenzo heads the championship with an impressive 72-point lead over Pedrosa, whilst Rossi is 120 points adrift of his team-mate in fifth position. Both riders will enjoy a two and a half week holiday now and the Italian will be more glad than anyone for the time off, during which he will be working on his fitness in an effort to be back to his best next time out in Brno. Jorge Lorenzo - Position: 1stTime: 43.54.873 "I am so happy to win here at Laguna Seca, it's something I've always dreamed of. I rode so well today, right on the limit and I had to push very hard to stay in touch with Dani. He is always so strong on race day but I knew if I kept the pressure on him then there was a chance he would make a mistake and I would be able to catch him. I'm sorry he crashed but from then on it was very easy for me because I had a big gap from Casey. I really enjoyed riding my M1! I have a big lead in the championship but there is half of the season left and it wouldn't be the first time a rider has lost the title with such a big lead, so we can't take anything for granted. I am really looking forward to some time to relax now after two very busy months. Thanks to everyone in my team for doing a brilliant job." Valentino Rossi - Position: 3rdTime: +13.420 "The start of the race was very hard for me because I had a lot of pain and I was far from the podium. But then I saw Pedrosa on the gravel and I just had to try to catch Dovizioso! I just pushed as hard as I could for a few laps and that brought me closer to him and then I couldn't give up, somehow I caught him and it was a great feeling to pass him to take third. It's a great result after my injury and it felt so good to be back on the podium in front of the fans. There are so many people I have to thank who have helped me to get back to this position. I am very happy that we have some time off now because I have a lot of work to do on my body to try to be back to my best for Brno, which I love. Wilco Zeelenberg - Team Manager "This was a fantastic ride from Jorge. It was clever to push Dani to the limit but not easy as well because Jorge is the championship leader and he had the most to lose, he really had to ride at the maximum to do this. We're happy Dani isn't hurt and now we have an amazing 72-point lead as we break for the half-way point of the championship. Six victories and three seconds is brilliant, thanks to Jorge for doing such a great job but also to all of the team, everyone deserves their holidays! Davide Brivio - Team Manager "This was a great race and the result is so much more than we expected today. These were supposed to be the two 'rehabilitation' races for Valentino after his big injury while he just got used to being back on the bike, but he's come fourth and then third which has amazed us all. This track was very demanding on his body and he had a hard time all weekend but he was still able to battle for the podium. It was brilliant and we're so happy now. Everyone is looking forward to a break but also to coming back strongly in the second half of the season." Super sixth for Spies, seventh for Edwards at Laguna Seca Ben Spies had a big home crowd on the edge of their seats at the spectacular Laguna Seca track today after the Texan produced a brilliant podium challenge in the American MotoGP race. The 26-year-old made a fantastic start from the second row and instantly gained three places by the first corner. Spies lost a few places as the frantic pace increased in the early laps, but gradually building his confidence with his rear Bridgestone tyre, he started a rousing fightback in front of a passionate home crowd of 51,436 fans in California. Spies was over half-a-second adrift of an intense battle involving compatriot Nicky Hayden and fellow Yamaha YZR-M1 rider Valentino Rossi shortly before the halfway stage. Reeling off a series of impressive fast laps, Spies was able to hunt down Hayden and expertly pass the 2006 world champion on lap 21. Next in Spies' sights was reigning world champion Rossi, who was himself honing in on Italian Andrea Dovizioso in an exciting battle for the podium. But just as Spies was preparing to make a decisive move on Rossi, he made a small mistake in the braking zone for the final corner on lap 25. Spies lost over three seconds and despite a heroic effort in the closing stages he was unable to regain the fifth place lost to Hayden. Spies though was still satisfied with his performance, his pace as the race reached its climax undoubtedly good enough to have put him in podium contention. Colin Edwards produced his best result of the season in front of his home crowd to score a thoroughly deserved seventh position. The 36-year-old showed all of his experience to patiently stalk Marco Simoncelli and Marco Melandri in the opening laps as the trio became embroiled in a thrilling fight for seventh. Edwards passed Melandri on lap 10 exiting the spectacular Corkscrew section and he grabbed seventh from Simoncelli on lap 15. Edwards' superior pace saw him immediately pull away from the Italian duo to secure a seventh that puts him on the fringes of the top ten in the overall standings. Ben Spies - Position: 6thTime: +19.037 "I got a really good start and was third but then for the next couple of laps I just couldn't get my speed up fast enough. The group in front pulled a bit of a gap on me but once I found my rhythm I caught Nicky and Valentino pretty quickly. I passed Nicky and got right on the back of Valentino and it was a good fight with him. I was actually going to attack him on the next lap when I had a problem entering the final corner on lap 25. I ran wide and lost out and although it wasn't the podium I wanted in front of my home crowd, I'm happy because I had the speed to come through the field and I had the speed to be on the podium. I couldn't quite finish the job and that was down to me. But I'd rather leave here knowing I could have been on the podium rather than leave here in eighth place and not on the pace. I can't ask for a lot more because I'm in the top six again, leading non-factory rider in the race again and putting up a strong fight, so I'm not too upset." Colin Edwards - Position: 7thTime: +40.721 "I'm really happy with the way I rode all weekend and there was nothing more I could have done. Fighting for seventh is not really where I wa nt to be in my home race, but compared to where I have been recently it is a big improvement and thanks to all my guys at the Monster Yamaha Tech 3 crew for all their effort. I had a good early battle with Melandri and Simoncelli and that was fun and I made a couple of good moves on them because I was quite a bit faster. Once I got by Simoncelli I put my head down to see if I could break them and that's what I did. But I couldn't even see the group in front of me and I just slowed my pace up a little bit because it made no sense to crash out of my home race when I was never going to catch them up. I was pretty much stuck in seventh all weekend and I never really had the pace of the leading group. But I'm closer to where I know I should be and the upgrades from Yamaha were a help and I can look forward to a good break confident of a strong second half of the season." Herve Poncharal - Team Manager "We can't deny that we leave for the well earned summer break with a small amount of disappointment because Ben was looking really strong and I think he had a great chance of claiming the home podium he desperately wanted. He got a great start and it took him a few laps to find his best rhythm like a few times this season. But then he was able to set some really fast lap times and he was able to pass Nicky and close right on Valentino. We were hoping for a podium at that stage though we know it would not have been easy because Valentino was riding at an incredible level. Ben was right behind him and looking strong for the last few laps and the home fans were super excited by his attacking riding. Unfortunately Ben ran wide in a couple of places and lost crucial time and that was something out of his control. He is a little disappointed and I understand that because he couldn't fight right to the end. But we're happy with his performance because his spe ed was undoubtedly good enough for the podium. I'm really happy with Colin's performance and I think it was easily his best weekend of the whole season. He was pushing at his maximum every lap of every session and he was strong in the race, passing Melandri and Simoncelli, who don't just lie down and make it easy. A sixth and seventh is a decent result for us and helped us consolidate our fourth position in the Team World Championship, so we can return refreshed and ready for a strong second half of the season in Brno Circuit Length: 3610 Temp: 23 Weather: Dry
Lap Record: 1'23.915 (Colin Edwards, 01/01/2005) Fastest Lap Ever: 1'20.700 (Casey Stoner, 20/07/2008) Last Years Winner: Daniel Pedrosa 2010 MotoGP United States - Laguna Seca 26/07/2010 Race 1 - 32 Laps Pos. Rider Manu. Nat. Total Time 1 Jorge Lorenzo Yamaha ESP 43'54.873 2 Casey Stoner Ducati AUS 0'03.517 3 Valentino Rossi Yamaha ITA 0'13.420 4 Andrea Dovizioso Honda ITA 0'14.188 5 Nicky Hayden Ducati USA 0'14.601 6 Ben Spies Yamaha USA 0'19.037 7 Colin Edwards Yamaha USA 0'40.721 8 Marco Melandri Honda ITA 0'47.219 9 Mika Kallio Ducati FIN 0'52.813 10 Loris Capirossi Suzuki ITA 0'52.814 11 Roger Lee Hayden Honda USA 1'14.089 12 Alex De Angelis Honda SMR 1'14.666 Best Lap Rider Manu. Nat. Total Time Casey Stoner Ducati AUS 1'21.376 Rider Standings 25/07/2010 Pos. Rider Manu. Nat. Points 1. Jorge Lorenzo Yamaha ESP 210 2. Daniel Pedrosa Honda ESP 138 3. Andrea Dovizioso Honda ITA 115 4. Casey Stoner Ducati AUS 103 5. Valentino Rossi Yamaha ITA 90 6. Nicky Hayden Ducati USA 89 7. Ben Spies Yamaha USA 77 8. Randy De Puniet Honda FRA 69 9. Marco Melandri Honda ITA 53 10. Marco Simoncelli Honda ITA 49 11. Colin Edwards Yamaha USA 48 12. Hector Barbera Ducati ESP 41 13. Loris Capirossi Suzuki ITA 36 14. Mika Kallio Ducati FIN 31 15. Aleix Espargaro Ducati ESP 28 21. Wataru Yoshikawa Yamaha JPN 1 Manufacturer Standings 25/07/2010 Pos. Manufacturer Points 1. Yamaha 215 2. Honda 175 3. Ducati 133 4. Suzuki 48
Alex Asigno

