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Metatarsal fractures confirmed for Jorge Lorenzo

Jorge Lorenzo will be wearing a cast on his left foot for the next ten days, in order to recover from the clean fractures he sustained to his third, fourth and fifth metatarsal bones last Sunday. The Fiat Yamaha rider was taken directly to the USP Institut Universitari Dexeus in Barcelona upon his return from Laguna Seca, in order to undergo a series of examinations by Dr. Xavier Mir. The Spaniard was injured in a crash on the opening lap of last Sunday’s U.S. Grand Prix, the final round before the MotoGP summer break. The findings of a CAT scan to Lorenzo’s left foot “confirmed fractures of the third, fourth and fifth metatarsal bones, without dislocation, with no new injury to the rider’s ankle,” according to Dr. Mir’s team. The recommended treatment for the injury is “immobilisation of the foot with a cast for ten days, followed by the fitting of a weight-supporting splint to allow the rider to walk.” Lorenzo will be able to start functional rehabilitation after his ten days of immobilisation, with the target of regaining complete mobility as soon as possible. He is aiming for a return to full fitness for the Czech Republic Grand Prix, which takes place on August 17th in Brno. Jorge Lorenzo "I am pretty hurt and upset, because once again a crash has halted my progression. I have visited Dr. Mir and he confirmed that it is a painful injury but one that can be cured through rest. I have a cast on my left foot, but I can barely walk because of some pain in the right foot suffered in the crash. Thankfully that is not an injury, just a consequence of the impact. Luckily I have time to recover before Brno, although I won’t be having any holiday time now. For the moment I am going to enjoy following one of my interests – the Tour de France – on television!”
Alex Asigno

First day podium for Albergoni in wet Wales

Starting the second half of the 2008 World Enduro Championship in style Italian UFO Course Yamaha rider Simone Albergoni narrowly missed out on claiming the Enduro 1 class win on day one of the Grand Prix of Wales, claiming an eventual second place behind Yamaha France rider Marc Germain. With the opening day of the fifth round of the series the wettest of the calendar so far, it also proved to be one of the hardest, but despite the atrocious conditions the two Yamaha riders battled one another for the top spot on the podium finishing comfortably ahead of E1 class leader Mika Ahola in third. Due to incredibly difficult circumstances in Wales, being able to complete special tests without any mistakes was the key to good results but seemed impossible to do as over half the event's entry list failed to finish the opening day. Topping the opening two tests on day one it looked like the Germain was going to walk away with the E1 class win but Albergoni maintained pressure on his French rival to ensure the day's result wouldn't be decided until the very last special test. Despite both riders making errors during the outing neither was able to open up and maintain any real advantage with the ninth and final special test deciding the final result. With Albergoni managing to pull back Germain's near 30 second mid-day advantage the two riders were neck-and-neck going into the final test. With just two seconds separating them in Germain's favour the Yamaha France rider collected a well-deserved victory with Albergoni runner-up. Although there was drier weather on Day2 the demanding Welsh course and three challenging special tests ensured the second attempt was almost as difficult as day one. Returning to his best form after placing third on day one Finn Mika Ahola claimed victory followed by Spaniard Ivan Cervantes with Germain and Albergoni 3rd and 4th respectively. Winning three of the day's special tests Germain wasn't able to reproduce the form that had seen him top Day1, missing the second step of the podium by an agonising two seconds. For Albergoni Day2 started well as the Italian looked to be headed toward a repeat of his runner-up result. But a mistake within sight of the finish of the extreme test on lap three cost him close to 20 seconds, which ended his hopes of a podium and saw him place 4th. For UFO Course Yamaha team riders Cristobal Guerrero and Maurizio Micheluz the GP of Wales proved to be a challenging one. Competing with a badly inflamed right forearm Maurizio rode through the pain barrier to claim 8th on both days. Finding the slippery Welsh conditions difficult to master, Cristobal finished 7th on Day1 before improving to sixth on Day2. Simone Albergoni (UFO Corse Yamaha) Enduro 1 class - Day 1 2nd, Day 2 4th: "Day one was really good for me. I had a great fight with Marc Germain, who is really good in slippery, wet and muddy conditions, so to finish second and less than five seconds behind him is not too bad. I made a mistake on the last extreme test on day two, which lost me about 20 seconds. I crashed, had to push the bike, and then fell again. I lost second or third position with that crash but more importantly championship points. It's been a real enduro - very hard but very good." Cristobal Guerrero (UFO Corse Yamaha) Enduro 1 class - Day 1 7th, Day 2 6th: "It's been a tough race for me. It's hard to train in conditions like in Wales when you live in the south of Spain. But I tried to push as hard as I could and I had a pretty good race. The conditions on day one were really hard. With the mud and the rain I found it really hard. I was terrible in the extreme test, having to push my bike at times when I got stuck. It was just a very difficult day. Day two was better for me. I was much closer to the third and fourth place riders, which I was happy about." Maurizio Micheluz (UFO Corse Yamaha) Enduro 1 class - Day 1 8th, Day 2 8th: "It's been an especially tough race for me because I have been suffering with my right wrist. It wasn't too much of a problem during the first lap on day one but then it started to become painful. I knew early on that it would be difficult to finish so I was just focused on trying to complete the race. I was eighth on both days but it was so difficult for me. I'm just pleased that I was able to finish." Race 1 Pos., Rider, Manu., Nat., Total Time 1, Marc Germain, Yamaha, FRA, 54'25.300 2, Simone Albergoni, Yamaha, ITA, 0'4.340 3, Mika Ahola, Honda, FIN, 0'33.690 4, Ivan Cervantes, KTM, ESP, 0'40.350 4, Ivan Cervantes, KTM, ESP, 0'40.350 5, Tom Sagar, KTM, GBR, 1'17.890 6, Bartosz Oblucki, Husqvarna, POL, 2'22.210 7, Cristobal Guerrero, Yamaha, ESP, 2'42.040 8, Maurizio Micheluz, Yamaha, ITA, 4'51.620 9, Graham Jarvis, Sherco, GBR, 7'9.310 10, Robert Jones, Yamaha, GBR, 9'30.860 11, Mike Hartmann, KTM, GER, 11'13.410 12, Jordan Curvalle, Suzuki, FRA, 12'7.460 13, Andy Edwards, KTM, GBR, 14'47.090 14, Jakub Horak, KTM, CZE, 18'12.160 15, Richard Hay, KTM, GBR, 40'58.490 Race 2 Pos., Rider, Manu., Nat., Total Time 1, Mika Ahola, Honda, FIN, 49'55.000 2, Ivan Cervantes, KTM, ESP, 0'21.650 3, Marc Germain, Yamaha, FRA, 0'23.290 4, Simone Albergoni, Yamaha, ITA, 0'40.710 5, Tom Sagar, KTM, GBR, 0'47.140 6, Cristobal Guerrero, Yamaha, ESP, 1'6.370 7, Bartosz Oblucki, Husqvarna, POL, 1'24.480 8, Maurizio Micheluz, Yamaha, ITA, 2'25.730 9, Mike Hartmann, KTM, GER, 3'28.110 10, Jordan Curvalle, Suzuki, FRA, 3'32.110 11, Luca Cherubini, TM, ITA, 5'1.920 12, Danielle Tellini, Suzuki, ITA, 5'19.410 13, Andy Edwards, KTM, GBR, 7'3.830 14, Robert Jones, Yamaha, GBR, 7'22.680 15, Jakub Horak, KTM, CZE, 7'30.030 16, Gonzalo Reis, KTM, ITA, 8'53.540 17, Richard Hay, KTM, GBR, 10'43.200 Rider Standings 19/07/2008 Pos., Rider, Manu., Nat., Points 1, Ivan Cervantes, KTM, ESP, 234 2, Mika Ahola, Honda, FIN, 231 3, Simone Albergoni, Yamaha, ITA, 205 4, Marc Germain, Yamaha, FRA, 160 5, Cristobal Guerrero, Yamaha, ESP, 147 6, Maurizio Micheluz, Yamaha, ITA, 129 7, Eero Remes, KTM, FIN, 112 8, Jordan Curvalle, Suzuki, FRA, 106 9, Tom Sagar, KTM, GBR, 100 10, Mike Hartmann, KTM, GER, 97 11, Luca Cherubini, TM, ITA, 73 12, Bartosz Oblucki, Husqvarna, POL, 58 13, Daryl Bolter, Husqvarna, GBR, 58 14, Jakub Horak, KTM, CZE, 53 15, Gonzalo Reis, KTM, ITA, 47 Manufacturer Standings 19/07/2008 Pos., Manufacturer, Points 1, Honda, 231 2, KTM, 221 3, Yamaha, 212 4, Husqvarna, 116 5, Suzuki, 106 6, TM, 73 7, Kawasaki, 47 8, Sherco, 12 ---------- RACE REPORT - 21/07/2008 Excellent Day2 victory for Aubert UFO Corse Yamaha rider Johnny Aubert showed just how determined he is to claim the 2008 Enduro 2 world championship at the Grand Prix of Wales as the current E2 series leader finished on the podium on both days including a stunning 45-second victory over his title rival Juha Salminen on day two. With conditions on Day1 wetter than they have been at any round of the '08 WEC series so far this season Aubert topped the event's opening special test before recording the second fastest time on test two to lead the E2 class at the end of the first lap. But as conditions worsened Aubert was unable to hold his position at the front of the class and although placing no lower than sixth on any of the day's special tests, found himself behind rival Juha Salminen and wildcard rider David Knight come the end of the day. Winning the final test Aubert claimed an eventual 3rd place result having failed to gel with the slippery extreme test. With conditions a little drier on Day2 Aubert started as he intended to go on and comfortably topped the first motocross special test before then recording the fastest Enduro 2 times on the opening seven tests. Winning on the event's motocross test, the event's enduro test, and on the extreme test (that on day one he'd struggled to master) Aubert failed to win just one section and forged a 45-second winning margin ahead of Salminen with Knight third. He now leads the series by 17 points over Salminen. For Aubert's UFO Corse Yamaha team-mate Fabrizio Dini the demanding Welsh conditions saw the Italian placing 10th on day one and 15th on day two. Johnny Aubert (UFO Corse Yamaha) Enduro 2 class - Day 1 3rd, Day 2 1st: "After a difficult first day I'm really pleased to have won on day two. I felt good and everything went well. The first day was really tough for me though, but I couldn't work out why I was having problems. I just didn't have a good feeling. I used a rear mousse that was a little bit too hard on day one, which didn't work well. I changed it for the second day and it was much better. The special tests were also a lot drier on day two, which I liked. The Extreme test was where I struggled the most on day one. I didn't have a good feeling, I couldn't find good lines and I struggled. I pushed hard but all I did was tire myself out. I also found things tough in the enduro test. But day two was great. I hope I can carry my winning result into my home race next weekend." Fabrizio Dini (UFO Corse Yamaha) Enduro 2 class - Day 1 10th Day 2 15th: "This is my third year in the World Enduro Championship and the GP of Wales has been the hardest enduro race I've done. But it's been a good race. It was a real challenge on day one simply to remain on time and not collect any penalties, which I managed to do. In the enduro test I had a problem with my rear mousse because it came out and I had to push the bike to the finish. I changed it at the time control but I lost a lot of time in that special test. The second day was also tough but I didn't have any big problems. I enjoyed the race but it was very difficult." Race 1 Pos., Rider, Manu., Nat., Total Time 1, Juha Salminen, KTM, FIN, 52'30.260 3, Johnny Aubert, Yamaha, FRA, 2'8.480 4, Paul Edmondson, Honda, GBR, 3'15.320 5, Joakim Ljunggren, HusaBerg, SWE, 3'21.650 6, Nicolas Paganon, Aprilia, FRA, 3'56.130 7, Jari Juha Mattila, Honda, FIN, 4'2.660 8, Simo Kirssi, BMW, FIN, 4'29.520 9, Antoine Meo, Husqvarna, FRA, 4'54.130 10, Fabrizio Dini, Yamaha, ITA, 6'46.580 11, Alessandro Belometti, KTM, ITA, 7'11.660 12, Nicolas Deparrois, GasGas, FRA, 7'16.410 13, Rudy Cotton, Beta, FRA, 8'22.100 14, Valtteri Salonen, HusaBerg, FIN, 8'54.210 15, Felipe Zanol, Yamaha, ESP, 14'30.110 16, Kevin Murray, Yamaha, GBR, 15'39.080 17, Justin Wilson, Yamaha, GBR, 20'33.720 18, Darren Wheeler, HusaBerg, GBR, 20'37.260 19, Chris Hockey, Honda, GBR, 21'23.320 20, Rich Warner, KTM, GBR, 29'46.000 Race 2 Pos., Rider, Manu., Nat., Total Time 1, Johnny Aubert, Yamaha, FRA, 48'12.580 2, Juha Salminen, KTM, FIN, 0'45.310 3, David Knight, KTM, GBR, 1'29.370 4, Paul Edmondson, Honda, GBR, 3'26.700 5, Rodrig Thain, TM, FRA, 3'34.690 6, Jari Juha Mattila, Honda, FIN, 3'38.230 7, Nicolas Paganon, Aprilia, FRA, 3'38.730 8, Joakim Ljunggren, HusaBerg, SWE, 3'45.430 9, Antoine Meo, Husqvarna, FRA, 3'57.180 10, Simo Kirssi, BMW, FIN, 4'19.290 11, Alessandro Belometti, KTM, ITA, 4'48.880 12, Felipe Zanol, Yamaha, ESP, 5'51.860 13, Nicolas Deparrois, GasGas, FRA, 5'55.150 14, Rudy Cotton, Beta, FRA, 6'1.740 15, Fabrizio Dini, Yamaha, ITA, 6'2.880 16, Fabio Mossini, Honda, ITA, 7'9.650 17, Hans Vogel, KTM, NED, 8'8.550 18, Chris Hockey, Honda, GBR, 8'17.670 19, Kevin Murray, Yamaha, GBR, 8'24.930 20, Aaron Bernandez, Husqvarna, ESP, 8'38.510 21, Mario Patrao, Suzuki, POR, 10'1.180 Rider Standings 19/07/2008 Pos., Rider, Manu., Nat., Points 1, Johnny Aubert, Yamaha, FRA, 228 2, Juha Salminen, KTM, FIN, 211 3, Joakim Ljunggren, HusaBerg, SWE, 155 4, Alessandro Belometti, KTM, ITA, 155 5, Rodrig Thain, TM, FRA, 126 6, Fabrizio Dini, Yamaha, ITA, 122 7, Antoine Meo, Husqvarna, FRA, 115 8, Valtteri Salonen, HusaBerg, FIN, 114 9, Simo Kirssi, BMW, FIN, 100 10, Nicolas Paganon, Aprilia, FRA, 91 11, Jari Juha Mattila, Honda, FIN, 88 12, Fabio Mossini, Honda, ITA, 82 13, Alessandro Zanni, Honda, ITA, 78 14, Nicolas Deparrois, GasGas, FRA, 75 15, Felipe Zanol, Yamaha, ESP, 38 Manufacturer Standings 19/07/2008 Pos., Manufacturer, Points 1, KTM, 231 2, Yamaha, 228 3, HusaBerg, 176 4, Honda, 142 5, Husqvarna, 140 6, TM, 126 7, BMW, 119 8, Aprilia, 91 9, GasGas, 75 10, Beta, 36 11, Suzuki, 26
Alex Asigno

