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Yamaha Racing News

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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

Yamaha and Valentino Rossi continue their partnership for two more years

Yamaha Motor Co., Ltd is delighted to announce that it has signed a new two-year agreement with Valentino Rossi. The seven-time world champion will continue to race with the Yamaha Factory Racing Team for the 2009 and 2010 MotoGP World Championships. The 29-year-old Italian joined Yamaha in 2004 and since then he has won two world championships, 32 races and taken 20 pole positions for the Japanese factory. He is currently leading the 2008 rider championship, having taken three wins and a further five podiums in the first ten races this year. Rossi will continue to race alongside Spanish youngster Jorge Lorenzo in 2009. Rossi and Masao Furusawa, Executive Officer, Engineering Operations of Yamaha Motor Co., Ltd, signed the contract today at the Laguna Seca circuit and made the public announcement at Yamaha US’s traditional Laguna Seca party at the Monterey Bay Aquarium this evening. Yamaha Motor Racing Managing Director Lin Jarvis commented, “We are obviously delighted to have secured Valentino for a further two years. I think this news will be very welcome for MotoGP fans and for Yamaha fans around the world. Valentino is an icon in this sport and he is on top form right now as he challenges to win his eighth world championship and his third title together with Yamaha. This signing confirms Yamaha’s four-rider line-up for 2009 so now we can concentrate our full efforts on bike development and team organization to make sure that we are in the best possible shape for next year. “In the meantime we have many races to go this season and I hope that Valentino can win in Laguna Seca for the first time this Sunday to extend his championship lead before the well-deserved summer break – Forza Vale!” Valentino Rossi added, "After so many years spent in racing, fortunately with so many victories, I needed a special motivation to take the decision to sign for two more years. The best place to find this motivation is Yamaha, since I have a great relationship with Yamaha's directors, which comes from a mutual trust and loyalty. In our team there is a special atmosphere and with this new deal I can continue to work with my crew, where I am part of the project and part of the development of my M1. I had other opportunities but due to Yamaha's efforts to give me the best bike in the best environment, I have decided to stay with Yamaha for two more years. This contract means that Yamaha is the manufacturer I will have spent most of my career with. This means more than a thousand words"
Alex Asigno

Lorenzo gets green light to race at Le Mans

Jorge Lorenzo has been given the official 'thumbs up' to participate in this weekend’s French Grand Prix, after undergoing assessment in Barcelona this afternoon by Doctor Xavier Mir. The Fiat Yamaha rider paid a visit to the Dexeus Institute where Doctor Mir assessed the injuries to both ankles, sustained in Shanghai less than two weeks ago, before taking his flight to Paris. X-rays confirmed that the astragalus in Lorenzo's right ankle and torn lateral internal ligament in his left are both healing well. The edema and post-traumatic bruising suffered by the current second-placed rider in the MotoGP World Championship have also reduced significantly. The 21-year-old will continue to have physiotherapy on the two joints, which will remain immobilised, before he takes to the track for first free practice at Le Mans on Friday morning. "Not enough time has passed yet for the injuries to fully heal, but Jorge's pain threshold will allow him to compete without too much risk this weekend," commented Doctor Mir.
Alex Asigno