Yoshikawa to join Fiat Yamaha Team in Rossi's absence

Wataru Yoshikawa Yamaha Motor Racing is pleased to announce that Wataru Yoshikawa, their experienced Japanese test rider, will join the Fiat Yamaha Team from the Barcelona round of the MotoGP World Championship. The two-time Japanese Superbike Champion will ride in the place of the injured Valentino Rossi, with Rossi's team and the YZR-M1, until the Italian is back to full fitness following his broken leg. It is expected that Yoshikawa will be with the Fiat Yamaha Team for at least three races, after which more should be known about Rossi's expected return date. Lin Jarvis, Managing Director of Yamaha Motor Racing Srl, said "we have considered many different scenarios and candidate riders to fill the temporary vacant seat in the Fiat Yamaha Team. We had always planned to use a rider from within the Yamaha Motor and Tech 3 family but for each rider we considered who is in active competition, their move to the Fiat Yamaha Team would have created another problem for their own racing program or for the teams in which they are engaged. Finally, after a great deal of consideration, we have selected Wataru Yoshikawa, our Japanese YZR-M1 Test rider, to join us as our substitute rider. We provisionally plan for three races (Catalunya, Sachsenring and Laguna Seca) but we will adjust the plan accordingly when we know more about Valentino's expected date of return. "The benefit of Wataru's presence in our team will be threefold. Firstly he brings with him a wealth of experience riding the YZR-M1. Secondly his presence allows us to fulfill our contractual obligations and to join the team's quest to accumulate points for the Team Championship. Thirdly he will gain valuable first hand MotoGP race experience in three challenging circuits which will surely be very useful to assist him and Yamaha with the future development of the YMR-M1. "We look forward to welcoming Wataru into our team while we wait for Valentino's return to full fitness." Wataru Yoshikawa added "I'm happy to have this chance to stand-in for Valentino while he is recovering and to compete in MotoGP again for the first time since 2002, when I raced at Motegi. Looking at the Fiat Yamaha Team results with the 2010 YZR-M1, I can see that the winter developments were correct and now I am looking forward to having the chance to gather some ‘real racing' data, which will be very helpful for the future development of the M1." Wataru Yoshikawa Racing Biography Nationality: Japanese Born: 26th September 1968, Tokyo Wataru Yoshikawa won the Japanese Superbike Championship for Yamaha in 1994 and 1999. Between 1992 and 2002 he made many wild-card appearances in the World Superbike Championship for Yamaha and in 1996 completed a full season, finishing 9th. He raced as a wild card once in MotoGP in 2002, finishing 12th. Since then he has been heavily involved as a test rider for the Yamaha MotoGP programme, giving him an in-depth knowledge of the YZR-M1.
Alex Asigno

Rossi update from Dr. Buzzi

Dr. Roberto Buzzi, head of Trauma at the CTO Careggi (Centro Traumatologico Ortopedico) in Florence, Italy, made the following statement about Valentino Rossi today: "Today Valentino underwent another small operation to close the wound, which is looking good. We closed it with 15 stitches and our overall medical judgement is positive. We used a short general anaesthetic and when he woke up he was in good shape. The healing process of the injury is going well and as expected in Valentino's condition." Rossi crashed on Saturday in practice for the Italian Grand Prix at Mugello, breaking his lower right leg.
Alex Asigno

Victory quotes Masao Furusawa and Lin Jarvis

Masao Furusawa Masao Furusawa - Executive Officer, Engineering Operations "First of all, I want to congratulate Jorge Lorenzo for clinching the 2010 MotoGP World Championship title here at Sepang, with three rounds still remaining in the season. As a member of the Yamaha Factory Racing Team, I am very proud to have had the pleasure of watching Jorge progress from Rookie of the Year in 2008, when he first moved up to MotoGP, to finishing second in the 2009 series to now becoming the 2010 MotoGP World Champion. "In Japan last week Jorge signed a new two-year contract that will see him continue to ride for Yamaha in 2011 and 2012, and we hope to see him win the championship again in the two years to come." Lin Jarvis Lin Jarvis - Managing Director, Yamaha Motor Racing "Firstly let me say it gave me great satisfaction today to see a young athlete achieve his dream! I would like to congratulate Jorge on his excellent season, resulting in him winning his first MotoGP World Champion title. Today was a super result for the Fiat Yamaha Team, with Valentino winning the race and Jorge coming home safely in third spot, giving us two important victories at the same moment. The points haul today is also very important for the Team and Manufacturer Championships. "I would also like to take this opportunity to say congratulations and a big thank you to all of our corporate and team staff who have worked so hard and to all of our sponsors, partners and the Yamaha fans around the world that have supported us on and off the track to bring us victory again this year; this is our 3rd MotoGP rider's title in a row. "Now that the first, and most important, title is ours we will try our best to win the next three races and hopefully in the process the Manufacturer and Team titles to complete another 'triple crown' year."
Alex Asigno

