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Yamaha teams start work for 2010 in Valencia

One day after sealing the Triple Crown of titles for 2009, the Fiat Yamaha Team was back at work in Valencia today looking towards the next season. World Champion Valentino Rossi and runner-up Jorge Lorenzo tested this afternoon and will continue tomorrow before finally getting the chance to take some time off. Lorenzo finished the day second fastest behind Casey Stoner and Rossi was just behind him in third. Both riders had a new evolution of the 2010 prototype YZR-M1 to try alongside a 2009 bike, a step on from the first version they tried in August in Brno. They both reported back positively to the Yamaha engineers and were able to set some good times on the prototype bikes. Lorenzo's best time was just 0.025 seconds off Stoner, with Rossi 0.141 seconds behind his team-mate. Valentino Rossi - Position: 2nd Time: 1'32.685 Laps: 45 "I was really excited to try this new version of the M1 today and I had a lot of motivation to get back to work. The feeling out of the corner is much better and we have more grip already in the rear so it's a big improvement for me. We still need to work on accelleration but I like what we have so far and I think we will continue to be competitive like this year. We have to wait and see the comparison between the old and new bike at a different track next year, but I am excited. I'm quite tired because this is already our fourth day riding here, but I am happy to have one more day of testing." Jorge Lorenzo - Position: 3rd Time: 1'32.826 Laps: 37 "It was quite hard work to get back on the bike today but it's a very important test for us. The new prototype we have already feels better than what we tried in Brno, so this is positive. I was faster than with the old bike straight away so we know we're working in the right way and hopefully we can improve some more tomorrow. Of course we still have a 2009 specification engine and we won't have an update until the next test in February, but the bike already feels more stable and has more rear grip. Tomorrow we have quite a lot to get through and it will be an important day before we can finally relax." Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Team begin 2010 preparations Less than 24 hours after the conclusion to a successful 2009 MotoGP world championship campaign, the Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Team was back in action at the Valencia circuit today to begin preparations for next season. With track action not commencing until 1pm, this morning gave the team chance to welcome new rider Ben Spies, who will partner fellow Texan Colin Edwards in 2010. It was also an opportunity for his mechanics to acquaint themselves with new crew chief Tom Houseworth, who has been a fundamental part of Spies' successful career to date. Spies raced to a brilliant seventh place on his Yamaha debut yesterday and his impressive pace cont inued in sunny but blustery conditions today. For Spies, this afternoon's four-hour session was all about continuing to familiarise himself with Yamaha's YZR-M1 machine. The World Superbike champion opted to work more on refining his own riding style than making alterations to the set-up of his Monster Yamaha Tech 3 machine. The 25-year-old completed 50 laps with a best time of 1.33.496 making it a positive and productive first day with Tech 3. His time was the sixth quickest today and only 0.8s away from fastest rider Casey Stoner and he knocked a massive 0.6s off his best time posted in yesterday's race. Fresh from a brilliant fourth place in yesterday's 30-lap Valencia MotoGP race, which secured fifth overall in the final rankings, Edwards completed a short stint of 35 laps while experimenting with wheelbase and front-end settings on his YZR-M1. Ben Spies - Position: 6th Time: 1'33.496 Laps: 50 “I am really happy to finally make my debut for the Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Team. They are a great team and it feels good to finally get to work with them. Today I was obviously on a different bike but with the same setting that I raced on and it felt good. I improved on my qualifying time so it was a positive and productive day. I really just focused on doing a couple of things different with my style and in the last two sessions I tried to do some things very different and it worked. I was slowly able to chip away at the lap times, so it is encouraging that I'm getting faster and more comfortable without even making any changes to the set-up of the bike. We'll make some changes to the bike tomorrow, more for me to see what I can feel, than looking for big improvements.” Colin Edwards - Position: 12th Time: 1'33.929 Laps: 35 “First of all I want to welcome Ben to the Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Team, or should that be Team Texas. He's joined a fantastic squad and we already love him here because his brilliant Yamaha debut in the race helped me get fifth in the world championship. Personally I'm really excited about working with him in 2010 because he's a talented rider, and I'm sure we'll be motivating each other a lot. I didn't too many laps today and all I did was work on the wheelbase and some different front-end geometry. The bike felt good and we definitely learned a couple of things by making the bike longer. I've got a couple of other things to check on the bike tomorrow and then it will off for a hard earned winter break.” Test Times 1. Casey Stoner (AUS) Ducati Marlboro Team 1'32.660 2. Jorge Lorenzo (SPA) Fiat Yamaha Team 1'32.685 3. Valentino Rossi (ITA) Fiat Yamaha Team 1'32.826 4. Dani Pedrosa (SPA) Repsol Honda 1'33.088 5. Nicky Hayden (USA) Ducati Marlboro Team 1'33.358 6. Ben Spies (USA) Monster Yamaha Tech 3 1'33.496 7. Andrea Dovizioso (ITA) Repsol Honda 1'33.675 8. Mika Kallio (FIN) Pramac Racing 1'33.726 9. Randy De Puniet (FRA) LCR Honda MotoGP 1'33.775 10. Marco Melandri (ITA) San Carlo Honda Gresini 1'33.839 11. Alex Espagaro (SPA) Pramac Racing 1'33.878 12. Colin Edwards (USA) Monster Yamaha Tech 3 1'33.929 13. Loris Capirossi (ITA) Rizla Suzuki MotoGP 1'34.144 14. Marco Simoncelli (ITA) San Carlo Honda Gresini 1'35.229 15. Alvaro Bautista (SPA) Rizla Suzuki MotoGP 1'35.772 16. Hector Barbera (SPA) Aspar Team 1'36.204 17. Hiroshi Aoyama (JPN) Scot Racing Team 1'37.964 Comunitat Valenciana: Record Lap C. Stoner (Ducati) 2008, 1'32.582 Comunitat Valenciana: Best Lap V. Rossi (Yamaha) 2006, 1'31.002
Alex Asigno
Alex Asigno

Message from Tsunji Togami, President and CEO, Yamaha Motor Co., Ltd.

"It gives me the greatest pleasure to announce that, for the second consecutive year, Yamaha Motor Co., Ltd. has achieved its ultimate goal in MotoGP competition by winning the Triple Crown of rider, team and manufacturer championship titles. "We owe this great achievement today to the spirited support of the many Yamaha fans and our sponsors, and I would like to take this opportunity to extend to all of you my heartfelt appreciation. "We at Yamaha Motor believe that our participation in MotoGP and our challenge to win titles makes it possible to share the excitement and deep satisfaction we call Kando with people all over the world, while also contributing to the marketing of our motorcycles. "In these efforts, I ask for your ongoing support of our company and our teams."
Alex Asigno
Alex Asigno