Philippaerts new series leader after double podium in Portugal

A sun-blessed and roasting Grand Prix of Portugal at the stunning Agueda circuit was the perfect remedy for the FIM Motocross World Championship after the sea of rain and mud that washed out the Spanish visit last weekend. The splendid stage for round three of fifteen, south of the city of Porto, witnessed the Yamaha Monster Motocross Team score a double podium result with David Philippaerts finishing second and Josh Coppins third on the works YZ450FMs. Philippaerts won a moto and was second in the other race, while Coppins seized his first silverware of the season after a thrilling move past champion Steve Ramon for third spot on the final corner of the last lap. On the podium Philippaerts picked up the red-plate to signify his new status as MX1-GP championship leader for the first time. He is also the first Italian to sit at the top of the points table since the inception of the MX1-GP class in 2004. The dry circuit provided a technical test for the riders with the combinations of jumps and alternate line options meaning that the 'perfect' lap was tough to find and mistakes were heavily punished by the high pace. Philippaerts suffered a fast crash on Saturday that left the Italian with a sore back and lack of sensation in his arms during the qualification practice. He was still a bit stiff Sunday morning but put aside any discomfort to remain one of the protagonists in the first moto. After hunting down Billy Mackenzie and taking the lead on the seventh lap of twenty-one the 24 year old kept a good rhythm to retain control of the race until the chequered flag. It was his first moto success for the team and his first set of '25' points since the Grand Prix of Belgium last August. In Moto2 the Italian did not have the best first lap and had to work hard from fifth position to take advantage of another error by Mackenzie and also a crash by Jonathan Barragan to rise to second place. Although he tied on points with overall winner Sebastien Pourcel, the second moto ranking determined the final standing. It was the second consecutive runner-up position for Philippaerts. Josh Coppins tried a new rear suspension set-up on Saturday as well as some experimentation with different Pirelli tyres. The New Zealander was unable to match the pace of his peers at the start of both motos (even though he exited the gate in the top five both times) but was easily one of the strongest riders at the end of the races. In the first he pushed Mackenzie hard to take fifth but it was his determination and dogged pursuit of the lagging Ramon in the final two laps of the second sprint that really gave an indication of the Kiwi's 'steel'. Closing down some four seconds to the back of the Belgian, Coppins took the fight for third right to the last corner where he cut tighter and snatched the position - and the last podium spot - by four tenths of a second. The result was a message but the manner in which he delivered it was equally devastating, that Coppins - who missed five weeks of riding through two broken twos on his right foot prior to the start of the campaign - is hungry for the title. The championship standings now make good reading for the team. Philippaerts holds a 6 point gap over Ramon while Coppins is third and just 19 behind. Yamaha are second in the manufacturer's standings by 6 points. The Yamaha Monster Motocross Team now travel back to their Italian base near Parma for several days and a free weekend before packing up and heading east across to Europe to the impressive Sevlievo circuit and the Grand Prix of Bulgaria. The meeting will precede the squad's home round at Mantova seven days later. David Philippaerts, Yamaha Monster Motocross Team: 2nd "I am really happy to have the red plate because this is the first time for me. The first moto was unbelievable. My start was pretty average but I passed Mackenzie and Barragan and found some effective lines. When Sebastien came near in the last moments I looked to pull another second on him and controlled it until the end. I started well in the second moto but on the second corner my line meant that I had to be careful and lost some time, which let Sebastien and Mackenzie escape. It was a long race so I did not want to go crazy at the beginning and also the track was not easy. I knew the others would slow their pace by the end so I wanted to be strong the whole distance. My aim now is to try and stay in the top five each GP and this will be good for the championship." Josh Coppins, Yamaha Monster Motocross Team: 3rd "It was an exciting end to the Grand Prix and one that even I did not expect. I could see that Steve was fading and, of course, after last year I always like to pass Steve, so I put in that extra effort. He went wide in the last corner and I could not believe that. My eyes lit-up and I made the pass. We tried a new rear shock during Saturday which was a bit softer and suited me better. We also tested some tyres with a different compound moose and also sliced some of the nobs on the rubber. I think we had a pretty good set-up so I was happy with the bike. The extra options the team provided made things even better, which I was surprised about. It was finally nice to have a real race; a race where the best rider wins instead of the terrain being good for some or just being a lottery. Today it was Pourcel but it was a GP where the degree of racing fitness and skill comes into it and that was really positive. It has been a tough season for me so far with a few 'downs'. I don't quite have the speed at the moment, especially at the start of the race; all I have is the consistency in the laps I make. I have to be patient, which is hard because I am not a patient person! With sixth, fourth and third things have gone well but you always want better. Everyone around me has been really supportive and I am sure I will get up to a higher level very soon. I was one of the strongest out there at the end, and this makes me proud." Mino Raspanti, Racing Manager, Yamaha Monster Motocross Team: "I really great Grand Prix for us; to have both riders on the podium is really good. They continue to work hard and perform well. David's win was deserved I am very happy for Josh also. These are some difficult moments for him but he is trying so hard. David and Josh are both happy with the bikes and Josh more so after we made a small change with the shock. We will work now and look ahead to Bulgaria, and Mantova the week after." Race 1 - 21 Laps Pos., Rider, Manu., Nat., Total Time 1, David Philippaerts, Yamaha, ITA, 38'56.063 2, Sébastien Pourcel, Kawasaki, FRA, 0'4.287 3, Jonathan Barragan, KTM, ESP, 0'12.368 4, Billy MacKenzie, Honda, GBR, 0'16.139 5, Joshua Coppins, Yamaha, NZL, 0'17.169 6, Steve Ramon, Suzuki, BEL, 0'34.548 7, Marc De Reuver, Honda, NED, 0'40.307 8, Tanel Leok, Kawasaki, EST, 0'41.921 9, Mike Brown, Honda, USA, 0'44.229 10, Clement Desalle, Suzuki, BEL, 0'46.637 11, Julien Bill, Honda, CHE, 1'3.842 12, Maximilian Nagl, KTM, GER, 1'6.481 13, Marcus Schiffer, KTM, GER, 1'9.133 14, Ken De Dycker, Suzuki, BEL, 1'11.582 15, James Noble, KTM, GBR, 1'12.339 16, Alex Salvini, Suzuki, ITA, 1'13.578 17, Manuel Priem, Kawasaki, BEL, 1'16.105 18, Kornel Nemeth, KTM, HUN, 1'18.885 19, Alessio Chiodi, TM, ITA, 1'26.162 20, Pierre A. Renet, Suzuki, FRA, 1'28.134 Race 2 - 21 Laps Pos., Rider, Manu., Nat., Total Time 1, Sébastien Pourcel, Kawasaki, FRA, 39'42.975 2, David Philippaerts, Yamaha, ITA, 0'8.473 3, Joshua Coppins, Yamaha, NZL, 0'11.360 4, Steve Ramon, Suzuki, BEL, 0'11.774 5, Mike Brown, Honda, USA, 0'16.237 6, Billy MacKenzie, Honda, GBR, 0'22.697 7, Jonathan Barragan, KTM, ESP, 0'29.193 8, Marc De Reuver, Honda, NED, 0'35.176 9, Kornel Nemeth, KTM, HUN, 0'39.940 10, Tanel Leok, Kawasaki, EST, 0'48.334 11, Clement Desalle, Suzuki, BEL, 0'50.370 12, Maximilian Nagl, KTM, GER, 0'52.219 13, Carlos Campano, Yamaha, ESP, 1'2.410 14, James Noble, KTM, GBR, 1'14.846 15, Pierre A. Renet, Suzuki, FRA, 1'22.129 16, Marcus Schiffer, KTM, GER, 1'31.529 17, Paulo Goncalves, Honda, POR, 1'38.142 18, Alex Salvini, Suzuki, ITA, 1'44.695 19, Marvin Van Daele, Suzuki, BEL, 1'48.894 20, Manuel Priem, Kawasaki, BEL, 1'51.571 Rider Standings 27/04/2008 Pos., Rider, Manu., Nat., Points 1, David Philippaerts, Yamaha, ITA, 102 2, Steve Ramon, Suzuki, BEL, 96 3, Joshua Coppins, Yamaha, NZL, 83 4, Billy MacKenzie, Honda, GBR, 79 5, Ken De Dycker, Suzuki, BEL, 77 6, Maximilian Nagl, KTM, GER, 58 7, Jonathan Barragan, KTM, ESP, 54 8, Sébastien Pourcel, Kawasaki, FRA, 52 9, Tanel Leok, Kawasaki, EST, 50 10, Kornel Nemeth, KTM, HUN, 48 11, Clement Desalle, Suzuki, BEL, 43 12, Mike Brown, Honda, USA, 42 13, Marc De Reuver, Honda, NED, 40 14, Manuel Priem, Kawasaki, BEL, 40 15, Kevin Strijbos, Kawasaki, BEL, 36 16, Marcus Schiffer, KTM, GER, 27 17, James Noble, KTM, GBR, 20 18, Tom Church, Kawasaki, GBR, 20 19, Aigar Leok, Yamaha, EST, 20 20, Alex Salvini, Suzuki, ITA, 19 28, Carlos Campano, Yamaha, ESP, 8 Manufacturer Standings 27/04/2008 Pos., Manufacturer, Points 1, Suzuki, 108 2, Yamaha, 102 3, Kawasaki, 92 4, KTM, 85 5, Honda, 82 6, TM, 13 ---------- RACE REPORT - 27/04/2008 Sensational Cairoli sweeps Portuguese GP MX2-GP World Champion Antonio Cairoli stormed the Grand Prix of Portugal at a sun-soaked Agueda circuit in front of 18,000 spectators to win both motos and claim his first victory of the season and also take the lead in the 2008 standings after three rounds of fifteen. Despite still suffering from the last affects of a throat infection - he only stopped taking antibiotics on Friday - Cairoli was back to his stylish and ruthless best; the sort of form and spectacular flamboyance that won 13 from 14 Grand Prix in 2007. The Sicilian of the Yamaha Red Bull De Carli team defeated main title rivals Tyla Rattray and Tommy Searle with two dominant displays on his YZ250F. Across the dry, stony and technical terrain the reigning number one shone as brightly as the blue sky overhead. A fantastic duel with Searle in the first laps of Moto1 was decided when Cairoli attempted and succeeded with an audacious overtaking move that saw him gain the lead and brake away from the Briton. The second moto was over from the second corner, when number '222' was in no mood for further games. Yamaha Ricci Racing's Nico Aubin, who celebrated his 20th birthday yesterday with a pit-board salutation from his team in the first session Saturday morning and also received a pie in the face from his French peers in the evening, was 5th overall with results of 8th and 4th. The Frenchman suffered from a crash in the first moto that caused him to lose positions but was more consistent in the second after sprinting away from Stephen Sword. Team-mate and Grand Prix of Spain victor Davide Guarneri admitted that the heat of the scorching Saturday timetable left him fighting for breath during the qualification race in which he captured third. The Italian rode to a decent 5th after vying for fourth during one stage of the moto but had to pull up to avoid his fallen team-mate which kept him outside the top four. In the second race a poor start meant a lot of work but he came through the pack before being hit to the ground by local hope Rui Goncalves. From that point 12th was all he could salvage to take 7th. Cairoli's triumph means that he now holds an advantage of 5 points from Rattray. Guarneri is fourth and Aubin in seventh. Alessandro Lupino qualified for his second Grand Prix of the season and just the third of his career. The teenager scored two points with 19th position in Moto1. Some good news for the De Carli crew is that Matteo Bonini has recovered from his dislocated shoulder and subsequent operation and will begin to ride this week. The Italian could be in action as early as the Grand Prix of Bulgaria in a fortnight but will almost certainly bring the team back to full strength for their home round at Mantova on May 18th. The fourth round of the FIM World Championship will take place at the Sevlievo circuit in two weeks time. The Grand Prix will also witness the start of the inaugural Women's World Championship. Antonio Cairoli, Yamaha Red Bull De Carli: 1st "I am starting to get a much better feeling with my bike because in the winter we tested and practiced a lot with the 450. It was nice to have a 'normal' race because with the sand and then the mud last week I did not get a chance to have a look at my condition. I am really happy with the race today though. We had some fun in that first moto and Tommy had some good lines. His style is similar to mine; we both play a lot with the bikes on the jumps. We fought for three or four laps but then I had some more speed through one section and decided to make the break once the move worked. I only stopped taking antibiotics for my throat infection on Friday, so physically it was a hard day and now I can look after my body with the free weekend we have. Taking the lead in the championship is important but there is a long journey ahead still." Nicolas Aubin, Yamaha Ricci Racing: 5th "The result is not so good and I could not take two top four positions, which I was capable of. I need better starts in the next GP. I'm pleased with my speed and physical condition I just need to get nearer the front right at the beginning. The level in MX2-GP this year is very close so getting those good starts is more important than ever." Davide Guarneri, Yamaha Ricci Racing: 7th "It was so hot and hard today. In the first moto I made a good start, around the top seven. When I was in sixth I tried to pass Sword but in one corner I found Aubin had crashed and was right there in the middle of the line and I lost some time there, fifth was OK though. In the next moto I was quite far back at the start and after two laps I pushed hard and passed many riders. I was in the top seven and tried Goncalves for sixth but in one corner he went straight on and took me out. I was a bit tired when I restarted and took twelfth." Race 1 - 22 Laps Pos., Rider, Manu., Nat., Total Time 1, Antonio Cairoli, Yamaha, ITA, 40'22.503 2, Tommy Searle, KTM, GBR, 0'6.909 3, Tyla Rattray, KTM, RSA, 0'10.391 4, Stephen Sword, Kawasaki, GBR, 0'43.783 5, Davide Guarneri, Yamaha, ITA, 0'46.371 6, Rui Goncalves, KTM, POR, 0'47.906 7, Steven Frossard, Kawasaki, FRA, 0'55.172 8, Nicolas Aubin, Yamaha, FRA, 0'55.725 9, Gautier Paulin, Kawasaki, FRA, 1'9.019 10, Jeremy Van Horebeek, KTM, BEL, 1'18.458 11, Xavier Boog, Suzuki, FRA, 1'19.138 12, Wyatt Avis, Honda, RSA, 1'33.412 13, Anthony Boissiere, KTM, FRA, 1'37.467 14, Marvin Musquin, Honda, FRA, 1'39.138 15, Carl Nunn, Suzuki, GBR, 1'40.158 16, Joel Roelants, KTM, BEL, 1'41.942 17, Elliott Banks-Browne, Suzuki, GBR, 1'52.164 18, Gregory Aranda, Kawasaki, FRA, 1'57.571 19, Alessandro Lupino, Yamaha, ITA, -1 Laps 20, Shannon Terreblanche, Suzuki, RSA, -1 Laps Race 2 - 22 Laps Pos., Rider, Manu., Nat., Total Time 1, Antonio Cairoli, Yamaha, ITA, 39'45.757 2, Tyla Rattray, KTM, RSA, 0'12.867 3, Tommy Searle, KTM, GBR, 0'17.992 4, Nicolas Aubin, Yamaha, FRA, 0'33.529 5, Stephen Sword, Kawasaki, GBR, 0'44.135 6, Rui Goncalves, KTM, POR, 0'50.537 7, Carl Nunn, Suzuki, GBR, 0'56.905 8, Shaun Simpson, KTM, GBR, 1'0.459 9, Manuel Monni, Yamaha, ITA, 1'3.120 10, Jeremy Van Horebeek, KTM, BEL, 1'7.252 11, Gautier Paulin, Kawasaki, FRA, 1'12.610 12, Davide Guarneri, Yamaha, ITA, 1'21.877 13, Jeremy Tarroux, KTM, FRA, 1'25.215 14, Shannon Terreblanche, Suzuki, RSA, 1'28.935 15, Gregory Aranda, Kawasaki, FRA, 1'38.980 16, Anthony Boissiere, KTM, FRA, 1'49.453 17, Julien Vanni, KTM, FRA, 1'58.650 18, Elliott Banks-Browne, Suzuki, GBR, -1 Laps 19, Gert Krestinov, KTM, EST, -1 Laps 20, Joel Roelants, KTM, BEL, -1 Laps Rider Standings 27/04/2008 Pos., Rider, Manu., Nat., Points 1, Antonio Cairoli, Yamaha, ITA, 126 2, Tyla Rattray, KTM, RSA, 121 3, Tommy Searle, KTM, GBR, 102 4, Davide Guarneri, Yamaha, ITA, 86 5, Rui Goncalves, KTM, POR, 81 6, Stephen Sword, Kawasaki, GBR, 80 7, Nicolas Aubin, Yamaha, FRA, 78 8, Shaun Simpson, KTM, GBR, 60 9, Manuel Monni, Yamaha, ITA, 60 10, Jeremy Van Horebeek, KTM, BEL, 57 11, Xavier Boog, Suzuki, FRA, 55 12, Joel Roelants, KTM, BEL, 49 13, Gautier Paulin, Kawasaki, FRA, 48 14, Erik Eggens, Suzuki, NED, 38 15, Jeremy Tarroux, KTM, FRA, 34 16, Carl Nunn, Suzuki, GBR, 27 17, Steven Frossard, Kawasaki, FRA, 23 18, Marvin Musquin, Honda, FRA, 23 19, Gert Krestinov, KTM, EST, 23 20, Anthony Boissiere, KTM, FRA, 22 21, Evgeny Bobryshev, Yamaha, RUS, 20 27, Alessandro Lupino, Yamaha, ITA, 8 Manufacturer Standings 27/04/2008 Pos., Manufacturer, Points 1, Yamaha, 141 2, KTM, 137 3, Kawasaki, 86 4, Suzuki, 81 5, Honda, 28
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

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

Yamaha and Colin Edwards to race together for another year

Yamaha Motor Co. Ltd is delighted to announce that it has signed a new one-year deal with current Tech 3 Yamaha team rider Colin Edwards. Edwards will continue to race with the Tech 3 Team alongside Briton James Toseland in 2009. The Texan has agreed the new one-year contract for the 2009 MotoGP World Championship after enjoying the best spell of his premier class career with Herve Poncharal’s Tech 3 Yamaha squad. The 34-year-old has already scored two podium finishes, four top five finishes and one pole position in 2008. He has been on the front row a further four times and is currently challenging for a top four position in the overall world championship standings. Next year will be Edwards’ fifth season with Yamaha in MotoGP, during which time he has been one of the most consistent performers in the championship, scoring points in all but ten of his 94 MotoGP races. Eight out of ten of Edwards’ MotoGP career podium finishes have been with Yamaha. Lin Jarvis, Managing Director of Yamaha Motor Racing commented “We are very happy to have been able to secure Colin as a Yamaha rider for 2009. We have been working to improve the quality of the total Yamaha package in the MotoGP class and in 2008 we have achieved the best combined results to date for many years. This comes down to the fact that in the Yamaha Factory Team and the Tech 3 Yamaha Team we currently have two excellent squads, with first-class technical partners, a great bike and four top class riders. Colin’s contribution to the improvement of results in the Tech 3 Team has been very important for the team and for the overall factory results. Colin has also played a very important role in the pre-season bike development for 2008 and we are very happy to have retained his skills and experience for the 2009 campaign. I hope Colin can celebrate this new contract this weekend with a top result here in front of his home fans at Laguna Seca!”
Alex Asigno