Valentino Rossi completes test at Misano

Fiat Yamaha Team rider Valentino Rossi today rode a motorcycle for the first time since breaking his right leg at Mugello on 5th June. He rode a total of 26 laps at Misano on a YZF-R1 WSB machine, provided by the Yamaha World Superbike Team, and recorded a best time of 1'38.200. Rossi did an initial run of 11 laps at 18.30 CET with a best time of 1'41.000, then a second run of 15 laps at 19.45 CET with a best time of 1'38.200 (unofficial times). The reigning World Champion was able to ride well but he had some pain in his leg and his shoulder. He will now continue with an updated rehabilitation programme and make a decision within the next week as to whether he will ride at the German Grand Prix at Sachsenring, in ten days time. "We made this test in order to understand how we must work from here and to see more or less how I can ride the bike," said Rossi. "The test was positive, because I can at least ride, but there is a lot more to a MotoGP race than to a test like this one. I had some pain in the ankle, the knee and the shoulder, but above all I lacked strength in the shoulder and a bit of movement in the ankle. I would really like to come back at Sachsenring, but it is still too early to say. We still have twelve days and we must wait and see how much we can improve my condition in the next few days. The Superbike today was good and great fun to ride! I really would like to ride at Sachsenring, but we must wait another week before making a decision."
Alex Asigno

Crutchlow takes double victory and claims Silverstone for Yamaha

Yamaha Sterilgarda World Superbike YZF-R1 rider Cal Crutchlow made it two in a row today at Silverstone, delivering the double win at his home race. The British rider ended a flawless weekend´s riding with a masterful display of race craft. A good start from pole position in race one saw him quickly into second behind Johnny Rea. Crutchlow then played the waiting game, comfortably following the Honda rider just 0.1 seconds behind until mid race before taking the lead. He surrendered briefly to Rea but then re-took quickly and pulled away to build a 1.6 second lead as he crossed the line to claim his maiden win of the championship. Race two saw a repeat of the first with Crutchlow quickly settling in behind Rea, again maintaining a gap of just 0.1 to 0.2 seconds until just three laps from the end when he again pulled out to take the lead. The Yamaha YZF-R1´s incredible pace saw him take the fastest lap of the race on the penultimate lap, building a two second advantage as he crossed the line to deliver the long awaited double victory for Yamaha. Team mate James Toseland made the most of his less than perfect grid position start in both of today´s two superbike races. The first saw him move as high as sixth whilst chasing down the Aprilias of Max Biaggi and Leon Camier before finally settling for eighth at the line. The second race saw an even more determined Toseland pushing on hard. The British rider spent much of the race battling with Leon Haslam for fourth place having carved through the ranks and taken championship leader Biaggi mid race for fifth. The battle between the two Brits went to the chequered flag with Toseland less than four tenths behind Haslam across the line. Cal Crutchlow´s incredible performance means he leaves Silverstone having jumped up from tenth to fifth in the rankings, now sitting on 188 points, 55 points behind Carlos Checa in third. Team mate James Toseland remains in sixth place, now on 179 points as they head to the Nurburgring at the beginning of September after the summer break. Cal Crutchlow Cal Crutchlow, Yamaha Sterilgarda World Superbike Team, (1st, 1st) ?We´ve been trying so hard all year to achieve a win, I´m ecstatic that it has happened at my home race. It´s been a tough weekend with all the Brits trying hard but we knew we had the pace. We were worried about tyre wear but it wasn´t too bad. It was a little bit cooler in the first race which helped our bike as well. We now need to carry on and fight for the rest of the season. It´s been a dream come true today, three Brits on the podium for both races is brilliant. The British fans have been fantastic, they came out today and gave us tremendous support all round the circuit, a brilliant day for me, a brilliant day for Yamaha, Sterilgarda and all our other sponsors. All credit to Johnny Rea he rode really well in both races but I was able to pick him off with a couple of laps to go.? James Toseland James Toseland, Yamaha Sterilgarda World Superbike Team (8th, 5th) ?Race one was ok, the set up we used wasn´t perfect but I made the most of it. We made a massive change from race one to race two, we switched to something closer to what Cal was using in the first race, it´s the first time we tried it and it really helped us. Hopefully we´ve found a good direction for the next race. A big thanks to the team for the change between the races, it got me from where I was in the first to not too far off the podium in the second. Leon Haslam rode a great race and really covered his lines, I could have been more aggressive with him but I didn´t want to spoil his championship chances.? Massimo Meregalli, Yamaha Sterilgarda World Superbike Team Manager ?This kind of feeling has been missing and finally I got it back today. Cal delivered a fantastic weekend, he proved that he was the fastest here in all the practices. He rode two really good races, I have to give my compliments to him, he rode perfectly. These results come thanks to all the efforts the team have put in over the last few months. James also proved he was fast and on the pace, the crash yesterday was unfortunate and mean that he couldn't do the last Superpole heat and so had a less than perfect start. He had some problems in the first with the balance of the bike but was much better in the second. We came here with big expectations and finally we have some good results.? Circuit Length: 5902 Crowd: 65000
Lap Record: 2'05.259 (Cal Crutchlow, 01/01/2010) Fastest Lap Ever: 2'04.091 (Cal Crutchlow, 27/05/2010) 2010 WSB Europe - Silverstone 01/08/2010 Race 1 - 18 Laps Pos. Rider Manu. Nat. Total Time 1 Cal Crutchlow Yamaha GBR 37'47.851 2 Jonathan Rea Honda GBR 0'01.621 3 Leon Haslam Suzuki GBR 0'11.433 4 Michel Fabrizio Ducati ITA 0'15.874 5 Max Biaggi Aprilia ITA 0'17.085 6 Leon Camier Aprilia GBR 0'17.532 7 Carlos Checa Ducati ESP 0'18.250 8 James Toseland Yamaha GBR 0'18.938 9 Shane Byrne Ducati GBR 0'22.997 10 Troy Corser BMW AUS 0'25.830 11 Max Neukirchner Honda GER 0'30.972 12 Sylvain Guintoli Suzuki FRA 0'31.808 13 Jakub Smrz Ducati CZE 0'32.193 14 Noriyuki Haga Ducati JPN 0'33.206 15 Lorenzo Lanzi Ducati ITA 0'34.207 Race 2 - 18 Laps Pos. Rider Manu. Nat. Total Time 1 Cal Crutchlow Yamaha GBR 37'48.348 2 Jonathan Rea Honda GBR 0'02.070 3 Leon Camier Aprilia GBR 0'08.834 4 Leon Haslam Suzuki GBR 0'13.232 5 James Toseland Yamaha GBR 0'13.258 6 Max Biaggi Aprilia ITA 0'13.568 7 Sylvain Guintoli Suzuki FRA 0'13.963 8 Shane Byrne Ducati GBR 0'14.432 9 Jakub Smrz Ducati CZE 0'16.399 10 Carlos Checa Ducati ESP 0'19.874 11 Ruben Xaus BMW ESP 0'26.268 12 Joshua Brookes Honda AUS 0'28.003 13 Noriyuki Haga Ducati JPN 0'28.550 14 Tom Sykes Kawasaki GBR 0'30.117 15 Lorenzo Lanzi Ducati ITA 0'30.415 Best Lap Rider Manu. Nat. Total Time Cal Crutchlow Yamaha GBR 2'05.259 Rider Standings 01/08/2010 Pos. Rider Manu. Nat. Points 1. Max Biaggi Aprilia ITA 373 2. Leon Haslam Suzuki GBR 313 3. Jonathan Rea Honda GBR 243 4. Carlos Checa Ducati ESP 204 5. Cal Crutchlow Yamaha GBR 188 6. James Toseland Yamaha GBR 179 7. Noriyuki Haga Ducati JPN 177 8. Leon Camier Aprilia GBR 164 9. Michel Fabrizio Ducati ITA 160 10. Troy Corser BMW AUS 155 11. Sylvain Guintoli Suzuki FRA 151 12. Shane Byrne Ducati GBR 123 13. Jakub Smrz Ducati CZE 71 14. Ruben Xaus BMW ESP 69 15. Luca Scassa Ducati ITA 53 Manufacturer Standings 01/08/2010 Pos. Manufacturer Points 1. Aprilia 385 2. Suzuki 334 3. Ducati 297 4. Yamaha 256 5. Honda 254 6. BMW 174 7. Kawasaki 58
Alex Asigno

