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Corser scores miracle podium in tough Donington weekend

Troy Corser (Yamaha Motor Italia WSB Team) secured a fine third place in the second race at Donington, in what was otherwise a particularly challenging weekend of action at a wet and dry Donington Park. Noriyuki Haga (Yamaha Motor Italia WSB Team) was ruled out of each Donington race after a technical issue in race one saw him penalised for not stopping his machine in time after it developed a fault caused by a rider colliding into him, and then mistiming a subsequent ride through penalty. Neither rider was credited with a finish in the aggregate race one, as they were among several riders not allowed to take part in the restart, which was caused by an oil spill at Coppice corner. Corser had fallen and was not allowed to take his place on the grid for the restart, while Haga had earlier been classified as a retiree after his technical problem. He went out to take his place on the grid, only to be led away by race control. In race two, Haga was not classified as a finisher either after coming in too early for his ride-through penalty, and then being black-flagged. By contrast, Corser, who pushed hard throughout despite suffering multiple crashes this weekend, ignored the pain and stiffness of his body to record a superb third place, his ninth podium of the year. His bravery and skill delivered him an overall second ranking in the championship table, one higher than he started the weekend with. Haga is now fifth overall, on an unchanged 230 points. Both Haga and Corser started their races at Donington wearing unique one-off leathers and riding race bikes clad in special fairings designed by Yamaha Livery Design competition winner Ben Leeves. David Checa (Yamaha GMT94) was 11th in a crash-filled race one, then a faller in race two. His team-mate Sebastien Gimbert (Yamaha GMT94) was a double no scorer. Shinichi Nakatomi (Team YZF Yamaha) stuck to his task in race one and scored 13th, dropping to 18th in race two. Troy Corser (DNF and 3rd - Yamaha Motor Italia WSB Team)  "This is one of the toughest weekends we have had, and the conditions have been quite slippery in qualifying. I have had lots of crashes so I am pretty sore. Thanks to the guys in the team who have done a great job repairing the bike each time and putting me back on the track. I don't know how many spares the team has left after this meeting!" Noriyuki Haga (DNF and DNF - Yamaha Motor Italia WSB Team)  "In race two I knew I had to come in for a ride through penalty but there was so much spray in the early laps I could not see if there was a board out for me. So I came in to do my ride through on my own. I restarted out of pitlane and then I saw a black flag for me. I could not understand it as I had already done my ride through. But not when they wanted me to, apparently. So I had to pull in. Not a good day for me but thanks to all in the team for all the hard work, and for the support from the fans" Massimo Meregalli (Team Manager, Yamaha Motor Italia WSB Team)  "In some ways it was impossible to do worse this weekend, but we tried our best throughout. Nori had a really difficult day and scored no points. But what Troy did in race two was something incredible. He has had multiple crashes and he was in a lot of pain. As a rider, when you crash even once you lose a little bit of feeling and confidence, but even after several crashes Troy showed he had lost nothing. Troy is now second in the championship and that is a very positive thing to take away from this weekend. We continued to test the new Ohlins electronic suspension this weekend. It has mainly been tried in dry conditions so it was important to gather data in the wet. We have already found an advantage with the limited testing time we've had and plan to use it in Vallelunga where it was first tested six weeks ago." Shinichi Nakatomi (13th and 18th - Team YZF Yamaha)  "The conditions were difficult in race one. We made a mistake when we decided to use intermediate tyres, when the other riders used slicks. After ten laps, my feeling with the bike was coming better. For the second race, we changed a few things on the setting of the bike. In this race, I did my best on this very wet and difficult race track." Race 1  Pos., Rider, Manu., Nat., Total Time 1, Troy Bayliss, Ducati, AUS, 29'55.384 2, Tom Sykes, Suzuki, GBR, 0'1.266 3, Max Biaggi, Ducati, ITA, 0'28.636 4, Gregorio Lavilla, Honda, ESP, 0'33.566 5, Yukio Kagayama, Suzuki, JPN, 0'35.966 6, Jakub Smrz, Ducati, CZE, 0'36.034 7, Fonsi Nieto, Suzuki, ESP, 0'36.442 8, Leon Haslam, Honda, GBR, 0'41.633 9, Karl Muggeridge, Honda, AUS, 0'42.075 10, James Ellison, Honda, GBR, 0'43.476 11, David Checa, Yamaha, ESP, 1'12.578 12, Ayrton Badovini, Kawasaki, ITA, 1'13.147 13, Shinichi Nakatomi, Yamaha, JPN, 1'34.664 14, Shuhei Aoyama, Honda, JPN, 1'56.726 Race 2  Pos., Rider, Manu., Nat., Total Time 1, Ryuichi Kiyonari, Honda, JPN, 40'26.508 2, Cal Crutchlow, Honda, GBR, 0'2.261 3, Troy Corser, Yamaha, AUS, 0'9.727 4, James Ellison, Honda, GBR, 0'20.227 5, Michel Fabrizio, Ducati, ITA, 0'27.475 6, Max Biaggi, Ducati, ITA, 0'28.051 7, Gregorio Lavilla, Honda, ESP, 0'30.922 8, Ruben Xaus, Ducati, ESP, 0'38.353 9, Carlos Checa, Honda, ESP, 0'50.196 10, Tom Sykes, Suzuki, GBR, 0'57.346 11, Lorenzo Lanzi, Ducati, ITA, 1'3.093 12, Jakub Smrz, Ducati, CZE, 1'6.697 13, Roberto Rolfo, Honda, ITA, 1'8.057 14, Max Neukirchner, Suzuki, GER, 1'15.276 15, Regis Laconi, Kawasaki, FRA, 1'38.848 16, Makoto Tamada, Kawasaki, JPN, 1'0.000 Best Lap Rider, Manu., Nat., Total Time Troy Bayliss, Ducati, AUS, 1'31.814 Rider Standings 07/09/2008 Pos., Rider, Manu., Nat., Points 1, Troy Bayliss, Ducati, AUS, 359 2, Troy Corser, Yamaha, AUS, 258 3, Max Neukirchner, Suzuki, GER, 254 4, Carlos Checa, Honda, ESP, 240 5, Noriyuki Haga, Yamaha, JPN, 230 6, Fonsi Nieto, Suzuki, ESP, 192 7, Max Biaggi, Ducati, ITA, 192 8, Ryuichi Kiyonari, Honda, JPN, 190 9, Michel Fabrizio, Ducati, ITA, 172 10, Ruben Xaus, Ducati, ESP, 156 11, Yukio Kagayama, Suzuki, JPN, 120 12, Jakub Smrz, Ducati, CZE, 105 13, Gregorio Lavilla, Honda, ESP, 105 14, Lorenzo Lanzi, Ducati, ITA, 99 15, Karl Muggeridge, Honda, AUS, 71 21, Shinichi Nakatomi, Yamaha, JPN, 32 26, David Checa, Yamaha, ESP, 12 28, Sebastien Gimbert, Yamaha, FRA, 7 Manufacturer Standings 07/09/2008 Pos., Manufacturer, Points 1, Ducati, 439 2, Yamaha, 366 3, Honda, 335 4, Suzuki, 329 5, Kawasaki, 69 ---------- RACE REPORT - 07/09/2008 Parkes into the top ten as Laverty scores points Broc Parkes (Yamaha World Supersport Team) and Eugene Laverty (Yamaha World Supersport Team) had to race on untried settings at Donington, after all practice and warm-up sessions were damp to some degree, but nonetheless each improved form their lowly starting places to record points scoring finishes. Parkes went tenth from 20th on the grid, with Laverty taking his time to get to know his new bike in the dry, and finally posting 12th in his first ever WSS race. As the race progressed Laverty made great strides and set some impressive times as he chased a rider pairing in front that also featured Parkes. Laverty will stay with the Yamaha World Supersport team fo rthe next round at Vallelunga, continuing to ride in place of injured team rider Fabien Foret. Massimo Roccoli (Yamaha Team Italia Lorenzini by Leoni) was 17th on his Yamaha, while David Salom (Yamaha Spain World Supersport) was only 32nd in qualifying, while his team-mate Jason Crowe missed out on a qualifying time. Broc Parkes (10th - Yamaha World Supersport Team)  "Better that we had dry race than a wet one. We were down on dry settings too because we didn't race here last year so we didn't have a base setting to work with. It was not quite right, so we had to work hard to get there. That was the best we could do today. It was not perfect but it could have been worse." Eugene Laverty (12th - Yamaha World Supersport Team)  "I made some good lap times at the end but I had to be so careful at the start because I didn't really know the bike in dry conditions, and when you are riding in such close proximity with other riders, it could have been dangerous to try and push too hard from the beginning. But my lap times improved as I learned the bike and my second to last lap was fast, as quick as anyone really. It has been a difficult weekend but I think everyone can understand that. The weather was a disaster but to get a result out of things was our aim and we reached it." Wilco Zeelenberg (Team Manager, Yamaha World Supersport Team)  "Of course I am not happy with tenth and 12th places but when you look back on the whole weekend it is difficult for many riders, not only for us. Eugene rode well and progressed through the field once he started to get familiar on the bike in the dry and he had to rebuild his confidence after crashing the bike in the wet. Broc was doing some 1'35 lap times in the dry and did well to come through the field to tenth. For the next race we will have a better base set-up, because we didn't have one for here because we had so little track time last year.." Massimo Roccoli (17th - Yamaha Team Italia Lorenzini by Leoni)  "With no dry test time this weekend I had to use last year's settings on the machine and it meant that there was a lot of movement from the back end of the machine. Not a great weekend. We continued to test the new electronic suspension this weekend. It has mainly been tried in dry conditions so it was important to gather data in the wet. We have already found an advantage with the limited testing time we've had and plan to use it in Vallelunga where it was first tested six weeks ago. " Race 1  Pos., Rider, Manu., Nat., Total Time 1, Joshua Brookes, Honda, AUS, 34'53.607 2, Andrew Pitt, Honda, AUS, 0'0.872 3, Jonathan Rea, Honda, GBR, 0'4.846 4, Barry Veneman, Suzuki, NED, 0'5.066 5, Hudson Kennaugh, Yamaha, RSA, 0'8.604 6, Robbin Harms, Honda, DNK, 0'8.990 7, Joan Lascorz, Honda, ESP, 0'15.660 8, Didier Van Keymeulen, Suzuki, BEL, 0'16.674 9, Matthieu Lagrive, Honda, FRA, 0'17.081 10, Broc Parkes, Yamaha, AUS, 0'20.474 11, Gianluca Vizziello, Honda, ITA, 0'21.110 12, Eugene Laverty, Yamaha, GBR, 0'26.338 13, Mark Aitchinson, Triumph, AUS, 0'26.597 14, Katsuaki Fujiwara, Kawasaki, JPN, 0'29.104 15, Chris Martin, Kawasaki, GBR, 0'30.603 16, Gianluca Nannelli, Honda, ITA, 0'39.201 17, Massimo Roccoli, Yamaha, ITA, 0'39.505 18, Ivan Clementi, Triumph, ITA, 0'40.004 19, Danilo Dell'omo, Honda, ITA, 0'41.030 20, Graeme Gowland, Honda, GBR, 0'53.383 21, Balazs Nemeth, Honda, HUN, 1'10.076 22, Bryan Staring, Honda, AUS, 1'19.610 23, Midge Smart, Honda, NZL, 1'19.931 Best Lap Rider, Manu., Nat., Total Time Joshua Brookes, Honda, AUS, 1'34.079 Rider Standings 07/09/2008 Pos., Rider, Manu., Nat., Points 1, Andrew Pitt, Honda, AUS, 169 2, Joshua Brookes, Honda, AUS, 137 3, Jonathan Rea, Honda, GBR, 133 4, Broc Parkes, Yamaha, AUS, 119 5, Craig Jones, Honda, GBR, 100 6, Fabien Foret, Yamaha, FRA, 97 7, Joan Lascorz, Honda, ESP, 92 8, Barry Veneman, Suzuki, NED, 61 9, Robbin Harms, Honda, DNK, 60 10, Gianluca Nannelli, Honda, ITA, 51 11, Massimo Roccoli, Yamaha, ITA, 48 12, Gianluca Vizziello, Honda, ITA, 46 13, Matthieu Lagrive, Honda, FRA, 43 14, Chris Walker, Kawasaki, GBR, 36 15, Vesa Kallio, Honda, FIN, 23 25, David Salom, Yamaha, ESP, 9 Manufacturer Standings 07/09/2008 Pos., Manufacturer, Points 1, Honda, 240 2, Yamaha, 162 3, Suzuki, 70 4, Triumph, 61 5, Kawasaki, 42 ---------- RACE REPORT - 07/09/2008 Pirro Sixth After Donington Superstock Battle Michele Pirro (Yamaha Lorenzini by Leoni) was one of several fallers in the 12-lap 1000cc Superstock race, exiting after highsiding at the final hairpin on lap two, and restarting to finish 19th, out of the points. Pirro remains fifth in the championship chase, with 83 points. Claudio Corti (Yamaha Motor Italia Junior Team) fell in a first corner multiple-rider incident, and is 11th overall in the series. Michelle Pirro (19th - Yamaha Motor Italia Lorenzini by Leoni)  "I just lost the rear tyre and had to wait to get my bike restarted and that meant I was too far back to challenge. It's a shame but it was very tricky in those conditions." Claudio Corti (DNF - Yamaha Motor Italia Junior Team)  "I was out on the first corner, in a collision with other riders, and there was nothing I could do to carry on once we had stopped." Baz Leads Despite Fall and Restart  Loris Baz crashed his Yamaha Motor France Junior Team machine in the Superstock race but remounted to finish 12th, and defend his championship lead. He is now on 146 points to Vostarek's 121, with race winner Bussolotti third, on 106. Gino Rea was third on his Yamaha machine. Race 1  Pos., Rider, Manu., Nat., Total Time 1, Xavier Simeon, Suzuki, BEL, 21'30.092 2, Alessandro Polita, Ducati, ITA, 0'16.109 3, Davide Giugliano, Suzuki, ITA, 0'34.318 4, Brendan Roberts, Ducati, AUS, 0'37.319 5, Jon Kirkham, Yamaha, GBR, 0'44.199 6, Maxime Berger, Honda, FRA, 0'45.533 7, Matteo Baiocco, Kawasaki, ITA, 0'47.888 8, Filip Backlund, Suzuki, SWE, 0'49.623 9, Barry Burrell, Honda, GBR, 0'50.461 10, Jure Stibilj, Honda, SVN, 0'51.416 11, Domenico Colucci, Ducati, ITA, 0'52.516 12, Raymond Schouten, Yamaha, NED, 1'1.720 13, Danny De Boer, Suzuki, NED, 1'2.726 14, Niccolo Rosso, Honda, ITA, 1'2.946 15, Gregory Junod, Yamaha, CHE, 1'5.181 16, Peter Hickman, Yamaha, GBR, 1'7.026 17, Franck Millet, MV Agusta, ITA, 1'10.043 18, Tommaso Lorenzetti, Suzuki, ITA, 1'10.558 19, Michele Pirro, Yamaha, ITA, 1'10.929 20, Yoann Tiberio, Kawasaki, FRA, 1'12.577 21, Aldo Aldrovandi, Kawasaki, ITA, 1'13.377 22, Marko Jerman, Yamaha, SVK, 1'18.026 23, Roy Ten Napel, Suzuki, NED, 1'18.515 24, Cameron Stronach, Kawasaki, AUS, 1'46.326 Best Lap Rider, Manu., Nat., Total Time Xavier Simeon, Suzuki, BEL, 1'46.033 Rider Standings 07/09/2008 Pos., Rider, Manu., Nat., Points 1, Brendan Roberts, Ducati, AUS, 122 2, Xavier Simeon, Suzuki, BEL, 120 3, Maxime Berger, Honda, FRA, 119 4, Alessandro Polita, Ducati, ITA, 114 5, Michele Pirro, Yamaha, ITA, 83 6, Davide Giugliano, Suzuki, ITA, 71 7, Andrea Antonelli, Honda, ITA, 57 8, Matej Smrz, Honda, CZE, 48 9, Chris Seaton, Suzuki, AUS, 36 10, Freddy Foray, Yamaha, FRA, 35 11, Claudio Corti, Yamaha, ITA, 33 12, Barry Burrell, Honda, GBR, 31 13, Michele Magnoni, Yamaha, ITA, 30 14, Kenny Foray, Yamaha, FRA, 24 15, Domenico Colucci, Ducati, ITA, 23 30, Sylvain Barrier, Yamaha, FRA, 4 Manufacturer Standings 07/09/2008 Pos., Manufacturer, Points 1, Ducati, 157 2, Honda, 141 3, Suzuki, 135 4, Yamaha, 106 5, Kawasaki, 49 6, KTM, 2
Alex Asigno
Alex Asigno