Official recognition for the Yamaha Classic Racing Team

Yamaha Motor Europe NV has officially announced its support for the Yamaha Classic Racing Team, founded and managed by former Yamaha GP mechanic Ferry Brouwer. In addition to a financial element, the support will include technical as well as promotional aspects. The Yamaha Classic Racing Team (YCRT), born out of passion for racing heritage is aimed at conserving Yamaha’s history from their early golden years of road racing. This truly magnificent period started in the sixties and continued into the seventies. Ferry Brouwer, now 59 yrs old has been into racing since he was 6 years old after being introduced to it by his father. He's been a big fan of Yamaha road racing 2 strokes ever since, and worked as a Yamaha factory mechanic from 1968 to 1973 for riders such as Jarno Saarinen, Phil Read, Chas Mortimer and Tepi Lansivuori. In 1982, Netherlands based Dutchman Ferry founded "Arai Helmet Europe BV". His passion for classic racers never died however and he remained active in that field, working on an impressive collection of classic Yamaha racers and founding a dedicated team to race his machines. In 1998 Ferry was the driving force behind the "Assen Centennial TT", bringing together many famous former GP stars to ride their restored racers. Recently he retired from Arai and now focuses all his time on the Yamaha Classic Racing Team (YCRT).He owns an impressive list of 14 classic Yamaha racers, all in superb condition, and has plenty of plans to extend this line up The machines are of course the real stars, some of them painstakingly restored production machines, all in absolute mint condition and completely original. Others are reconstructions of works machines that had to be built from scratch, as the original work bikes were, as was the custom of the day, destroyed. Examples include the unique YZ634 350 cc 2 cylinder 2 stroke bike, the factory racer in 1972 and the 500cc YZR500 OW45 GP bike ridden so successfully by Kenny Roberts in 1979. The 1972 screaming 2 stroke YZ623C 125cc and the YZ634A 500cc 2 stroke GP bike of the same year are race bikes that were completely recreated by the team. Yamaha fully endorsed the building of these replicas.The absolute stars of the team are the breathtakingly beautiful 125 (RA31A) and 250 cc (RD05A) works 4 cylinder machines which in the hands of Phil Read gave Yamaha a double world championship in 1968. The Yamaha Classic Racing Team riders form an incredible roll call of those glorious racing days. Amongst the regular riders such as Dieter Braun, Svend Andersson, and former Yamaha Factory riders Michelle Duff, Rodney Gould and Chas Mortimer, guest appearances will take place at events with star riders as Giacomo Agostini, Steve Baker, Christian Sarron and Luca Cadalora. They will ride the machines of the Yamaha Classic Racing Team in the style that made them winners in their time. Yamaha Motor Europe’s Racing Division Manager Laurens Klein Koerkamp stated, "The relation between Yamaha, the Yamaha Classic Racing Team andFerry Brouwer has been close for many years and continues to grow in strength. The step to make it official is a logical one. The passion for the Yamaha brand, the technology of the bikes and its racing history is something we all share To be able to see these iconic, historical machines still racing at these events remains a very special and unique opportunity. It’s fantastic to see that also younger people are attracted by the technology of the past and can appreciate the variety of machinery of former days, 4 cylinder 250cc or even 125cc engines as well as 750 2strokes, etc. Our aim is not so much to increase the quantity of our classic racers appearances, but to ensure that our racing history remains available in riding condition for Yamaha racing fans to enjoy now and in the future”. Ferry Brouwer commented, “1973 was the last time I worked with Yamaha as mechanic for Jarno Saarinen on the official factory team. Exactly 35 years later I am so happy to be officially associated with Yamaha again. But not just me; through YCRT guys like Rod Gould, Chas Mortimer, Michelle Duff are also back with Yamaha. The official support from Yamaha is recognition of what we do, but above all recognition from Yamaha to and for Yamaha’s own history. Once again Yamaha is leading the way as a Japanese manufacturer they definitely live and act by their own slogan “ Touching your Heart” as an enormous amount of people’s hearts will be touched by seeing those classic machines riding again. We wish to be a source of inspiration for others carrying the past into the future.“ Event schedule 2008 at present:– May 24th-25th,Coupe Moto Legend, Dijon, France July 5th-6th,Bikers’ Classics 2008, Spa-Francorchamps, Belgium July 19th-20th,Salzburg, Austria August 9th-10th, Oschersleben, Germany August 16th-17th, Schotten, Germany
Alex Asigno