First taste of the Yamaha YZR-M1 MotoGP bike for Crutchlow in Japan

Cal Crutchlow Having wrapped up the 2010 World Superbike Championship on a high in Magny Cours with a race win and a second place finish on his YZF-R1 two weeks ago, Cal Crutchlow ended his season with the Yamaha Sterilgarda World Superbike Team by clinching fifth in the standings and claiming the ‘rookie of the year’ title. With just a few days rest under his belt he has started his move up from World Superbike to MotoGP with Yamaha by getting straight to business, today completing a one and a half day test of the Yamaha YZR-M1 race bike at Yamaha’s test track in Fukuroi, Japan. Despite mixed weather conditions with a damp or wet track Crutchlow had the opportunity to try the M1 on both full wet and slick Bridgestone tyres, impressing everybody with his speed on the wet test track. The rising Yamaha star also took some time to practice with the M1’s launch control to test starts. Cal Crutchlow “The M1 felt a lot smaller than my Yamaha R1 superbike,” said Cal Crutchlow. “I actually found the positioning more comfortable than the WSB machine. There is a lot of power but it feels very useable, it felt very different to a production based machine in terms of its delivery. In the wet we used the normal steel brakes but when it started to dry I had a chance to try the carbon ones which were cool, I managed to get quite comfortable with them. I found the chassis very stiff, it was really easy to change direction and the electronics were really different, even more advanced than the high level I’m used to in Superbike! It was a shame the weather wasn’t great so I wasn’t able to push to the bike’s full potential, I’m really looking forward to the Valencia test so I can get back on it and give it a proper work out!” Whilst in Japan Crutchlow also took time out to visit The Yamaha Motor Company headquarters and the Communication Plaza in Shizuoka where he had an opportunity to get up close to some of Yamaha’s historic and iconic machinery from past and present. The Valencia test will be on the 9th and 10th November. For 2011 Crutchlow will be entering the MotoGP World Championship in the Yamaha Monster Tech3 team, alongside Colin Edwards.
Alex Asigno

Yamaha World Superbike Team unveil 2011 livery

The 2011 Yamaha World Superbike Team has unveiled the livery they will run for the upcoming World Superbike season. The new design features a Yamaha blue corporate racing colour scheme. The livery takes its inspiration from both the famous Yamaha speed block design and also one of the colours of the current production model YZF-R1, giving the bike a modern sleek appearance whilst emphasizing Yamaha’s racing image. The team features an all new rider line up for the 2011 championship with 28yr old Italian rider Marco Melandri, a previous 250cc World Champion, stepping across from MotoGP to partner 24yr old rider Eugene Laverty from Northern Ireland who steps up from the World Supersport Championship. The new livery will feature prominently on the leathers of both riders. The team continues its winter testing schedule on the 21st and 22nd February at the Phillip Island circuit in advance of the opening round of the championship in Australia on 27th February.
Extensive photography of the new Yamaha World Superbike Team livery including detailed technical images of the 2011 YZF-R1 Superbike are now available for download at www.yamaha-racing.com/wsb/photo
Alex Asigno

Yamaha enters 50th year of Road Racing World Championship Grand Prix

2011 witnesses a landmark of World Championship Grand Prix racing for Yamaha, having successfully competed at the highest level for 50 years. From the very first Grand Prix entry in the French GP of 1961 to today, Yamaha has been an icon at the forefront of Grand Prix racing with countless victories delivered the world over to the delight of the many loyal and dedicated fans. Yamaha will commemorate this incredible achievement over the course of this year with a number of actions. A special 50th Anniversary logo has been created using Yamaha's corporate colours and will be used during the season. The logo will be proudly displayed on the 2011 YZR-M1 fuel tank, on all Yamaha Factory Racing Team uniforms, within the pit garage of riders Jorge Lorenzo and Ben Spies and also on the Yamaha Factory Racing trucks. The World GP 50th Anniversary will also be celebrated online with a special dedicated website - 50TH YEAR OF ROAD RACING WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP GRAND PRIX - live from tomorrow, 1st February 2011. The website features an impressive archive tracking the history of Yamaha's involvement with racing along with detailed historical information. Throughout the season the site will be regularly updated with columns and videos along with exclusive messages and interviews of key people involved in the Yamaha story. Several exciting events are also planned to bring some of the glorious racing history to life. A special demonstration run for the public and global media at Motegi in Japan will see iconic machines back on track. The legends on the circuit for this special event will include the 1974 YZR-500 (OW20), Yamaha's first 500cc factory bike and the 1978 YZR-500 (OW35K) which delivered three championships at the hands of Kenny Roberts. This event will also be scheduled for Assen to allow European fans to take part in the celebrations and see Yamaha's racing history come alive. When Jorge Lorenzo and Ben Spies take their places on the grid to contest the Dutch TT at Assen, their YZR-M1 race bikes will wear a unique Yamaha 50th Anniversary livery design, reflecting Yamaha's legendary GP racing activity.
Alex Asigno