Rossi rules with first American victory

Fiat Yamaha Team rider Valentino Rossi took his first career win on American soil today, emerging victorious after an epic duel with Casey Stoner at Laguna Seca. The Italian, who signed a new two-year deal with Yamaha this week, has now won four races this season and is 25 points clear at the top of the championship. Rossi started from second and was able to pass Stoner on the brakes during the first lap to take the lead. From then on it was clear that the pair were in a class of their own today as they gradually pulled out a gap from the chasing pack, trading passes with one another but with no one else able to stay with them. Stoner was often faster than Rossi on the straight but the seven-time world champion had the advantage in the twisty parts of the track and he was able to gain the lead back on the brakes each time the Australian passed him. With only 100ths of a second between them most of the time it looked like being a nail-biting race to the end, but on lap 24 of 32 Stoner made a mistake and ran off the track and into the gravel. This allowed Rossi some breathing space for the final eight laps and he eventually crossed the line 13 seconds clear of Stoner, who had been able to remount and still finish second, such was the gap the pair had pulled out from third-placed Chris Vermeulen. It was a black day for the other side of the garage however as Jorge Lorenzo, Rossi's team-mate, took a huge tumble on the first lap and broke the third and fifth metatarsal bones in his left foot. He now faces a battle to be fit for the next race in Brno, in a month's time. With Dani Pedrosa missing the race this weekend, Stoner has now moved into second in the championship behind Rossi with seven rounds remaining. Valentino Rossi - Position: 1 Time: 44'04.311 "What a race today! We made some modifications to our bike after warm-up and these gave us the last few tenths that enabled me to fight with Casey today; the result was just fantastic. I got a good start and I was able to pass him in the first lap, but I knew I had to try and stay in front of him and it was impossible to relax even for one second. My M1 was brilliant and so were my Bridgestone tyres; I really only made one mistake, at the corkscrew when I went a bit wide but in fact the dirt had quite good grip also! Casey was a bit faster on the straight than me but I was stronger on the brakes so I had to make all my passes there. I don't know how many times we changed the lead but it was a lot and it was great, great racing for me and I think also for the fans, because it's been a while since we've been like this. To stay in front I had to do high 21s at least on every lap and I want to thank my team and engineers for giving me a bike that could do this. I had a great rhythm and I am really so happy to win for the first time in America. About the passes, I am sorry that Casey thinks some of them were a bit strong but I really don't agree; I passed only on the brakes, I braked in the same places every time and we never touched. Of course this was an aggressive race, but it was definitely a fair one. Now we have the summer break and I am looking forward to relaxing a bit, but not too much because it's going to be a hard fight for the final seven races and we must keep the concentration!" Davide Brivio - Team Manager "Although it was not there, we saw the "heart" on Valentino's helmet again today! This is a great victory because throughout the entire weekend we were at a disadvantage, but nobody ever gave up and we worked until the very last minute to find a way to help Valentino to fight with Casey. We tried to optimize everything we had and at the end "The Doctor" completed the operation! This was a race Valentino did not want to lose. This is Valentino, one who never gives up and fights until the end. I would like to make big congratulations to him and thank the team and all the technicians! It is good to go on holidays with a 25 point advantage and now we must recharge the batteries for the last seven races. I hope to see battles like this one until the end of the championship. On another note, we're very sorry for Jorge today and we wish him the best and look forward to seeing him back in Brno." Lorenzo's Laguna debut end in gravel after first-lap crash Jorge Lorenzo suffered a dramatic high-side on the very first lap of the US Grand Prix at Laguna Seca today, his debut American race ending in the gravel at turn five. The Spaniard broke the third and fifth metatarsal bones in his left foot and will now face a race to be fit for the next race in Brno, in a month's time. Lorenzo made a good start and was looking promising in fourth place when the crash happened. It was immediately clear that he had injured himself, a depressing realisation for a rider who has already had to cope with two broken ankles and a concussion this season. With the summer break coming before the next race however the outlook is good for the 21-year-old, who has flown home tonight for further assessment in Barcelona this week. There was cause for celebration on the other side of the garage as Valentino Rossi won his first ever US Grand Prix, following a scintillating battle with Casey Stoner. Rossi now leads Stoner by 25 points whilst Lorenzo remains in fourth. Jorge Lorenzo - Position: DNF I'm very sad today because I had a lot of confidence for the race after the qualifying session yesterday and, above all, after the very start of the race when I was fourth and feeling good. Then I crashed; my tyre was not up to temperature, I lost the rear and the next thing I knew I was in the gravel, with pain in my foot. It is one more crash, one more injury and it's another moment that I have to forget as soon as possible. I need to look forward. I am so sad but now I must concentrate on the fact that I have a whole month before Brno in order to be fit and to be able to race in good shape. This is my aim. I would like to congratulate to Valentino for his great victory and race today, he did a fantastic job." Daniele Romagnoli - Team Manager "Unfortunately today's result is not what Jorge and the team deserved, after the progress we made in practice. We could have gone for a better result, but the main problem today was the lack of grip on the rear, which was amplified at the beginning of the race when the tyres were not yet at the optimum temperature. Now let's hope for a good rest for Jorge; we wish him a good recovery and we look forward to seeing him come back at Brno ready to fight again with the top riders." Toseland fights hard for ninth, disappointment for Edwards Tech 3 Yamaha rider James Toseland made a welcome return to the top ten this afternoon with a determined ride to ninth place in the American GP. In sunny but cool conditions, the British rider made a fantastic start from the second row and found himself fourth at the first corner. But while cautiously waiting for his Michelin tyres to reach optimum working temperature, he slipped down to eighth at the end of the first lap. Toseland moved back into sixth by lap six to engage in a long battle with Frenchman Randy de Puniet. He slipped back to seventh on lap 12 but reeled off a consistent pace in the 1.23 bracket to maintain constant pressure on de Puniet. His pace saw him get tantalisingly close to the battle for fourth place, but in the final stages of the 32-lap encounter, he lost two more places and finished ninth. It was a disappointing race for Colin Edwards in front of his home crowd as he ended down in 14th. Sporting a special oneoff livery for his home race, the Texan briefly threatened to break into the top ten, but front-end issues prevented him from running his usual consistent pace. The Tech 3 team now starts a deserved summer break before the world championship resumes in Brno on August 17. James Toseland - Position: 9thTime: +0'43.019 "I'm pretty disappointed with that because I feel have put in a lot of effort and done my best to finish only ninth. I got a fantastic start and was fourth but unfortunately it was a tough race after that and I had to ride more defensive than I wanted to. With the harder compound tyres I knew I'd have to wait to get some temperature into them and that cost me a few places early on. Once I got into my pace in the 23s I was pretty happy because I'd hoped that would be good enough for a top six finish looking at the times from earlier in the weekend. I had a good long battle with de Puniet but our lap times were almost identical and I tried everything I could to close him down. At the end I was just trying to block people from passing me but Spies and Elias got me late on and that is a bit frustrating. On paper ninth doesn't look like a great result, and it doesn't feel like much of a reward for the effort that I have put in with my team this weekend. But I really couldn't have done anything else and I feel I got the best out of the package I had today. We'll hopefully be able to come back much stronger after the summer break and be fighting to be back in the top six again where we belong." Colin Edwards - Position: 14th Time: +1'02.380 "I don't think I need to say that this race was well below what I expected. I've had a lot of great support from Yamaha US, the American fans and my family this weekend and they haven't got the result I wanted to give them. My guys at Tech 3 have worked tirelessly all weekend too but nothing really went for us. To be honest I was struggling from the start with the harder compound front tyre I had. I'd have some moment on the brakes while I was trying pass someone and I'd lose a load of time and a bunch of places. I'd gradually work my way back through only for it to happen again and it was frustrating. I just didn't have any confidence in the front and everybody knows I am a front-end guy. It has been a difficult week with the crash in Germany too, so I'm looking forward to the summer break and being able to return stronger in Brno. I'm still fighting for fourth in the championship and Tech 3 is still fourth in the team standings, so we have got a lot to fight for in the last seven races." Herve Poncharal - Team Manager "It was a tough weekend for us. We would have liked to go into the summer break with a better result, but having seen what happened in practice James did a really good race. We didn't expect him to be up there all race long and I'm disappointed for him that he lost two places in the last two laps because he performed to his maximum and as usual he never give up. It was good that he had that kind of race but it was a big disappointment for Colin. His crash in Germany didn't help and he arrived with some neck problems and then had some problems in practice. And he didn't have confidence in the race because that was not the Colin out there that we all know. The only consolation is that he has another race in America later this year where I'm sure things will be better for him. We are still fourth in the team championship and we have to work hard to keep that position. Hopefully the break will be good for everybody and we will be back strong in Brno. Finally, congratulations to Yamaha and Valentino for his first win in Laguna Seca." Race 1 - 32 Laps Pos., Rider, Manu., Nat., Total Time 1, Valentino Rossi, Yamaha, ITA, 44'4.311 2, Casey Stoner, Ducati, AUS, 0'13.001 3, Chris Vermeulen, Suzuki, AUS, 0'26.609 4, Andrea Dovizioso, Honda, ITA, 0'34.901 5, Nicky Hayden, Honda, USA, 0'35.663 6, Randy De Puniet, Honda, FRA, 0'37.668 7, Toni Elias, Ducati, ESP, 0'41.629 8, Ben Spies, Suzuki, USA, 0'41.927 9, James Toseland, Yamaha, GBR, 0'43.019 10, Shinya Nakano, Honda, JPN, 0'44.391 11, Jamie Hacking, Kawasaki, USA, 0'46.258 12, Sylvain Guintoli, Ducati, FRA, 0'55.273 13, Alex De Angelis, Honda, SMR, 0'55.521 14, Colin Edwards, Yamaha, USA, 1'2.380 15, Loris Capirossi, Suzuki, ITA, 1'8.207 16, Marco Melandri, Ducati, ITA, 1'10.962 17, Anthony West, Kawasaki, AUS, -1 Laps Best Lap Rider, Manu., Nat., Total Time Casey Stoner, Ducati, AUS, 1'21.488 Rider Standings 20/07/2008 Pos., Rider, Manu., Nat., Points 1, Valentino Rossi, Yamaha, ITA, 212 2, Casey Stoner, Ducati, AUS, 187 3, Daniel Pedrosa, Honda, ESP, 171 4, Jorge Lorenzo, Yamaha, ESP, 114 5, Andrea Dovizioso, Honda, ITA, 103 6, Colin Edwards, Yamaha, USA, 100 7, Chris Vermeulen, Suzuki, AUS, 89 8, Nicky Hayden, Honda, USA, 84 9, James Toseland, Yamaha, GBR, 72 10, Shinya Nakano, Honda, JPN, 70 11, Loris Capirossi, Suzuki, ITA, 61 12, Toni Elias, Ducati, ESP, 46 13, Alex De Angelis, Honda, SMR, 41 14, Randy De Puniet, Honda, FRA, 40 15, Sylvain Guintoli, Ducati, FRA, 38 Team Standings 20/07/2008 Pos., Team, Points 1, FIAT Yamaha Team, 326 2, Repsol Honda Team, 255 3, Ducati Marlboro Team, 219 4, Tech3 Yamaha, 172 5, Rizla Suzuki MotoGP, 152 6, Honda Gresini, 111 7, JIR Scot Team, 103 8, Team Alice, 84 9, Kawasaki Racing Team, 54 10, Honda LCR, 40 Manufacturer Standings 20/07/2008 Pos., Manufacturer, Points 1, Yamaha, 241 2, Honda, 197 3, Ducati, 192 4, Suzuki, 112 5, Kawasaki, 52
Alex Asigno

Philippaerts fourth at sun-struck South Africa

Low winter sunshine bathed 20,000 spectators at the scenic Nelspruit circuit for the Grand Prix of South Africa and Yamaha Monster Motocross Team's David Philippaerts finished 4th overall and saw just one point chipped away from his lead at the top of the series; the gap now at eleven. Josh Coppins was 6th on the YZ450FM and remains third in the standings. The tenth round of fifteen in the 2008 FIM MX1-GP World Championship visited the southern hemisphere for the first time since 2006 (after three consecutive events were held at the Sun City resort) and represented the sole non-European outing of this year's calendar. The Nelspruit circuit was immaculately prepared for its inauguration as a world championship venue. The narrow and twisty layout involved many sharp turns and technical additions (such as dividers and plenty of jumps) while the dark red dirt varied between soft and rough to hard and slippery. The biggest obstacle for the riders to face was the sunshine with the light dipping low in the afternoon, throwing many shadows on the track and hiding the ruts and jump take-offs. The glare was also problematic over the jumps. Philippaerts, now more or less recovered from his rib injury, benefitted from two decent starts around the top five. In the first moto he rode well to push through from fourth to close on leader Steve Ramon in the final laps, finally sealing 2nd spot. For Moto2 he was circulating in the top six and for some time alongside his team-mate. With the sunshine and the many backmarkers adding an element of danger to the race, the 24 year old overtook a struggling Ramon (who would drop to 8th) and make sure of 6th; missing out on his seventh trophy of the year by just one point. Coppins, who recently extended his association with Yamaha and will enter a third season in 2009, was again a victim of misfortune on the first corner (after two problematic races last time out in Sweden). A tangle with Sebastien Pourcel left the Kiwi almost last and he had to pick his lines carefully to recover to 9th. A more cautious and improved launch in Moto1 saw the 31 year old blast from the lower depths of the top ten to charge Pourcel all the way to the flag for 3rd place, finally taking 4th. It was an excellent performance in which he was one of the few proactive riders making positions in difficult conditions; the fastest lap testimony to his speed. Nelspruit represented only the second time this season that the Yamaha Monster Motocross Team has not scaled the rostrum. Philippaerts holds an advantage of 11 points over Ramon and 23 over Coppins. Ken De Dycker is 43 further back in fourth. After ten events Yamaha still control the manufacturer's ranking by 16 points. The final third of the series will begin in two weeks time with the first of back-to-back races. Round eleven takes place at the sandy Lommel circuit for the Grand Prix of Belgium before the trip to Loket in the Czech Republic. David Philippaerts, Yamaha Monster Motocross Team, 4th: "I missed the podium by one point but the positives from this weekend were the good race in the first moto and that my physical condition is getting better after a few small injuries. I was a bit tired early in the second moto and with the sun going down it was hard to find the lines. After about twenty minutes I felt a bit better and pushed to pass Mackenzie but there were so many lapped riders that it was very difficult. I did not want to crash and I had already passed Ramon. I think I will be strong for Lommel. All the GPs will be important for the championship now and I will be looking for good positions and to finish ahead of Ramon as much as possible." Josh Coppins, Yamaha Monster Motocross Team, 6th: "For three motos in a row I have had to start from pretty much last. I knew I had the speed but I lost so many points just from incidents in those three heats. In that second moto today I decided to start a little more cautious, take my turn and then ride my own race. I came out in the top ten but then could start the hunt and move forward; this is not really the way I want to go racing, holeshots would be preferable! It was a tough track but the same for everyone. There were parts that I liked and others that I didn't. I am pleased with that second moto though; if I can improve my starts then I feel that I can push my way back in there for the title." Mino Raspanti, Racing Manager: "It was not an easy Grand Prix by any means but we are happy that David had better starts and was inside the top six in each moto. He took too long to pass Mackenzie in the first race and had to use a lot of energy to overtake. His speed was good and if he could have moved forward quicker then he might have been able to win as he was very close to Ramon. He rode well in the second moto also but was a bit more tired. The result was good for the championship though because he did not make a mistake. Josh had a crash right at the start again and had to come through so it was difficult for him. The second moto was better and although he did not want to take any risks at the start he soon found his speed and actually made the fastest lap of the race. He was physically strong and this showed. We were working out of the crates this weekend but we were well organised and prepared, and overall we can feel content with how things have gone." Race 1 - 20 Laps Pos., Rider, Manu., Nat., Total Time 1, Steve Ramon, Suzuki, BEL, 40'20.469 2, David Philippaerts, Yamaha, ITA, 0'2.441 3, Jonathan Barragan, KTM, ESP, 0'5.874 4, Maximilian Nagl, KTM, GER, 0'9.979 5, Ken De Dycker, Suzuki, BEL, 0'18.428 6, Tanel Leok, Kawasaki, EST, 0'19.584 7, Billy MacKenzie, Honda, GBR, 0'21.389 8, Sébastien Pourcel, Kawasaki, FRA, 0'51.965 9, Joshua Coppins, Yamaha, NZL, 0'57.055 10, Manuel Priem, Kawasaki, BEL, 0'57.055 11, Julien Bill, Honda, CHE, 1'13.389 12, Marcus Schiffer, KTM, GER, 1'44.019 13, Steve Boniface, Honda, FRA, 1'52.455 14, James Noble, KTM, GBR, 1'55.312 15, Carlos Campano, Yamaha, ESP, 2'15.088 16, Tom Church, Kawasaki, GBR, -1 Laps 17, R Van Der Westhuizen, Suzuki, RSA, -1 Laps 18, Anthony Raynard, Yamaha, RSA, -2 Laps 19, Brandon Wheeler, Suzuki, RSA, -2 Laps 20, K Bowen, KTM, RSA, -2 Laps Race 2 - 20 Laps Pos., Rider, Manu., Nat., Total Time 1, Jonathan Barragan, KTM, ESP, 40'35.152 2, Maximilian Nagl, KTM, GER, 0'3.151 3, Sébastien Pourcel, Kawasaki, FRA, 0'6.255 4, Joshua Coppins, Yamaha, NZL, 0'7.594 5, Billy MacKenzie, Honda, GBR, 0'12.794 6, David Philippaerts, Yamaha, ITA, 0'18.663 7, Ken De Dycker, Suzuki, BEL, 0'35.635 8, Steve Ramon, Suzuki, BEL, 0'36.797 9, Manuel Priem, Kawasaki, BEL, 1'18.244 10, Clement Desalle, Suzuki, BEL, 1'23.337 11, Tanel Leok, Kawasaki, EST, 1'28.326 12, Marcus Schiffer, KTM, GER, 1'37.322 13, Steve Boniface, Honda, FRA, 1'42.692 14, James Noble, KTM, GBR, -1 Laps 15, Tom Church, Kawasaki, GBR, -1 Laps 16, Carlos Campano, Yamaha, ESP, -1 Laps 17, r Van Der Westhuizen, Suzuki, RSA, -1 Laps 18, Brandon Wheeler, Suzuki, RSA, -2 Laps 19, J De Bruin, Yamaha, RSA, -2 Laps 20, Anthony Raynard, Yamaha, RSA, -2 Laps Rider Standings 20/07/2008 Pos., Rider, Manu., Nat., Points 1, David Philippaerts, Yamaha, ITA, 339 2, Steve Ramon, Suzuki, BEL, 328 3, Joshua Coppins, Yamaha, NZL, 316 4, Ken De Dycker, Suzuki, BEL, 296 5, Jonathan Barragan, KTM, ESP, 284 6, Sébastien Pourcel, Kawasaki, FRA, 274 7, Maximilian Nagl, KTM, GER, 253 8, Billy MacKenzie, Honda, GBR, 235 9, Tanel Leok, Kawasaki, EST, 234 10, Marc De Reuver, Honda, NED, 178 11, Clement Desalle, Suzuki, BEL, 173 12, Manuel Priem, Kawasaki, BEL, 160 13, Julien Bill, Honda, CHE, 141 14, Kornel Nemeth, KTM, HUN, 115 15, Mike Brown, Honda, USA, 107 16, Aigar Leok, Yamaha, EST, 97 17, Marcus Schiffer, KTM, GER, 95 18, James Noble, KTM, GBR, 93 19, Tom Church, Kawasaki, GBR, 66 20, Steve Boniface, Honda, FRA, 63 21, Carlos Campano, Yamaha, ESP, 42 Manufacturer Standings 20/07/2008 Pos., Manufacturer, Points 1, Yamaha, 395 2, Suzuki, 379 3, KTM, 364 4, Kawasaki, 350 5, Honda, 314 6, TM, 31 7, Aprilia, 5 ---------- RACE REPORT - 20/07/2008 Aubin takes first podium as Cairoli suffers Yamaha Ricci Racing's Nico Aubin scored his first top three finish of the 2008 FIM MX2-GP World Championship under typically deep blue skies for the Grand Prix of South Africa - the tenth round of fifteen in the FIM series - at the Nelspruit circuit, more than 300km north-east of Johannesburg. The Frenchman took 3rd position on the same day that reigning number one Antonio Cairoli sustained an injury to his left knee and failed to score points in a GP for the first time since the British Grand Prix in 2004; a run of 65 events. The general reaction to the winding turns and many jumps of the new world championship circuit was extremely positive even if the dirt was a little unpredictable, varying between soft and rutted in places and hard and slick in others. Cairoli immediately gelled with the second of three new tracks on the 2008 schedule and collected his eighth consecutive Lovemytime qualification award for winning the second heat race and going to the gate in second position on Sunday. Sadly number '222' lasted no more than a few laps of the first moto as a near-crash around the fourth corner saw the Sicilian catch and turn his left leg, instantly injuring his knee. He tried to complete a few more circulations but then pulled into the pits with overwhelming pain. During the break between races he underwent an examination and treatment and was encouraged by the fact that there was little swelling. He attempted the second moto and started in second position but too small mistakes aggravated the joint further and he was again forced to withdraw. Cairoli now plans to have a scan and possible surgery on a suspected broken meniscus this week. The procedure should not be complicated and there is a chance he could be back on his motorcycle for the Grand Prix of Belgium in a fortnight. Aubin ensured that a YZ250F kept a place on the podium, and his first silverware of the season came largely thanks to his excellent start and second position in Moto1; the finish represented his second best result of the year having previously taken a race win in Italy. Aubin had actually been leading the sprint but was powerless to match pole-sitter Tommy Searle's speed. In the second race he started in the top five and spent a lonely moto avoiding backmarkers and trying to close to the back of Shaun Simpson in 4th. Aubin is the fourth Yamaha rider this season to scale a Grand Prix rostrum. Ricci Racing team-mate Davide Guarneri continues to admirably fight the odds despite a weakened right knee (missing a ligament) and the Italian scored 8th and 15th positions for 11th overall. He hit his limb on the ground twice in the second moto which caused him to slow and miss out on a double top ten finish. 3C Racing's Manuel Monni was 13th overall and rests 10th in the world championship while team-mate Deny Philippaerts - younger brother of David - scored points for the second time this season. Cairoli's championship plight now faces a test against the odds. The double world number one is third and 59 points away (more than two moto victories) from leader Tyla Rattray with five Grand Prix remaining. Aubin cut a few points to Simpson and fourth place in the ranking with 44 points the difference. The eleventh round of the championship will take place through the sand of Lommel for the Grand Prix of Belgium in two weeks time. The hillside Loket circuit in the Czech Republic will host the thirteenth race seven days later. Tony Cairoli, Yamaha Red Bull De Carli, DNF: "I am really disappointed. I liked the track yesterday and had some decent speed. I didn't have a good start in the first moto and tried to pass some riders in the beginning but it was not easy because the track was slippery from the watering. Tyla and Tommy were ahead so I knew I had to gain ground fast. I went to pass Guarneri but he came wide and cut my line. The bike went sideways down the hill and I put out my foot and felt something pull in my knee. I had so much pain that I had to stop. My doctor made a really good job in the break so I tried to start the second moto and came out of the gate in second place. The knee was not inflamed and not too painful but I was not used to the track and I got one set of bumps wrong and felt the knee react. Tommy passed me and I was starting to catch him when I over-jumped and then had shots of pain, which ended my race. The plan now is to have some surgery this week and I really hope I can come back for Lommel. The doctor thinks the ligaments are OK, just maybe stretched a little bit but the meniscus might be broken. With the operation we have planned he said I might be able to ride after one week. The championship looks difficult now and Tommy and Tyla have worked hard to be going for the title. I want to win when I come back and I hope it will be as soon as possible." Nico Aubin, Yamaha Ricci Racing, 3rd: "I am happy but it is a shame I had to wait ten Grand Prix for my first podium. I have had a few problems getting myself up to speed but I had two weeks to get my head together before this Grand Prix and felt better on the bike. The track is very good and I enjoyed the ground and the jumps. I made a great start in the first moto and tried to push, however Tyla and Tommy are very fast at the moment and I have not had too much time leading a race and could not hold the pace until the end. The results were not bad today and a big improvement on the last GPs. I hope this will be a new beginning for me, we go to Lommel next and I like the sand. I would like a top five there before we go to Loket. I want to finish the season well for my confidence and for the team." Davide Guarneri, Yamaha Ricci Racing, 11th: "I am a little annoyed because I was faster on Saturday but could not take the positions today; overall it was a hard GP for me physically. I started well in the first moto but the track was so difficult for me. There were many ruts in the corners and it was tough for my knee. I tried to push but stayed in sixth for most of the race. Towards the end I felt tired because I cannot stand up on the bike for too long. I started OK in the second moto and was going for tenth when I hit my leg quite hard twice on the ground and had to slow down because of pain. I don't know what really happened with Antonio. On the fourth corner there were many riders together. I went for the inside line but it brought me out on the outside, I did not see him and touched his bike." Race 1 - 20 Laps Pos., Rider, Manu., Nat., Total Time 1, Tommy Searle, KTM, GBR, 41'4.235 2, Nicolas Aubin, Yamaha, FRA, 0'11.221 3, Tyla Rattray, KTM, RSA, 0'22.991 4, Shaun Simpson, KTM, GBR, 0'30.016 5, Steven Frossard, Kawasaki, FRA, 0'35.741 6, Xavier Boog, Suzuki, FRA, 1'12.541 7, Marvin Musquin, Honda, FRA, 1'17.182 8, Davide Guarneri, Yamaha, ITA, 1'21.285 9, Jeremy Van Horebeek, KTM, BEL, 1'22.814 10, Stephen Sword, Kawasaki, GBR, 1'27.042 11, Rui Goncalves, KTM, POR, 1'29.102 12, Pascal Leuret, Suzuki, FRA, 1'47.438 13, Manuel Monni, Yamaha, ITA, 1'57.773 14, Gregory Aranda, Kawasaki, FRA, 2'1.662 15, Alessandro Lupino, Yamaha, ITA, 2'19.984 16, Jake Nicholls, Suzuki, GBR, -1 Laps 17, Jeremy Tarroux, KTM, FRA, -1 Laps 18, Deny Philippaerts, Yamaha, ITA, -1 Laps 19, Michael Kok, KTM, RSA, -1 Laps 20, Elliott Banks-Browne, Suzuki, GBR, -2 Laps Race 2 - 20 Laps Pos., Rider, Manu., Nat., Total Time 1, Tyla Rattray, KTM, RSA, 41'4.739 2, Tommy Searle, KTM, GBR, 0'4.871 3, Steven Frossard, Kawasaki, FRA, 0'32.461 4, Shaun Simpson, KTM, GBR, 0'37.751 5, Nicolas Aubin, Yamaha, FRA, 0'43.469 6, Jeremy Van Horebeek, KTM, BEL, 0'53.101 7, Xavier Boog, Suzuki, FRA, 1'3.031 8, Marvin Musquin, Honda, FRA, 1'5.999 9, Anthony Boissière, KTM, FRA, 1'7.014 10, Pascal Leuret, Suzuki, FRA, 1'8.334 11, Jake Nicholls, Suzuki, GBR, 1'13.750 12, Jeremy Tarroux, KTM, FRA, 1'14.422 13, Stephen Sword, Kawasaki, GBR, 1'22.643 14, Manuel Monni, Yamaha, ITA, 1'26.306 15, Davide Guarneri, Yamaha, ITA, 1'48.709 16, Alessandro Lupino, Yamaha, ITA, 1'52.516 17, Rui Goncalves, KTM, POR, 2'16.563 18, Michael Kok, KTM, RSA, -1 Laps 19, Deny Philippaerts, Yamaha, ITA, -1 Laps 20, Ross Branch, Kawasaki, RSA, -1 Laps Rider Standings 20/07/2008 Pos., Rider, Manu., Nat., Points 1, Tyla Rattray, KTM, RSA, 416 2, Tommy Searle, KTM, GBR, 395 3, Antonio Cairoli, Yamaha, ITA, 357 4, Shaun Simpson, KTM, GBR, 287 5, Nicolas Aubin, Yamaha, FRA, 243 6, Rui Goncalves, KTM, POR, 241 7, Xavier Boog, Suzuki, FRA, 211 8, Jeremy Van Horebeek, KTM, BEL, 197 9, Steven Frossard, Kawasaki, FRA, 196 10, Manuel Monni, Yamaha, ITA, 187 11, Marvin Musquin, Honda, FRA, 173 12, Stephen Sword, Kawasaki, GBR, 170 13, Anthony Boissière, KTM, FRA, 158 14, Jeremy Tarroux, KTM, FRA, 140 15, Davide Guarneri, Yamaha, ITA, 133 16, Gregory Aranda, Kawasaki, FRA, 101 17, Joel Roelants, KTM, BEL, 99 18, Gautier Paulin, Kawasaki, FRA, 95 19, Carl Nunn, Suzuki, GBR, 73 20, Wyatt Avis, Honda, RSA, 56 22, Evgeny Bobryshev, Yamaha, RUS, 42 27, Alessandro Lupino, Yamaha, ITA, 30 28, Matteo Bonini, Yamaha, ITA, 25 41, Deny Philippaerts, Yamaha, ITA, 7 Manufacturer Standings 20/07/2008 Pos., Manufacturer, Points 1, KTM, 469 2, Yamaha, 451 3, Kawasaki, 316 4, Suzuki, 259 5, Honda, 194
Alex Asigno