Double podium sees Fiat Yamaha seal triple crown in Valencia

Double podium sees Fiat Yamaha seal triple crown in Valencia as Edwards scores fourth and Spies seventh place. Valentino Rossi and Jorge Lorenzo finished second and third in the season-ending Grand Prix of Valencia this afternoon, the ninth time the pair have shared the podium this season. It ensured that Yamaha won the Triple Crown for the second year running after Rossi took the Riders' title, Fiat Yamaha the Teams' and Yamaha the Constructors'. Today's result also sealed Lorenzo the runner-up spot in the Championship in just his second year in MotoGP. Between them the Italian and the Spaniard have taken ten wins and a further seventeen podiums, Yamaha's most successful year ever in MotoGP. With pole-man Casey Stoner crashing on the warm-up lap the first corner shuffle saw Dani Pedrosa take the lead followed by Toni Elias, Rossi and Lorenzo, who quickly passed Rossi to re-take third. The first few laps were a mini battle between the Yamaha team-mates as Lorenzo fought to hold off Rossi and look for a way past Elias at the same time. He passed his fellow Spaniard in the last sector of lap three and Rossi followed quickly in his footsteps, overtaking Elias on the brakes into turn one on the fourth lap. A huge slide by Lorenzo soon after however left the 22-year-old unbalanced and shaken up and Rossi went through, leaving Lorenzo to take a bit of time to find his rhythm again. The World Champion set off after Pedrosa and for a little while looked like he was gaining but Valencia is a notoriously tricky track to make up ground on and in the end he was content to chase home the Spaniard for second place, his best result at Valencia since 2004. Lorenzo finished just three tenths off Rossi but was delighted to seal second in the championship in front of his home fans. As well as Yamaha sealing the Triple Crown and filling the first two spots in the championship, a brilliant performance from Tech 3 rider Colin Edwards today saw him take fourth and ensure fifth place in the championship, the top non-factory rider. Yamaha wild-card Ben Spies finished a brilliant seventh in his first MotoGP race on the M1 and James Toseland finished 12th in his farewell race for the team. Quote from Lin Jarvis, Managing Director, Yamaha Motor Racing "It gives me a great personal satisfaction for Yamaha and the Fiat Yamaha Team to have achieved "back to back" titles for 2008 and 2009. Our strong performances throughout this year's MotoGP championship are the result of a good cocktail of essential ingredients all being blended together in the right way. The performances of our riders have been incredible. Vale has won his 9th World Championship, making it 4 titles with Yamaha in his 6 seasons with us. Jorge has again surprised and thrilled us all year and made fantastic progress to claim the runner's-up position in only his second MotoGP season. Our engineers have used every single input from our riders' feedback over the past years and throughout this season to develop the YZR-M1 bike into the "bike of reference" in the MotoGP paddock. Our Team staff have worked tirelessly at every test and every Grand Prix to provide the optimum circumstances for our riders to be ready to win. Our corporate staff in Japan and Italy have also provided the essential "base camp" support to provide the back-up for all of the "troops" in the front line. Last but not least, Fiat Auto and our official sponsors and suppliers have also provided the essential support to enable us to go racing in the best possible way. I would like to personally thank everybody for the great team work that has allowed us to achieve all our targets." Valentino Rossi - Position: 2ndTime: +2.630 "I'm really happy about this result because it was fantastic to be able to ride well at Valencia and it's my best finish here since 2004. Of course it would have been better to win but I lost some time at the start battling with Elias and Lorenzo and by that time Pedrosa had gone and at this track it's almost impossible to make up a two second gap. It's not one of our best tracks but after the problems we had all weekend we can be very pleased, we made a great modification in warm-up so thanks to all my guys for this. We've ended the championship on the podium and it's been a great season, another world title and the triple crown for Yamaha, I am very proud. Thank you to Yamaha, all my team, Bridgestone and everyone else, now we will have a little party before we start work on the 2010 bike tomorrow!" Jorge Lorenzo - Position: 3rdTime: +2.913 "I had some good fights at the start and I was feeling quite strong but then I made a big mistake in the slow corner and I was lucky not to crash, so Valentino got by. I was in a bit of pain and I took some time to recover,\ and by then the gap was a bit too big to catch him. Anyway I'm happy to get another podium in Spain and I am so proud to have finished second in the championship; I want to thank everyone, Yamaha, Bridgestone and all my team, because we have worked so hard and this is a great achievement in just our second season. Now I can't wait to start testing the new bike and I look forward to being even stronger next year." Davide Brivio - Team Manager "After two days of struggling with the setting this was a very good race for us. I think the team and the engineers did a very good job to change the bike completely and find a way that worked for Valentino and we're happy to finish second here in Valencia, which has never been one of our best results. Now if we arrive here next year needing a good result, we'll be a bit more confident! It's been a great season, a historic one for Yamaha because we won everything we could and our riders won the most races and the triple crown, it's a season to remember. Now we're looking forward to the next one, which starts tomorrow for us, and we will try to repeat the result!" Daniele Romagnoli - Team Manager "This was a good end to the championship for us and a good way to celebrate a wonderful season with Jorge and the fantastic job the whole Yamaha team have done this year to win the triple crown. We've shown all season how strong Yamaha is and the job everyone has done has been fantastic. This is my last race with Yamaha so I want to take the chance to thank everyone here, it's been a great eight years and I wish Jorge and all the team all the best for the future." Jubilant Edwards claims fantastic fifth overall Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Team rider Colin Edwards produced a stunning final race in Valencia today to clinch a dramatic fifth place in the final 2009 MotoGP world championship standings. Starting from fifth on the grid in front of 94,177 vocal Spanish fans, all eyes were on the Texan and his fight for fifth in the points-standings with Andrea Dovizioso. In sunny but blustery conditions, the Texas Tornado held fifth place until lap seven when he passed Toni Elias to move into fourth. At the time, Dovizioso was back in 11th. Edwards maintained an impressive pace to sit comfortably in fourth position and remain on course for fifth overall. But Dovizoso then produced a dazzling charge through the field to move into seventh position on lap 16. That meant fifth place would go to Dovizioso with no further position changes. But there was one final dramatic twist in arguably Edwards' best ever MotoGP campaign, thanks to new Monster Yamaha Yamaha Tech 3 rider Ben Spies. The Texan's brilliant Yamaha debut ended with him passing Dovizioso on lap 25, a move that secured Edwards his hard earned but thoroughly deserved fifth place in the final points tally. British rider James Toseland produced a gallant ride in his final appearance for the Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Team that saw him in contention for a top ten finish throughout the 30-lap encounter. A stunning start and skilled overtaking on the first lap saw him climb into 11th position and he was lock ed in a thrilling dice with Spies, Dovizioso, Mika Kallio, Alex de Angelis and Marco Melandri in the first half of the race. But a small rear tyre issue prevented Toseland from maintaining his fast and consistent pace and he slipped back to finish 12th. Colin Edwards - Position: 4thTime: +32.515 "Things really fell my way today but over the course of the season I feel like I really deserve fifth place in the championship. At best I was thinking I could finish fifth in the race but then I saw Casey wasn't on the grid and immediately I thought 'well, there's some more points up for grabs.' I got a great start and the bike was working awesome but those three out front were untouchable. I don't know how they do it, what they've got or what they eat for breakfast, but I couldn't run their pace. In the middle of the race I couldn't carry the corner speed I wanted to so I tried to smooth myself out and just rode out of my skin. I was doing the best I could but wasn't sure where Dovizioso was. It turns out Ben got by him and that point proved crucial. I gave him a big bug after the race and anything he wants me to buy him, he can have it. I'm glad he adapted so quickly to the Yamaha because him riding so well is what got me that fifth overall and I'm really looking forward to working with him. To finish fifth in the championship is a great feeling when you look at the talent in front of me. I was consistent all season and feel like I rode some of my best races to get this final position. I'm happy for myself and for my guys at Monster Yamaha Tech 3. We are a really close unit and they always give me 100 per cent, so hopefully they can take a lot of satisfaction out of this result as well. I wish James all the best for the future too and am convinced he can carry on Yamaha's success in World Superbikes." James Toseland - Position: 12thTime: +50.226 "I really enjoyed my last race. I wanted to give my team everything I had and I'm proud to say I did that. I had a good first few laps and took a few risks with not a lot of temperature in the tyres and got myself into a good position. But unfortunately on about lap 15 the rear tyre turned on the rim and I wasn't able to keep the pace and stay in the bunch that were battling for seventh place. I'd like to congratulate Colin for fifth in the championship because he has done a brilliant job. I'd like to thank everybody working with the Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Team for all the effort and support they have given me. I've had an absolutely fantastic time with them and I'll take a lot of interest in how they perform in the future. I've made a lot of friends in MotoGP and at Tech 3 and the team will always hold a special place in my heart. Now I've got to look to the futu re and I do so relishing a new challenge with Yamaha." Herve Poncharal - Team Manager "I can't congratulate Colin enough for the amazing job he has done this season. To finish behind those four guys is an incredible feat and one that gives the Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Team a lot of pride to have been involved in helping achieving fifth position in the championship for him. He has been consistent all year long and hardly ever outside the top six, and I would say this has been his best ever season. I'm so happy he is still with us next year because he brings so much to the team. Not just in terms of his results but his personality has been a great asset to the team, Yamaha and MotoGP. The sport needs more people like Colin and I can't wait for next season when we have the full Texan team. I am really excited about the prospect of working with Ben. What he did this weekend w as amazing. By passing Dovizioso as well he did a great favour to Colin and a great job for our team. I also want pass on my heartfelt thanks to James for all his hard work since he joined us at the end of 2007. We've had some up and downs but he brought a lot to the team. He is a true gentleman and he has been one of the hardest working and highly motivated riders ever to be at Tech 3. He has plenty to proud of in MotoGP. He is staying in the Yamaha family and I would like to wish him all the best in 2010. I'm sure he will keep Yamaha on top in World Superbikes." Spies takes well earned seventh in Valencia GP Ben Spies made a good job of silencing any critics he may have today as he set about putting his mark on the GP field ahead of his racing year in 2010. Starting from ninth on the grid he had a good start to hold his position until Marco Melandri passed him towards the end of the first lap. As he got used to his race tires and settled into his pace he dropped further until lap eight where he held 12th behind Andrea Dovizioso. As lap 11 got under way the American wildcard tucked in and got down to business, taking Melandri for 11th and beginning to chase down Mika Kallio. He caught him on lap 17 to take 10th then swiftly dispatched De Angelis on the next lap for ninth. By lap 19 Spies was turning in a 1'34.1 second lap, quick enough to be running with Colin Edwards in fourth. The speed enabled him to catch Randy De Puniet by lap 21 for eighth and close in on Dovizioso in seventh. With six laps to go, he capitalized on a mistake as the Repsol Honda rider ran wide, passing on the inside to take seventh and hold it to the line, claiming his first top ten MotoGP race finish for Yamaha. Ben Spies Sterilgarda Yamaha Team - Position: 7thTime: +37.706 "It was a good day. We got a good start which something I didn't think was going to happen. For the first six or seven laps I wasn't really on it, I wasn't used to the way the tires come in so I was halfway taking it easy and halfway getting pushed around because I didn't want to do anything silly. Once we got into a rhythm I got to follow some people and it was ok, then I slowly started to pass some people and got my eyes set on the guys in front. Once I got passed Dovizioso I could see Nicky Hayden and Tony Elias up ahead. I knew I wasn't going to catch them but I tried to keep my pace going and was able to keep it steady. It's been a dream first weekend for us, to get seventh on a track I don't particularly favour is pretty cool, the feeling is the same as winning a superbike race. I'm happy we've kept the bike off the ground and made solid progress all weekend which was our number one goal. I just want to thank Yamaha for giving me this opportunity, and all the sponsors that helped put this together for the weekend, especially Sterilgarda, BM Group, Fimer, Parts Europe and everybody else who made it possible to get this thing going, I think we did a good job for them." Massimo Meregalli, Sterilgarda Yamaha Team Manager "Another impressive weekend from Ben. He improved steadily in all the sessions, we knew this morning that he would finish the race higher than he started. I think soon he'll pick up full confidence in the bike and tires and in time will reach his full potential on the track. I'm pretty sure that next week he'll improve some more and get closer to the pace. I know he's a very clever rider and he's going to achieve his goals in MotoGP. I too want to thank all the sponsors who made it possible for us to come and race here this weekend, Sterilgarda, BM Group, Fimer, Parts Europe and everyone else have been brilliant."
Alex Asigno
Alex Asigno

Yamaha unveils Ben Spies’ livery for Valencia

The Sterilgarda Yamaha Team have unveiled the special one-off livery for 2009 World Superbike Champion Ben Spies ahead of his wildcard ride at the final MotoGP race in Valencia this weekend. Spies will be riding the Yamaha YZR-M1 prior to joining the Tech3 Yamaha Team next Monday to start testing for the 2010 season. The American rider has achieved astonishing success in his rookie year in World Superbike, bringing the first ever World Superbike Championship victory for Yamaha. Over the 2009 season he scored 14 race wins and 11 pole position starts in the class, becoming the all-time greatest rookie in the process. “I’m really excited for the opportunity to race at Valencia this weekend,” said Spies. “I’m fully aware that MotoGP is a big step up from World Superbike and realize it’s not going to be possible to achieve the same results in my first year there. I see this weekend as an opportunity to spend some time on the bike and start learning it for next season, and to have some fun as well!”
Alex Asigno
Alex Asigno

Yamaha defend King of Bercy title

Yamaha conquered an eventful weekend of Supercross at Bercy, Paris to stand atop the podium for the second year in succession. San Manuel Yamaha rider James Stewart had won Friday and Saturday evenings of the three night affair in the French capital but withdrew from Sunday’s final showdown after complaining of sickness and dizzy spells. The overall crown was therefore won by American and Joe Gibbs Racing’s Justin Brayton who had played second fiddle to AMA and FIM World Supercross champion all weekend. After winning the US Open in Las Vegas last month 23 year old Stewart was peerless on the new YZ450F on Friday and Saturday, only a small slip in the first heat on Saturday prevented the Floridian from extending his 100% record. Surprisingly, after winning the first two outings on Sunday, he was not able to complete the final sprint and Iowan Brayton (who won the last AMA Motocross National moto of 2009 and participated in one Supercross round this year) was able to scoop the prestigious ‘King of Bercy’ title by finishing 5th. In another interesting development for Yamaha, new San Manuel rider Josh Hill was able to take the chequered flag in the very last heat of the evening, the one in which Stewart was absent. Prior to his visit to the medical centre on Sunday evening Stewart was in electric form and clearly enjoying his second visit to Paris and the event that he dominated in 2008. "It's always great to come to Bercy, the crowd is awesome and they treat me so well over here,” he said. “Last year I just changed to Yamaha and I wanted to prove for myself the Yamaha was the right pick, I was still getting used to the bike and it was more a matter of having fun and enjoying the show. This year there is no pressure for this race, I even started too relaxed in the practice. After I got back to business and it went a lot better from then on.” “The new Yamaha is awesome, it is very different but I had a good feeling since the first day and we have already found some comfortable base settings for the bike,” he added. “I'm working to get ready for Anaheim 1 in January now; we still have a long way to go but we will be ready." The 17 round 2010 AMA Supercross series (also and FIM World Championship) starts on January 9th at the Angel Stadium, Anaheim in Los Angeles.
Alex Asigno
Alex Asigno

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Alex Asigno
Alex Asigno

Osborne set for Mallory Park return

Utag Yamaha.com’s Zach Osborne has made a startling recovery from the left radius bone he chipped in practice for the Grand Prix of Portugal two and a half weeks ago and is now return to return to MX2-GP World championship action for his team at Mallory Park for their home event this weekend. The British Grand Prix represents the seventh round of the series and the first of five events in the next six weeks. Osborne, who was originally given a recovery estimation of between 4-6 weeks, has regained enough strength and confidence in the wrist to mount his YZ250FM this week and attempt his first GP on UK turf for the English squad. The American and winner of the Turkish Grand Prix has been undergoing intense laser treatment and oxygen tank sessions to speed up recovery of the fracture. “Zach has kept his training up and has been having a lot of treatment,” said Team Principal Steve Dixon. “He feels his wrist is healing well but at the moment his movement is still restricted so we will have to see at the weekend about his manoeuvrability.” “Zach will ride a small amount on Thursday and then ride wisely on Saturday to build up for Sunday,” he continued. “He will push to do as well as he can but understands equally that two potential top 10 rides will help towards his final championship goal.” “After the British GP and then France there is a chance to miss the British championship round at Hawkstone to have another full two weeks off to be fully fit and repaired ready for the German GP. One thing for certain is that Zach is not a person to opt out at the first hurdle and he deserves full credit for putting himself back in contention.
Alex Asigno
Alex Asigno

2009 Yamaha R1 sets the pace in the 2009 IDM Superbike Championship

The 2009 Yamaha YZF-R1 is proving to be a formidable weapon in the hands of Yamaha Motor Germany rider Jörg Teuchert in the German IDM Superbike Championship. Teuchert put in a masterful display of riding at the season opener on 26th April at the EuroSpeedway, Lausitz circuit, dominating from the start to take the chequered flag in both heats. Round two at the Motorsport Arena, Oschersleben saw more of the same adrenalin fuelled racing with the German rider one step ahead of the competition for both races on the day. Teuchert now leads the championship with 100 points and an unblemished record heading into the next round. “Anyone who knows me and my team knows we are here to win,” said Jörg. “Obviously a second or third place is good, no doubt but I want to win the championship!” Team-mate and 2008 Women’s European Champion Nina Prinz is also adapting well to her new R1. Prinz continues to impress as the only woman in the IDM field, she scored a 17th and a 14th place finish at Lausitz and then improved to take an 8th and a 14th place finish at Oschersleben. The first race in particular saw an incredible start with Nina taking 13 places in the first lap. She currently sits 15th in the championship on 12 points. The following round at Nurburgring is a favourite for her, last year’s race was the first time she finished inside the top ten so she’s hopeful of good results. “The last race weekend was really good, Saturday was a little difficult as I crashed in the first qualifying after five laps,” said Prinz. “I lost both the tyres at same time, and touched the ground with the engine. Sunday was crazy, there were a lot of crashes in the first race and the start was stopped twice. The first race was great for me though, I started in 24th and got to 11th after one lap. I’ve also had new suspension since the last round, so the front forks are really comfortable now.” The German IDM Superbike Championship now moves to the famous Nürburgring circuit on 29th to 31st May.
Alex Asigno
Alex Asigno