Rodrigues excellent second at Rally of Morocco

Helder Rodrigues Yamaha WR450F rider Helder Rodrigues has completed a decent ‘warm-up’ for the 2011 Dakar by taking the runner-up position overall after six stages of the Rally of Morocco. Wedged in between Cyril Despres and Marc Coma, Rodrigues can feel confident of his form and condition in the final weeks of preparation until the ‘toughest rally in the world’ kicks off in Argentina on new year’s day. More than 150 competitors attempted the desert setting, dunes and rocky paths of the 2300km route over six days last week and the Portuguese was able to demonstrate that his WR450F is fettled for the new regulations at Dakar which sees the motorcycle category restricted solely to the 450cc capacity. The Rallye de Maroc has over 75 years of history. The 31 year old completed a consistent run and broke into the top three twice; finishing as runner-up on day two and then third on day four. In the final classification Rodrigues – who recently secured 3rd in the 450cc division of the 2010 FIM Rally World Championship - was just over five minutes behind Despres. “I am really happy to be part of such a prestigious podium and this proves we are heading in a good way for Dakar,” Rodrigues said. “I have to take my hat off to the organisers of this Rally as it was superb and full of variety.” Spaniard Jordi Viladoms was fifth overall for two WR machines to place at the top end of the leader-board. “It was a good week and I got to know the new bike really well,” he said. “I was really confident in the technical sections but we need to work a bit more to make the most in the quick parts and through the dunes. We will carry on testing to get ready.” France’s Olivier Pain classified 4th in the sixth and last stage and stood seventh in the final table giving Yamaha a sizeable presence in the top ten.
Alex Asigno

Lorenzo keeps podium record intact while Rossi seals remarkable fourth place

Jorge Lorenzo The German Grand Prix at the Sachsenring today provided a thrilling afternoon's racing, with Jorge Lorenzo finishing second and his resurgent Fiat Yamaha team-mate Valentino Rossi rounding off a remarkable return from injury to finish fourth by a mere whisker. A red flag after nine laps meant the race was restarted, with Dani Pedrosa eventually taking the win after a 21-lap 'second' race. Starting from pole for the fourth race in a row, Lorenzo lost ground to Pedrosa at the start but retook the lead on the first lap and led the way by a couple of tenths for the first nine laps. Rossi meanwhile, back racing just six weeks after breaking his leg, had dropped two places on his grid position to seventh. On the second lap he passed Hector Barbera and then loomed up behind Marco Simoncelli, passing his fellow Italian to take fifth on lap four. The World Champion had more than a second's gap to Andrea Dovizioso but he quickly started to close down on him and was in range on the ninth lap, passing him on the tenth. By then however an incident involving three riders had caused the race to be red-flagged and, with positions then taken from the end of the ninth lap, that left the top five in almost their original grid order of Lorenzo, Pedrosa, Stoner, Dovizioso and Rossi. Thirteen riders restarted the race and it was the same story all over again, with Pedrosa passing Lorenzo into turn one but the championship-leader getting back through before the end of the first lap. The next few laps saw the two Spanish riders in some superb wheel-to-wheel action as Lorenzo tried and failed to shake Pedrosa off, the pair maintaining a nail-biting distance of about a tenth for several laps. After three wins in a row however Lorenzo finally succumbed today and on lap nine he was unable to hold his compatriot off any longer, sensibly deciding to bring his M1 home in second place for 20 points. The 23-year-old has now finished in first or second place at every one of the eight rounds this season. The restart saw Rossi again lose some ground but he passed Hayden second time around to retake fifth and set off in pursuit of the leaders. On the sixth lap he got by Dovizioso but with a near two-second gap to Stoner it looked unlikely that the Italian would make much headway on the Australian. Rossi is always one to amaze however and he was soon lapping at the same pace as the leaders to bring himself within striking distance of Stoner with a third of the race remaining. The final six laps saw some superb action between the two rivals, with Rossi looking as if he had never been away and several brilliant overtaking manoeuvres from both riders. On the penultimate lap Rossi took the lead in what looked like a decisive move but on the final corner Stoner somehow found a way back through and the nine-time Champion was forced to settle for fourth, albeit probably the most impressive fourth position of his career. Lorenzo's championship lead now stands at 47 points from Pedrosa, whilst Rossi moves up one place to sixth. The paddock now heads directly to Laguna Seca in California for the US Grand Prix in one weeks time.
 