Yamaha showcases creative talent at Donington

Yamaha Livery Design Competition winner Ben Leeves is in an enviable position this weekend at Donington as he becomes the first member of the public to see their design realised on a Yamaha Motor Italia YZF R1 Superbike. The design was revealed by Yamaha riders Noriyuki Haga and Troy Corser on stage at the WSB paddock show to an audience of race fans and sporting media, following an exciting Superpole session at the Donington circuit for round 11 of the World Superbike Championship. Ben’s design was amongst hundreds of creative entries submitted by race loving hopefuls across the UK. It was his design along with four others that stood out for a panel of judges that included riders Haga and Corser, representatives of Yamaha Racing and MCN. The five finalist designs were then published in MCN for readers to vote for their favourites. It was a close run thing, but Ben’s design, a clever monochrome depiction of the riders’ faces on a simple yet appealing red, black and white background, caught the imagination of the voting public. Ben’s design was rushed off in secret to Italy where it was recreated on the carbon fibre fairings to be ready in time for Donington. The design was also sent to Alpinestars who created a unique set of leathers for both Haga and Corser to wear on the bike. The five finalists, Ben Leeves, James Grey, John Holland, Stephen Budd and David Brisbourne were all invited as guests of Yamaha for the Donington weekend, completely unaware of which of them would ultimately witness their design fighting for the World Superbike Championship on the legendary GP circuit until 6.30pm this evening as the winning design was revealed. Ben Leeves – Yamaha Livery Design Competition winner  “I’m over the moon, it’s so surreal, I can’t believe my design is actually on the bike! Thank you so much Yamaha, this is such an amazing experience….it doesn’t feel real! I can’t wait to see the bikes racing on Sunday!” Leon Oosterhof ( Yamaha Racing Communications Manager)  “I’d like to thank all the fans in the UK for sending in their designs, we were very happy with the number of entries and with the variety of designs. Some of them really stood out and it’s been nice to meet the producers of the best 5 today. For Yamaha the creation of innovative, stunning bike designs is a big passion and it was great sharing it with our fans in this competition. Ben’s winning bike design looks great on our R1 and on the leathers, he’s done really well and we look forward to see Nori and Troy racing it tomorrow.” Following the race weekend, Yamaha will be auctioning one set of the unique leathers for charity, with all proceeds going to Riders For Health.The leathers will be auctioned on www.riders.org starting on Monday 8th of September and finishing on Friday the 26th. To be in with a chance of owning these unique and instantly collectable leathers, make sure you make a bid!
Alex Asigno
Alex Asigno

Prumm on steady recovery path

Prumm on steady recovery path The final round of the FIM Women’s World Championship this weekend at the Lierop circuit for the Grand Prix of Benelux will not be able to count on the participation of one of the main stars of the series. Double Women’s World Cup winner and Yamaha rider Katherine Prumm is currently recovering from operations to her right knee and left wrist as well as the collarbone break that prematurely ended her season while leading the standings of the inaugural championship. Due to her presence at an FIM meeting this week (fulfilling her role as one of the ambassadors of the growing scene that is women’s motocross) Prumm sadly cannot be in the Netherlands as a spectator for the last GP of the campaign and will shortly head back to her native New Zealand and continue rehab and planning for 2009. Her time under the surgeon’s knife was not a straightforward as initially envisaged. ‘On July 25th I had my operation in Auckland with Dr Barry Tietjens, who reconstructed the right ACL in my knee,’ she recounts. ‘They also removed the plates from my left wrist which was meant to be a fairly easy process but the doctors found that the plates were buried in the middle of the bone so they had to be scraped out.’ ‘For the first ten days after the operation my body was under a lot of strain with three injuries (my collarbone was still healing) and for two weeks afterwards I was sleeping over 12 hours a night recovering. It was tough being on the couch for two weeks but I had friends and family to keep me entertained and it gave me time to catch up on the Olympics!’ ‘It has now been five weeks since the op and the wrist is feeling great and my knee is still swollen but getting better every day. I have been busy with the physio and surgeon to carry out different exercises to get me back in shape. My collarbone is also finally all healed up and I’m feeling positive about everything for 2009.’ Despite missing a ligament in her knee due to a pre-season mishap, Prumm gained two podium results in three rounds of the five race series and fronted the points table. She joined Yamaha at the start of the year in what was a new positive association for the multi national champion and popular racer. ‘It was great to be a part of the Yamaha family in 2008 and I was disappointed to not be able to deliver them a world title this year,’ she said. ‘The bike was great and all the riders in the Yamaha group are really friendly and easy to talk to.’ With two World Cup titles in the build-up to the formation of the first world championship in 2008, Prumm is undoubtedly one of the top riders and ‘faces’ in women’s motocross today and is in a privileged position to see the swift expansion of the discipline. The FIM competition – which runs concurrently with the MX1-GP and MX2-GP categories - will reach at least eight rounds in 2009. ‘Motocross is a fantastic sport and I hope that girls can see that it is well supported and encouraged. I would urge anyone to take the plunge give it a go,’ she added. ‘I think international women’s motocross has grown a huge amount in 2008. The numbers of riders wanting to race is increasing and the girls are also taking the championship more seriously and working really hard during the season on fitness and conditioning. I think the manufacturers are starting to see that the women’s market is competitive and a positive direction for them to look in. I would still like to see longer races but I am really happy with the development of more GPs and higher entries.’
Alex Asigno
Alex Asigno

Larrieu completes potent Yamaha Ricci Racing team for 2009

Yamaha Ricci Racing will have their 2009 FIM MX2-GP World Championship line-up bolstered by the addition of talented youngster Loic Larrieu next season. The 17 year old Frenchman (18 before the start of the ’09 campaign) has signed to compete alongside countryman Nicolas Aubin and Italian Davide Guarneri on YZ250F machinery for the Italian crew. Larrieu, from Sete, near Montpellier, has shone in the 2008 European Championship despite carrying a shoulder injury for the majority of the campaign and has emerged as one of the brightest stars of the competitive feeder series. He has won two motos so far – dominating the French meeting – and scored nine top three race finishes from the twelve meetings to-date (obtaining four overall podiums in the first five rounds). He is fourth in the standings and just four points from second place. Larrieu made his world championship debut at St Jean D’Angely in 2007 and again appeared at his home Grand Prix this season, earning his first points with two impressive 12th positions and 11th overall. “It was important for me to find the right team with the right support and the right machinery and I am really happy to be joining Ricci and Yamaha because I believe the team and set-up have all the elements I need to make the next step,” he said. “The YZ250F is a very good and fast motorcycle and I am confident that I will be able to make my goal of getting regular top ten results in 2009.”   The acquisition of Larrieu rounds off a strong quota of riders in the Ricci set-up, with Aubin chasing third spot in the world championship standings and Guarneri claiming victory in the Spanish Grand Prix earlier this season. “With the new age limit restriction coming into the MX2-GP class for 2010, meaning a maximum of 23 years of age, it is important that we start to look to the future and what teenage talent we can bring through now,” said Yamaha Motor Europe’s Racing Division Manager Laurens Klein Koerkamp. “We have been watching Loic for a while now and we are delighted that he can join the Ricci team and re-enforce our commitment to the MX2-GP championship. We are confident that he will be able to show the same kind of speed and promise as Nico and Davide and we feel an exciting future lies ahead.” Loic Larrieu DOB: 17/01/1991 Place: Sete, France Height: 1m73 Weight: 61kg First Grand Prix: St Jean D’Angely 2007 Favourite Circuit: Ernee Favourite rider: Ricky Carmichael Career Highlights: 2008 – European Championship race winner, scores first Grand Prix points 2007 – Junior Vice Champion of France 2006 – French Cadet Champion 2005 – Mini French Champion 2002 – 85cc French Vice Champion 2001 – 65cc French Vice Champion
Alex Asigno
Alex Asigno

Fourth position for Philippaerts in Ireland

Yamaha Monster Motocross Team's David Philippaerts still leads the 2008 FIM MX1-GP World Championship after finishing in 4th position overall under decent weather conditions at the new Fairyhouse circuit for the Grand Prix of Ireland and the thirteenth round of fifteen. As the campaign heads towards its penultimate stages next week, Philippaerts was just two points away from his eighth podium of the season in Dublin but keeps hold of the red number plate - for the tenth time in thirteen events - and heads the standings by 5 points over world champion Steve Ramon. Josh Coppins' was again bitten by ill fortune as the New Zealander was hit at the start of race one and again on the first lap of race two. The second incident forced his retirement. The brand new circuit within the confines of the Fairyhouse horse racing venue contained a tricky layout with well-constructed jumps but the grass was laden with wood chippings making a soft and slippery course. The event itself was perhaps lucky to go ahead in wake of one of the wettest August months on Irish record. Thankfully the weather stayed dry over the weekend for a 16,000 crowd. Philippaerts set off from the seventh best pick in the gate while Coppins was tenth after Saturday's Time Practice. The Italian was quick from the line on both occasions. He circulated adrift of the top four for long stretches of Moto1 but timed an attack on Ramon perfectly entering the last two laps and beat his main rival for the title to 4th spot. The 24 year old was even better placed in Moto2 - in second - but some clutch trouble meant that he had to adjust his riding and lower his speed and he dropped back to 4th once more.   Coppins was also at the forefront of the pack around the first turn of Moto1 but was pushed wide and off the track by a falling Jonathan Barragan. The 31 year old faced another journey through the field from virtually last and reached a creditable 9th by the chequered flag. He was not able to complete a second lap of Moto2 as a rider clattered his YZ450FM on the landing of a table-top and forced him off the course. With the triple clamp bent and the front wheel brake sticking he pitted but was not able to rejoin. With 100 points left to win and just four motos left to run the destination of the 2008 crown will be decided at the final race. Philippaerts holds a slender margin over Ramon and Ken de Dycker is 27 points adrift in third. Jonathan Barragan is fourth and 52 away, while Coppins is fifth and 59 points from his team-mate. Yamaha front the manufacturer's standings by 3 points. The penultimate round of the world championship will take place next weekend at the sandy circuit of Lierop in the Netherlands. The Grand Prix of Citta di Faenza in Italy will close the 2008 competition the following week. David Philippaerts, Yamaha Monster Motocross Team, 4th: "I did not have any good lines at the start of the first race and I lost time because of that. I took a while to look at the others and finally find a rhythm that gave me some speed. I was strong at the end and passed Ramon with two laps to go and I was happy. Things were better at the start of the second moto but the track got worse and was quite dangerous with all the soft bumps. We had a small issue with the bike but finishing in the top five was a consistent result. De Dycker came close when I was in third and I did not want him to touch me; I did not want to take any risks. Fourth overall means that it was not a great day but generally I am content because the track was difficult and it was easy to make a mistake that would cost so much. All my plans and work is coming together after a long season. We will see what happens in Lierop now but I want to go there in good form. It has been a very hard year because each GP has been so open and hard to predict, Faenza will be a tough final race!" Josh Coppins, Yamaha Monster Motocross Team, 16th: "I am a little bit lost for words. For the last three or four races I feel that people have not really seen the real 'me' for a combinations of reasons and today there were some more. I started really well in the first race but Barragan or somebody touched me on the inside and I crashed off the side of the track. I was really going for that holeshot and it was just one of those things. I then rode well and came back from second-to-last to ninth. The second race was similar. Everyone went really wide and I got squashed out but I was not in a bad position, however when we came to the first table-top a rider was cross-rutted and touched me in the air. He then came up short and bounced into me on the landing and drove me off the track. It damaged the front of the bike. The wheel was locking and the triple clamp was bent so I came in the pits but we could not get it fixed before all the pack had gone past and getting even just a few points would have been hard; there was too much damage. In retrospect my qualifying needed to be better. After the Czech Republic I wanted to come here and have fun. I really want to be in a race with the guys; that is where I belong." Mino Raspanti, Yamaha Monster Motocross Team: "A hard weekend for us. The first moto was not bad for David but terrible luck for Josh and to finish ninth meant that he lost a lot of points for the championship. David did well to pass Steve at the end of the first moto and should have been second in the next race but had a bit of trouble with the clutch and could not keep his lap-times. Josh again had an unbelievable situation and the title is now difficult for him. Lierop will be a big challenge but we will see!" Race 1 - 20 Laps Pos., Rider, Manu., Nat., Total Time 1, Ken De Dycker, Suzuki, BEL, 38'49.681 2, Tanel Leok, Kawasaki, EST, 0'2.572 3, Billy MacKenzie, Honda, GBR, 0'15.287 4, David Philippaerts, Yamaha, ITA, 0'17.305 5, Steve Ramon, Suzuki, BEL, 0'22.354 6, Sébastien Pourcel, Kawasaki, FRA, 0'23.658 7, Maximilian Nagl, KTM, GER, 0'25.976 8, Manuel Priem, Kawasaki, BEL, 1'3.541 9, Joshua Coppins, Yamaha, NZL, 1'9.368 10, Jonathan Barragan, KTM, ESP, 1'18.293 11, Aigar Leok, Yamaha, EST, 1'23.584 12, Tom Church, Kawasaki, GBR, 1'29.328 13, Marc De Reuver, Honda, NED, 1'31.930 14, Clement Desalle, Suzuki, BEL, 1'34.165 15, Gregory Aranda, Kawasaki, FRA, 1'36.743 16, Marcus Schiffer, KTM, GER, 1'46.380 17, Gordon Crockard, Honda, IRL, 1'48.435 18, Carlos Campano, Yamaha, ESP, 1'50.824 19, Alex Salvini, Suzuki, ITA, -1 Laps 20, James Noble, KTM, GBR, -1 Laps Race 2 - 20 Laps Pos., Rider, Manu., Nat., Total Time 1, Tanel Leok, Kawasaki, EST, 39'36.398 2, Steve Ramon, Suzuki, BEL, 0'15.918 3, Ken De Dycker, Suzuki, BEL, 0'23.160 4, David Philippaerts, Yamaha, ITA, 0'26.158 5, Billy MacKenzie, Honda, GBR, 0'29.898 6, Maximilian Nagl, KTM, GER, 0'36.999 7, Manuel Priem, Kawasaki, BEL, 0'45.319 8, Clement Desalle, Suzuki, BEL, 0'53.091 9, Sébastien Pourcel, Kawasaki, FRA, 0'57.115 10, Julien Bill, Honda, CHE, 1'0.277 11, Gordon Crockard, Honda, IRL, 1'6.916 12, Jonathan Barragan, KTM, ESP, 1'12.982 13, Marcus Schiffer, KTM, GER, 1'14.221 14, Gregory Aranda, Kawasaki, FRA, 1'16.458 15, Alex Salvini, Suzuki, ITA, 1'26.577 16, Carlos Campano, Yamaha, ESP, 1'43.236 17, Aigar Leok, Yamaha, EST, 1'49.477 18, Tom Church, Kawasaki, GBR, 1'54.756 19, Luis Correira, Yamaha, POR, -1 Laps 20, Stuart Edmonds, TM, IRL, -1 Laps Rider Standings 31/08/2008 Pos., Rider, Manu., Nat., Points 1, David Philippaerts, Yamaha, ITA, 441 2, Steve Ramon, Suzuki, BEL, 436 3, Ken De Dycker, Suzuki, BEL, 414 4, Jonathan Barragan, KTM, ESP, 389 5, Joshua Coppins, Yamaha, NZL, 382 6, Sébastien Pourcel, Kawasaki, FRA, 371 7, Maximilian Nagl, KTM, GER, 356 8, Tanel Leok, Kawasaki, EST, 322 9, Billy MacKenzie, Honda, GBR, 293 10, Clement Desalle, Suzuki, BEL, 235 11, Marc De Reuver, Honda, NED, 232 12, Manuel Priem, Kawasaki, BEL, 224 13, Julien Bill, Honda, CHE, 159 14, Kornel Nemeth, KTM, HUN, 159 15, Aigar Leok, Yamaha, EST, 145 16, Marcus Schiffer, KTM, GER, 110 17, Mike Brown, Honda, USA, 107 18, James Noble, KTM, GBR, 94 19, Tom Church, Kawasaki, GBR, 86 20, Steve Boniface, Honda, FRA, 75 23, Carlos Campano, Yamaha, ESP, 52 Manufacturer Standings 31/08/2008 Pos., Manufacturer, Points 1, Yamaha, 507 2, Suzuki, 504 3, KTM, 481 4, Kawasaki, 467 5, Honda, 398 6, TM, 33 7, Aprilia, 12 ---------- RACE REPORT - 31/08/2008 Aubin fourth as Osborne shows speed with moto win Yamaha were cruelly denied a podium finish in the thirteenth round of fifteen of the MX2-GP World Championship at a bright Fairyhouse circuit near Dublin for the Grand Prix of Ireland. 16,000 people saw Utag Yamaha.com's Zach Osborne win his first ever race in only his third international meeting with the British team, while Yamaha Ricci Racing's Nicolas Aubin was 4th overall and missed a second rostrum celebration of the season by just 2 points. The pair went 1-3 in Moto1 respectively, but a mechanical problem for the American halted his progress while in second place during Moto2 and Aubin suffered a bad start and a brief mid-race crash before taking 7th by the flag. Aubin had showed quick pace around the heavily wood-chipped and soft course located in the centre of the horse racing track some 20 kilometres north of Dublin. He was 2nd in the first qualification heat and therefore entered the gate in 3rd position on Sunday. He was behind Osborne who won his first Saturday heat race. Osborne sprinted away from the field in just his fifth moto with the Utag Yamaha.com YZ250F and kept series-leader Tyla Rattray at bay for the whole race. His success meant that he gave the team their first set of 25 points since the 2006 Japanese Grand Prix and became only one of a handful of Americans to sample victory on the world championship stage. He was also the third Yamaha rider to score a win in 2008. Sadly an overall trophy was snatched away with a mechanical glitch half way through Moto2 and he left the circuit with 8th overall. Aubin had taken a steady 3rd place in Moto1 and his progress was dented by a poor getaway in Moto2 and then a small mistake while gaining ground deep into the 35 minute and 2 laps duration. Ricci Racing team-mate Davide Guarneri failed to bag any points but twisted his weak right knee and was in considerable pain, forcing a retirement in Moto2. The Italian is scheduled to have an operation after the final Grand Prix in just over two weeks. Matteo Bonini was back in action for the Yamaha Red Bull De Carli squad after recovering sufficiently from his hand injury. The Italian scored respectable points in each moto to finish 13th overall. Team-mate Alessandro Lupino was 16th and with 10 points obtained his third highest total of 2008. Aubin is 4th in the standings and 14 points from the third position held by the absent Antonio Cairoli. The 2008 world championship now hurries towards its conclusion with two events in the next two weeks. The Grand Prix of Benelux will take place in the sand of Lierop in Holland while the hard-pack Faenza circuit entertains the final round in Italy. Nicolas Aubin, Yamaha Ricci Racing, 4th: "I was pleased to make the top three in the first moto but I cannot believe the bad start I made in the second race. A rider crashed in front of me in the first corner and I think I restarted in something like 25th position. I got back to 12th but then crashed trying to pass Goncalves and restarted in 15th before finding my way to 7th. I had some pain again in my stomach and it was difficult to ride like this. I am satisfied with the result, especially because the track was difficult for passing." Zach Osborne, Yamaha Utag.com, 8th: "This was a big step for my career today and I am really pumped with the team and everything that has been going on here. Tyla is in 'championship mode' so I knew he would not take any big chances in the first race to try and pass me. I rode as hard as I could and it worked out for me. It was a shame about the second moto but it felt really good to win and join a small group of Americans to have done so." Davide Guarneri, Yamaha Ricci Racing, 25th: "This was a really hard GP for me. I did not like the track and could not get the speed together. My starts were bad and when I caught my leg on a bump in the second moto it finished the day. We will have to see how the knee is before Lierop next week." Matteo Bonini, Yamaha Red Bull De Carli, 13th: "I did not feel a great deal of pain when I was riding and my main problem was that I did two 30 minute motos for the first time only last Tuesday, so physically it was hard to get used to Grand Prix speed again and finish those two motos. I am happy. I did not have a good rhythm at the start of the motos but I got better and improved throughout." Race 1 - 20 Laps Pos., Rider, Manu., Nat., Total Time 1, Zach Osborne, Yamaha, USA, 38'59.589 2, Tyla Rattray, KTM, RSA, 0'2.365 3, Nicolas Aubin, Yamaha, FRA, 0'10.678 4, Tommy Searle, KTM, GBR, 0'10.678 5, Steven Frossard, Kawasaki, FRA, 0'44.102 6, Shaun Simpson, KTM, GBR, 0'45.527 7, Anthony Boissière, KTM, FRA, 0'46.258 8, Stephen Sword, Kawasaki, GBR, 0'46.749 9, Xavier Boog, Suzuki, FRA, 0'47.153 10, Rui Goncalves, KTM, POR, 0'55.719 11, Carl Nunn, Suzuki, GBR, 0'59.039 12, Jeremy Van Horebeek, KTM, BEL, 1'3.472 13, Manuel Monni, Yamaha, ITA, 1'15.296 14, Matteo Bonini, Yamaha, ITA, 1'24.775 15, Martin Barr, Yamaha, GBR, 1'27.639 16, Alessandro Lupino, Yamaha, ITA, 1'28.866 17, Gert Krestinov, KTM, EST, 1'30.003 18, Elliott Banks-Browne, Suzuki, GBR, 1'41.995 19, Joel Roelants, KTM, BEL, 1'44.564 20, Marcus Norlen, Suzuki, SWE, 1'46.766 Race 2 - 20 Laps Pos., Rider, Manu., Nat., Total Time 1, Tyla Rattray, KTM, RSA, 39'55.406 2, Tommy Searle, KTM, GBR, 0'6.126 3, Steven Frossard, Kawasaki, FRA, 0'12.077 4, Stephen Sword, Kawasaki, GBR, 0'21.385 5, Anthony Boissière, KTM, FRA, 0'24.993 6, Joel Roelants, KTM, BEL, 0'26.163 7, Nicolas Aubin, Yamaha, FRA, 0'28.350 8, Rui Goncalves, KTM, POR, 0'29.694 9, Xavier Boog, Suzuki, FRA, 0'30.703 10, Manuel Monni, Yamaha, ITA, 0'47.801 11, Shaun Simpson, KTM, GBR, 0'49.467 12, Matteo Bonini, Yamaha, ITA, 0'52.392 13, Gert Krestinov, KTM, EST, 0'59.327 14, Jake Nicholls, Suzuki, GBR, 1'7.302 15, Elliott Banks-Browne, Suzuki, GBR, 1'25.623 16, Alessandro Lupino, Yamaha, ITA, 1'30.835 17, Carl Nunn, Suzuki, GBR, 1'36.756 18, Marcus Norlen, Suzuki, SWE, 1'46.045 19, Teddy Maier, Kawasaki, USA, 1'53.186 20, Deny Philippaerts, Yamaha, ITA, -1 Laps Rider Standings 31/08/2008 Pos., Rider, Manu., Nat., Points 1, Tyla Rattray, KTM, RSA, 546 2, Tommy Searle, KTM, GBR, 519 3, Antonio Cairoli, Yamaha, ITA, 357 4, Nicolas Aubin, Yamaha, FRA, 343 5, Shaun Simpson, KTM, GBR, 337 6, Rui Goncalves, KTM, POR, 327 7, Steven Frossard, Kawasaki, FRA, 284 8, Xavier Boog, Suzuki, FRA, 269 9, Jeremy Van Horebeek, KTM, BEL, 253 10, Manuel Monni, Yamaha, ITA, 245 11, Stephen Sword, Kawasaki, GBR, 243 12, Anthony Boissière, KTM, FRA, 240 13, Marvin Musquin, Honda, FRA, 180 14, Davide Guarneri, Yamaha, ITA, 167 15, Joel Roelants, KTM, BEL, 165 16, Jeremy Tarroux, KTM, FRA, 161 17, Gregory Aranda, Kawasaki, FRA, 101 18, Carl Nunn, Suzuki, GBR, 99 19, Gautier Paulin, Kawasaki, FRA, 95 20, Gert Krestinov, KTM, EST, 92 23, Alessandro Lupino, Yamaha, ITA, 55 27, Evgeny Bobryshev, Yamaha, RUS, 42 28, Matteo Bonini, Yamaha, ITA, 41 41, Deny Philippaerts, Yamaha, ITA, 8 46, Martin Barr, Yamaha, GBR, 6 Manufacturer Standings 31/08/2008 Pos., Manufacturer, Points 1, KTM, 616 2, Yamaha, 559 3, Kawasaki, 407 4, Suzuki, 320 5, Honda, 234
Alex Asigno
Alex Asigno