Yamaha rock the UEM European Superstock 600 Championship

As the European Superstock championship gets underway it’s becoming clear that one bike is all you need to win. In the three rounds so far the Yamaha YZF-R6 has dominated every race. As the first opening race of the season kicked off in Valencia on 5th April, It was Yamaha Italia Junior Trasimeno Team rider Petrucci who claimed the chequered flag and set the pace for the season. Stepping up behind him for the second podium spot was another Yamaha R6, Belgian MTM Racing Team rider Lonbois. Of the top seven finishers on race day, no less than six were riding an R6, a testament to the abilities of the Supersport machine. As the championship moved on to round two in Assen, it was to be another showing of Yamaha Supersport dominance. Two more podiums came with the Dutch V.D. Heyden Motors Yamaha Rider Litjens taking second and MRS Racing rider Guarnoni taking the third spot. Of the top four, three were R6 riders. Monza, and round three followed on the 10th May at the legendary Italian cathedral of speed. Come race day and there was no question as to which bike was going to deliver on the demanding circuit. With its high speed straights and tight chicanes Monza is one of the toughest races in the calendar, but the Yamaha didn’t disappoint here. Taking his second successive win of the season, first place was taken by Danilo Petrucci after a hard fought battle with three other Yamaha R6 riders. Lonbois took second and Guarnoni took third, making it an all Yamaha podium. The fourth placed Yamaha came in the shape of Petrucci’s Yamaha Italia Junior Trasimeno team-mate, Bussolotti, who finished just off the podium in fourth. Petrucci now leads the UEM European Superstock 600 Championship with 50 points, tied with second placed Gino Rea. Guarnoni sits in third on 43 points whilst Lonbois is in fourth with 40. With Litjens, Bussolotti and Kerschenbaumer (BWIN Yoshimura Racing, Austria) occupying the other spots in the top seven and Polish rider Chmielewski (Team Trasimeno) on a shared ninth position, the Yamaha R6 is clearly dominating the 2009 championship. The next round of the championship will be held in Misano on the 21st of June.
Alex Asigno
Alex Asigno

Excellent Philippaerts 2nd at Bellpuig

Yamaha Monster Energy Motocross Team's David Philippaerts scored his second podium result of the season and his best result of 2009 so far with second position at a sunny, hot and crowded Bellpuig circuit for the Grand Prix of Catalunya and the sixth round of the FIM MX1-GP World Championship. The defending number one defied pain and discomfort with the left index finger he broke only one week ago to steer his YZ450FM to two third positions in front of 20,000 spectators. There were actually two Yamaha's present in the top three as Yamaha Red Bull De Carli's Antonio Cairoli finished third overall and won the second moto to grab his sixth chequered flag from the last eight sprints. Hard-pack, dusty and increasingly rough, the Bellpuig terrain was a major contrast to the 2008 event in which the Grand Prix was washed out with a deluge of rain. Yamaha were able to celebrate a double pole position (the second this season) on a very warm Saturday thanks to Cairoli's second qualification heat win of the year and Davide Guarneri starting well to lead home the MX2 field. Saturday was a positive day for Cairoli as he was fastest in both practice sessions and then completed a perfect set with the chequered flag for first pick in the gate for Sunday. The first moto took place in the hottest conditions of the year and Philippaerts capitalised on a good start to push and hound Clement Desalle for second position for virtually the entire race. The 25 year old underwent three days of treatment in the UK prior to the GP. The team also adjusted the clutch lever and added some extra protection to the bars. Cairoli had collided with Billy Mackenzie on the second lap and although he flew back from eighteenth to fourth (in spite of a leaking fuel tank, picked up in the fall) he then tried to overtake Josh Coppins and hit the ground again in a small error of judgement. The Sicilian and world championship leader crossed the line in eighth and with a set of sore ribs. In the second moto Philippaerts was again a protagonist and worked hard in third position to catch and pass Mackenzie. Cairoli followed his countryman until the closing stages when he pulled ahead and then pursued leader Max Nagl. A mistake by the German allowed '222' to get close to his back wheel and he moved into the lead on the penultimate lap to make the bottom step of the rostrum; his fourth consecutive trophy this year and also increase his championship lead by 11 points. Yamaha Monster Energy Motocross Team's Josh Coppins was sixth overall with finishes of fourth and eighth. The New Zealander was proactive at the start of the motos but did not have the speed or extra energy to be able to push and affect the leaders. Cairoli's team-mate, Tanel Leok, had a difficult day. The Estonian made a mistake and crashed on the first lap and was halted from restarting by many riders clipping both the rider and the bike as they filtered past. Well down the field he recovered to eighth by the end. Two more errors and some brake trouble in Moto2 could only mean thirteenth at the end of the afternoon for a ranking of tenth overall. Four Yamahas lie in the first six positions in the world championship standings and the brand also heads the Manufacturer's table by 48 points. Cairoli holds the red plate with an advantage of 36 points from Bellpuig winner Jonathan Barragan. Coppins is fourth and 56 from the top spot, Philippaerts is fifth and trails his team-mate by one point while Leok is sixth. Round seven of the world championship will take place in two weeks time at the purpose-built track draped across the side of the Mallory Park road racing facility in England for the British Grand Prix. David Philippaerts, Yamaha Monster Energy MX Team, 2nd: "I did not expect this because my thumb gave me a lot of problems yesterday, but today I could ride well and quite easily and I am really happy for the result; it is a bit of a surprise. I did not do any training since Portugal, only treatment, so I felt a bit tired towards the end of the second moto but obviously I am really pleased with two third positions. My doctor believes that I should be almost back to normal for the next Grand Prix." Antonio Cairoli, Yamaha Red Bull De Carli, 3rd: "In the first moto I made two mistakes and when I crashed with Josh it was my fault because I was going for his line and just caught his back wheel. With Mackenzie the first time I think it was a normal pass but he cut the line and we both went down. My fuel tank was actually damaged after that so I was going easy on the gas because I did not want to run out before the end of the race. I still could make the best lap-time and the moment with Josh was a shame, it also hurt some of my ribs although the pain was not so bad by the start of the second race. I lost some time at the beginning of the second moto but I found the right lines and even copied a few from Jonathan when he overtook me for a while! I felt really good, and when I saw Nagl make a mistake I pushed hard for the win." Josh Coppins, Yamaha Monster Energy MX Team, 6th: "I had some good starts and my riding was not too bad but I did not have much power today; I did the best I could do. I am not sure what the problem is at the moment but I felt tired and struggled in the second moto. There is not much more I can really say." Tanel Leok, Yamaha Red Bull De Carli, 10th: "A bad day. I felt good and the speed was fine but I was getting things wrong. In the second moto I hit someone's back wheel and he spun out so I was stuck behind him and was really far back, I crashed again and then had a stone jamming the rear brake so after two laps without a brake I stopped to take it out. I fell again later after that, I tried too hard to get back near the front and was making mistakes; it was not my day." Circuit Length: 1630 Crowd: 20,000 Weather: Sunshine Last Years Winner: Steve Ramon 2009 GP of Spain 17/05/2009 Race 1 - 21 Laps Pos.     Rider     Manu.     Nat.     Total Time 1     Jonathan Barragan     KTM     ESP     40'38.899 2     Clement Desalle     Honda     BEL     0'10.982 3     David Philippaerts     Yamaha     ITA     0'11.453 4     Joshua Coppins     Yamaha     NZL     0'16.273 5     David Vuillemin     Kawasaki     FRA     0'17.446 6     Gareth Swanepoel     Kawasaki     RSA     0'18.617 7     Maximilian Nagl     KTM     GER     0'19.177 8     Antonio Cairoli     Yamaha     ITA     0'51.165 9     Tanel Leok     Yamaha     EST     0'54.074 10     Aigar Leok     TM     EST     1'05.652 11     Billy MacKenzie     Honda     GBR     1'10.774 12     Julien Bill     Aprilia     CHE     1'13.182 13     Carlos Campano     Yamaha     ESP     1'14.266 14     Tom Church     CCM     GBR     1'26.436 15     Jason Dougan     CCM     GBR     1'48.844 20     Rob van Vijfeijken     Yamaha     NED     -1Laps Race 2 - 21 Laps Pos.     Rider     Manu.     Nat.     Total Time 1     Antonio Cairoli     Yamaha     ITA     39'22.225 2     Maximilian Nagl     KTM     GER     0'01.314 3     David Philippaerts     Yamaha     ITA     0'13.691 4     Jonathan Barragan     KTM     ESP     0'18.063 5     Billy MacKenzie     Honda     GBR     0'20.186 6     Ken De Dycker     Suzuki     BEL     0'23.058 7     Clement Desalle     Honda     BEL     0'23.655 8     Joshua Coppins     Yamaha     NZL     0'23.983 9     David Vuillemin     Kawasaki     FRA     0'33.488 10     Gregory Aranda     Kawasaki     FRA     0'39.470 11     Gareth Swanepoel     Kawasaki     RSA     0'48.519 12     Manuel Priem     Aprilia     BEL     0'54.672 13     Tanel Leok     Yamaha     EST     1'02.669 14     Aigar Leok     TM     EST     1'09.052 15     Gert Krestinov     KTM     EST     1'13.655 Rider Standings     17/05/2009 Pos.     Rider     Manu.     Nat.     Points 1.    Antonio Cairoli    Yamaha    ITA    231 2.    Jonathan Barragan    KTM    ESP    195 3.    Ken De Dycker    Suzuki    BEL    183 4.    Joshua Coppins    Yamaha    NZL    175 5.    David Philippaerts    Yamaha    ITA    174 6.    Clement Desalle    Honda    BEL    162 7.    Tanel Leok    Yamaha    EST    162 8.    Maximilian Nagl    KTM    GER    155 9.    David Vuillemin    Kawasaki    FRA    101 10.    Steve Ramon    Suzuki    BEL    100 11.    Gareth Swanepoel    Kawasaki    RSA    92 12.    Aigar Leok    TM    EST    85 13.    Kevin Strijbos    Honda    BEL    82 14.    Billy MacKenzie    Honda    GBR    68 15.    Gregory Aranda    Kawasaki    FRA    50 24.    Carlos Campano    Yamaha    ESP    21 28.    Rob van Vijfeijken    Yamaha    NED    13 Manufacturer Standings     17/05/2009 Pos.     Manufacturer     Points 1.    Yamaha    261 2.    KTM    213 3.    Suzuki    197 4.    Honda    196 5.    Kawasaki    115 6.    TM    85 7.    Aprilia    69 8.    CCM    38 RACE REPORT     17/05/2009 Guarneri 6th in Catalunya The sixth round of the MX2-GP World Championship at the Bellpuig circuit for the Grand Prix of Catalunya saw Yamaha Monster Energy Ricci MX Team's Davide Guarneri negotiate the rough and dry Spanish hard-pack to clinch 6th position on his YZ250FM. The sunny conditions and high temperatures provided completely contrasting racing circumstances compared to the 2008 edition of the event. 20,000 spectators had to deal with sunburn and dust instead of rain and sinking mud. The track was rough and demanding and combined with the climate offered one of the toughest physical tests of the season so far. Guarneri started from Pole Position for the first time this year and for the first time since 2005. His getaways were not bad but the Italian struggled to make ground on the leaders as they circulated at the same pace. Taking fourth place the winner of the same GP thirteen months ago had some muscle pain in the second moto and scored seventh spot for another consistent points haul. Team-mate Nico Aubin was feeling better after recovering from his virus and a five-day course of antibiotics. The Frenchman had a poor start in Moto1 but after a few mistakes sailed from twenty-first to eleventh place. In the second race he had to ditch his goggles in the formative stages and although the dust proved hazardous he rode well to reach third place. He was just overtaken by GP winner Jeremy Van Horebeek on the last lap. Aubin was eighth overall. A first corner crash in Saturday's qualification heat left the third member of the team Loic Larrieu with a painful shoulder. The teenager did not attempt the warm-up and had to make a late decision to withdraw from the Grand Prix. He will have an examination this week to see the extent of the injury. Italian MX2 Champion Manuel Monni was 10th on the 3C Racing YZ250F. In the world championship standings Guarneri's regular points-gain means that he is third and only five points away from seizing the red plate. Aubin has made some ground and is seventh while Utag Yamaha.com's Zach Osborne might have been absent with a broken wrist but he still rests eighth in the points table. Round seven of fifteen will take place in two weeks time at Mallory Park for the British Grand Prix. Davide Guarneri, Yamaha Monster Energy Ricci MX Team, 6th: "Yesterday and today my speed was really good but it was very hard to pass on this track. There was one really good line and the rest was really rough, too slippery or very deep. I was third at the start of the first moto but a KTM rider crashed in the second turn and that made me lose positions to sixth. To finish fourth was good for the points. In the second moto the start wasn't great but I pushed hard. I had a small problem with a muscle in my leg and I don't know why. It is where I had the operation in the winter so perhaps it is a little weak. I had a good period in the middle of the race but in the last two laps the pain was too much. It was a shame to miss the podium but we are close all the time and it will arrive." Nico Aubin, Yamaha Monster Energy Ricci MX Team, 8th: "I felt better here today but my starts were not that good. I had some decent speed in the first moto and was pleased with my recovery because I was quite far back and it was not easy to pass. In the second moto I had a little problem with my goggles on the second lap and I had to throw them away. It was really hard then to see with all the dust and it made getting closer to riders very difficult. I could see nothing on the last lap and Van Horebeek was able to pass me for third and I was disappointed about that. I need points however and I feel things are getting better for me." Circuit Length: 1630 Crowd: 20,000 Weather: Sunny Last Years Winner: Davide Guarneri 2009 GP of Spain 17/05/2009 Race 1 - 20 Laps Pos.     Rider     Manu.     Nat.     Total Time 1     Rui Goncalves     KTM     POR     39'21.424 2     Jeremy Van Horebeek     KTM     BEL     0'01.818 3     Xavier Boog     Suzuki     FRA     0'05.871 4     Davide Guarneri     Yamaha     ITA     0'06.426 5     Steven Frossard     Kawasaki     FRA     0'07.891 6     Ken Roczen     Suzuki     GER     0'07.954 7     Anthony Boissi?re     KTM     FRA     0'24.346 8     Manuel Monni     Yamaha     ITA     0'29.578 9     Marcus Schiffer     KTM     GER     0'33.182 10     Arnaud Tonus     KTM     CHE     0'34.051 11     Nicolas Aubin     Yamaha     FRA     0'34.785 12     Dennis Verbruggen     Honda     BEL     0'39.568 13     Joel Roelants     KTM     BEL     0'40.106 14     Marvin Musquin     Honda     FRA     0'51.241 15     Nikolai Larsen     Suzuki     DNK     0'54.281 20     Evgeny Bobryshev     Yamaha     RUS     1'07.348 Race 2 - 20 Laps Pos.     Rider     Manu.     Nat.     Total Time 1     Anthony Boissi?re     KTM     FRA     39'35.739 2     Ken Roczen     Suzuki     GER     0'02.240 3     Jeremy Van Horebeek     KTM     BEL     0'05.212 4     Nicolas Aubin     Yamaha     FRA     0'06.794 5     Rui Goncalves     KTM     POR     0'09.792 6     Steven Frossard     Kawasaki     FRA     0'10.777 7     Davide Guarneri     Yamaha     ITA     0'19.102 8     Xavier Boog     Suzuki     FRA     0'20.462 9     Marvin Musquin     Honda     FRA     0'29.925 10     Marcus Schiffer     KTM     GER     0'36.699 11     Khounsith Vongsana     Honda     FRA     0'57.983 12     Stephen Sword     KTM     GBR     1'00.744 13     Jake Nicholls     KTM     GBR     1'00.927 14     Manuel Monni     Yamaha     ITA     1'06.647 15     Ceriel Klein Kromhof     KTM     NED     1'10.243 Rider Standings     10/05/2009 Pos.     Rider     Manu.     Nat.     Points 1.    Gautier Paulin    Kawasaki    FRA    171 2.    Marvin Musquin    Honda    FRA    165 3.    Davide Guarneri    Yamaha    ITA    147 4.    Rui Goncalves    KTM    POR    125 5.    Xavier Boog    Suzuki    FRA    108 6.    Steven Frossard    Kawasaki    FRA    105 7.    Zach Osborne    Yamaha    USA    100 8.    Nicolas Aubin    Yamaha    FRA    98 9.    Shaun Simpson    KTM    GBR    97 10.    Arnaud Tonus    KTM    CHE    72 11.    Loic Larrieu    Yamaha    FRA    70 12.    Manuel Monni    Yamaha    ITA    67 13.    Marcus Schiffer    KTM    GER    66 14.    Joel Roelants    KTM    BEL    61 15.    Alessandro Lupino    Yamaha    ITA    56 19.    Evgeny Bobryshev    Yamaha    RUS    38 27.    Cedric Soubeyras    Yamaha    FRA    15 34.    Deny Philippaerts    Yamaha    ITA    6 Manufacturer Standings     10/05/2009 Pos.     Manufacturer     Points 1.    Kawasaki    191 2.    KTM    180 3.    Yamaha    177 4.    Honda    171 5.    Suzuki    128 6.    TM    5
Alex Asigno
Alex Asigno

