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Yamaha Champions Challenge, a great success... by par!

Yamaha kicked off the Misano racing weekend with a very different sport in the San Marino sunshine yesterday. Yamaha riders Troy Corser, Noriyuki Haga, Fabien Foret, David Checa and Shinichi Nakatomi were found not on the race track, but up in the Italian hills at the Vallugola Golf Club. A new initiative, the Yamaha Champions Challenge, took to the greens to confirm to people that the Yamaha brand is also successful away from the racetrack. The Yamaha riders, a group of lucky racing fans and a mix of both motorsport and golf journalists split into mixed groups for the challenge. The groups made up four teams, rated by handicap, playing a leisurely nine holes at the Parco di San Bartolo, in the hills above Pesaro. The game offered riders Corser, Haga, Nakatomi, Foret and Checa the chance to show a whole new range of talents. Taking top honours for the day was full-time golfer Mark Spratt, representing the Burning 2 Learn charity; the next best on the day was Mauro Rossi, who played the course with Fabien Foret and Marco Sebastiani. Fabien proved to be the top rider away from the track and managed to keep out of the bunkers all day. Mark commented, “I normally find golfersvery serious and not so interactive during a game, it was really refreshing and enjoyable to take part in something where everyone was so friendly. I had a fantastic time!” At the end of the afternoon’s competition the players gathered at the clubhouse for a buffet to relax and talk over an enjoyable day’s sport. They were joined by members of both the Yamaha Motor Italia WSB squad and the Yamaha WSS Team. In an unusual twist, the golfers started their event in the pitlane at the Misano track, a unique place for a first tee-off. The assembled journalists and racing fans looked on as the riders took their first shots of the day on specially laid astroturf in front of the Yamaha Motor Italia WSB pitbox before transferring to the Vallugola Golf Club to play the remaining holes. Yamaha’s motorcycle and golf industries are more closely linked than many realise, with several motorcycle components being used under the skin of Yamaha’s golf cars as well. The cars themselves also share the Yamaha motorcycle legendary reputation for reliability andthat is an important reason why Yamaha’s presence on the European golf courses continues to grow strongly. Whilst some people would say that golf and racing don’t mix, Yamaha firmly believe that golfers can be at home on the track as well and motorcycle riders and racers can be comfy on the green too, just ask Fabien or Troy!
Alex Asigno
Alex Asigno

Prumm title ambitions thwarted by broken collarbone

Double Women’s World Cup winner and current leader of the inaugural FIM Women’s Motocross World Championship, Yamaha Van Beer’s Katherine Prumm, will miss this weekend’s Grand Prix of Germany at Teutschenthal after breaking her left collarbone while training in Belgium on Tuesday. The 20 year old suffered a relatively slow speed tumble on her YZ250F but the impact was enough to force a complicated fracture to the collarbone and the New Zealander underwent surgery immediately to have a plate inserted and fragments of bone cleaned from the break. “Naturally I’m upset and disappointed,” she said. “The back wheel just stepped-out for a moment and I went down but I landed awkwardly and knew I had done some damage. The x-ray showed that the bones were quite badly displaced so I had the operation right away. The plate should help my recovery. Luck has not been with me this season. I want to thank the Van Beers team, Yamaha and everyone in Europe for their support so far.” Although it is early to assess the exact period of rehab needed before Prumm can return to action, her chances of competing at the fifth and final round of the world championship in Holland on September 7th remain in the balance. Prumm will travel to Germany this weekend to talk to the press and also lend her comments to the release of the provisional 2009 Women’s World Championship schedule that sees the series increase from five to ten rounds.
Alex Asigno
Alex Asigno

Rossi extends championship lead with second place in 200th Grand Prix

Valentino Rossi finished a worthy runner-up at Donington Park today, unable to catch Casey Stoner on this occasion but surviving a mid-race battle with Dani Pedrosa to extend his lead at the top of the championship. Today was Rossi's 200th Grand Prix and this his 142nd podium since he opened his account with a third place at the 1996 Austrian GP in the 125cc class. It was also a good day for Rossi's team-mate Jorge Lorenzo, who put his recent injuries and yesterday's poor qualifying behind him to come through from 17th on the grid to take sixth. Rossi's recent work in testing on improving his starts paid off today and the Italian held onto his second place at the off. He tried to stay with Stoner but the Australian was too quick in some parts of the track today and Rossi knew that second was going to be as good as it got. Midway through the 30-lap race Pedrosa loomed and twice passed Rossi into turn one, but both times the multiple-champion took him back and over the final stages he was able to create a safe cushion from the Spaniard, crossing the line just under six seconds behind Stoner and 2.558 ahead of Pedrosa, who is his closest championship rival. Valentino Rossi - Position: 2nd Time: +5.789 "I am quite happy about this result, although of course I would have preferred to have been fighting with Stoner for the win! I got a good start today and I tried to stay with Casey, but in some corners he was faster than me and it was impossible to keep up with his pace as the race went on. I knew that second place was important because of the points so I had to win my fight with Pedrosa in the middle of the race! Luckily we took second and now I have extended my lead by four points, which is very important for our championship. Unfortunately this weekend we made some mistakes when it was dry on Friday, and then because of the wet yesterday we weren't able to work on them until today, when it was too late to make things perfect. Anyway we did the best we could so thanks to all my guys. We are leading the championship but Stoner showed his potential today so I think that this hard battle between us all is going to continue race by race. I am glad we only have a few days to Assen and I am looking forward to doing better there." Davide Brivio - Team Manager "Today it was difficult to do better than this but if you think about the championship it has been a very important result and we have increased our lead on Pedrosa by four points. We're not quite at the half-way point of the championship yet - one more week - but we're pretty happy with our season so far and the important thing is that we're leading the championship. We have no time to rest before Assen but we will be going there with the aim of getting back to the top step of the podium."
Lorenzo storms to sixth with superbDonington ride Fiat Yamaha rider Jorge Lorenzo wrote another impressive chapter in his rollercoaster rookie story today with an outstanding ride to sixth from 17th on the grid in the British Grand Prix. After suffering a string of crashes and injuries over the last seven weeks and missing the last round in Catalunya, his aim today was simply to come home in one piece but the determined 21-year-old did considerably better, passing a host of riders to make up 11 places from his grid position. In dry but windy conditions, Lorenzo lived up to his nickname 'Por Fuera' at turn one by overtaking around the outside of several riders and coming out of the first corner melee in 13th position. He continued with more of the same throughout the lap and crossed the line for the first time in tenth. As his confidence grew he found the rhythm he had been lacking during the rest of the weekend and passed Anthony West to take ninth on lap 13. A consistent pace throughout the middle part of the race, matching that of the leading riders, brought him to Shinya Nakano on lap 20 and, once past him he succeeded in closing a three second gap to Chris Vermeulen and Nicky Hayden in just four laps. He dispensed with these two in turn and then set off after Andrea Dovozioso, however with only five laps remaining time ran out for the Mallorcan and he crossed the line just under a second adrift of the Italian, despite setting a personal best time on the final lap of the race. Lorenzo now sits 13 points adrift of Stoner in fourth place, whilst Rossi extends his lead over Dani Pedrosa to 11 points as they approach the half way point in the championship, which comes at Assen in just six days time. Jorge Lorenzo - Position: 6th Time: +15.690 "I'm very happy with this result, because this was a very hard weekend for me and for my crew. I don't want to think about the past, or think about what might have been if I'd started in the front rows, I only want to think about the present and my ride today. The number one aim was to finish the race without crashing or hurting myself, because at the end of the day your health is the most important thing! After the start however I started to feel more and more confident and found I was able to ride better and better, then I realised that I actually had the chance to do a very good race. I had fast pace throughout and my bike and my Michelin tyres worked very well, so thank you to all my team. Sometimes lately it has been hard to stay optimistic, motivated and happy, even though I have always tried to go out smiling and with a good attitude, but this race today was great and I am very happy tonight." Daniele Romagnoli - Team Manager "We have achieved the goal for this race; it was very important that Jorge found a good feeling with the bike and started to enjoy riding his M1 again and today this happened. He was able to ride a beautiful race and come back from a difficult grid position to take a brilliant sixth. Today he impressed us once again and it was also a great feeling for everyone to see him making eleven overtakes! The team did a fantastic job because they were able to put him in a position to be this fast. We are very confident now that in Assen Jorge will be back to his best." Masahiko Nakajima - Team Director "We were struggling all weekend in order to try to find the right set-up to fit these tricky conditions. At the end we found a good setting, which enabled Valentino to be fast, but unfortunately one of our rivals was still faster than us today! Anyway we were able to secure important championship points and we are satisfied about this. Now our aim is to get back to the top of the podium next week. We are all very happy with Jorge's race today because he came through to a good finishing position from the back of the grid. Unfortunately starting from 17th meant it was very difficult to come all the way to the front but he did a fantastic job in the circumstances. We're pleased because we have seen once again the impressive riding that he showed us before his accident. Now we will continue to try to improve his bike set-up even more, with the aim of seeing him back on the podium as soon as possible." Edwards fourth for Tech 3 Yamaha, Toseland frustrated The Tech 3 Yamaha team had another day of contrasting fortunes at a blustery Donington Park today, with Colin Edwards claiming a hard fought fourth place in the British GP. But there was bitter disappointment for James Toseland and a record British GP crowd of nearly 90,000 fans as the 27-year-old finished 17th following a crash at the first corner. Seventh at the end of the first lap, Edwards started to make his charge through the field on lap 14 when he passed Chris Vermeulen at Coppice. Just three laps later he claimed fifth with an overtake on compatriot Nicky Hayden before he took fourth place from Andrea Dovizioso on lap 18. For most of the second half of the race, Edwards was able to run the pace of podium finishers Valentino Rossi and Dani Pedrosa, but despite some aggressive riding he was unable to fight his way back into contention for a second successive podium. It was a day of frustration for Toseland, who determined to make a strong start from 16th on the grid, crashed at the first turn having gained several places. Despite a nasty bang to his right hand and the loss of his right footpeg, Toseland rallied himself to complete 30 tough laps at a fast pace. Despite his disappointing result, Toseland still got a rousing reception from British fans appreciative of his efforts. Colin Edwards - Position: 4th Time: + 12.678 "I'm a bit cross even though fourth is still a good result. In the dry on Friday it was so good and I was really happy with everything. But with the rain yesterday I got thrown a bit. The geometry of the bike is quite a bit different and the weight bias quite a bit different compared to last year. So riding in the rain threw me a bit today when it was dry. Even this morning I went out and I came in and I started complaining about all these problems with the front end, yet it was exactly the same bike that I had on Friday. I got out in the race and in the first few laps I was struggling. I was riding hard but I couldn't get into the low 29s like I was doing on a tyre that had done 24 laps on Friday. And then it kind of clicked what I needed to do but it took too long to adjust. I kept letting the front pop up and kept running wide and running wide and then I figured it out. Now you have to brake a lot deeper, harder and longer on this year's bike with the geometry and I just got my head around it too late. Once I did that I got into the low 29s and started moving through the field. As far as lap times there was not much between me, Valentino, Dani and Casey. I kept seeing them at the same spot on the track and they weren't pulling away. If anything I was gaining a little bit on them. I might have fought with them had I come through a bit quicker but we still did a fantastic job this weekend. The team and Michelin did a great job and I just wish I could run the race again." James Toseland - Position: 17th Time: +1 lap "It is hard to explain just how disappointed how I am. I really wanted to get a good result for my home crowd but it was always going to be difficult after the problems of yesterday. Starting from 16th was always going to be tough but I decided to attack from the start. I made a good start and passed a few people and didn't think I was too fast into the first corner but the rear end came round and I was down. I could have just cruised back to the pits but a lot of people had come to see me ride. I was hurting because I hit my head pretty hard and I smacked my right hand down on the tarmac. And the right footpeg had snapped off, but I soldiered on because I wanted to get to that chequered flag more than anything. I was going to finish for all those fans, who have been unbelievable supporting me since I arrived here. I will bounce back from this but it has got to be one of the biggest disappointments of my career. It is not in my nature to give up and I didn't today, and I know my turn will come. I am obviously disappointed, but I have to congratulate Scott Redding. He did an amazing job and it was great for the British fans to see him do that. Herve Poncharal - Team Manager "Firstly I really want to thank Colin because again he did another great race. He qualified on the second row in the rain and although he lose some time in the early part of the race he was running the same times as Valentino and Dani and he was catching them later on. Seeing Colin do that today proves what a competitive package we have got. Of course I am very sorry and disappointed for James. I think he really wanted to do well but the rain on Saturday meant he was always racing against the clock to improve. From then he was always trying to recover. He made a mistake but I have nothing but huge admiration for what he did afterwards. It took a lot of courage for him to carry in the circumstances and it showed that he really wanted to repay the British fans for their support. He wanted to do well for them and I don't think they can be disappointed with his effort. The good news is we have a race next week and he can show what a strong character he is by bouncing back." Race 1 - 30 Laps Pos., Rider, Manu., Nat., Total Time 1, Casey Stoner, Ducati, AUS, 44'44.982 2, Valentino Rossi, Yamaha, ITA, 0'5.789 3, Daniel Pedrosa, Honda, ESP, 0'8.347 4, Colin Edwards, Yamaha, USA, 0'12.678 5, Andrea Dovizioso, Honda, ITA, 0'14.801 6, Jorge Lorenzo, Yamaha, ESP, 0'15.690 7, Nicky Hayden, Honda, USA, 0'18.196 8, Chris Vermeulen, Suzuki, AUS, 0'21.666 9, Shinya Nakano, Honda, JPN, 0'29.354 10, Anthony West, Kawasaki, AUS, 0'41.030 11, Toni Elias, Ducati, ESP, 0'44.426 12, Randy De Puniet, Honda, FRA, 0'46.199 13, Sylvain Guintoli, Ducati, FRA, 0'48.731 14, Ben Spies, Suzuki, USA, 0'49.591 15, Alex De Angelis, Honda, SMR, 1'22.186 16, Marco Melandri, Ducati, ITA, 1'30.021 17, James Toseland, Yamaha, GBR, -1 Laps Best Lap Rider, Manu., Nat., Total Time Casey Stoner, Ducati, AUS, 1'28.773 Rider Standings 22/06/2008 Pos., Rider, Manu., Nat., Points 1, Valentino Rossi, Yamaha, ITA, 162 2, Daniel Pedrosa, Honda, ESP, 151 3, Casey Stoner, Ducati, AUS, 117 4, Jorge Lorenzo, Yamaha, ESP, 104 5, Colin Edwards, Yamaha, USA, 82 6, Andrea Dovizioso, Honda, ITA, 68 7, Nicky Hayden, Honda, USA, 57 8, James Toseland, Yamaha, GBR, 53 9, Loris Capirossi, Suzuki, ITA, 51 10, Shinya Nakano, Honda, JPN, 49 11, Chris Vermeulen, Suzuki, AUS, 48 12, John Hopkins, Kawasaki, USA, 32 13, Marco Melandri, Ducati, ITA, 29 14, Toni Elias, Ducati, ESP, 29 15, Alex De Angelis, Honda, SMR, 25 Team Standings 22/06/2008 Pos., Team, Points 1, FIAT Yamaha Team, 266 2, Repsol Honda Team, 208 3, Ducati Marlboro Team, 146 4, Tech3 Yamaha, 135 5, Rizla Suzuki MotoGP, 99 6, Honda Gresini, 74 7, JIR Scot Team, 68 8, Kawasaki Racing Team, 48 9, Team Alice, 47 10, Honda LCR, 22 Manufacturer Standings 22/06/2008 Pos., Manufacturer, Points 1, Yamaha, 180 2, Honda, 151 3, Ducati, 122 4, Suzuki, 71 5, Kawasaki, 41
Alex Asigno
Alex Asigno

UFO Corse Yamaha Racing to cease WEC participation

The 2008 World Enduro Championship will be the last for the decorated UFO Corse Yamaha Racing Team as they plan to stop racing activities at the end of this season. After ten years including four world titles, seven honours at the ISDE and four consecutive Italian championships, the Italian crew will pull out of competitive commitments at world level as team owners. The squad are one of the powerhouses of World Enduro backed, by Yamaha Motor Europe and Yamaha Motor Italia. They earned three 250cc four-stroke world championships (now the E1 class since 2004) in 2001, 2002 2003 and then the inaugural E1 world crown in ’04. Riders such as Stéphane Peterhansel, Peter Bergvall and Stefan Merriman have all worn the distinctive colours of the team and been world champions with WR machinery. The 2008 line-up is also formidable, with new star Johnny Aubert currently leading the E2 series on the WR450F, allied with Fabrizio Dini, and then Simone Albergoni, Christobal Guerrero and Maurizio Micheluz all high up the rankings in the E1 category. “It is a sad and regrettable decision but with the unstable commercial market, in particular in the US which is one of our main markets, UFO PLAST cannot sustain the competitive schedules of the team anymore,” commented Vito Consoloni owner of UFO Plast SRL. “For sure I know that I will miss a big part of my life but the decision has been inevitable. I would like to say a big thanks to all involved for so many years of support, but also for the large satisfaction we have been able to take due to victories and success all over the world.” “We would like to make our final season a good one, and with Johnny Aubert and Simone Albergoni pushing for both the E1 and E2 titles we hope that we can finish on the best note possible,” he added. “We are very sad that Vito had to take this decision,” said Laurens Klein Koerkamp, Yamaha Motor Europe’s Racing Division Manager. “They have been partners with Yamaha Motor Europe and Yamaha Motor Italia for many years and they have a very successful record with Yamaha WR machinery. But we respect their decision, knowing the difficulty their company is facing in the highly competitive market.” “We will do our best to give them the support during the remainder of this season to try and end with the world title,” he continued. “I cannot understate Yamaha's appreciation for the Consoloni family, and the friendship between us will always remain special to Yamaha.” E2 WEC Standings after 4 of 8 rounds 1. Johnny Aubert, Yamaha WR450F (FRA): 183 2. Juha Salminen, KTM (FIN): 164 3. Alessandro Belometti, KTM (ITA): 135 7. Fabrizio Dini, Yamaha WR450F (ITA): 105 E1 WEC Standings after 4 of 8 rounds 1. Mika Ahola, Honda (FIN): 186 2. Ivan Cervantes, KTM (ESP): 176 3. Simone Albergoni, Yamaha WR250F (ITA): 165 4. Cristobal Guerrero, Yamaha WR250F (ESP): 118 5. Marc Germain, Yamaha WR250F (FRA): 115 7. Maurizio Micheluz, Yamaha WR250F (ITA): 103
Alex Asigno
Alex Asigno