Rossi matches Agostini's record with win number sixty-eight

Valentino Rossi reached another milestone in his outstanding career today by matching the all-time premier-class win record. His 68th premier-class victory brings him level with his great countryman Giacomo Agostini and the fact that he was able to do it at his home track of Misano made it all the more special for the flamboyant Italian. His Fiat Yamaha team-mate Jorge Lorenzo put the icing on the cake for Yamaha with an impressive return to the podium to make it the second one-two finish for the team this season. Rossi had a good start but Dani Pedrosa had an even better one and the seven-time world champion was forced to ride at his maximum to pass the Spaniard back, which he did on the second lap. Casey Stoner was by then some three seconds clear but Rossi's M1 was working well and he was gradually able to start making up some ground, setting the fastest lap of the race on lap six. One lap eight of 28 Stoner sensationally slid out into the gravel in a carbon copy of the last race in Brno and Rossi was left in the lead. There was no opportunity to rest however as the twisty nature of the circuit was a very different task to face alone than the flowing curves of Brno and Lorenzo, another three seconds behind, was giving Rossi no chance of a let-up. The local hero was able to bring his M1 home safely however to the rapturous cheers of his home fans, who flooded onto the track in typical Italian fashion. The sixth win of the season for Rossi and another non-finish for Stoner means he is now 75 points clear at the top of the championship, with a maximum of 125 points remaining from five races.Lorenzo stays in fourth and Yamaha remain on course for a treble of Teams' and Manufacturers' championships as well. Valentino Rossi - Position: 1 Time: 44'41.884 "Today is a truly fantastic day and I can't believe that I have matched Agostini's record! He was one of my heroes so it's quite incredible to have made it to 68 wins. This was quite a difficult weekend for us from the start and there has been the added pressure of a home race, which makes it harder to concentrate because there is so much distraction! Mugello has always been 'my' track, even though it's further away from Tavullia, but here, after the bad time last year, we haven't found it so easy. Once again today however my team gave me a very competitive bike and I felt very confident. I got a good start but then Dani came past me very fast and I then lost a lot of time getting past him and had to take some big risks - I had a big slide! Once I was past him I could see Casey, although I have to admit that today I wasn't as confident as I was in Brno that I could win. Anyway I kept pushing because it's not in my nature to ride for second place and I think it still could have been a battle; I was very fast once I found my rhythm. Then I saw Casey slide out. I'm sorry for him once again but this is very good for our championship so I am happy for our team. We have 75 points, which is a lot, but there are still five races and I will ride to win at every one, as I always have done throughout my career. Thanks to my fantastic Yamaha team, to Bridgestone and of course congratulations to Jorge as well, he kept pushing me today and I wasn't able to relax even for one minute! It is a great day for us all." Davide Brivio - Team Mananger "What a day! It's very positive for our championship and to come out with 75 points after three wins in a row is amazing. Once again the team and engineers did an excellent job to fix some problems in time for the race to give Valentino a competitive bike, so well done to them. Despite losing a bit of time at the start Valentino was able to come back and set the fastest lap and keep pushing. Of course the championship isn't done but our advantage is very big and all the team are concentrated and motivated for the final five races. It's great to see Jorge back on the podium as well - a great race and a great team!" Lorenzo returns to podium with stunning second in Misano Jorge Lorenzo made it a fantastic home-race double podium for the Fiat Yamaha Team today, finishing second behind his team-mate Valentino Rossi at Misano. It was the rookie's first podium since the team's last one-two finish in Le Mans and it was a deserved one following the injuries that have plagued him since. Lorenzo lost some time at the start when Dani Pedrosa passed him and then had to wait for Rossi to pass his Spanish compatriot before he could make his move, which he did on lap five. When Casey Stoner crashed out of the lead on lap eight, leaving Rossi in front, Lorenzo was elevated to second and he rode a strong race from then on, exerting constant pressure on his team-mate, who was unable to relax and had to keep pushing to keep the gap at about three seconds. Lorenzo was followed home by another Spaniard, Toni Elias, who crossed the line 8.54 seconds off in third. The 21-year-old Mallorcan's fifth podium of the season sees him consolidate his fourth place in the championship and his leading rookie status, whilst Rossi is now 75 points clear of Stoner at the top. There are five rounds remaining with the next one coming at Indianapolis in the USA in two week's time Jorge Lorenzo - Position: 2 Time: +3.163 "Seeing the party Valentino's fans were making for him around the track today reminded me how much I want to start winning again, but as a start this second place is fantastic for us! I lost some ground at the early on but then I took my rhythm, passed Dani and started to push, and then I kept pushing until the end. To be one and two on the podium again, like in Le Mans, is wonderful and after four months of problems I am enjoying this moment very much - it's perfect. Since the Brno test and with the improvements that Michelin have made here my confidence has being going up all the time and my riding style has improved as well, so I want to say thank you to them. I hope the situation is the same at the next races, then we can continue to be strong like this. Thanks to all of my team and congratulations to Valentino and Toni." Daniele Romagnoli - Team Manager "It's really great to be back on the podium after a long time and we are very happy for Jorge. We never lost confidence that he would come back to this level even though it has been very hard for him at times, but everyone has kept focused and here we are, so well done to all involved. Our Michelin tyres have worked much better here and this has made everything easier to achieve, it seems that the Brno test was a turning point and the improvement in the tyres has helped us to find a new set-up. Now we're looking forward with confidence to the next races. Congratulations to Valentino and the other side of the garage for a great victory." James Toseland storms to top six, tough day for Colin Edwards A fantastic performance by British rider James Toseland saw him claim his fifth top six finish of the season at red-hot Misano this afternoon. The Tech3 Yamaha rider was always in contention for his first top six finish since the Catalunya GP after a solid start from ninth on the grid. At one stage though he looked on course for his best ever MotoGP finish as he held a terrific fifth having got the better of a tough battle with Andrea Dovizoso and Shinya Nakano. He slipped to sixth place on lap 22 but then produced a heroic display to hold off intense pressure from Loris Capirossi and Dovizioso in an enthralling finale to the 28-lap encounter, which was run in punishing 35-degree heat. Today's result moved Toseland back into the top ten in the world championship standings. American team-mate Colin Edwards had a difficult afternoon, as any hopes he had of mounting an assault on the top six were dashed in the early stages. He struggled with rear grip, but was able to run a consistent pace in the second half of the race to fight his way back into a hard fought tenth. James Toseland 6th - 85 points "I got a decent start off the line and held my grid position in ninth, so I wasn't too disappointed and got into the groove quite quickly. I was battling with Dovizioso and Nakano for the first half of the race. I passed Shinya and then started chasing Dovizioso but just as I caught him I started having some troubles. But he was too and I managed to pass him and make it stick. Then Chris Vermeulen came past and pulled away which was a bit frustrating because I was hoping for fifth to get my best result. Coming from where I'd been in the last few races and to produce a ride like that was brilliant. That is what I'm here for and I really enjoyed it. I was about ten feet wide on those last few laps and probably the widest Yamaha in history. I knew Loris and Dovizioso were behind me in those last few laps and they wanted my place in front of their home fans. Loris passed me on the penultimate lap but I'd blocked the line so he had to go really deep and he just went slightly wide and he left half a door open and I moved back through. I didn't touch him so it was all fair and square. On the last lap I blocked into the last two corners and I knew I'd got sixth with it being a short drag to the line so it was a great feeling. Michelin has had a lot of stick recently but they have knuckled down and so have I. We have kept working hard and today we showed what we can achieve together with Tech 3 and Yamaha." Colin Edwards 10th - 108 points "It was a very tough race and not what I'd expected. I thought it was going to be tough, but not that tough and obviously I wanted to do better for my guys at Tech 3 who tried everything to solve some of our issues here. Unfortunately some of the issues we can't control, and I was struggling for grip in the early stages. I just couldn't get any temperature in the rear tyre and I didn't have the confidence to push like I wanted to. Those first three laps just dictated my result because once I got into my pace my lap times were pretty decent and good enough to be fighting much further up. But I lost too much in the early part of the race. The problem is on a short track when everybody is doing pretty much the same lap time; it is impossible to make up a lot of time. I got through to tenth and I've got a chance to put things right on home soil in Indianapolis next time out." Herve Poncharal - Team Manager "It was a fantastic race from James and I am really pleased to see him back up there fighting as we know he can do. When he suffers the whole team suffers and it is not been an easy period for him, but he has never let his head drop and he always kept his motivation and given Tech 3, Yamaha and Michelin 100 per cent. This result will give him a big boost for the remainder of the season, and maybe a podium is not impossible before the end. He came under a lot of pressure but he kept concentrated and showed the James we saw at the start of the season. I am sorry for Colin. His lap times showed at the end of the race he had the speed, but for some reason in the early part of the race he was not able to run the pace we had hoped. But it was a strong weekend for Tech 3 and for Yamaha. I'd like to congratulate Valentino and Jorge and I think we saw that Michelin and Bridgestone are really close together. I'd like to thank Michelin for the way they have responded to the last few races." Race 1 Pos., Rider, Manu., Nat., Total Time 1, Valentino Rossi, Yamaha, ITA, 44'41.884 2, Jorge Lorenzo, Yamaha, ESP, 0'3.163 3, Toni Elias, Ducati, ESP, 0'11.705 4, Daniel Pedrosa, Honda, ESP, 0'17.470 5, Chris Vermeulen, Suzuki, AUS, 0'23.409 6, James Toseland, Yamaha, GBR, 0'26.208 7, Loris Capirossi, Suzuki, ITA, 0'26.824 8, Andrea Dovizioso, Honda, ITA, 0'27.591 9, Marco Melandri, Ducati, ITA, 0'33.169 10, Colin Edwards, Yamaha, USA, 0'36.529 11, Sylvain Guintoli, Ducati, FRA, 0'42.081 12, Shinya Nakano, Honda, JPN, 0'43.808 13, Anthony West, Kawasaki, AUS, 0'54.874 14, John Hopkins, Kawasaki, USA, 0'55.154 Best Lap Rider, Manu., Nat., Total Time Valentino Rossi, Yamaha, ITA, 1'34.904 Rider Standings 31/08/2008 Pos., Rider, Manu., Nat., Points 1, Valentino Rossi, Yamaha, ITA, 262 2, Casey Stoner, Ducati, AUS, 187 3, Daniel Pedrosa, Honda, ESP, 185 4, Jorge Lorenzo, Yamaha, ESP, 140 5, Andrea Dovizioso, Honda, ITA, 118 6, Chris Vermeulen, Suzuki, AUS, 110 7, Colin Edwards, Yamaha, USA, 108 8, Shinya Nakano, Honda, JPN, 87 9, Loris Capirossi, Suzuki, ITA, 86 10, James Toseland, Yamaha, GBR, 85 11, Nicky Hayden, Honda, USA, 84 12, Toni Elias, Ducati, ESP, 82 13, Alex De Angelis, Honda, SMR, 49 14, Marco Melandri, Ducati, ITA, 48 15, Sylvain Guintoli, Ducati, FRA, 47 Team Standings 31/08/2008 Pos., Team, Points 1, FIAT Yamaha Team, 402 2, Repsol Honda Team, 269 3, Ducati Marlboro Team, 235 4, Rizla Suzuki MotoGP, 198 5, Tech3 Yamaha, 193 6, Honda Gresini, 136 7, Team Alice, 129 8, JIR Scot Team, 118 9, Kawasaki Racing Team, 75 10, Honda LCR, 40 Manufacturer Standings 31/08/2008 Pos., Manufacturer, Points 1, Yamaha, 291 2, Ducati, 228 3, Honda, 223 4, Suzuki, 139 5, Kawasaki, 66
Alex Asigno
Alex Asigno