Lorenzo takes fantastic French victory on action-packed day in Le Mans

Fiat Yamaha rider Jorge Lorenzo took a stunning second win of the season in Le Mans today, negotiating varying track conditions and a change of bikes to lead from the first lap to the flag and take the championship lead. It was a doom-laden day for his team-mate Valentino Rossi however as the world champion slid off early on and then had a ride-through penalty to compound his misfortune. With the track still wet from a rainy morning all riders started the race on rain tyres, with the mechanics readying the dry bikes in pit lane in anticipation of an early change as the track dried out. Lorenzo, starting from second, slipped a place at the start but had passed both Casey Stoner and Dani Pedrosa by the end of the first lap to take the lead. By lap five a dry line had begun to appear and a few riders chose to make early pit stops to change bikes. The 22-year-old Spaniard however was feeling comfortable and had an excellent pace on his Bridgestone wets and so he stayed out, constantly stretching his lead. In the end he was the last of the front-runners to pit, a gamble which paid off brilliantly as he was by then nearly 34 seconds clear and was able to rejoin the race in the lead on lap 13. Once he had bit of heat in his slick tyres the youngster put his head down and kept his nerve for the remaining 15 laps and he eventually took the chequered flag an impressive 17.710 seconds clear of second-placed Marco Melandri. It was a day of stark contrasts on the opposite side of the garage, with Rossi forced to make an incredible four visits to pit lane. The Italian was in second behind his team-mate when he elected for an early bike change, coming in to swap onto his second M1 on dry Bridgestones after just five laps. The change went smoothly but the track was still damp in places and he went down on the next lap whilst trying to warm his tyres up. He returned to the pits next time around to swap back onto his other bike, with the rules stipulating that he had to keep one wet tyre with the second bike change, but a problem with his pit-limiter meant he was penalised for speeding on exit and forced to return once again two laps later to perform a ride-through penalty. His final visit to the garage came on lap 11 when he changed once again onto a fully-dry machine, but by then he was some two laps adrift and he finished in 16th. Lorenzo's 25-point haul takes him into the lead by one point and he now has 66 points to Rossi's 65. Stoner has the same points as Rossi but lies third as the Italian has more second places, and Pedrosa follow in the standings. With just nine points separating the top four the next round in Mugello is sure to be a thrilling spectacle. Jorge Lorenzo - Position: 1Time: 47'52.678 "Never in all my dreams did I imagine this situation today - winning the race and leading the championship. This season I have been much more calm and careful and so I was really upset after the crash in Jerez because I didn't expect it! Today has made up for that though. I had a very good pace with both types of tyre and the strategy of our team worked perfectly. I felt happy to stay out on the wet tyres for such a long time and in the end I think we changed at exactly the right time for our race; there was some luck on our side but we were also strong, calm and careful and this paid off. It was the first time in my life that I've had to change bikes during the race and I was very nervous, but it went smoothly and I was able to rejoin in the lead. I'm sorry for Valentino because it was bad luck to crash, but now we are nearly on the same points and it seems like the championship is starting again! I want to thank my team because they were very clever today, I'm so happy to be here and to have won a third MotoGP race." Valentino Rossi - Position: 16thTime: +2 Laps "I had difficulties from the start today and I really could not ride my bike to its best. Already by the fourth lap I felt that I was quite slow and that I couldn't ride as I wanted. I decided to change bikes early because usually this strategy - being among the first to change the bike - pays off. Of course I knew that I had to warm the tyres up a little bit but I crashed anyway in that corner because at that point the track was still wet and I just didn't ride into it in a calm enough manner. Luckily I was able to make it back to the pits and I changed again, but the rule says that if you change the bike again then you have to use one wet tyre, and so this is what we did. When I started that time, the pit-limiter on my bike was not on and so I was given a ride-through for speeding, but by that time it was too late for our race anyway. We've had problems throughout the entire weekend with the set-up of the bike and today I was just hoping that I could stay with the riders in front and get some important points for the championship. Now we go to Mugello, my home GP, where I will perhaps be even more motivated than usual!" Daniele Romagnoli - Team Manager "We're so happy to win today because everyone has done a great job all weekend to give Jorge a competitive machine on which he was able to ride very fast and this is a well deserved victory. The team did a very important job during the race to find a great strategy and the best moment to change the bike. Thanks and well done to all; the championship is looking very exciting now!" Davide Brivio - Team Manager "Everything happened to us today so let's hope that's it for now! I don't think that the decision to stop early was wrong, and it paid off for Melandri among others, but unfortunately Valentino crashed and that, coupled with the ride-through penalty, was the end of our challenge today. This type of race is always a gamble; sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't and today it really didn't for us! Luckily we're still just one point off the top of the championship and we will restart our challenge again at the next race." Edwards fights back for super seventh, Toseland back in top ten Colin Edwards produced a rousing fight back in an incident-packed French Grand Prix today, the American claiming a deserved seventh place for the Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Team in its home race. And on the 20th anniversary of the Tech 3 Team competing in the Grand Prix world championship, British rider James Toseland secured a determined ninth in a gripping flag-to-flag encounter over 28-laps. Texan Edwards was left to rue a missed opportunity to claim a second successive podium in Le Mans after a disappointing start from sixth on the grid in wet conditions. But once he'd switched to his Monster Yamaha YZR-M1 fitted with slick tyres on lap 11 as the track dried rapidly, the 35-year-old produced a stunning surge through the field. He passed team-mate Toseland with five laps remaining and at the end he was just over two seconds away from the top six having set the third fastest lap of the race in his brilliant late attack in front of 75,903 fans. Toseland showed more of his true potential in today's race, which started under grey and gloomy skies but ended in sunny conditions. The British rider set a stunning pace on wet tyres in the early stages and fought his way through from 12th on the grid to seventh. He changed bikes to slick tyres as conditions improved on lap seven and for a while he closely pursued Australian duo Casey Stoner and Chris Vermeulen. He eventually claimed his second top ten finish of the campaign, his ninth position in his first taste of a flag-to-flag MotoGP race another encouraging sign that the 28-year-old is making big progress with the set-up of his YZR-M1 machine. Colin Edwards 7th - 35 points "I'm really disappointed because it was definitely a missed opportunity today for a podium. In the first part of the race on the wet tyres I just couldn't get the bike to turn. I'd lost so many places I was nearly at the back and I just wasn't comfortable. The bike was just sitting on the rear and I had no weight on the front, so I couldn't get into the corner. I saw some guys come into the pits and I thought it was a couple of laps too early because there were still some wet patches out there. I waited for a bit and came in and on the first couple of laps back out of the pits I lost so much time again. I was on the hard front tyre because I can't run the soft compound and it took a while to get some heat into it. I had a couple of moments but once it came good, it came really good and I got my head down. I think only Jorge (Lorenzo) was lapping faster than me and once I got my pace going I was catching people pretty quickly. To only finish seventh is a bit frustrating when you look at my times in the dry. At the end of the day I rode a good second half of the race. But the first half wasn't great and that cost me. I'm confident for Mugello though and hopefully we'll get plenty of dry track time." James Toseland 9th 17 points "That was pretty eventful and my team did a great job for the change of bikes. I've never been in a flag-to-flag race before and it is definitely different. There's no time to lose concentration in the pits because everything is still happening so quickly. And when you go out on a damp track on slicks you can't lose focus. The team told me they were going to put 'OK' on the board as soon as the first person came in, and though nobody was coming in around me, I felt I came in at the right time. It's always a risk because there were a couple of corners where it was still quite damp, but for two-thirds of the track you definitely needed slick tyres. My pace on the slicks at the start was really good and I was seventh at one point. But I was on the soft front tyre and it kept getting hotter and hotter and the stronger front harder tyre was what I needed. When I was trying to stay with Colin at the end I just didn't have the front grip unfortunately. It was nice to be fighting up there again but on the other hand a bit frustrating because I think we could have had a seventh. It's not the best finish but I really feel we have made a step forward here and my team is working great. As long as we can keep working like this I'm really looking forward to the next few races." Herve Poncharal - Team Manager "Unfortunately a race that promised so much for us ended a little disappointingly, but Colin and James still did Tech 3 proud in our home race, which had extra significance because of our 20th anniversary. We have to think that we missed something big. We'd said that top five would be a dream but we could see from Colin's brilliant pace in the dry that had he started better when it was wet he could have had another podium in Le Mans. Colin struggled with some issues in the wet but as soon as he switched to the dry bike he was the fastest rider on track at some points and for sure a top three was a possibility. It's a pity for him but he showed his potential in the dry. I'm really happy with James. The whole weekend he has shown a big improvement compared to the first three races and it was by far the best race of the season for him. We knew he wasn't going to recover from the problems of the winter so quickly, but step-by-step he is showing his true potential. Hopefully for Mugello we won't have any rain and the Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Team can get a strong result." Circuit Length: 4180 Weather: Changeable Lap Record: 1'33.678 (Valentino Rossi, 01/01/2005) Fastest Lap Ever: 1'32.647 (Daniel Pedrosa, 18/05/2008) Last Years Winner: Valentino Rossi 2009 MotoGP France - Le Mans 17/05/2009 Race 1 Pos.     Rider     Manu.     Nat.     Total Time 1     Jorge Lorenzo     Yamaha     ESP     47'52.678 2     Marco Melandri     Kawasaki     ITA     0'17.710 3     Daniel Pedrosa     Honda     ESP     0'19.893 4     Andrea Dovizioso     Honda     ITA     0'20.455 5     Casey Stoner     Ducati     AUS     0'30.539 6     Chris Vermeulen     Suzuki     AUS     0'37.462 7     Colin Edwards     Yamaha     USA     0'40.191 8     Loris Capirossi     Suzuki     ITA     0'45.421 9     James Toseland     Yamaha     GBR     0'50.307 10     Toni Elias     Honda     ESP     0'53.218 11     Alex De Angelis     Honda     SMR     0'53.330 12     Nicky Hayden     Ducati     USA     0'56.647 13     Yuki Takahashi     Honda     JPN     0'56.688 14     Randy De Puniet     Honda     FRA     1'11.299 15     Niccolo Canepa     Ducati     ITA     1'15.385 16     Valentino Rossi     Yamaha     ITA     -2Laps Rider Standings     17/05/2009 Pos.     Rider     Manu.     Nat.     Points 1.    Jorge Lorenzo    Yamaha    ESP    66 2.    Casey Stoner    Ducati    AUS    65 3.    Valentino Rossi    Yamaha    ITA    65 4.    Daniel Pedrosa    Honda    ESP    57 5.    Andrea Dovizioso    Honda    ITA    43 6.    Marco Melandri    Kawasaki    ITA    43 7.    Colin Edwards    Yamaha    USA    35 8.    Chris Vermeulen    Suzuki    AUS    31 9.    Loris Capirossi    Suzuki    ITA    27 10.    Randy De Puniet    Honda    FRA    26 11.    Toni Elias    Honda    ESP    21 12.    Alex De Angelis    Honda    SMR    20 13.    James Toseland    Yamaha    GBR    17 14.    Mika Kallio    Ducati    FIN    16 15.    Nicky Hayden    Ducati    USA    9 Manufacturer Standings     17/05/2009 Pos.     Manufacturer     Points 1.    Yamaha    95 2.    Ducati    65 3.    Honda    63 4.    Kawasaki    43 5.    Suzuki    38
Alex Asigno
Alex Asigno