Corser goes third after dramatic Brno races

Troy Corser (Yamaha Motor Italia WSB Team) moved from fourth to third in the championship standings after securing a second and a fourth place finish at Brno, as his team-mate Noriyuki Haga rode with all his spirit and skill to take sixth in race one and salvage a seventh from a pitlane start in race two. Corser was on top form once more on raceday and in the 500th World Superbike race, the 13 points he took for his race two fourth place put him into overall third place in the championship, 12 points behind Max Neukirchner and 91 behind today's double race winner, Troy Bayliss. Each race saw Corser lead and fight for the podiums, for Haga Brno was a hard fought battle with two brilliant displays of riding to overcome firstly a third row grid position, and then a start from the pitlane. In the first 20-lap race Corser contested the win until the final few laps, when eventual winner Troy Bayliss had taken a lead Corser could not make up, and he had to settle for second. Haga kept his championship points score on the move with a sixth place finish, moving through the field from 12th grid position. In race two Corser's rear tyre spun on the wheel rim, and that caused an out-of-balance vibration that stopped him from taking his second podium of the day and a chance of his first race victory for Yamaha. Haga had a problem with his machine on the sighting lap and had to start the second race from pitlane, slicing through the pack to secure a top seven finish. Haga remains fifth in the championship standings, with a total of 210 points to Bayliss' 309. The battle for second place right now features four riders all separated by only 20 points. Shinichi Nakatomi (Team YZF Yamaha) was a superb 12th in race one at what is his favourite track, but neither David Checa (Yamaha GMT94) nor Sebastien Gimbert (Yamaha GMT94) finished the race, with Gimbert taken to the medical centre for checks. In race two Nakatomi was 15th, Checa was 16th and Gimbert, who was declared fit to ride again, was a retiree in pitlane. Troy Corser (2nd and 4th - Yamaha Motor Italia WSB Team) "In race one I was reasonably happy and the bike was working well for the first half of the race. The rear tyre just dropped off a little bit and we lost a few tenths after that. When Troy came past I tried to go with him but he had a bit more grip coming off the corners. But other than that we were pretty even. I pushed as hard as I could to stay with him but was careful not to throw away second. In race two we had a problem from about lap four or five. As has happened in the past we have spun the tyre on the rim and there was a vibration through the bike in every part of the track. From then on it was a case of just holding on to see where we ended up. I kept looking back to see who was behind and just kept pushing as much as I could. If the tyre had not have spun on the rim then we would have been up the front. It's just disappointing because I was feeling good and the bike was good. We moved up to third today, which is a positive thing, but it could have been much better." Noriyuki Haga (6th and 7th - Yamaha Motor Italia WSB Team) "In race one my qualifying position did not help me, but I caught up to pass Neukirchner at the end and got some points. I'm not sure what was the problem with the bike in race two but the engine was not working right and I had to swap my bike. We swapped some settings from race one to race two on that spare bike and it worked quite well. I enjoyed the race because I had to make many passes, which was very exciting. I hope from this point on we can work in a good direction until the end of the year and improve our championship position." Massimo Meregalli (Team Manager, Yamaha Motor Italia WSB Team) "Troy rode very well today and took a podium finish that puts him third in the championship. So it is good news that he has moved up the rankings even if he had a problems in race two. There is nothing obviously wrong with Nori's bike in race two, we will find out in the workshop, and he rode really well from a start in pitlane, passing many riders because his race pace was very good. With a normal start he would be in front." Shinichi Nakatomi (12th and 15th - Team YZF Yamaha) "For me today race one was best. I like Brno very much to ride on and enjoyed the race very much. I found the second race to be harder but still enjoyed it and was happy with my result." Race 1 - 20 Laps Pos., Rider, Manu., Nat., Total Time 1, Troy Bayliss, Ducati, AUS, 40'22.724 2, Troy Corser, Yamaha, AUS, 0'1.468 3, Michel Fabrizio, Ducati, ITA, 0'3.272 4, Max Biaggi, Ducati, ITA, 0'3.475 5, Ryuichi Kiyonari, Honda, JPN, 0'3.791 6, Noriyuki Haga, Yamaha, JPN, 0'9.120 7, Max Neukirchner, Suzuki, GER, 0'9.358 8, Carlos Checa, Honda, ESP, 0'11.787 9, Yukio Kagayama, Suzuki, JPN, 0'17.228 10, Kenan Sofuoglu, Honda, TUR, 0'17.705 11, Karl Muggeridge, Honda, AUS, 0'22.347 12, Shinichi Nakatomi, Yamaha, JPN, 0'25.563 13, Niccolo Canepa, Ducati, ITA, 0'25.699 14, Fonsi Nieto, Suzuki, ESP, 0'34.064 15, Gregorio Lavilla, Honda, ESP, 0'36.545 16, Makoto Tamada, Kawasaki, JPN, 0'43.934 17, Ayrton Badovini, Kawasaki, ITA, 0'44.349 18, Shuhei Aoyama, Honda, JPN, 0'50.092 19, Jason Pridmore, Honda, USA, 0'58.827 20, Jiri Drasdak, Honda, CZE, 0'59.928 21, Christian Zaiser, Yamaha, AUT, 1'21.587 Race 2 - 20 Laps Pos., Rider, Manu., Nat., Total Time 1, Troy Bayliss, Ducati, AUS, 40'16.436 2, Michel Fabrizio, Ducati, ITA, 0'0.928 3, Max Biaggi, Ducati, ITA, 0'1.259 4, Troy Corser, Yamaha, AUS, 0'1.785 5, Max Neukirchner, Suzuki, GER, 0'3.942 6, Ryuichi Kiyonari, Honda, JPN, 0'7.910 7, Noriyuki Haga, Yamaha, JPN, 0'11.297 8, Fonsi Nieto, Suzuki, ESP, 0'11.375 9, Yukio Kagayama, Suzuki, JPN, 0'13.103 10, Kenan Sofuoglu, Honda, TUR, 0'18.978 11, Jakub Smrz, Ducati, CZE, 0'19.106 12, Roberto Rolfo, Honda, ITA, 0'20.556 13, Lorenzo Lanzi, Ducati, ITA, 0'21.775 14, Gregorio Lavilla, Honda, ESP, 0'26.372 15, Shinichi Nakatomi, Yamaha, JPN, 0'26.922 16, David Checa, Yamaha, ESP, 0'27.109 17, Makoto Tamada, Kawasaki, JPN, 0'39.711 18, Shuhei Aoyama, Honda, JPN, 0'39.953 19, Jason Pridmore, Honda, USA, 0'56.812 20, Christian Zaiser, Yamaha, AUT, 1'44.073 21, Milos Cihak, Suzuki, CZE, 1'46.620 Best Lap Rider, Manu., Nat., Total Time Troy Bayliss, Ducati, AUS, 2'0.298 Rider Standings 20/07/2008 Pos., Rider, Manu., Nat., Points 1, Troy Bayliss, Ducati, AUS, 309 2, Max Neukirchner, Suzuki, GER, 230 3, Troy Corser, Yamaha, AUS, 218 4, Carlos Checa, Honda, ESP, 215 5, Noriyuki Haga, Yamaha, JPN, 210 6, Fonsi Nieto, Suzuki, ESP, 161 7, Ruben Xaus, Ducati, ESP, 148 8, Michel Fabrizio, Ducati, ITA, 147 9, Max Biaggi, Ducati, ITA, 146 10, Ryuichi Kiyonari, Honda, JPN, 115 11, Yukio Kagayama, Suzuki, JPN, 96 12, Lorenzo Lanzi, Ducati, ITA, 83 13, Gregorio Lavilla, Honda, ESP, 78 14, Jakub Smrz, Ducati, CZE, 77 15, Karl Muggeridge, Honda, AUS, 64 19, Shinichi Nakatomi, Yamaha, JPN, 29 23, David Checa, Yamaha, ESP, 7 24, Sebastien Gimbert, Yamaha, FRA, 7 Manufacturer Standings 20/07/2008 Pos., Manufacturer, Points 1, Ducati, 373 2, Yamaha, 317 3, Suzuki, 277 4, Honda, 247 5, Kawasaki, 64 ---------- RACE REPORT - 20/07/2008 Parkes fourth in tight Brno race Broc Parkes (Yamaha World Supersport Team) fought hard for a podium finish at Brno but had to settle for a fourth place, and third in the championship standings overall. Parkes did not get his customary strong start from pole position, dropping back to 7th in the pack at the start of the race. He then had to expend energy in the early laps making up places to make sure he was in contention near the end. Parkes was unable to jump out of corners with the same sharpness that had helped him to his fifth pole position in a row after qualifying on Saturday, and was unable to attack in the final few laps. The race was won by Jonathan Rea, from Andrew Pitt and Josh Brookes. In the championship standings Broc is now third, on 100 points with Pitt on 133, Brookes 101 and Broc's injured team-mate, Fabien Foret, on 97. Parkes' team-mate Fabien Foret remains in Hospital under observation following a crash on Friday which left him with cracks in his C6 and C7 vertebrae. He is due to be released shortly but will be out of action for up to three months.The Yamaha World Supersport Team are currently considering alternative riders whilst Foret is recovering. Massimo Roccoli (Yamaha Team Italia Lorenzini by Leoni) got into the top ten after a disappointing qualifying session yesterday and now sits inside the top ten in the championship standings, ninth on 40 points. David Salom (Yamaha Spain World Supersport Team) held on for the race to score the final point on offer for 15th position. Broc Parkes (4th - Yamaha World Supersport Team) "I'm not too happy really. I felt I couldn't battle with other riders today, in the exits of the corners the other riders pulled a bit on me. My start wasn't too good either but I was with the front guys anyway after a few laps. When I got back right to the front group I couldn't fight for the win. I was hoping for a podium on the last lap but I was on the limit, so I was done." Wilco Zeelenberg (Team Manager, Yamaha World Supersport Team) "We had some problems with the rear tyre during the warm-up, but we solved those and we decided to stay with the gearing we had because it helped the tyre wear. But after the race it is always easy to say we should have done something different. The pace was OK but on braking Broc could not pass. It was our plan to follow the top group anyway but then you have to be able to pass at the end of the race." Massimo Roccoli (10th - Yamaha Team Italia Lorenzini by Leoni) "Today it was a very good race because the bike was very fast, the settings were OK the grip was good. For me qualifying was terrible and I am sorry for the team because they had to work really hard over these three days. Next Sunday in Misano there will be some Italian championship races, and that will let me prepare my mind for Brands Hatch." Race 1 - 18 Laps Pos., Rider, Manu., Nat., Total Time 1, Jonathan Rea, Honda, GBR, 37'35.093 2, Andrew Pitt, Honda, AUS, 0'0.020 3, Joshua Brookes, Honda, AUS, 0'1.433 4, Broc Parkes, Yamaha, AUS, 0'1.853 5, Barry Veneman, Suzuki, NED, 0'2.237 6, Gianluca Nannelli, Honda, ITA, 0'12.032 7, Russell Holland, Honda, AUS, 0'12.221 8, Matthieu Lagrive, Honda, FRA, 0'12.787 9, Vesa Kallio, Honda, FIN, 0'15.334 10, Massimo Roccoli, Yamaha, ITA, 0'15.780 11, Chris Walker, Kawasaki, GBR, 0'23.645 12, Gianluca Vizziello, Honda, ITA, 0'23.758 13, Ivan Clementi, Triumph, ITA, 0'24.074 14, Didier Van Keymeulen, Suzuki, BEL, 0'24.621 15, David Salom, Yamaha, ESP, 0'26.866 16, Katsuaki Fujiwara, Kawasaki, JPN, 0'26.891 17, Danilo Dell'omo, Honda, ITA, 0'29.566 18, Joan Lascorz, Honda, ESP, 0'34.218 19, Balazs Nemeth, Honda, HUN, 0'44.347 20, Denis Sacchetti, Honda, ITA, 0'44.650 21, Javier Hidalgo, Yamaha, ESP, 0'51.768 22, Mark Aitchinson, Triumph, AUS, 0'54.336 23, Lorenzo Alfonsi, Honda, ITA, 0'54.351 24, Ruggero Scambia, Triumph, ITA, 1'28.911 Best Lap Rider, Manu., Nat., Total Time Andrew Pitt, Honda, AUS, 2'4.062 Rider Standings 20/07/2008 Pos., Rider, Manu., Nat., Points 1, Andrew Pitt, Honda, AUS, 133 2, Joshua Brookes, Honda, AUS, 101 3, Broc Parkes, Yamaha, AUS, 100 4, Fabien Foret, Yamaha, FRA, 97 5, Jonathan Rea, Honda, GBR, 92 6, Joan Lascorz, Honda, ESP, 81 7, Craig Jones, Honda, GBR, 80 8, Robbin Harms, Honda, DNK, 50 9, Massimo Roccoli, Yamaha, ITA, 40 10, Barry Veneman, Suzuki, NED, 38 11, Gianluca Vizziello, Honda, ITA, 37 12, Chris Walker, Kawasaki, GBR, 36 13, Matthieu Lagrive, Honda, FRA, 36 14, Gianluca Nannelli, Honda, ITA, 33 15, Ivan Clementi, Triumph, ITA, 21 23, David Salom, Yamaha, ESP, 9 Manufacturer Standings 20/07/2008 Pos., Manufacturer, Points 1, Honda, 190 2, Yamaha, 138 3, Triumph, 51 4, Suzuki, 47 5, Kawasaki, 40 ---------- RACE REPORT - 20/07/2008 Pirro sixth after Brno Superstock battle Michele Pirro (Yamaha Lorenzini by Leoni) was the top scoring Yamaha rider in the 12-lap Superstock 1000 Cup event, as he took sixth in a lonely race after a bright start. Pirro is now fifth in the championship table on 73 points, 23 points from new leader Brendan Roberts. Brno race winner Maxime Berger was away and clear after Xavier Simeon enjoyed an early lead, with Roberts an eventual second, from Alessandro Polita. Claudio Corti (Yamaha Motor Italia Junior Team) ran off track at high speed and skillfully remained on his machine to bring it to a safe halt , but found damage to his bike that stopped him continuing. He scored no points, and is now 12th overall, on 25 points. Michelle Pirro (6th - Yamaha Motor Italia Lorenzini by Leoni) "3rd 4th laps were ok but eventually the tyres began to go and it was impossible to turn properly in the corners and get on the power at the same time" Claudio Corti (12th - Yamaha Motor Italia Junior Team) "we were ok for the set up and ready to battle for the victory. The podium was possible today. Unfortunately the engine lost a screw and leaked oil causing me to go off. " Baz still leads after Brno podium finish Loris Baz was close to another win in the European Superstock 600 race at Brno, but a loss of front tyre grip in the last lap stopped him from being able to mount a successful last corner challenge on winner Patrick Vostarek. Baz is still in the overall championship lead, on 117 points to Vostarek's 110. More good news came in a race where Five Yamaha machines filled the top six places, as Gino Rea held of his team-mate Dan Linfoot to secure a podium finish in third. Such was the pace of the front two that Rea was 16 seconds down on Baz at the end of only nine laps, and the lap record was beaten by two and a half seconds. Loris Baz (12th - Yamaha Motor Italia Junior Team) "I tried my best to win but in the last couple of laps the front end was tucking under and I had a few slides, so I could not push any more to pass Vostarek. Our bike was good up the hill and it was a close race. We still have the lead in the series, which is the most important thing." Race 1 - 12 Laps Pos., Rider, Manu., Nat., Total Time 1, Maxime Berger, Honda, FRA, 24'58.402 2, Brendan Roberts, Ducati, AUS, 0'3.043 3, Alessandro Polita, Ducati, ITA, 0'3.100 4, Andrea Antonelli, Honda, ITA, 0'3.367 5, Xavier Simeon, Suzuki, BEL, 0'5.709 6, Michele Pirro, Yamaha, ITA, 0'10.032 7, Chris Seaton, Suzuki, AUS, 0'13.380 8, Matej Smrz, Honda, CZE, 0'19.510 9, Davide Giugliano, Suzuki, ITA, 0'19.724 10, Michele Magnoni, Yamaha, ITA, 0'20.249 11, Gareth Jones, Suzuki, AUS, 0'20.796 12, Domenico Colucci, Ducati, ITA, 0'20.959 13, Matteo Baiocco, Kawasaki, ITA, 0'21.042 14, Raymond Schouten, Yamaha, NED, 0'21.432 15, Barry Burrell, Honda, GBR, 0'21.609 16, Kenny Foray, Yamaha, FRA, 0'28.875 17, Michael Savary, Suzuki, CHE, 0'28.942 18, Matt Bond, Suzuki, GBR, 0'29.741 19, Rene Mahr, Yamaha, GER, 0'30.015 20, Freddy Foray, Yamaha, FRA, 0'36.569 21, Roy Ten Napel, Suzuki, NED, 0'36.724 22, Pauli Pekkanen, KTM, FIN, 0'38.541 23, Danny De Boer, Suzuki, NED, 0'40.985 24, Filip Backlund, Suzuki, SWE, 0'46.343 25, Jure Stibilj, Honda, SVN, 0'48.163 26, Gregory Junod, Yamaha, CHE, 0'48.667 27, Marko Jerman, Yamaha, SVK, 0'53.103 28, Aldo Aldrovandi, Kawasaki, ITA, 0'54.618 Best Lap Rider, Manu., Nat., Total Time Maxime Berger, Honda, FRA, 2'3.676 Rider Standings 20/07/2008 Pos., Rider, Manu., Nat., Points 1, Brendan Roberts, Ducati, AUS, 96 2, Xavier Simeon, Suzuki, BEL, 95 3, Maxime Berger, Honda, FRA, 84 4, Alessandro Polita, Ducati, ITA, 83 5, Michele Pirro, Yamaha, ITA, 73 6, Davide Giugliano, Suzuki, ITA, 55 7, Matej Smrz, Honda, CZE, 48 8, Andrea Antonelli, Honda, ITA, 41 9, Michele Magnoni, Yamaha, ITA, 30 10, Chris Seaton, Suzuki, AUS, 29 11, Freddy Foray, Yamaha, FRA, 29 12, Claudio Corti, Yamaha, ITA, 25 13, Kenny Foray, Yamaha, FRA, 24 14, Domenico Colucci, Ducati, ITA, 18 15, Gareth Jones, Suzuki, AUS, 16 25, Sylvain Barrier, Yamaha, FRA, 4 Manufacturer Standings 20/07/2008 Pos., Manufacturer, Points 1, Ducati, 124 2, Honda, 106 3, Suzuki, 103 4, Yamaha, 85 5, Kawasaki, 20
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