Philippaerts and Coppins braced for season finale

After a three week hiatus the factory Yamaha Monster Motocross Team now prepare for an intense culmination to the 2008 FIM MX1-GP World Championship with the first of the three final Grand Prix taking place in three weeks this weekend just outside the city of Dublin. Series leader David Philippaerts holds a 7 point advantage over world champ Steve Ramon with team-mate Josh Coppins 35 points from the lead in third spot with a total of 150 still to be won. Trips to Holland and Italy will close the campaign. Philippaerts, emphatic victor of the Czech Grand Prix three weeks ago, has split his time during the break between Italy and his Belgian base. The 24 year old spent a week training in the Italian mountains before heading back to northern Europe for the Bilzen International in Belgium last weekend. Going up against world championship rivals Steve Ramon and Ken De Dycker, Philippaerts finished second, only one point away from first place and ahead of defending number one Ramon. “I am 100% ready for racing and excited for the next three weeks,” said the Italian who has fronted the championship for nine of the twelve GPs held so far. “I had some good training time in Italy even though we went up to the mountains and the weather was very strange, I even saw snow in the middle of August! We then came back to Belgium and Lommel and had the International last weekend. I was happy with my riding. I should have won the first moto as I was leading easily but a silly crash meant that I finished second. A bad start in the second saw me third and then I won the last race.” “It feels like a long time we have had off and now I am keen to get to Ireland,” he added. Josh Coppins has been busy over the break. The German Grand Prix winner took 3rd and 2nd positions overall in the fourth and fifth rounds of the Belgian Championship over three days at Balen and Orp-Le-Grand and then dominated the Ken Hall International in the UK last weekend, beating a host of GP peers on the way. The Kiwi has been working hard to ensure he is in peak form entering this crucial stage of the world championship but knows he faces a hard charge to the title. “I started the year on the back foot because of the injury and since then I have been gaining ground and then losing it for one reason or another; all along the way there has been a bit of pressure to keep in contention,” he said. “Thirty five points is quite a lot and I feel like the pressure has eased for these last three races. The championship is not impossible but it will be difficult. I just want to go out there and have fun and race hard. I felt a bit down after Loket so I kept busy over the break and I feel good for Dublin and the next two GPs.” The team have had some time to recollect before the heaviest spell of the calendar begins. After the three Grand Prix races – in which they will try to convert Yamaha’s current 14 point lead in the Manufacturer’s standings into a title success - they have only one week’s pause before both of their riders are likely to be representing their countries at the 62nd Motocross of Nations at Donington Park in the UK. “We have not done any tests during the break as we already rolled out some engine modifications in the Czech Republic,” said Racing Manager Mino Raspanti. “We possibly have some work ahead for the GP at Lierop, which will be another sandy event.”
Alex Asigno
Alex Asigno

Eugene Laverty replaces Fabien Foret for Donington

Eugene Laverty, the young 22 yr old Northern Irish 250 GP rider has been picked by the Yamaha World Supersport Team to replace injured rider Fabien Foret for the next two rounds of the World Supersport Championship at Donington and Vallelunga. Laverty is no stranger to the Supersport class, having raced successfully in British Supersport previously. He gave a strong performance in the 2006 championship, battling throughout the year to take third in the overall standings. The talented rider was fighting for the title however a hand injury left him side lined with four race wins at the end of the season.Prior to this he successfully competed in the 2004 British 125cc Championship, finishing 2nd in the season. Eugene moved on to take a ride in the 250 GP series for 2007 and 2008 however a lack of competitive machinery has hampered any significant racing success. Fabien Foret continues to recover well from his injuries sustained after crashing in the Brno round of the World Supersport Championship and is hoped to return to the Yamaha World Supersport Team before the end of the season. Wilco Zeelenberg (Team Manager, Yamaha World Supersport Team) "We were impressed with Karl Harris’ performance on the bike at Brands, it confirms for us that our bike is competitive even when we have someone not familiar with it. Karl rode well, however whilst Fabien is recovering this is a good opportunity for us to trial different riders. Donington is also more of a top power track compared to Brands which meansKarl’s physical size and weight may have been more of an issue whilst Eugene is a very lightweight rider so should have an edge" "Looking back to Eugene’s British Supersport rides he was keenly in competition with top riders like Crutchlow and Sykes, proving he’s a talented 4 stroke rider with strong Supersport credentials. With Donington coming up we wanted to keep using an English rider with excellent local track knowledge, which he has." Eugene Laverty "I’m really excited at the chance to ride a competitive Supersport machine. Two years of riding underpowered bikes has led to two difficult seasons for me. For Yamaha to pick me up and offer this opportunity is fantastic, I’m over the moon! I can’t wait to get to Donington and start working with the team to set up and get out on track"
Alex Asigno
Alex Asigno

Fifth win of the season takes Rossi fifty points clear

Valentino Rossi moved two races clear at the top of the championship with his fifth win of the season today, enjoying an easy ride home after his closest rival Casey Stoner crashed out on lap seven. Rossi, starting from second, lost some time at the first corner getting past John Hopkins and for the first couple of laps Stoner looked in danger of clearing off, but the Italian soon found his rhythm and was gradually making up time on the Australian when he saw him slide off into the gravel. The pair had already opened out an impressive gap from the chasing pack and Rossi was left to race the remaining 15 laps alone and unchallenged, eventually coming home 15 seconds clear of Toni Elias. The seven-time world champion's 67th premier-class victory takes him within one race of the all-time premier-class record, held by his compatriot Giacomo Agostini. Rossi is now 50 points clear of Stoner with Pedrosa 15 points off in third, whilst Lorenzo's six points see him remain fourth in the standings, ten points ahead of Andrea Dovizioso. Valentino Rossi - Position: 1 Time: 43'28.841 "I was confident today because my bike was fast from Friday practice, and with Jeremy we made a small modification to the front after warm-up to allow me to be a bit faster in some sections, and it worked very well. I lost about half a second getting past Hopkins at the start and Casey was incredibly fast at that stage, like he'd already done ten laps! For a short time I was worried but then, after two laps, I understood that my bike was working very well and that I was fast enough to try to catch him. I had closed a little bit already and gradually the red bike was becoming a bit bigger in front of me, and I think this is when he started to push harder and made his mistake. I was anticipating a very hard battle if I did catch him, so when I saw the red bike slide out I could hardly believe it - this made things a lot easier for me! After that I just enjoyed riding my bike; my Bridgestone tyres worked very well until the end and my M1 felt very good. Of course I can't count this as a complete victory because Casey fell, and I am sorry for him, but this is racing and I have to be happy with this result. We are 50 points clear which is a lot and I am very excited to be going to Misano in this situation. However we know that 50 points is still not always enough when you have someone as strong as Casey and so we won't relax. Now we have two days of testing and we will try some new electronics in order to help me open the throttle earlier and also, of course, test some Bridgestone tyres." Davide Brivio - Team Manager "Of course this is a very important victory for us and we're very happy today. It's clear that Valentino did a very good job at the start not to let Stoner get too far ahead, and he was starting to make up ground and put some pressure on him when he unfortunately crashed. Of course this made our job a lot easier! We need to keep going like this and not lose our concentration, but we've had two very good races and we are confident that we are in good shape. We have two days of testing now which will be very important for the final six races, and then we go to another home race at Misano and try to make up for last year!"
Lorenzo finishes tenth with gutsy ride in Brno Fiat Yamaha Team rookie Jorge Lorenzo finished a creditable tenth in Brno today, making up seven places after starting last on the grid. The Spaniard made the most of the tools he had available to pass several riders, including two on the last lap, and hangs onto his fourth place in the championship as a result. His team-mate Valentino Rossi won his fifth race of the season and was saved another tense battle with Casey Stoner after the Australian crashed out of the lead on the seventh lap. Lorenzo was able to pass Colin Edwards early on and he then gradually settled into a rhythm and passed both James Toseland and Dani Pedrosa to take 12th. During the middle part of the race his lap times gradually improved and brought him closer to the next group and he was rewarded with an exciting final lap, which saw him pass first Sylvain Guintoli and then John Hopkins on the line to take tenth. Six points for Lorenzo see him stay ten points ahead of Andrea Dovizioso in fourth place in the championship, whilst Rossi is now 50 points clear of Stoner. The Fiat Yamaha Team now have two days of testing before they head to the next round at Misano in Italy in two week's time. Jorge Lorenzo - Position: 10th Time: +39.573 "This race is a bit sad for me because we have the potential to do a lot better. However considering what has happened this weekend and, above all, the problems with the front tyre, I think we have done almost as much as we could. At the start I didn't want to take too many risks and I could feel that the front tyre was getting worse on each lap, but on the other hand the rear tyre was getting better each lap! I know that we have had had problems this weekend but I know that Michelin are working very hard, so now we will try to use the test to make some improvements. I want to say thank you to all of my team for their hard work, congratulate Valentino for his victory and finally also Toni Elias for his podium." Daniele Romagnoli - Team Manager "Today we couldn't have done any better than this, but we can't be satisfied to finish tenth. But overall Jorge did a great job and a good race, and he was able to find a good rhythm in the middle part of the race, continue until to the end and pass many riders, plus he was able to score some valuable points. Motivation in our team is still high because we have many more races to do and tomorrow at the test we will start again to work very hard with Michelin, look at the problems we have had here and try to find a way to improve things for the remaining races." Tech 3 Yamaha show fighting spirit in Brno Tech 3 Yamaha's James Toseland and Colin Edwards raced to top 15 results in today's Czech Republic GP. In front of a record crowd of over 146,000 fans at a cool and cloudy Brno, the 22-lap race proved to be a tough challenge for Toseland and Edwards, who both gave their maximum effort in difficult circumstances to claim 13th and 14th places respectively. Starting from the back row of the grid, Toseland made his customary good start, gaining two places on the first lap. The 27-year-old once again showed his never-say-die attitude, despite some traction issues as he scored points for the ninth time in 11 races. Edwards was one place further back as he too encountered some grip issues in an effort to maintain his pursuit of Toseland, as the Tech 3 duo fought closely in the opening stages. The American still remains firmly in the hunt for fourth place in the world championship, lying 18-points behind fellow Yamaha rider Jorge Lorenzo with six races remaining. Tech 3 Yamaha also remains in contention for a top four finish in the Team World Championship, and is still the leading non-factory team in the standings heading to the Misano round on August 31. James Toseland 13th - 75 points "It was a difficult race and the result is clearly not where we want to be. I don't want to be fighting at the back of the top 15, and neither does my team or Yamaha and it is disappointing. All I can do is go out there with whatever I have got underneath me and give it my maximum and I did that. But this team and Yamaha deserve to be higher up and today wasn't good enough. It would be easy to let my head drop but I have never been that type of rider and I am not going to start now. I was reasonably happy with my start but I had a few moments with the front tyre on the first couple of laps and I soon realised that I was at my maximum and that I wasn't going to be able to do much more. It is disappointing because I have slipped out of the top ten in the standings and that was one of my big goals before the start of the season. We have got to keep working hard as a team and hope that Michelin can quickly turn it around for the rest of the season so we can try and get back into that top ten and keep the morale up of the team. Colin had even more problems than me so it must have been tough for him, but this is the situation we are in. We will all keep pushing hard and see what we can do." Colin Edwards 14th - 102 points "I could see straightaway behind James that he was having some issues with the front tyre, which we expected. I still thought I could put a good pace together but it never happened. I just didn't have the confidence I needed to push harder with the tyres and the more I pushed I didn't seem to go much faster. James was able to leave me pretty easily as my issues started to get worse but I wanted to stay out there and try my best for my guys at Tech 3 and Yamaha, who as always have been working like crazy to help me this weekend. I thank them for that, but there was nothing else I could do. Towards the end I just decided to take a few more risks and I went a bit quicker, but there was no way I was going to catch anybody. I've had a bad run lately but I'm still in contention for fourth in the championship, and I'll keep fighting. But we need big improvements from Michelin. The good start we had to the season seems like a long way away now, and we have to work with Michelin to try and solve some of the issues because I didn't enjoy today at all." Herve Poncharal - Team Manager "We thought the disappointment of Laguna Seca would be forgotten after the summer break and we would have a positive weekend in Brno. Unfortunately from the very beginning of the weekend we understood it was going to be another tough weekend. Clearly we couldn't challenge the tyre opposition. We have been trying a lot of different settings to try and cope with that, but it was difficult. The most difficult was qualifying in the rain conditions and we were far behind. We knew starting from the last two rows it would be a tough race but James and Colin still tried as hard as they could and they stayed on track and scored a few points. But this is not how we started the championship and today was a really difficult day. To see the chequered flag with a few points is a relief but for sure there will be a lot of meetings and a lot of thinking of what to do for the future because we keep on losing ground in the championship and this is very disappointing." Race 1 - 22 Laps Pos., Rider, Manu., Nat., Total Time 1, Valentino Rossi, Yamaha, ITA, 43'28.841 2, Toni Elias, Ducati, ESP, 0'15.004 3, Loris Capirossi, Suzuki, ITA, 0'21.689 4, Shinya Nakano, Honda, JPN, 0'25.859 5, Anthony West, Kawasaki, AUS, 0'29.465 6, Chris Vermeulen, Suzuki, AUS, 0'30.608 7, Marco Melandri, Ducati, ITA, 0'36.453 8, Alex De Angelis, Honda, SMR, 0'36.750 9, Andrea Dovizioso, Honda, ITA, 0'38.822 10, Jorge Lorenzo, Yamaha, ESP, 0'39.573 11, John Hopkins, Kawasaki, USA, 0'39.610 12, Sylvain Guintoli, Ducati, FRA, 0'40.892 13, James Toseland, Yamaha, GBR, 1'11.490 14, Colin Edwards, Yamaha, USA, 1'21.133 15, Daniel Pedrosa, Honda, ESP, 1'37.038 16, Randy De Puniet, Honda, FRA, 1'38.407 Best Lap Rider, Manu., Nat., Total Time Casey Stoner, Ducati, AUS, 1'57.199 Rider Standings 17/08/2008 Pos., Rider, Manu., Nat., Points 1, Valentino Rossi, Yamaha, ITA, 237 2, Casey Stoner, Ducati, AUS, 187 3, Daniel Pedrosa, Honda, ESP, 172 4, Jorge Lorenzo, Yamaha, ESP, 120 5, Andrea Dovizioso, Honda, ITA, 110 6, Colin Edwards, Yamaha, USA, 102 7, Chris Vermeulen, Suzuki, AUS, 99 8, Nicky Hayden, Honda, USA, 84 9, Shinya Nakano, Honda, JPN, 83 10, Loris Capirossi, Suzuki, ITA, 77 11, James Toseland, Yamaha, GBR, 75 12, Toni Elias, Ducati, ESP, 66 13, Alex De Angelis, Honda, SMR, 49 14, Sylvain Guintoli, Ducati, FRA, 42 15, Marco Melandri, Ducati, ITA, 41 Team Standings 17/08/2008 Pos., Team, Points 1, FIAT Yamaha Team, 357 2, Repsol Honda Team, 256 3, Ducati Marlboro Team, 228 4, Rizla Suzuki MotoGP, 178 5, Tech3 Yamaha, 177 6, Honda Gresini, 132 7, JIR Scot Team, 110 8, Team Alice, 108 9, Kawasaki Racing Team, 70 10, Honda LCR, 40 Manufacturer Standings 17/08/2008 Pos., Manufacturer, Points 1, Yamaha, 266 2, Ducati, 212 3, Honda, 210 4, Suzuki, 128 5, Kawasaki, 63
Alex Asigno
Alex Asigno