Prinz extends her lead with an outstanding performance at Assen

In the second round of the Women’s Road Racing European Championship at the TT circuit of Assen Nina Prinz again showed her class leading abilities on her Yamaha YZF-R1. As with the first round, there was no real competition for the German Yamaha rider. The reigning European champion from Mannheim / Leutkirch was quickest all weekend, and never looked as if she was going to struggle with the competition. In the qualifying sessions, the Superstock Yamaha YZF-R1 proved it’s superior abilities in the hands of the German rider, she went on to set a new women’s record with an impressive 1’44.2. time, setting her up for pole position for the race. On race day Nina dominated from the start, leaving the pack behind and running her own race from the front.The Yamaha rider went on to take the win with a comfortable 20 second lead over second place rider Italian Lara Cordioli (MV Augusta). Third place went to Dutch rider Bernice Sangers (Ducati). The final round will be held on the 12th October in Albacete, Spain. Nina Currently leads the championship with 50 points, followed by second ranked Lara Cordioli on 33 points. Michael Galinski (Team Manager – Team Yamaha Motor Company) “Nina is exceptional and for sure the fastest woman on two wheels. She finds her Yamaha R1 easy to handle, we know that she can keep winning races in the future. It was a perfect weekend, with pole in qualifying and a perfect win in the race. We are happy that she’s riding for our team!” Nina Prinz “The meeting at the TT-Circuit in Assen was again very successful for me. The weather was nice and we were able to find a good setup quite fast, so we could concentrate on trying different race tyre compounds afterwards. In the second qualifying we found a tyre I felt very confident with and that helped me take the pole-position very easily. The weather on Sunday wasn’t as nice as on Saturday and 15 minutes before the race a short rain-shower came up. Luckily with the start of the race the track was dry again and we could go on dry-tyres.I had a really good start and could go in front from the first corner. With a row of fast laps I could reach a gap of about 15 sec, which I kept until the end of the race.The team and I are very happy with the result and we hope to continue like this!”
Alex Asigno
Alex Asigno

Albergoni makes Day2 Polish podium

Italian Simone Albergoni once again led the UFO Corse Yamaha team's Enduro 1 class assault of the World Enduro Championship where at the Grand Prix of Poland he finished in 4th and 3rd places aboard his WR250F. With a break of just over two months since the third round of the series was held in Spain Albergoni was determined to maintain his good run of results in this year's WEC series and despite missing out on a podium result on Day1 claimed a well deserved 3rd place on Day2 to maintain his 3rd position in the Enduro 1 world championship standings. No fewer than four Yamaha mounted riders finished inside the top six on both days in Poland. Yamaha France rider Marc Germain placed 3rd on Day1 but dropped to 6th on Day2. With conditions extremely dry and dusty in Kwidzyn the fourth round of the '08 WEC series proved to be an extremely demanding one. A long, hard day lay ahead on Saturday, and a shorter but equally as challenging prospect on Sunday. Yamaha France rider Marc Germain emerged as the highest placed Yamaha rider on Day1 claiming 3rd place alongside Mika Ahola and winner Ivan Cervantes. For UFO Corse Yamaha riders Simone Albergoni, Cristobal Guerrero and Maurizio Micheluz the opening day brought mixed fortunes as Albergoni wasn't quite able to find the speed he had produced at earlier rounds of the championship, and as a result was unable to challenge for a top three result. Spaniard Cristobal Guerrero saw much of his hard work undone when he crashed in the final enduro test. In contention for a podium result up until the time of his spill, the former Enduro Junior world champion then fell again on the final extreme test, which well and truly ended his chances of a top-three. Cristobal eventually placed 5th, sandwiched between Albergoni and the UFO Corse Yamaha team's third E1 class rider Maurizio Micheluz. On Day2 Albergoni returned to the podium but for reasons he wasn't able to explain could not challenge Ahola and Cervantes for the win. Consistent throughout the day Albergoni only finished lower than 4th in the class on two occasions, but was frustrated with having not been more competitive. Nevertheless the Italian remains a strong third in the Enduro 1 world championship standings. Just 10 seconds behind Albergoni on Day2 Guerrero avoided the mistakes he made 24 hours earlier and placed a solid 4th. Performing well on both the technical extreme test and long motocross test the Spaniard showed that he is now fully over his early season shoulder injury and that it won't be long until he is challenging for the E1 class podium. One place behind Cristobal, but over one-minute adrift, Maurizio Micheluz finished Day2 in 5th with Yamaha France rider Marc Germain 6th. Simone Albergoni (UFO Corse Yamaha) Enduro 1 class - Day 1, 4th, Day 2, 3rd: "Finishing on the podium on the second day was good but I'm not really pleased with the way I rode this weekend. The frustrating thing is that I'm not really sure why I wasn't able to be as fast as I needed to be to fight for victory. I had a few small crashes but that wasn't my main problem. I guess I just wasn't fast enough. I hope that in Wales I'll be able to ride like I did in Portugal." Cristobal Guerrero (UFO Corse Yamaha) Enduro 1 class - Day 1, 5th, Day 2, 4th: "I'm pleased with my results from day two but not really happy with the way things finished on day one. The first day was going really well until the last lap, and then I had a really bad final enduro and extreme test. I lost a lot of time in the enduro test and then fell on the extreme. I still finished fifth but I was a long way behind Albergoni. The second day wasn't too bad as I was fourth and only 10 seconds behind Albergoni. I had a good second day really but I was a little bit slow on the first enduro test." Maurizio Micheluz (UFO Corse Yamaha) Enduro 1 class - Day 1, 6th, Day 2, 5th: "Day one didn't start so well because I didn't feel good in the dusty, sandy conditions. I crashed twice, which didn't help my result, but I just didn't feel good. The second day was better because I finished fifth - I rode some better special tests so I was happier about that. I caught up to one or two riders on the special tests on day two, which slowed me a little bit because of the dust, but probably didn't change my result too much. It's not been the best of races, but also not too bad." Race 1 Pos., Rider, Manu., Nat., Total Time 1, Ivan Cervantes, KTM, ESP, 79'58.500 2, Mika Ahola, Honda, FIN, 0'15.410 3, Marc Germain, Yamaha, FRA, 1'9.610 4, Simone Albergoni, Yamaha, ITA, 1'29.090 5, Cristobal Guerrero, Yamaha, ESP, 2'24.300 6, Maurizio Micheluz, Yamaha, ITA, 3'17.620 7, Tom Sagar, KTM, GBR, 3'53.080 8, Jordan Curvalle, Suzuki, FRA, 4'42.190 9, Mike Hartmann, KTM, GER, 5'1.370 10, Luca Cherubini, TM, ITA, 5'38.060 11, Daryl Bolter, Husqvarna, GBR, 5'38.520 12, David Cadek, KTM, CZE, 7'11.530 13, Gonzalo Reis, KTM, ITA, 8'34.790 14, Frederik Georgsson, KTM, SWE, 9'56.610 15, Jakub Horak, KTM, CZE, 10'56.630 16, Waclaw Skolarus, Yamaha, POL, 13'16.320 Race 2 Pos., Rider, Manu., Nat., Total Time 1, Ivan Cervantes, KTM, ESP, 65'39.040 2, Mika Ahola, Honda, FIN, 0'23.480 3, Simone Albergoni, Yamaha, ITA, 1'40.610 4, Cristobal Guerrero, Yamaha, ESP, 1'50.890 5, Maurizio Micheluz, Yamaha, ITA, 3'0.470 6, Marc Germain, Yamaha, FRA, 3'58.710 7, Mike Hartmann, KTM, GER, 4'16.180 8, Tom Sagar, KTM, GBR, 4'24.260 9, Daryl Bolter, Husqvarna, GBR, 4'34.400 10, Jordan Curvalle, Suzuki, FRA, 5'54.380 11, Sandro Marcos, Suzuki, POR, 6'11.420 12, David Cadek, KTM, CZE, 6'43.780 13, Gonzalo Reis, KTM, ITA, 8'21.050 14, Jakub Horak, KTM, CZE, 8'24.000 15, Frederik Georgsson, KTM, SWE, 9'42.690 Rider Standings 14/06/2008 Pos., Rider, Manu., Nat., Points 1, Mika Ahola, Honda, FIN, 186 2, Ivan Cervantes, KTM, ESP, 176 3, Simone Albergoni, Yamaha, ITA, 165 4, Cristobal Guerrero, Yamaha, ESP, 118 5, Marc Germain, Yamaha, FRA, 115 6, Eero Remes, KTM, FIN, 112 7, Maurizio Micheluz, Yamaha, ITA, 103 8, Jordan Curvalle, Suzuki, FRA, 86 9, Mike Hartmann, KTM, GER, 75 10, Tom Sagar, KTM, GBR, 68 11, Luca Cherubini, TM, ITA, 63 12, Daryl Bolter, Husqvarna, GBR, 58 13, David Cadek, KTM, CZE, 45 14, Gonzalo Reis, KTM, ITA, 42 15, Jakub Horak, KTM, CZE, 40 Manufacturer Standings 14/06/2008 Pos., Manufacturer, Points 1, Honda, 186 2, KTM, 181 3, Yamaha, 167 4, Husqvarna, 87 5, Suzuki, 86 6, TM, 63 7, Kawasaki, 47 ---------- RACE REPORT - 16/06/2008 Aubert maintains E2 lead after Polish podium double Arriving at the Grand Prix of Poland as leader of the Enduro 2 world championship Frenchman Johnny Aubert hoped to repeat the double E2 class victory he scored at the third round of the series in Spain. Looking forward to competing in the dry conditions and well rested ahead of the fourth event of the season, Aubert would go on to take 2nd on both days in Kwidzyn, finishing behind Finn Juha Salminen. Unable, like many riders, to really get to grips with the extremely dry, dusty conditions, Aubert nevertheless remains at the top of the E2 championship standings. Aubert's team mate Fabrizio Dini suffered two big crashes on Day1 and placed 9th in both outings. Beginning Day1 by finishing 10th following a crash on the opening extreme test, wasn't the start world championship class leader Aubert had hoped for. Having made a small but costly mistake on the first timed special test of the event, that's exactly how the fourth round of the '08 WEC series began for the Yamaha mounted Frenchman. Thankfully his form would pick up markedly as Aubert bounced back to win the very next special test before going on to claim a solid runner-up result to seven-time world champion Juha Salminen. On Day2 the 28 year old made a much better start but after more than one-hour of special test action, again placed second to Salminen. Avoiding big mistakes and riding well aboard his WR450F, Aubert wasn't able to get into a rhythm across the dry, dusty Polish terrain. Winning one of the day's three timed motocross tests, Johnny finished comfortably ahead of third placed E2 class rider Simo Kirssi and claimed two runner-up results overall from what the Frenchman openly admitted wasn't a particularly good weekend. With the '08 WEC series now passing the halfway point Aubert still remains comfortably ahead in the Enduro 2 class. Italian Fabrizio Dini - like Aubert - also crashed on the opening day's special, placing 23rd in the class at the end of the opening extreme test on day one and then spent the rest of the course working his way up the leader-board. Performing consistently well on the motocross test Dini was unable to reproduce his speed on the enduro and extreme test sections but succeeded in fighting his way back to 9th in the class. On Day2 Dini again posted impressively quick times on the motocross test but was unable to improve on his day one result, again finishing 9th. Johnny Aubert (UFO Corse Yamaha) Enduro 2 class - Day 1, 2nd, Day 2, 2nd: "I don't know why but this weekend wasn't good for me. My riding wasn't as good as it should have been and I just didn't have a good feeling on the special test. I just didn't feel comfortable. I still managed to get two second place results despite this, which isn't too bad for the championship, but Juha was too fast. I crashed once on the extreme test on day one, and after that nothing I attempted helped me go faster. Like I said this is not what I wanted but it still wasn't so bad. I just hope that things will be better in the UK." Fabrizio Dini (UFO Corse Yamaha) Enduro 2 class - day 1 Ninth, Day 2 Ninth: "Day one didn't go well for me. I made mistakes and stopped my bike in both the first and second extreme tests and I was last in the E2 class after the first extreme test. Things improved after that but because I made such a bad start to the day I was just trying to make back as many positions as I could. I didn't have such a good opening lap on day two. Things improved but, well, it wasn't so bad. It was a hard race though, especially on day one because it was so long." Race 1 Pos., Rider, Manu., Nat., Total Time 1, Juha Salminen, KTM, FIN, 79'25.500 2, Johnny Aubert, Yamaha, FRA, 1'1.830 3, Alessandro Belometti, KTM, ITA, 3'33.610 4, Rodrig Thain, TM, FRA, 3'34.210 5, Simo Kirssi, BMW, FIN, 3'45.860 6, Aaron Bernandez, Husqvarna, ESP, 4'13.020 7, Valtteri Salonen, HusaBerg, FIN, 4'36.610 8, Joakim Ljunggren, HusaBerg, SWE, 4'40.600 9, Fabrizio Dini, Yamaha, ITA, 5'9.150 10, Hans Vogel, KTM, NED, 5'35.380 11, Nicolas Paganon, Aprilia, FRA, 5'35.450 12, Alessandro Zanni, Honda, ITA, 5'52.040 13, Fabio Mossini, Honda, ITA, 5'55.600 14, Rudy Cotton, Beta, FRA, 7'59.740 15, Daniel Persson, HusaBerg, SWE, 8'24.090 16, Amel Advokaat, KTM, NED, 9'1.880 17, Felipe Zanol, Yamaha, ESP, 9'22.250 18, Peter Kralik, KTM, SVN, 11'15.600 19, Nicolas Joye, HusaBerg, CHE, 12'49.760 20, Sebastian Adielsson, Beta, SWE, 13'30.000 Race 2 Pos., Rider, Manu., Nat., Total Time 1, Juha Salminen, KTM, FIN, 65'52.950 2, Johnny Aubert, Yamaha, FRA, 0'41.530 3, Simo Kirssi, BMW, FIN, 2'42.930 4, Antoine Meo, Husqvarna, FRA, 2'44.720 5, Alessandro Belometti, KTM, ITA, 2'58.180 6, Alessandro Zanni, Honda, ITA, 3'28.620 7, Joakim Ljunggren, HusaBerg, SWE, 3'38.070 8, Fabio Mossini, Honda, ITA, 3'49.080 9, Fabrizio Dini, Yamaha, ITA, 3'54.360 10, Rodrig Thain, TM, FRA, 3'59.520 11, Nicolas Deparrois, GasGas, FRA, 4'48.180 12, Hans Vogel, KTM, NED, 5'3.030 13, Nicolas Paganon, Aprilia, FRA, 5'52.550 14, Felipe Zanol, Yamaha, ESP, 6'27.530 15, Daniel Persson, HusaBerg, SWE, 6'32.560 16, Andrea Belotti, KTM, ITA, 7'59.010 17, Amel Advokaat, KTM, NED, 8'9.000 18, Rudy Cotton, Beta, FRA, 8'28.310 19, Peter Kralik, KTM, SVN, 8'47.270 20, Mario Patrao, Suzuki, POR, 9'28.580 Rider Standings 14/06/2008 Pos., Rider, Manu., Nat., Points 1, Johnny Aubert, Yamaha, FRA, 183 2, Juha Salminen, KTM, FIN, 164 3, Alessandro Belometti, KTM, ITA, 135 4, Joakim Ljunggren, HusaBerg, SWE, 126 5, Rodrig Thain, TM, FRA, 110 6, Valtteri Salonen, HusaBerg, FIN, 107 7, Fabrizio Dini, Yamaha, ITA, 105 8, Antoine Meo, Husqvarna, FRA, 91 9, Alessandro Zanni, Honda, ITA, 78 10, Fabio Mossini, Honda, ITA, 77 11, Simo Kirssi, BMW, FIN, 76 12, Nicolas Paganon, Aprilia, FRA, 62 13, Jari Juha Mattila, Honda, FIN, 59 14, Nicolas Deparrois, GasGas, FRA, 58 15, Jean Francois Goblet, BMW, BEL, 37 Manufacturer Standings 14/06/2008 Pos., Manufacturer, Points 1, KTM, 184 2, Yamaha, 183 3, HusaBerg, 147 4, Husqvarna, 116 5, TM, 110 6, Honda, 106 7, BMW, 95 8, Aprilia, 62 9, GasGas, 58 10, Suzuki, 26 11, Beta, 21
Alex Asigno
Alex Asigno