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

Coppins-Yamaha collaboration enters third term

Former double world championship runner-up Josh Coppins will enter a third year with Yamaha and the Yamaha Monster Motocross Team after putting pen to paper to extend his current deal this week. The popular New Zealander, who presently sits third in the 2008 FIM MX-1 series as the calendar reaches its tenth stop this weekend in South Africa, has won six Grand Prix in a potent combination with the YZ450FM, including a memorable debut success at Valkenswaard for the opening round of 2007 and almost clinching the ’07 title before an unfortunate injury halted his progress deep into the season. The 31 year old has walked the podium 12 times and won 11 motos in the space of a year and a half and 21 Grand Prix with the factory team. His alliance with the YZ has proved incredibly effective and he topped charts of: Moto wins, Grand Prix wins, Podiums accumulated and rounds led (13) in 2007. He dominated the Grand Prix of Germany several weeks ago and is just 16 points behind team-mate David Philippaerts. Thanks to his efforts and that of the Italian alongside him – who is already confirmed for 2009 - Yamaha lead the Manufacturers’ standings and retain a realistic and viable chance of world championship success this year. “Once I had made the decision I wanted to race another season and another world championship there was no other option in my mind than to continue with Yamaha,” said the Kiwi. “We have had success in a short period of time and that is partly due to the excellent way the team work. The world championship was so close for us last year and we are right there for the 2008 title. I know that the team and Yamaha are right behind me and I could not wish for a more professional set-up. Signing the new deal was pretty quick, I’m glad to get things sorted out early so we can push on with doing the business this season.” “For Yamaha it isa very logical decision to continue with David and Josh next year as we are very happy with the current rider line up,” said Yamaha Motor Europe’s Racing Division Manager Laurens Klein Koerkamp. “Josh is a very experienced rider with an amazing fighting spirit and dedication for the sport and that is very valuable for Yamaha. I am confident that he will be a title contender both this year and the next. The aim for 2008 and for 2009 is to win the Rider and Manufacturer’s title, and have both riders at the top of the ranking..”
Alex Asigno

Rossi takes title lead with second place at soacking Sachsenring

Valentino Rossi took the runner-up spot in the German Grand Prix at the Sachsenring today and moved back to the top of the championship, after Dani Pedrosa crashed out of the lead on lap five. Rossi's Fiat Yamaha team-mate Jorge Lorenzo was another victim of the first fully wet race of the season, sliding out of the race on the third lap. This morning's practice was run on a damp track but the weather worsened through the middle part of the day and the MotoGP race began in heavy rain. Rossi, starting from seventh on the grid, was caught up in the first lap confusion and lost some time but then made up two places on the second lap, before being elevated to fourth when Pedrosa went down. In the next few laps the Italian passed first fellow Yamaha rider Colin Edwards and then Andrea Dovizioso, which left him in second behind Casey Stoner. Rossi did his best to close the gap to the Australian but with the pair clocking similar lap times he was unable to make any headway into a deficit of more than three seconds, settling for second place and 20 points. Chris Vermeulen loomed behind him at mid-race distance but Rossi's M1 and his Bridgestone tyres were working well in the wet and he was able to step up the pace somewhat, eventually crossed the line 3.708 seconds behind Stoner and more than 14 ahead of third-placed Vermeulen. Today's result sees Rossi back at the top of the standings, 16 points clear of Pedrosa and 20 ahead of Stoner, whilst Lorenzo holds on to fourth despite taking no points today. The MotoGP paddock now packs up and makes the transatlantic trip to California for the US Grand Prix at Laguna Seca in a week's time. Valentino Rossi - Position: 2nd Time: +3.708 "I'm really happy with this result, even if racing in the rain today wasn't quite as much fun as I've had in some of my past races here! For the championship this is very, very important; I made a mistake last week in Assen and today Dani did the same. It's unlucky but this is racing and now we are back in front and this is a very good feeling. Dani is tough and we know he will be back fighting at the front, but sincerely at the moment we need to think about how to catch Casey because he has been very fast now for a few races. Once again here we lost some time during the practice trying to find the right setting and we can't afford to keep doing this. Today we started from the third row and this meant that I had to deal with some confusion at the start and lost some time on the front riders. By the time I got behind Casey my M1 was working very well and I had very good grip with my Bridgestone rain tyres; I felt very confident and I tried hard to push but there was no way to catch him at that stage, so our aim must be to start at the front from now on. Thanks to all my team and engineers; now we have to try to extend this lead in Laguna." Davide Brivio - Team Manager "This was a very positive race for us because this result takes us back to the top of the championship standings. I hope that Pedrosa's condition is not too serious and that he will be back at Laguna to fight as he has been doing so far. Today we have seen that we have a good set-up for the wet conditions and this is good news for us, as this was the very first full wet race since the beginning of the championship. Valentino pushed hard till the end of the race and the second place today was the maximum we could do, starting from the third row. Now we go to Laguna Seca, where we will launch another attack!" Unlucky Lorenzo slides off in rainy Germany Fiat Yamaha Team rider Jorge Lorenzo was one of four riders who failed to finish the German Grand Prix today, falling victim to a soaking track on the third lap of a rainy race at Sachsenring. His team-mate Valentino Rossi meanwhile regained his championship lead by way of an important second place, after series-leader Dani Pedrosa crashed out of the lead early on. Lorenzo had lacked rear grip all weekend but was hopeful that the rain might improve the situation today. Unfortunately however the reverse was true and he was thrown from his M1 when his rear tyre spun up on the exit from turn four, on lap three of 30. The Mallorcan was luckily completely unhurt this time and will not have to wait long to get over his disappointment, as his first competitive visit to Laguna Seca beckons in just a few day's time. The Michelin-shod rider holds onto fourth in the championship despite taking no points today. Jorge Lorenzo - DNF "I felt good this morning because I though that I would have a chance to do a good race in the rain. On the warm-up lap however I felt that something wasn't quite right; I didn't have enough grip and I lost some confidence then. I made a good start and passed two riders in the first corner, but then I ran too deep and lost the places so I had to push to try to make them up again. The crash happened when I opened the gas coming out of turn four and I lost the rear. It was a pity but I didn't hurt myself this time and I am not feeling sad for myself tonight, I just feel very bad for the team because they worked too hard all weekend for a result like this. The positive thing about today is that at each race I am feeling better in myself, even though we're having some problems getting our package work correctly, and now I am just looking forward to racing for the very first time at Laguna.' Daniele Romagnoli - Team Manager "Today it was very difficult to find enough grip on the rear, in fact it seems like our problems became bigger in the wet. The rear tyre was spinning a lot under acceleration and Jorge was not able to control the rear grip. We did not have the chance to test in full wet conditions during the weekend and this played an important role for us, because it meant that it was impossible to be completely prepared for a wet race like this. We hope for better weather next week in Laguna Seca so that we can sort out all of our problems, because we absolutely want to come back to the level we know Jorge is capable of." Toseland 11th, Edwards crashes at soaked Sachsenring Today's 30-lap German MotoGP race ended below pre-race expectations for Tech 3 Yamaha duo Colin Edwards and James Toseland at a rain-soaked Sachsenring. Making his wet race debut on board the Yamaha YZR-M1, Toseland gained valuable experience in full rain conditions on his way to a battling 11th place. Edwards' bid though to extend the best run of form in his MotoGP career ended with a crash out of fifth place on lap 21. Toseland made a stunning start from the fourth row to claim fifth by the first corner, but he was unable to match the fast pace of the leaders as he faced the tough task of mastering the conditions, while also adapting to his YZR-M1 machine in the wet. Edwards' crash ended his valiant attempt to claim a sixth successive top five finish in front of a 98,000-strong crowd. Having started from the front row for the fifth time in 2008, he seemed certain to be Michelin's best finisher when he slipped off at the seventh corner while holding off Andrea Dovizioso. Fortunately, Edwards escaped injury and is looking forward to a return to form in his home race at Laguna Seca next weekend. James Toseland 11th - 65 points "That was my first wet MotoGP race and I've got to admit that while I feel I've learned a lot, it was a difficult afternoon. I got an unbelievable start and at the first corner I was fifth and nearly took fourth. I thought I was in business but pretty much straightaway I knew it was going to be difficult to try and go away with the leading group. I had a couple of moments on the opening lap and I started losing places quite quickly. The frustrating thing was I couldn't do anything to respond. I didn't want to push too hard because I'd seen Jorge Lorenzo crash in front of me, so I knew I wasn't the only one struggling for rear grip. I think that coupled with a lack of experience of riding this bike in the rain made it tough. I kind of just got stuck at the pace I was running and couldn't really go any faster. I'm not going to blame anybody because I'm having a bit of a bad period but a positive from the weekend is I feel we have taken some big strides with the set-up of the bike. I was only halfa- second off the front row and I was fourth in the warm-up, so it has not been a bad weekend. We have eliminated a lot of problems and the team has done a great job, so I am looking forward to getting back closer to where I know I am capable of being and the team is capable of being at Laguna Seca. It is a track I know well, and I go there in a positive frame of mind as always despite having this tough run." Colin Edwards DNF - 98 points "All I can is it was a very tough race right from the start. The conditions were not easy but I got a reasonable start and just wanted to get into a steady pace. But it was obvious from quite early on that it was going to be difficult. I didn't have a lot of feel from the rear tyre and I tried everything I could to hang in there and keep a top five finish for the team, who have been great all weekend. It would have also kept my own personal good run going. But as the race wore on it wasn't getting any better and I lost the rear at the downhill left-hander. I had no warning at all and I didn't feel I was particularly pushing too hard because by that stage a podium had already gone. I was trying to keep Dovizioso behind me to at least finish top Michelin rider. I'd tried to follow Casey and Valentino but I just didn't have anything for them. Fifth was going to be the best result I could have managed today and that's a bit disappointing because in the dry I think I could have been fighting for a podium. I'm just grateful I didn't get hurt in the crash because I've got my home race coming up and I desperately want to put on a good performance for the American fans, Tech 3 and Yamaha at Laguna Seca. After this disappointment I'll be looking to bounce straight back." Herve Poncharal - Team Manager "It was obviously not what we expected. We were not too confident for a wet race even though Colin had done another fantastic job to get on the front row again. We also know that Colin is very fast in the rain and the race started quite well and Colin and James were both right up with the leaders. But unfortunately we could easily see that it was difficult for Colin to follow the leaders from very early on and a podium was going to be difficult to achieve. Colin tried his absolute maximum to stay close and he was the first Michelin rider before he crashed. This can happen in such tough conditions and I don't blame him at all. He was trying very hard with a package that wasn't competitive enough to get a podium. Luckily he is okay because he has a very important race for him, the team and Yamaha next weekend in Laguna Seca. James also had some problems and I'm thankful he managed to bring it home and get a few points in such tough conditions in what was his first wet race. We have been on a good run of results and we might have closed on Jorge in fourth in the championship but it didn't happen. Hopefully in Laguna we won't have any rain and I hope Colin and James can be up front and they will only have issues with the heat and not the rain." Race 1 - 30 Laps Pos., Rider, Manu., Nat., Total Time 1, Casey Stoner, Ducati, AUS, 47'30.057 2, Valentino Rossi, Yamaha, ITA, 0'3.708 3, Chris Vermeulen, Suzuki, AUS, 0'14.002 4, Alex De Angelis, Honda, SMR, 0'14.124 5, Andrea Dovizioso, Honda, ITA, 0'42.022 6, Sylvain Guintoli, Ducati, FRA, 0'46.648 7, Loris Capirossi, Suzuki, ITA, 1'4.483 8, Randy De Puniet, Honda, FRA, 1'4.588 9, Shinya Nakano, Honda, JPN, 1'16.773 10, Anthony West, Kawasaki, AUS, 1'29.275 11, James Toseland, Yamaha, GBR, -1 Laps 12, Toni Elias, Ducati, ESP, -1 Laps 13, Nicky Hayden, Honda, USA, -2 Laps Best Lap Rider, Manu., Nat., Total Time Casey Stoner, Ducati, AUS, 1'32.749 Rider Standings 13/07/2008 Pos., Rider, Manu., Nat., Points 1, Valentino Rossi, Yamaha, ITA, 187 2, Daniel Pedrosa, Honda, ESP, 171 3, Casey Stoner, Ducati, AUS, 167 4, Jorge Lorenzo, Yamaha, ESP, 114 5, Colin Edwards, Yamaha, USA, 98 6, Andrea Dovizioso, Honda, ITA, 90 7, Chris Vermeulen, Suzuki, AUS, 73 8, Nicky Hayden, Honda, USA, 73 9, James Toseland, Yamaha, GBR, 65 10, Shinya Nakano, Honda, JPN, 64 11, Loris Capirossi, Suzuki, ITA, 60 12, Alex De Angelis, Honda, SMR, 38 13, Toni Elias, Ducati, ESP, 37 14, Sylvain Guintoli, Ducati, FRA, 34 15, John Hopkins, Kawasaki, USA, 32 Team Standings 13/07/2008 Pos., Team, Points 1, FIAT Yamaha Team, 301 2, Repsol Honda Team, 244 3, Ducati Marlboro Team, 199 4, Tech3 Yamaha, 163 5, Rizla Suzuki MotoGP, 135 6, Honda Gresini, 102 7, JIR Scot Team, 90 8, Team Alice, 71 9, Kawasaki Racing Team, 54 10, Honda LCR, 30 Manufacturer Standings 13/07/2008 Pos., Manufacturer, Points 1, Yamaha, 216 2, Honda, 184 3, Ducati, 172 4, Suzuki, 96 5, Kawasaki, 47
Alex Asigno