Fantastic Philippaerts takes win number two of 2008

Only three rounds remain in the 2008 MX1-GP World Championship after a brilliant meeting for the Yamaha Monster Motocross Team at the Loket circuit for the Grand Prix of Czech Republic represented the twelfth meeting of fifteen on the series schedule. David Philippaerts obtained his second victory of the season and his third moto success to regain control of the standings and snare the red plate once again for the front of his works YZ450FM. Team-mate Josh Coppins was struck by a freak moment of misfortune that contributed to his result of 9th position overall. Under cloudy but dry skies and in front of 28,000 spectators, Loket was an extreme contrast to the rough and physically demanding depths of the Belgian sand last weekend. Hard-pack, slippery and fast, the layout was uncomplicated and offered diversity through the many changes of elevation thanks to the valley setting. The riders spent time finding effective tyre combinations through practice in search of the best traction. The team were pleased with some technical modifications to the YZ450FMs with new engine parts adding more bottom end grunt to the potent motor. Coppins was particularly content and was holding 3rd position in Timed Practice until finally being nudged down to 4th; it was still one of his better qualification performances of the year. Philippaerts was fastest in the first free practice although was unable to get a clean lap in the official chrono and placed 11th. The top sixteen riders were split by less than two seconds. Philippaerts' first race was incredible and saw one of his best performances of the season. More misfortune on the opening lap after a tangle with Tanel Leok witnessed the 24 year old picking up his motorcycle and re-starting outside the top twenty. He then embarked on a heart-pounding recovery with adventurous lines and overtaking manoeuvres to rapidly gain ground.Philippaerts worked his way back, setting the fastest lap on the fifth circulation and passed his team-mate and world champion Steve Ramon to take a dazzling 3rd place. The second sprint was less frantic and he grabbed the lead on the first lap and established a race winning advantage over Sebastien Pourcel to the flag. Coppins was a persistent rider in the battle for third position in Moto1 but his progress was limited when a rock broke his goggles on the second lap. The Czech dirt was littered with small stones so even keeping pace with his rivals and taking 4th was a remarkable achievement. In the second race the New Zealander was still suffering with blurred vision and when he touched a false neutral over a jump; he hit the ground and sacrificed a top three finish to cross the line in 10th. One week after losing the red plate to Ramon, Philippaerts is again in charge of the MX1-GP World Championship by 7 points over the Belgian. Coppins is still third but now 35 behind. Yamaha hold a 14 point lead in the manufacturer's table. A three week break now precedes a hard and rapid finale to the season. Three consecutive Grand Prix, in Ireland, Holland and Italy, will close the campaign by mid-September. The trip to the Fairyhouse horse racing venue for a new track just outside Dublin will represent round thirteen on August 31st. David Philippaerts, Yamaha Monster Motocross Team, 1st: "This is a great win for me and it has come at a good time. I pushed really hard in that first moto after a stupid crash and passed many riders. I found some good lines and just went for it. The track was very difficult but the team had worked hard in the last week to give me a bike that was perfect and I felt really happy being able to push. My goal was to at least catch Ramon but I found I could keep going and the top three was possible. In the second moto I took one or two risks but then was able to make good lap-times when I was in the lead and had a great race. For me Loket is a very real and natural motocross track and has similarities to some places in Italy. We have three races left now and I will try hard each time to get the best position I can. We will then see if the championship is ours or not! Josh Coppins, Yamaha Monster Motocross Team, 9th: "If I am honest then I am happy to get out of here uninjured because it was a big crash for me in the second race and I was lucky not to get hurt. I don't seem to get on too well with Loket! Overall it was a disappointing day and nothing went right. I felt like I was riding pretty good but I was struggling with my vision in the first race after a stone whacked my goggles and broke the strap clean off. It was a freak thing. Thankfully it did not happen again in the second race but I was suffering from the first; my eyes were watering and it was very difficult to go fast. I could not race how I wanted because I couldn't glimpse the bumps clearly and things were all blurry; it was even quite dangerous sometimes. I hit a false neutral over the jump in the second race. I went over the bars and it more or less ended the moto. I ripped my pants, broke the buckle and my kidney belt was away somewhere. I feel pretty sore now and have some cuts and bruises. We still have some races left in this championship and the next challenge is to keep positive over this break until the next Grand Prix." Mino Raspanti, Racing Manager, Yamaha Monster Motocross Team: "This was a fantastic response after Lommel. David tried to pass another rider in the first lap of the first moto and the crash meant he had a lot of work to do from outside the top twenty, but wow, what a job. After two laps he had a good lap-time but was still far away and it wasn't until the halfway mark when he reached eighth and the group ahead that we realised a top three was a possibility. It was a great race. He started OK in Moto2 but the first two corners were excellent and he passed three or four riders to lead. He then did not make any mistakes to finish a fantastic weekend. Josh was so unlucky again. To race here without goggles is very tough but he is a strong guy and pushed very hard to finish the moto. The false neutral and the big crash probably cost him a podium. He lost some points in the championship but is still third with three GPs to go. YRRD have been working hard and were able to give us some new parts this weekend so a big thank you to them." Race 1 - 21 Laps Pos., Rider, Manu., Nat., Total Time 1, Maximilian Nagl, KTM, GER, 39'38.255 2, Jonathan Barragan, KTM, ESP, 0'8.690 3, David Philippaerts, Yamaha, ITA, 0'16.171 4, Steve Ramon, Suzuki, BEL, 0'19.210 5, Sébastien Pourcel, Kawasaki, FRA, 0'20.225 6, Tanel Leok, Kawasaki, EST, 0'20.798 7, Joshua Coppins, Yamaha, NZL, 0'23.086 8, Ken De Dycker, Suzuki, BEL, 0'24.745 9, Clement Desalle, Suzuki, BEL, 0'37.346 10, Kornel Nemeth, KTM, HUN, 0'50.532 11, Manuel Priem, Kawasaki, BEL, 0'54.403 12, Gregory Aranda, Kawasaki, FRA, 0'58.941 13, Bradley Anderson, Suzuki, GBR, 1'0.900 14, Steve Boniface, Honda, FRA, 1'8.367 15, Marc De Reuver, Honda, NED, 1'9.294 16, Aigar Leok, Yamaha, EST, 1'15.572 17, Alex Salvini, Suzuki, ITA, 1'19.569 18, Martin Michek, Honda, CZE, 1'20.518 19, Carlos Campano, Yamaha, ESP, 1'30.893 20, Alessio Chiodi, TM, ITA, 1'32.081 Race 2 - 21 Laps Pos., Rider, Manu., Nat., Total Time 1, David Philippaerts, Yamaha, ITA, 40'18.466 2, Sébastien Pourcel, Kawasaki, FRA, 0'4.986 3, Ken De Dycker, Suzuki, BEL, 0'6.206 4, Steve Ramon, Suzuki, BEL, 0'10.184 5, Jonathan Barragan, KTM, ESP, 0'14.943 6, Tanel Leok, Kawasaki, EST, 0'17.849 7, Manuel Priem, Kawasaki, BEL, 0'24.837 8, Clement Desalle, Suzuki, BEL, 0'31.930 9, Maximilian Nagl, KTM, GER, 0'39.030 10, Joshua Coppins, Yamaha, NZL, 0'51.460 11, Gregory Aranda, Kawasaki, FRA, 0'52.513 12, Kornel Nemeth, KTM, HUN, 0'54.687 13, Aigar Leok, Yamaha, EST, 0'56.987 14, Alex Salvini, Suzuki, ITA, 0'59.846 15, Bradley Anderson, Suzuki, GBR, 1'0.810 16, Steve Boniface, Honda, FRA, 1'11.377 17, Marc De Reuver, Honda, NED, 1'16.289 18, Kevin Strijbos, Kawasaki, BEL, 1'20.246 19, Tom Church, Kawasaki, GBR, 1'24.554 20, Jiri Cepelak, Yamaha, CZE, 1'34.332 Rider Standings 10/08/2008 Pos., Rider, Manu., Nat., Points 1, David Philippaerts, Yamaha, ITA, 405 2, Steve Ramon, Suzuki, BEL, 398 3, Joshua Coppins, Yamaha, NZL, 370 4, Ken De Dycker, Suzuki, BEL, 369 5, Jonathan Barragan, KTM, ESP, 369 6, Sébastien Pourcel, Kawasaki, FRA, 344 7, Maximilian Nagl, KTM, GER, 327 8, Tanel Leok, Kawasaki, EST, 275 9, Billy MacKenzie, Honda, GBR, 257 10, Marc De Reuver, Honda, NED, 224 11, Clement Desalle, Suzuki, BEL, 215 12, Manuel Priem, Kawasaki, BEL, 197 13, Kornel Nemeth, KTM, HUN, 159 14, Julien Bill, Honda, CHE, 148 15, Aigar Leok, Yamaha, EST, 131 16, Mike Brown, Honda, USA, 107 17, Marcus Schiffer, KTM, GER, 97 18, James Noble, KTM, GBR, 93 19, Steve Boniface, Honda, FRA, 75 20, Tom Church, Kawasaki, GBR, 74 23, Carlos Campano, Yamaha, ESP, 44 Manufacturer Standings 10/08/2008 Pos., Manufacturer, Points 1, Yamaha, 471 2, Suzuki, 457 3, KTM, 452 4, Kawasaki, 420 5, Honda, 362 6, TM, 32 7, Aprilia, 12 ---------- RACE REPORT - 10/08/2008 Aubin 4th in Czech Republic Yamaha Ricci Racing's Nico Aubin missed out on a podium position by just one point at a cloudy but dry Loket circuit for the Grand Prix of Czech Republic and the twelfth round of fifteen in the 2008 FIM MX2-GP World Championship.The Frenchman was 4th overall at the venue where he scored his maiden victory twelve months earlier. The hard and fast Loket mud meant that it was very difficult for riders to make up time on their competitors while even the smallest mistake conceded hard-won ground to pursuers.The 20 year old took 2nd place in his qualification heat on Saturday despite suffering a stomach illness which took the edge from his physical condition.He had an average start in the first of the two 35 minute and 2 lap motos but fought back to capture 3rd spot behind runaway leaders Tyla Rattray and Tommy Searle. The duo battled for the win again in an entertaining Moto2 while Aubin had to strive against countrymen Steve Frossard and Anthony Boissiere for a top five position. Finally abdominal pain meant that 6th position was the best he could manage. Second best Yamaha finisher was 3C Racing's Manuel Monni. The 2008 Italian MX2 champion registered 11th and 8th for a decent top ten standing and 8th overall. Monni spent long periods of the first moto chasing and fighting with sole Red Bull De Carli representative Alessandro Lupino. The teenager notched the best result of his short career to-date with a decent start and 12th behind his fellow Italian. A tougher second moto meant he finished 17th, but 13th overall was a landmark. Aubin's team-mate Davide Guarneri was 12th at the end of the afternoon and although he could only complete the second moto he gained 14 points for 7th spot. The Italian was fighting for 11th in Moto1 until a crash three laps from the line dropped him far behind the pack and he rode into the pit-lane, well out of the points. A more positive outing in Moto2 produced his eighth top ten result this season. Guarneri is missing a ligament in his right knee and is currently reviewing his options to have corrective surgery in order to use the winter months for rehabilitation and come back fully fit for testing and preparation in 2009. Impressive 18 year old American Zach Osborne was on slightly easier ground compared to the demands of his world championship debut last week in the deep Belgian sand. The Utag Yamaha.com rider has signed with the British team to finish the Grand Prix season with the YZ250F and although his lap-times would have guaranteed a top ten finish he suffered a mechanical problem in Moto1 and was knocked off the bike on the fourth corner of Moto2 which meant he had to restart from last and reached 16th position. Yamaha Van Beers Evgeny Bobryshev was back in Grand Prix action after missing the last round in Belgium to win the final meeting of the Russian MX1 series with a YZ450F. The rookie missed the points in Moto1 and had a big crash on a steep downhill in Moto2 but was able to walk away. Aubin's points haul in Loket and Shaun Simpson's absence due to a fractured collarbone in Saturday practice means that he is 3 points from 4th position in the championship standings. Tony Cairoli is still 3rd despite missing the last two events and the rest of the season after the operation on his left knee. Monni is 10th. Three consecutive Grand Prix events - in Ireland (Dublin), Holland (Lierop) and Italy (Faenza) will finish the season after a three week break which now lies ahead for the teams and riders of the MX1-GP and MX2-GP categories. Nicolas Aubin, Yamaha Ricci Racing, 4th: "I am a bit disappointed because I had pain in my stomach today and for sure this affected my speed; I knew before the races that it would be a difficult GP. I had a bad start in the first moto but I made my way to 3rd and then tried to catch Tommy. I started to have some pain and had to ease-off at the end. It was the same problem in Moto2 but this time after a few laps, right at the time I was fighting with a group of riders. 4th overall is not a bad result considering the problem I had and now we have a few weeks before Ireland. It is bad luck for Shaun that he missed this GP because he has ridden well this season but I hope we can fight on the track again and both try for that third position in the championship." Davide Guarneri, Yamaha Ricci Racing, 12th: "It was a bad weekend up until the last moto! I did not ride well on Saturday; I was too tense on the bike and then had a bad start in the heat race. In the first moto I got the start wrong again and my speed was not so good. When a rider put me on the floor I was too far behind by the time I restarted and stopped. I was angry for the second moto and pushed as hard as I could to reach 7th, which was much better. This might be the last race for me, although I will be in Ireland if the doctor cannot do the operation in the next few weeks." Alessandro Lupino, Yamaha Red Bull De Carli, 13th: "Today I had two good starts and this was very important; I was really happy about this and also the fact I could do some good lap-times that were not too far from the front guys. Fighting with Monni was fun and it was like an Italian championship race! Staying in front of him for 17 laps was very hard, so it is something I can be pleased about. It has been a tough time for the team so I am pleased I can give them a small result and show that I am making progress in my first season." Zach Osborne, Utag Yamaha.com, 22nd: "To say I did not have much luck today is a big understatement. I am a bit disappointed because I had the lap-times to be hanging with the top five but it overall it was a good learning experience because I sorted my starts. I will head back to the US to do Southwick on a 450 and then return in time to be ready for Ireland." Race 1 - 21 Laps Pos., Rider, Manu., Nat., Total Time 1, Tyla Rattray, KTM, RSA, 40'20.524 2, Tommy Searle, KTM, GBR, 0'4.493 3, Nicolas Aubin, Yamaha, FRA, 0'9.888 4, Stephen Sword, Kawasaki, GBR, 0'11.828 5, Anthony Boissière, KTM, FRA, 0'13.149 6, Steven Frossard, Kawasaki, FRA, 0'14.178 7, Joel Roelants, KTM, BEL, 0'14.995 8, Rui Goncalves, KTM, POR, 0'15.974 9, Jeremy Tarroux, KTM, FRA, 0'17.119 10, Xavier Boog, Suzuki, FRA, 0'36.511 11, Manuel Monni, Yamaha, ITA, 0'39.144 12, Alessandro Lupino, Yamaha, ITA, 0'42.322 13, Jake Nicholls, Suzuki, GBR, 0'49.717 14, Marvin Musquin, Honda, FRA, 0'52.567 15, Jason Dougan, Suzuki, GBR, 0'54.891 16, Carl Nunn, Suzuki, GBR, 0'56.787 17, Gert Krestinov, KTM, EST, 1'2.672 18, Loic Rombaut, Kawasaki, FRA, 1'5.522 19, Gunter Schmidlinger, Honda, AUT, 1'8.845 20, Petr Smitka, Yamaha, CZE, 1'13.475 Race 2 - 21 Laps Pos., Rider, Manu., Nat., Total Time 1, Tommy Searle, KTM, GBR, 40'44.956 2, Tyla Rattray, KTM, RSA, 0'11.162 3, Anthony Boissière, KTM, FRA, 0'14.520 4, Steven Frossard, Kawasaki, FRA, 0'19.897 5, Stephen Sword, Kawasaki, GBR, 0'23.158 6, Nicolas Aubin, Yamaha, FRA, 0'26.136 7, Davide Guarneri, Yamaha, ITA, 0'28.266 8, Manuel Monni, Yamaha, ITA, 0'28.909 9, Jeremy Van Horebeek, KTM, BEL, 0'31.683 10, Rui Goncalves, KTM, POR, 0'34.397 11, Xavier Boog, Suzuki, FRA, 0'43.388 12, Jeremy Tarroux, KTM, FRA, 0'47.232 13, Matti Seistola, Honda, FIN, 0'48.062 14, Carl Nunn, Suzuki, GBR, 0'50.107 15, Elliott Banks-Browne, Suzuki, GBR, 0'52.827 16, Zach Osborne, Yamaha, USA, 0'53.855 17, Alessandro Lupino, Yamaha, ITA, 0'59.025 18, Gert Krestinov, KTM, EST, 1'1.139 19, Loic Rombaut, Kawasaki, FRA, 1'8.502 20, Joel Roelants, KTM, BEL, 1'9.492 Rider Standings 10/08/2008 Pos., Rider, Manu., Nat., Points 1, Tyla Rattray, KTM, RSA, 499 2, Tommy Searle, KTM, GBR, 479 3, Antonio Cairoli, Yamaha, ITA, 357 4, Shaun Simpson, KTM, GBR, 312 5, Nicolas Aubin, Yamaha, FRA, 309 6, Rui Goncalves, KTM, POR, 303 7, Steven Frossard, Kawasaki, FRA, 248 8, Xavier Boog, Suzuki, FRA, 245 9, Jeremy Van Horebeek, KTM, BEL, 244 10, Manuel Monni, Yamaha, ITA, 226 11, Stephen Sword, Kawasaki, GBR, 212 12, Anthony Boissière, KTM, FRA, 210 13, Marvin Musquin, Honda, FRA, 180 14, Davide Guarneri, Yamaha, ITA, 167 15, Jeremy Tarroux, KTM, FRA, 161 16, Joel Roelants, KTM, BEL, 148 17, Gregory Aranda, Kawasaki, FRA, 101 18, Gautier Paulin, Kawasaki, FRA, 95 19, Carl Nunn, Suzuki, GBR, 85 20, Gert Krestinov, KTM, EST, 80 25, Alessandro Lupino, Yamaha, ITA, 45 26, Evgeny Bobryshev, Yamaha, RUS, 42 29, Matteo Bonini, Yamaha, ITA, 25 43, Deny Philippaerts, Yamaha, ITA, 7 Manufacturer Standings 10/08/2008 Pos., Manufacturer, Points 1, KTM, 569 2, Yamaha, 520 3, Kawasaki, 371 4, Suzuki, 296 5, Honda, 234
Alex Asigno
Alex Asigno

Mid-season Review with Masao Furusawa - Executive Officer, Engineering Operations for Yamaha Motor C