Coppins secures second podium of the season

Yamaha Monster Motocross Team's Josh Coppins returned to the podium with second position overall at an overcast St Jean d'Angely for the Grand Prix of France and the seventh event of fifteen in the 2008 FIM MX1-GP World Championship. Team-mate and series leader on the works YZ450FM, David Philippaerts, had a tough and unlucky day in front of 30,000 spectators and did not finish the second race to place 18th overall. The established and impressive circuit, located near La Rochelle on the west coast, offered its usual degree of difficulty thanks to the tough bumps of the hard-pack soil. The stony dirt also made the course slippery and many riders were trying different suspension and tyre combinations during practice on Saturday to find the best traction. Despite the presence of a special sandy-section to add an extra technical edge, the lap-times were all extremely close with Coppins taking 6th position in the gate and Philippaerts 10th but the top ten riders in Timed Practice were separated by just over a second. The team completed suspension and engine tests last week in Italy and the new settings were used by Coppins while Philippaerts made some further alterations to smoothen the power delivery of the YZ450FM during a sunny Saturday schedule. Both riders started excellently in the first race and circulated second and third behind leader Ramon. Philippaerts then suffered an unexpected and heavy crash on the landing of a jump and hurt his left hand and knocked his head. The Italian was able to continue, in some pain, to 13th place by the chequered flag. Coppins was flying behind Ramon and when the world champion made a mistake and crashed into the fence on one of the steep downhill sections, the New Zealander grabbed the lead for the first time this season. More drama was to continue for the team however as the 31 year old ran slightly wide in a turn shortly afterwards and caught a stretch of green plastic fencing in his rear wheel. He then had to ignore the close attentions of eventual Grand Prix winner Sebastien Pourcel for most of the race without a rear brake. Pourcel eventually found a way past with just three laps remaining. Second place still represented the highest finish yet for Coppins in 2008. The second moto saw the Kiwi again slot into a top three position on the second lap and from there he used 17 of the 21 circulations to close to the rear wheel of Ramon and push past his rival for another runner-up classification; guaranteeing his silverware and best result of the season (after taking third in Portugal). Philippaerts took a painkiller for his hand and attempted Moto2, slightly encouraged by the crashes suffered by Ramon (who finished only two places ahead in 11th) and also other title rival Ken de Dycker (who would be a reduced force in race two). The 24 year old was not in the top half of the pack around the first turn and needed several laps to get feeling and rhythm. He then again demonstrated his fine ability to cut through the pack to rise from 14th to 7th until he was inexplicably hit by Clement Desalle in the process of relegating the Belgian and moving up to 6th. The impact ripped the right footpeg off the bike and although he bravely tried to continue he was forced to retire with three laps remaining. It was the first time Philippaerts had missed the rostrum since the first round in April. As a consequence of the events at St Jean, the championship standings have become closer. Philippaerts' lead has shrunk to 6 points from Ramon, with Coppins now just 19 behind. The team will now travel back to the workshop in Italy and soon start preparations for round eight and the Grand Prix of Germany at the Teutschenthal circuit near the city of Halle. Coppins has plans to contest the Belgian championship at Kester next weekend. Philippaerts will have a scan tomorrow (Monday) to learn the extent of the damage to his hand. Josh Coppins, Yamaha Monster Motocross Team, 2nd: "I went to Italy to make some tests and training this week and it definitely helped me this weekend. I like to work closely with my mechanic and the team so I will be heading back there in the next few days. I think I can take quite a lot from this result. I should have won the first moto if it wasn't for the problem with the fencing and in the second Sebastien was a little bit faster. To come from a 'low' like Mallory Park to be right at the front and on the podium was the response that I wanted. I can take a lot of motivation from the fact that I am back in the title chase." David Philippaerts, Yamaha Monster Motocross Team, 18th: "From fifteen races it is impossible to have a good result or good luck in all of them. I am disappointed but I also have to be realistic. In the first moto I don't know what happened. I did exactly the same line and approach as always but the bike slipped away. I think we made a mistake and picked a tyre that was too soft. I really banged my hand and had a lot of pain. For the first ten minutes after that I was seeing spots because I had also hit my head. Thirteenth was not ideal but I did not feel fit and I was determined to finish. I was fortunate that both Ramon and De Dycker also crashed. I wanted to see what points I could get in the second moto and took a painkiller. I did not have the best start but then I started to ride very well, very smooth and with good lines. Anyway I reached sixth and then passed Desalle on the inside of one corner but he did something crazy because I was ahead and he just rammed into the back of me. It was a big collision. The right footrest had gone so I tried to keep riding but once or twice I touched the ground with my foot and it was getting risky. My goal is still to look ahead and keep working each race. I am happy that the bike is really good and now I need to check I can have the best physical condition possible for Germany. I like Teutschental and I think it is possible that I can be very fast there." Massimo Raspanti, Racing Manager, Yamaha Monster Motocross Team: "Another strange GP for us but I am really happy for Josh. I could see from his work and riding last week in Italy than he was back on the pace and we hoped he would be back on the podium today. For sure if he had not picked up the green fencing then he should have won that first moto. It was a bad day for David. The first moto crash was unfortunate and he had a lot of pain in his hand but we were lucky that Ramon also went down. Due to the pain he was a bit slow at the start of the second moto but when he started riding really well it was good to watch until the collision with Desalle. The footpeg was completely gone so it was not safe or really possible for him to continue. The YZ450FMs worked well this weekend, so now we look ahead to Germany." Race 1 - 21 Laps Pos., Rider, Manu., Nat., Total Time 1, Sébastien Pourcel, Kawasaki, FRA, 40'9.573 2, Joshua Coppins, Yamaha, NZL, 0'1.852 3, Jonathan Barragan, KTM, ESP, 0'12.558 4, Tanel Leok, Kawasaki, EST, 0'24.687 5, Maximilian Nagl, KTM, GER, 0'30.167 6, Ken De Dycker, Suzuki, BEL, 0'36.921 7, Clement Desalle, Suzuki, BEL, 0'38.867 8, Kornel Nemeth, KTM, HUN, 0'41.501 9, Manuel Priem, Kawasaki, BEL, 0'42.356 10, Julien Bill, Honda, CHE, 0'42.965 11, Steve Ramon, Suzuki, BEL, 1'0.740 12, Mike Brown, Honda, USA, 1'6.258 13, David Philippaerts, Yamaha, ITA, 1'20.482 14, Julien Vanni, KTM, FRA, 1'23.776 15, Steve Boniface, Yamaha, FRA, 1'24.158 16, James Noble, KTM, GBR, 1'26.123 17, Tom Church, Kawasaki, GBR, 1'36.120 18, Scott Columb, Suzuki, NZL, 1'42.789 19, Cyrille Coulon, Honda, FRA, -1 Laps 20, Alessio Chiodi, TM, ITA, -1 Laps Race 2 - 21 Laps Pos., Rider, Manu., Nat., Total Time 1, Sébastien Pourcel, Kawasaki, FRA, 40'4.650 2, Joshua Coppins, Yamaha, NZL, 0'1.808 3, Steve Ramon, Suzuki, BEL, 0'3.113 4, Marc De Reuver, Honda, NED, 0'5.073 5, Steve Boniface, Yamaha, FRA, 0'25.684 6, Jonathan Barragan, KTM, ESP, 0'32.074 7, Julien Bill, Honda, CHE, 0'36.325 8, Maximilian Nagl, KTM, GER, 0'39.053 9, James Noble, KTM, GBR, 0'41.808 10, Mike Brown, Honda, USA, 0'50.236 11, Ken De Dycker, Suzuki, BEL, 1'0.086 12, Manuel Priem, Kawasaki, BEL, 1'5.810 13, Cyrille Coulon, Honda, FRA, 1'20.009 14, Bradley Anderson, Suzuki, GBR, 1'23.458 15, Clement Desalle, Suzuki, BEL, 1'26.651 16, Tom Church, Kawasaki, GBR, 1'38.760 17, Tanel Leok, Kawasaki, EST, 1'46.188 18, Alessio Chiodi, TM, ITA, 1'49.421 19, Kornel Nemeth, KTM, HUN, -1 Laps 20, Scott Columb, Suzuki, NZL, -1 Laps Rider Standings 15/06/2008 Pos., Rider, Manu., Nat., Points 1, David Philippaerts, Yamaha, ITA, 231 2, Steve Ramon, Suzuki, BEL, 225 3, Joshua Coppins, Yamaha, NZL, 212 4, Sébastien Pourcel, Kawasaki, FRA, 201 5, Ken De Dycker, Suzuki, BEL, 200 6, Jonathan Barragan, KTM, ESP, 185 7, Maximilian Nagl, KTM, GER, 161 8, Billy MacKenzie, Honda, GBR, 159 9, Marc De Reuver, Honda, NED, 156 10, Tanel Leok, Kawasaki, EST, 151 11, Clement Desalle, Suzuki, BEL, 115 12, Mike Brown, Honda, USA, 107 13, Manuel Priem, Kawasaki, BEL, 104 14, Kornel Nemeth, KTM, HUN, 95 15, Julien Bill, Honda, CHE, 76 16, Marcus Schiffer, KTM, GER, 71 17, James Noble, KTM, GBR, 65 18, Aigar Leok, Yamaha, EST, 60 19, Tom Church, Kawasaki, GBR, 40 20, Kevin Strijbos, Kawasaki, BEL, 36 27, Carlos Campano, Yamaha, ESP, 15 Manufacturer Standings 15/06/2008 Pos., Manufacturer, Points 1, Yamaha, 269 2, Kawasaki, 257 3, Suzuki, 256 4, KTM, 241 5, Honda, 217 6, TM, 31 7, Aprilia, 1 ---------- RACE REPORT - 15/06/2008 Cairoli 10th after eventful day in France MX2-GP World Champion Antonio Cairoli could only finish tenth overall at a cloudy but warm St Jean d'Angely for the Grand Prix of France and the seventh round of fifteen in the 2008 FIM series. 30,000 spectators saw Tommy Searle take victory and the stylish Italian only able to score third place in the second moto on his YZ250F. After sealing his fifth consecutive pole position on Saturday, Cairoli seemed to have a firm hold on the track he dislikes, even if many stones were coming through the hard dirt made the terrain slippery and perilous. The 21 year old did not get the chance to show his speed in the first Grand Prix moto as a collision with Tyla Rattray on the opening corner left the Sicilian with a punctured fuel tank and he had to pull into the pitlane a lap later. Although Cairoli rejoined the fray, he was almost two laps behind and could not score any points. In the second race - keen to regain some ground to Searle, who had moved to the top of the standings - he survived a small spill in the opening stages while in second place to close to the back of his championship rival and take the lead on lap 8 of 21. Moments later he lost traction with his Red Bull Yamaha and hit the deck. Remounting in a solitary third position Cairoli would spend the rest of the race marking similar lap-times to the leader but unable to reduce the distance to the front. Yamaha Ricci Racing's Nicolas Aubin came into his home Grand Prix with a lot of expectation and a large proportion of the French crowd's noisy support. He was on the pace Saturday but would only register 5th and 10th in the two motos after a pair of bad starts cast him outside of the leading group. Aubin took part in tight scrap with three of his countrymen for second place in first race but crossed the finish line at the back of the French gaggle. A second corner crash in Moto2 meant that he had to ride hard to come through the field from 27th. Cairoli's team-mate in the Yamaha Red Bull De Carli team, Matteo Bonini, was lucky to escape serious injury in the first moto when he was landed upon by another rider on the first lap of Moto1. The Italian was initially feared to have broken his wrist but his ailments were nothing more than severe bruising to his hand, fingers and also his neck. Yamaha Van Beers Racing's Evgeny Bobryshev was making his first appearance in three Grand Prix after visa problems. The Russian took his second best result of the season with 18th overall. Ricci Racing's Davide Guarneri was expected to start riding the same weekend as the French Grand Prix. The Italian will attempt to win the MX2 title at Gazzane di Preseglie for the final round of the Italian championship next week and depending on his progress could make a GP return in two weeks. The standings show Cairoli now in third position and 20 points behind Searle. Aubin is fourth and 78 points adrift. Round nine of the world championship will take place at Teutschenthal for the Grand Prix of Germany. Antonio Cairoli, Yamaha Red Bull De Carli, 10th: "This is not my favourite track! Last year it was much better, much softer but this time there were so many stones that I was actually quite afraid sometimes. On Saturday it was OK because the pace in the qualification heat was slower and I could be more cautious. The first heat was just bad luck and this type of incident can happen any time but I made two stupid mistakes in the second moto and this lost me any chance of a victory. I caught Tommy after crashing the first time and then had the lead when I went down again. I tried so hard to close the gap when I was third but the distance was too big and this track is not technical enough to be able to make big differences with the lap-times. I am 20 points behind now but the championship is long and we have many races ahead." Nicolas Aubin, Yamaha Ricci Racing, 7th: "I am disappointed because I know the result could have been much better. I took a bad start in the first heat and was far back. I rode well but it was ruined by the first moments because I was too distant from the leaders. The second moto was the same. I went down on the second corner and came from last to tenth. It was a good race but not what I wanted. I cannot understand what happened and I am tired of these bad GPs. There is not much more I can say; the bike is good, my physical condition is OK I just need a decent start." Matteo Bonini, Yamaha Red Bull De Carli, DNF: "I got out of the gate badly and was around fifteenth. We came up to the jump and many riders in front of me did not do it, so neither did I but then someone landed on my back and sent me to the floor. It was a big crash but I think I am lucky because my injuries could have been worse. I hope I can ride in Germany." Race 1 - 20 Laps Pos., Rider, Manu., Nat., Total Time 1, Tommy Searle, KTM, GBR, 39'12.650 2, Jeremy Tarroux, KTM, FRA, 0'5.359 3, Anthony Boissière, KTM, FRA, 0'7.497 4, Xavier Boog, Suzuki, FRA, 0'9.622 5, Nicolas Aubin, Yamaha, FRA, 0'12.952 6, Tyla Rattray, KTM, RSA, 0'24.987 7, Gregory Aranda, Kawasaki, FRA, 0'32.222 8, Marvin Musquin, Honda, FRA, 0'38.869 9, Manuel Monni, Yamaha, ITA, 0'42.134 10, Jeremy Van Horebeek, KTM, BEL, 0'45.600 11, Jason Dougan, Suzuki, GBR, 0'47.456 12, Loic Larrieu, Kawasaki, FRA, 0'48.192 13, Loic Rombaut, Kawasaki, FRA, 0'52.384 14, Stephen Sword, Kawasaki, GBR, 0'55.169 15, Luigi Seguy, Kawasaki, FRA, 0'57.940 16, Rui Goncalves, KTM, POR, 0'58.827 17, Shaun Simpson, KTM, GBR, 1'2.077 18, Evgeny Bobryshev, Yamaha, RUS, 1'8.520 19, Joel Roelants, KTM, BEL, 1'23.661 20, Deny Philippaerts, Yamaha, ITA, 1'31.909 Race 2 - 20 Laps Pos., Rider, Manu., Nat., Total Time 1, Tommy Searle, KTM, GBR, 40'3.228 2, Tyla Rattray, KTM, RSA, 0'0.635 3, Antonio Cairoli, Yamaha, ITA, 0'14.234 4, Shaun Simpson, KTM, GBR, 0'54.544 5, Steven Frossard, Kawasaki, FRA, 0'55.787 6, Anthony Boissière, KTM, FRA, 1'26.744 7, Xavier Boog, Suzuki, FRA, 1'30.453 8, Gregory Aranda, Kawasaki, FRA, 1'32.218 9, Marvin Musquin, Honda, FRA, 1'35.106 10, Nicolas Aubin, Yamaha, FRA, 1'36.873 11, Rui Goncalves, KTM, POR, 1'38.820 12, Loic Larrieu, Kawasaki, FRA, 2'4.829 13, Jeremy Tarroux, KTM, FRA, -1 Laps 14, Luigi Seguy, Kawasaki, FRA, -1 Laps 15, Wyatt Avis, Honda, RSA, -1 Laps 16, Evgeny Bobryshev, Yamaha, RUS, -1 Laps 17, Alessandro Lupino, Yamaha, ITA, -1 Laps 18, Joel Roelants, KTM, BEL, -1 Laps 19, Manuel Monni, Yamaha, ITA, -1 Laps 20, Deny Philippaerts, Yamaha, ITA, -1 Laps Rider Standings 15/06/2008 Pos., Rider, Manu., Nat., Points 1, Tommy Searle, KTM, GBR, 283 2, Tyla Rattray, KTM, RSA, 279 3, Antonio Cairoli, Yamaha, ITA, 263 4, Nicolas Aubin, Yamaha, FRA, 185 5, Shaun Simpson, KTM, GBR, 178 6, Rui Goncalves, KTM, POR, 163 7, Xavier Boog, Suzuki, FRA, 151 8, Stephen Sword, Kawasaki, GBR, 151 9, Manuel Monni, Yamaha, ITA, 133 10, Anthony Boissière, KTM, FRA, 126 11, Jeremy Van Horebeek, KTM, BEL, 120 12, Marvin Musquin, Honda, FRA, 99 13, Davide Guarneri, Yamaha, ITA, 97 14, Gautier Paulin, Kawasaki, FRA, 95 15, Steven Frossard, Kawasaki, FRA, 92 16, Jeremy Tarroux, KTM, FRA, 89 17, Gregory Aranda, Kawasaki, FRA, 83 18, Joel Roelants, KTM, BEL, 73 19, Carl Nunn, Suzuki, GBR, 54 20, Erik Eggens, Suzuki, NED, 51 24, Evgeny Bobryshev, Yamaha, RUS, 28 25, Matteo Bonini, Yamaha, ITA, 25 28, Alessandro Lupino, Yamaha, ITA, 17 44, Deny Philippaerts, Yamaha, ITA, 2 Manufacturer Standings 15/06/2008 Pos., Manufacturer, Points 1, KTM, 325 2, Yamaha, 319 3, Kawasaki, 212 4, Suzuki, 192 5, Honda, 113 ---------- RACE REPORT - 15/06/2008 Prumm championship leader after second podium result Yamaha Van Beers' Katherine Prumm obtained the red plate as leader of the inaugural Women's World Championship after taking her second consecutive podium with runner-up position at the Grand Prix of France; round three of five in the 2008 competition. Double World Cup winner Prumm took her YZ250F to 3rd and 2nd positions in the two motos across the rocky terrain at St Jean d'Angely, watched by 30,000 spectators and now fronts the standings by two points with trips to Germany and Holland remaining. The 19 year old followed Stephanie Laier and Livia Lancelot in the first outing but battled with her French rival (and the many backmarkers) closely in the second moto to win the tussle for the second step. After injuring her knee before the start of the championship Prumm has steadily amassed points to reach the top of the table. Her French results were gained with the extra hassle of suffering a sprained wrist during practice. The ladies are back in action in a two weeks time at the Teutschenthal circuit. Katherine Prumm, Yamaha Van Beers Racing, 2nd: "It was good to go home and see my family after the last GP. I had spent two months largely on my own in Europe so I went to New Zealand and had some time there, won both motos in the Australian championship and came back ready for this GP. The extra training I had done paid off here. I have been trying to build up the muscles around my knee to compensate and felt more confident. I did not have the best start to the weekend on Saturday because I over-jumped a section and landed in the corner, pulling some ligaments in my wrist. I was wondering what else could go wrong this season! I got myself together and put it out of my head. I pushed hard during the races and although I made some mistakes that I shouldn't have, it was a good day and I am pleased to be leading the championship." Race 1 - 12 Laps Pos., Rider, Manu., Nat., Total Time 1, Stephanie Laier, KTM, GER, 26'18.203 2, Livia Lancelot, Kawasaki, FRA, 0'10.567 3, Katherine Prumm, Yamaha, NZL, 0'24.469 4, Maria Franke, Kawasaki, GER, 0'58.087 5, Larissa Papenmeier, Suzuki, GER, 1'48.872 6, Elien De Winter, KTM, BEL, 1'57.201 7, Elin Mann, KTM, SWE, 2'0.042 8, Marianne Veenstra, Suzuki, NED, 2'24.137 9, Marielle De Mol, Yamaha, NED, -1 Laps 10, Anne Borchers, Suzuki, GER, -1 Laps 11, Ashley Fiolek, Honda, USA, -1 Laps 12, Nicky Van Wordragen, KTM, NED, -1 Laps 13, Kim Irmgartz, Suzuki, GER, -1 Laps 14, Alexandra Haupt, Kawasaki, GER, -1 Laps 15, Jenny Seidenberg, KTM, GER, -1 Laps 16, Brenda Wagemans, KTM, BEL, -1 Laps 17, Sofia Sjoberg, Honda, SWE, -1 Laps 18, Sophia Paull, Honda, GBR, -1 Laps 19, Blandine Dufrene, Honda, FRA, -1 Laps 20, Natascha Fransoo, TM, GER, -1 Laps Race 2 - 12 Laps Pos., Rider, Manu., Nat., Total Time 1, Stephanie Laier, KTM, GER, 25'52.269 2, Katherine Prumm, Yamaha, NZL, 0'3.515 3, Ashley Fiolek, Honda, USA, 0'15.085 4, Maria Franke, Kawasaki, GER, 0'21.191 5, Livia Lancelot, Kawasaki, FRA, 0'52.615 6, Larissa Papenmeier, Suzuki, GER, 1'23.138 7, Marianne Veenstra, Suzuki, NED, 1'31.766 8, Elin Mann, KTM, SWE, 1'42.372 9, Elien De Winter, KTM, BEL, -1 Laps 10, Anne Borchers, Suzuki, GER, -1 Laps 11, Sofia Sjoberg, Honda, SWE, -1 Laps 12, Kim Irmgartz, Suzuki, GER, -1 Laps 13, Alexandra Haupt, Kawasaki, GER, -1 Laps 14, Nicky Van Wordragen, KTM, NED, -1 Laps 15, Natascha Fransoo, TM, GER, -1 Laps 16, Jenny Seidenberg, KTM, GER, -1 Laps 17, Justine Charroux, Yamaha, FRA, -1 Laps 18, Marielle De Mol, Yamaha, NED, -1 Laps 19, Brenda Wagemans, KTM, BEL, -1 Laps 20, Silvia Santaga, Honda, ITA, -1 Laps Rider Standings 15/06/2008 Pos., Rider, Manu., Nat., Points 1, Katherine Prumm, Yamaha, NZL, 122 2, Livia Lancelot, Kawasaki, FRA, 120 3, Ashley Fiolek, Honda, USA, 102 4, Maria Franke, Kawasaki, GER, 101 5, Stephanie Laier, KTM, GER, 100 6, Larissa Papenmeier, Suzuki, GER, 92 7, Elin Mann, KTM, SWE, 82 8, Elien De Winter, KTM, BEL, 80 9, Marianne Veenstra, Suzuki, NED, 78 10, Nicky Van Wordragen, KTM, NED, 63 11, Kim Irmgartz, Suzuki, GER, 49 12, Anne Borchers, Suzuki, GER, 48 13, Brenda Wagemans, KTM, BEL, 43 14, Sandra Adriansson, Suzuki, SWE, 42 15, Marielle De Mol, Yamaha, NED, 41 Manufacturer Standings 15/06/2008 Pos., Manufacturer, Points 1, KTM, 131 2, Kawasaki, 125 3, Yamaha, 122 4, Suzuki, 107 5, Honda, 102 6, TM, 19
Alex Asigno
Alex Asigno