Haga Takes Second At Assen

Noriyuki Haga secured a second place for his Yamaha Motor Italia WSB Team after another unsettled race day for the Japanese star, with a crash in race one preventing him from a potential double points score at one his favourite tracks. In the first race Haga fell on lap two, after colliding with Ruben Xaus at the slow De Strubben left hand corner, while Corser went on to fight in the leading group for most of the race, only dropping back to fifth in the later stages and finishing 11 seconds from the win after 22 laps. The second race of the day was run in warmer conditions than the first, with a track temperature of 31 degrees, and it offered Haga a real chance to make up for his first race disappointments. He ran eventual race winner Troy Bayliss close, taking second place by a margin of 0.082 seconds. Corser experienced a drop in front tyre performance and slipped back from a possible podium finish to tenth. Bayliss won both races to extend his championship lead. Corser remains third in the championship standings, thanks to his Assen scores, on a total of 89 points. Haga holds on to sixth position, with 67 points, as thoughts now turn to the team's home race in Monza. Team YZF Yamaha rider Shinichi Nakatomi was 15th in each Assen race, scoring points both times as he battled hard in the midfield, finding a better race two set-up than he had in the opener. David Checa (Yamaha GMT94) dislocated his hip after a heavy fall in race one. It is very likely he will need to sit out Monza race weekend and perhaps even the American round. His team-mate Sebastien Gimbert was close to two points scores, but missed out by placing 17th in each event. Noriyuki Haga (DNF and 2nd - Yamaha Italy WSB Team) "When I overtook Ruben I touched with him and then we fell. In race two I pushed hard all through the race and when I was following Bayliss he tried to get away near the end. But I could stay with him and even caught back up with him. I was following, waiting to see where I could pass but in the last few laps he rode the corners on a tight line and had good acceleration. I am disappointed with the first race and satisfied with the second, but not satisfied enough." Troy Corser (5th and 10th - Yamaha Italy WSB Team) "Towards the end of race one the rear tyre, maybe after two-thirds distance, lost grip on the right hand side. On the long rights, onto the back straight, it was spinning but not pushing. In race two I struggled with the front tyre a bit and used it up. I had no front left at the end. It was a bit rough with a couple of riders at one point, but that's normal, just racing." Massimo Meregalli (Team Manager, Yamaha Motor Italia WSB Team) "After yesterday we were expecting really good results, but we did not have good fortune on raceday. Nori did a fantastic second race and he showed his true desire and ability to go for the win - and he was only 0.082 seconds away. Troy worked hard to find good settings all weekend, and he had issues with grip on race two. Now we go home and race at Monza next time. We would like to do what we did last year, take a double win…" Shinichi Nakatomi (15th and 15th - Team YZF Yamaha) "I had a front tyre problem after ten laps and it became impossible to push. For race two we fitted a different front tyre, and it was better, but some riders were difficult to overtake. Overall, not so good, but we took points in both races. Next event we will change the settings and go for a better position." Christophe Guyot (Team Manager Yamaha GMT94 Team) " A difficult weekend for us on balance after some high points. Davide Checa has dislocated his hip after his crash and we will have to see how he is before the next race at Monza. Sebastien rode as hard as he could but he just missed out on points." Round 4: Assen, Netherlands Track length: 4555m Opened: 1955 Fastest Superbike Lap: 1:38.355 (Troy Bayliss, Ducati, 2008) Lap record: 1'39.395 (Max Neukirchner, Suzuki) Last year's winners: Troy Bayliss (Ducati) and James Toseland (Honda) Race 1 - 22 Laps Pos., Rider, Manu., Nat., Total Time 1, Troy Bayliss, Ducati, AUS, 36'50.907 2, Carlos Checa, Honda, ESP, 0'2.132 3, Max Neukirchner, Suzuki, GER, 0'2.179 4, Yukio Kagayama, Suzuki, JPN, 0'10.919 5, Troy Corser, Yamaha, AUS, 0'11.051 6, Jakub Smrz, Ducati, CZE, 0'11.979 7, Ryuichi Kiyonari, Honda, JPN, 0'15.184 8, Makoto Tamada, Kawasaki, JPN, 0'18.395 9, Gregorio Lavilla, Honda, ESP, 0'18.634 10, Max Biaggi, Ducati, ITA, 0'20.699 11, Regis Laconi, Kawasaki, FRA, 0'25.759 12, Kenan Sofuoglu, Honda, TUR, 0'26.064 13, Ayrton Badovini, Kawasaki, ITA, 0'35.582 14, Karl Muggeridge, Honda, AUS, 0'36.266 15, Shinichi Nakatomi, Yamaha, JPN, 0'37.215 16, Ruben Xaus, Ducati, ESP, 0'37.286 17, Sebastien Gimbert, Yamaha, FRA, 0'39.037 18, Russel Holland, Honda, AUS, 0'45.162 19, Shuhei Aoyama, Honda, JPN, 1'4.895 20, Arie Vos, Ducati, NED, 1'5.022 21, Loic Napoleone, Yamaha, FRA, 1'22.777 22, Roberto Rolfo, Honda, ITA, -2 Laps Race 2 - 22 Laps Pos., Rider, Manu., Nat., Total Time 1, Troy Bayliss, Ducati, AUS, 36'46.238 2, Noriyuki Haga, Yamaha, JPN, 0'0.082 3, Carlos Checa, Honda, ESP, 0'6.336 4, Ruben Xaus, Ducati, ESP, 0'7.575 5, Max Neukirchner, Suzuki, GER, 0'8.011 6, Yukio Kagayama, Suzuki, JPN, 0'13.999 7, Gregorio Lavilla, Honda, ESP, 0'15.215 8, Jakub Smrz, Ducati, CZE, 0'16.376 9, Makoto Tamada, Kawasaki, JPN, 0'17.269 10, Troy Corser, Yamaha, AUS, 0'18.380 11, Fonsi Nieto, Suzuki, ESP, 0'18.926 12, Max Biaggi, Ducati, ITA, 0'21.452 13, Karl Muggeridge, Honda, AUS, 0'23.794 14, Roberto Rolfo, Honda, ITA, 0'29.847 15, Shinichi Nakatomi, Yamaha, JPN, 0'30.252 16, Regis Laconi, Kawasaki, FRA, 0'31.249 17, Sebastien Gimbert, Yamaha, FRA, 0'31.328 18, Ayrton Badovini, Kawasaki, ITA, 0'39.814 19, Kenan Sofuoglu, Honda, TUR, 0'49.956 20, Russel Holland, Honda, AUS, 0'51.554 21, Shuhei Aoyama, Honda, JPN, 0'51.642 22, Loic Napoleone, Yamaha, FRA, 1'2.682 23, Arie Vos, Ducati, NED, 1'2.729 Best Lap Rider, Manu., Nat., Total Time Max Neukirchner, Suzuki, GER, 1'39.395 Rider Standings 27/04/2008 Pos., Rider, Manu., Nat., Points 1, Troy Bayliss, Ducati, AUS, 178 2, Carlos Checa, Honda, ESP, 108 3, Troy Corser, Yamaha, AUS, 89 4, Fonsi Nieto, Suzuki, ESP, 85 5, Ruben Xaus, Ducati, ESP, 81 6, Noriyuki Haga, Yamaha, JPN, 67 7, Max Neukirchner, Suzuki, GER, 66 8, Max Biaggi, Ducati, ITA, 54 9, Gregorio Lavilla, Honda, ESP, 48 10, Lorenzo Lanzi, Ducati, ITA, 42 11, Yukio Kagayama, Suzuki, JPN, 41 12, Ryuichi Kiyonari, Honda, JPN, 39 13, Michel Fabrizio, Ducati, ITA, 37 14, Jakub Smrz, Ducati, CZE, 35 15, Makoto Tamada, Kawasaki, JPN, 28 21, Shinichi Nakatomi, Yamaha, JPN, 9 22, David Checa, Yamaha, ESP, 5 23, Sebastien Gimbert, Yamaha, FRA, 3 Manufacturer Standings 27/04/2008 Pos., Manufacturer, Points 1, Ducati, 190 2, Yamaha, 126 3, Suzuki, 113 4, Honda, 109 5, Kawasaki, 37 ---------- RACE REPORT - 27/04/2008 Foret and Parkes Almost There At Assen Fabien Foret and Broc Parkes, both from the Yamaha World Supersport Team, were tantalisingly close to a podium finish apiece at Assen, after a classic high-speed multi-rider battle for the win, which finally went to Andrew Pitt. Foret was only 0.201 seconds from victory itself, in fourth place after 21-laps. He had fought through from a bad start, completing the first lap down in 13th place. Parkes finished only 0.283 seconds from the win and his fifth place means that both riders scored good points in the championship chase, after starting from the front row of the race. Parkes had to ride with a fractured left hand, after a Friday practice crash, and battled manfully in the first few places for almost the entire race, even after losing power from his left hand as the race progressed. In the championship Parkes is third on 49 points, Foret is fourth on 46 points, with leader Joan Lascorz on 70, after taking third place today. Massimo Roccoli (Yamaha Team Italia Lorenzini by Leoni) fell from his machine on lap two, while sitting inside the top ten places. Yamaha Spain riders Angel Rodriguez and David Salom left Assen without any points, as Rodriguez crashed on lap 9, while ranked 11th, and Salom just missed a point by finishing 16th. Fabien Foret (4th - +0'0.201 - Yamaha World Supersport Team) "I had another bad start and my fault, I don't know why. I had to push very hard and that made the tyres wear more. I don't think I found the perfect machine settings, and I am not sure if I made the right choice of front tyre. It may have been better with the other one I considered today, but it is always easy to speak about what could have been after the race. The fourth place is not so bad, and the championship is long. It will be better in the next tracks. No big drama today but I expected something better." Broc Parkes (5th - +0'0.203 - Yamaha World Supersport Team) "It was chaos out there today and everyone just wanted to go at each other. At one stage, lap ten maybe, I felt not too bad then after that my hand just started to get more and painful and once the tyres started to go I couldn't move around like I wanted to, I just had to sit on and ride it. Even with a painkiller you just can't use your hand properly when it's injured. The worst parts were during braking. I just couldn't do what I wanted to. A good race, but we always want to be on the podium. I actually thought there were a couple of more laps to go because everyone had their pit boards out at the same time, so I could hardly see my own one!" Wilco Zeelenberg (Team Manager, Yamaha World Supersport Team) "Some race for sure, and a there was a big line up of riders fighting for the win. We are little bit disappointed not to be on the podium, but our main rivals were fast all the time in the whole race so we have to accept that we were fourth and fifth. Fabien still struggled a bit settings wise, and Broc with a broken hand, so what can we say about finishing so close to the podium places? A lot of good riders finished behind us. David Salom: (16th- +0'27.619 - Yamaha Spain World Supersport Team) "In the start I´ve been beaten by two riders. It was like starting all over again from the 19th position. I didn´t feel comfortable during the race, I couldn´t find my rhythm. It´s a pity because this is my third race just out of the points" Massimo Roccoli (DNF - Yamaha Team Italia Lorenzini by Leoni) "I was happy with the way the bike was set-up after the warm-up this morning. I was running well after the first lap and feeling calm and ready for a long race. Then I lost the front on one of the fast right-handers and that was me finished, because the bike went ever and over in the gravel." Angel Rodriguez: (DNF - Yamaha Spain World Supersport Team) "My start was not so bad, I was fightingwith the riders ahead but in the final line I´ve braked too strong and I crashed. It´s a shame because I had a good rhythm and my bike, my tyres and team had worked very strong to achieved a better result" Round 4: Assen, Netherlands Track length: 4555m Opened: 1955 Fastest Supersport lap: 1:40.130 (Gianluca Viziello, Honda) Lap record: 1:42.096 (Kenan Sofuoglu, Honda) Last year's winner: Kenan Sofuoglu, (Honda) Race 1 - 21 Laps Pos., Rider, Manu., Nat., Total Time 1, Andrew Pitt, Honda, AUS, 36'10.751 2, Jonathan Rea, Honda, GBR, 0'0.014 3, Joan Lascorz, Honda, ESP, 0'0.150 4, Fabien Foret, Yamaha, FRA, 0'0.201 5, Broc Parkes, Yamaha, AUS, 0'0.283 6, Joshua Brookes, Honda, AUS, 0'0.447 7, Barry Veneman, Suzuki, NED, 0'2.050 8, Gianluca Vizziello, Honda, ITA, 0'2.346 9, Craig Jones, Honda, GBR, 0'2.714 10, Matthieu Lagrive, Honda, FRA, 0'3.073 11, Mark Aitchinson, Triumph, AUS, 0'4.070 12, Chris Walker, Kawasaki, GBR, 0'4.863 13, Robbin Harms, Honda, DNK, 0'5.088 14, Ivan Clementi, Triumph, ITA, 0'16.644 15, Ilario Dionisi, Triumph, ITA, 0'21.630 16, David Salom, Yamaha, ESP, 0'27.619 17, Miguel Praia, Honda, POR, 0'27.773 18, Vesa Kallio, Honda, FIN, 0'27.898 19, Graeme Gowland, Honda, GBR, 0'39.320 20, Mirko Giansanti, Honda, ITA, 0'39.321 21, Kev Coghlan, Honda, GBR, 0'41.111 22, Danilo Dell'omo, Honda, ITA, 0'46.341 23, Lorenzo Alfonsi, Honda, ITA, 0'48.878 24, Ron van Steenbergen, Honda, NED, 0'56.714 25, Santiago Barragan, Honda, ESP, 0'57.194 26, Jurjen Uitterdijk, Yamaha, NED, 1'7.115 27, William De Angelis, Honda, ITA, 1'8.851 Best Lap Rider, Manu., Nat., Total Time Gianluca Vizziello, Honda, ITA, 1'42.130 Rider Standings 27/04/2008 Pos., Rider, Manu., Nat., Points 1, Joan Lascorz, Honda, ESP, 70 2, Andrew Pitt, Honda, AUS, 50 3, Broc Parkes, Yamaha, AUS, 49 4, Fabien Foret, Yamaha, FRA, 46 5, Joshua Brookes, Honda, AUS, 43 6, Jonathan Rea, Honda, GBR, 41 7, Craig Jones, Honda, GBR, 39 8, Robbin Harms, Honda, DNK, 28 9, Gianluca Vizziello, Honda, ITA, 26 10, Matthieu Lagrive, Honda, FRA, 20 11, Chris Walker, Kawasaki, GBR, 20 12, Barry Veneman, Suzuki, NED, 19 13, Gianluca Nannelli, Honda, ITA, 17 14, Massimo Roccoli, Yamaha, ITA, 16 15, Mark Aitchinson, Triumph, AUS, 15 19, David Salom, Yamaha, ESP, 8 Manufacturer Standings 27/04/2008 Pos., Manufacturer, Points 1, Honda, 95 2, Yamaha, 71 3, Triumph, 25 4, Kawasaki, 20 5, Suzuki, 19 ---------- RACE REPORT - 27/04/2008 Pirro scores first podium of the season Michele Pirro was second in today's race with an impressive ride on a Yamaha Lorenzini by Leoni YZF-R1. It was his first podium for 2008 after strong performances and two podium finishes in the previous season. The young Italian was the top finishing Yamaha rider after Sylvain Barrier (YZF Yamaha Junior Team) crashed at post 15. Yamaha Motor Italia Junior Team rider Claudio Corti looked set for this first race win of the season but finished the weekend on a low after crashing out on lap ten of the Assen circuit. Michelle Pirro (2nd - Yamaha Motor Italia Lorenzini by Leoni) "I have to learn to start better and to take advantage of having a clear track in front of me because I can lap very fast and make it difficult for the guys to keep up. There is much risk in the field with lots of contact between riders. I'm very happy because I didn't make any mistakes and I've taken a very important podium for the championship." Claudio Corti (DNF - Yamaha Motor Italia Junior Team) "I'm sorry for the team as the bike was working perfect. It was the worst moment for the crash. I'm sorry I made the mistake but we will be in front at Monza on track." Race 1 - 13 Laps Pos., Rider, Manu., Nat., Total Time 1, Maxime Berger, Honda, FRA, 22'24.450 2, Michele Pirro, Yamaha, ITA, 0'0.904 3, Xavier Simeon, Suzuki, BEL, 0'2.848 4, Alessandro Polita, Ducati, ITA, 0'4.811 5, Andrea Antonelli, Honda, ITA, 0'5.481 6, Raymond Schouten, Yamaha, NED, 0'9.544 7, Matej Smrz, Honda, CZE, 0'16.932 8, Davide Giugliano, Suzuki, ITA, 0'17.289 9, Kenny Foray, Yamaha, FRA, 0'17.672 10, Marko Rohtlaan, Honda, EST, 0'19.588 11, Domenico Colucci, Ducati, ITA, 0'19.898 12, Matteo Baiocco, Yamaha, ITA, 0'23.074 13, Danny De Boer, Suzuki, NED, 0'25.288 14, Gareth Jones, Suzuki, AUS, 0'25.595 15, Yoann Tiberio, Kawasaki, FRA, 0'29.279 16, Rene Mahr, Yamaha, GER, 0'30.097 17, Fabrizio Perotti, Suzuki, ITA, 0'31.915 18, Gregory Junod, Yamaha, CHE, 0'37.255 19, Denis Sacchetti, MV Agusta, ITA, 0'38.303 20, Ronald ter Braake, Honda, NED, 0'40.461 Best Lap Rider, Manu., Nat., Total Time Michele Pirro, Yamaha, ITA, 1'42.076 Rider Standings 27/04/2008 Pos., Rider, Manu., Nat., Points 1, Maxime Berger, Honda, FRA, 34 2, Xavier Simeon, Suzuki, BEL, 32 3, Michele Pirro, Yamaha, ITA, 30 4, Davide Giugliano, Suzuki, ITA, 28 5, Alessandro Polita, Ducati, ITA, 26 6, Brendan Roberts, Ducati, AUS, 25 7, Andrea Antonelli, Honda, ITA, 11 8, Claudio Corti, Yamaha, ITA, 11 9, Raymond Schouten, Yamaha, NED, 10 10, Kenny Foray, Yamaha, FRA, 10 11, Matej Smrz, Honda, CZE, 9 12, Chris Seaton, Suzuki, AUS, 8 13, Barry Burrell, Honda, GBR, 7 14, Marko Rohtlaan, Honda, EST, 6 15, Michele Magnoni, Yamaha, ITA, 6 22, Sylvain Barrier, Yamaha, FRA, 2 Manufacturer Standings 27/04/2008 Pos., Manufacturer, Points 1, Ducati, 38 2, Suzuki, 36 3, Honda, 34 4, Yamaha, 31 5, Kawasaki, 2
Alex Asigno