1 – What’s been the biggest change to the M1 this year? “We have made many changes to the 2008 M1 compared to the 2007 version and we have improved it a lot; Valentino is satisfied with our work so far. Of course the biggest change for us has affected Valentino’s side only – the change of tyre manufacturer. After the switch we had a hard time learning how to get the best performance from the new tyres and of course we had no data. Last however year Valentino predicted that changing would be the right thing for him and he was right, although of course we weren’t able to predict how differently the tyre would behave.” 2 – What else have you changed on Valentino’s bike? “We have had to work a lot on the chassis setting and we have also changed the geometry of the bike in order to get a good balance with the tyre character. Since we moved from 990cc to 800cc higher corner speed is needed in order to get faster lap times and to win. Therefore we have tried many different chassis settings in order to find out the best of bike geometry, centre of gravity, rider position, wheel-base length, chassis stiffness and so on.” 3 – Do you think that your development since the start of the season has been a success? “MotoGP bikes are not production bikes and that’s why I always say that Valentino, Jorge and all MotoGP riders are not human beings! Valentino has become more and more satisfied race by race and we have been able to find an ideal set-up for him that enabled him to win three races in a row. Since then, Casey Stoner and his team have found new solutions that have allowed them to make a big step forward and now of course we know that the remaining races will be tough, although we are still leading by 25 points after the excellent win in Laguna Seca.” 4 – What is the aim for the rest of the season regarding bike development? “Our competitor’s great performances is a big push to all of us to improve our M1 further, maybe even more than we did during last winter. I would especially like to progress the electronic control system and the engine power. At the moment there is no need to work more on the chassis, although this is something we will have to consider for next season. Lately we have been experiencing some problems with acceleration on the exit of the corner, so we need to work to find better bike geometry and chassis setting alongside the development of the engine control system.” 5 – What is your opinion about the electronics in MotoGP now? Do you think the rules need to be changed? “This is a popular discussion at the moment and we are looking at the overall situation; do we need to change the rules? It’s true that many riders have crashed this year, including Jorge, who had a very bad series of crashes, and also Dani Pedrosa. The question is if these crashes have something to do with the current bike technology. We moved from 990cc to 800cc to have safer bikes, but the new bikes have a higher cornering speed and this might present a danger for some riders. I think that we need to do something and the biggest issue is the electronic control system. In any case, it is clear that we at Yamaha will have to develop a better and better ECS, in order to beat our rivals. I still think that the M1 is best bike out there, although Casey has had a string of very impressive results.” 6 – Valentino has re-signed for two more years and has cited his relationship with you as one of the main reasons he will continue with Yamaha. How do you feel about you relationship with him? “The reason I always continue to be confident is because I trust Valentino so much! I like his way of thinking, he is always positive and this rubs off on everyone else. He never complains or criticizes; on the contrary, he is always looking forward and searching for new solutions! He has exactly the same approach to problems as I have. Valentino always has a positive and logical way of thinking, like me. He has a very good sense of humour, and I like this a lot; I like him as a person very much. The biggest shame is that my age is almost the double his, but the level of thinking is the same! The only difference is that he is just 29. When I was 29, I never thought about tactics and strategies! I have a huge respect for him. He is the genius behind the bike.” 7 – What are your mid-season impressions of Jorge? “I like Jorge very much; he is a good guy and a very good rider. Honestly, he is very different than I had expected before he joined Yamaha; I was impressed by his mature attitude and his fluent English. He is a very smart guy, smarter than I expected! He has a big talent as a rider; he is very smooth and very effective. I am sure that in the future he will dominate in MotoGP. At the beginning of the season we started with no ambitions, we thought it was too early for him to win a race because he was a rookie. He was just supposed to be here to learn about his M1. But then he surprised us with his incredible three pole positions in a row and then with his victory. Everything happened much earlier than we had expected. Generally speaking he is a very good entertainer for Yamaha and for the spectators. His season surpassed expectations early on but of course he has had some problems since then which we are working hard to address.” 8 – How has Jorge reacted since the crashes? “After the bad crashes he has suffered, he has changed his riding style somewhat, aiming to improve his confidence in the electronics, which can help him. Before the crash in Laguna he was recovering and beginning to find a different way to treat a MotoGP bike. Laguna was a great pity, very unlucky and another set-back but I am still confident for the rest of the season, although we will continue not to put any pressure on him and there is no need to hurry his learning process.” 9 – What is your feeling about the current team? "I am very satisfied with Jorge’s new crew chief, who joined us this year, Ramon Forcada. He is a very good crew chief, as is Jeremy Burgess. JB is an easy and sophisticated guy, he hates to worry about political correctness, like me! Now both he and Ramon are combining their wealth of experience with the new technology very successfully. Regarding Jorge’s bike specifically, I understand very well what Ramon is doing with Jorge and with Jorge’s bike. I speak with him regularly and I am satisfied that we have the same recognition about Jorge." "Our entire team is made up of good people and good workers! As far as our riders are concerned, we have a very strong weapon; Valentino is the present and Jorge is the future"
Alex Asigno
Alex Asigno

Coppins 7th through tough Belgian sand

The Yamaha Monster Motocross Team endured one of their hardest and most dramatic days of the 2008 FIM MX1-GP world championship as Josh Coppins finished 7th and David Philippaerts 10th through the notoriously heavy and difficult sand of the Lommel circuit for the Grand Prix of Belgium and the eleventh round of fifteen in the current campaign. Arguably one of the toughest tests for man and machine on the GP calendar, the rough and absorbing sand in central Belgium was suitably demanding, and the racing conditions were not helped by occasional light showers. 27,000 spectators saw two action-packed MX1 motos in which constant position changes took place thanks to varying race speed across the bumps and crashes and mistakes due to fatigue and miscalculation. It was not a good day for series leader David Philippaerts who took 15th and 6th and described the track as the hardest he has ridden. A racing incident with Ken de Dycker led to the Italian falling to the floor on the first lap and the YZ450FM also being clipped from his hands from a passing rider when he was trying to restart. Philippaerts regained ground to fifteenth place before another error ruined his work. Google-less, he made his way back to fifteenth and lost the red plate to Steve Ramon for the first time since round three in Portugal by just one point. In the second moto he fought with title rival Ramon - both riders falling in the latter stages as tiredness took hold - and crossed the finish line behind the Belgian, meaning that he trails the world champion by two points with four Grand Prix and eight motos remaining. The team's best placed rider was Coppins but the Kiwi was unsatisfied with his results of 5th and 8th. The 31 year old was sick entering the weekend and felt unprepared for the test ahead. He started around the top ten in the opening race and pulled through in strongly and typical style by the end. Like many riders he struggled in the second moto and lost any chance of a top five overall finish after colliding with Billy Mackenzie and falling. Yamaha Van Beers Aigar Leok took his sixth top ten finish of the season with 9th place in the second moto and was 11th overall. In the championship standings Yamaha still head the manufacturers table by 7 points. Philippaerts has a slender deficit to Ramon while Coppins is only 17 points away in 3rd. The Yamaha Monster Motocross Team will only have a few days to recover from their exertions in Belgium with the Grand Prix of Czech Republic at the Loket circuit, round twelve of fifteen, due to occur next weekend. Josh Coppins, Yamaha Monster Motocross Team, 7th: "I had Flu coming into the weekend and it was a bit frustrating knowing I was approaching the hardest race of the year not in the best shape. Overall it was a pretty average GP in terms of riding and fitness but in terms of the championship points it was not the end of the world. To try and be champion I have to be better than this. One is example is the move I tried to make on Billy in the second moto. I went for it but ended up taking him down. It was a bit silly and because I was so tired I miscalculated; so sorry to him. The first moto was OK and I came through a bit at the end but in the second I felt I could only go at ¾. I wasn't surprised by how much of a hard test this track would be. Normally my strength is one of my positive points but this GP I could not keep at my maximum. We go to Loket next and I am looking forward to a hard-pack start. Right now I just want to ride better and hopefully feel 100% going into the race." David Philippaerts, Yamaha Monster Motocross Team, 10th: "What a hard day. I crashed too much and this track was unbelievable. For me it was the hardest track of them all. In the first moto I changed my line in the corner and De Dycker came across and hit my front wheel. There was no time to react. I was so tired in the second that I could not save the bike when the front wheel started to go. I am second in the championship but it is more or less the same and there are four GPs to go. A lot of riders made mistakes today and when you go down in the sand it is hard to recover." Mino Raspanti, Racing Manager, Yamaha Monster Motocross Team: "We knew this weekend would be difficult! Josh was pretty good in the first moto except that his speed was so-so in the first moments of the race but his pace was like the leaders by the end. In the second he was around seventh and doing OK but then came together with Billy when he tried to overtake. He had been really ill during the week so honestly I am happy with what he did today; especially because he took some points away from first position in the championship. David was unlucky with the first moto crash and it was always going to be a very hard and difficult way back from that. We have seen him make some very good recoveries but this was a different scenario. 15th was not good for the championship but it was not a complete disaster with the amount of races we still have. Both Ramon and David exchanged mistakes in the second moto but the result insured that he is not far away at all even if the red plate is gone for the moment. It was a complicated weekend for the bikes as well and we did not have any problems, which was great, and the mechanics and the team worked really hard." Race 1 - 18 Laps Pos., Rider, Manu., Nat., Total Time 1, Marc De Reuver, Honda, NED, 41'40.370 2, Jonathan Barragan, KTM, ESP, 0'9.075 3, Ken De Dycker, Suzuki, BEL, 0'12.520 4, Steve Ramon, Suzuki, BEL, 0'13.904 5, Joshua Coppins, Yamaha, NZL, 0'15.320 6, Maximilian Nagl, KTM, GER, 0'15.422 7, Sébastien Pourcel, Kawasaki, FRA, 0'54.062 8, Clement Desalle, Suzuki, BEL, 0'55.888 9, Billy MacKenzie, Honda, GBR, 0'57.210 10, Manuel Priem, Kawasaki, BEL, 0'58.543 11, Kornel Nemeth, KTM, HUN, 0'59.584 12, Aigar Leok, Yamaha, EST, 1'33.677 13, Patrick Roos, KTM, NED, 1'42.554 14, Cedric Melotte, Aprilia, BEL, 1'51.555 15, David Philippaerts, Yamaha, ITA, 1'59.985 16, Danny Theybers, Suzuki, BEL, 2'17.298 17, William Saris, Yamaha, NED, 2'30.997 18, Tanel Leok, Kawasaki, EST, -1 Laps 19, Marcus Schiffer, KTM, GER, -1 Laps 20, Bradley Anderson, Suzuki, GBR, -1 Laps Race 2 - 18 Laps Pos., Rider, Manu., Nat., Total Time 1, Jonathan Barragan, KTM, ESP, 40'19.697 2, Maximilian Nagl, KTM, GER, 0'2.470 3, Ken De Dycker, Suzuki, BEL, 0'31.172 4, Sébastien Pourcel, Kawasaki, FRA, 0'39.137 5, Steve Ramon, Suzuki, BEL, 0'40.906 6, David Philippaerts, Yamaha, ITA, 0'42.976 7, Kornel Nemeth, KTM, HUN, 0'43.557 8, Joshua Coppins, Yamaha, NZL, 0'57.923 9, Aigar Leok, Yamaha, EST, 0'59.150 10, Marc De Reuver, Honda, NED, 1'16.595 11, Billy MacKenzie, Honda, GBR, 1'21.356 12, Bradley Anderson, Suzuki, GBR, 1'23.764 13, Tanel Leok, Kawasaki, EST, 1'30.584 14, Julien Bill, Honda, CHE, 1'33.928 15, Tom Church, Kawasaki, GBR, 1'47.989 16, Patrick Roos, KTM, NED, 1'55.287 17, Clement Desalle, Suzuki, BEL, 2'13.299 18, Danny Theybers, Suzuki, BEL, 2'16.552 19, Manuel Priem, Kawasaki, BEL, 2'19.833 20, Loic Leonce, Yamaha, FRA, -1 Laps Rider Standings 03/08/2008 Pos., Rider, Manu., Nat., Points 1, Steve Ramon, Suzuki, BEL, 362 2, David Philippaerts, Yamaha, ITA, 360 3, Joshua Coppins, Yamaha, NZL, 345 4, Ken De Dycker, Suzuki, BEL, 336 5, Jonathan Barragan, KTM, ESP, 331 6, Sébastien Pourcel, Kawasaki, FRA, 306 7, Maximilian Nagl, KTM, GER, 290 8, Billy MacKenzie, Honda, GBR, 257 9, Tanel Leok, Kawasaki, EST, 245 10, Marc De Reuver, Honda, NED, 214 11, Clement Desalle, Suzuki, BEL, 190 12, Manuel Priem, Kawasaki, BEL, 173 13, Julien Bill, Honda, CHE, 148 14, Kornel Nemeth, KTM, HUN, 139 15, Aigar Leok, Yamaha, EST, 118 16, Mike Brown, Honda, USA, 107 17, Marcus Schiffer, KTM, GER, 97 18, James Noble, KTM, GBR, 93 19, Tom Church, Kawasaki, GBR, 72 20, Steve Boniface, Honda, FRA, 63 21, Carlos Campano, Yamaha, ESP, 42 Manufacturer Standings 03/08/2008 Pos., Manufacturer, Points 1, Yamaha, 426 2, Suzuki, 419 3, KTM, 411 4, Kawasaki, 382 5, Honda, 350 6, TM, 31 7, Aprilia, 12 ---------- RACE REPORT - 03/08/2008 Aubin 7th overall at Lommel but continues progress Nico Aubin now holds Yamaha's main hopes for places of honour upon the YZ250F in the MX2-GP World Championship after the unfortunate injury sustained by reigning number one Antonio Cairoli two weeks ago in South Africa, and the Frenchman responded to his new role with a good showing to 7th position overall and a second moto finish of 2nd place through the demanding sand of Lommel. The eleventh round of fifteen saw the Yamaha Ricci Racing rider tackle the punishing bumps and ruts of the deep sandy circuit for the Grand Prix of Belgium. Aubin fought hard in the first moto under changeable skies and occasional light rain and made a valiant attempt to steal 6th position on the final lap but his last-gasp effort did not pay off and he fell, losing ground to 12th. An excellent start and holeshot in the second sprint saw him lead briefly before settling into a decent and lonely second place behind surprise winner Gert Krestinov. Aubin finished as runner-up and was content with his speed. If his gamble in the opening race would have worked, then he would have claimed overall victory. Team-mate Davide Guarneri was pleased with 10th place in the final classification and handled the physically and technically difficult conditions well considering the weakness of his right knee that misses a ligament. The Italian scored 9th and 13th and is contemplating surgery on the joint after the Grand Prix of Czech Republic next week. An impressive Grand Prix debut was had by America's Zach Osborne. The 18 year old made his first world championship turn for the Utag Yamaha.com squad and could not have picked a harder venue for his baptism! Osborne acquitted himself well though and was holding a top ten position on the YZ250F in the first moto until a mechanical problem ended his participation. In the second race he resumed his speed and gave the team their best finish of the season with a decent 8th spot. World Champion Cairoli was in attendance at Lommel as the Sicilian has an apartment only a few kilometres from the circuit. Still on crutches the 22 year old visited the Grand Prix and was in good spirits, commenting that he hopes to start cycling in the next two weeks. The De Carli team were solely represented by Alessandro Lupino with Matteo Bonini still not recovered from his hand injury. The teenager grabbed two points for 19th place in Moto2. Although out of action Cairoli is still 3rd in the world championship standings and 45 points ahead of fourth position. Aubin is 6th and 5 points away from further promotion. Guarneri is 14th. Round twelve of fifteen (meaning the first of just eight motos remaining) will take place at the Loket circuit next weekend for the Grand Prix of Czech Republic. Nico Aubin, Yamaha Ricci Racing,7th: "I am quite happy with this week because I made two good starts and physically I felt good; so I am coming back to a level that I want step-by-step. The crash in the first moto means that I have to be a bit disappointed with this GP overall, because I rode well in the second race and the podium would have been possible. Still this is something good to build on." Davide Guarneri, Yamaha Ricci Racing, 10th: "This was a really hard track, sometimes it felt like Enduro! There was obviously an advantage for the Benelux riders here, and for me it was hard but then again not so bad; I finished both races and had a good ride in the first moto. I had to take it easy in the second moto because I am not 100% with my knee. Still this is one of my best results in the sand. I will hear from my doctor this week so Loket could be my last race as I want to have surgery and get a good winter of training done ready for 2009." Zach Osborne, Utag Yamaha.com, 14th: "I just did my best today. The track was almost indescribable as to how deep, rough and hard it is to ride on. I have never experienced anything like that or fought so hard for a race position. I wanted to put in a good finish for the team because they have been working so hard to get things right for me and I wanted to give them something back for it. I did not know what to expect here but people tell me that the circuit in Loket should be a bit more regular. The set-up is so professional at the world championship and everyone wants such a good image for the sport. I think this is definitely the premier motocross racing series in the world." Race 1 - 18 Laps Pos., Rider, Manu., Nat., Total Time 1, Tyla Rattray, KTM, RSA, 41'33.589 2, Tommy Searle, KTM, GBR, 0'21.537 3, Rui Goncalves, KTM, POR, 0'34.953 4, Joel Roelants, KTM, BEL, 0'35.986 5, Shaun Simpson, KTM, GBR, 0'41.914 6, Jeremy Van Horebeek, KTM, BEL, 0'46.263 7, Steven Frossard, Kawasaki, FRA, 1'20.468 8, Gert Krestinov, KTM, EST, 1'23.275 9, Davide Guarneri, Yamaha, ITA, 1'50.064 10, Matti Seistola, Honda, FIN, 1'58.396 11, Manuel Monni, Yamaha, ITA, 2'0.154 12, Nicolas Aubin, Yamaha, FRA, 2'6.038 13, Stephen Sword, Kawasaki, GBR, 2'19.383 14, Francisco Jose Millan, KTM, ESP, 2'22.476 15, Anthony Boissière, KTM, FRA, -1 Laps 16, Herjan Brakke, Honda, NED, -1 Laps 17, Jason Dougan, Suzuki, GBR, -1 Laps 18, Jordi Dominguez, Honda, NED, -1 Laps 19, Jake Nicholls, Suzuki, GBR, -1 Laps 20, Xavier Boog, Suzuki, FRA, -1 Laps Race 2 - 18 Laps Pos., Rider, Manu., Nat., Total Time 1, Gert Krestinov, KTM, EST, 40'41.049 2, Nicolas Aubin, Yamaha, FRA, 0'25.053 3, Jeremy Van Horebeek, KTM, BEL, 0'26.226 4, Rui Goncalves, KTM, POR, 0'27.149 5, Joel Roelants, KTM, BEL, 0'45.602 6, Tommy Searle, KTM, GBR, 0'52.680 7, Matti Seistola, Honda, FIN, 0'55.224 8, Zach Osborne, Yamaha, USA, 1'3.425 9, Xavier Boog, Suzuki, FRA, 1'6.393 10, Tyla Rattray, KTM, RSA, 1'16.197 11, Anthony Boissière, KTM, FRA, 1'23.800 12, Shaun Simpson, KTM, GBR, 1'36.446 13, Davide Guarneri, Yamaha, ITA, 1'38.574 14, Dennis Verbruggen, Yamaha, BEL, 1'40.468 15, Manuel Monni, Yamaha, ITA, 1'41.873 16, Steven Frossard, Kawasaki, FRA, 2'1.046 17, Rob van Vijfeijken, Yamaha, NED, 2'1.451 18, Jake Nicholls, Suzuki, GBR, 2'13.075 19, Alessandro Lupino, Yamaha, ITA, -1 Laps 20, Herjan Brakke, Honda, NED, -1 Laps Rider Standings 03/08/2008 Pos., Rider, Manu., Nat., Points 1, Tyla Rattray, KTM, RSA, 452 2, Tommy Searle, KTM, GBR, 432 3, Antonio Cairoli, Yamaha, ITA, 357 4, Shaun Simpson, KTM, GBR, 312 5, Rui Goncalves, KTM, POR, 279 6, Nicolas Aubin, Yamaha, FRA, 274 7, Jeremy Van Horebeek, KTM, BEL, 232 8, Xavier Boog, Suzuki, FRA, 224 9, Steven Frossard, Kawasaki, FRA, 215 10, Manuel Monni, Yamaha, ITA, 203 11, Stephen Sword, Kawasaki, GBR, 178 12, Anthony Boissière, KTM, FRA, 174 13, Marvin Musquin, Honda, FRA, 173 14, Davide Guarneri, Yamaha, ITA, 153 15, Jeremy Tarroux, KTM, FRA, 140 16, Joel Roelants, KTM, BEL, 133 17, Gregory Aranda, Kawasaki, FRA, 101 18, Gautier Paulin, Kawasaki, FRA, 95 19, Carl Nunn, Suzuki, GBR, 73 20, Gert Krestinov, KTM, EST, 73 24, Evgeny Bobryshev, Yamaha, RUS, 42 27, Alessandro Lupino, Yamaha, ITA, 32 28, Matteo Bonini, Yamaha, ITA, 25 43, Deny Philippaerts, Yamaha, ITA, 7 Manufacturer Standings 03/08/2008 Pos., Manufacturer, Points 1, KTM, 519 2, Yamaha, 485 3, Kawasaki, 335 4, Suzuki, 275 5, Honda, 219
Alex Asigno
Alex Asigno