Haga and Corser steal the show as Yamaha dominate in Germany

Noriyuki Haga (Yamaha Motor Italia WSB Team) stormed to a superb double win at the Nürburgring in Germany today, winning back-to-back 20-lap races to re-ignite his championship challenge. He also takes away the new lap record, thanks to a blistering 1'56.892, set on lap 11 of race two. His team-mate Troy Corser (Yamaha Motor Italia WSB Team) was unlucky not to score a podium in race one but was battling for the outright win with Haga in an unbelievable race two, before the threatening rain fell and the race was stopped for reasons of safety. Many fans held their breath for most of race as Hager and Corser swapped places repeatedly with inches to spare between their bikes. By midway they were riding their own race, locked into a Yamaha duel for the chequered flag. The first race was delayed for 20 minutes because of a late fall of rain but it was declared dry and indeed the sun came out in force as the race started. In the first race Haga took the win after an intense battle at the front throughout, finally overcoming Troy Bayliss after pressurising the Australian rider into a mistake on lap 19 Of 20. Corser was a close fourth making it a successful first outing for the official Yamaha team. Race two was halted early by a light fall of rain on lap 15, and with 14 tours completed the race result was called from that lap, giving the win to Haga even though Corser was in the lead when the race was stopped. Each Yamaha Motor Italia rider delivered awesome entertainment to the 41,000 weekend crowd, particularly in a tough and fully competitive race two, and each was rewarded with strong points scores as a result. Haga is now fourth overall, on 172 points, with Corser only just behind, on 154 at the midpoint of the 14-round season. Noriyuki Haga (1st and 1st - Yamaha Motor Italia WSB Team) "During the race the collarbone was no problem, just some muscle pain. I had a great fight with my team-mate Troy in the second race, it was very exciting, fun and fair, I really enjoyed it. I want to thank Dr Ting for the operation on my collarbone, a big thank you to all the fans and congratulations to Troy for a great race. I'm so happy for the win, and it's fantastic to go forward to Misano having closed the championship gap a bit. Time to celebrate!" Troy Corser (4th and 2nd- Yamaha Motor Italia WSB Team) "With the weather conditions the way they were it was completely dry at the top, and it was raining down at the bottom for the last two laps before I put my hand up, it was getting wetter and wetter. Although I wanted to win the race I just wanted to stay on the bike as well. Thanks to the boys on the team, and thanks to Nori there as well, I had an amazing race with him, fantastic riding. We're getting the bike better and better, hopefully we can get some more great results before the end of the year." Massimo Meregalli (Team Manager, Yamaha Motor Italia WSB Team) "It's almost impossible to do better. We saw that even on Friday we could get good results from both riders and after yesterday I was sure the podium was possible for both riders. We got a double win from Nori and first and second in race two; a fantastic achievement for the whole team. I am lost for words about Nori, he is even better than before and Troy is really back to his very best. Thanks to all the team because they did a really good job here." Race 1 Pos., Rider, Manu., Nat., Total Time 1, Noriyuki Haga, Yamaha, JPN, 39'19.427 2, Troy Bayliss, Ducati, AUS, 0'2.025 3, Max Neukirchner, Suzuki, GER, 0'2.792 4, Troy Corser, Yamaha, AUS, 0'5.458 5, Carlos Checa, Honda, ESP, 0'10.225 6, Ruben Xaus, Ducati, ESP, 0'10.462 7, Michel Fabrizio, Ducati, ITA, 0'17.018 8, Fonsi Nieto, Suzuki, ESP, 0'20.520 9, Makoto Tamada, Kawasaki, JPN, 0'21.162 10, Karl Muggeridge, Honda, AUS, 0'22.650 11, Jakub Smrz, Ducati, CZE, 0'22.845 12, Ryuichi Kiyonari, Honda, JPN, 0'25.555 13, Max Biaggi, Ducati, ITA, 0'25.879 14, Regis Laconi, Kawasaki, FRA, 0'26.288 15, Sebastien Gimbert, Yamaha, FRA, 0'32.824 16, Roberto Rolfo, Honda, ITA, 0'42.157 17, Ayrton Badovini, Kawasaki, ITA, 0'42.486 18, Shinichi Nakatomi, Yamaha, JPN, 0'52.232 19, Russel Holland, Honda, AUS, 0'52.387 20, Vittorio Iannuzzo, Kawasaki, ITA, 1'0.099 Race 2 Pos., Rider, Manu., Nat., Total Time 1, Noriyuki Haga, Yamaha, JPN, 27'26.594 2, Troy Corser, Yamaha, AUS, 0'0.150 3, Max Neukirchner, Suzuki, GER, 0'5.316 4, Troy Bayliss, Ducati, AUS, 0'7.651 5, Carlos Checa, Honda, ESP, 0'7.951 6, Michel Fabrizio, Ducati, ITA, 0'9.027 7, Max Biaggi, Ducati, ITA, 0'9.420 8, Ruben Xaus, Ducati, ESP, 0'9.916 9, Fonsi Nieto, Suzuki, ESP, 0'12.862 10, Regis Laconi, Kawasaki, FRA, 0'13.559 11, Ryuichi Kiyonari, Honda, JPN, 0'13.960 12, Karl Muggeridge, Honda, AUS, 0'16.172 13, Makoto Tamada, Kawasaki, JPN, 0'17.946 14, Gregorio Lavilla, Honda, ESP, 0'22.815 15, David Checa, Yamaha, ESP, 0'23.758 16, Sebastien Gimbert, Yamaha, FRA, 0'24.127 17, Roberto Rolfo, Honda, ITA, 0'24.421 18, Shinichi Nakatomi, Yamaha, JPN, 0'25.356 19, Russel Holland, Honda, AUS, 0'25.729 20, Lorenzo Lanzi, Ducati, ITA, 0'28.846 21, Kenan Sofuoglu, Honda, TUR, 0'33.107 22, Loic Napoleone, Yamaha, FRA, 0'54.255 23, Jason Pridmore, Honda, USA, 1'4.877 24, Shuhei Aoyama, Honda, JPN, -1 Laps Best Lap Rider, Manu., Nat., Total Time Noriyuki Haga, Yamaha, JPN, 1'56.892 Rider Standings 15/06/2008 Pos., Rider, Manu., Nat., Points 1, Troy Bayliss, Ducati, AUS, 227 2, Carlos Checa, Honda, ESP, 188 3, Max Neukirchner, Suzuki, GER, 176 4, Noriyuki Haga, Yamaha, JPN, 172 5, Troy Corser, Yamaha, AUS, 154 6, Fonsi Nieto, Suzuki, ESP, 141 7, Ruben Xaus, Ducati, ESP, 110 8, Michel Fabrizio, Ducati, ITA, 106 9, Max Biaggi, Ducati, ITA, 97 10, Ryuichi Kiyonari, Honda, JPN, 89 11, Yukio Kagayama, Suzuki, JPN, 73 12, Gregorio Lavilla, Honda, ESP, 65 13, Lorenzo Lanzi, Ducati, ITA, 60 14, Karl Muggeridge, Honda, AUS, 59 15, Jakub Smrz, Ducati, CZE, 56 20, Shinichi Nakatomi, Yamaha, JPN, 16 23, Sebastien Gimbert, Yamaha, FRA, 7 24, David Checa, Yamaha, ESP, 6 Manufacturer Standings 15/06/2008 Pos., Manufacturer, Points 1, Ducati, 282 2, Yamaha, 251 3, Suzuki, 223 4, Honda, 207 5, Kawasaki, 64 ---------- RACE REPORT - 15/06/2008 Parkes on the podium after class leading ride Yamaha World Supersport Team rider Broc Parkes came within a few laps of winning the twice delayed and once restarted WSS race at the Nürburgring in Germany, as the Australian rider led for 15 of the 19 laps, running a pace none could match for long periods. He was forced to slow in the final few minutes of the race, and went from a win to a third place finish as a result. His team-mate Fabien Foret, who had started tenth on the grid, ran out a comfortable fourth after a fight with Craig Jones, having lost contact with the leading group in the early laps. In the championship standings the German race weekend has brought all the top contenders for the crown within a few points of each other. Foret is second behind race winner Andrew Pitt, only four points adrift, while Parkes is now equal fourth, only seven points from Pitt. Massimo Roccoli (Yamaha Team Italia Lorenzini by Leoni) crashed at post five on lap 16 and David De Gea (Yamaha Spain World Supersport) could not make the race restart as he was hurt in the first corner crash that caused the main delay to the start of the race. De Gea has re-broken his lower leg in the same place as recently and will undergo surgery as soon as possible. Jeremy Crowe (Yamaha Spain) scored a point as a stand-in for regular rider David Salom, in 15th place. Broc Parkes (3rd - Yamaha World Supersport Team) "I set a very good pace through the race and I felt I could have had something in reserve at the end but we had two starts on the clutch today and it just started to give a bit in the end and I couldn't get come of the corners as strongly. I was happy to finish and settle for third and the points that go with it." Fabien Foret (4th - Yamaha World Supersport Team) "My start was just OK and I did my best to push in the race. I think I lost a bit of feeling on Saturday after my fall and this weekend maybe fourth was the best I could do. If I had a better start them maybe I could have been with the guys at the front, but I am not sure. The weekend could have been better but it really could have been worse. The championship is very close and good for the spectators. I don't mind the pressure now we are all so close." Wilco Zeelenberg (Team Manager, Yamaha World Supersport Team) "We are of course a little disappointed to be leading the race and then having to finish third with Broc, but there were some technical problems on the last few laps and he couldn't ride then as he wanted to do. The speed was there but he lost some feel going into the corners and on the exit, so he couldn't keep up the pace for the last few laps. We were third and fourth, so it was a good team performance. I'm disappointed not to win here but the championship is so close now it is almost like starting the season again. We didn't win the race but we didn't really lose anything either." Massimo Roccoli (DNF -Yamaha Team Italia Lorenzini by Leoni) "The bike felt better today compared to the first two days of qualifying and I was able to lap well. I was making up ground to the riders in front but I just pushed my luck a little too far trying to catch some of them." Race 1 - 19 Laps Pos., Rider, Manu., Nat., Total Time 1, Andrew Pitt, Honda, AUS, 38'26.584 2, Joshua Brookes, Honda, AUS, 0'387.000 3, Broc Parkes, Yamaha, AUS, 0'1.379 4, Fabien Foret, Yamaha, FRA, 0'10.279 5, Craig Jones, Honda, GBR, 0'11.624 6, Jonathan Rea, Honda, GBR, 0'19.211 7, Didier Van Keymeulen, Suzuki, BEL, 0'28.775 8, Arne Tode, Triumph, GER, 0'28.890 9, Chris Walker, Kawasaki, GBR, 0'28.990 10, Vesa Kallio, Honda, FIN, 0'37.853 11, Katsuaki Fujiwara, Kawasaki, JPN, 0'43.101 12, Joan Lascorz, Honda, ESP, 0'51.843 13, Miguel Praia, Honda, POR, 0'54.459 14, Gianluca Vizziello, Honda, ITA, 0'54.653 15, Jeremy Crowe, Yamaha, AUS, 0'54.705 16, Balazs Nemeth, Honda, HUN, 0'54.818 17, Gregory Leblanc, Honda, FRA, 0'58.623 18, William De Angelis, Honda, ITA, 1'3.132 19, Graeme Gowland, Honda, GBR, 1'8.323 20, Danilo Dell'omo, Honda, ITA, 1'8.443 21, Attila Magda, Honda, HUN, 1'25.250 Rider Standings 15/06/2008 Pos., Rider, Manu., Nat., Points 1, Andrew Pitt, Honda, AUS, 88 2, Fabien Foret, Yamaha, FRA, 84 3, Joshua Brookes, Honda, AUS, 83 4, Broc Parkes, Yamaha, AUS, 81 5, Joan Lascorz, Honda, ESP, 81 6, Craig Jones, Honda, GBR, 60 7, Jonathan Rea, Honda, GBR, 51 8, Robbin Harms, Honda, DNK, 39 9, Matthieu Lagrive, Honda, FRA, 28 10, Gianluca Vizziello, Honda, ITA, 28 11, Chris Walker, Kawasaki, GBR, 27 12, Massimo Roccoli, Yamaha, ITA, 25 13, Gianluca Nannelli, Honda, ITA, 20 14, Mark Aitchison, Triumph, AUS, 20 15, Barry Veneman, Suzuki, NED, 19 23, David Salom, Yamaha, ESP, 8 Manufacturer Standings 15/06/2008 Pos., Manufacturer, Points 1, Honda, 140 2, Yamaha, 112 3, Triumph, 38 4, Kawasaki, 31 5, Suzuki, 28 ---------- RACE REPORT - 15/06/2008 Pirro The Top Yamaha finisher Michele Pirro (Yamaha Lorenzini by Leoni) was unable to get with the leading group at the Nürburgring today and therefore had to settle for fourth place, in the fourth round of the 2008 season. He now sits fifth overall in the standings, the top YZF-R1 rider in the rankings. Claudio Corti Yamaha Motor Italia Junior Team) struggled to get into contention this weekend and finished the race a battling sixth, ten seconds from the win. Sylvain Barrier was one of three riders off in a crash on the approach to the first hairpin on lap one, and no-scored. The next round takes place at Misano, in two weeks' time. Superstock 600 European Championship Loris Baz continues to bring the points home after a brilliant ride at the Nurburgring. Baz scored another podium, finishing the race in second place. He stays ahead in the championship with 81 points, leading second place Vostarek on 60 points. Race 1 Pos., Rider, Manu., Nat., Total Time 1, Brendan Roberts, Ducati, AUS, 22'17.805 2, Davide Giugliano, Suzuki, ITA, 0'0.307 3, Xavier Simeon, Suzuki, BEL, 0'0.444 4, Michele Pirro, Yamaha, ITA, 0'8.763 5, Matej Smrz, Honda, CZE, 0'9.786 6, Claudio Corti, Yamaha, ITA, 0'10.713 7, Maxime Berger, Honda, FRA, 0'13.766 8, Freddy Foray, Yamaha, FRA, 0'18.348 9, Michele Magnoni, Yamaha, ITA, 0'19.419 10, Yoann Tiberio, Kawasaki, FRA, 0'22.772 11, Chris Seaton, Suzuki, AUS, 0'23.827 12, Barry Burrell, Honda, GBR, 0'23.962 13, Andrea Antonelli, Honda, ITA, 0'25.179 14, Gareth Jones, Suzuki, AUS, 0'25.778 15, Michael Savary, Suzuki, CHE, 0'25.924 16, Alessandro Polita, Ducati, ITA, 0'27.910 17, Kenny Foray, Yamaha, FRA, 0'29.311 18, Matteo Baiocco, Kawasaki, ITA, 0'31.642 19, Filip Backlund, Suzuki, SWE, 0'33.424 20, Aldo Aldrovandi, Kawasaki, ITA, 0'34.341 21, Gregory Junod, Yamaha, CHE, 0'42.169 22, Oliver Skach, Suzuki, GER, 0'44.654 23, Matt Bond, Suzuki, GBR, 0'44.894 24, Denis Sacchetti, MV Agusta, ITA, 0'45.219 25, Domenico Colucci, Ducati, ITA, 0'45.379 26, Marko Jerman, Yamaha, SVK, 0'47.406 27, Michal Drobny, Honda, CZE, 0'47.573 28, Roy Ten Napel, Suzuki, NED, 0'48.312 29, Tommaso Lorenzetti, Suzuki, ITA, 0'50.950 30, Danny De Boer, Suzuki, NED, 0'51.219 31, Cameron Stronach, Kawasaki, AUS, 0'52.173 32, Brank Srdanov, Yamaha, NED, 0'57.482 33, Rene Mahr, Yamaha, GER, 1'16.859 34, Jure Stibilj, Honda, SVN, 1'33.598 Rider Standings 15/06/2008 Pos., Rider, Manu., Nat., Points 1, Xavier Simeon, Suzuki, BEL, 73 2, Brendan Roberts, Ducati, AUS, 63 3, Davide Giugliano, Suzuki, ITA, 48 4, Maxime Berger, Honda, FRA, 43 5, Michele Pirro, Yamaha, ITA, 43 6, Alessandro Polita, Ducati, ITA, 42 7, Matej Smrz, Honda, CZE, 40 8, Michele Magnoni, Yamaha, ITA, 24 9, Claudio Corti, Yamaha, ITA, 21 10, Freddy Foray, Yamaha, FRA, 21 11, Andrea Antonelli, Honda, ITA, 18 12, Kenny Foray, Yamaha, FRA, 18 13, Fabrizio Perotti, Suzuki, ITA, 15 14, Chris Seaton, Suzuki, AUS, 13 15, Barry Burrell, Honda, GBR, 11 27, Sylvain Barrier, Yamaha, FRA, 2 Manufacturer Standings 15/06/2008 Pos., Manufacturer, Points 1, Suzuki, 81 2, Ducati, 79 3, Honda, 65 4, Yamaha, 55 5, Kawasaki, 16
Alex Asigno
Alex Asigno