 
Jorge Lorenzo - Position: 2ndTime: +3.355 "It's always difficult when a race is split like this and I think I didn't ride quite as well in the second race as I felt I had been doing in the first. Dani was very, very strong and I was on the limit trying to stay ahead. When he passed me I tried briefly to stay with him but he was much faster than me today and I was going to have to take a lot of risks to stay with him; the safest thing for me to do was finish second and take 20 points for the championship. I am happy because I never really liked this track and now I've been second here two years in a row. Now we go to Laguna and I am very excited about racing there again."
Valentino Rossi Valentino Rossi - Position: 4thTime: +5.623 "I didn't expect this! I thought it was maybe possible to make fourth or fifth place but I thought it would be very difficult. In the end I was fourth but I had a great battle with Casey and I was so close to the podium, so this is a fantastic result after missing four races. I need some more kilometres to really recover the feeling and feel completely okay with the bike again, but I think I did a great job and this was a very good comeback, better than we could wish for. I felt a bit of pain in my shoulder but more in the leg when changing direction, but at the end the battle with Casey was such fun that I didn't think about it. Unfortunately though he just got the better of me on the last corner! Thanks to all my team for helping me come back and be competitive like this, we will try to do even better in Laguna." Wilco Zeelenberg - Team Manager "I said before this weekend that we can't win them all and today Jorge rode another very sensible race to finish second and bring home 20 valuable points for the championship. It's a pity about the restart because the final third of the race is generally Jorge's strongest and with the shortened race he didn't have that bonus, but he rode a great race nonetheless and tried his best to stay with Pedrosa, who was a bit faster than us today. This hasn't been one of his best tracks in the past and he had some problems the first day so this is a good result for us all." Davide Brivio - Team Manager "In the end this race was something completely unexpected; one week ago we didn't know if we'd be able to ride here at all and then day by day our targets changed. We would have been happy whatever with a top five today but finally we were really competitive and so close to the podium. It's unbelievable and even more so because we were lapping at the same pace as the leaders. We've never been so excited by a battle for third position! It was very positive; Valentino worked so hard to be here and he made it in style, so now we will continue our plan in Laguna next weekend." Spies storms to battling eighth in Sachsenring Ben Spies continued his fantastic charge towards the top five in the MotoGP world championship standings this afternoon after a richly deserved eighth place in a restarted German MotoGP race. Facing a difficult challenge after starting in a lowly 13th position following an incident-packed qualifying session, Spies was in hot pursuit of a top eight finish when the scheduled 30-lap race was red flagged on lap ten after a three-rider incident. The race was restarted over 21-laps and Spies lost contact with the group in front of him when Mika Kallio crashed at the first corner. The 26-year-old sat in tenth position for the open ing seven laps before he managed to expertly guide his Monster Yamaha Tech 3 machine by Marco Melandri on lap nine having already disposed of Hector Barbera. At that stage Spies was over five seconds behind compatriot Nicky Hayden, but the reigning World Superbike champion was able to embark on a stunning charge in front of 98,477 fans. His lap times were only bettered by the leading quartet at one stage and Spies was able to lap over a second faster than the group contending fifth spot in front of him. By the end he'd closed to within two seconds of Hayden and Spies was delighted with his pace, confident had he not started so far down the field that he would been able to seriously threaten for a place in the top five. A difficult weekend for Colin Edwards ended in disappointing fashion. Despite numerous changes to the set-up of his Monster Yamaha YZR-M1 machine throughout the weekend, Edwards was unable to discover a setting that allowed him to push at the fast pace he is capable of. And his hopes of maintaining his proud record of scoring points in every race were ended when he crashed out of 16th position shortly before the race was red flagged. Spies and Edwards now turn their attention to the all-important American MotoGP race at Laguna Seca. It is the eagerly anticipated home race for the Texan duo and both are determined to deliver strong results for an expectant and partisan crowd. Ben Spies - Colin Edwards Ben Spies - Position: 8thTime: +20.957 "Eighth place does not reflect what happened on track today and it was quite clear that I could have been much higher. I had the misfortune in qualifying yesterday that was nobody's fault, but starting that far back h urt me today. It wasn't easy to pass Melandri because his bike accelerates really well but once I got by and could run my own race, I was really happy with how I performed. Dovizioso, Simoncelli and Nicky were five seconds clear at that point but I got to just over a second away from them. I was pretty much the fifth fastest guy on the track and I definitely had a fifth place result in me today, but I just had bad luck with the qualifying crash. But I leave with a top eight result and I'm not that far away from fourth in the championship now. Now I'm really looking forward to going home and racing at Laguna Seca. I love the circuit and I will have a lot of support and I genuinely believe I can run in the top five." Colin Edwards - Position: DNF "I got pushed around a bit at the start and lost a bit of time and I was just pushing because what I would lose on acceleration I wo uld try and catch it all up on the brakes. It was my mistake. I ran into the last corner wide and was probably a metre off line and when I tried to pull it back I lost the front. This wasn't the result I wanted going into my home race next week at Laguna Seca but I'm more motivated than ever to get back on track and recover from a pretty difficult period in the season for me. I love Laguna and the atmosphere created by the fans and rest assured I'll be aiming to get myself much closer to the front where I know I belong in front of my home crowd." Herve Poncharal - Team Manager "Ben was once again very impressive this weekend and he showed that he is an expert at learning new tracks. Unfortunately his race was dictated by his qualifying position and being so far down through no fault of his own was difficult. It was a pity because we saw that he had the pace to run in t he group battling for fifth. He was catching them a lot and as always he was very fast at the end of the race. He finished the weekend on a high note and he is really fired up for Laguna Seca next week now. It was a shame that Colin crashed in the first part of the race and unfortunately he has not been able to reach the level of performance we know he can this weekend. He's never given up and worked really hard with his crew but thankfully he wasn't hurt in the crash and I know he is incredibly motivated to perform better at Laguna Seca. The whole Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Team is looking forward to Laguna Seca because the support for Ben and Colin will be incredible." Circuit Length: 3671 Temp: 21 Weather: Dry
Lap Record: 1'23.082 (Daniel Pedrosa, 01/01/2007) Fastest Lap Ever: 1'21.067 (Casey Stoner, 13/07/2008) Last Years Winner: Valentino Rossi 2010 MotoGP Germany - Sachsenring 18/07/2010 Race 1 - 21 Laps Pos. Rider Manu. Nat. Total Time 1 Daniel Pedrosa Honda ESP 28'50.476 2 Jorge Lorenzo Yamaha ESP 0'03.355 3 Casey Stoner Ducati AUS 0'05.257 4 Valentino Rossi Yamaha ITA 0'05.635 5 Andrea Dovizioso Honda ITA 0'17.158 6 Marco Simoncelli Honda ITA 0'17.757 7 Nicky Hayden Ducati USA 0'17.935 8 Ben Spies Yamaha USA 0'20.957 9 Hector Barbera Ducati ESP 0'22.000 10 Marco Melandri Honda ITA 0'35.217 11 Loris Capirossi Suzuki ITA 0'45.042 12 Alex De Angelis Honda SMR 0'45.204  
Rider Standings 18/07/2010 Pos. Rider Manu. Nat. Points 1. Jorge Lorenzo Yamaha ESP 185 2. Daniel Pedrosa Honda ESP 138 3. Andrea Dovizioso Honda ITA 102 4. Casey Stoner Ducati AUS 83 5. Nicky Hayden Ducati USA 78 6. Valentino Rossi Yamaha ITA 74 7. Randy De Puniet Honda FRA 69 8. Ben Spies Yamaha USA 67 9. Marco Simoncelli Honda ITA 49 10. Marco Melandri Honda ITA 45 11. Hector Barbera Ducati ESP 41 12. Colin Edwards Yamaha USA 39 13. Loris Capirossi Suzuki ITA 30 14. Aleix Espargaro Ducati ESP 28 15. Alvaro Bautista Suzuki ESP 25 20. Wataru Yoshikawa Yamaha JPN 1  
Manufacturer Standings 18/07/2010 Pos. Manufacturer Points 1. Yamaha 190 2. Honda 162 3. Ducati 113 4. Suzuki 42
Alex Asigno

Yamaha set up for round nine of the World Superbike Championship in Brno

Brno The Yamaha Sterilgarda World Superbike Team arrive in the Czech Republic this week in preparation for round nine of the 2010 championship at the Brno circuit. British riders Cal Crutchlow and James Toseland will be looking to build on their current point standings in advance of their home race at Silverstone at the beginning of August. The 5.403km Automotodrom Brno circuit features constant elevation changes and an incredibly steep 7.5% gradient towards the last chicane of the track. The track also features one of the fastest chicanes on the WSB calendar. Both Yamaha Sterilgarda riders know the circuit well, Crutchlow taking pole in qualifying in World Supersport last year, an incredible eight tenths of a second faster than his closest rival. Team mate Toseland enjoyed great success on his last World Superbike outing to Brno, taking a first and a second place finish in 2007. “I’ve got unfinished business at Brno,” said Cal Crutchlow. “I had a really strong qualifying there in Supersport last year and was only two laps from winning the race when an unfortunate mechanical issue forced retirement. I love the track; it’s fast and flowing and should suit our bike really well.” “I’m looking forward to the weekend,” said James Toseland. “Brno is a track I’ve always had good results on. Everyone knows its Max Biaggi’s favourite circuit so it’s going to be difficult for everyone here as it’s probably going to be a strong weekend for Aprilia. Having said that, we worked hard at last week’s test in Imola so I’m looking forward to getting out on the track on Friday to see where we stand.” Brno technically speaking according to Marcus Eschenbacher, Cal Crutchlow’s Crew Chief “Brno is a traditional old-style track with a lot of character, it’s more or less like a rollercoaster with fast flowing corners. It’s really important to have a good flow with the bike, the gearbox has to work very smoothly with the track. Gear changes have to be perfect or you have to change gear in a lean angle which isn’t as efficient for the rider. The Chassis has to be set up to cope with braking hard downhill as a lot of overtaking places are on downhill braking spots, so stability is the key on the chassis. Grip level is not too bad at Brno so we shouldn’t have an issue there. Tyre wear can sometimes be abrasive if there’s a lot of rain but usually it’s ok. The track is pretty wide so the riders can have some really different lines through some areas, especially the fast chicane. We will try to have one bike as it was in the Misano race and one bike with the changes we made at the Imola test to start on Friday and see how Cal gets on.” Brno technically speaking according to Frankie Carchedi, James Toseland’s Crew Chief “Brno is a track with constant elevation changes, wide corners, and a smooth surface. There is an equal number of left and right turns and plenty of overtaking opportunities. During the recent test at Imola we tested numerous different settings mainly in making the Yamaha more absorbent over the bumps with the new Pirelli tyres, especially in high temperatures, as this has been the weak point this year. The team are looking forward to Brno as the smooth surface and fast flow of the track should suit the bike well.” Massimo Meregalli, Yamaha Sterilgarda World Superbike Team Manager “We are ready as always. James has proven he is good here previously in Superbike and Cal was very impressive last year in Supersport. We will start on Friday with the set up we found at the Imola test, and will make some changes depending on how the riders find the circuit. The test went pretty well overall so we are optimistic that we can use the new Pirelli tyre at the weekend and chase some good results.” Yamaha set up for round nine of the World Superbike Championship in Brno
Alex Asigno