Philippaerts wins 2008 MX1-GP World Championship!

The Yamaha Monster Motocross Team celebrated a fantastic end to a wonderful season of racing as David Philippaerts became world champion and went home permanently with the red plate as MX1-GP series leader after the fifteenth and final round at the Faenza circuit in Italy. The 24 year old fronted the FIM world championship for 13 of the 15 events and was crowned 'number one' with the YZ450FM for the first time in his career in front of 30,000 wiling spectators. The Italian, in his first season with the Yamaha Monster Motocross Team and only his second in the MX-1 GP class after moving up from successful exploits in MX2-GP, defied the pressure of expectation by his home crowd and also the last-gasp attentions of main rivals Steve Ramon and Ken De Dycker to take results of 3rd and 9th for 5th overall across the damp soil. The tight and compact Faenza circuit (some 50km east of Bologna) did not offer a typical Italian test thanks to some changeable weather conditions and outbreaks of rain that left the terrain a mixture of slippery and soft parts. Philippaerts rode determinedly in Moto1 to rise from 8th to 3rd by mid-distance and leave nearest challenger Ramon in his wake. Finishing one position behind De Dycker meant that the champion-elect needed just three points to claim his prize. An understandably cautious approach in Moto2 saw Philippaerts settle for a safe top ten slot. After jumping for joy at the finish line he was mobbed by an army of fans, media and well-wishers at the finish line in scenes not witnessed at a motocross Grand Prix for many years. His achievement in 2008 represented the fourth crown in five years for the Yamaha factory team with the potent and conquering YZ450FM. From the 30 motos of the 2008 FIM world championship Philippaerts recorded 3 wins and 13 top three finishes. From the 15 Grand Prix he obtained 7 overall podiums and was victorious twice. He is the first Italian to win the title in the blue ribbon category since Alex Puzar eighteen years ago in 1990. Josh Coppins ended the season with 6th place at Faenza. The New Zealander earned 5th in the final championship standings despite an unlucky campaign. He appeared twice on the rostrum, winning once and scoring 2 moto victories. The 31 year old had a problem with his front fork in the opening race and had to slow his speed; he took 10th by the flag. In the second outing he was back to form and held off several riders in an intense fight for 3rd place. The racing calendar is not yet quite over for both Yamaha Monster Motocross Team riders. Coppins competes in the Belgian Championship next weekend before travelling to Donington Park to represent New Zealand at the 62nd Motocross of Nations. Philippaerts will also be in the UK and wearing Italian colours. David Philippaerts, Yamaha Monster Motocross Team, 5th, 1st in championship: "It has been a long, long year and now I am so happy. Steve and Ken were really fast all week and kept the pressure on. I wanted to take decent points at every GP and I only really believed that the title was in my grasp during that second moto today. I had looked at Steve's season in 2007 and I knew that consistency was the key to the title. I am so pleased for the team, Yamaha, Michele and my sponsors. I also want to say a big thank you to my girlfriend Alice. I am happy and it was so emotional to win the championship here in Italy and in front of those fans. I do not know what else I can say!" Josh Coppins, Yamaha Monster Motocross Team, 6th, 5th in championship: "It has not been my year but I am happy for the team and for Yamaha to regain the championship. With the fork problem in the first moto my braking points were off and the traction was affected; I struggled basically and crashed twice. I was disappointed when I came in and we made some changes during the break. My start was again good and in the second race I showed that I am capable of running near the front. I am happy the season is over and that I finished the year injury-free. I finished in the top five but this is not that much of a consolation for me. Anyway, we will now look towards next season." Mino Raspanti, Racing Manager, Yamaha Monster Motocross Team: "This is a fantastic day, for many people connected with the team and with Yamaha. David was excellent in the first moto and was really dedicated and brave with his approach; many riders in the same position would have thought about the points but he pushed hard for the top three. He went for the safe result in Moto2 and he deserves all the acclaim. I am really happy for him. We knew he might win a few GPs this season but '08 was about gaining experience, so he has done an immense job, especially considering he led the championship from round three. Josh had a good second moto and it was a decent way to finish a season in which he has been so unlucky. After last year I am glad we have the title back and now we will continue working hard in the winter for a defence in 2009." Laurens Klein Koerkamp, Racing Division Manager, Yamaha Motor Europe: "Last year we were so close to the championship and now I really feel that the title is back where it belongs. MX1-GP is the top class in off-road racing and we wanted the championship back for 2008. It has been an incredible year and an exciting season. David came into the team as the new rider but he was leading the series from round three and had to weather that pressure all year. To finish it off like this, here in Italy, is really fantastic." Race 1 - 22 Laps  Pos., Rider, Manu., Nat., Total Time 1, Maximilian Nagl, KTM, GER, 38'49.652 2, Ken De Dycker, Suzuki, BEL, 0'31.860 3, David Philippaerts, Yamaha, ITA, 0'35.891 4, Jonathan Barragan, KTM, ESP, 0'42.932 5, Billy MacKenzie, Honda, GBR, 0'44.356 6, Marc De Reuver, Honda, NED, 0'45.635 7, Julien Bill, Honda, CHE, 0'46.998 8, Clement Desalle, Suzuki, BEL, 0'49.515 9, Marcus Schiffer, KTM, GER, 0'57.967 10, Joshua Coppins, Yamaha, NZL, 1'0.552 11, Steve Ramon, Suzuki, BEL, 1'1.630 12, Tom Church, Kawasaki, GBR, 1'41.127 13, Martin Michek, TM, CZE, 1'42.414 14, Manuel Priem, Kawasaki, BEL, 1'48.962 15, Luis Correira, Yamaha, POR, 2'23.116 16, Pierre A. Renet, Suzuki, FRA, -1 Laps 17, Alex Salvini, Suzuki, ITA, -1 Laps 18, Carlos Campano, Yamaha, ESP, -1 Laps 19, Gregory Aranda, Kawasaki, FRA, -1 Laps 20, Loic Leonce, Yamaha, FRA, -1 Laps Race 2 - 22 Laps  Pos., Rider, Manu., Nat., Total Time 1, Maximilian Nagl, KTM, GER, 39'20.428 2, Steve Ramon, Suzuki, BEL, 0'5.714 3, Joshua Coppins, Yamaha, NZL, 0'10.748 4, Jonathan Barragan, KTM, ESP, 0'13.861 5, Ken De Dycker, Suzuki, BEL, 0'15.936 6, Tanel Leok, Kawasaki, EST, 0'17.332 7, Clement Desalle, Suzuki, BEL, 0'48.880 8, Carlos Campano, Yamaha, ESP, 0'56.674 9, David Philippaerts, Yamaha, ITA, 0'57.990 10, Billy MacKenzie, Honda, GBR, 0'57.990 11, Julien Bill, Honda, CHE, 1'1.352 12, Manuel Priem, Kawasaki, BEL, 1'12.192 13, Alex Salvini, Suzuki, ITA, 1'19.864 14, Tom Church, Kawasaki, GBR, 1'43.409 15, Pierre A. Renet, Suzuki, FRA, 1'52.048 16, Scott Columb, Suzuki, NZL, -1 Laps 17, Jacob Saylor, Kawasaki, USA, -1 Laps 18, Youhei Kojima, Suzuki, JPN, -1 Laps 19, Martin Michek, TM, CZE, -1 Laps 20, Matteo Dottori, Kawasaki, ITA, -2 Laps Rider Standings 14/09/2008 Pos., Rider, Manu., Nat., Points 1, David Philippaerts, Yamaha, ITA, 509 2, Steve Ramon, Suzuki, BEL, 495 3, Ken De Dycker, Suzuki, BEL, 490 4, Jonathan Barragan, KTM, ESP, 455 5, Joshua Coppins, Yamaha, NZL, 446 6, Maximilian Nagl, KTM, GER, 444 7, Sébastien Pourcel, Kawasaki, FRA, 392 8, Tanel Leok, Kawasaki, EST, 352 9, Billy MacKenzie, Honda, GBR, 320 10, Marc De Reuver, Honda, NED, 292 11, Clement Desalle, Suzuki, BEL, 290 12, Manuel Priem, Kawasaki, BEL, 261 13, Julien Bill, Honda, CHE, 183 14, Aigar Leok, Yamaha, EST, 164 15, Kornel Nemeth, KTM, HUN, 159 16, Marcus Schiffer, KTM, GER, 147 17, Tom Church, Kawasaki, GBR, 109 18, Mike Brown, Honda, USA, 107 19, James Noble, KTM, GBR, 94 20, Steve Boniface, Honda, FRA, 75 21, Carlos Campano, Yamaha, ESP, 74 Manufacturer Standings 14/09/2008 Pos., Manufacturer, Points 1, Suzuki, 587 2, Yamaha, 583 3, KTM, 575 4, Kawasaki, 518 5, Honda, 470 6, TM, 43 7, Aprilia, 23 ---------- RACE REPORT - 14/09/2008 Aubin ends 2008 championship with 3rd With 7th position overall at the Faenza circuit in Italy for the last round of the MX2-GP World Championship Yamaha Ricci Racing's Nico Aubin guided his YZ250F to 3rd place in the series. The Frenchman was 9th and 8th in the two motos under changeable but mainly bright skies and was able to fulfil his pre-season aim of securing a 'podium' finish behind champion Tyla Rattray and Tommy Searle. Despite a grim weather prediction of continual rain all day, the clouds emptied only in the morning during Sunday and made the track a mixture of slippery ground and sticky mud providing decent traction. First Yamaha rider in the classification was Utag Yamaha.com's Zach Osborne. The American took pole position on Saturday with victory in his heat race and then produced two decent moto performances (only blighted by an average start in Moto1) to place 7th and 3rd, for 4th overall. The teenager has impressed since coming to Europe for the eleventh round of the championship and has already signed to race for the British crew in 2009. Aubin was 7th and was expecting a victory at this last round but a crash in Moto1 and not finding a satisfactory rhythm with the track kept him away from the leaders. Team-mate Davide Guarneri was unable to complete the first moto after catching and twisting his weakened right knee. The Italian, who will have surgery on Tuesday and then face a 3-4 month rehab period before he can ride again, did not start the second race and ended the year 15th in the final table. 10th overall in Faenza belonged to the continually improving Alessandro Lupino, of the Yamaha Red Bull De Carli Team. The teenager marked a career-best with finishes of 10th and 12th after his first full season in 2008. Outgoing world champion Antonio Cairoli was on-hand at his home Grand Prix to present new winner Tyla Rattray with his number one plate. The Sicilian pulled out of the series at round ten with a knee injury and ended the year with 6th in the standings, registering 7 moto wins (from 20), 4 victories and 6 podiums from 10 events. Elsewhere 3C Racing's Manuel Monni finished 11th in a term where he gained a Grand Prix podium (in Spain) and also became MX2 Italian champion. He was disappointed with his 12th place result in Faenza, commenting that the track was very different from tests one month before and he could not find the speed to enter the top ten. His low point haul meant that he lost the chance of a top ten slot in the championship. Aubin (France), Monni (Italy) and Osborne (Puerto Rico) will contest the 62nd Motocross of Nations at Donington Park in two weeks time. Nico Aubin, Yamaha Ricci Racing 7th and 3rd in the championship: "I won a round in 2007 and I really wanted another victory before the end of 2008 but I was riding stiff on the bike and was not quick enough. The goal then became to keep third place in the championship and I got the job done. I am quite satisfied but the truth is that if Antonio Cairoli was not injured then I would likely have finished fourth." Davide Guarneri, Yamaha Ricci Racing, DNF and 15th in the championship: "The track was really rough and this is not the way I wanted to end the season. It has not been a lucky year for me and now I just want to finally have the surgery and get my body fit and well again for next time." Zach Osborne, Utag Yamaha.com, 4th and 22nd in the championship: "Just one point from the podium so it was quite a positive way to end the season. I was disappointed with my start in the first race; I made a complete mess with my technique and everything. I did better in the second moto and stayed in third for pretty much the whole way. I had one really big moment that cost me about four seconds and maybe that last spot on the podium but the result was OK. I enjoyed the track; it was really rough towards the end." Alessandro Lupino, Yamaha Red Bull De Carli, 10th and 23rd in the championship: "I am really happy and I had some nice races today. I started the first moto very well and although I dropped back a little bit I was strong at the finish for 10th; it was a lot of fun. My second start was awful and I was 28th and practically last! I pushed really hard and came back to 12th. The season has ended quite well for me and now I will go to Belgium to train this winter and be stronger for 2009." Antonio Cairoli, Yamaha Red Bull De Carli, 6th in the championship: "My knee is much better and I am working on getting the strength back in my leg. I hope to be able to start riding at the beginning of November and will get on the 450 right away. It is a shame to be here at my home GP and not going for the championship, I knew it would go right until the end but I always thought I would be a part of it. It is great to see the fans again though! I am really happy for David, it has been quite a while since Italy had a really fast rider in the class and I would like to congratulate him for a good season." Race 1 - 22 Laps  Pos., Rider, Manu., Nat., Total Time 1, Tommy Searle, KTM, GBR, 40'15.199 2, Tyla Rattray, KTM, RSA, 0'1.247 3, Anthony Boissière, KTM, FRA, 0'2.732 4, Stephen Sword, Kawasaki, GBR, 0'13.268 5, Jeremy Van Horebeek, KTM, BEL, 0'31.918 6, Shaun Simpson, KTM, GBR, 0'34.575 7, Zach Osborne, Yamaha, USA, 0'35.071 8, Joel Roelants, KTM, BEL, 0'45.389 9, Nicolas Aubin, Yamaha, FRA, 0'50.920 10, Alessandro Lupino, Yamaha, ITA, 0'52.194 11, Xavier Boog, Suzuki, FRA, 0'59.374 12, Carl Nunn, Suzuki, GBR, 1'7.923 13, Gareth Swanepoel, Kawasaki, RSA, 1'10.840 14, Manuel Monni, Yamaha, ITA, 1'20.902 15, Klemen Gercar, Yamaha, SVN, 1'41.598 16, Marvin Musquin, Honda, FRA, 1'48.914 17, Jake Nicholls, Suzuki, GBR, 1'49.997 18, Deny Philippaerts, Yamaha, ITA, -1 Laps 19, Marcus Norlen, Suzuki, SWE, -1 Laps 20, Antoine Meo, Husqvarna, FRA, -1 Laps Race 2 - 22 Laps  Pos., Rider, Manu., Nat., Total Time 1, Tommy Searle, KTM, GBR, 40'8.026 2, Joel Roelants, KTM, BEL, 0'5.185 3, Zach Osborne, Yamaha, USA, 0'10.637 4, Tyla Rattray, KTM, RSA, 0'14.105 5, Stephen Sword, Kawasaki, GBR, 0'15.501 6, Rui Goncalves, KTM, POR, 0'19.513 7, Xavier Boog, Suzuki, FRA, 0'52.490 8, Nicolas Aubin, Yamaha, FRA, 0'56.786 9, Shaun Simpson, KTM, GBR, 0'58.613 10, Manuel Monni, Yamaha, ITA, 0'58.887 11, Matti Seistola, Honda, FIN, 1'9.641 12, Alessandro Lupino, Yamaha, ITA, 1'10.768 13, Jeremy Tarroux, KTM, FRA, 1'16.069 14, Carl Nunn, Suzuki, GBR, 1'18.339 15, Jeremy Van Horebeek, KTM, BEL, 1'22.599 16, Evgeny Bobryshev, Yamaha, RUS, 1'25.793 17, Marvin Musquin, Honda, FRA, -1 Laps 18, Marcus Norlen, Suzuki, SWE, -1 Laps 19, Matteo Bonini, Yamaha, ITA, -1 Laps 20, Gert Krestinov, KTM, EST, -1 Laps Rider Standings 14/09/2008 Pos., Rider, Manu., Nat., Points 1, Tyla Rattray, KTM, RSA, 636 2, Tommy Searle, KTM, GBR, 613 3, Nicolas Aubin, Yamaha, FRA, 406 4, Shaun Simpson, KTM, GBR, 394 5, Rui Goncalves, KTM, POR, 380 6, Antonio Cairoli, Yamaha, ITA, 357 7, Xavier Boog, Suzuki, FRA, 307 8, Jeremy Van Horebeek, KTM, BEL, 299 9, Stephen Sword, Kawasaki, GBR, 291 10, Steven Frossard, Kawasaki, FRA, 289 11, Manuel Monni, Yamaha, ITA, 277 12, Anthony Boissière, KTM, FRA, 263 13, Joel Roelants, KTM, BEL, 216 14, Marvin Musquin, Honda, FRA, 189 15, Davide Guarneri, Yamaha, ITA, 181 16, Jeremy Tarroux, KTM, FRA, 169 17, Gert Krestinov, KTM, EST, 118 18, Carl Nunn, Suzuki, GBR, 118 19, Gregory Aranda, Kawasaki, FRA, 101 20, Matti Seistola, Honda, FIN, 96 23, Alessandro Lupino, Yamaha, ITA, 75 24, Evgeny Bobryshev, Yamaha, RUS, 71 28, Matteo Bonini, Yamaha, ITA, 48 43, Deny Philippaerts, Yamaha, ITA, 11 49, Martin Barr, Yamaha, GBR, 6 Manufacturer Standings 14/09/2008 Pos., Manufacturer, Points 1, KTM, 716 2, Yamaha, 631 3, Kawasaki, 464 4, Suzuki, 371 5, Honda, 265 6, Husqvarna, 1
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