Mixed fortunes for Yamaha riders Spies and Sykes in Kyalami

The first race saw Yamaha rider Ben Spies drop back to fourth from the pole position start as they left the line. He recovered quickly and took second position back as they turned into the first corner, diving up the inside of Biaggi to tuck up behind championship rival Noriyuki Haga. Halfway round the first lap he was passed by Michele Fabrizio and settled into third position behind the two Ducatis as they battled for the lead for the majority of the race. With seven laps to go, Spies dived passed Fabrizio on the last corner coming on to the start finish straight to take second. As the lap unfolded Fabrizio passed briefly but was taken straight again by Spies as the powerful Yamaha out dragged the Ducati from the corner. An unfortunate tank slapper coming out of Clubhouse allowed Fabrizio passed again, and as the tyres had now gone off it was impossible for Spies to catch up so he settled for third and a well deserved podium. Race two saw disaster strike for Spies, having dropped to third off the start, he again passed Biaggi on the inside for the second place spot and coming round for lap three took Haga in a fantastic move for the lead. No sooner had he done this than his shit linkage broke, making it impossible to change gear and forcing him to retire from the race. Team-mate Tom Sykes had a less than perfect start to race one, dropping from his eighth position start on the grid to 16th as they headed into the first corner. With ten laps to go he'd moved up to 11th position with a steady race pace and then swiftly took Lavilla for the tenth spot. Although maintaining a good race pace he couldn't get up to ninth so settled for 10th. Race two saw a better start, dropping initially to 10th, he worked hard to take two places and move up to the eighth spot which he held until briefly before the finish when Suzuki rider Kagayama took back the spot, relegating him to ninth.
Ben Spies, Yamaha World Superbike Team, (3rd,DNF) "We were struggling to hang in there in race one, it was a good race for all three of us up at the front. When I passed Michel I tried to reel in Nori and then unfortunately made a mistake. I was really strong in parts of the track but giving up too much time in some corners and couldn't get in there. The second race was very unfortunate, I was feeling good and had secured an early lead, then obviously had the technical problem and had to retire, I'm really disappointed about it. I'm looking forward to going home to the USA for the next round and seeing if we can make it up." Tom Sykes, Yamaha World Superbike Team, (10th, 9th ) "I got away badly in the first race and initially dropped down to sixteenth which was a shame as I felt I could have been more consistent. The second race I got away ok from the start and was closing in on Checa and a couple of the boys, but the last five laps or so I was really struggling. If we could have found a bit more grip it would have been better. We struggled on the power this weekend as well which was tough on this circuit. I'm looking forward to getting to Miller as I think the track will suit the R1 really well, and I want to close the gap and get up into fourth place as I think it's possible." Massimo Meregalli, Yamaha World Superbike Team Manager "Both riders did really well in the first race as we have been having issues here with the tyres, making it hard to be consistent throughout the race. For Ben in race two we had a problem with the shift linkage so he was unable to change gear and had to retire. We knew from practice that it was going to be tough racing here but both Ben and Tom did their best. The Ducati engine was stronger here on the day. " Circuit Length: 4263 Weather: Sunny Lap Record: 1'42.178 (Noriyuki Haga, 01/01/2002) Fastest Lap Ever: 1'37.288 (Ben Spies, 17/05/2009) 2009 WSB South Africa - Kyalami 17/05/2009 Race 1 Pos.     Rider     Manu.     Nat.     Total Time 1     Noriyuki Haga     Ducati     JPN     39'47.436 2     Michel Fabrizio     Ducati     ITA     0'00.950 3     Ben Spies     Yamaha     USA     0'03.391 4     Jonathan Rea     Honda     GBR     0'08.914 5     Max Biaggi     Aprilia     ITA     0'09.019 6     Carlos Checa     Honda     ESP     0'14.812 7     Shinya Nakano     Aprilia     JPN     0'14.971 8     Yukio Kagayama     Suzuki     JPN     0'15.723 9     Shane Byrne     Ducati     GBR     0'21.529 10     Tom Sykes     Yamaha     GBR     0'21.795 11     Gregorio Lavilla     Ducati     ESP     0'29.872 12     Ryuichi Kiyonari     Honda     JPN     0'34.216 13     Sheridan Morais     Kawasaki     RSA     0'34.275 14     Jakub Smrz     Ducati     CZE     0'38.280 15     Broc Parkes     Kawasaki     AUS     0'40.885 Race 2 Pos.     Rider     Manu.     Nat.     Total Time 1     Noriyuki Haga     Ducati     JPN     39'45.027 2     Michel Fabrizio     Ducati     ITA     0'00.322 3     Jonathan Rea     Honda     GBR     0'08.936 4     Leon Haslam     Honda     GBR     0'10.561 5     Max Biaggi     Aprilia     ITA     0'10.767 6     Carlos Checa     Honda     ESP     0'12.413 7     Shinya Nakano     Aprilia     JPN     0'12.616 8     Yukio Kagayama     Suzuki     JPN     0'14.878 9     Tom Sykes     Yamaha     GBR     0'16.225 10     Jakub Smrz     Ducati     CZE     0'18.197 11     Sheridan Morais     Kawasaki     RSA     0'20.629 12     Gregorio Lavilla     Ducati     ESP     0'24.320 13     Ryuichi Kiyonari     Honda     JPN     0'24.564 14     Broc Parkes     Kawasaki     AUS     0'38.747 15     Fonsi Nieto     Suzuki     ESP     0'50.045 Best Lap Rider     Manu.     Nat.     Total Time Michel Fabrizio     Ducati     ITA     1'38.548 Rider Standings     17/05/2009 Pos.     Rider     Manu.     Nat.     Points 1.    Noriyuki Haga    Ducati    JPN    250 2.    Michel Fabrizio    Ducati    ITA    165 3.    Ben Spies    Yamaha    USA    162 4.    Leon Haslam    Honda    GBR    116 5.    Jonathan Rea    Honda    GBR    106 6.    Max Biaggi    Aprilia    ITA    103 7.    Tom Sykes    Yamaha    GBR    103 8.    Regis Laconi    Ducati    FRA    77 9.    Max Neukirchner    Suzuki    GER    75 10.    Carlos Checa    Honda    ESP    73 11.    Ryuichi Kiyonari    Honda    JPN    72 12.    Yukio Kagayama    Suzuki    JPN    68 13.    Jakub Smrz    Ducati    CZE    64 14.    Shinya Nakano    Aprilia    JPN    52 15.    Shane Byrne    Ducati    GBR    48 Manufacturer Standings     17/05/2009 Pos.     Manufacturer     Points 1.    Ducati    275 2.    Yamaha    203 3.    Honda    170 4.    Aprilia    106 5.    Suzuki    105 6.    BMW    59 7.    Kawasaki    27 RACE REPORT     17/05/2009 Crutchlow maintains championship lead in South Africa Yamaha World Supersport rider Cal Crutchlow had a tough race in Kyalami today missing out on the race win after being held up by the pack at the start of the race. The British rider initially dropped to sixth position from the start, behind team-mate Fabien Foret. The pair stayed together, following Sofuoglu until a mistake by the Honda rider on the 3rd lap allowed Crutchlow past. He then passed his team-mate on the fifth lap, before swiftly taking Lascorz and Pitt to move into second behind race leader Laverty. By this point Laverty had extended a considerable lead, and although Crutchlow worked hard to close the gap he had to settle for a second place finish and another podium. Team-mate Fabien Foret had a better start and lead Crutchlow for a while before following him through to take up third place. He gradually built up a good lead over fourth placed rider Lascorz but a momentary lapse of concentration going into a corner too hot four laps from the end saw the French rider lose the front end and crash out. Crutchlow leaves South Africa still leading the championship on 119 points, 13 ahead of second placed Laverty. Foret is in eighth on 44 points.
Cal Crutchlow, Yamaha World Supersport Team (2nd) "It was a really tough race, the beginning was a proper dog fight. It took me a long time to get through the pack and start working on breaking down Laverty's lead. By the time I got clear in second he had a big gap and I just couldn't keep it consistently quick enough to catch him. I made a couple of small mistakes which cost me some time so had to settle for the second spot on the podium. A big thank you to the Yamaha team again for working so hard this weekend." Fabien Foret, Yamaha World Supersport Team, (DNF) "I'm really disappointed with myself. It was a big fight at the beginning of the race and I did well to get through. I had a really good race pace and was feeling confident to keep pushing on. I had built up a good lead in third but just lost a moment's concentration going into the corner and went down on the front." Wilco Zeelenberg, Yamaha World Supersport Team "We lost the fight for the race win two seconds into the first lap when both riders got held up by the main pack, by the second lap Eugene was too far away to challenge. Cal was looking like he was able to catch him but he had to push hard and made one or too small mistakes. At the moment the championship lead is very close and podiums are very important. It was very disappointing not to have two podiums, Fabien had a good pace and was as fast as Cal but was a bit too hot into the corner and crashed. It was a shame as he had a good lead and didn't need to push so hard." Circuit Length: 4263 Weather: Sunny Lap Record: 1'46.975 (James Whitham, 01/01/2002) Fastest Lap Ever: 1'40.634 (Cal Crutchlow, 17/05/2009) 2009 WSS South Africa - Kyalami 17/05/2009 Race 1 Pos.     Rider     Manu.     Nat.     Total Time 1     Eugene Laverty     Honda     GBR     39'06.061 2     Cal Crutchlow     Yamaha     GBR     0'02.546 3     Mark Aitchison     Honda     AUS     0'17.358 4     Joan Lascorz     Kawasaki     ESP     0'17.454 5     Kenan Sofuoglu     Honda     TUR     0'18.221 6     Andrew Pitt     Honda     AUS     0'20.561 7     Garry McCoy     Triumph     AUS     0'33.141 8     Anthony West     Honda     AUS     0'37.326 9     Michele Pirro     Yamaha     ITA     0'37.728 10     Matthieu Lagrive     Honda     FRA     0'37.939 11     Michael Laverty     Honda     GBR     0'38.782 12     Massimo Roccoli     Honda     ITA     0'39.198 13     Katsuaki Fujiwara     Kawasaki     JPN     0'40.386 14     Doni Tata Pradita     Yamaha     IDN     0'46.386 15     Danilo Dell'omo     Honda     ITA     0'46.794 22     Yannick Guerra     Yamaha     ESP     1'24.481 Best Lap Rider     Manu.     Nat.     Total Time Eugene Laverty     Honda     GBR     1'41.053 Rider Standings     17/05/2009 Pos.     Rider     Manu.     Nat.     Points 1.    Cal Crutchlow    Yamaha    GBR    119 2.    Eugene Laverty    Honda    GBR    106 3.    Kenan Sofuoglu    Honda    TUR    83 4.    Andrew Pitt    Honda    AUS    64 5.    Joan Lascorz    Kawasaki    ESP    60 6.    Anthony West    Honda    AUS    60 7.    Mark Aitchison    Honda    AUS    50 8.    Fabien Foret    Yamaha    FRA    44 9.    Michele Pirro    Yamaha    ITA    40 10.    Matthieu Lagrive    Honda    FRA    31 11.    Garry McCoy    Triumph    AUS    29 12.    Barry Veneman    Suzuki    NED    28 13.    Katsuaki Fujiwara    Kawasaki    JPN    26 14.    Massimo Roccoli    Honda    ITA    24 15.    Robbin Harms    Honda    DNK    23 19.    Franco Battaini    Yamaha    ITA    5 22.    Doni Tata Pradita    Yamaha    IDN    3 Manufacturer Standings     17/05/2009 Pos.     Manufacturer     Points 1.    Honda    133 2.    Yamaha    119 3.    Kawasaki    71 4.    Triumph    36 5.    Suzuki    28
Alex Asigno
Alex Asigno