A disappointing day for Fiat Yamaha at Aragon

Jorge Lorenzo The inaugural Aragon Grand Prix was a disappointing affair for the Fiat Yamaha Team today, with Jorge Lorenzo losing out in a last lap battle and finishing off the podium for the first time this season and Valentino Rossi coming home in sixth. It brought to an end an impressive run of 47 consecutive podiums for Yamaha, with the Factory having had at least one of its riders on the podium at every race since Valencia 2007 until today. Championship leader Lorenzo got a good start from second on the grid but it was soon clear that he lacked the pace to stay with eventual winner Casey Stoner as the Australian quickly began to open out a gap, while the Yamaha man came under pressure from compatriot Dani Pedrosa behind. On lap three Pedrosa passed the Mallorcan and, hampered by a lack of grip, Lorenzo was unable to run with him and spent most of the remainder of the race in third, just ahead of Nicky Hayden. He did everything he could to hold onto the final podium spot but a determined Hayden mounted a strong last-lap challenge and Lorenzo, not wanting to put his championship lead in jeopardy with too many risky moves, was powerless to keep the American from passing him on the final part of the track and missed out at the line by less than a tenth of a second. Rossi's problems were evident all weekend, as his shoulder issues meant he unable to run the best set-up for this track. He had hoped he might be able to improve a little under race conditions but it was not to be, dropping to ninth at one point before clawing back to his starting position of seventh by passing Hector Barbera and then fellow Italian Marco Simoncelli. A last-lap crash from Andrea Dovizioso elevated him to sixth but it was a disheartening weekend for the nine-time World Champion and his crew. Despite today's result Lorenzo's championship lead still stands at a healthy 56 points from Dani Pedrosa, with five rounds remaining. Rossi is still in fourth, one point ahead of Dovizioso and 15 behind Stoner. The next round comes in two weeks in Japan, the first of three consecutive race weekends in the Far East and Australia. Jorge Lorenzo - Position: 4Time: +9.580 "My start was very good, but during the race I struggled a lot with Nicky always behind me, very close! We can't be happy with the result and I am disappointed to finish my podium run, but the most important thing is that we did finish and we still took points for our championship. We have five more races to go and, although this is a complicated moment for us and we have some things to address, I am confident that we can improve again. Now we go to Motegi and I am looking forward to a good result at the home of Yamaha." Valentino Rossi Valentino Rossi - Position: 6Time: +27.330 "This was a very difficult race for us; we had a lot of problems all weekend and I was very slow today. I had to try to arrive to the end but I couldn't do better than sixth. All the Yamahas have suffered here but my shoulder problems made it even worse for me and this, combined with the problems with our package at this track, made it extra hard. We're very sad this afternoon and we hope for better in Japan." Wilco Zeelenberg - Team Manager "Over the last couple of races we have struggled a bit to keep up with some of our rivals, so we were quite worried about this race and today wasn't great for us. We're at a point in the championship when we can't afford to take risks but there are other riders who have nothing to lose, and this was the story today. Jorge didn't have enough grip and in those last few laps he didn't have the confidence in the front to push hard and get away from Nicky, who clearly had a good feeling here. Finishing off the podium for the first time we're obviously disappointed, especially because he had to push to even finish fourth! It's definitely time to make a change so we will think hard about Motegi, which is luckily a track which Jorge likes and where the Yamaha goes well." Jeremy Burgess - Crew Chief "We ran into troubles from the start here and unfortunately we couldn't find a way to put a competitive package together. Valentino's shoulder is causing him problems too and this, together with the set-up issues, meant we couldn't finish any higher up the order today. We're disappointed but we have some ideas and we hope for a better weekend in Japan."