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

Haga swops pain for points

Following a painful crash last weekend at the Salt Lake City circuit, Noriyuki Haga went on to astound doctors and race fans by climbing back on his R1 and taking a ten point chunk out of Troy Bayliss’s championship lead. Yamaha Motor Italia rider Haga fell heavily on the Saturday morning practice session, coming off after a collision with another rider at the Black Rock hairpin. After an examination by the circuit doctor it was revealed he had broken his collarbone in no less than three places and was advised that it was unlikely he would be able to manage any more than one or two laps in the next free practice session. In a clear demonstration not only of Haga’s commitment to the championship and determination to win, but also the outstanding support of the Yamaha Motor Italia Team, Haga went on to not only ride Superpole but also race on the Sunday and take points away with him from round 06. Haga flew to California on the Monday for an operation by Doctor Arthur J. Ting. The operation was successful, Doctor Ting used a plate and eight screws to secure the break, ensuring that with a week of rest Haga will be a little sore but fighting fit to take on the WSB pack in round 07 at the Nurburgring in Germany. Haga now sits 5th in the championship standings, 72 points behind leader Troy Bayliss with a further eight rounds to race. Troy Corser sits just one point behind Haga in 6th place with 121 points so far this season. Having found his form at the Salt Lake City circuit, both Corser and Haga are placed to challenge for the championship.
Alex Asigno