Oo la la! Rossi woos Paris ahead of Le Mans

It wasn’t quite a romantic stroll, by the Seine but there was definitely something memorable about MotoGP World Champion, Fiat Yamaha’s Valentino Rossi’s first blast past the Eiffel tower and Champs-Élysées with an YZF-R1. The Italian was taking in the tourist hot-spots of Paris ahead of pushing for his 99th career victory this weekend at Le Mans. Rossi was the draw for hundreds of MotoGP fans and curious onlookers as the 30 year old carefully steered a special edition Monster Energy- livered R1 by the Arc de Triomphe, through nearby streets to a press conference and then – despite the rain – managed a burn-out in front of the French capital’s famous sky-line form. “It was quite slippery out there with the rain, but I managed to do a little burn-out by the Eiffel Tower,” said Rossi who leads the current MotoGP standings by 11 points on his YZR-M1 and won the Grand Prix of Spain at Jerez two weeks ago he said. “It’s my first time to the Eiffel Tower so I was pleased to do that, we all had some fun out there. I’m looking forward to this weekend at Le Mans now.” Success at the short and twisty circuit of Le Mans on Sunday could set-up a momentous weekend a fortnight later with the chance to reach 100 triumphs in front of his tifosi at Mugello
Alex Asigno
Alex Asigno

Tech 3 celebrates 20th birthday in Le Mans

The French MotoGP race at the iconic Le Mans circuit provides a fitting venue for the Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Team to celebrate a special milestone in its history this weekend. Formed by Herve Poncharal and Guy Coulon, 2009 marks the 20th year of Grand Prix world championship competition for the French-based squad. Testament to the passion and devotion of Poncharal and Coulon, the landmark anniversary means Tech 3 has supported the Grand Prix series for almost a third of its history - the premier motorcycle championship commemorating its 60th campaign in 2008. As well as being a mainstay of the Grand Prix arena since 1989, Tech 3 has played an important role in contributing to France's rich motorsport heritage. The high point for Tech 3 was undoubtedly Olivier Jacque's success in the 2000 world 250cc championship – the last time a French rider has won a world title representing a French team. That memorable season was the second year of a successful collaboration between Tech 3 and Yamaha, which remains stronger than ever today. And under Poncharal's inspirational leadership the Tech 3 Team has become established as one of the most high profile and respected in world motorcycle racing. To commemorate the 20th anniversary celebrations, the Grand Prix de France organisation will be paying its own tribute to the Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Team in Le Mans. Herve Poncharal - Team Manager “It's appropriate that Tech 3 celebrates its 20th birthday in our home race in Le Mans this weekend. It's incredible to think when Guy and I first set out on this amazing adventure that Tech 3 would be going stronger than ever as we eagerly anticipate our third decade of racing at world championship level. We could never have imagined when we started back in 1989 that we would be a leading team in the premier motorcycle racing world championship class. What seemed a distant dream then is now reality, thanks to the hard work and commitment of many people who have shown unbelievable dedication to make the Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Team what it is today. I thank each and every person who has helped us since 1989 and it has been an honour and a pleasure to manage such a great team. We can look back at the last 20 years with immense pride. We have had some truly unforgettable experiences and we've been fortunate to have some of the world's best talent riding for Tech 3. Olivier's victory in the 250cc championship in 2000 will be etched in my mind forever. We always had a dream for a French team to win a world title with a French rider. Accomplishing that mission with OJ is something I will always cherish. We can also look forward with great optimism to the future. Racing is our passion and I hope we have made a small contribution to the huge success that MotoGP now is. I hope too that we have been a team fans around the globe have enjoyed following and will continue to do so. Here's to the next 20!”
Alex Asigno
Alex Asigno