Heroic Spies storms to fifth at Motorland Aragon Ben Spies produced arguably the best MotoGP performance of his blossoming career at the spectacular Motorland Aragon tack this afternoon, the Texan winning an epic battle with Andrea Dovizioso to finish in fifth place. Spies was in scintillating form throughout the 23-lap race that was played out in front of a partisan home crowd of just over 70,000 Spanish fans at the challenging 5.078km circuit. A fast start saw Spies pounce on an early mistake by Dani Pedrosa to snatch fourth on the opening lap before he settled into fifth place, the reigning World Superbike champion looking threatening behind Nicky Hayden and Jorge Lorenzo as they tussled for third spot. Spies had brilliantly hunted down Hayden and Lorenzo but just when he looked like hauling himself into a tense battle for third, a small mistake and a loss of rear grip cost him precious time. He slipped back into the clutches of Dovizioso and what followed was a pulsating final ten laps that saw Spies produce some inspired riding on board his Monster Yamaha Tech 3 YZR-M1 machine. Spies was riding at his brilliant best to keep Dovizioso at bay, the 26-year-old frequently able to produce stunning late braking moves to deny the tenacious Italian, who had a clear top speed advantage on the long Motorland Aragon straights. Spies lost fifth place on the penultimate lap, only to engineer yet another awesome overtake to the position back at the first corner on the final lap. With both refusing to give an in ch, Spies' super human effort was rewarded, his pace and determination pushing Dovizioso into a mistake on the final lap. Today's fifth was Spies' ninth top six finish of a stunning rookie campaign and he remains firmly in contention for a top three overall finish in the standings on 131-points. Today's race didn't go according to plan for Colin Edwards, the American making a poor getaway off the line before struggling to find his rhythm in the opening half of the race. The 36-year-old passed Hiroshi Aoyama on lap eight and Mika Kallio three laps later to finish in 12th position, a result which keeps him firmly in the hunt for eighth place in the points standings.
Ben Spies Ben Spies - Position: 5thTime: +13.771 "That was a really good race. I like racing like that and I told my crew that even if I'd finished sixth it would have been the funniest race of the year for me. Dovi and me started going at it with four laps to go and it was fun. I wish it didn't end with him crashing and I'm sure he's mad he fell down but we were having a blast. We kept it clean and close and he just made a small mistake on the last lap. I must admit I wasn't too far away from making one myself because it was getting pretty hectic. On the last lap I got him at turn one and then he got me back at turn eight. Going into turn 11 I passed him but got in deep and when we went back to turn 12 I was ahead of him but I didn't have the right line. So he had to go around me but unfortunately he fell and that's a shame because he rode great. I did too and for a while I was pulling back Nicky and Jorge but fifth is still a great result. I wasn't far behind Jorge and I beat Valentino and I was the top non-factory rider again. And the points are good for my championship, so I'm looking forward to this big final run of races with a lot of c onfidence." Colin Edwards Colin Edwards - Position: 12th Time: +45.360 "It wasn't a good race at all and it's a strange feeling because I really like the track. But for whatever reason I'm just not fast enough and I haven't figured it out yet. I made a terrible start and that put me on the back foot immediately but in the first few laps I couldn't get into my normal rhythm. And when I was trying to make up some time I just made a few silly mistakes here and there and it felt like I'd never done a lap here before. Once I got into a rhythm my pace wasn't too bad but I'd lost way too much time in the first ten laps. I ran the softer front tyre but I don't think that had anything to do with it. I was more comfortable on the soft front all weekend because I couldn't get the hard option to turn. It was a bit hotter today but I can't blame that and truthfully I just wasn't fast enough all weekend." Herve Poncharal - Team Manager "I am almost lost for words to describe the way Ben rode today. It wasn't his best result of the season but it is certainly one of the best feelings because he rode an incredible race. He was pushing on the limit for the whole race and to beat Dovizioso was really impressive. I think it was a fight that the fans really enjoyed. It was clear Andrea had a little bit of an advantage on top speed but some of Ben's braking moves were phenomenal and he was very brave. I am very happy with Ben and he is getting better and better and this race from him was stunning. He never gave up and showed unbelievable fighting spirit. It was a difficult afternoon for Colin. He didn't make a good start and he couldn't find a fast rhythm in the first laps and by the time he found a decent pace he had too much to recover. He carried on giving his maximum but it was still a positive week end at the fantastic Motorland Aragon. This is a great venue for MotoGP racing and the paddock has been given a wonderful welcome. We are already looking forward to coming back next season." Circuit Length: 5345 Weather: Dry
Fastest Lap Ever: 1'48.942 (Casey Stoner, 19/09/2010) 2010 MotoGP Spain - Aragon 19/09/2010 Race 1 Pos. Rider Manu. Nat. Total Time 1 Casey Stoner Ducati AUS 42'16.530 2 Daniel Pedrosa Honda ESP 0'05.148 3 Nicky Hayden Ducati USA 0'09.496 4 Jorge Lorenzo Yamaha ESP 0'09.580 5 Ben Spies Yamaha USA 0'13.771 6 Valentino Rossi Yamaha ITA 0'27.330 7 Marco Simoncelli Honda ITA 0'28.511 8 Alvaro Bautista Suzuki ESP 0'35.254 9 Marco Melandri Honda ITA 0'35.393 10 Aleix Espargaro Ducati ESP 0'35.467 11 Hector Barbera Ducati ESP 0'35.522 12 Colin Edwards Yamaha USA 0'45.360 13 Hiroshi Aoyama Honda JPN 0'48.319 14 Mika Kallio Ducati FIN 0'58.047  
Rider Standings 19/09/2010 Pos. Rider Manu. Nat. Points 1. Jorge Lorenzo Yamaha ESP 284 2. Daniel Pedrosa Honda ESP 228 3. Casey Stoner Ducati AUS 155 4. Valentino Rossi Yamaha ITA 140 5. Andrea Dovizioso Honda ITA 139 6. Ben Spies Yamaha USA 131 7. Nicky Hayden Ducati USA 125 8. Randy De Puniet Honda FRA 81 9. Marco Simoncelli Honda ITA 74 10. Marco Melandri Honda ITA 74 11. Colin Edwards Yamaha USA 70 12. Hector Barbera Ducati ESP 66 13. Aleix Espargaro Ducati ESP 50 14. Alvaro Bautista Suzuki ESP 49 15. Loris Capirossi Suzuki ITA 41 21. Wataru Yoshikawa Yamaha JPN 1  
Manufacturer Standings 19/09/2010 Pos. Manufacturer Points 1. Yamaha 293 2. Honda 265 3. Ducati 195 4. Suzuki 72
Alex Asigno

Crutchlow comes out on top at Imola test

The Yamaha Sterilgarda World Superbike Team headed straight off to Imola following last weekend’s race at Misano, and today completed a two day test in the sweltering Italian sunshine. The team spent the two days testing further areas of electronics, including traction control, wheelie control and launch control. They also worked to find improvements in the chassis, in particular the balance of the bike. At the end of the test it was Cal Crutchlow who came out fastest of the World Superbike riders, recording a time nearly half a second faster than closest rivals. Cal Crutchlow Cal Crutchlow, Yamaha Sterilgarda World Superbike Team (1st, 1’47.478, 125laps) “I’m happy with result of the test but we’ve got to win the races as well. We’ve tried a lot of different settings here, finally the best are close to how we started at the beginning. Hopefully over the summer break we’ll get some new parts and make more of a difference. We’re going to Brno with good confidence and we’ll take away from this test some good positives.” James Toseland James Toseland, Yamaha Sterilgarda World Superbike Team (11th, 1’49.031, 127laps) “It’s been a bit of a frustrating test for me. We’ve been concentrating over the two days on trying various different settings to try and maximise the grip on the bike as opposed to focussing on getting the fastest lap time. At the end of it I don’t feel I’ve managed to get closer so I’ve been struggling a bit.” Massimo Meregalli, Yamaha Sterilgarda World Superbike Team “We tested quite a lot of different things here at Imola, including various areas of electronics, we’ve also looked at the chassis to see what we can do to improve the balance. Both riders also spent some time testing some new tyres that Pirelli bought to the test. Cal finished fastest at the end and put in an impressive performance. James was not as fast so we need to look at our data and see what we can do to improve this.”
Alex Asigno

Lanusse Takes Maiden Victory in Monza

Romain Lanusse (MRS Yamaha Racing France), put on a spectacular display of racing under the Italian sunshine in Monza yesterday, to take the first victory of his Superstock 600 European Championship career. The young Frenchman got off to a perfect start from his pole position on the grid and continued to impress throughout the 10 lap race before powering his Yamaha R6 to victory. Lanusse was shortly followed by the Italian Dino Lombardi (Martini Corse Racing Team), also riding a Yamaha YZF-R6, crossing the finish line to take a second place on the podium.
Lanusse heads to round three in Misano leading the Championship standings on 45 points, Lombardi in second place on 33 points.
The Yamaha protagonists of the Superstock 600 category are riding Yamaha YZF-R6’s which are almost identical to the R6 “off the shelf” production seriesversion. The above mentioned impressive Superstock 600 performances, clearly demonstrates, yet again, the strength of the bike that has dominated the category in the previous years, with Jeremy Guarnoni taking the championship title in 2010.
Alex Asigno

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Configure browser push notifications
Chrome (Android)
  1. Tap the lock icon next to the address bar.
  2. Tap Permissions → Notifications.
  3. Adjust your preference.
Chrome (Desktop)
  1. Click the padlock icon in the address bar.
  2. Select Site settings.
  3. Find Notifications and adjust your preference.