Lorenzo undergoes injury check-up in Barcelona

Fiat Yamaha rider Jorge Lorenzo returned to the Dexeus Institute in Barcelona this lunchtime for a check-up on the skin graft to the fourth finger of his right hand, which was carried out on Tuesday. Dr Xavier Mir confirmed that the graft had bonded well and that the injury was healing in a satisfactory manner, as the 21-year-old battles to be fit in time for the British Grand Prix at Donington Park next week. Lorenzo will undergo a further check-up on Monday before hopefully traveling to his home in London and beginning preparations for the eighth round of the MotoGP World Championship.
Alex Asigno
Alex Asigno

Rossi races through the field to take valuable Montmelo podium

Valentino Rossi put yesterday's poor qualifying behind him today with a characteristic charge through the field from ninth on the grid to take second in the Grand Prix of Catalunya. By the time Rossi made it through the pack the race-winner Dani Pedrosa was already some way off in front, but Rossi had a lively battle with Casey Stoner over the last few laps, a replay of last year's race but with the Italian prevailing this time. After some hard work by his team and engineers overnight, it was clear from this morning's warm-up that Rossi was in better shape and the Italian began his race with the podium as his target. Starting form ninth, he gained one place on the first lap when he passed James Toseland and then made his way steadily through the field, out-braking several riders into turn one on consecutive laps and eventually passing first Andrea Dovizioso and then Stoner to take second on lap nine. Rossi tried to leave Stoner behind but the Australian remained in touch and passed him back on lap 17, sparking an entertaining battle for second spot over the closing stages of the race. Rossi eventually made the decisive move at the start of the penultimate lap and held on to cross the line just over half a second ahead of his rival, with Pedrosa 2.806 seconds in front. An important 20-point haul sees Rossi hang on to his championship lead, seven points ahead of Pedrosa, whilst Lorenzo is still just ahead of Stoner in third despite having to miss today's race while he recovers from Friday's crash. It was another double top-six finish for the Tech 3 Yamaha Team meanwhile, with Colin Edwards and James Toseland finishing in their grid spots of fifth and sixth. Valentino Rossi 2nd +2.806; "I think that this was quite a good race! It's a long time since we've had a good fight for the top positions like that and today it was like last year with Stoner, but for second instead of first place! I was able to come out on top this year and I am honestly very happy with today's result. After three almost perfect races, yesterday was a very hard day for us but last night we had a very good meeting and today we were able to be much more competitive. My target was the podium so to come second is excellent. I want to watch the race on TV now because I had a lot of fun today and made some good overtakes, with my M1 and my Bridgestone tyres working very well to the end. Once I passed Stoner I tried to go away from him but it wasn't possible, so then I knew it would be a great battle to the end. Pedrosa was incredibly strong today and I think it's impossible to say whether or not I could have gone with him even if I had started from the front. As it was we were penalised by our grid position and, with Pedrosa as fast as this, from the third row it was impossible. In these circumstances I am very happy that we only lost five points to him, we're still leading the championship and I had a great race, so I am content! Tomorrow we will have a test and I think it will be quite interesting to see what we can find out about what happened this weekend and how we can improve for Donington. Thanks to all my team and congratulations to Dani." Davide Brivio Team Manager; "We're very happy about this result today because we struggled a lot over the weekend. The team and the engineers did a great job however to find a way to improve the setting in such a short amount of time, and we could see from the warm-up this morning that we had a chance to be competitive. Of course our starting position left us with a hard job to do and, with Pedrosa as fast as he was today, we are just happy to have taken 20 points! We only gave away five and the championship is long; our target is to be on the podium every time and today we've done that. Tomorrow we have a test and we will analyse the data from this weekend and try to learn more about our Yamaha-Bridgestone package, so that we can try to go one better in Donington. It was sad to make today's race with half of our team missing and one side of the garage empty, and on behalf of all the team I would like to wish Jorge all the best and we look forward to having him back very soon." Masahiko Nakajima Team Director; "This is a satisfying result for all of the team and Yamaha staff because we had a problem to find the right set-up here all weekend. Last night the engineers were working until midnight to try to fix the problem and their hard work paid off because the bike felt much better this morning. Of course we're always disappointed not to win but in the circumstances this is a very good result for us." Jorge Lorenzo on the mend after another day's rest Two days after the accident that forced him to miss today's Catalan Grand Prix at Montmelo, Jorge Lorenzo's recovery is progressing well at the Institut Dexues in Barcelona. The 21-year-old sustained head trauma and damage to his right hand in Friday's crash but is improving, although Dr. Xavier Mir confirmed tonight that he will need a small skin graft to replace the skin he has lost on his hand. "After further observation we are pleased to say that the cranial trauma that Jorge suffered on Friday has improved without any further complications," commented the Doctor. "This still needs to be verified with another CAT scan, however, and for this reason we have moved Jorge to another part of the hospital this afternoon. Regarding other injuries, we have evaluated the abrasion on his right hand and we can confirm that he has more than two centimetres of skin missing from his fourth finger. For this reason we have decided that it will be necessary to make a skin graft, which will probably take place tomorrow morning." Top six finish for both Tech3 riders Colin Edwards and James Toseland handed the Tech 3 Yamaha squad a well deserved second successive double top six finish in today's Catalunya MotoGP race. A fantastic start thrust Edwards right into the heat of the battle for second in the early laps as he pursued reigning world champion Casey Stoner and Andrea Dovizioso. He managed to hold off Valentino Rossi until lap eight, and proving he is one of the most consistent performers in 2008, he comfortably scored a third successive top five finish. Fifth place equalled his previous best result at the Montmelo circuit as the Texan maintained his best start to a season in his MotoGP career. James Toseland treated a record crowd of 113,150 to another stunning exhibition of overtaking after he dropped to 11th on lap eight. Once he'd got comfortable with a revised front-end setting, Toseland passed Chris Vermeulen, Nicky Hayden, Alex de Angelis and Loris Capirossi.Only Valentino Rossi made more passes in the 25-lap encounter, and Toseland's fourth top six finish in just seven races drew special praise from the seven-times world champion, who has been impressed with the British rider's rapid progress in his rookie campaign. Colin Edwards 5th +16.426; "I got a fantastic start and thought 'brilliant here we go.' But from the second corner I had a problem and to be honest we are scratching our heads a little bit. I struggled because early on I was doing low 43s but then I just couldn't maintain that pace. I'd throw the bike in on the brakes but it would be sideways and I found myself having to change my style like I did in Mugello to help. I'd stop it hard on the brakes, turn it into the corner and then pick it up to accelerate, but in some places where I would normally use second gear I was using third to baby it out of the corners. I did everything I could possibly do too hang in with the group but Andrea just seemed to have a bit more grip than me on the rear. He was able to pull away a little bit on every lap. I could catch him on the brakes but then I'd lose that crucial bit of time on the exit. What we ran in the warm-up was going to be too soft for the race with the temperature but I'm still happy with fifth. It's one of the best results I've had here and now we go to Donington and Assen. They are two tracks I love and I'm sure I'm going to be fighting for the podium again. We kept third in the team championship, which is great for the Tech 3 team, Yamaha and Michelin. James Toseland 6th +21.482; "I'm a little bit mad with myself because like in Mugello, I believe there was a fourth here. I got an okay start and was about seventh but Valentino came by in the first corner. It was a clean move but he left it late, so we were side-by-side going in and there was no way I could turn in because he was there. There was nothing wrong with the pass but I had to go straight on and that lost me the gap. Whether you are doing the same times as the rest of them or not, you can only pull back small amounts of time. We changed the bike this morning and it took a couple of laps to get used to the feel of it. I'd been running soft tyres most of the weekend doing good lap times but going a bit harder for the race, I just didn't have as much grip at the start and it took me a couple of laps to get used to it and I didn't push it hard enough. At this point I'm content with where I am but I'm getting impatient because I feel I can do better, so that's why I'm a bit disappointed with sixth. If I finish sixth and know I couldn't do anymore I'm happy, but now I feel there is more in the bag. But we have really got this new setting working well and it will be a really good package at Donington where I can't wait to go. It's my first home Grand Prix and it feels a long time since I've been to a track I know. I'm getting regular top six finishes but the target at Donington will be to finish much higher and I'm confident with Tech 3, Yamaha and Michelin I can do it." Herve Poncharal Team Manager; "After the warm-up, if somebody said we would be fifth and sixth I'd have said we were looking for better based on practice, but looking at the race that was a very positive result and I'm very happy. Once again Colin and James put in their maximum effort and both have finished in the top six. Dani was on another planet today so congratulations to Michelin, but in the early laps Colin was able to run a strong pace and was right in contention, but at one stage he decided to secure a well deserved fifth place. James lost quite a lot of ground at the start but as usual, once he found his pace he was as quick as the group in front of him and was able to fight his way back. Mugello and Barcelona are two very difficult tracks but Colin and James have scored top six finishes in both, so a big thanks to Yamaha and Michelin. We have scored another big haul of points to keep Tech 3 third in the team world championship, and that is a great achievement after seven races. Now we go to James' home race with a strong and positive feeling, confident we can continue this good run of results. Donington and Assen are also good tracks for Colin, so we have a lot to look forward to." Race 1 - 25 Laps Pos., Rider, Manu., Nat., Total Time 1, Daniel Pedrosa, Honda, ESP, 43'2.175 2, Valentino Rossi, Yamaha, ITA, 0'2.806 3, Casey Stoner, Ducati, AUS, 0'3.343 4, Andrea Dovizioso, Honda, ITA, 0'10.893 5, Colin Edwards, Yamaha, USA, 0'16.426 6, James Toseland, Yamaha, GBR, 0'21.482 7, Chris Vermeulen, Suzuki, AUS, 0'21.548 8, Nicky Hayden, Honda, USA, 0'22.280 9, Shinya Nakano, Honda, JPN, 0'22.375 10, John Hopkins, Kawasaki, USA, 0'46.835 11, Marco Melandri, Ducati, ITA, 0'57.991 12, Anthony West, Kawasaki, AUS, 0'59.168 13, Sylvain Guintoli, Ducati, FRA, 1'0.779 Rider Standings 08/06/2008 Pos., Rider, Manu., Nat., Points 1, Valentino Rossi, Yamaha, ITA, 142 2, Daniel Pedrosa, Honda, ESP, 135 3, Jorge Lorenzo, Yamaha, ESP, 94 4, Casey Stoner, Ducati, AUS, 92 5, Colin Edwards, Yamaha, USA, 69 6, Andrea Dovizioso, Honda, ITA, 57 7, James Toseland, Yamaha, GBR, 53 8, Loris Capirossi, Suzuki, ITA, 51 9, Nicky Hayden, Honda, USA, 48 10, Shinya Nakano, Honda, JPN, 42 11, Chris Vermeulen, Suzuki, AUS, 40 12, John Hopkins, Kawasaki, USA, 32 13, Marco Melandri, Ducati, ITA, 29 14, Toni Elias, Ducati, ESP, 24 15, Alex De Angelis, Honda, SMR, 24 Team Standings 08/06/2008 Pos., Team, Points 1, FIAT Yamaha Team, 236 2, Repsol Honda Team, 183 3, Tech3 Yamaha, 122 4, Ducati Marlboro Team, 121 5, Rizla Suzuki MotoGP, 91 6, Honda Gresini, 66 7, JIR Scot Team, 57 8, Kawasaki Racing Team, 42 9, Team Alice, 39 10, Honda LCR, 18 Manufacturer Standings 08/06/2008 Pos., Manufacturer, Points 1, Yamaha, 160 2, Honda, 135 3, Ducati, 97 4, Suzuki, 63 5, Kawasaki, 35
Alex Asigno
Alex Asigno

Rossi to race with ‘Azzurri’ in Catalunya

Valentino Rossi’s YZR-M1 will carry a one-off livery for the Grand Prix of Catalunya this weekend in celebration of the European Football Championships, which begin on Sunday. The championship leader’s bike has been specially painted in the style of the shirts of the Italian national team, the ‘Azzurri’, ahead of their opening game against Holland on Monday. Rossi will also wear leathers designed in the same vein and even his famous number 46 has undergone a change for the weekend. The special livery of the Fiat Yamaha Team star was officially unveiled at 09.50 in the pitlane of the Montmelo cicruit just before first free practice this Friday.
Alex Asigno
Alex Asigno