Haga and Corser make real progress in testing at Vallelunga

Noriyuki Haga and Troy Corser (Yamaha Motor Italia WSB Team) used their two days of official testing time at the Vallelunga circuit to prepare for the next races, and came away from Vallelunga with positive results all round. The sessions were a combined official FGSport outing and a Development Teams Test for Pirelli, and both Noriyuki and Troy found some advantages in the latest specification of control tyres. With track temperatures climbing to over 60°C on the final afternoon most riders set their best times during the final day’s morning session. Over the two days, Corser finished top Yamaha rider, with a 1’36.770. Noriyuki had set his fastest lap of 1’37.115 on the afternoon of the first day, which was generally cooler than day two. Despite the incredibly hot track temperatures, each rider found great improvements in the duration of the latest rear tyres during their long runs. The Vallelunga race itself, scheduled for September, is expected to be considerably cooler than it was during this test, but the team learned many valuable lessons for immediate and long-term use. Each rider tried out Öhlins electronic suspension units, which were being tested for the first time in public at this event and despite having limited track time in which to try them out, initial results were declared positive by each rider. The team also ran their latest exhaust developments, which made for a better engine response and slightly more power through the rev range. Troy Corser (5th - 1’36.770 - 127 laps - Yamaha Motor Italia WSB Team) “I was happy enough with that test. We tried lots of different things with the suspension and the new things we worked with seemed pretty good. Overall the bike was working well and the new tyres they brought seemed to give us more life. They were not that much different in single lap times but they just lasted longer. We did a long run and from the first to the last lap the lap time was pretty good. I think there was more time to come off if we had pushed harder but we are testing, not qualifying. The temperature going up didn’t offer us much grip at all and there seemed to be less track grip than at Misano, which is unusual. It doesn’t feel as hot here but the tarmac obviously holds more heat. The test has been good, no silly mistakes or crashes, so it’s been positive all round.” Noriyuki Haga (8th - 1’37.115 - 131 laps - Yamaha Motor Italia WSB Team) “I’m happy with the test and we did most of our work on our normal suspension set-up because that is what we will be using in real race conditions. We had a little problem finding a good final set-up to go faster than we did on day one, and we could not improve today. But in our long run the lap times were good, consistent and we had the same experience as Troy with the development tyres. They lasted longer than the regular ones. In this regard we are happy and the important thing is that the track temperature may be different for the race in two months, but we hope to use a similar machine set-up September.” Silvano Galbusera (Technical Chief, Yamaha Motor Italia WSB Team) "We tested the electronic suspension for the first time and it seems to have good possibilities. Troy was happy with it, and we used it with Nori for a short time. We found a good solution from Pirelli for the races and both riders’ long runs were very good, and maybe Nori was slightly longer. I think he did 20 laps, with good results. Some riders could push harder for a single lap today, and because of that they set a better time, but we are happy with the work we did to make sure we will be ready for the races. Our new exhaust design was a small improvement in all areas. It is hard to do that at this stage of the season so the final result was good all round.”
Alex Asigno

Parkes and Foret fast in testing at Vallelunga

The Yamaha World Supersport Team arrived in Vallelunga with a clear aim in mind and after exhaustive tests in high temperatures, both Broc Parkes and Fabien Foret found real improvements in the real-world race set-up of their Yamaha YZF-R6 machines. Parkes finished the test outright second fastest but more importantly he found an improved base set-up, even in the hot conditions of a Roman summer. The Qatar race winner also made good work in evaluating Pirelli’s latest batch of development tyres. Foret, who is not a fan of the Vallelunga circuit because it features contrasting fast and ultra-slow sections, made a set-up breakthrough on the final day, after working through several options during this test. Despite punishing track temperatures in the last session, both Foret and Parkes improved on their previous best laps times at the end of two hard days of action. Parkes was only 0.018 seconds from the fastest rider, with Foret only just over a tenth behind his team-mate, making him third quickest of all 17 riders. Broc Parkes (2nd - 1’39.523 - 96 laps - Yamaha World Supersport Team) "It’s been a good test for us over two hard days and the new tyres worked well on our bike. We came with a target to make the bike more secure and still fast and we found a set-up that let us do that. The boys in the garage worked really hard so big thanks to them. We went faster at the end and I was on course to make an even better lap until I made a mistake and lost that last chance. But the test was very good, despite the heat on the track, and I hope we can take the things we found here forward to other races.” Fabien Foret (3rd - 1’39.653 - 101 laps - Yamaha World Supersport Team) "In the end we made what felt like a small change but it had a really big effect. We found that the new tyres were working better and towards the end we tried something new, which worked straight away. I was more than half a second faster! This is not a track I enjoy so much, especially the very slow parts, but we found something good and it is been useful to have lots of new information.” Wilco Zeelenberg (Team Manager, Yamaha World Supersport Team) "We got to where we wanted to be in the end but this morning we struggled a bit. Fabien had a different problem from Broc so we adjusted the bikes of each rider. Fabien is still looking for something more but in the set-up we took the bike to a place where we have never been. It seemed to work for him, even though it was quite a big jump. It was very interesting for Fabien to improve his previous best time by eight tenths of a second, so we are pleased to have actually found something new. But that is what testing is for. The track temperature was unbelievable, more than 60°C to start the session. The new tyres were good and we were happy with them.”
Alex Asigno

Yamaha stars roll back the years at Spa

There are few more historic and scenic motorsport circuits in the world than Spa Francorchamps, situated in the depths of southern Belgium. The venue was an appropriate setting for the 2008 Bikers’ Classics, an event attended and enjoyed by 40,000 people over three days that saw a glittering and nostalgic array of machinery and former world champions, Grand Prix victors and racers from a by-gone era turn back the clock. The Bikers’ Classics is unique and nowhere is there such a gathering of motorcycles and riders able to offer such a splendid visual reminiscence of a very different racing age. From the immaculate gleam of the restored and preserved engines to the black leathers and the polished ‘pudding bowl’ helmets, Spa seemed to revel in the echo of the past and brought ‘black and white’ images to life for new generations. Like all those years ago Yamaha was at the core of the paddock and was present through the Yamaha Classic Racing Team with 26 vintage machines, most of which were steered by their original pilots. The team was born from the vast tradition and success of the manufacturer throughout the classes since their entry into world championship racing in the 1960s. One of Yamaha’s star attractions was Giacomo Agostini, winner of the most premier class world titles and Grand Prix, on his Yamaha 500cc 0W23 with which he claimed the 1975 title; the first two-stroke to do so, and the bike which signalled the end of an Italian era of technical dominance. Other Yamaha legends included Christian Sarron (500cc winner in 1985), Steve Baker (world championship contender in 1976), Chas Mortimer (up until recently the last British winner of a 125cc GP), Carlos Lavado (former 250cc champion), Kel Carruthers (250cc champion and the technical force behind names such as Kenny Roberts and Eddie Lawson), Rodney Gould (250cc number one in 1970) and Dieter Braun (250cc and 125cc champion) to name but a few. Fans were able to see the stars up close, take the opportunity to chat with them and the mechanics, relive old race memories and complete autograph collections. When the hallowed relics and examples of former cutting edge motorcycle racing technology were not the on track then a slew of privately owned machines carefully prepared and lovingly presented by a vast crowd of enthusiastsenjoyed the Spa asphalt. On Sunday the meeting culminated in a parade, a procession that started from the grid and although not competitive still saw heroes of the past such as 65 year old Gould hurtle around famous corners such as La Source and Eau Rouge with fearless abandon. Manager of the Yamaha Classic Race Team Ferry Brouwer, proud owner of most of the machines, commented: “It was a great event and I am very proud to bring Yamaha’s enormous racing heritage to this wonderful circuit again. We have shown what Yamaha stands for, and seeing the faces of all those fans when the bikes were started and passed through corners like Eau Rouge makes it all worthwhile.” The team are due to turn out again in a matter of weeks with the Salzburgring in Austria hosting the next date on July 19/20th.
Alex Asigno