Haga and Corser on the Brands Hatch podium

Noriyuki Haga (Yamaha Motor Italia WSB Team) and Troy Corser (Yamaha Motor Italia WSB Team) took second and third places respectively after impressive performances in the second Brands Hatch race, both riders changing their tyre choices from race one. An unhappy outcome to a promising first race saw Haga fall on lap seven while Corser dropped back from the leading group to go eighth, on a track surface that had started off slick after a fall of rain shortly before the scheduled 12 midday kick-off. The second race proved to be a great battle for Haga, the determined Yamaha rider fighting almost to the very end of the 25 laps, but he had to give best on the day to Ryuichi Kiyonari. In the second outing Corser rode determinedly and ended up a lonely but safe third, eight seconds from the win. Corser is third in the overall rankings, only ten points behind second thanks to his Brands finishes. He now has 242 points, with leader Bayliss on 334. Haga is fifth, on 230 points. David Checa (Yamaha GMT94) was 17th and 20th in today's races, Sebastien Gimbert (Yamaha GMT94) suffered a technical retirement in race one and made up for it with 19th in race two. Shinichi Nakatomi (Team YZF Yamaha) missed out on riding after injuring his wrist in a qualifying fall. Noriyuki Haga (DNF and 2nd - Yamaha Motor Italia WSB Team) "I am happy to take a second place in race two because in the first race my rear tyre choice was not so good, and I was disappointed with that. In the second race I just changed the rear tyre and I had a good feeling with that one. I had a good battle with Kiyo but he was faster than me in some places, then I would catch him up. Congratulations to Kiyo and also my team, because they made a good job to allow me to finish second." Troy Corser (8th and 3rd - Yamaha Motor Italia WSB Team) "Race two was better than the first race, we made some changes to the tyre choice and the bike and they worked well. I just could not run the pace of the guys at the front because they just pulled away. I had a bit of a battle with Bayliss and it took a bit of time for me to get past him, but I am content with third. I'm out there trying to win races but podiums will have to do for now." Massimo Meregalli (Team Manager, Yamaha Motor Italia WSB Team) "We did not get what we expected in the first race but we did a really good second race as a team, with both riders on the podium. We made the wrong tyre choice for both riders on the first one, so in race two one rider went softer and the other one harder. Obviously each choice was a good one! It was a difficult first race because of the weather delay, but we made up for it well in race two. Well done to everyone in the team." Race 1 - 25 Laps Pos., Rider, Manu., Nat., Total Time 1, Ryuichi Kiyonari, Honda, JPN, 36'18.607 2, Troy Bayliss, Ducati, AUS, 0'0.137 3, Max Biaggi, Ducati, ITA, 0'0.180 4, Yukio Kagayama, Suzuki, JPN, 0'5.733 5, Fonsi Nieto, Suzuki, ESP, 0'6.499 6, Carlos Checa, Honda, ESP, 0'6.984 7, Max Neukirchner, Suzuki, GER, 0'8.300 8, Troy Corser, Yamaha, AUS, 0'10.732 9, Jakub Smrz, Ducati, CZE, 0'16.547 10, Roberto Rolfo, Honda, ITA, 0'16.569 11, Lorenzo Lanzi, Ducati, ITA, 0'18.366 12, Michel Fabrizio, Ducati, ITA, 0'22.308 13, Kenan Sofuoglu, Honda, TUR, 0'26.788 14, Gregorio Lavilla, Honda, ESP, 0'26.856 15, Chris Walker, Honda, GBR, 0'32.877 16, Karl Muggeridge, Honda, AUS, 0'38.329 17, David Checa, Yamaha, ESP, 0'46.868 18, Makoto Tamada, Kawasaki, JPN, 0'48.417 19, Noriyuki Haga, Yamaha, JPN, 0'58.986 20, Vittorio Iannuzzo, Kawasaki, ITA, 1'6.028 21, Luca Morelli, Honda, ITA, 1'9.475 22, Jason Pridmore, Honda, USA, 1'9.475 23, Christian Zaiser, Yamaha, AUT, 1'22.214 Race 2 - 25 Laps Pos., Rider, Manu., Nat., Total Time 1, Ryuichi Kiyonari, Honda, JPN, 36'14.904 2, Noriyuki Haga, Yamaha, JPN, 0'1.848 3, Troy Corser, Yamaha, AUS, 0'8.883 4, Max Neukirchner, Suzuki, GER, 0'11.180 5, Fonsi Nieto, Suzuki, ESP, 0'12.928 6, Michel Fabrizio, Ducati, ITA, 0'13.696 7, Tom Sykes, Suzuki, GBR, 0'13.872 8, Carlos Checa, Honda, ESP, 0'14.009 9, Jakub Smrz, Ducati, CZE, 0'19.065 10, Lorenzo Lanzi, Ducati, ITA, 0'19.864 11, Troy Bayliss, Ducati, AUS, 0'20.479 12, Max Biaggi, Ducati, ITA, 0'20.479 13, Gregorio Lavilla, Honda, ESP, 0'20.722 14, Roberto Rolfo, Honda, ITA, 0'24.512 15, Chris Walker, Honda, GBR, 0'32.090 16, Regis Laconi, Kawasaki, FRA, 0'32.207 17, Kenan Sofuoglu, Honda, TUR, 0'32.815 18, Makoto Tamada, Kawasaki, JPN, 0'33.648 19, Sebastien Gimbert, Yamaha, FRA, 0'35.382 20, David Checa, Yamaha, ESP, 0'44.866 21, Ayrton Badovini, Kawasaki, ITA, 0'53.969 22, Shuhei Aoyama, Honda, JPN, 1'0.875 23, Jason Pridmore, Honda, USA, 1'1.104 24, Luca Morelli, Honda, ITA, 1'4.329 25, Yukio Kagayama, Suzuki, JPN, 1'27.461 Best Lap Rider, Manu., Nat., Total Time Ryuichi Kiyonari, Honda, JPN, 1'26.560 Rider Standings 03/08/2008 Pos., Rider, Manu., Nat., Points 1, Troy Bayliss, Ducati, AUS, 334 2, Max Neukirchner, Suzuki, GER, 252 3, Troy Corser, Yamaha, AUS, 242 4, Carlos Checa, Honda, ESP, 233 5, Noriyuki Haga, Yamaha, JPN, 230 6, Fonsi Nieto, Suzuki, ESP, 183 7, Max Biaggi, Ducati, ITA, 166 8, Ryuichi Kiyonari, Honda, JPN, 165 9, Michel Fabrizio, Ducati, ITA, 161 10, Ruben Xaus, Ducati, ESP, 148 11, Yukio Kagayama, Suzuki, JPN, 109 12, Lorenzo Lanzi, Ducati, ITA, 94 13, Jakub Smrz, Ducati, CZE, 91 14, Gregorio Lavilla, Honda, ESP, 83 15, Karl Muggeridge, Honda, AUS, 64 20, Shinichi Nakatomi, Yamaha, JPN, 29 24, Sebastien Gimbert, Yamaha, FRA, 7 25, David Checa, Yamaha, ESP, 7 Manufacturer Standings 03/08/2008 Pos., Manufacturer, Points 1, Ducati, 403 2, Yamaha, 345 3, Suzuki, 303 4, Honda, 297 5, Kawasaki, 64 ---------- RACE REPORT - 03/08/2008 Parkes fourth after a confused WSS race Broc Parkes (Yamaha World Supersport Team) finished in fourth position in what was an aggregated race at Brands Hatch - started late because of an earlier race delay, stopped at one stage due to rain, with the second leg finally also halted early after a red flag due to a high-speed crash. In the aggregate results Parkes was just off the podium, in a race won by Jonathan Rea. Andrew Pitt was third and now Rea is ahead of Parkes in the standings, with Pitt on 149 points, Rea on 117 and Broc on 113. Parkes was closing in on the front group before Craig Jones fell during the second leg of the race and the race was red-flagged, with the result declared after a combined 15 laps. Harris fell in the restarted second leg of the race, and was not classified with a finish, despite running strongly in the first few places in each sector. Massimo Roccoli (Yamaha Team Italia Lorenzini by Leoni) scored eighth place and now has 48 points, which gives him a share of ninth in the series standings. David Salom (Yamaha Spain World Supersport Team) went 21st today. Broc Parkes (4th - Yamaha World Supersport Team) "It was a bit of a mixed bag today, even if near the end of the first race we were riding around in the rain. It wasn't really a good race, but that second one was a lot better. I didn't really have the pace to match the front guys and I had a little problem with my front brake. I adjusted it and started to catch them back up and then I saw Craig crash right in front of me going into the straight. It was not a good day at the office really." Karl Harris (DNF - Yamaha World Supersport Team) "I felt really good out there but I had a vague feeling from the front end. It was the same in the first half of the race and I actually preferred that setting. We went with an SC1 front tyre but it didn't feel that good at all. I'm gutted to have fallen but I was running up the front in my first WSS racing for a few years." Wilco Zeelenberg (Team Manager, Yamaha World Supersport Team) "Technically we didn't have a lot of problems in the race. Karl tried to do his best and he was doing a lot under braking to keep up with the guys, but finally he went out. In the first race they should have flagged it three laps before, and Broc had more rain on his visor than he would have liked to see, so he lost two seconds to the guy who won the first heat. He was there with the group but he had some difficulties. Everybody was sliding about a bit to be honest. The final result is very disappointing." Massimo Roccoli (8th - Yamaha Team Italia Lorenzini by Leoni) "I took some time to get started in both the first and second legs of the race but when I did get up to speed the bike and everything was OK. But by that time the leading group was gone, so I could not catch them up." Race 1 - 15 Laps Pos., Rider, Manu., Nat., Total Time 1, Jonathan Rea, Honda, GBR, 22'29.935 2, Craig Jones, Honda, GBR, 0'0.209 3, Andrew Pitt, Honda, AUS, 0'0.664 4, Broc Parkes, Yamaha, AUS, 0'2.816 5, Joshua Brookes, Honda, AUS, 0'6.789 6, Barry Veneman, Suzuki, NED, 0'9.094 7, Gianluca Nannelli, Honda, ITA, 0'15.048 7, Gianluca Nannelli, Honda, ITA, 0'15.048 8, Massimo Roccoli, Yamaha, ITA, 0'15.623 9, Robert Frost, Triumph, GBR, 0'18.393 10, Hudson Kennaugh, Yamaha, RSA, 0'19.528 11, Steve Plater, Triumph, GBR, 0'20.034 12, Gianluca Vizziello, Honda, ITA, 0'22.696 13, Vesa Kallio, Honda, FIN, 0'25.049 14, Joan Lascorz, Honda, ESP, 0'27.102 15, Graeme Gowland, Honda, GBR, 0'35.504 16, Danilo Dell'omo, Honda, ITA, 0'39.023 17, Midge Smart, Honda, NZL, 0'40.820 18, Pawel Szkopek, Triumph, CZE, 0'43.635 19, Matthieu Lagrive, Honda, FRA, 0'46.776 20, Jesco Gunther, Triumph, GER, 0'47.298 21, David Salom, Yamaha, ESP, 0'47.353 22, Denis Sacchetti, Honda, ITA, 0'48.191 23, Balazs Nemeth, Honda, HUN, 0'49.480 24, Javier Hidalgo, Yamaha, ESP, 0'54.083 25, William De Angelis, Honda, ITA, 0'59.436 26, Ruggero Scambia, Triumph, ITA, 1'20.165 27, Lorenzo Alfonsi, Honda, ITA, 1'44.305 28, Santiago Barragan, Honda, ESP, 1'55.509 Best Lap Rider, Manu., Nat., Total Time Andrew Pitt, Honda, AUS, 1'28.399 Rider Standings 03/08/2008 Pos., Rider, Manu., Nat., Points 1, Andrew Pitt, Honda, AUS, 149 2, Jonathan Rea, Honda, GBR, 117 3, Broc Parkes, Yamaha, AUS, 113 4, Joshua Brookes, Honda, AUS, 112 5, Craig Jones, Honda, GBR, 100 6, Fabien Foret, Yamaha, FRA, 97 7, Joan Lascorz, Honda, ESP, 83 8, Gianluca Nannelli, Honda, ITA, 51 9, Robbin Harms, Honda, DNK, 50 10, Barry Veneman, Suzuki, NED, 48 11, Massimo Roccoli, Yamaha, ITA, 48 12, Gianluca Vizziello, Honda, ITA, 41 13, Matthieu Lagrive, Honda, FRA, 36 14, Chris Walker, Kawasaki, GBR, 36 15, Vesa Kallio, Honda, FIN, 23 24, David Salom, Yamaha, ESP, 9 Manufacturer Standings 03/08/2008 Pos., Manufacturer, Points 1, Honda, 215 2, Yamaha, 151 3, Triumph, 58 4, Suzuki, 57 5, Kawasaki, 40 ---------- RACE REPORT - 03/08/2008 Pirro fights hard for sixth place A four way fight in a race that started wet but finished dry saw Michele Pirro (Yamaha Lorenzini by Leoni) take a sixth place finish in the Superstock 1000 class. Pirro's 83 championship points put him fifth overall, with Brands race winner and new championship leader Maxime Berger now on 109 points. Claudio Corti (Yamaha Motor Italia Junior Team) was eighth today, winning his own personal battle with Chris Seaton. Corti is 11th overall, on 33 points. Michelle Pirro (6th - Yamaha Motor Italia Lorenzini by Leoni) "The pace that Berger and Baiocco set today in the first laps I could not match and so I had to just go as fast as I could. Sixth was the best I could do in this situation and at least we scored some points." Claudio Corti (12th - Yamaha Motor Italia Junior Team) "I had a little problem in braking at the start and that made me run off the track early on. But I got back on, remained calm and went as fast as I could to the end." Baz wins and takes the championship lead Loris Baz (Yamaha YZF Junior Team) took the win at Brands Hatch and in doing so he went into a more comfortable series lead, as his main rival Patrick Vostarek did not score today after crashing. Baz now has 142 points, to Vostarek's 110. Gino Rea was third, for the third time in 2008, and is now fourth in the championship, on 77 points. Loris Baz (1st - Yamaha Motor Italia Junior Team) "It is great to win again and I really like this circuit. It was a hard race, but our championship position is much better now, and that is the main thing to take from this weekend." Race 1 - 14 Laps Pos., Rider, Manu., Nat., Total Time 1, Maxime Berger, Honda, FRA, 21'56.050 2, Sheridan Morais, Kawasaki, RSA, 0'4.172 3, Andrea Antonelli, Honda, ITA, 0'5.808 4, Brendan Roberts, Ducati, AUS, 0'18.391 5, Alessandro Polita, Ducati, ITA, 0'18.629 6, Michele Pirro, Yamaha, ITA, 0'19.049 7, Barry Burrell, Honda, GBR, 0'19.468 8, Claudio Corti, Yamaha, ITA, 0'24.682 9, Chris Seaton, Suzuki, AUS, 0'26.331 10, Freddy Foray, Yamaha, FRA, 0'38.554 11, Gareth Jones, Suzuki, AUS, 0'43.675 12, Michael Savary, Suzuki, CHE, 0'43.891 13, Rene Mahr, Yamaha, GER, 0'44.375 14, Pauli Pekkanen, KTM, FIN, 0'46.011 15, Yoann Tiberio, Kawasaki, FRA, 0'48.886 16, Raymond Schouten, Yamaha, NED, 0'51.075 17, Peter Hickman, Yamaha, GBR, 0'54.111 18, Brank Srdanov, Yamaha, NED, 0'59.631 19, Filip Backlund, Suzuki, SWE, 1'5.063 20, Jure Stibilj, Honda, SVN, 1'5.938 21, Michele Magnoni, Yamaha, ITA, 1'7.391 22, Matt Bond, Suzuki, GBR, 1'7.391 23, Kenny Foray, Yamaha, FRA, 1'10.313 24, Aldo Aldrovandi, Kawasaki, ITA, 1'13.534 25, Robert Gianfardoni, Yamaha, ITA, 1'15.792 26, Gregory Junod, Yamaha, CHE, 1'25.570 27, Marko Jerman, Yamaha, SVK, 1'26.518 Best Lap Rider, Manu., Nat., Total Time Sheridan Morais, Kawasaki, RSA, 1'31.448 Rider Standings 03/08/2008 Pos., Rider, Manu., Nat., Points 1, Brendan Roberts, Ducati, AUS, 109 2, Maxime Berger, Honda, FRA, 109 3, Xavier Simeon, Suzuki, BEL, 95 4, Alessandro Polita, Ducati, ITA, 94 5, Michele Pirro, Yamaha, ITA, 83 6, Andrea Antonelli, Honda, ITA, 57 7, Davide Giugliano, Suzuki, ITA, 55 8, Matej Smrz, Honda, CZE, 48 9, Chris Seaton, Suzuki, AUS, 36 10, Freddy Foray, Yamaha, FRA, 35 11, Claudio Corti, Yamaha, ITA, 33 12, Michele Magnoni, Yamaha, ITA, 30 13, Barry Burrell, Honda, GBR, 24 14, Kenny Foray, Yamaha, FRA, 24 15, Gareth Jones, Suzuki, AUS, 21 26, Sylvain Barrier, Yamaha, FRA, 4 Manufacturer Standings 03/08/2008 Pos., Manufacturer, Points 1, Ducati, 137 2, Honda, 131 3, Suzuki, 110 4, Yamaha, 95 5, Kawasaki, 40 6, KTM, 2
Alex Asigno
Alex Asigno