Cairoli superb for Portuguese victory

Yamaha Red Bull De Carli's Antonio Cairoli has claimed his second win of the season and second double moto set of 2009 after an entertaining afternoon of racing at Agueda for the Grand Prix of Portugal and the fifth event from the calendar of fifteen races in the FIM MX1-GP World Championship. The Sicilian captured two chequered flags to win his fourth Portuguese GP in five years, his first in MX1-GP and with the YZ450F, and extend his immaculate record at Agueda to nine triumphs from ten motos. Cloudy but warm conditions, with a light shower coating the second MX1-GP race, graced the weekend in Agueda. 25,000 spectators (weekend figure) surrounded the hard and rough red soil that proved to be harder and more slippery compared to previous years and forced the riders to consider several tyre options on Saturday. A bumpier surface on Sunday was physically tough. The YZ450F - that was used so effectively by James Stewart to obtain the AMA Supercross Championship in Las Vegas last week - was also an effective tool in the hands of Cairoli who was nothing short of superlative across the Agueda slopes. He fought back from a good start (top five) in Moto1 and a mediocre launch (eighth) in Moto2 to enjoy superior speed over his rivals and twice deny Ken De Dycker victory. A key moment took place in the second race when the former double world champion was fighting for second position with reigning MX1-GP title holder, Yamaha Monster Energy MX Team's David Philippaerts, and Clement Desalle. Holding the inside line on a fast downhill Cairoli missed the rut and collided with Philippaerts, forcing a retirement. Philippaerts - who had led the first third of the opening race until a crash dropped him to 5th place - later went to hospital with a painful left hand and was diagnosed with a broken index finger that will mean he travels to Spain next week far from 100% fit.
Josh Coppins rode consistently to score 4th overall, after almost grabbing pole position on Saturday. The Kiwi was adrift of the battle for the lead but his finishes of 7th (a consequence of a fall) and 4th in the motos represented an improvement over his last GP in Holland and demonstrated a recovery from the low energy levels he has recently suffered. Tanel Leok was 6th in the final classification after circulating on the fringes of the top five; recording a 5th position in Moto1 and 6th in Moto2, despite a small technical problem that interrupted his power supply. Cairoli now has a full 'race' lead in the championship standings of 25 points over De Dycker. Coppins is 4th, 2 points ahead of Leok, while Philippaerts' DNF has proved costly and he has dropped to 6th place. Yamaha front the Manufacturer's title chase by 37 points. The YZ450F motorcycle now has claimed four of the five GPs run so far. Yamaha's MX1-GP fleet will now spend the week travelling across the border and through Spain to the Bellpuig circuit and the Grand Prix of Catalunya for round six. Antonio Cairoli, Yamaha Red Bull De Carli, 1st: "This is a lucky and special track for me because I have won nine of the last ten motos here and this year it was unbelievable. In the second moto I did not expect to be able to catch everyone, especially Ken, like that and win the GP. My first lap was really bad but then I could find some good passing places. I am sorry about the contact with David. I did not expect him to be there and it was not my intention to touch. These things happen and they are not nice. After that I could overtake Desalle and was able to focus on catching Ken for the lead. I am really happy with this win. I thought before the season that I might be able to be in the top five by this stage but to be leading the championship is something very special. I am enjoying my riding and this is the important thing."  
Josh Coppins, Yamaha Monster Energy MX Team, 4th: "I'm still not quite strong enough and my mind is saying 'go faster' but my body cannot keep up. I am riding smooth and easy with consistent laps and a stupid crash in the first moto was the only real black mark. In the second race I rode pretty well but nothing special and did what I had to do. I pushed at the end to try and pass Desalle but ran out of time. I know that there is better to come. I am doing the best I can, which is not bad but it is just off where I want to be. My starts were alright and overall the weekend was not bad; not as good as the first two GPs but better than the last two." Tanel Leok, Yamaha Red Bull De Carli, 6th: "The result is good; the top six is where I should be every week. I was struggling a little bit in the first moto and wasn't feeling so good but the second race was better until we had some bad luck with that small problem with the bike and I was losing drive in sections and overshooting berms in others. I am being consistent with my motos and I know that on a normal day I am fighting for the podium." David Philippaerts, Yamaha Monster Energy MX Team, 13th: "Of course I am worried about my finger. We have the confirmation that it is broken and now we will just have to try and see what we can do next week in Spain. In the incident with Antonio, well, there were two lines and he wanted the first and also the second and came across me. This is part of motocross and not a big problem but it had a big price for me. I think now it is difficult to win the title but there are many races ahead and of course bad luck can still hit the others; everything is possible. I am pleased with the small changes we made to the bike and there is reason to feel positive but I have a lot of pain at the moment and just want to heal from this as fast as I can." Crowd: 25,000 Weather: Cloudy Last Years Winner: Sébastien Pourcel 2009 GP of Portugal 10/05/2009 Race 1 - 20 Laps Pos.     Rider     Manu.     Nat.     Total Time 1     Antonio Cairoli     Yamaha     ITA     39'32.718 2     Ken De Dycker     Suzuki     BEL     0'07.035 3     Clement Desalle     Honda     BEL     0'12.446 4     Maximilian Nagl     KTM     GER     0'14.608 5     David Philippaerts     Yamaha     ITA     0'16.374 6     Tanel Leok     Yamaha     EST     0'21.134 7     Joshua Coppins     Yamaha     NZL     0'50.988 8     Jonathan Barragan     KTM     ESP     0'54.914 9     Gregory Aranda     Kawasaki     FRA     0'58.430 10     Gareth Swanepoel     Kawasaki     RSA     1'11.378 11     David Vuillemin     Kawasaki     FRA     1'23.735 12     Aigar Leok     TM     EST     1'32.244 13     Manuel Priem     Aprilia     BEL     1'41.152 14     Fabien Izoird     Suzuki     FRA     1'58.572 15     Tom Church     CCM     GBR     2'13.666 20     Carlos Campano     Yamaha     ESP     -1Laps Race 2 - 20 Laps Pos.     Rider     Manu.     Nat.     Total Time 1     Antonio Cairoli     Yamaha     ITA     40'13.107 2     Ken De Dycker     Suzuki     BEL     0'10.571 3     Clement Desalle     Honda     BEL     0'18.792 4     Joshua Coppins     Yamaha     NZL     0'20.312 5     Tanel Leok     Yamaha     EST     0'40.474 6     David Vuillemin     Kawasaki     FRA     0'49.212 7     Maximilian Nagl     KTM     GER     0'58.709 8     Gareth Swanepoel     Kawasaki     RSA     1'09.139 9     Gregory Aranda     Kawasaki     FRA     1'15.733 10     Jonathan Barragan     KTM     ESP     1'31.163 11     Aigar Leok     TM     EST     1'44.257 12     Carlos Campano     Yamaha     ESP     1'52.586 13     Manuel Priem     Aprilia     BEL     1'54.589 14     Luis Correira     Suzuki     POR     -1Laps 15     Fabien Izoird     Suzuki     FRA     -1Laps 20     Rob van Vijfeijken     Yamaha     NED     -1Laps Rider Standings     10/05/2009 Pos.     Rider     Manu.     Nat.     Points 1.    Antonio Cairoli    Yamaha    ITA    193 2.    Ken De Dycker    Suzuki    BEL    168 3.    Jonathan Barragan    KTM    ESP    152 4.    Joshua Coppins    Yamaha    NZL    144 5.    Tanel Leok    Yamaha    EST    142 6.    David Philippaerts    Yamaha    ITA    134 7.    Clement Desalle    Honda    BEL    126 8.    Maximilian Nagl    KTM    GER    119 9.    Steve Ramon    Suzuki    BEL    100 10.    Kevin Strijbos    Honda    BEL    82 11.    David Vuillemin    Kawasaki    FRA    73 12.    Gareth Swanepoel    Kawasaki    RSA    67 13.    Aigar Leok    TM    EST    67 14.    Marc De Reuver    Honda    NED    45 15.    Billy MacKenzie    Honda    GBR    42 24.    Carlos Campano    Yamaha    ESP    13 26.    Rob van Vijfeijken    Yamaha    NED    12 Manufacturer Standings     10/05/2009 Pos.     Manufacturer     Points 1.    Yamaha    216 2.    Suzuki    179 3.    KTM    166 4.    Honda    158 5.    Kawasaki    87 6.    TM    67 7.    Aprilia    51 8.    CCM    27 RACE REPORT     10/05/2009 Guarneri 4th through Agueda bumps Guarneri      Guarneri The Grand Prix of Portugal represented the fifth round of fifteen in the MX2-GP World Championship and the warm Agueda circuit was the stage for Yamaha Monster Energy Ricci MX Team's Davide Guarneri to fight off the effects of a stomach sickness to take 4th position; his fourth top five finish of the season so far on the YZ250FM. 25,000 spectators (weekend figure) witnessed the Italian tussling for positions inside the top three of both motos across a slippery and very bumpy terrain. He placed 5th in Moto1 and was running as high as 2nd for a long part of Moto2 before succumbing to his low stamina and slipping one place to 3rd. The 24 year old still managed to demonstrate decent consistency and was just 4 points from his first podium appearance of the campaign.     Larrieu Larrieu Team-mate Loic Larrieu took an excellent qualification position with third spot on Saturday. The French teenager repeated his bright starts from the gate to ride to 6th and 5th despite a sore foot and record his highest finish of his rookie season so far with 5th overall. The third member of the team, Nico Aubin, had been suffering during the week with a virus and finished a course of antibiotics on Saturday. The Frenchman could take 8th place in Moto1 but a first lap crash in Moto2 left him at the back of the field and he retired, exhausted after six laps. Saturday's activities were unlucky for the Utag Yamaha.com team and Zach Osborne in particular. The American had set the seventh fastest lap-time in the first practice session but then had a mechanical problem and crashed in the pre-qualification. The Grand Prix of Turkey winner chipped his left radius bone and is expected to be out of action for four to six weeks. Agueda saw the second round of the Women's World Championship but the weekend did not last long for Tarah Geiger as the American clipped a post and crashed on the first lap of the first moto and broke her right wrist. Guarneri is now 3rd and 24 points from the lead in the world championship standings. Osborne is 7th and 2 points in front of Aubin, while Larrieu is 11th. Round six takes place at the Bellpuig circuit next week for the Grand Prix of Catalunya. Davide Guarneri, Yamaha Monster Energy Ricci MX Team, 4th: "Today was good. My speed was at the top and only 0.1 or 0.2 away from these French riders! The fast guys all started at the front and it was a good battle at times. I have been feeling sick since yesterday and although this did not affect how fast I can go, it did mean my energy was low and the last ten minutes of both motos were very hard. I had two good starts and that was important for me. The results are consistent but I am trying each GP to reach the podium." Loic Larrieu, Utag Yamaha.com, 5th: "It was a good weekend for me. It started well in qualifying and I could finish 3rd. Today was more difficult because I missed a rut and hit my foot but I could make two good starts in the top two positions and I finished 6th and 5th; that's good result and very positive for my confidence." Nico Aubin, Yamaha Monster Energy Ricci MX Team, 14th: "I have been sick again and was taking antibiotics for five days before this GP. I thought I had got rid of this problem after Turkey and now I just hope that in the next two to three days my body will be clear of it. I started in the top ten of the first moto and did my own race and speed. Things were not too bad, eighth is not great but acceptable because I felt low on energy. In the second moto I had a crash on the second lap and when I restarted I managed one lap before feeling completely empty; there was no way I could do any more." Crowd: 25,000 Weather: Cloudy Last Years Winner: Antonio Cairoli 2009 GP of Portugal 10/05/2009 Race 1 - 20 Laps Pos.     Rider     Manu.     Nat.     Total Time 1     Marvin Musquin     Honda     FRA     39'53.534 2     Rui Goncalves     KTM     POR     0'02.587 3     Steven Frossard     Kawasaki     FRA     0'02.923 4     Gautier Paulin     Kawasaki     FRA     0'21.629 5     Davide Guarneri     Yamaha     ITA     0'29.869 6     Loic Larrieu     Yamaha     FRA     0'33.387 7     Arnaud Tonus     KTM     CHE     0'40.667 8     Nicolas Aubin     Yamaha     FRA     0'43.076 9     Ken Roczen     Suzuki     GER     0'47.651 10     Alessandro Lupino     Yamaha     ITA     0'50.485 11     Joel Roelants     KTM     BEL     0'53.004 12     Evgeny Bobryshev     Yamaha     RUS     0'55.186 13     Stephen Sword     KTM     GBR     1'19.580 14     Manuel Monni     Yamaha     ITA     1'26.841 15     Yohei Kojima     Suzuki     JPN     1'31.021 16     Cedric Soubeyras     Yamaha     FRA     1'37.165 Race 2 - 20 Laps Pos.     Rider     Manu.     Nat.     Total Time 1     Rui Goncalves     KTM     POR     39'10.794 2     Steven Frossard     Kawasaki     FRA     0'07.812 3     Davide Guarneri     Yamaha     ITA     0'10.843 4     Ken Roczen     Suzuki     GER     0'13.149 5     Loic Larrieu     Yamaha     FRA     0'15.004 6     Marvin Musquin     Honda     FRA     0'25.511 7     Xavier Boog     Suzuki     FRA     0'27.974 8     Gautier Paulin     Kawasaki     FRA     0'33.318 9     Arnaud Tonus     KTM     CHE     0'47.567 10     Marcus Schiffer     KTM     GER     1'00.810 11     Alessandro Lupino     Yamaha     ITA     1'07.748 12     Jeremy Van Horebeek     KTM     BEL     1'13.836 13     Manuel Monni     Yamaha     ITA     1'18.882 14     Evgeny Bobryshev     Yamaha     RUS     1'36.007 15     Stephen Sword     KTM     GBR     1'44.852 Rider Standings     10/05/2009 Pos.     Rider     Manu.     Nat.     Points 1.    Gautier Paulin    Kawasaki    FRA    171 2.    Marvin Musquin    Honda    FRA    165 3.    Davide Guarneri    Yamaha    ITA    147 4.    Rui Goncalves    KTM    POR    125 5.    Xavier Boog    Suzuki    FRA    108 6.    Steven Frossard    Kawasaki    FRA    105 7.    Zach Osborne    Yamaha    USA    100 8.    Nicolas Aubin    Yamaha    FRA    98 9.    Shaun Simpson    KTM    GBR    97 10.    Arnaud Tonus    KTM    CHE    72 11.    Loic Larrieu    Yamaha    FRA    70 12.    Manuel Monni    Yamaha    ITA    67 13.    Marcus Schiffer    KTM    GER    66 14.    Joel Roelants    KTM    BEL    61 15.    Alessandro Lupino    Yamaha    ITA    56 19.    Evgeny Bobryshev    Yamaha    RUS    38 27.    Cedric Soubeyras    Yamaha    FRA    15 34.    Deny Philippaerts    Yamaha    ITA    6 Manufacturer Standings     10/05/2009 Pos.     Manufacturer     Points 1.    Kawasaki    191 2.    KTM    180 3.    Yamaha    177 4.    Honda    171 5.    Suzuki    128 6.    TM    5
Alex Asigno
Alex Asigno