Philippaerts takes sixth podium in Sweden

25,000 spectators scaled the rocky hill beside the Uddevalla circuit to watch Yamaha Monster Motocross Team's David Philippaerts take third position and extend his lead in the series at the Grand Prix of Sweden and the ninth round of fifteen in the 2008 FIM Motocross World Championship. Frequent light rain covered the venue and the slippery conditions did not prevent the Italian registering his sixth podium finish from a possible nine on his works YZ450FM. Team-mate Josh Coppins, winner of the last round in Germany, did not enjoy good starts but rode well to claim 10th overall. The climbing undulations of the Scandinavian track provided a small headache for teams and riders across the weekend as the fast curves - newly mixed with sand and a softer soil - was a hard and slippery test on Saturday but with arrival of rain during the night and dark skies on Sunday provided a more technical and slick prospect for the races. 24 year old Philippaerts started poorly in the first moto and was lucky not to crash on the straight as he was clipped when the pack narrowed down to the opening turn. The one-line layout made overtaking very difficult but the red-plate holder slowly worked his way up from 12th place to capture 4th behind Steve Ramon. Winner of the Grand Prix, Jonathan Barragan, sealed his second victory of the year with the runner-up position in the second moto and Philippaerts rode a smart race to take another 4th and the bottom step of the podium behind the Spaniard and Ramon. Josh Coppins was luckless in Moto1 as a bad launch become worse when he could not avoid a fallen Loic Leonce and crashed on the first lap. The New Zealander then had to find and maximise the few overtaking places on the track to grab as many points as possible. He rode to 13th by the end of the 35 minutes and 2 laps and was satisfied with his efforts. Sadly his getaway from the gate could not be improved in Moto2 and another slip relegated him to near the bottom of the top twenty. He then provided one of the highlights of the race as he charged from mid-pack obscurity to pass Billy Mackenzie on the last lap for 5th. Philippaerts now has more podium finishes than any other rider and his total score so far has helped Yamaha to a 19 point lead in the Manufacturer's standings. He has fronted the rider's table since round three and stretched out his margin of 4 points last week to 12, over Ramon. Coppins is third and 16 adrift. UTag Yamaha.com's Kenneth Gundsersen was in attendance at his 'semi-home' Grand Prix and confirmed that he has started exercising as part of his rehabilitation after a knee reconstruction and expects to begin riding again mid-September. After back-to-back events the World Championship now stops for one week before the series moves continents and to the new circuit of Nelspruit next to Kruger Park for the Grand Prix of South Africa. David Philippaerts, Yamaha Monster Motocross Team, 3rd: "I am very happy to be back on the podium. Physically I have had some problems, with my hand and my rib, but I am getting better and chose to ride a smart race today. The ground behind the gate was very soft and I lost time with my starts; I had to close the gas at the start of the first moto because I did not want to crash but afterwards I could make some good laps. I tried in both races to pass Steve but there was only really one line. It was a good GP for the championship and now I hope I can start training normally again because it has been a hard couple of weeks since the GP of France." Josh Coppins, Yamaha Monster Motocross Team, 10th: "I was around 11th in the first race when Leonce made a mistake in front of me and I went into the back of him. I restarted more or less last and came back to 13th. It was a tough race, really hard to pass and very tricky with just one single fast line. In the second moto I made a better start but I went a little wide and into the soft mud where they had scraped the mud across the holes. I went down on the fourth corner trying to make a pass and get to the front too fast. I made my way to fifth purely on determination. I am pretty disappointed overall because my riding was good enough to be at the front end of the field. I knew the starts would be difficult with the soft gravel behind the gate; you need a little bit of luck and just have to drop the clutch and go for it, there is no real technique. I lost some points today and need to keep focussing on my riding not the championship; today I was thinking too much about winning instead of trying to have a good GP." Mino Raspanti, Racing Manager: "David is back on the podium after two GPs and a few little mistakes. He was looking good today and he is learning when to push and when to concentrate on not making a mistake; this is the system for a good season. He now has a lead of 12 points although we have seen how easy it is to lose any advantage! Josh was set-back by his starts and small crashes. He did not make a fantastic result but his speed looked very good in both races and he was unfortunate in that it was so hard to pass here. We tried another new pipe with David, there was no big difference but we made a test; overall the bikes were very good this weekend." Race 1 - 21 Laps Pos., Rider, Manu., Nat., Total Time 1, Jonathan Barragan, KTM, ESP, 39'23.245 2, Marc De Reuver, Honda, NED, 0'5.231 3, Steve Ramon, Suzuki, BEL, 0'7.373 4, David Philippaerts, Yamaha, ITA, 0'9.689 5, Clement Desalle, Suzuki, BEL, 0'16.662 6, Steve Boniface, Honda, FRA, 0'22.169 7, Billy MacKenzie, Honda, GBR, 0'28.086 8, Ken De Dycker, Suzuki, BEL, 0'29.184 9, Tanel Leok, Kawasaki, EST, 0'30.064 10, Julien Bill, Honda, CHE, 0'36.017 11, Sébastien Pourcel, Kawasaki, FRA, 0'37.062 12, Maximilian Nagl, KTM, GER, 0'43.785 13, Joshua Coppins, Yamaha, NZL, 0'50.734 14, Aigar Leok, Yamaha, EST, 0'54.043 15, James Noble, KTM, GBR, 0'58.888 16, Tom Church, Kawasaki, GBR, 1'0.653 17, Manuel Priem, Kawasaki, BEL, 1'5.335 18, Bradley Anderson, Suzuki, GBR, 1'24.686 19, Alex Salvini, Suzuki, ITA, 1'33.887 20, Loic Leonce, Yamaha, FRA, 1'36.268 Race 2 - 21 Laps Pos., Rider, Manu., Nat., Total Time 1, Maximilian Nagl, KTM, GER, 40'23.192 2, Jonathan Barragan, KTM, ESP, 0'16.793 3, Steve Ramon, Suzuki, BEL, 0'26.090 4, David Philippaerts, Yamaha, ITA, 0'34.407 5, Joshua Coppins, Yamaha, NZL, 0'38.064 6, Billy MacKenzie, Honda, GBR, 0'40.896 7, Julien Bill, Honda, CHE, 0'52.771 8, Ken De Dycker, Suzuki, BEL, 1'1.706 9, Clement Desalle, Suzuki, BEL, 1'4.476 10, Tanel Leok, Kawasaki, EST, 1'5.532 11, Steve Boniface, Honda, FRA, 1'21.000 12, Kornel Nemeth, KTM, HUN, 1'24.515 13, James Noble, KTM, GBR, 1'27.118 14, Tom Church, Kawasaki, GBR, 1'36.377 15, Luis Correira, Yamaha, POR, 1'39.962 16, Aigar Leok, Yamaha, EST, 1'48.027 17, Manuel Priem, Kawasaki, BEL, 1'50.676 18, Loic Leonce, Yamaha, FRA, 1'55.016 19, Scott Columb, Suzuki, NZL, -1 Laps 20, Carlos Campano, Yamaha, ESP, -1 Laps Rider Standings 06/07/2008 Pos., Rider, Manu., Nat., Points 1, David Philippaerts, Yamaha, ITA, 302 2, Steve Ramon, Suzuki, BEL, 290 3, Joshua Coppins, Yamaha, NZL, 286 4, Ken De Dycker, Suzuki, BEL, 266 5, Sébastien Pourcel, Kawasaki, FRA, 241 6, Jonathan Barragan, KTM, ESP, 239 7, Maximilian Nagl, KTM, GER, 213 8, Tanel Leok, Kawasaki, EST, 209 9, Billy MacKenzie, Honda, GBR, 205 10, Marc De Reuver, Honda, NED, 178 11, Clement Desalle, Suzuki, BEL, 162 12, Manuel Priem, Kawasaki, BEL, 137 13, Julien Bill, Honda, CHE, 131 14, Kornel Nemeth, KTM, HUN, 115 15, Mike Brown, Honda, USA, 107 16, Aigar Leok, Yamaha, EST, 97 17, James Noble, KTM, GBR, 79 18, Marcus Schiffer, KTM, GER, 77 19, Tom Church, Kawasaki, GBR, 55 20, Steve Boniface, Honda, FRA, 47 24, Carlos Campano, Yamaha, ESP, 31 Manufacturer Standings 06/07/2008 Pos., Manufacturer, Points 1, Yamaha, 355 2, Suzuki, 340 3, KTM, 319 4, Kawasaki, 315 5, Honda, 284 6, TM, 31 7, Aprilia, 5 ---------- RACE REPORT - 06/07/2008 Cairoli celebrates fourth win of 2008 Yamaha Red Bull De Carli's Antonio Cairoli kept his hand firmly in the game for the 2008 MX2-GP World Championship by enacting a skilful and impressive performance at a wet Uddevalla circuit for the Grand Prix of Sweden to take his fourth victory of the year. The Sicilian scored 2nd and 1st positions in the two motos of the ninth round of fifteen in the series and currently rests 2nd in the standings. The world champion gained his seventh Lovemytime qualification heat award on Saturday in hot and sunny conditions. The 25,000 spectators saw temperatures plummet and light rain soak the soft terrain of the circuit on Sunday. The track was slippery, technical and overtaking was difficult due to a pre-dominantly fast single racing line. Cairoli did not get the best of starts and had to chase title rivals Tyla Rattray and Tommy Searle in the first moto. Shaun Simpson was leading but was soon overtaken by the South African. Cairoli went for the same piece of track as Searle in a battle for third spot and the Briton crashed. The incident did not disrupt the YZ250F rider as he passed Simpson to finish runner-up to Rattray. With 22 points in the bag Cairoli knew a decent start was imperative for any chance of Scandinavian spoils and duly broke free with the same three protagonists for company. After yet more dicing with Searle the 2005 and 2007 champion unveiled a lightning series of laps, and also considerable guile, to demote Rattray and then Simpson. His seventh moto win ensured his fourth overall triumph, making the 22 year old the most successful rider so far this season. Cairoli's second consecutive Swedish victory means that he lies 14 points behind Rattray in the championship standings (his rival was second overall with Simpson third). Yamaha Ricci Racing's Nico Aubin looked a little more like the rider who won the 2007 Czech Grand Prix after a difficult time last week in Germany when he could not get on the pace. The Frenchman was luckless in Saturday qualification when he was felled by another rider and was forced into the Last Chance session, from which he posted the quickest lap-time and was 25th in the gate. The 20 year old performed decently to take 5th place in the opening moto but a poorer start for race two meant he had to pit for goggles and lost time and positions. 20th by the chequered flag he ended the day 11th overall. Team-mate Davide Guarneri also felt an improvement across the greasy Swedish mud even if - like Aubin - his results did not reflect as much. Still riding with a weak knee, the Italian was impressive in a dry and hot Saturday programme where he took third in the first heat. He rode to a creditable 10th in the first GP moto but suffered with fatigue in the second race and emerged from a heavy crash to take 17th for 13th position overall. 3C Racing's Italian MX2 Champion Manuel Monni obtained 12th spot with moto results of 11th and 16th. Cairoli's team-mate Matteo Bonini did not participate in the Grand Prix after a scan during the week revealed that the Italian had fractured a metacarpal in his left hand. He is expected to be out of action for three to four weeks. Round ten of fifteen will take place in two weeks time at the Nelspruit circuit for the Grand Prix of South Africa and the sole non-European event on the 2008 calendar. Antonio Cairoli, Yamaha Red Bull De Carli, 1st: "I am very happy with this race. My start was not good in the first moto and when I had to pass some riders the track was so slippery and I had to take care not to make a mistake, but second place was possible. The second moto was a strange race. The four of us were close for the lead but then Tommy tried to take my front wheel and I was a bit surprised about what he tried to do. I like to race with him and he is a really good rider and I think he can be better about what he does sometimes. This championship is very hard and a big challenge but it will be more rewarding if I can win it. I have a great feeling on the bike and I want to fight with all the KTM guys. I do not want to make any more mistakes and my goal is now to put Tyla under pressure and catch him." Nico Aubin, Yamaha Ricci Racing, 11th: "My place behind the gate meant that today was always going to be tough. I started well in the first moto and came quickly up to 6th. Searle went down and I was 5th but too far from the rest of the other riders. The race was still good for my confidence andespecially to come back from what happened in Germany. The second moto start was worse and by lap two I had to throw away the goggles as it was impossible to follow anyone and actually see. After some time I had to come in and get some more goggles. It was not a good GP for me but my speed is back and I feel happier than last week." Davide Guarneri, Yamaha Ricci Racing, 13th: "This was a little bit better than last week. I felt good and fast on Saturday and took third. My starts were not so good today and maybe this was to do with my concentration. I was well outside the top ten in the first moto but took tenth position and I was quite fast; at least better than I have been. In the second moto I found my way to twelfth but then started to feel quite tired after twenty minutes and had a little pain in the knee. In one corner I lost control and crashed quite heavily and could only take 17th after that. I finished the day on a low point but I feel there has been an improvement with my speed and now I plan to go to South Africa to see what I can do." Race 1 - 21 Laps Pos., Rider, Manu., Nat., Total Time 1, Tyla Rattray, KTM, RSA, 39'20.658 2, Antonio Cairoli, Yamaha, ITA, 0'8.094 3, Shaun Simpson, KTM, GBR, 0'9.872 4, Steven Frossard, Kawasaki, FRA, 0'14.416 5, Nicolas Aubin, Yamaha, FRA, 0'22.044 6, Tommy Searle, KTM, GBR, 0'24.014 7, Rui Goncalves, KTM, POR, 0'56.202 8, Matti Seistola, Honda, FIN, 1'0.788 9, Jeremy Van Horebeek, KTM, BEL, 1'6.988 10, Davide Guarneri, Yamaha, ITA, 1'11.844 11, Manuel Monni, Yamaha, ITA, 1'12.287 12, Xavier Boog, Suzuki, FRA, 1'19.940 13, Jeremy Tarroux, KTM, FRA, 1'21.990 14, Marvin Musquin, Honda, FRA, 1'27.184 15, Jason Dougan, Suzuki, GBR, 1'34.802 16, Filip Thuresson, Suzuki, SWE, 1'37.915 17, Yauheni Tyletski, Suzuki, BGR, 1'43.262 18, Anthony Boissière, KTM, FRA, 1'44.200 19, Jake Nicholls, Suzuki, GBR, 1'45.455 20, Carl Nunn, Suzuki, GBR, 1'45.942 Race 2 - 21 Laps Pos., Rider, Manu., Nat., Total Time 1, Antonio Cairoli, Yamaha, ITA, 39'11.405 2, Shaun Simpson, KTM, GBR, 0'2.757 3, Tyla Rattray, KTM, RSA, 0'3.980 4, Tommy Searle, KTM, GBR, 0'7.080 5, Jeremy Tarroux, KTM, FRA, 0'40.019 6, Rui Goncalves, KTM, POR, 0'40.785 7, Steven Frossard, Kawasaki, FRA, 0'48.751 8, Marvin Musquin, Honda, FRA, 0'57.949 9, Wyatt Avis, Honda, RSA, 0'59.507 10, Gregory Aranda, Kawasaki, FRA, 1'3.677 11, Jeremy Van Horebeek, KTM, BEL, 1'7.621 12, Anthony Boissière, KTM, FRA, 1'21.783 13, Matti Seistola, Honda, FIN, 1'22.825 14, Carl Nunn, Suzuki, GBR, 1'25.188 15, Joel Roelants, KTM, BEL, 1'27.331 16, Manuel Monni, Yamaha, ITA, 1'30.692 17, Davide Guarneri, Yamaha, ITA, 1'31.503 18, Evgeny Bobryshev, Yamaha, RUS, 1'41.615 19, Jason Dougan, Suzuki, GBR, 1'52.714 20, Nicolas Aubin, Yamaha, FRA, 2'9.143 Rider Standings 06/07/2008 Pos., Rider, Manu., Nat., Points 1, Tyla Rattray, KTM, RSA, 371 2, Antonio Cairoli, Yamaha, ITA, 357 3, Tommy Searle, KTM, GBR, 348 4, Shaun Simpson, KTM, GBR, 251 5, Rui Goncalves, KTM, POR, 227 6, Nicolas Aubin, Yamaha, FRA, 205 7, Xavier Boog, Suzuki, FRA, 182 8, Manuel Monni, Yamaha, ITA, 172 9, Jeremy Van Horebeek, KTM, BEL, 170 10, Steven Frossard, Kawasaki, FRA, 160 11, Stephen Sword, Kawasaki, GBR, 151 12, Anthony Boissière, KTM, FRA, 146 13, Marvin Musquin, Honda, FRA, 146 14, Jeremy Tarroux, KTM, FRA, 127 15, Davide Guarneri, Yamaha, ITA, 114 16, Joel Roelants, KTM, BEL, 99 17, Gautier Paulin, Kawasaki, FRA, 95 18, Gregory Aranda, Kawasaki, FRA, 94 19, Carl Nunn, Suzuki, GBR, 73 20, Wyatt Avis, Honda, RSA, 56 22, Evgeny Bobryshev, Yamaha, RUS, 42 26, Matteo Bonini, Yamaha, ITA, 25 28, Alessandro Lupino, Yamaha, ITA, 19 48, Deny Philippaerts, Yamaha, ITA, 2 Manufacturer Standings 06/07/2008 Pos., Manufacturer, Points 1, KTM, 419 2, Yamaha, 413 3, Kawasaki, 280 4, Suzuki, 230 5, Honda, 167
Alex Asigno

Fantastic Coppins win sees Yamaha 1-2 in MX1-GP series

Yamaha Monster Motocross Team's Josh Coppins emphatically aced his first victory of the 2008 MX1-GP World Championship with a double moto sweep at a sun-drenched and packed Talkessel circuit in Teutschenthal for the Grand Prix of Germany. The eighth round of fifteen in the series saw the Kiwi take his first spoils since Bulgaria 2007 and his first double since Mantova 14 months ago; rising to second position in the standings as a consequence. David Philippaerts was fourth and keeps the championship lead, meaning both YZ450FM riders are now 'one and two' and Yamaha head the manufacturer's table by 19 points. The old Talkessel layout provided its usual mix of elevation changes and cambered turns. The majority of the soil of the fast course had been ripped and prepared and grew rougher in places but the grey hard-pack dirt remained slippery and stony in others. 34,000 spectators enjoyed some excellent weather. Philippaerts and Coppins were both on the pace throughout practice. The championship leader even posting the quickest time in the second Free session. For Timed Practice the two YZ450FMs were constantly among the leading group with Coppins eventually sealing fourth place and Philippaerts in seventh, just over half a second away from the pole position time. Coppins started well in both motos and ran in the top three in the formative stages both times. The 31 year old pursued Billy Mackenzie as the Scot broke free twice but the leader tired with after recently recovering from a shoulder injury. Coppins, who finished as runner-up at the previous round in France, bided his time to seize control in Moto1 and Moto2 and comfortably maintained his advantage once ahead. Local favourite Max Nagl was close to within two seconds in the second sprint but the former world championship runner-up was peerless; a new exhaust pipe proving a useful assistance on the speedy curves. Philippaerts had a complicated set of races. The first moto saw an average start that meant he had to work hard to overtake riders in the bottom half of the top ten. Thanks to the mistakes of several others and his improving lap-times he arrived to third place and was pressurising Steve Ramon for second in the last two circulations. A slow start once again in Moto2 was a small handicap but the Italian also had another problem in that a damaged rib from his fall in France two weeks ago worsened and left him struggling for breath. Sixth position meant that he just missed the top three but scaled the podium for the sixth time this season to collect his red-plate. A crash and 18th place finish by Steve Ramon was also positive for the title chase. Yamaha Van Beers' Aigar Leok scored his best result of the year with 7th position overall courtesy of 9th and 8th slots in the races. UTag Yamaha.com's Kenneth Gundersen has begun cycling and light training after recovering from an operation on the knee injury sustained in practice for the opening round in April. The Norwegian could possibly return to action before the end of the season. With Philippaerts leading the championship by 4 points from Coppins, and Ramon 16 points behind in third, the series now moves to Uddevalla for the Grand Prix of Sweden and round nine next week. Josh Coppins, Yamaha Monster Motocross Team, 1st: "There is a lot of emotion for me with this win and I am very happy today. I would like to thank all the people who have supported me. The results were not what we all expected and there have been some hard times. We knuckled down to work and I knew the results would come; I promised them to the team in fact. My last double was at Mantova in 2007 but to be honest even my last victory feels like a long time ago. It is nice to get that feeling back again and it makes the training tomorrow a lot easier. The championship now looks a lot different. I think only two races ago I was 54 points behind. The important step I made was in my training and approach; working closely with my mechanic, doing the right training at the right tracks.About today, they watered the track a lot and it was really slippery, even dangerous in fact. Billy Mackenzie went into the lead but I knew he did not have the condition after his injury to run that pace the whole time. Sebastien was there also but I thought I could deal with him. My main concern was Max, because he had not done the first moto and it was pretty hot out there; the crowd were obviously with him also. I was thinking about my own race and things went well. We had a new pipe this weekend with a bit more power, which I was happy about." David Philippaerts, Yamaha Monster Motocross Team, 4th: "The track was difficult, certainly for passing, and it was also very hot so I am quite pleased with the result. I started the first moto too slowly but got a lot better and was riding well. I pushed hard to get Ramon but it was too tricky to overtake. I had a similar start in the second moto but after two or three laps I had a lot of pain in my rib. I think it might be a fracture or something from the crash in France. I had some discomfort before this GP but I think I made it worse in the race and need to see if I can get some treatment. Pourcel was a little too fast and I settled for the points because I knew I could not increase my speed. Josh is now up to second in the championship and feeling 100%. He will be very competitive now but we still have a lot of races and points to go. It is great for Yamaha and the team that we are both up there. I really like the bike and for sure it is one of the best out there because it is so easy to ride it fast. Yamaha have helped me so much and I feel very happy where I am right now." Mino Raspanti, Racing Manager: "A great win for Josh this weekend and of course to be first and second in the championship is fantastic for the team, we don't mind which order for either Josh or David but we are happy to be there! Josh continued his improvement from France and I am really happy for him because he has continued to work really hard. David struggled in the beginning to pass other riders because it was not easy but then he made the best lap-time and to finish third was very good. In the second moto he had another start that was not the best and he felt a little tired and had some pain in his rib. The result was not bad and he still leads the championship. We tried a new pipe this weekend to give more power and the response from the riders was positive." Race 1 - 18 Laps Pos., Rider, Manu., Nat., Total Time 1, Joshua Coppins, Yamaha, NZL, 39'32.337 2, Steve Ramon, Suzuki, BEL, 0'3.070 3, David Philippaerts, Yamaha, ITA, 0'6.896 4, Ken De Dycker, Suzuki, BEL, 0'11.101 5, Julien Bill, Honda, CHE, 0'14.773 6, Tanel Leok, Kawasaki, EST, 0'25.707 7, Sébastien Pourcel, Kawasaki, FRA, 0'41.215 8, Manuel Priem, Kawasaki, BEL, 0'43.714 9, Aigar Leok, Yamaha, EST, 0'47.859 10, Clement Desalle, Suzuki, BEL, 0'53.196 11, Kornel Nemeth, KTM, HUN, 0'55.972 12, Alex Salvini, Suzuki, ITA, 0'59.697 13, Luis Correira, Yamaha, POR, 1'1.435 14, Jonathan Barragan, KTM, ESP, 1'10.148 15, Billy MacKenzie, Honda, GBR, 1'11.334 16, Carlos Campano, Yamaha, ESP, 1'18.406 17, Cedric Melotte, Aprilia, BEL, 1'22.257 18, Bradley Anderson, Suzuki, GBR, 1'24.362 19, Loic Leonce, Yamaha, FRA, 1'38.600 20, Tom Church, Kawasaki, GBR, 1'52.977 Race 2 - 18 Laps Pos., Rider, Manu., Nat., Total Time 1, Joshua Coppins, Yamaha, NZL, 40'27.188 2, Ken De Dycker, Suzuki, BEL, 0'7.806 3, Tanel Leok, Kawasaki, EST, 0'10.916 4, Maximilian Nagl, KTM, GER, 0'18.247 5, Sébastien Pourcel, Kawasaki, FRA, 0'28.423 6, David Philippaerts, Yamaha, ITA, 0'31.971 7, Julien Bill, Honda, CHE, 0'37.039 8, Aigar Leok, Yamaha, EST, 0'44.990 9, Manuel Priem, Kawasaki, BEL, 0'51.781 10, Billy MacKenzie, Honda, GBR, 1'1.592 11, Carlos Campano, Yamaha, ESP, 1'10.237 12, Alex Salvini, Suzuki, ITA, 1'16.744 13, Clement Desalle, Suzuki, BEL, 1'21.679 14, Bradley Anderson, Suzuki, GBR, 1'26.075 15, Marcus Schiffer, KTM, GER, 1'35.770 16, Scott Columb, Suzuki, NZL, 1'39.564 17, Lauris Freibergs, Yamaha, LVA, 1'42.011 18, Steve Ramon, Suzuki, BEL, 1'46.550 19, Tom Church, Kawasaki, GBR, 1'56.662 20, Kornel Nemeth, KTM, HUN, 1'59.599 Rider Standings 29/06/2008 Pos., Rider, Manu., Nat., Points 1, David Philippaerts, Yamaha, ITA, 266 2, Joshua Coppins, Yamaha, NZL, 262 3, Steve Ramon, Suzuki, BEL, 250 4, Ken De Dycker, Suzuki, BEL, 240 5, Sébastien Pourcel, Kawasaki, FRA, 231 6, Jonathan Barragan, KTM, ESP, 192 7, Tanel Leok, Kawasaki, EST, 186 8, Maximilian Nagl, KTM, GER, 179 9, Billy MacKenzie, Honda, GBR, 176 10, Marc De Reuver, Honda, NED, 156 11, Clement Desalle, Suzuki, BEL, 134 12, Manuel Priem, Kawasaki, BEL, 129 13, Mike Brown, Honda, USA, 107 14, Julien Bill, Honda, CHE, 106 15, Kornel Nemeth, KTM, HUN, 106 16, Aigar Leok, Yamaha, EST, 85 17, Marcus Schiffer, KTM, GER, 77 18, James Noble, KTM, GBR, 65 19, Tom Church, Kawasaki, GBR, 43 20, Alex Salvini, Suzuki, ITA, 37 23, Carlos Campano, Yamaha, ESP, 30 Manufacturer Standings 29/06/2008 Pos., Manufacturer, Points 1, Yamaha, 319 2, Suzuki, 300 3, Kawasaki, 292 4, KTM, 269 5, Honda, 247 6, TM, 31 7, Aprilia, 5 ---------- RACE REPORT - 29/06/2008 Cairoli runner-up at German Grand Prix With a moto victory and second position in front of 34,000 spectators and under hot sunshine at Teutschenthal, Antonio Cairoli took the same points as the winner of the MX2-GP Grand Prix of Germany but walked away from round eight of fifteen in the world championship as runner-up due to the second moto ranking. The fast and hard Talkessel circuit benefitted from bright conditions and warm temperatures as the biggest crowd for more than ten years at the venue close to the city of Halle filled the grassy banks. Cairoli earned his sixth pole position of the season on Saturday after chasing and then easing past Rui Goncalves for victory in the first qualification heat. The Red Bull De Carli rider looked back to his dominant best in the first GP moto as he hunted down early leader Goncalves and proceeded to establish a comfortable distance over Tyla Rattray; it was his sixth chequered flag of the year. The Sicilian entered the gate for the second outing hoping to repeat his double moto victory of 2007 but a mediocre start and some curious lethargy in the first three laps meant that Rattray had long-gone at the front of the field by the time the 22 year old arrived to second place. The South African clinched his second success of 2008 while Cairoli gained some precious points on his other title rival Tommy Searle who finished fifth overall. Still third in the championship standings the world champion is now just 16 points from Rattray at the peak of the table and 5 behind Searle. One week after winning the Italian MX2 Championship Manuel Monni posted good results of 8th and 10th to finish 9th overall and was the second best YZ250F pilot on the day. Yamaha Van Beers' Evgeny Bobryshev was 15th overall, and with 11 points registered his second highest haul of the season so far. Yamaha Ricci Racing's Nico Aubin had a forgettable weekend. The Frenchman had to qualify through the Last Chance session on Saturday after two crashes in the Heat race. Down in 26th position he could not find a good rhythm across the dry and hard German mud and was only able to score points in one moto, finishing 20th overall. He has now slipped to sixth in the championship and is 21 points from his former standing of fourth. Team-mate Davide Guarneri made his Grand Prix comeback after falling and injuring his right knee in practice for the Italian Grand Prix in May. The winner of the Spanish round was lacking confidence on the turns and took only two points in the first moto. Matteo Bonini tried to compete after coming through qualification yesterday but had too much pain in the left hand he injured in France. Although an x-ray confirmed that there was no break, the Italian could not properly hold the bike and pulled out of the first moto. He will now go for a scan to check for possible ligament damage. Round ten takes place next weekend at the Uddevalla circuit for the Grand Prix of Sweden. Antonio Cairoli, Yamaha Red Bull De Carli, 2nd: "After three or four laps in the first moto I got the lead and found a good rhythm. I made a gap over Tyla and the rest was quite easy. In the second moto my start was not the best and after a mistake on the first lap and taking too long to pass Shaun and Steven I had lost too much time to Tyla; he was uncatchable. Tommy is a very fast rider and a good one but Tyla has more experience and I think he is the bigger threat for the title; he makes less mistakes. I lost a lot of points in France so it was important to take a good result here. It will be hard to get the red-plate back because the three of us are so close each week but we still have plenty of races to go." Nico Aubin, Yamaha Ricci Racing, 20th: "Today is a real low point for me. I lost fourth place in the championship and a lot of ground. I wish I could explain why. The weekend began badly with two stupid mistakes in the qualifying heat and I was then right on the outside of the gate. I tried as hard as I could to find a good level of speed but it would not come. It has been a terrible GP and I hope I can ride better in Sweden." Davide Guarneri, Yamaha Ricci Racing, 22nd: "I knew it would be hard this weekend. I crashed in the qualification heat which made things even more difficult. To be honest I struggled in the right-hand corners because I don't have the confidence with my knee, even if I have been building up the muscles around the joint. I want to try again in Sweden and then make a decision about the rest of the season. If I can do well with my condition then I will continue, if not then maybe surgery is the best option." Race 1 - 19 Laps Pos., Rider, Manu., Nat., Total Time 1, Antonio Cairoli, Yamaha, ITA, 41'35.030 2, Tyla Rattray, KTM, RSA, 0'6.618 3, Tommy Searle, KTM, GBR, 0'28.061 4, Steven Frossard, Kawasaki, FRA, 0'32.506 5, Shaun Simpson, KTM, GBR, 0'40.131 6, Rui Goncalves, KTM, POR, 0'42.339 7, Jeremy Van Horebeek, KTM, BEL, 0'51.463 8, Manuel Monni, Yamaha, ITA, 0'59.353 9, Wyatt Avis, Honda, RSA, 1'7.135 10, Marvin Musquin, Honda, FRA, 1'8.823 11, Joel Roelants, KTM, BEL, 1'9.320 12, Xavier Boog, Suzuki, FRA, 1'16.561 13, Anthony Boissière, KTM, FRA, 1'19.762 14, Pascal Leuret, Suzuki, FRA, 1'22.335 15, Jeremy Tarroux, KTM, FRA, 1'26.042 16, Evgeny Bobryshev, Yamaha, RUS, 1'31.146 17, Carl Nunn, Suzuki, GBR, 1'33.854 18, Dennis Verbruggen, Yamaha, BEL, 1'39.830 19, Davide Guarneri, Yamaha, ITA, 1'41.996 20, Nikolaj Larsen, Suzuki, DNK, 1'42.724 Race 2 - 19 Laps Pos., Rider, Manu., Nat., Total Time 1, Tyla Rattray, KTM, RSA, 40'17.024 2, Antonio Cairoli, Yamaha, ITA, 0'16.362 3, Rui Goncalves, KTM, POR, 0'21.554 4, Steven Frossard, Kawasaki, FRA, 0'26.046 5, Marvin Musquin, Honda, FRA, 0'31.408 6, Shaun Simpson, KTM, GBR, 0'32.562 7, Jeremy Van Horebeek, KTM, BEL, 0'41.856 8, Xavier Boog, Suzuki, FRA, 0'46.653 9, Tommy Searle, KTM, GBR, 0'55.759 10, Manuel Monni, Yamaha, ITA, 0'58.704 11, Joel Roelants, KTM, BEL, 1'0.063 12, Matti Seistola, Honda, FIN, 1'7.513 13, Jeremy Tarroux, KTM, FRA, 1'10.506 14, Carl Nunn, Suzuki, GBR, 1'11.585 15, Evgeny Bobryshev, Yamaha, RUS, 1'13.246 16, Dennis Verbruggen, Yamaha, BEL, 1'15.379 17, Pascal Leuret, Suzuki, FRA, 1'20.441 18, Nicolas Aubin, Yamaha, FRA, 1'30.940 19, Alessandro Lupino, Yamaha, ITA, 1'35.960 20, Cedric Soubeyras, Yamaha, FRA, 1'46.760 Rider Standings 29/06/2008 Pos., Rider, Manu., Nat., Points 1, Tyla Rattray, KTM, RSA, 326 2, Tommy Searle, KTM, GBR, 315 3, Antonio Cairoli, Yamaha, ITA, 310 4, Shaun Simpson, KTM, GBR, 209 5, Rui Goncalves, KTM, POR, 198 6, Nicolas Aubin, Yamaha, FRA, 188 7, Xavier Boog, Suzuki, FRA, 173 8, Manuel Monni, Yamaha, ITA, 157 9, Stephen Sword, Kawasaki, GBR, 151 10, Jeremy Van Horebeek, KTM, BEL, 148 11, Anthony Boissière, KTM, FRA, 134 12, Steven Frossard, Kawasaki, FRA, 128 13, Marvin Musquin, Honda, FRA, 126 14, Jeremy Tarroux, KTM, FRA, 103 15, Davide Guarneri, Yamaha, ITA, 99 16, Gautier Paulin, Kawasaki, FRA, 95 17, Joel Roelants, KTM, BEL, 93 18, Gregory Aranda, Kawasaki, FRA, 83 19, Carl Nunn, Suzuki, GBR, 65 20, Erik Eggens, Suzuki, NED, 51 22, Evgeny Bobryshev, Yamaha, RUS, 39 25, Matteo Bonini, Yamaha, ITA, 25 27, Alessandro Lupino, Yamaha, ITA, 19 44, Deny Philippaerts, Yamaha, ITA, 2 Manufacturer Standings 29/06/2008 Pos., Manufacturer, Points 1, KTM, 372 2, Yamaha, 366 3, Kawasaki, 248 4, Suzuki, 214 5, Honda, 141
Alex Asigno