Haga swops pain for points

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

Philippaerts keeps red plate with 3rd in UK

41,000 spectators, the largest attendance to see the FIM MX1-GP World Championship so far this season, followed Yamaha Monster Motocross Team's David Philippaerts take his fifth consecutive podium with third position on his YZ450FM. A busy and demanding Mallory Park hosted the British Grand Prix under grey skies for the sixth round of fifteen in the 2008 campaign. The brand new track provided riders with an unseen challenge and while the layout generally got a 'thumbs up' from the majority of the MX1 field, the new dirt was soft (from days of rain beforehand) and very rough; making overtaking a hard task. The course, built alongside - and using vast sections - of the historic road racing facility that used to entertain such luminaries such as Giacomo Agostini, Mike Hailwood and Barry Sheene, was inaugurated with some fantastic scenes. Philippaerts was at the heart of the action in an eventful outing for the team. The Italian, and world championship leader, crashed on the third corner of the first lap of Moto1 after being hit by another rider, an incident similar to his accident at the start of the Italian Grand Prix last month. Despite a damaged silencer Philippaerts embarked on an incredible comeback, again akin to his situation and flight in Mantova. The 24 year old raced from 19th place to reach 2nd position behind title rival Steve Ramon. The Belgian's team-mate Ken De Dycker was also close in third. With the trio running close together in the final laps and the crowd sensing a grandstand finish, Philippaerts lost traction on a damp part of the circuit deep into the penultimate circulation and again hit the floor. He recovered to take 5th position as De Dycker won metres from the flag. In the next race the Tuscan, who started from 14th in the gate, his lowest position this season after failing to find a fast lap on Saturday, completed the first lap without incident and although he was nursing a painful rib from his last excursion he passed several riders, one of whom was a fading Ramon, to move into 2nd position. Crashes by Marc de Reuver and Julien Bill assisted his cause and although Jonathan Barragan ran away with the race to gain his maiden overall victory, Philippaerts was able to secure 3rd (a fresh Seb Pourcel took 2nd after failing to complete a single lap of Moto1) and the same overall ranking. Josh Coppins, who tried some different front forks and adopted some suspension settings taken from tests in the UK during the week, qualified in 10th position and was handicapped with crashes on the first laps of both motos. The Kiwi started badly and was clipped on the first corner of race one and then went down twice more as he tried to come back from the rear. He eventually worked hard to manage 11th. In Moto2 he was held up by a fallen Lauris Freibergs on turn two and went down again. A result of 12th was the best he could manage on an even rougher track for 11th overall. Yamaha Van Beers Racing's Aigar Leok was just behind Coppins with 12th place. The Estonian took his YZ450F to 8th spot, equalling his season's best so far, in Moto1 and then was 15th later in the afternoon. Philippaerts increased his advantage in the MX1-GP world championship standings by one point and he now fronts the pack by 28. Coppins is now fourth and 55 from his team-mate. Yamaha head the manufacturer's table by 4 points. The Yamaha Monster Motocross Team will now have another free week before travelling to St Jean d'Angely for the Grand Prix of France and round six on June 15th. Both riders will be using the break for further tests in Italy. David Philippaerts, Yamaha Monster Motocross Team, 3rd: "My goal in the winter was to finish each GP in the top five and I'm happy because since Valkenswaard and round one I have been on the podium each time. I was 14th in Timed Practice but Saturday was a different day to Sunday! In the warm-up I changed the bike a little bit and it was great for the races. It was a little bit like Mantova for me! I crashed in the first corners and then pushed so hard to come back. The crash was stupid and ruined any chance of a top three, maybe even the win but I was pleased with the top five after being so far back. I just hit some water with my back wheel after the jump and it put me off the bike. I was happy with my riding though. The track was more difficult for me on Saturday than today and I could see from my pit-board that my times were fast. I had some pain from my ribcage in the second race and took things a little easier. I got faster with each lap although I only passed two riders, Mackenzie and Ramon. I really like the next track in France, it was where I took my first Grand Prix win and I hope we continue with the good results." Josh Coppins, Yamaha Monster Motocross Team, 11th: "A day of bad luck. I had a bad jump in the first moto and then someone on a Kawasaki went a bit wide and pushed me out. I was about 15th and then crashed. I started from last and then hit a false neutral; going down again. I worked my way back to 11th. In the second race I got away OK but then Freibergs had crashed just over the little jump of the second corner. I was already committed and jumped straight into the back of him. I had to stop to take off the fork-guard because it was in the front wheel and I did not want to go over the big triple like that. I went from last to 14th. Overall there was not much I can do; it was a terrible day and I am disappointed. Realistically I need to qualify better to get a better start but I was unlucky. I just need to keep working." Massimo Raspanti, Racing Manager: "It was a hectic day! David made a good race in the first moto, he was almost last but he was faster than the others and rode well. In the final two laps he pushed to pass Ramon and win but he changed his line and crashed. He was not quicker than Pourcel in the second moto but the result was good for the championship. Josh was unlucky and it took him some time to get going after the crashes. The results were not good but there was not much more he could do." Race 1 - 19 Laps Pos., Rider, Manu., Nat., Total Time 1, Ken De Dycker, Suzuki, BEL, 39'43.553 2, Steve Ramon, Suzuki, BEL, 0'1.776 3, Jonathan Barragan, KTM, ESP, 0'6.692 4, Maximilian Nagl, KTM, GER, 0'28.122 5, David Philippaerts, Yamaha, ITA, 0'35.264 6, Tanel Leok, Kawasaki, EST, 0'36.634 7, Clement Desalle, Suzuki, BEL, 0'43.035 8, Aigar Leok, Yamaha, EST, 0'44.071 9, Marc De Reuver, Honda, NED, 0'45.624 10, Billy MacKenzie, Honda, GBR, 0'46.513 11, Joshua Coppins, Yamaha, NZL, 0'49.738 12, Manuel Priem, Kawasaki, BEL, 1'23.247 13, James Noble, KTM, GBR, 1'30.365 14, Marcus Schiffer, KTM, GER, 1'34.509 15, Kornel Nemeth, KTM, HUN, 1'37.176 16, Mike Brown, Honda, USA, 1'39.220 17, Pierre A. Renet, Suzuki, FRA, 1'40.147 18, Wayne Smith, Honda, GBR, 1'40.579 19, Bradley Anderson, Suzuki, GBR, 1'41.588 20, Cedric Melotte, Aprilia, BEL, 1'45.867 Race 2 - 19 Laps Pos., Rider, Manu., Nat., Total Time 1, Jonathan Barragan, KTM, ESP, 40'29.703 2, Sébastien Pourcel, Kawasaki, FRA, 0'5.567 3, David Philippaerts, Yamaha, ITA, 0'6.502 4, Billy MacKenzie, Honda, GBR, 0'7.528 5, Tanel Leok, Kawasaki, EST, 0'8.843 6, Ken De Dycker, Suzuki, BEL, 0'34.239 7, Steve Ramon, Suzuki, BEL, 0'40.069 8, Julien Bill, Honda, CHE, 0'43.855 9, Mike Brown, Honda, USA, 0'47.748 10, James Noble, KTM, GBR, 0'54.614 11, Marc De Reuver, Honda, NED, 1'9.203 12, Joshua Coppins, Yamaha, NZL, 1'13.595 13, Clement Desalle, Suzuki, BEL, 1'14.849 14, Manuel Priem, Kawasaki, BEL, 1'16.290 15, Aigar Leok, Yamaha, EST, 1'23.886 16, Marcus Schiffer, KTM, GER, 1'34.583 17, Pierre A. Renet, Suzuki, FRA, 1'42.204 18, Jordan Rose, Honda, GBR, 1'46.801 19, Wayne Smith, Yamaha, GBR, 1'50.483 20, Alessio Chiodi, TM, ITA, 1'53.675 Rider Standings 01/06/2008 Pos., Rider, Manu., Nat., Points 1, David Philippaerts, Yamaha, ITA, 223 2, Steve Ramon, Suzuki, BEL, 195 3, Ken De Dycker, Suzuki, BEL, 175 4, Joshua Coppins, Yamaha, NZL, 168 5, Billy MacKenzie, Honda, GBR, 159 6, Sébastien Pourcel, Kawasaki, FRA, 151 7, Jonathan Barragan, KTM, ESP, 150 8, Marc De Reuver, Honda, NED, 138 9, Maximilian Nagl, KTM, GER, 132 10, Tanel Leok, Kawasaki, EST, 129 11, Clement Desalle, Suzuki, BEL, 95 12, Mike Brown, Honda, USA, 87 13, Manuel Priem, Kawasaki, BEL, 83 14, Kornel Nemeth, KTM, HUN, 80 15, Marcus Schiffer, KTM, GER, 71 16, Aigar Leok, Yamaha, EST, 60 17, Julien Bill, Honda, CHE, 51 18, James Noble, KTM, GBR, 48 19, Kevin Strijbos, Kawasaki, BEL, 36 20, Tom Church, Kawasaki, GBR, 31 25, Carlos Campano, Yamaha, ESP, 15 Manufacturer Standings 01/06/2008 Pos., Manufacturer, Points 1, Yamaha, 225 2, Suzuki, 221 3, Kawasaki, 207 4, KTM, 206 5, Honda, 188 6, TM, 27 7, Aprilia, 1 ---------- RACE REPORT - 01/06/2008 Second victory in a row for Cairoli MX2-GP World Champion Antonio Cairoli entertained the vast crowd of 41,000 people at Mallory Park and the British Grand Prix by guiding his nimble Yamaha Red Bull De Carli YZ250F to a second victory in a row and his third of the season. The sixth round of fifteen in the 2008 FIM MX2-GP series took place under grey skies and among the rough and tricky terrain of the brand new venue but the Sicilian was able to shine brightly to regain the red number plate as world championship leader. Mallory Park is steeped in road racing and motorsport history and can now add GP motocross among its chronicles. The course boasted some of the biggest jumps seen so far this year, although the new dirt cut up quickly the resulting deep ruts and single line in many places meant that overtaking was not easy. Cairoli began the weekend in fine fashion with his fourth consecutive pole position and a comprehensive triumph in his qualification sprint. An average start, caused when he mistimed the gate, meant that he circulated in fourth and then third position for long periods of Moto1. Eventually he was able to increase his pace to catch Tommy Searle and a block-pass saw him rise into second even though Searle did not read the move and fell to the floor. Cairoli raised the temperature of the race in the closing stages as he drew to the back of Rattray and looked poised to strike for the lead until he was baulked by a back-marker on the last lap. Building on his second position and judging the gatedrop better for Moto2 the defending number one went to lead through the first few corners and then never looked back. Searle attempted to follow the Yamaha Red Bull De Carli representative but Cairoli remained mostly undisturbed to collect his fifth win from twelve motos. He also took possession of the red plate and helped give Yamaha an 8 point lead in the manufacturer's standings. Second highest YZ250F rider on the day was 3C's Manuel Monni, who scored 8th place overall for his second best finish of 2008 thus far. The Italian rode to 7th position in Moto1 which was his finest effort since the rain-hit Spanish GP, where he made the podium for the first time. In the second race he was involved in a multi-rider crash at the start and also fell again in the formative stages. He nevertheless came back to a respectable 13th. Nico Aubin had a hard weekend and never really found an effective speed or rhythm around the circuit. The Frenchman tried to push and gave maximum effort but his pace was not enough for the top five. A crash saw him lose a mid-top ten position but he recovered for 8th. A mechanical problem curtailed his involvement in Moto2. Cairoli's team-mate, Matteo Bonini, had a decent first race with 8th place; his best finish of the season to-date. Sadly he was caught in the same incident as Monni at the commencement of Moto2 and a damaged front brake meant that he tried but ultimately could not make the points. The Italian was 15th overall. Utag Yamaha.com's Martin Barr was back in action after recovering from a broken collarbone but lacked race fitness and was not inside the points. Yamaha Ricci Racing's Davide Guarneri received some positive news last week. The Italian was initially feared to be out for a sizeable part of the season with broken ligaments in his right knee. Further examinations revealed that he has actually strained two ligaments and could even be on the entry list for the Grand Prix of France in two weeks time. Cairoli is leading the championship by one point from Rattray. Aubin is fourth but 75 points from the top three. St Jean d'Angely, near the west coast of France, is the venue for round six in a fortnight. Antonio Cairoli, Yamaha Red Bull De Carli, 1st: "It was a good weekend for me, I just had a bit of trouble at the start and this is something I will work on. I was lucky in the first moto because I found a hole in the pack in the first corner and then could get back to fourth from seventh place. When Shaun crashed I pushed hard to pass Tommy and then again to catch Tyla, but he rode really well and I had a problem with a lapped rider. I saw the door was open when I overtook Tommy. He did not slow when I went through, we touched and he went down. For sure it was not my intention to hit him. The second race was really good and I take confidence from a good start like that. We are very close together in the championship now and it will be a hard season ahead but I am enjoying it." Nico Aubin, Yamaha Ricci Racing, 16th: "I felt better than I did yesterday and my bike worked really well but for some reason I could not get going in the motos. I had two good starts but I was too slow at the beginning of the first heat and I crashed down to 12th before finding a way back to 8th. It was not good but the best I could do. In the second race I felt I had better speed and better lines but when I started to push I had a little problem with the bike and the exhaust. It was a mistake and I am disappointed but these things happen. I have pushed a lot with the training and now I feel tired so I think I will make a blood test in Belgium this week because the team is working hard but I can't give them the result." Matteo Bonini, Yamaha Red Bull De Carli, 15th: "I made a bad start in the first moto but afterwards my rhythm was very good and to finish eighth was a decent result. In the second race I crashed at the start and lost a lot of time to recover and restart the bike. The front brake was broken so it was difficult to ride fast, so I just aimed for some points and could not make it. I am disappointed because I was quick on this track but I feel my level is improving each GP." Manuel Monni, 3CRacing, 8th: "I'm quite satisfied with the result and I liked the track today. In the second moto I had my line cut at the start by Rattray and crashed and also stopped when there were many riders in a group stationary in front of me. I pushed back to 13th. The first moto was pretty good, I made some decent points." Race 1 - 19 Laps Pos., Rider, Manu., Nat., Total Time 1, Tyla Rattray, KTM, RSA, 39'19.887 2, Antonio Cairoli, Yamaha, ITA, 0'0.558 3, Tommy Searle, KTM, GBR, 0'41.901 4, Shaun Simpson, KTM, GBR, 0'53.881 5, Anthony Boissiere, KTM, FRA, 0'58.662 6, Stephen Sword, Kawasaki, GBR, 1'4.178 7, Manuel Monni, Yamaha, ITA, 1'12.700 8, Matteo Bonini, Yamaha, ITA, 1'16.956 9, Nicolas Aubin, Yamaha, FRA, 1'23.438 10, Rui Goncalves, KTM, POR, 1'25.627 11, Wyatt Avis, Honda, RSA, 1'26.937 12, Gregory Aranda, Kawasaki, FRA, 1'27.688 13, Marvin Musquin, Honda, FRA, 1'30.534 14, Shannon Terreblanche, Suzuki, RSA, 1'32.180 15, Steven Frossard, Kawasaki, FRA, 1'32.354 16, Xavier Boog, Suzuki, FRA, 1'33.738 17, Joel Roelants, KTM, BEL, 1'36.546 18, Alessandro Lupino, Yamaha, ITA, 1'37.561 19, Elliott Banks-Browne, Suzuki, GBR, 2'59.301 20, Dennis Verbruggen, Yamaha, BEL, -1 Laps Race 2 - 19 Laps Pos., Rider, Manu., Nat., Total Time 1, Antonio Cairoli, Yamaha, ITA, 40'4.833 2, Tommy Searle, KTM, GBR, 0'5.609 3, Steven Frossard, Kawasaki, FRA, 0'37.874 4, Tyla Rattray, KTM, RSA, 0'50.806 5, Stephen Sword, Kawasaki, GBR, 0'52.032 6, Xavier Boog, Suzuki, FRA, 1'0.405 7, Shaun Simpson, KTM, GBR, 1'2.484 8, Jeremy Tarroux, KTM, FRA, 1'3.046 9, Anthony Boissiere, KTM, FRA, 1'12.706 10, Mickael Musquin, Honda, FRA, 1'13.814 11, Joel Roelants, KTM, BEL, 1'15.004 12, Gautier Paulin, Kawasaki, FRA, 1'31.857 13, Manuel Monni, Yamaha, ITA, 1'34.266 14, Julien Vanni, KTM, FRA, 1'39.689 15, Carl Nunn, Suzuki, GBR, 1'41.157 16, Rui Goncalves, KTM, POR, 1'42.272 17, Gregory Aranda, Kawasaki, FRA, 1'47.964 18, Gert Krestinov, KTM, EST, 1'49.847 19, Neville Bradshaw, Honda, RSA, 1'55.799 20, Wyatt Avis, Honda, RSA, -1 Laps Rider Standings 01/06/2008 Pos., Rider, Manu., Nat., Points 1, Antonio Cairoli, Yamaha, ITA, 243 2, Tyla Rattray, KTM, RSA, 242 3, Tommy Searle, KTM, GBR, 233 4, Nicolas Aubin, Yamaha, FRA, 158 5, Shaun Simpson, KTM, GBR, 156 6, Rui Goncalves, KTM, POR, 148 7, Stephen Sword, Kawasaki, GBR, 144 8, Manuel Monni, Yamaha, ITA, 119 9, Xavier Boog, Suzuki, FRA, 119 10, Jeremy Van Horebeek, KTM, BEL, 109 11, Davide Guarneri, Yamaha, ITA, 97 12, Gautier Paulin, Kawasaki, FRA, 95 13, Anthony Boissiere, KTM, FRA, 91 14, Steven Frossard, Kawasaki, FRA, 76 15, Joel Roelants, KTM, BEL, 68 16, Marvin Musquin, Honda, FRA, 63 17, Jeremy Tarroux, KTM, FRA, 59 18, Gregory Aranda, Kawasaki, FRA, 56 19, Carl Nunn, Suzuki, GBR, 54 20, Erik Eggens, Suzuki, NED, 51 23, Matteo Bonini, Yamaha, ITA, 25 25, Evgeny Bobryshev, Yamaha, RUS, 20 29, Alessandro Lupino, Yamaha, ITA, 13 Manufacturer Standings 01/06/2008 Pos., Manufacturer, Points 1, Yamaha, 283 2, KTM, 275 3, Kawasaki, 182 4, Suzuki, 160 5, Honda, 88
Alex Asigno
Alex Asigno

Corser on the podium as Haga defies pain for points

Troy Corser secured his fourth podium of the 2008 season after scoring second in race one, while his team-mate Noriyuki Haga overcame the pain and weakness of his multiple right collarbone fracture to take sixth place in race two, despite suffering yet another crash in the opening race at Miller Motorsports Park. In the first event, delayed by a starting grid mix-up between a few riders, Corser was only 2.8 seconds from his first win in Yamaha race colours, pushing hard once settled into position behind eventual leader Carlos Checa. He was a strong podium finisher, almost four seconds ahead of third placed rider, Michel Fabrizio. Haga's bravery was rewarded for a time with a strong top five position, but he fell on lap six, luckily on the other side from his broken right collarbone. Shortly after, championship leader Troy Bayliss also fell, causing the following Corser to take sharp avoiding action. In the second race, again won by Checa, Haga was running fifth for much of the time, but got passed by Yukio Kagayama on the last lap. Corser was lying third until he fell on lap 17, losing the front on a fast left-hander, and he was unable to restart his machine. Bayliss had to withdraw from race two, scoring no points and throwing the championship wide open again. Haga is now fifth overall, on 122 points, with Corser one place back, on 121.
Team YZF Yamaha rider Shinichi Nakatomi posted a 16th place finish in race one, just missing points, while Sebastien Gimbert (Yamaha GMT94) was 18th in race one, 17th in race two. David Checa was forced to retire on lap seven of race one and did not race in the second outing due to his recent injury. Troy Corser (2nd and DNF - Yamaha Motor Italia WSB Team) "The first race was pretty good and even the second one was going well although I was having to ride hard in the corners to make up the time. So I pushed a bit too hard. We changed the fork settings between race one and race two and it was better, but it gave a bit less warning. I felt I could have had another podium in that race. Race one was a good confidence booster but I just made a slowish start." Noriyuki Haga (DNF and 6th - Yamaha Motor Italia WSB Team) "In race one I lost grip in the same corner as I did on Saturday. I think I opened the throttle a bit too much at maximum lean angle. In the end it was impossible for me to do more than I did in the second race. I scored ten points more than Troy Bayliss so that is the most important thing. Now I will have an operation to pin my collarbone and be ready for the next race. I was happy to race today because nobody thought I would be able to." Massimo Meregalli (Team Manager, Yamaha Motor Italia WSB Team) "What Noriyuki did was like a miracle; I don't remember anything like it. Probably he will go to California tomorrow to get an operation on his collarbone. Now we are waiting to see if we can schedule in the operation. Today we saw the Troy that we saw in the first two races of the year and I am very pleased about that. He really deserved his podium in race one. The championship is still open and we will start to make up more ground from the next race." Martial Garcia (Team Manager Team YZF Yamaha) "Our choice of tyres was optimistic in race two and after ten laps it was finished. This tyre would have been good if the temperature was higher. We tried an 'A' solution and it was a gamble - but we lost. The bike was good and the top speed was fine, but we tried to make a jump and it was too much." Race 1 - 21 Laps Pos., Rider, Manu., Nat., Total Time 1, Carlos Checa, Honda, ESP, 37'4.991 2, Troy Corser, Yamaha, AUS, 0'2.809 3, Michel Fabrizio, Ducati, ITA, 0'6.546 4, Max Neukirchner, Suzuki, GER, 0'7.764 5, Fonsi Nieto, Suzuki, ESP, 0'16.475 6, Jakub Smrz, Ducati, CZE, 0'17.126 7, Karl Muggeridge, Honda, AUS, 0'17.284 8, Yukio Kagayama, Suzuki, JPN, 0'17.416 9, Max Biaggi, Ducati, ITA, 0'18.117 10, Ryuichi Kiyonari, Honda, JPN, 0'20.467 11, Lorenzo Lanzi, Ducati, ITA, 0'21.742 12, Kenan Sofuoglu, Honda, TUR, 0'27.533 13, Gregorio Lavilla, Honda, ESP, 0'32.609 14, Ruben Xaus, Ducati, ESP, 0'33.165 15, Russel Holland, Honda, AUS, 0'34.182 16, Shinichi Nakatomi, Yamaha, JPN, 0'34.500 17, Ayrton Badovini, Kawasaki, ITA, 0'36.155 18, Sebastien Gimbert, Yamaha, FRA, 0'41.685 19, Makoto Tamada, Kawasaki, JPN, 0'43.579 20, Roberto Rolfo, Honda, ITA, 0'54.195 21, Jason Pridmore, Honda, USA, 1'0.388 22, Vittorio Iannuzzo, Kawasaki, ITA, 1'2.104 23, Scott Jenson, Suzuki, USA, 1'9.953 24, Loic Napoleone, Yamaha, FRA, 1'12.258 Race 2 - 21 Laps Pos., Rider, Manu., Nat., Total Time 1, Carlos Checa, Honda, ESP, 38'44.105 2, Max Neukirchner, Suzuki, GER, 0'3.547 3, Michel Fabrizio, Ducati, ITA, 0'6.613 4, Max Biaggi, Ducati, ITA, 0'7.878 5, Yukio Kagayama, Suzuki, JPN, 0'10.568 6, Noriyuki Haga, Yamaha, JPN, 0'11.539 7, Ryuichi Kiyonari, Honda, JPN, 0'18.381 8, Fonsi Nieto, Suzuki, ESP, 0'20.646 9, Regis Laconi, Kawasaki, FRA, 0'21.264 10, Lorenzo Lanzi, Ducati, ITA, 0'24.863 11, Karl Muggeridge, Honda, AUS, 0'25.672 12, Ayrton Badovini, Kawasaki, ITA, 0'31.711 13, Makoto Tamada, Kawasaki, JPN, 0'35.628 14, Kenan Sofuoglu, Honda, TUR, 0'42.816 15, Gregorio Lavilla, Honda, ESP, 0'45.034 16, Roberto Rolfo, Honda, ITA, 0'50.220 17, Sebastien Gimbert, Yamaha, FRA, 0'50.653 18, Jason Pridmore, Honda, USA, 0'51.188 19, Vittorio Iannuzzo, Kawasaki, ITA, 1'4.533 20, Scott Jenson, Suzuki, USA, 1'12.049 21, Loic Napoleone, Yamaha, FRA, 1'19.221 Rider Standings 01/06/2008 Pos., Rider, Manu., Nat., Points 1, Troy Bayliss, Ducati, AUS, 194 2, Carlos Checa, Honda, ESP, 166 3, Max Neukirchner, Suzuki, GER, 144 4, Fonsi Nieto, Suzuki, ESP, 126 5, Noriyuki Haga, Yamaha, JPN, 122 6, Troy Corser, Yamaha, AUS, 121 7, Ruben Xaus, Ducati, ESP, 92 8, Michel Fabrizio, Ducati, ITA, 87 9, Max Biaggi, Ducati, ITA, 85 10, Ryuichi Kiyonari, Honda, JPN, 80 11, Yukio Kagayama, Suzuki, JPN, 73 12, Gregorio Lavilla, Honda, ESP, 63 13, Lorenzo Lanzi, Ducati, ITA, 60 14, Jakub Smrz, Ducati, CZE, 51 15, Karl Muggeridge, Honda, AUS, 49 20, Shinichi Nakatomi, Yamaha, JPN, 16 23, Sebastien Gimbert, Yamaha, FRA, 6 24, David Checa, Yamaha, ESP, 5 Manufacturer Standings 01/06/2008 Pos., Manufacturer, Points 1, Ducati, 249 2, Yamaha, 201 3, Suzuki, 191 4, Honda, 185 5, Kawasaki, 51
Alex Asigno
Alex Asigno