Drama in Monza as Spies closes the championship gap

It was a dramatic race day in Monza today for the World Superbike Championship as Yamaha rider and pole position starter Ben Spies again suffered the two extremes of racing, the victory and victory snatched away. Race one only made it to the first chicane on lap 1 as the Superbikes compressed into the tight first chicane. Tamada fell just before the corner, his bike sliding down the grass and across the track, causing collisions with Corser, Hill, Roberts and Neukirchener in the ensuing carnage. A red flag was issued and the race restarted. The race then became a battle at the front between Haga, Fabrizio and Spies for the lead. By lap nine Spies had a one second advantage over the Ducatis as they fought for second, Fabrizio ending up the stronger and closing in. Three laps from the end Fabrizio drafted Spies on the main straight to take the lead going into the first chicane, only for Spies to take it back on the penultimate lap. The Yamaha rider then led convincingly and was looking a certainty for the win until running out of fuel as he took the Parabolica corner for the last time heading for the start finish straight.He managed to coast to the line but was in 15th position by the time he passed the chequered flag. Team-mate Tom Sykes started well from tenth on the grid and was eighth by the end of the first lap. Consistent race pace saw him take two more positions over the duration, crossing the line in sixth to take more points. Race two saw Spies hungry to make up the misfortune of race one. Off the line he slipped into second behind Haga briefly before moving into the lead when Haga was struck by a bird on the first corner. From this point his win was never in doubt as the Texan put his head down and laid down lap after lap of fast perfect lines, adding a second gap per lap between himself and second position Fabrizio. As the race tipped over halfway point Spies slowed to ensure the issue of race one was not repeated, taking the chequered flag over 2.6 seconds ahead of second placed Fabrizio. British rider Sykes had another consistent race in the second outing of the day, moving up from tenth to sixth position, but was unable to find the extra pace to pass fifth placed Biaggi by the end of the race. Ben Spies leaves Monza having closed the gap to championship leader Haga, he heads to Kyalami with 146 points, 54 behind the lead. Sykes heads to South Africa having moved up to fifth in the championship on 90 points and now trails Haslam by only 13. Ben Spies, Yamaha World Superbike Team, (15th, 1st) "Race one was a tough pill to swallow, it was a hard one to get by but that's racing I guess. Race two I had a clear strategy and made sure I got into a really good rhythm in the first 12 to 14 laps to build a safety buffer. Obviously we had a problem at the end of race one which I didn't want to repeat so slowed a bit there and short shifted a bit to make sure everything was good to the end. The bike was good and could have run fast times all the way through but I wanted to make sure we got this one in the bag. The Yamaha team did great regrouping after race one and me too I think! Hopefully we can keep going and improving from here. I want to say congratulations for Michel in race one, but I couldn't give it to him so easily in race two." Tom Sykes, Yamaha World Superbike Team, (6th, 6th) "In race one I got away ok, but the problem was getting stuck in that first chicane as I was starting from row three. As soon as it bottled up everything got spread out and unfortunately the lead group spread a long way and was hard to catch. I got past a couple of people and to be honest I thought I was going to catch them but halfway through the race I suffered from some brake fading. It was very unfortunate. In race two I got off the line fairly decently and had good race pace, I was looking quite strong but not able to get that last little bit. I guess it was one of those weekends, I've been fairly fast and consistent but spoilt it a bit with the qualifying. I'm very confident in the bike and the team, especially for Kyalami and hope to have better memories after the race than when I tested there! All in all good weekend, two more scores on the board and moving up to fifth in the championship is great." Massimo Meregalli, Yamaha World Superbike Team Manager "The first race was very frustrating for us but I think Ben proved what he is capable of. A big thank you to him because he answered race one in the best possible way. We seem to have either 25 points or 0 in races at the moment! I am very optimistic about the next two races because in South Africa Ben was really fast with an almost standard bike, and now we know the performance of the R1 is better so we think we can do a really good job. Miller should also be good as it's a home track for Ben. In the end we have reduced the leadership gap to Nori which is good. Tom was really consistent today, he's coming better and better every race weekend and without making mistakes in the race. I think as the second part of the championship approaches he will get stronger and stronger. A big thanks to the team and also the suppliers who helped us to be ready with the new colours in time for this weekend." Circuit Length: 5792 Lap Record: 1'47.434 (Troy Bayliss, 01/01/2002) Fastest Lap Ever: 1'44.073 (Ben Spies, 10/05/2009) Last Years Winner: Noriyuki Haga 2009 WSB Italy - Monza 10/05/2009 Race 1 Pos.     Rider     Manu.     Nat.     Total Time 1     Michel Fabrizio     Ducati     ITA     31'50.758 2     Noriyuki Haga     Ducati     JPN     0'00.239 3     Ryuichi Kiyonari     Honda     JPN     0'08.175 4     Yukio Kagayama     Suzuki     JPN     0'11.001 5     Jonathan Rea     Honda     GBR     0'12.447 6     Tom Sykes     Yamaha     GBR     0'13.693 7     Ruben Xaus     BMW     ESP     0'19.172 8     Regis Laconi     Ducati     FRA     0'24.989 9     Carlos Checa     Honda     ESP     0'26.930 10     Broc Parkes     Kawasaki     AUS     0'27.418 11     Max Biaggi     Aprilia     ITA     0'27.752 12     Jakub Smrz     Ducati     CZE     0'29.545 13     Shinya Nakano     Aprilia     JPN     0'30.952 14     Shane Byrne     Ducati     GBR     0'31.414 15     Ben Spies     Yamaha     USA     0'36.998 22     David Checa     Yamaha     ESP     0'58.214 Race 2 Pos.     Rider     Manu.     Nat.     Total Time 1     Ben Spies     Yamaha     USA     31'49.252 2     Michel Fabrizio     Ducati     ITA     0'02.665 3     Ryuichi Kiyonari     Honda     JPN     0'02.810 4     Jonathan Rea     Honda     GBR     0'07.706 5     Max Biaggi     Aprilia     ITA     0'07.863 6     Tom Sykes     Yamaha     GBR     0'10.383 7     Leon Haslam     Honda     GBR     0'11.586 8     Jakub Smrz     Ducati     CZE     0'21.112 9     Ruben Xaus     BMW     ESP     0'22.112 10     Carlos Checa     Honda     ESP     0'22.261 11     Regis Laconi     Ducati     FRA     0'23.453 12     Shinya Nakano     Aprilia     JPN     0'32.956 13     Broc Parkes     Kawasaki     AUS     0'37.166 14     Luca Scassa     Kawasaki     ITA     0'43.085 15     Matteo Baiocco     Kawasaki     ITA     0'43.088 19     David Checa     Yamaha     ESP     1'17.915 Best Lap Rider     Manu.     Nat.     Total Time Michel Fabrizio     Ducati     ITA     1'45.336 Rider Standings     10/05/2009 Pos.     Rider     Manu.     Nat.     Points 1.    Noriyuki Haga    Ducati    JPN    200 2.    Ben Spies    Yamaha    USA    146 3.    Michel Fabrizio    Ducati    ITA    125 4.    Leon Haslam    Honda    GBR    103 5.    Tom Sykes    Yamaha    GBR    90 6.    Max Biaggi    Aprilia    ITA    81 7.    Jonathan Rea    Honda    GBR    77 8.    Regis Laconi    Ducati    FRA    77 9.    Max Neukirchner    Suzuki    GER    75 10.    Ryuichi Kiyonari    Honda    JPN    65 11.    Jakub Smrz    Ducati    CZE    56 12.    Carlos Checa    Honda    ESP    53 13.    Yukio Kagayama    Suzuki    JPN    52 14.    Shane Byrne    Ducati    GBR    41 15.    Ruben Xaus    BMW    ESP    40 Manufacturer Standings     10/05/2009 Pos.     Manufacturer     Points 1.    Ducati    225 2.    Yamaha    180 3.    Honda    141 4.    Suzuki    89 5.    Aprilia    84 6.    BMW    59 7.    Kawasaki    19 RACE REPORT     10/05/2009 Yamaha dominate the Supersport podium It was a fantastic race for the Yamaha World Supersport Team as both riders fought hard for the duration, taking well earned places on the podium at the chequered flag. Fabien Foret initially dropped to eighth place at the start but worked hard to make the places back up again. Cal Crutchlow was a constant presence in the top group, taking the lead from Laverty in a fast overtake on lap five at the Ascari chicane. Foret moved up swiftly behind him, taking second position. The two pushed on at the front until lap ten when a daring pass up the inside by Laverty at the Roggia chicane put him past both Yamaha riders and into the lead. Not content to sit back, Foret took the lead back as they turned through the Parabolica and headed out onto the straight. In a show of the incredible speed of the Yamaha R6 Crutchlow then came back to take both Foret and Laverty at the end of the start finish straight heading into lap 11. Lap 13 saw Foret run wide, allowing Laverty and Lascorz through, while Crutchlow began to extend his lead. Lascorz then made a crucial error on lap 14, sitting up and forcing Laverty wide, allowing Foret to get past. Foret then tussled with Lascorz but eventually accepted third position and a long awaited podium whilst his team-mate Crutchlow had put a definitive gap between him and the second placed Kawasaki rider for the chequered flag. Cal Crutchlow, Yamaha World Supersport Team, (1st) "it's going really good here at Monza and I'm really happy with the race. We came here looking to finish in the top five to be honest on a circuit I don't know. We did a good job this weekend at Yamaha so thanks to everyone who put a lot of effort in. we were never as fast as we could have been but we worked hard. When I got the break in the race today I went for it, I was willing to do anything to win, you could see by some of the passes I was taking no prisoners! It's all credit to the team who got me here so a great win for the team!" Fabien Foret, Yamaha World Supersport Team, (3rd) "I'm pretty happy, I can clearly fight again now and I'm not injured anymore. I made a few mistakes in the race and someone hit my exhaust pipe which didn't help. It was a tough one but I enjoyed it and I think I'm back and definitely looking forward to the next one now." Wilco Zeelenberg, Yamaha World Supersport Team Manager "We are first and third, and for me the whole weekend was good, not just the race which can be a bit of a gamble as you saw with the Superbikes . You can easily make a mistake here and accidents can happen so I'm really happy nothing went majorly wrong in the supersport race. I'm really pleased to have both the riders on the podium, it's great we leave here extending our championship lead and with Fabien taking good points away as well." Circuit Length: 5792 Lap Record: 1'52.635 (Chris Vermeulen, 01/01/2003) Fastest Lap Ever: 1'49.706 (Cal Crutchlow, 10/05/2009) Last Years Winner: Fabien Foret 2009 WSS Italy - Monza 10/05/2009 Race 1 Pos.     Rider     Manu.     Nat.     Total Time 1     Cal Crutchlow     Yamaha     GBR     29'34.605 2     Joan Lascorz     Kawasaki     ESP     0'02.660 3     Fabien Foret     Yamaha     FRA     0'02.716 4     Eugene Laverty     Honda     GBR     0'02.780 5     Andrew Pitt     Honda     AUS     0'09.270 6     Katsuaki Fujiwara     Kawasaki     JPN     0'09.332 7     Michele Pirro     Yamaha     ITA     0'20.178 8     Garry McCoy     Triumph     AUS     0'20.221 9     Kenan Sofuoglu     Honda     TUR     0'22.681 10     Gianluca Nannelli     Triumph     ITA     0'26.993 11     Franco Battaini     Yamaha     ITA     0'31.343 12     Miguel Praia     Honda     POR     0'32.236 13     Barry Veneman     Suzuki     NED     0'32.695 14     Gianluca Vizziello     Honda     ITA     0'33.216 15     Alessandro Polita     Suzuki     ITA     0'33.652 17     Doni Tata Pradita     Yamaha     IDN     0'44.249 22     Jose Morillas     Yamaha     ESP     1'45.778 Best Lap Rider     Manu.     Nat.     Total Time Cal Crutchlow     Yamaha     GBR     1'49.728 Rider Standings     10/05/2009 Pos.     Rider     Manu.     Nat.     Points 1.    Cal Crutchlow    Yamaha    GBR    99 2.    Eugene Laverty    Honda    GBR    81 3.    Kenan Sofuoglu    Honda    TUR    72 4.    Andrew Pitt    Honda    AUS    54 5.    Anthony West    Honda    AUS    52 6.    Joan Lascorz    Kawasaki    ESP    47 7.    Fabien Foret    Yamaha    FRA    44 8.    Mark Aitchison    Honda    AUS    34 9.    Michele Pirro    Yamaha    ITA    33 10.    Barry Veneman    Suzuki    NED    28 11.    Matthieu Lagrive    Honda    FRA    25 12.    Robbin Harms    Honda    DNK    23 13.    Katsuaki Fujiwara    Kawasaki    JPN    23 14.    Garry McCoy    Triumph    AUS    20 15.    Massimo Roccoli    Honda    ITA    20 20.    Franco Battaini    Yamaha    ITA    5 21.    Doni Tata Pradita    Yamaha    IDN    1 Manufacturer Standings     10/05/2009 Pos.     Manufacturer     Points 1.    Honda    108 2.    Yamaha    99 3.    Kawasaki    58 4.    Suzuki    28 5.    Triumph    27
Alex Asigno
Alex Asigno