Philippaerts takes first win with Yamaha

In changeable weather conditions and across a tricky Sevlievo circuit, Yamaha Monster Motocross Team's David Philippaerts scored his first success on the YZ450FM with first and second positions in the two motos at the Grand Prix of Bulgaria. After four rounds of fifteen in the 2008 FIM MX1-GP World Championship the Italian has extended his lead in the series to 17 points and also placed Yamaha first in the manufacturer's standings. Josh Coppins was sixth overall and currently lies third. The hard and fast layout situated deep in the Bulgarian countryside offered two different tests to the riders of the MX1-GP category as the first moto of 35 minutes and 2 laps took place in sunshine but a grey sky and rainfall created a slick and greasy terrain for the second outing. Philippaerts made the most of two decent starts to obtain his prize. The 24 year old escaped the attentions of Billy Mackenzie and Marc de Reuver to lead the first sprint from start to finish. In the second wetter race he fought with Jonathan Barragan and was ultimately unable to match the Spaniard's pace. Entering the last lap Philippaerts was resigned to his second consecutive runner-up position until the leader crashed and allowed Sebastien Pourcel and the Yamaha representative to pull through. Second spot in the moto was enough to secure the overall and his second career MX1-GP success. Josh Coppins ended the day disappointed with sixth position but a set of average starts and some hesitancy on the first lap of Moto1 meant that a better placing was not possible. The Kiwi qualified quite well, (Philippaerts was eighth after being baulked on his two flying lap attempts) with the sixth best lap-time on a dry track that saw the protagonists of the class separated by very little. However he was, by his own admission, 'too slow' in the opening stages of Moto1 and although he pulled through the pack well and was all over the back wheels of Marc de Reuver and Barragan contesting second place, he crossed the finish line in fourth. The second moto was even tougher as he touched with his team-mate along the start straight and had to be determined to cut through from a mid-pack position on the first lap. The course was not easy for overtaking, making Coppins' job even harder; he took 14 points for seventh at the flag. The 31 year old is still well in touch with the title chase. Yamaha Van Beers' Aigar Leok was 17th, one place ahead of UTag Yamaha.com's Carlos Campano. The world championship table still shows both Yamaha Monster Motocross team members within the top three. Philippaerts holds a bigger margin over world champion Ramon and Coppins is 34 points away. Yamaha head the manufacturer's standings by 5 points. The squad are well-placed for round five and their home Grand Prix at Mantova in Italy next week. David Philippaerts, Yamaha Monster Motocross Team, 1st: "This is a really good result for me. I tried to win both races but Barragan was very fast in that second moto and I had some luck when I saw him crash. I was pretty tired by that point and I could not stop Pourcel taking the lead. The track was very different in the afternoon. The rain had made it very slippery and some more lines appeared. The mud went softer and got bumpier. The bike is really good and the team are working hard. I'm happy for this; a good day!" Josh Coppins, Yamaha Monster Motocross Team, 6th: "I thought that things would turnaround for me this weekend but I am really disappointed with how the motos went. My starts were not good, which is unusual for me, and I was too slow at the beginning of the first moto. I wanted to do better for the second moto but David cut across me coming out of the gate; that's OK though because I would have done the same if I also had the holeshot. I was stuck in the middle of the pack and by the time I passed riders there was too big a gap to rise any further. This is not what I wanted ahead of Mantova, which is perhaps the hardest track of the year for me and I am losing my patience; it has been a hard start to this championship." Mino Raspanti, Racing Manager: "A very good weekend. David won the GP with some luck, thanks to Barragan's crash. He was already looking quick and motivated through the practice sessions and playing with the bike but found two slower riders in the Timed Practice that ruined his laps. Anyway, he still got the starts from eighth in the gate. Josh was fourth in the first race which wasn't so bad and his speed in the last ten minutes was very good. His start was a handicap and he could not find his pace like before. The bikes performed well and the riders felt good; we just need to understand why Josh couldn't get going in that second moto." Race 1 - 20 Laps Pos., Rider, Manu., Nat., Total Time 1, David Philippaerts, Yamaha, ITA, 40'7.606 2, Jonathan Barragan, KTM, ESP, 0'5.616 3, Marc De Reuver, Honda, NED, 0'6.650 4, Joshua Coppins, Yamaha, NZL, 0'8.084 5, Steve Ramon, Suzuki, BEL, 0'14.351 6, Julien Bill, Honda, CHE, 0'29.896 7, Tanel Leok, Kawasaki, EST, 0'31.501 8, Sébastien Pourcel, Kawasaki, FRA, 0'36.148 9, Clement Desalle, Suzuki, BEL, 0'39.608 10, Ken De Dycker, Suzuki, BEL, 0'43.629 11, Maximilian Nagl, KTM, GER, 0'45.507 12, Mike Brown, Honda, USA, 0'48.676 13, Kornel Nemeth, KTM, HUN, 0'59.604 14, Manuel Priem, Kawasaki, BEL, 1'1.597 15, Billy MacKenzie, Honda, GBR, 1'9.729 16, Marcus Schiffer, KTM, GER, 1'17.854 17, Alessio Chiodi, TM, ITA, 1'19.659 18, Aigar Leok, Yamaha, EST, 1'22.498 19, Carlos Campano, Yamaha, ESP, 1'24.738 20, Pierre A. Renet, Suzuki, FRA, 1'40.124 Race 2 - 20 Laps Pos., Rider, Manu., Nat., Total Time 1, Sébastien Pourcel, Kawasaki, FRA, 39'28.719 2, David Philippaerts, Yamaha, ITA, 0'6.913 3, Steve Ramon, Suzuki, BEL, 0'8.068 4, Jonathan Barragan, KTM, ESP, 0'21.486 5, Marc De Reuver, Honda, NED, 0'27.233 6, Billy MacKenzie, Honda, GBR, 0'34.377 7, Joshua Coppins, Yamaha, NZL, 0'43.440 8, Julien Bill, Honda, CHE, 0'44.277 9, Maximilian Nagl, KTM, GER, 0'44.803 10, Mike Brown, Honda, USA, 0'48.434 11, Ken De Dycker, Suzuki, BEL, 0'53.504 12, Manuel Priem, Kawasaki, BEL, 0'55.953 13, Marcus Schiffer, KTM, GER, 1'6.237 14, Tanel Leok, Kawasaki, EST, 1'8.493 15, Kornel Nemeth, KTM, HUN, 1'11.843 16, Aigar Leok, Yamaha, EST, 1'16.105 17, Carlos Campano, Yamaha, ESP, 1'17.858 18, James Noble, KTM, GBR, 1'22.384 19, Alessio Chiodi, TM, ITA, 1'26.089 20, Bradley Anderson, Suzuki, GBR, 1'28.192 Rider Standings 11/05/2008 Pos., Rider, Manu., Nat., Points 1, David Philippaerts, Yamaha, ITA, 149 2, Steve Ramon, Suzuki, BEL, 132 3, Joshua Coppins, Yamaha, NZL, 115 4, Billy MacKenzie, Honda, GBR, 100 5, Ken De Dycker, Suzuki, BEL, 98 6, Jonathan Barragan, KTM, ESP, 94 7, Sébastien Pourcel, Kawasaki, FRA, 90 8, Maximilian Nagl, KTM, GER, 80 9, Marc De Reuver, Honda, NED, 76 10, Tanel Leok, Kawasaki, EST, 71 11, Mike Brown, Honda, USA, 62 12, Kornel Nemeth, KTM, HUN, 62 13, Manuel Priem, Kawasaki, BEL, 56 14, Clement Desalle, Suzuki, BEL, 55 15, Marcus Schiffer, KTM, GER, 40 16, Julien Bill, Honda, CHE, 38 17, Kevin Strijbos, Kawasaki, BEL, 36 18, Aigar Leok, Yamaha, EST, 28 19, James Noble, KTM, GBR, 23 20, Tom Church, Kawasaki, GBR, 20 26, Carlos Campano, Yamaha, ESP, 14 Manufacturer Standings 11/05/2008 Pos., Manufacturer, Points 1, Yamaha, 149 2, Suzuki, 144 3, Kawasaki, 131 4, KTM, 125 5, Honda, 118 6, TM, 19 ---------- RACE REPORT - 11/05/2008 Cairoli seventh after first corner incident MX2-GP World Champion Antonio Cairoli finished off a Grand Prix podium for the first time since Namur, August 2007 after suffering a first corner crash in a wet second moto at Sevlievo for the Bulgarian round of the FIM series. The fourth round of fifteen took place under changeable weather conditions that saw the first race occur in sunshine and the second on a slippery and soggy terrain. The Sicilian was seventh overall but had already banked some points with a comprehensive victory in Moto1. The Bulgarian dirt was hard and flat and together with the layout created a fast course that left little room for error. The start and initial corners were vital in determining the leading positions as lap-times generally remained fairly close and overtaking was difficult. Cairoli enacted a fantastically close duel with Tommy Searle during the Saturday qualification Heat and got the better of the Briton to secure his second consecutive pole position. The pair briefly resumed their fracas in the first GP moto but the Yamaha De Carli rider unearthed a series of rapid circulations on his YZ250F to break free from his English rival and win his third moto in succession. The second race could not have started more differently. The 22 year old slid off in front of the pack entering the first right turn and was hit by Tyla Rattray. Then, while pushing to regain positions, was struck from behind by another rider and again hit the ground, losing time to restart. He finished down in nineteenth. Yamaha Ricci Racing's Nico Aubin also had a contrasting set of results. The Frenchman could not recover well from a start that left him in the bottom half of the top twenty on the first lap of Moto1 and scored thirteenth. He did however reverse his fortunes in the second sprint when he chased Shaun Simpson and Tommy Searle and was less than three seconds from first position by the end of the race. His third place meant a ranking of fifth overall. Team-mate Davide Guarneri was sixteenth in the final GP standing. The Italian had to qualify via the Last Chance session after a heavy crash during Saturday's Heat race. A fall in Moto1 meant that he was unable to restart, while he was one of the casualties of the first corner mayhem in Moto2. The 23 year old did manage to capture a hard-won tenth by the end of the 35 minutes and 2 laps. Cairoli's team-mate, Matteo Bonini, made a welcome return to Grand Prix action only two weeks after he recovered sufficiently from a dislocated shoulder. The Italian is lacking race speed and fitness but registered a total of six points with nineteenth overall. 3C Racing's Manuel Monni was a consistent figure around the top ten and earned eleventh position thanks to finishes of twelfth and eleventh. Cairoli lost a little ground in the world championship standings and rests 4 points behind new leader Tyla Rattray. Aubin is fourth and 43 away from the top three. Guarneri is seventh. The MX2-GP elite will be in action in the space of seven days as the Italian Grand Prix at the jumpy Mantova circuit constitutes round five. Antonio Cairoli, Yamaha Red Bull De Carli, 7th: "Of course, after the first moto, I expected more from this GP. I had a really good start in the second moto and when I cut tight for the corner my front wheel slipped away. Everyone was really close and Tyla hit me in the back, which caused a lot of pain. I lost time restarting but worked my way back to 12th, and that was OK because Tyla was in the same group and I felt like I was riding really well. Then when I came down one of the hills a rider had stopped in the line in front of me so I had to slow also and I was hit from behind. The handlebars were covered with mud, so I quickly had to clean them and try to go again. I wanted to keep positive and try for points so I kept pushing and reached 19th. I am now second and four points behind Tyla. This is manageable, and the next GP is in Italy so we will be strong. I want the red plate again in Mantova." Nico Aubin, Yamaha Ricci Racing, 5th: "I was missing something today. I started badly in the first moto and could not get a rhythm. I tried to push hard but could not pass the other riders, thirteenth was a poor result. In the second race I felt better and faster and was in the fight for first position which was good. I like Mantova and I must get better because we have had four GPs now and I have not made the results that I want. I have a good bike and my physical condition is OK. I just need a little something extra and that second moto was good for my head." Davide Guarneri, Yamaha Ricci Racing, 16th: "A bad weekend; too many crashes. I like this track but I had a big crash in the heat on Saturday and hit my head so I had to go through the last chance. My gate was far to the outside. I started way back in the first moto and after a few laps I was up to 14th but I lost the front wheel on a jump and I could not restart the bike. Many riders fell at the start of the second moto and I got pushed outside and also crashed, again! It was very slippery there. I pushed and I rode pretty well to finish 10th which was OK. I lost points today but the championship still has a long way to go." Matteo Bonini, Yamaha Red Bull De Carli, 19th: "I did not feel too bad out there. My shoulder was OK, considering I only started training two weeks ago. I pushed so hard in those two weeks to make this GP that I think it left me very tired today. I gained some points at least and things can only get better. I wanted to make this GP to get some race time before Mantova. The track there is difficult but now I am a little bit more familiar with the speed the guys are making now." Race 1 - 19 Laps Pos., Rider, Manu., Nat., Total Time 1, Antonio Cairoli, Yamaha, ITA, 39'3.953 2, Tommy Searle, KTM, GBR, 0'2.943 3, Tyla Rattray, KTM, RSA, 0'3.719 4, Stephen Sword, Kawasaki, GBR, 0'18.419 5, Gautier Paulin, Kawasaki, FRA, 0'20.386 6, Marvin Musquin, Honda, FRA, 0'24.837 7, Xavier Boog, Suzuki, FRA, 0'27.211 8, Anthony Boissiere, KTM, FRA, 0'31.010 9, Jeremy Van Horebeek, KTM, BEL, 0'36.679 10, Rui Goncalves, KTM, POR, 0'42.073 11, Shaun Simpson, KTM, GBR, 0'47.949 12, Manuel Monni, Yamaha, ITA, 0'50.738 13, Nicolas Aubin, Yamaha, FRA, 0'56.220 14, Jason Dougan, Suzuki, GBR, 1'0.504 15, Gregory Aranda, Kawasaki, FRA, 1'5.079 16, Kounsith Vongsana, Kawasaki, FRA, 1'7.458 17, Jeremy Tarroux, KTM, FRA, 1'9.300 18, Elliott Banks-Browne, Suzuki, GBR, 1'12.926 19, Matteo Bonini, Yamaha, ITA, 1'15.677 20, Shannon Terreblanche, Suzuki, RSA, 1'16.915 Race 2 - 19 Laps Pos., Rider, Manu., Nat., Total Time 1, Tommy Searle, KTM, GBR, 39'48.824 2, Shaun Simpson, KTM, GBR, 0'0.430 3, Nicolas Aubin, Yamaha, FRA, 0'2.811 4, Xavier Boog, Suzuki, FRA, 0'16.230 5, Tyla Rattray, KTM, RSA, 0'22.889 6, Anthony Boissiere, KTM, FRA, 0'25.473 7, Rui Goncalves, KTM, POR, 0'27.206 8, Jeremy Van Horebeek, KTM, BEL, 1'12.440 9, Gregory Aranda, Kawasaki, FRA, 1'14.557 10, Davide Guarneri, Yamaha, ITA, 1'18.343 11, Manuel Monni, Yamaha, ITA, 1'21.577 12, Marvin Musquin, Honda, FRA, 1'35.750 13, Carl Nunn, Suzuki, GBR, 1'38.871 14, Jason Dougan, Suzuki, GBR, 1'45.436 15, Shannon Terreblanche, Suzuki, RSA, 1'46.912 16, Joel Roelants, KTM, BEL, 1'48.078 17, Matteo Bonini, Yamaha, ITA, 1'54.455 18, Wyatt Avis, Honda, RSA, 2'4.616 19, Antonio Cairoli, Yamaha, ITA, -1 Laps 20, Julien Vanni, KTM, FRA, -1 Laps Rider Standings 11/05/2008 Pos., Rider, Manu., Nat., Points 1, Tyla Rattray, KTM, RSA, 157 2, Antonio Cairoli, Yamaha, ITA, 153 3, Tommy Searle, KTM, GBR, 149 4, Rui Goncalves, KTM, POR, 106 5, Nicolas Aubin, Yamaha, FRA, 106 6, Stephen Sword, Kawasaki, GBR, 98 7, Davide Guarneri, Yamaha, ITA, 97 8, Shaun Simpson, KTM, GBR, 92 9, Xavier Boog, Suzuki, FRA, 87 10, Jeremy Van Horebeek, KTM, BEL, 82 11, Manuel Monni, Yamaha, ITA, 79 12, Gautier Paulin, Kawasaki, FRA, 64 13, Joel Roelants, KTM, BEL, 54 14, Anthony Boissiere, KTM, FRA, 50 15, Marvin Musquin, Honda, FRA, 47 16, Jeremy Tarroux, KTM, FRA, 38 17, Erik Eggens, Suzuki, NED, 38 18, Gregory Aranda, Kawasaki, FRA, 36 19, Carl Nunn, Suzuki, GBR, 35 20, Gert Krestinov, KTM, EST, 23 22, Evgeny Bobryshev, Yamaha, RUS, 20 30, Alessandro Lupino, Yamaha, ITA, 8 31, Matteo Bonini, Yamaha, ITA, 6 Manufacturer Standings 11/05/2008 Pos., Manufacturer, Points 1, Yamaha, 186 2, KTM, 184 3, Kawasaki, 116 4, Suzuki, 113 5, Honda, 52 ---------- RACE REPORT - 11/05/2008 Prumm bravely takes fourth in Bulgaria Sevlievo and the Grand Prix of Bulgaria witnessed the opening round of five in the inaugural FIM Women's World Championship and Yamaha Van Beers Racing's Katherine Prumm battled adversity to take fourth overall. The double World Cup winner was not afforded a fair debut on her YZ250F after rupturing her right anterior cruciate ligament in the days leading up to the Grand Prix. Putting aside her pain and discomfort it was an uneasy weekend for Prumm who tried to compete but was clearly frustrated by the handicap and being unable to run at her normally impressive speed. She made two mistakes in the first moto that saw her having to work hard to make fifth position, recovering from a second lap placing of twelfth. A slower and wetter second race saw her net a decent third. The 19 year old will now have an MRI scan on Tuesday to determine the extent of the damage to her knee joint and then make a decision as to whether she can fulfil a five month campaign of races internationally and in her native New Zealand. UTag Yamaha.com's Megan Lewis grabbed two points on her GP debut. The 15 year old was nineteenth in Moto2. As with the MX1-GP and MX2-GP classes, round two for the ladies will occur next week at Mantova for the Italian Grand Prix. Katherine Prumm, Van Beers Racing, 4th: "I am actually disappointed with the result. My preparation for the world championship had been perfect. I was feeling very good on the bike, with my training and making good lap-times. I knew I was three or four seconds off my usual pace today. It is hard to go out there and not be able to give 100% and not feel 100% and this showed in my results. I had pain and swelling and I tried to put it to the back of my mind but it was difficult not to let it affect my riding. The world championship is what I want but if the knee is damaged then we will have to make a decision about it this week." Race 1 - 11 Laps Pos., Rider, Manu., Nat., Total Time 1, Larissa Papenmeier, Suzuki, GER, 26'24.860 2, Livia Lancelot, Kawasaki, FRA, 0'1.760 3, Ashley Fiolek, Honda, USA, 0'8.863 4, Maria Franke, Kawasaki, GER, 0'11.812 5, Katherine Prumm, Yamaha, NZL, 1'24.099 6, Elin Mann, KTM, SWE, 1'34.522 7, Elien De Winter, KTM, BEL, 1'46.280 8, Marianne Veenstra, Suzuki, NED, 1'48.229 9, Marielle De Mol, Yamaha, NED, 1'52.804 10, Anne Borchers, Suzuki, GER, 2'20.564 Race 2 - 11 Laps Pos., Rider, Manu., Nat., Total Time 1, Livia Lancelot, Kawasaki, FRA, 25'59.026 2, Maria Franke, Kawasaki, GER, 0'8.182 3, Katherine Prumm, Yamaha, NZL, 0'25.098 4, Ashley Fiolek, Honda, USA, 1'29.889 5, Elin Mann, KTM, SWE, 1'39.693 6, Sandra Adriansson, Suzuki, SWE, 1'59.825 7, Elien De Winter, KTM, BEL, 2'1.008 8, Marianne Veenstra, Suzuki, NED, 2'3.755 9, Nicky Van Wordragen, KTM, NED, 2'5.178 10, Niki Scott, Kawasaki, NZL, 2'10.404 Rider Standings 11/05/2008 Pos., Rider, Manu., Nat., Points 1, Livia Lancelot, Kawasaki, FRA, 47 2, Maria Franke, Kawasaki, GER, 40 3, Ashley Fiolek, Honda, USA, 38 4, Katherine Prumm, Yamaha, NZL, 36 5, Elin Mann, KTM, SWE, 31 6, Elien De Winter, KTM, BEL, 28 7, Marianne Veenstra, Suzuki, NED, 26 8, Larissa Papenmeier, Suzuki, GER, 25 9, Sandra Adriansson, Suzuki, SWE, 15 10, Nicky Van Wordragen, KTM, NED, 12 11, Marielle De Mol, Yamaha, NED, 12 12, Anne Borchers, Suzuki, GER, 11 13, Niki Scott, Kawasaki, NZL, 11 Manufacturer Standings 11/05/2008 Pos., Manufacturer, Points 1, Kawasaki, 47 2, Suzuki, 40 3, Honda, 38 4, Yamaha, 36 5, KTM, 31
Alex Asigno