Guerrero on French podium as Albergoni struggles

UFO Corse Yamaha team rider Simone Albergoni finished the sixth round of eight in the 2008 WEC series - a dry Grand Prix of France staged in Uzerche - with two 5th place results as team-mate Cristobal Guerrero claimed his first podium of the season with 3rd on Day2. Looking to finish on the podium as he did in Wales recently title contender Albergoni struggled to master the dry French special tests and as a result failed to perform at his best. Although he was the highest UFO Corse Yamaha team rider on day one Abergoni ended the event far from satisfied with his performances. Despite an 'off-weekend' Albergoni still holds third in the Enduro 1 world championship standings. Making the most of his home support Yamaha France rider Marc Germain finished on the podium on Day1 placing a strong 3rd behind current E1 championship leader Mika Ahola and Spaniard Ivan Cervantes. The first of four Yamaha mounted riders inside the top six, Spaniard Guerrero claimed the UFO Corse Yamaha team's best result with 4th, just 20 seconds behind Germain. With Albergoni finishing 5th Italian Maurizio Micheluz overcame pain from his tendonitis injury to finish 6th. Just as he had on Day1 Cristobal Guerrero delivered the UFO Corse Yamaha team's best result by claiming his first silverware of 2008. With 3rd position and classifying just 11 seconds behind runner-up Ahola, Guerrero rode well throughout the day and battled with Germain. Little separated the two riders as they arrived at the event's final motocross test and Guerrero outpaced his more experienced brand-mate and finished three seconds ahead of him, ending Day2 with the final step of the podium. Behind Germain Simone Albergoni again struggled to shine and although making no major mistakes could do no better than match his Day1 result of 5th. Handicapped by his arm injury Maurizio Micheluz placed 7th having come close to matching his day one result of 6th. Albergoni is 38 points behind leader Ahola with the penultimate round of the series taking place in Italy on September 27th/28th. Guerrero is 5th and 13 points from Germain in 4th. Simone Albergoni (UFO Corse Yamaha) Enduro 1 class - Day 1: 5th, Day 2: 5th "It's been a terrible weekend for me and the worse thing is that I'm not sure why. Normally I ride well in these conditions but this weekend nothing went right for me. Finishing fifth on both days isn't good enough. I was just too slow. I made some small mistakes but overall I just didn't have any speed in the corners. I'm really disappointed." Cristobal Guerrero (UFO Corse Yamaha) Enduro 1 class - Day 1: 4th, Day 2: 3rd "It's been a good weekend, and day two was really good. I liked the dry terrain because it is much more like what I am used to in Spain. I enjoyed the first day but I made too many mistakes to get on the podium, but I was riding well most of the time. Although I crashed on two of the three special tests on the first lap, the rest of the day went well. I did catch a slow E3 rider in the final extreme test, but I got my first podium of the year so I am very happy." Maurizio Micheluz (UFO Corse Yamaha) Enduro 1 class - Day 1: 6th, Day 2: 7th "This GP has been really frustrating for me because I know I can be fast in dry conditions but because of the problem with my arm I found it really difficult. I simply couldn't ride as I wanted to. Sixth on day one wasn't too bad but I crashed twice on the extreme test on day two, which dropped me to sixth position. It's not too bad considering my arm, but I am disappointed that I wasn't more competitive." Race 1 Pos., Rider, Manu., Nat., Total Time 1, Ivan Cervantes, KTM, ESP, 50'28.470 2, Mika Ahola, Honda, FIN, 0'20.950 3, Marc Germain, Yamaha, FRA, 0'28.110 4, Cristobal Guerrero, Yamaha, ESP, 0'47.700 5, Simone Albergoni, Yamaha, ITA, 1'43.920 6, Maurizio Micheluz, Yamaha, ITA, 2'0.100 7, Julien Gauthier, Honda, FRA, 2'0.320 8, Tom Sagar, KTM, GBR, 2'11.450 9, Bartosz Oblucki, Husqvarna, POL, 2'13.710 10, Jordan Curvalle, Suzuki, FRA, 2'37.150 11, Mike Hartmann, KTM, GER, 2'40.830 12, Luca Cherubini, TM, ITA, 4'1.220 13, Danielle Tellini, Suzuki, ITA, 4'5.080 14, Jakub Horak, KTM, CZE, 6'42.020 15, Francois Ciognac, KTM, FRA, 9'28.430 16, Miguel Maroto, Husqvarna, ESP, 26'57.440 Race 2 Pos., Rider, Manu., Nat., Total Time 1, Ivan Cervantes, KTM, ESP, 59'48.640 2, Mika Ahola, Honda, FIN, 0'51.620 3, Cristobal Guerrero, Yamaha, ESP, 1'2.660 4, Marc Germain, Yamaha, FRA, 1'4.690 5, Simone Albergoni, Yamaha, ITA, 1'52.090 6, Tom Sagar, KTM, GBR, 2'28.540 7, Maurizio Micheluz, Yamaha, ITA, 2'36.890 8, Jordan Curvalle, Suzuki, FRA, 3'18.970 9, Mike Hartmann, KTM, GER, 3'28.370 10, Bartosz Oblucki, Husqvarna, POL, 3'45.550 11, Julien Gauthier, Honda, FRA, 3'55.260 12, Luca Cherubini, TM, ITA, 4'24.550 13, Kevin Gauniaux, KTM, BEL, 4'46.600 14, Damien Miquel, Suzuki, FRA, 5'48.770 15, Jakub Horak, KTM, CZE, 7'44.560 Rider Standings 26/07/2008 Pos., Rider, Manu., Nat., Points 1, Ivan Cervantes, KTM, ESP, 284 2, Mika Ahola, Honda, FIN, 275 3, Simone Albergoni, Yamaha, ITA, 237 4, Marc Germain, Yamaha, FRA, 198 5, Cristobal Guerrero, Yamaha, ESP, 185 6, Maurizio Micheluz, Yamaha, ITA, 158 7, Jordan Curvalle, Suzuki, FRA, 130 8, Tom Sagar, KTM, GBR, 128 9, Mike Hartmann, KTM, GER, 119 10, Eero Remes, KTM, FIN, 112 11, Luca Cherubini, TM, ITA, 91 12, Bartosz Oblucki, Husqvarna, POL, 81 13, Jakub Horak, KTM, CZE, 66 14, Daryl Bolter, Husqvarna, GBR, 58 15, Danielle Tellini, Suzuki, ITA, 50 Manufacturer Standings 26/07/2008 Pos., Manufacturer, Points 1, Honda, 275 2, KTM, 271 3, Yamaha, 252 4, Husqvarna, 139 5, Suzuki, 130 6, TM, 91 7, Kawasaki, 47 8, Sherco, 12 ---------- RACE REPORT - 28/07/2008 Aubert double runner-up at home GP UFO Corse Yamaha's Johnny Aubert continues to lead the competitive Enduro 2 world championship following his home round of the series, the Grand Prix of France staged in Uzerche; the sixth round of eight in the current campaign Having taken control at the top of the E2 championship following the third round of the series in Spain, Aubert finished in 2nd position on both days in France and saw his closest rival Juha Salminen move just one point closer in the all important E2 championship standings. Pleased that the slippery conditions of the GP of Wales were behind him Aubert was confident of a strong result in France but also knew that winning would be anything but easy, and he was proved correct after a thrilling opening day's competition. Johnny missed claiming victory by just over five seconds as former two-time motocross world champion Michael Pichon managed to top the podium. Winning four of the day's tests Johnny and countryman Pichon battled it out at the head of the E2 class while Salminen, the only rider able to match the leading duo, held 3rd throughout the day. Knowing that finishing ahead of title-rival Salminen was more important that risking a crash while trying to beat wild-card rider Pichon, Johnny claimed a solid runner-up result. With the sun blazing down on all riders during the second day, Pichon found things simply too tough and withdrew from the competition after nine special tests, leaving Aubert and Salminen to battle it out, with Salminen setting the fastest pace. Aubert recognised that finishing second to the Finn, having placed ahead of him on day one, he would lose just one championship point and again rode safely to be runner-up. As a result he maintains a healthy 16-point lead in the standings with two rounds of the series remaining. Aubert's UFO Corse Yamaha team-mate, Fabrizio Dini, was among a number of riders to find the extreme test at the GP of France hard-going, and as a result of mistakes on Day1 finished 12th in the E2 class. On Day2 Dini improved his result to 10th but due to more small mistakes was unable to place higher. Johnny Aubert (UFO Corse Yamaha) Enduro 2 class - Day 1: 2nd, Day 2: 2nd "I knew that this race would be difficult because there was just one week to recover from the GP of Wales, which was really difficult! But the special tests in France didn't look that tricky when I walked them so it was a surprise that they got as rough as they did. It would have been nice to have won at least one of the days but the most important thing was that I only lost one-point to Salminen in the championship. It was very, very close between Michael Pichon and I on the first day so it was a little bit disappointing not to win. But second, and then second again on day two to Salminen, is a good weekend. Now I must work hard ready for the GP of Italy. The last two years that race has been a disaster for me, and I need to make sure it goes well this year." Fabrizio Dini (UFO Corse Yamaha) Enduro 2 class - Day 1: 12th, Day 2: 10th "Although I enjoyed the race more than the GP of Wales it has been a very hard event. I didn't do as well as I wanted to, especially on day one. My first lap wasn't the best but then I lost a lot of time on the final extreme test, which put me outside the top 10. Day two was a little better but again I had some disappointing tests that stopped me finishing higher than 10th" Race 1 Pos., Rider, Manu., Nat., Total Time 1, Mickael Pichon, KTM, FRA, 50'2.440 2, Johnny Aubert, Yamaha, FRA, 0'5.530 3, Juha Salminen, KTM, FIN, 0'25.840 4, Antoine Meo, Husqvarna, FRA, 1'51.820 5, Rodrig Thain, TM, FRA, 2'2.480 6, Alessandro Belometti, KTM, ITA, 2'19.880 7, Fabio Mossini, Honda, ITA, 2'21.580 8, Simo Kirssi, BMW, FIN, 2'27.920 9, Nicolas Deparrois, GasGas, FRA, 2'28.630 10, Nicolas Paganon, Aprilia, FRA, 2'39.400 11, Joakim Ljunggren, HusaBerg, SWE, 2'52.260 12, Fabrizio Dini, Yamaha, ITA, 3'6.760 13, Jari Juha Mattila, Honda, FIN, 3'24.690 14, Valtteri Salonen, HusaBerg, FIN, 3'38.240 15, Felipe Zanol, Yamaha, ESP, 3'57.610 16, Rudy Cotton, Beta, FRA, 4'3.790 17, Aaron Bernandez, Husqvarna, ESP, 4'26.760 18, David Fretigne, Yamaha, FRA, 4'45.580 19, Vincent Turpin, Honda, FRA, 6'0.870 Race 2 Pos., Rider, Manu., Nat., Total Time 1, Juha Salminen, KTM, FIN, 58'55.720 2, Johnny Aubert, Yamaha, FRA, 0'54.970 3, Antoine Meo, Husqvarna, FRA, 2'47.630 4, Rodrig Thain, TM, FRA, 2'51.990 5, Simo Kirssi, BMW, FIN, 3'15.470 6, Alessandro Belometti, KTM, ITA, 3'46.590 7, Jari Juha Mattila, Honda, FIN, 4'8.130 8, Nicolas Paganon, Aprilia, FRA, 4'36.190 9, Emmanuel Albepart, Honda, FRA, 5'2.550 10, Fabrizio Dini, Yamaha, ITA, 5'18.680 11, Felipe Zanol, Yamaha, ESP, 5'21.220 12, Aaron Bernandez, Husqvarna, ESP, 5'38.710 13, David Fretigne, Yamaha, FRA, 6'6.620 14, Amel Advokaat, KTM, NED, 7'0.110 15, Olivier Pain, Yamaha, FRA, 8'54.870 16, Valtteri Salonen, HusaBerg, FIN, 9'28.140 Rider Standings 26/07/2008 Pos., Rider, Manu., Nat., Points 1, Johnny Aubert, Yamaha, FRA, 272 2, Juha Salminen, KTM, FIN, 256 3, Alessandro Belometti, KTM, ITA, 185 4, Joakim Ljunggren, HusaBerg, SWE, 165 5, Rodrig Thain, TM, FRA, 160 6, Antoine Meo, Husqvarna, FRA, 153 7, Fabrizio Dini, Yamaha, ITA, 142 8, Simo Kirssi, BMW, FIN, 129 9, Valtteri Salonen, HusaBerg, FIN, 126 10, Nicolas Paganon, Aprilia, FRA, 115 11, Jari Juha Mattila, Honda, FIN, 110 12, Fabio Mossini, Honda, ITA, 96 13, Nicolas Deparrois, GasGas, FRA, 87 14, Alessandro Zanni, Honda, ITA, 78 15, Felipe Zanol, Yamaha, ESP, 54 Manufacturer Standings 26/07/2008 Pos., Manufacturer, Points 1, KTM, 281 2, Yamaha, 272 3, HusaBerg, 191 4, Husqvarna, 178 5, Honda, 170 6, TM, 160 7, BMW, 148 8, Aprilia, 115 9, GasGas, 87 10, Beta, 41 11, Suzuki, 26
Alex Asigno
Alex Asigno

Knee injury curtails 2008 campaign for Cairoli

MX2-GP World Champion Antonio Cairoli has undergone surgery on his left knee after scans yesterday in Belgium revealed a damaged ACL. Renowned specialist Dr Claes performed the successful procedure and the repercussions of the injury sustained last weekend in South Africa and the subsequent recovery period mean that the 2008 series is over for the unlucky Sicilian. Cairoli twisted his knee trying to keep control of his YZ250F after being touched negotiating a crowded fourth turn on the first lap of round ten in Nelspruit last Sunday. Despite a lot of pain, early signs appeared not to be too bad with little inflammation around the joint; the reigning number one and winner of four Grand Prix this season showed immense courage to even attempt the second moto but ultimately had to pull into the pits, unable to continue. Upon returning to Europe Cairoli had an MRI which revealed the ligament damage and immediately made a decision together with Yamaha Red Bull De Carli team principal Claudio de Carli to go under the knife and begin the rehabilitation process of between 3-4 months, with an aim to be fully fit over the crucial winter period where he will begin preparations for his assault on the MX1-GP class in 2009. “I was frustrated and disappointed after the accident with my knee in South Africa. The championship is so tight that I knew even missing just one moto was an advantage I could not give to Tommy and Tyla,” the 22 year old said. “I thought I might have some problems with the meniscus and hoped I could come back in Lommel as I did not want to surrender the title but after the scan I knew that the championship had gone for sure. Instead of trying to ride in pain or not being at 100%, I made the decision to have the surgery now and get the recovery out of the way as soon as possible.” Cairoli should be able to start walking with crutches very soon and will have a check-up next week. In less than a month he will be able to start training with a bicycle. In addition to capturing the MX1 Italian championship Cairoli has won the most Grand Prix this year and also tied with title rival Tyla Rattray for most moto victories (7 each). He is currently third in the championship, 70 points ahead of Shaun Simpson in fourth place. Cairoli joined the Yamaha De Carli Team in 2004, and he is the most successful motocrosser in the MX2 class for the last five years taking 24 GP wins and 54 moto victories on his Yamaha YZ250F, not forgetting hisMX1-GP andmoto triumph on the Yamaha YZ450F in Great Britain, 2007. In the past three years (2005, 2006, 2007) he claimed two MX2 world titles, scoring 21 wins from the 46 GPs he rode and 47 moto chequered flags from 92 appearances. He also won two European Supercross titles (UEM SX) in 2006 and 2007.
Alex Asigno
Alex Asigno

Karl Harris replaces Fabien Foret in World Supersport for Brands Hatch

Three time British Supersport champion Karl Harris has signed up to the Yamaha World Supersport Team for the British round of the 2008 World Supersport Championship at Brands Hatch on 2nd August. With proven previous Supersport experience and currently riding for the Rob Mac Yamaha British Superbike team, he was a natural choice for the ride. Karl steps in to replace rider Fabien Foret after the Frenchman suffered a serious crash in qualifying at the Brno round of the championship. Foret cracked the C6 and C7 vertebra in his neck after falling heavily at the Czech circuit. He is expected to make a full recovery but will not be riding for approximately three months. Karl will partner Australian rider Broc Parkes, currently 3rd in the championship standings on 100 points. The British rider is no stranger to Supersport, coming 4th in the Hockenheim round of the World Championship in 1999. He won the British Supersport Championship in 2004, 2003 and 2001. In 1999 Karl won the European Superstock Championship. Karl Harris (Yamaha World Supersport Team) “I’m over the moon for the opportunity, it’s been an up and down year so it’s brought my spirits back up again! I’m really looking forward to joining the Yamaha World Supersport Team for Brands Hatch. It’s great to be riding Supersport again, especially as I’ve had some success with three previous British Supersport Championship wins!” Wilco Zeelenberg (Team Manager – Yamaha World Supersport Team) “We were looking for a strong British rider and Karl fits the bill. He’s already part of the Yamaha family so it’s great to have him in our team for the British round. Karl is a proven rider in Superbike and Supersport, we believe he can do good things for us at Brands Hatch.”
Alex Asigno
Alex Asigno