Seventh heaven for Rossi as he takes runaway Mugello victory

Valentino Rossi brought the house down once again in Mugello today with an emotional seventh straight victory at his home track in front of 96,000 adoring fans. It was the Fiat Yamaha Team Rider's ninth win in total and fifth for Yamaha at this track and also his third win in a row this season, the first time he has won three consecutive races since 2005. His 91st victory is also a first for Bridgestone at this track. Starting from pole for the first time in almost a year, Rossi set nerves on edge when he slipped a few places at the start, exiting turn one in fourth. He soon passed his compatriot Loris Capirossi however and crossed the line for the first time hot on the heels of Stoner and Pedrosa. Lap three saw him pass Pedrosa and then Stoner next time around, leaving him in the lead. From then on it was the Italian's race and he stretched the gap to more than three seconds at one point, before rolling off slightly in the later stages as the temperature increased. He eventually crossed the line 2.201 seconds clear of Stoner, with his army of yellow-clad tifosi singing him home from the hillsides before invading the track, as is tradition here, and swarming under the podium. It was a day of contrasts for the Fiat Yamaha Team as Jorge Lorenzo, in his 100th Grand Prix, slid out of the race on lap seven when looking strong in sixth place. Rossi is now 12 points clear of Pedrosa at the top of the championship and Lorenzo is 16 points off him in third. The team now heads directly to Barcelona for the Catalunya Grand Prix in just seven day's time. Valentino Rossi 1st 42'31.153; "After winning the championship, winning at Mugello is the next best thing for me and once again today it was like a dream. There is no way to describe the feeling I have standing on the podium in front of all of my fans here and I am so happy that I could win once again today. To win for the seventh time running at my home track is amazing but I felt quite a lot of pressure about this, so it's a relief as well because I didn't want to disappoint everyone! It's been a hard weekend for everyone because of the bad weather and the lack of dry track time, but my crew have done a fantastic job with the bike and my M1 was wonderful today. Once I got to the front I was able to make a gap from the others but towards the end it was unbelievably hot and it became quite hard to ride. I wanted to ease off a bit but Casey was pushing hard behind so I had to keep going. Thanks to all of my team, to the engineers and of course to Bridgestone! I'm really glad that I've been the one to give them their first win at this track and they did a great job today because my tyre worked virtually the same from start to finish. It's been a fantastic day, it's always one of the best moments of the year for me and now we've made a bit more of the gap at the top of the championship so things couldn't be better. Honestly after this weekend I think I would like to go to bed for five days but now we have to go straight to Barcelona!" Davide Brivio Team Manager; "We did it! There has been a lot of pressure on us this weekend because everyone has been talking about Valentino's six wins in a row and expecting him to make it seven, and I think everyone in the team has felt it. Well done to all of them for keeping focused throughout and providing Valentino with the tools to do the job; what a job he did! It's wonderful to watch him ride like this at Mugello it seems no one can stop him here. We've had three wins in a row but there's no time to relax as now we go straight to Barcelona for what we know will be another big battle." Fiat Yamaha Team rider Jorge Lorenzo had a disappointing 100th Grand Prix today, crashing out of the Italian round of the championship on lap seven when running strongly in sixth place. Lorenzo, who is still not quite at 100% after suffering two fractured ankles in China one month ago, had struggled all weekend to find a good set-up, hampered by the lack of dry track time after losing Friday and Saturday morning to rain. Starting from seventh however he seemed to have found a better rhythm and was lapping as fast as the leaders when he made a mistake at turn ten, lost the front and slid into the gravel trap. It was a frustrating end to the weekend for the young Spaniard who was hoping for more after already having taken three poles, a race win and three podiums since he joined Yamaha at the start of the season. Jorge Lorenzo DNF; "We have had a lot of problems this weekend but today for the race I was feeling very motivated and I got a good start. I think I could have fought for the podium and I can only say sorry to my team and to all of my fans; it was my mistake. I shouldn't have tried to pass Dovizioso in this corner, it wasn't the right place and I will learn from it. I am not worried about my mental condition though and I am now focused on Catalunya. Montmelo is coming and this is a good thing because I only have to wait five days until I can ride the bike again. In China we had to make some changes to the bike to enable me to ride in my condition and since then maybe we haven't been exactly right with the set-up, but now we know where the problem is. Congratulations to Rossi, he was the best today!" Daniele Romagnoli Team Manager; "Unfortunately this weekend has been very difficult for us and we weren't able to improve the set-up of the bike enough. We made some changes in the warm-up however and it seemed Jorge had a better pace during the early laps than he has had all weekend. It's a pity that he crashed but these things happen! Now we have to analyse all of the data from this weekend in order to find the right set-up for Barcelona so that we can give Jorge a good package for his home race. Thanks to all the team for doing a great job in difficult circumstances, unfortunately it wasn't to be this weekend but we're going to try to make up for it in Montmelo." Masahiko Nakajima Team Director; "We have felt a lot of pressure here because we wanted Valentino to be able to continue his winning streak and we were worried that, if we lost, the Italians would be very angry with us! We made a huge effort and we are very happy because we have achieved one of the most important objectives of the early part of the season. Now we have many others to achieve and we have to find more energy for Catalunya next week. It's clear that the Bridgestone and Yamaha combination and cooperation is well matched now and we have a lot of confidence in our bike. On behalf of Yamaha I would like to congratulate Valentino and all of the team staff." "I am very sorry for Jorge's crash. We know that from Shanghai onwards he has had a very hard time, even if at the last two races he has been able to get great results, and due to this we've lost the direction for the bike setting a little bit. Also here in Mugello unfortunately we didn't have enough dry conditions to find the right set-up. Despite today however we believe that we can improve this situation and find the right way forward and I know that we will be able to give Jorge a very good bike for his home race in Barcelona next week." Tech 3 Yamaha celebrate double top six finish in Mugello Colin Edwards and James Toseland catapulted the Tech 3 Yamaha team into third place in the coveted Team World Championship standings today after both produced fantastic top six results in front of 96,252 fans at the Italian GP. Edwards produced by far his best Mugello result with fifth place, beating his previous best effort of ninth after he completed a terrific fightback from ninth place in the early stages. No less impressive was the performance of rookie James Toseland, who finished just one place further back in sixth on his first visit to the challenging Mugello circuit. Displaying his trademark aggressive riding style, Toseland's surge through the field was one of the highlights of the 23-lap encounter as he passed the likes of Shinya Nakano, Nicky Hayden, Andrea Dovizioso, Loris Capirossi and Edwards. From lap seven to 15, a fascinating inter-team battle ensued as Edwards chased Toseland, before the American made his decisive move to secure his third top five finish in the last four races. Toseland's heroics moved him back into the top eight in the overall rider standings and equalled his previous best MotoGP result. Colin Edwards 5th +12.530; "I didn't get a great start but it wasn't that bad but before I knew it I'd lost a couple of places. I didn't have the grip in the first two laps that some of the other guys did, so I couldn't stay with them off the corner. Once my tyres started to come in I really started to feel good, but I had to adjust my riding style with the temperature being so much higher than yesterday. The rear was coming round a bit on the entry of the corner and I started braking a lot harder, carrying less corner speed to try and conserve the tyre by picking the bike up and accelerating. It worked and I've got to say I'm happy with fifth. I'm happier with fifth here than I was with third in Le Mans to be honest. I expected to win at Le Mans, but my best result here has been a ninth. I'm not a guy that likes fifth, but on my biggest bogey track ever I'll take it. We just had to run a tyre that we thought would have good endurance because in a situation where there's hardly been any dry track time, you have to play safe. Nobody had done any endurance testing on tyres and I think the tyre I raced on I'd done about two laps on before the race! I have to say a big thanks to Michelin because they did a great job. We had no idea what the tyre would be like after 20 laps but to come from where I did showed we made a good choice. Tyre choice is critical at any track but here even more so because it is such an abrasive surface. It will destroy tyres if you are just a little bit off, so credit to Michelin. I had a good battle with James and its great to see him back in the top six. There were a couple of places like the two Arrabbiata corners where he could pull away. I felt like I could control him if I could pass him, and the key was getting by and being able to pull a gap so he couldn't slipstream back by me. It is another great result for the team today. I'm sure if you had said to Herve that our team would be third in the team points after six races he would have taken it." James Toseland 6th +13.806; "That was a really hard race and I've got to say a massive thanks to my guys at Tech 3 because we found a set-up this morning after losing so much time with the weather and it got me in the top six. Considering the lack of dry time track time my Michelin tyres held up fantastically well too, so a big thanks to them as well. I couldn't have done anymore. I was really close to Shinya Nakano in the first corner and that picked me up and I lost quite a few places. I kept my calm because I knew it was a long race and I didn't want to make the same mistake as I did in Le Mans. I just had to settle down and I didn't do anything stupid. It's nice to follow Colin home on the same package. Colin did a great job as well. I passed him early on but he found his pace. I held him towards the end but he just found those extra few tenths a lap and that was enough for him to pass me. You can tell he has got a lot of experience on these bikes and his bike doesn't do move so much. I feel like I'm wrestling mine a bit too much but I'm still learning. With the setting I had the bike wasn't so stable on the faster corners but my bike is one of the best out there and thanks to Yamaha. I rode hard in that race and if I was riding this hard and finishing fourteenth my morale would be seriously dented, but when I'm riding really well and the package is working well, I'm back in the top six again and this is where I need to be." Herve Poncharal Team Manager; "I am very pleased with today and I couldn't have asked for more from Colin and James. Mugello has been a tough track for Colin and this was his best result by far. The first two laps he lost a few positions but he regained them and he rode a really clever and consistent race. I think honestly today fifth and sixth were the best results we could have reached. I'm even happier about James because he's had some problems in the last couple of races. We never lost confidence in him because he is so motivated and you could see he was not happy with his results. We saw his fighting spirit at the start of the race and his very strong point, which is his aggressive passing, came to the fore again. At the end we were a bit scared when we saw Loris catching up but he kept concentrated and didn't make any mistakes. We leave Mugello with a really strong and positive spirit. Now we are third in the team championship, which is a great achievement for all of the guys.Only two factory teams are in front of us and this is very encouraging for us because we had a lot of pressure here. A lot of current sponsors and potential future sponsors were here, so I think we did a great job to show our potential. Congratulations to Yamaha again for winning that race and for being that strong, they have been magnificent this season." Race 1 - 23 Laps Pos., Rider, Manu., Nat., Total Time 1, Valentino Rossi, Yamaha, ITA, 42'31.153 2, Casey Stoner, Ducati, AUS, 0'2.201 3, Daniel Pedrosa, Honda, ESP, 0'4.867 4, Alex De Angelis, Honda, SMR, 0'6.313 5, Colin Edwards, Yamaha, USA, 0'12.530 6, James Toseland, Yamaha, GBR, 0'13.806 7, Loris Capirossi, Suzuki, ITA, 0'14.447 8, Andrea Dovizioso, Honda, ITA, 0'15.319 9, Shinya Nakano, Honda, JPN, 0'15.327 10, Chris Vermeulen, Suzuki, AUS, 0'30.785 11, Sylvain Guintoli, Ducati, FRA, 0'39.621 12, Toni Elias, Ducati, ESP, 0'50.021 13, Nicky Hayden, Honda, USA, 0'50.440 14, Tadayuki Okada, Honda, JAM, 0'58.849 15, Anthony West, Kawasaki, AUS, 1'0.736 Rider Standings 01/06/2008 Pos., Rider, Manu., Nat., Points 1, Valentino Rossi, Yamaha, ITA, 122 2, Daniel Pedrosa, Honda, ESP, 110 3, Jorge Lorenzo, Yamaha, ESP, 94 4, Casey Stoner, Ducati, AUS, 76 5, Colin Edwards, Yamaha, USA, 58 6, Loris Capirossi, Suzuki, ITA, 51 7, Andrea Dovizioso, Honda, ITA, 44 8, James Toseland, Yamaha, GBR, 43 9, Nicky Hayden, Honda, USA, 40 10, Shinya Nakano, Honda, JPN, 35 11, Chris Vermeulen, Suzuki, AUS, 31 12, John Hopkins, Kawasaki, USA, 26 13, Marco Melandri, Ducati, ITA, 24 14, Alex De Angelis, Honda, SMR, 24 15, Toni Elias, Ducati, ESP, 24 Team Standings 01/06/2008 Pos., Team, Points 1, FIAT Yamaha Team, 216 2, Repsol Honda Team, 150 3, Tech3 Yamaha, 101 4, Ducati Marlboro Team, 100 5, Rizla Suzuki MotoGP, 82 6, Honda Gresini, 59 7, JIR Scot Team, 44 8, Team Alice, 36 9, Kawasaki Racing Team, 32 10, Honda LCR, 18 Manufacturer Standings 01/06/2008 Pos., Manufacturer, Points 1, Yamaha, 140 2, Honda, 110 3, Ducati, 81 4, Suzuki, 54 5, Kawasaki, 29
Alex Asigno
Alex Asigno