Corser on the podium in San Marino

Pole position starter Troy Corser (Yamaha Motor Italia WSB Team) looked set for his first win of the 2008 season on two occasions at Misano but he had to settle for a second in race one and a good points score of fifth in race two after running off track and ultimately avoiding a crash. He also set a new lap record, 1'37.580, on lap two of race two, which he led for 10 laps. Noriyuki Haga (Yamaha Motor Italia WSB Team) struggled hard in qualifying and the first race, finding himself only 19th after one lap. He recovered to gain six points for tenth. In race two Haga felt he had a better technical package and he made real progress from his grid position of 14th, to hold off his team-mate by just over a second. In the opening 24-lap race Corser looked on for his first win of the year in race until Max Neukirchner surprised the whole paddock by turning a tenth place in qualifying into a race win. Haga was struggling through the race and finished just behind Shinichi Nakatomi (Team YZF Yamaha) who had two great races in the points, ninth and then 15th. Race two was taken by Ruben Xaus, from Max Biaggi. In the championship itself, Haga is now fourth, on 191 points to championship leader Troy Bayliss's 259, while Corser is fifth, only six points from Haga. David Checa (Yamaha GMT94) was 15th in race one and 16th in race two, while Sebastien Gimbert (Yamaha GMT94) just missed a point in race one and retired in race two. Troy Corser (2nd and 5th - Yamaha Motor Italia WSB Team) "Race one was looking really good until Max Neukirchner appeared and our whole weekend hasn't been bad in general. Our rear tyre moved about a bit more in the second race than the first, especially under braking. We had made a couple of little changes to the front suspension for the second one, but not enough to affect the rear in any way. I ran on when the bike jumped out of gear in the second and lost some time, and the chance of a second podium." Noriyuki Haga (10th and 4th - Yamaha Motor Italia WSB Team) "We got caught in race one when Laconi crashed and I had to avoid him so to come from so far back was not easy. Race two was better and I got good points, but it has been a very hard weekend for me. I have not been able to do the same running training I would do normally, because of my injury. In this heat it made a difference and I didn't have my normal strength." Massimo Meregalli (Team Manager, Yamaha Motor Italia WSB Team) "We saw definitely that Troy is back. He had a good weekend. He worked hard and was rewarded with a Superpole win, and a good podium finish for his efforts. Nori didn't find the set up he was looking for until the 2nd race where he showed us that even when it wasn't possible to win he rode to get the best result, had he started further up the grid, the result would possibly have been more points. He is still always competitive. With six races still to run everything is still possible. Shinichi Nakatomi (9th and 15th - Team YZF Yamaha) "On Friday, we could not find the right setting, even if we tried many different possibilities. I did not have enough feeling. On Saturday, we had a much better set up. I had a good start on race and I could follow Lavilla, but I made some small mistakes. I pushed really hard. I am happy with race one. In race two, the temperature was hotter. It was difficult for me to follow the riders who have traction control, because I don't have any and I had to accelerate later than them. The tyres started to move a lot after 10 laps, front and rear. I am happy with race one because I had a lot of stress because of previous not-so-good results. Today, it was better."" Martial Garcia (Team YZF Yamaha Team Manager) "After difficult practice sessions, we found a good set up during the warm up. This result is fantastic! Shinichi finishes ninth only 19 seconds behind the winner, and in front of Noriyuki Haga. This is the opportunity to score seven points and to make a progression of one position in the championship. Shinichi had a good start in race two, but unfortunately it was black flagged because of Muggeridge's crash. At the restart, Nakatomi was blocked and it was difficult to pass. He still finished 15th, with one championship point. I am happy because everybody could see the progression we made this weekend." Race 1 - 24 Laps Pos., Rider, Manu., Nat., Total Time 1, Max Neukirchner, Suzuki, GER, 39'27.918 2, Troy Corser, Yamaha, AUS, 0'0.542 3, Troy Bayliss, Ducati, AUS, 0'2.249 4, Ruben Xaus, Ducati, ESP, 0'3.028 5, Carlos Checa, Honda, ESP, 0'5.408 6, Lorenzo Lanzi, Ducati, ITA, 0'5.518 7, Jakub Smrz, Ducati, CZE, 0'6.202 8, Gregorio Lavilla, Honda, ESP, 0'18.279 9, Shinichi Nakatomi, Yamaha, JPN, 0'19.072 10, Noriyuki Haga, Yamaha, JPN, 0'19.132 11, Yukio Kagayama, Suzuki, JPN, 0'28.098 12, Fonsi Nieto, Suzuki, ESP, 0'34.385 13, Shuhei Aoyama, Honda, JPN, 0'34.572 14, Ryuichi Kiyonari, Honda, JPN, 0'34.902 15, David Checa, Yamaha, ESP, 0'39.979 16, Sebastien Gimbert, Yamaha, FRA, 0'44.669 17, Roberto Rolfo, Honda, ITA, 0'49.290 18, Kenan Sofuoglu, Honda, TUR, 0'59.304 Race 2 - 24 Laps Pos., Rider, Manu., Nat., Total Time 1, Ruben Xaus, Ducati, ESP, 39'19.710 2, Max Biaggi, Ducati, ITA, 0'1.035 3, Troy Bayliss, Ducati, AUS, 0'4.158 4, Noriyuki Haga, Yamaha, JPN, 0'5.466 5, Troy Corser, Yamaha, AUS, 0'6.759 6, Lorenzo Lanzi, Ducati, ITA, 0'13.468 7, Max Neukirchner, Suzuki, GER, 0'15.221 8, Carlos Checa, Honda, ESP, 0'16.687 9, Jakub Smrz, Ducati, CZE, 0'17.030 10, Fonsi Nieto, Suzuki, ESP, 0'17.681 11, Michel Fabrizio, Ducati, ITA, 0'21.356 12, Yukio Kagayama, Suzuki, JPN, 0'28.676 13, Ryuichi Kiyonari, Honda, JPN, 0'31.304 14, Gregorio Lavilla, Honda, ESP, 0'32.339 15, Shinichi Nakatomi, Yamaha, JPN, 0'33.716 16, David Checa, Yamaha, ESP, 0'34.171 17, Ayrton Badovini, Kawasaki, ITA, 0'40.638 18, Roberto Rolfo, Honda, ITA, 0'41.136 19, Shuhei Aoyama, Honda, JPN, 0'49.699 Best Lap Rider, Manu., Nat., Total Time Troy Corser, Yamaha, AUS, 1'37.580 Rider Standings 29/06/2008 Pos., Rider, Manu., Nat., Points 1, Troy Bayliss, Ducati, AUS, 259 2, Max Neukirchner, Suzuki, GER, 210 3, Carlos Checa, Honda, ESP, 207 4, Noriyuki Haga, Yamaha, JPN, 191 5, Troy Corser, Yamaha, AUS, 185 6, Fonsi Nieto, Suzuki, ESP, 151 7, Ruben Xaus, Ducati, ESP, 148 8, Max Biaggi, Ducati, ITA, 117 9, Michel Fabrizio, Ducati, ITA, 111 10, Ryuichi Kiyonari, Honda, JPN, 94 11, Yukio Kagayama, Suzuki, JPN, 82 12, Lorenzo Lanzi, Ducati, ITA, 80 13, Gregorio Lavilla, Honda, ESP, 75 14, Jakub Smrz, Ducati, CZE, 72 15, Karl Muggeridge, Honda, AUS, 59 19, Shinichi Nakatomi, Yamaha, JPN, 24 23, David Checa, Yamaha, ESP, 7 24, Sebastien Gimbert, Yamaha, FRA, 7 Manufacturer Standings 29/06/2008 Pos., Manufacturer, Points 1, Ducati, 323 2, Yamaha, 284 3, Suzuki, 257 4, Honda, 226 5, Kawasaki, 64 ---------- RACE REPORT - 29/06/2008 Foret fights hard for fourth Despite finishing the first lap in 15th position, after being run wide in the first chicane by another rider, Fabien Foret (Yamaha World Supersport Team) battled back to finish fourth and retain his second place in the championship after seven rounds. Broc Parkes looked like a sure podium finisher until he lost the front end on lap nine of the Misano World Supersport race, dropping from second to 17th, before re-starting his stricken machine. Each of the two top Yamaha riders had started from the front row, but in a race littered with crashes and retirements, and conducted in temperatures of 33°C, few pre-race plans came to a satisfactory climax in the Misano cauldron. Parkes leaves the Misano round with both the circuit best WSS lap, set in qualifying, and the new official lap record, 1'40.187, set on lap three of the race. Massimo Roccoli (Yamaha Team Italia Lorenzini by Leoni) had work to do after qualifying on the fourth row, but recovered his speed and composure in front of his home fans to record seventh in the race, and jump up to ninth in the championship. David Salom (Yamaha Spain World Supersport Team) fell on lap three, after tangling with another rider. Fabien Foret (4th - Yamaha World Supersport Team) "I got pushed wide by another rider in the first corner and that put me way back in the order. Things could have been much better because I didn't come here to finish fourth. This morning our set-up was good but it was a little bit more difficult this afternoon. I think the bike may have been a bit more sensitive in the heat. I could not find the same rhythm after the first chicane incident. The biggest problem was at that point, but in the traffic you slow down and afterwards it was difficult to get a good rhythm again." Broc Parkes (10th -Yamaha World Supersport Team) "We got out of the gate good and put some laps together but I didn't want to keep pulling Andrew along. When I went into the last right on the ninth lap I crashed as I released the brake, and the bike was gone very quickly. I thought it was just a small front-end slide but when I got on the gas I was already on my way to the ground. I picked the bike up and the handlebar was out of position, but I continued to get as many points as possible." Wilco Zeelenberg (Team Manager, Yamaha World Supersport Team) "This is Misano, we know there is a narrow line here and a few people crossed it. Fabien was pushed wide by another rider in turn one after his start had been not that bad. Lascorz went into him and hit him really hard so Fabien was quite angry. I think he went to 15th place but he rode a good race from then on to get fourth. Fabien is second overall still and Broc third but it's hard to say anything about today except that we are disappointed with the results, after such good qualifying performances." Massimo Roccoli (7th - Yamaha Team Italia Lorenzini by Leoni) "I had a hard time at the start because of my qualifying position, then getting involved in a fight with another rider. When I got past him I could make up ground. From a row further forward I really think I could have got a top five or maybe even top four finish today." David Salom: (DNF - Yamaha Spain) "I started quite good and in the second lap I was behind Foret, so I wanted to go with him. Suddenly Lagrive passed me, but he crashed and hit my bike.I couldn´t avoid crashing. It's a real pity because I am sure we could fight for a top ten finish. Luck is not with us this season." Race 1 - 22 Laps Pos., Rider, Manu., Nat., Total Time 1, Andrew Pitt, Honda, AUS, 37'8.387 2, Craig Jones, Honda, GBR, 0'5.347 3, Jonathan Rea, Honda, GBR, 0'9.183 4, Fabien Foret, Yamaha, FRA, 0'13.784 5, Robbin Harms, Honda, DNK, 0'15.863 6, Mark Aitchinson, Triumph, AUS, 0'15.967 7, Massimo Roccoli, Yamaha, ITA, 0'21.689 8, Barry Veneman, Suzuki, NED, 0'24.070 9, Ivan Clementi, Triumph, ITA, 0'26.075 10, Broc Parkes, Yamaha, AUS, 0'30.387 11, Gianluca Vizziello, Honda, ITA, 0'32.578 12, Chris Walker, Kawasaki, GBR, 0'34.648 13, Gianluca Nannelli, Honda, ITA, 0'36.040 14, Joshua Brookes, Honda, AUS, 0'37.896 15, Danilo Marrancone, Yamaha, ITA, 0'40.167 16, Roberto Lunadei, Honda, ITA, 0'40.841 17, William De Angelis, Honda, ITA, 0'40.960 18, Didier Van Keymeulen, Suzuki, BEL, 0'43.302 19, Jesco Gunther, Triumph, GER, 0'45.275 20, Danilo Dell'omo, Honda, ITA, 0'47.944 21, Lorenzo Alfonsi, Honda, ITA, 0'49.173 22, Gregory Leblanc, Honda, FRA, 0'49.431 23, Alessandro Brannetti, Yamaha, ITA, 0'51.984 24, Graeme Gowland, Honda, GBR, 0'52.547 25, Javier Hidalgo, Yamaha, ESP, 1'6.850 26, Balazs Nemeth, Honda, HUN, 1'10.227 27, Santiago Barragan, Honda, ESP, 1'13.881 28, Attila Magda, Honda, HUN, 1'29.572 Best Lap Rider, Manu., Nat., Total Time Broc Parkes, Yamaha, AUS, 1'40.187 Rider Standings 29/06/2008 Pos., Rider, Manu., Nat., Points 1, Andrew Pitt, Honda, AUS, 113 2, Fabien Foret, Yamaha, FRA, 97 3, Broc Parkes, Yamaha, AUS, 87 4, Joshua Brookes, Honda, AUS, 85 5, Joan Lascorz, Honda, ESP, 81 6, Craig Jones, Honda, GBR, 80 7, Jonathan Rea, Honda, GBR, 67 8, Robbin Harms, Honda, DNK, 50 9, Massimo Roccoli, Yamaha, ITA, 34 10, Gianluca Vizziello, Honda, ITA, 33 11, Chris Walker, Kawasaki, GBR, 31 12, Matthieu Lagrive, Honda, FRA, 28 13, Barry Veneman, Suzuki, NED, 27 14, Gianluca Nannelli, Honda, ITA, 23 15, Mark Aitchison, Triumph, AUS, 20 24, David Salom, Yamaha, ESP, 8 Manufacturer Standings 29/06/2008 Pos., Manufacturer, Points 1, Honda, 165 2, Yamaha, 125 3, Triumph, 48 4, Suzuki, 36 5, Kawasaki, 35 ---------- RACE REPORT - 29/06/2008 Pirro second at Misano Michele Pirro (Yamaha Lorenzini by Leoni) remains the top Yamaha YZF-R1 rider in the championship after a fine second place at his home round in Misano. He sits on 63 points, 21 points from leader Xavier Simeon. Race winner Alessandro Polita is only four points up on Pirro, who led the first lap and was always in contention for the podium places over all 14 laps. Claudio Corti Yamaha Motor Italia Junior Team) was unable to match his set-up to the Misano circuit and thus finished 12th in the race, and is now 10th in the championship. Claudio Corti (12th - Yamaha Motor Italia Junior Team) "I had real problems finding a set-up this weekend and that made things difficult for me today. I'm disappointed but I think there is nothing more I could have done today." Race 1 Pos., Rider, Manu., Nat., Total Time 1, Alessandro Polita, Ducati, ITA, 23'37.092 2, Michele Pirro, Yamaha, ITA, 0'1.471 3, Maxime Berger, Honda, FRA, 0'2.382 4, Brendan Roberts, Ducati, AUS, 0'5.234 5, Xavier Simeon, Suzuki, BEL, 0'6.999 6, Andrea Antonelli, Honda, ITA, 0'7.826 7, Domenico Colucci, Ducati, ITA, 0'11.349 8, Freddy Foray, Yamaha, FRA, 0'13.493 9, Chris Seaton, Suzuki, AUS, 0'14.110 10, Kenny Foray, Yamaha, FRA, 0'15.238 11, Luca Verdini, Yamaha, ITA, 0'17.081 12, Claudio Corti, Yamaha, ITA, 0'17.546 13, Barry Burrell, Honda, GBR, 0'18.799 14, Sylvain Barrier, Yamaha, FRA, 0'23.705 15, Matteo Baiocco, Kawasaki, ITA, 0'23.818 16, Gareth Jones, Suzuki, AUS, 0'25.024 17, Yoann Tiberio, Kawasaki, FRA, 0'29.595 18, Raymond Schouten, Yamaha, NED, 0'30.075 19, Aldo Aldrovandi, Kawasaki, ITA, 0'31.504 20, Davide Giugliano, Suzuki, ITA, 0'38.389 21, Denis Sacchetti, MV Agusta, ITA, 0'38.575 22, Filip Backlund, Suzuki, SWE, 0'39.211 23, Danny De Boer, Suzuki, NED, 0'40.034 24, Matt Bond, Suzuki, GBR, 0'49.273 25, Rene Mahr, Yamaha, GER, 0'49.442 26, Roy Ten Napel, Suzuki, NED, 0'50.200 27, Marko Jerman, Yamaha, SVK, 0'51.785 28, Brank Srdanov, Yamaha, NED, 0'52.191 29, Michal Drobny, Honda, CZE, 0'59.213 30, Jure Stibilj, Honda, SVN, 1'12.140 31, Lorenzo Baroni, Ducati, ITA, 1'18.718 Best Lap Rider, Manu., Nat., Total Time Michele Pirro, Yamaha, ITA, 1'40.044 Rider Standings 29/06/2008 Pos., Rider, Manu., Nat., Points 1, Xavier Simeon, Suzuki, BEL, 84 2, Brendan Roberts, Ducati, AUS, 76 3, Alessandro Polita, Ducati, ITA, 67 4, Michele Pirro, Yamaha, ITA, 63 5, Maxime Berger, Honda, FRA, 59 6, Davide Giugliano, Suzuki, ITA, 48 7, Matej Smrz, Honda, CZE, 40 8, Freddy Foray, Yamaha, FRA, 29 9, Andrea Antonelli, Honda, ITA, 28 10, Claudio Corti, Yamaha, ITA, 25 11, Michele Magnoni, Yamaha, ITA, 24 12, Kenny Foray, Yamaha, FRA, 24 13, Chris Seaton, Suzuki, AUS, 20 14, Fabrizio Perotti, Suzuki, ITA, 15 15, Domenico Colucci, Ducati, ITA, 14 25, Sylvain Barrier, Yamaha, FRA, 4 Manufacturer Standings 29/06/2008 Pos., Manufacturer, Points 1, Ducati, 104 2, Suzuki, 92 3, Honda, 81 4, Yamaha, 75 5, Kawasaki, 17
Alex Asigno