Tom Sykes steps up to World Superbikes with Yamaha for 2009

The Yamaha Motor Italia World Superbike Team has signed promising young British rider Tom Sykes for the 2009 season with the option to extend for 2010. The 23yr old from Huddersfield in England will ride the all new 2009 Yamaha YZF R1 in next year’s World Superbike Championship. Sykes has proved to be a competitive and talented rider in the 2008 British Superbike Championship, showing an intelligent and mature riding style beyond his years.Two wildcard rides in WSB this year have seen him qualify an impressive sixth at Brands Hatch and seventh on the grid at Donington. At Brands he went on to score a sixth place in race two, whilst at Donington he had a storming race one, finishing up in second place after some close racing with Championship leader Troy Bayliss. Sykes raced in British Supersport for four years from 2003 to 2006, ending second in the championship in the final year. In 2007, his first year in British Superbike, Sykes finished the season a respectable sixth in the standings, and was named Rookie of The Year. He is currently second in the 2008 championship and the first rider on a four-cylinder machine. Massimo Meregalli – “Tom Sykes is an excellent signing for the team, he is the most interesting young rider in circulation in the racing world this year. I’ve had time to appreciate his riding qualities during the season and Brands Hatch was the confirmation of his talent for me. His brilliant result at Donington strengthened our conviction. We know that there will be much work next season because the new YZF-R1 arrives and it will have to learn the tracks. We have a lot of faith in being able to obtain good results quickly and the presence of a young person with a lot of ambition will give new motivation to the team.” “We are delighted to be able to offer Tom the next step in his racing career with Yamaha’s World Superbike Team” said Yamaha Motor Europe Racing Division Manager Laurens Klein Koerkamp. “We are sure he has the qualities needed to be a star rider of the future on the world stage. With the launch of the new R1 just three days ago, we are very excited about the potential for next year. We are looking forward to developing both the rider and the bike for championship success in 2009 and beyond.”
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

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