Philippaerts third after impressive Italian GP charge

Yamaha Monster Motocross Team's David Philippaerts was not able to win his home Grand Prix at a wet Mantova circuit but certainly captured the admiration and attention of the 29,000 spectators with a captivating flight from last position to fifth spot in the first moto. The performance on his YZ450FM was backed-up by a strong second place in the following race to allow the series leader to tread the third step of the podium and increase his advantage in the standings even further. Josh Coppins was content with sixth position overall. Usually a safe bet for reliable weather the Italian round of the series, on this occasion hosting the fifth round of fifteen in the 2008 FIM MX1-GP World Championship, was wet and overcast for both days. Frequent light rain tested the resolve of the sandy all-weather venue and the Monster Energy-backed riders had to contend with both dry and wet motos during Sunday. A slippery, rough and rutted terrain provided a formidable prospect. Philippaerts, winner of the Starcross International here in February - an event that represented his race debut for the team - was just over half a second from his first pole position on Saturday but second place still marked his best qualification performance in MX1-GP. Coppins had a difficult time on the first day. Set-up issues caused him to lose track time and then he was unable to post a satisfactory lap in qualification. The New Zealander was unable not to get into a groove with the track, of which he openly professes a dislike, but also admitted that the slower, more technical conditions thanks to the rain were more to his benefit. Nevertheless he went to the gate in sixteenth. Considering his handicap Coppins produced two excellent starts. The 31 year old almost had the holeshot in Moto1 and actually accomplished the honour in Moto2. Philippaerts' was holding third position approaching the fourth turn of the opening lap in Moto1 when a rider fell in front of him. The pack was still very congested and the hold-up caused another person to hit the Italian and put him on the ground. Restarting from last the 24 year old took almost two laps to steady himself but then exploded on a 30 minute whirl of lap-times and overtaking moves that saw him pass 16 riders and arrive to fifth position behind his team-mate. His progress was cheered by the crowd on virtually every lap and he deservedly earned plaudits from the team and his followers. Coppins hit the front in Moto2 but was passed by eventual winner Max Nagl. Philippaerts, in third spot and through the first turns safely this time, gave chase to the German but it wasn't until the final circulations that he was able to break down a barrier of some five seconds to the back wheel of the leader. Coppins took another top-five finish with a relatively lonely ride but was satisfied with his day's work. Van Beers'Aigar Leok obtained his best moto result of the season with a decent eighth place in the first moto but the Estonian was unable to finish the second outing. The points table makes favourable reading for the team and also for Yamaha. In just his second season in the category Philippaerts is already setting a high pace for the title. With 28 points advantage over world champion Steve Ramon Philippaerts has a gap of just over one moto. Coppins is keeping close and is only 10 points adrift of the Belgian. Yamaha head the manufacturer's standings by 8 points. The world championship now pauses for a week before the series reconvenes at the new Mallory Park circuit for the British Grand Prix on June 1st. David Philippaerts, Yamaha Monster Motocross Team, 3rd: "Someone went down in front of me and when I was hit from behind I went over the bike that was lying on the ground. It was a big crash and also disappointing because I knew it would be hard to win the GP after that. I tried as hard as I could. I was watching my lap-times and I knew they were fast; I did the best lap of the race near the end and that was a good thing. In the second moto I pushed to get near to Nagl so that he would see me and maybe make a mistake but it was raining a lot and I did not want to make a mistake. I thought of the points and did not take any risks. I wanted to win here but to be on the podium is OK. The bike and the team are so good and this is a big reason why we have this lead in the championship." Josh Coppins, Yamaha Monster Motocross Team, 6th: "It is quite close at the front of the championship and we saw another new winner this weekend. I am the only guy from the first few in the standings who has not won yet, but it will come. I think everyone knows that I have had a hard couple of weeks and I am not riding as well as I would like, so I think we did a good job in the motos; I believe fourth and fifth was not too bad. I closed some points to Ramon and pulled away from Mackenzie. I was pleased with my starts today even if I did ride badly in the first ten minutes of both motos; I was just too slow. In the last ten minutes I am as fast as the leader but I am too stiff and not relaxed in the first moments of the races. My confidence is getting better though. I don't like this track and it is the only one of the fifteen that I struggle with, so that's another reason why I am pleased with the result. I am looking forward to England now; that is like a home GP for me. I like to think I have a chance to win there." Massimo Raspanti, Racing Manager: "This was good for us because from a bad day David still make a positive result. After the first two laps his speed was fantastic in the first moto. Josh was a different rider to the one we saw on Saturday so we are happy for him. He is still third in the championship but gained some points on Ramon." Race 1 - 19 Laps Pos., Rider, Manu., Nat., Total Time 1, Sébastien Pourcel, Kawasaki, FRA, 41'10.667 2, Ken De Dycker, Suzuki, BEL, 0'6.173 3, Marc De Reuver, Honda, NED, 0'8.384 4, Joshua Coppins, Yamaha, NZL, 0'10.939 5, David Philippaerts, Yamaha, ITA, 0'20.259 6, Steve Ramon, Suzuki, BEL, 0'24.082 7, Tanel Leok, Kawasaki, EST, 0'26.078 8, Aigar Leok, Yamaha, EST, 0'39.106 9, Billy MacKenzie, Honda, GBR, 0'41.779 10, Jonathan Barragan, KTM, ESP, 0'45.875 11, Marcus Schiffer, KTM, GER, 0'49.613 12, Maximilian Nagl, KTM, GER, 0'51.609 13, Clement Desalle, Suzuki, BEL, 1'1.909 14, Kornel Nemeth, KTM, HUN, 1'25.208 15, James Noble, KTM, GBR, 1'30.363 16, Loic Leonce, Yamaha, FRA, 1'37.412 17, Alessio Chiodi, TM, ITA, 1'40.828 18, Tom Church, Kawasaki, GBR, 1'44.755 19, Mike Brown, Honda, USA, 1'55.139 20, Carlos Campano, Yamaha, ESP, 2'13.916 Race 2 - 19 Laps Pos., Rider, Manu., Nat., Total Time 1, Maximilian Nagl, KTM, GER, 40'35.621 2, David Philippaerts, Yamaha, ITA, 0'5.258 3, Marc De Reuver, Honda, NED, 0'29.696 4, Billy MacKenzie, Honda, GBR, 0'36.498 5, Joshua Coppins, Yamaha, NZL, 0'40.720 6, Ken De Dycker, Suzuki, BEL, 0'43.055 7, Sébastien Pourcel, Kawasaki, FRA, 0'43.392 8, Tanel Leok, Kawasaki, EST, 1'3.004 9, Steve Ramon, Suzuki, BEL, 1'5.679 10, Manuel Priem, Kawasaki, BEL, 1'25.490 11, Clement Desalle, Suzuki, BEL, 1'39.479 12, Marcus Schiffer, KTM, GER, 1'47.193 13, Tom Church, Kawasaki, GBR, 1'51.099 14, Bradley Anderson, Suzuki, GBR, 1'57.335 15, Mike Brown, Honda, USA, 2'6.591 16, Kornel Nemeth, KTM, HUN, 2'9.944 17, Pierre A. Renet, Suzuki, FRA, 2'11.116 18, Alessio Chiodi, TM, ITA, 2'12.155 19, Lauris Freibergs, Yamaha, LVA, 2'14.916 20, Scott Columb, Suzuki, NZL, -1 Laps Rider Standings 18/05/2008 Pos., Rider, Manu., Nat., Points 1, David Philippaerts, Yamaha, ITA, 187 2, Steve Ramon, Suzuki, BEL, 159 3, Joshua Coppins, Yamaha, NZL, 149 4, Ken De Dycker, Suzuki, BEL, 135 5, Billy MacKenzie, Honda, GBR, 130 6, Sébastien Pourcel, Kawasaki, FRA, 129 7, Marc De Reuver, Honda, NED, 116 8, Maximilian Nagl, KTM, GER, 114 9, Jonathan Barragan, KTM, ESP, 105 10, Tanel Leok, Kawasaki, EST, 98 11, Kornel Nemeth, KTM, HUN, 74 12, Clement Desalle, Suzuki, BEL, 73 13, Mike Brown, Honda, USA, 70 14, Manuel Priem, Kawasaki, BEL, 67 15, Marcus Schiffer, KTM, GER, 59 16, Aigar Leok, Yamaha, EST, 41 17, Julien Bill, Honda, CHE, 38 18, Kevin Strijbos, Kawasaki, BEL, 36 19, Tom Church, Kawasaki, GBR, 31 20, James Noble, KTM, GBR, 29 25, Carlos Campano, Yamaha, ESP, 15 Manufacturer Standings 18/05/2008 Pos., Manufacturer, Points 1, Yamaha, 189 2, Suzuki, 181 3, Kawasaki, 170 4, KTM, 161 5, Honda, 158 6, TM, 26 ---------- RACE REPORT - 18/05/2008 Cairoli lights-up Mantova with second 2008 victory MX2-GP World Champion Antonio Cairoli bounced back from his mishap in Bulgaria, defied two injured ribs and also recovered from a second corner crash - similar to countryman David Philippaerts in MX1-GP - to win his second Grand Prix of the season at Mantova. The fifth round of fifteen in the 2008 series was again cursed by rain; bad weather has now affected four of the five events run so far. 29,000 people still braved the damp conditions to watch the Yamaha Red Bull De Carli rider take his second success in a row after victory in 2007 at the Italian Grand Prix. Despite the grey clouds and rain overnight the MX2-GP motos were thankfully devoid of showers. Cairoli started the weekend positively with a strong performance in his Heat race to earn his third consecutive pole position. The Sicilian needed a pain-killing injection for both days of action but even the rutted and rough Mantova sand did not seem to put him off his stride. The first race started dramatically as the reigning number one - using special colours on his kit and helmet - was felled by Erik Eggens in the second corner. Retrieving his YZ250F Cairoli began one of his 'comeback specials' and over the course of the next 35 minutes and 1 lap passed more than 20 riders to reach an incredible fourth place. The only chance of triumph in front of his many fans lay in his capabilities to own the second moto and the double world champion duly obliged. He set a distance from the pack almost immediately and clinched his fourth race win of the year, and fourth from the last six. Yamaha Ricci Racing's Nico Aubin was unfortunate not to take his first podium finish of the season after he rode brilliantly to celebrate his first chequered flag by beating Tommy Searle in Moto1. The Frenchman led the opening stages of the race before the Briton took control. Aubin was able to keep in his rival's wheel tracks and on lap 14 of 18 regained the advantage. The next sprint was a different affair as Aubin could not find sufficient speed to enter the top five and ended up sixth, for fourth place overall. The top four were separated by only three points in the closest GP ranking of the season. Team-mate Davide Guarneri was disappointed to have to withdraw from the Grand Prix. The Italian suffered a slow but awkward crash on Saturday and immediately feared he has broken a ligament in his right knee. Although the extent of the damage will not be known for a few days and when the Spanish GP winner has a scan, Guarneri - who has already suffered a similar type of injury - was understandably feeling low after this latest set-back. The rest of the De Carli team made the qualification cut. Matteo Bonini, still finding his way back to full speed after recovering from a dislocated shoulder, endured a hard day of work. He was out of the points in Moto1 but rallied to take fifteenth for six points in Moto2. Alessandro Lupino finished in the points on both occasions for the first time in 2008. The teenager was twentieth in each moto. The MX2-GP stars, like their MX1-GP counterparts, will be in action again in two weeks time when the British Grand Prix, at a new track within the Mallory Park motorsports venue, hosts the sixth stop in the 2008 FIM competition. Antonio Cairoli, Yamaha Red Bull De Carli, 1st: "For sure I wanted to win both races but the second corner was a big problem. Out of the gate I started well but then I had some contact with Tommy. I tried for a good line in the second corner but Eggens was on the inside of me and decided to come across to the outside and hit my front wheel. I lost time taking and restarting the bike but then I pushed hard. I thought that it might still be possible to win the GP so I gave it everything I had. I put my head down and concentrated on good lap-times and catching the next rider. We have had a lot of wet races now and these are not my favourite conditions; although the track was not as slippery as Bulgaria!" Nico Aubin, Yamaha Ricci Racing, 4th: "I was very happy with that first moto. When Tommy passed me he was very fast but he was attacking so much and I could still follow him. I knew he would not be able to do that the whole race so I kept close and picked the right moment. I don't know what happened in that second moto. I did not get the start I wanted but it was not that bad. I just could not find the same speed as the first heat. I tried some new lines but it wouldn't come. It was positive to get that win but my goal right now is to make good results in both races." Matteo Bonini, Yamaha Red Bull De Carli, 21st: "During the week I could not train well because I was very tired after Bulgaria, which was my first GP of the year. I did not get a good start in the first moto and there were a lot of problems in the second corner that held me up. I tried hard to push and regain positions but I felt short of breath and had to lower my rhythm. Things were better in the second moto, including my start but after 20 minutes I felt tired and then just looked to getting as many points as I could. I took one more position on the last lap which was good but overall I still frustrated because I worked very hard in the winter and because of the injury it is like I am starting at zero. At least it can only get better." Race 1 - 18 Laps Pos., Rider, Manu., Nat., Total Time 1, Nicolas Aubin, Yamaha, FRA, 39'32.202 2, Tommy Searle, KTM, GBR, 0'0.972 3, Tyla Rattray, KTM, RSA, 0'22.192 4, Antonio Cairoli, Yamaha, ITA, 0'40.411 5, Rui Goncalves, KTM, POR, 0'52.926 6, Stephen Sword, Kawasaki, GBR, 1'16.135 7, Shaun Simpson, KTM, GBR, 1'20.448 8, Jeremy Van Horebeek, KTM, BEL, 1'24.259 9, Xavier Boog, Suzuki, FRA, 1'30.111 10, Steven Frossard, Kawasaki, FRA, 1'31.529 11, Gautier Paulin, Kawasaki, FRA, 1'39.228 12, Manuel Monni, Yamaha, ITA, 1'45.136 13, Marvin Musquin, Honda, FRA, 1'45.719 14, Gregory Aranda, Kawasaki, FRA, 1'49.505 15, Jeremy Tarroux, KTM, FRA, 1'56.218 16, Anthony Boissiere, KTM, FRA, 1'56.758 17, Gert Krestinov, KTM, EST, 2'3.286 18, Kounsith Vongsana, Kawasaki, FRA, 2'8.805 19, Carl Nunn, Suzuki, GBR, 2'12.605 20, Alessandro Lupino, Yamaha, ITA, -1 Laps Race 2 - 18 Laps Pos., Rider, Manu., Nat., Total Time 1, Antonio Cairoli, Yamaha, ITA, 40'31.009 2, Tyla Rattray, KTM, RSA, 0'18.667 3, Tommy Searle, KTM, GBR, 0'23.490 4, Shaun Simpson, KTM, GBR, 1'8.418 5, Steven Frossard, Kawasaki, FRA, 1'10.863 6, Nicolas Aubin, Yamaha, FRA, 1'21.967 7, Jeremy Van Horebeek, KTM, BEL, 1'36.613 8, Erik Eggens, Suzuki, NED, 1'55.742 9, Gautier Paulin, Kawasaki, FRA, 2'1.461 10, Carl Nunn, Suzuki, GBR, 2'7.780 11, Rui Goncalves, KTM, POR, -1 Laps 12, Manuel Monni, Yamaha, ITA, -1 Laps 13, Anthony Boissiere, KTM, FRA, -1 Laps 14, Matti Seistola, Honda, FIN, -1 Laps 15, Matteo Bonini, Yamaha, ITA, -1 Laps 16, Gert Krestinov, KTM, EST, -1 Laps 17, Elliott Banks-Browne, Suzuki, GBR, -1 Laps 18, Jason Dougan, Suzuki, GBR, -1 Laps 19, Jeremy Tarroux, KTM, FRA, -1 Laps 20, Alessandro Lupino, Yamaha, ITA, -1 Laps Rider Standings 18/05/2008 Pos., Rider, Manu., Nat., Points 1, Tyla Rattray, KTM, RSA, 199 2, Antonio Cairoli, Yamaha, ITA, 196 3, Tommy Searle, KTM, GBR, 191 4, Nicolas Aubin, Yamaha, FRA, 146 5, Rui Goncalves, KTM, POR, 132 6, Shaun Simpson, KTM, GBR, 124 7, Stephen Sword, Kawasaki, GBR, 113 8, Jeremy Van Horebeek, KTM, BEL, 109 9, Xavier Boog, Suzuki, FRA, 99 10, Manuel Monni, Yamaha, ITA, 97 11, Davide Guarneri, Yamaha, ITA, 97 12, Gautier Paulin, Kawasaki, FRA, 86 13, Anthony Boissiere, KTM, FRA, 63 14, Marvin Musquin, Honda, FRA, 55 15, Joel Roelants, KTM, BEL, 54 16, Erik Eggens, Suzuki, NED, 51 17, Steven Frossard, Kawasaki, FRA, 50 18, Carl Nunn, Suzuki, GBR, 48 19, Jeremy Tarroux, KTM, FRA, 46 20, Gregory Aranda, Kawasaki, FRA, 43 23, Evgeny Bobryshev, Yamaha, RUS, 20 28, Matteo Bonini, Yamaha, ITA, 12 29, Alessandro Lupino, Yamaha, ITA, 10 Manufacturer Standings 18/05/2008 Pos., Manufacturer, Points 1, Yamaha, 236 2, KTM, 228 3, Kawasaki, 147 4, Suzuki, 138 5, Honda, 67 ---------- RACE REPORT - 18/05/2008 Prumm makes the podium in Italy Double FIM Women's World Cup number one Katherine Prummtook her Van Beers Racing YZ250F to second position for her first podium result of the season at Mantova for the Italian Grand Prix and the second round of five in the first ever FIM Women's World Championship. The 19 year old underwent a scan during the week that confirmed the ACL in her right knee has detached but made the decision to compete in Mantova regardless and aim for her first podium. After taking third position in a wet practice - indeed the whole weekend would be hit by rain, creating a rougher and slower sandy terrain - Prumm launched out of the gate inside the top four of both motos. The first race saw her trailing winner Stephanie Laier for second place and she enjoyed a brief but entertaining tussle with series leader Livia Lancelot in the second moto until the French rider stalled her machine. Prumm, naturally, still lacks a little confidence and speed in the corners but took another runner-up position to Laier to strengthen her position in the standings. The points table has narrowed and Prumm lies just two behind Lancelot. Prumm heads back to her home this week and will begin a programme of physical work to build-up the required muscles in her knee to help compensate for the missing ligament. She will not be in Europe again until mid-June to prepare for round three of the series which will take place at the Teutschenthal circuit for the Grand Prix of Germany. Katherine Prumm, Yamaha Van Beers Racing, 2nd: "It was good to make the podium this weekend but to be honest I am not so happy with my riding. My confidence had taken a hit in Bulgaria and while things were better this weekend I still did not find the speed I know I am capable of and that I do in practice. I fought with Livia and she did not have the best day so it is positive that I am back in the championship hunt. Despite the knee I want to be here fighting for the championship. I will work the muscles I need to and I hope I can build my confidence to get faster. It is good to see how the championship is progressing. I was surprised when I came over for the first GP and found a lot of the girls are now members of teams and it is great that the manufacturers are supporting us. It was a big change for me to switch to Yamaha but I love the engine of the YZ and every weekend I am learning something new about the bike with the different conditions that we find." Race 1 - 10 Laps Pos., Rider, Manu., Nat., Total Time 1, Stephanie Laier, KTM, GER, 25'52.655 2, Katherine Prumm, Yamaha, NZL, 0'22.005 3, Larissa Papenmeier, Suzuki, GER, 0'31.040 4, Maria Franke, Kawasaki, GER, 0'39.712 5, Ashley Fiolek, Honda, USA, 0'44.853 6, Livia Lancelot, Kawasaki, FRA, 0'53.707 7, Marianne Veenstra, Suzuki, NED, 1'34.577 8, Nicky Van Wordragen, KTM, NED, 1'43.842 9, Elien De Winter, KTM, BEL, 1'46.214 10, Brenda Wagemans, KTM, BEL, 2'4.474 Race 2 - 10 Laps Pos., Rider, Manu., Nat., Total Time 1, Stephanie Laier, KTM, GER, 25'39.392 2, Katherine Prumm, Yamaha, NZL, 0'17.045 3, Livia Lancelot, Kawasaki, FRA, 0'22.528 4, Ashley Fiolek, Honda, USA, 0'25.084 5, Larissa Papenmeier, Suzuki, GER, 0'25.835 6, Sandra Adriansson, Suzuki, SWE, 1'32.232 7, Elin Mann, KTM, SWE, 1'36.685 8, Elien De Winter, KTM, BEL, 1'49.657 9, Nicky Van Wordragen, KTM, NED, 1'51.538 10, Marianne Veenstra, Suzuki, NED, 1'53.496 Rider Standings 18/05/2008 Pos., Rider, Manu., Nat., Points 1, Livia Lancelot, Kawasaki, FRA, 82 2, Katherine Prumm, Yamaha, NZL, 80 3, Ashley Fiolek, Honda, USA, 72 4, Larissa Papenmeier, Suzuki, GER, 61 5, Maria Franke, Kawasaki, GER, 58 6, Elien De Winter, KTM, BEL, 53 7, Marianne Veenstra, Suzuki, NED, 51 8, Stephanie Laier, KTM, GER, 50 9, Elin Mann, KTM, SWE, 45 10, Nicky Van Wordragen, KTM, NED, 37 11, Sandra Adriansson, Suzuki, SWE, 30 12, Marielle De Mol, Yamaha, NED, 12 13, Anne Borchers, Suzuki, GER, 11 14, Niki Scott, Kawasaki, NZL, 11 15, Brenda Wagemans, KTM, BEL, 11 Manufacturer Standings 18/05/2008 Pos., Manufacturer, Points 1, Kawasaki, 85 2, KTM, 81 3, Yamaha, 80 4, Suzuki, 76 5, Honda, 72
Alex Asigno
Alex Asigno