Edwards third after late Assen drama

Tech 3 Yamaha rider Colin Edwards was involved in more late drama at Assen today as a stunning surge from the back of the field was rewarded with third place. For the second time in three years, Edwards was involved in dramatic incident at the final chicane with Nicky Hayden as he snatched third from his fellow American just metres from the finish line. Fourth at the start of the last lap, Edwards produced a brilliant display of overtaking to come from dead last on the opening lap as he narrowly avoiding an early tangle between Valentino Rossi and Randy de Puniet. Producing lap times close the formidable pace set by eventual winner Casey Stoner, Edwards fought his way back into seventh when he passed Jorge Lorenzo on lap 10. He then quickly closed on an exciting battle for fourth that included Chris Vermeulen, Andrea Dovizioso and Shinya Nakano. Reeling off a succession of personal best laps, Edwards passed Nakano at the start of lap 13 and a lap later claimed fourth with brilliant moves on Vermeulen and Dovizioso. Trailing Hayden by over seven seconds on lap 15, Edwards halved the deficit by the last lap, but having settled for fourth, he grabbed third with Hayden encountering machine problems exiting the final corner. Today's result was Edwards' second podium of 2008 and moved him to within 16-points of Lorenzo in fourth place in the championship standings. James Toseland made a welcome return to the top ten today despite encountering some small front-end set-up issues during the 26-lap encounter. His points though helped the Tech 3 Yamaha team consolidate fourth in the Team World Championship standings. Colin Edwards - Position: 3rd - 98 points "Third is never a win, but this feels as good as one. I remember how disappointed I was with third in Le Mans and I feel much better with this after what happened. I thought I had a good start and was fifth or sixth when Valentino got tangled with Randy de Puniet and he crashed. I might have gone left but I knew Valentino was on the ground and I didn't want to run over him or his bike and I just stopped. The next thing I know is I'm dead last and then Alex de Angelis went down soon after and I lost a bit more ground. I just decided to get my head and push. I thought I'd rather be in the gravel than riding round for eighth or ninth. I started picking guys off and before I knew it I was on the back of the group fighting for fourth. I just kept pushing myself to go faster and the next thing I'm fourth. I could see Nicky and Dani in the distance and all I did was ride as hard as I could and my Tech 3 guys gave me a great bike today. Michelin had some great tyres so I started to hammer away at Nicky. I thought if I kept applying pressure he might make a mistake and if I hadn't kept pushing as hard as I did then I might not have been close enough to pounce on Nicky. I'd settled for third but as I came out of the chicane he was sat up, and I couldn't believe it. I guess that's karma corner after 2006. This place owed me something after I crashed a couple of years ago with my first win in sight, and I'm really happy with third just because in the way I achieved it. It's hard to get on the podium at any time in MotoGP, so to do it from last is a great feeling." James Toseland - Position: 9th - 60 points "We tried a completely different setting on the front and we had quite a few problems because riding was just not that comfortable for me. It is nice to get a finish under my belt and get a top ten to build on from here because there is no doubt we have got some work to do and we need to find a direction with the bike. The shorter bike seems to be a lot more sensitive to changes but the mixed weather is really killing us at the moment as we try and make some big progress. With all the wet time we are not moving forward in the dry. In the last six races there's been a wet day and to only have one day to get the bike dialled in is difficult, even on tracks that I know. It is frustrating to watch and frustrating for me to be down in ninth position and I know I have got work to do. We are quite a way off with the setting and it is up to me to make it better. I'm not riding any worse than I was before but we have hit a bit of a brick wall. Sachsenring is another new track and I'll have a think about where we are at over the next few days, watch some videos of the races so far and try and work out where we can improve." Herve Poncharal - Team Manager "Colin was incredible today. I was really upset after what happened on the first lap because he has always been very fast this weekend and we were convinced with the pace he had shown that he could have challenged for the podium. This is racing but Colin was last and we thought it was over. When we saw his pace we had even more regret, so we were just thinking about what might have been. But he made an incredible recovery and we can't believe this podium. When I saw him come out of the chicane and pass Nicky it was an incredible emotion. His lap times were very impressive and close to Casey's, which was not easy to achieve this weekend, so I think he deserved this. Nobody wants to see what happened to Nicky but today it was Colin's turn to have the luck after what happened in 2006. I am really happy for the team and I'm also pleased for James because he has been riding at a competitive pace and he was fast in all conditions. After the disappointment of Donington it was important for him to get a solid result and both have helped us stay close to Ducati in the team championship." Lorenzo hoping for more next time after sixth place in Assen Fiat Yamaha rider Jorge Lorenzo took sixth place for the second Grand Prix running in the 60th Dutch TT today, the youngest rider in the class making up one place on his grid position. His team-mate Valentino Rossi made an uncharacteristic mistake and crashed out on the first lap, although he was able to remount and finish in 11th to take valuable championship points. Yamaha's record of having at least one rider on the podium at every race so far this season was kept alive by Tech 3 pilot Colin Edwards, who took third. Lorenzo held onto his seventh grid slot at the start but he was unable to find his rhythm and go with the leading riders, gradually tailing off on his own. On lap ten Edwards passed him on his charge through the field and Lorenzo spent the middle part of the race a lonely eighth. In the later stages he began to feel more confident in his Michelin-shod bike and his lap times improved, enabling him to catch first Chris Vermeulen and then Shinya Nakano to take sixth. Ten points for the Spaniard today means he holds onto fourth place in the championship but the gap to Casey Stoner, today's winner, is stretched to 28 points. Jorge Lorenzo - Position: 6th Time: +28.608 "I said yesterday that the most important thing for me today was to finish after everything that's happened recently, so this is a good thing. However I am not happy about the race because it wasn't fun today and I had some problems, although, as in the last few races, my bike became easier to ride towards the end of the race. I must just take comfort now in the fact that we have two weeks until the next round, and hopefully by then I will be feeling a lot better. We are trying to go step-by-step but of course I want to do better than this. Valentino was not so lucky today but I want to say well done to him for finishing and taking some important points." Daniele Romagnoli - Team Manager "It has been a difficult race weekend for us, we weren't able to find a good race pace in the practices and today Jorge wasn't able to fight for the top positions. We have some problems on the rear and the bike is very nervous under acceleration. The team have worked very hard to improve it but we still have some more work to do. Overall however we are quite happy because our aim for these two races was to finish without any more crashes, and we have been able to do this. We are confident that in Sachsenring we will be able to be back in the fight." Rossi battles on after crash to take valuable title points A rare mistake from Valentino Rossi resulted in a first-lap crash for the Fiat Yamaha Team rider today, but he remounted and made up a gap of more than 20 seconds to pass two riders and finish in 11th place, despite riding with a broken gear-shifter and a bent handlebar. His team-mate Jorge Lorenzo rallied in the later stages of a difficult race to finish sixth, whilst Tech 3 rider Colin Edwards kept the Yamaha flag flying on the podium by taking third. Rossi had slipped back some places when he made his mistake at turn five and slid into the gravel, unfortunately taking Randy de Puniet with him. Points were still a possibility however and he re-joined the race, despite the damage to his bike and a gap of 24 seconds to Marco Melandri, the next rider. He then embarked on a heroic ride, consistently lapping as fast as the leading riders and closing the gap lap by lap until he finally came within sight of Melandri, eventually passing him on lap 19 of 26.Four laps later he passed Toni Elias to take 11th and five championship points, finishing 46 seconds behind race-winner Casey Stoner. With Rossi's closest championship rival Dani Pedrosa finishing second, his gutsy ride could prove crucial in the championship race. The Italian's first non-podium finish since the opening race of the season means he has surrendered his title lead to Pedrosa but he is adrift by only four points, the pair on 171 and 167 respectively. Valentino Rossi - Position: 11th Time: +46.025 "After seven podiums in a row I made a mistake today - this is racing! I am very disappointed because we made a change to the set-up of the front and it worked very well, and I could tell from the warm-up lap that my bike was very good today. Unfortunately I made a mistake at the first left; I arrived too fast when the tyres were still cold, I was too hard on the brakes and I lost the rear. I am sincerely sorry to Randy de Puniet and all of his team. After the crash I had a bent handlebar and no gear shifter, but despite this I was able to do the third fastest lap time, 37.1! I know I could have been faster than Pedrosa today and, although it's easy to say now, I think I could have fought with Stoner for the win. I am glad for these five points and although we have lost the lead we are not far behind Pedrosa. I am looking forward now to some more technical improvements for my bike and being fast, together with Bridgestone, at every track." Davide Brivio - Team Manager "This was a good race for Valentino, except for the first lap! The crash was unfortunate and we're very sorry to Randy de Puniet and the LCR team; we apologise to them all and we hope that Randy is okay. Once Valentino remounted what he did was simply amazing, especially without a gear-shift and with a bent handlebar! For several laps he was the fastest rider on the track, which shows once again his spirit and determination, although it's also disappointing because it's clear that we could have done a good race today. These five points today are incredibly important because they have kept the gap to Pedrosa to just four points, with half of the season still remaining. Now we will just have to start again in Sachsenring and hope for a better weekend!" Race 1 - 26 Laps Pos., Rider, Manu., Nat., Total Time 1, Casey Stoner, Ducati, AUS, 1'12.337 2, Daniel Pedrosa, Honda, ESP, 0'11.310 3, Colin Edwards, Yamaha, USA, 0'17.125 4, Nicky Hayden, Honda, USA, 0'20.477 5, Andrea Dovizioso, Honda, ITA, 0'27.346 6, Jorge Lorenzo, Yamaha, ESP, 0'28.608 7, Chris Vermeulen, Suzuki, AUS, 0'32.330 8, Shinya Nakano, Honda, JPN, 0'34.892 9, James Toseland, Yamaha, GBR, 0'38.566 10, Sylvain Guintoli, Ducati, FRA, 0'38.817 11, Valentino Rossi, Yamaha, ITA, 0'46.025 12, Toni Elias, Ducati, ESP, 0'48.213 13, Marco Melandri, Ducati, ITA, 0'59.594 Best Lap Rider, Manu., Nat., Total Time Casey Stoner, Ducati, AUS, 41'36.738 Rider Standings 28/06/2008 Pos., Rider, Manu., Nat., Points 1, Daniel Pedrosa, Honda, ESP, 171 2, Valentino Rossi, Yamaha, ITA, 167 3, Casey Stoner, Ducati, AUS, 142 4, Jorge Lorenzo, Yamaha, ESP, 114 5, Colin Edwards, Yamaha, USA, 98 6, Andrea Dovizioso, Honda, ITA, 79 7, Nicky Hayden, Honda, USA, 70 8, James Toseland, Yamaha, GBR, 60 9, Chris Vermeulen, Suzuki, AUS, 57 10, Shinya Nakano, Honda, JPN, 57 11, Loris Capirossi, Suzuki, ITA, 51 12, Toni Elias, Ducati, ESP, 33 13, John Hopkins, Kawasaki, USA, 32 14, Marco Melandri, Ducati, ITA, 32 15, Alex De Angelis, Honda, SMR, 25 Team Standings 28/06/2008 Pos., Team, Points 1, FIAT Yamaha Team, 281 2, Repsol Honda Team, 241 3, Ducati Marlboro Team, 174 4, Tech3 Yamaha, 158 5, Rizla Suzuki MotoGP, 110 6, Honda Gresini, 82 7, JIR Scot Team, 79 8, Team Alice, 57 9, Kawasaki Racing Team, 48 10, Honda LCR, 22 Manufacturer Standings 28/06/2008 Pos., Manufacturer, Points 1, Yamaha, 196 2, Honda, 171 3, Ducati, 147 4, Suzuki, 80 5, Kawasaki, 41
Alex Asigno