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Alex Asigno
It may 'only' have been the battle for second place in the 2006 Superbike World Championship, but Yamaha Motor Italia's Noriyuki Haga and Honda rider James Toseland certainly served up an end of season thriller at Magny Cours today.
Along with outgoing world champion Troy Corser (Suzuki), Haga and Toseland gave the fans probably the best racing of the year as they traded positions corner after corner in the day's opening race.
Haga did a remarkable job to even catch the leading group after running wide under braking on the first lap. That put the Japanese rider way down to 13th in the pack but, undeterred, Nitro Nori lit the afterburners to charge through the pack and challenge for the lead by lap nine of the 23 lap race.
The leading quartet, with new world champion Troy Bayliss (Ducati) hanging in the background, traded places with the outcome of the race hanging in the balance until the final lap, with Toseland leading the Yamaha man across the line by one tenth of a second, Corser no more than a few lengths behind.
 
Race two proved to be more of the same for the fans, although this time Haga was unable to challenge for the lead as Bayliss, Corser and Toseland fought it out a few seconds ahead of him. The Japanese rider had retained the same machine settings for the second outing, but found that his rear tyre performance was less impressive than in the opener. Bayliss went on to take his 12th win from 24 races, with Corser second and Toseland third. The result sees Haga repeat his 2006 performance, ending the year third in the standings.
Haga's team-mate Andrew Pitt ended his best ever season with a fine fifth place in race two. The Australian suffered disappointment in the opener when he slid off on lap two, but showed typical grit to pull his R1 out of the sand trap and finish the race, albeit just outside the points. In the second outing Pitt struggled for front end feel and ran just behind the leading group to take fifth at the flag and fifth in the championship, missing out on fourth place to Corser by just five points.
 
Sebastien Gimbert   
The Yamaha Motor France squad had a mixed day at their home race. Shinichi Nakatomi was the top individual performer, showing stunning speed as race one wore on to charge through to tenth, although the Japanese rider ended his debut world championship season in the gravel, crashing out of race two. Countryman Norick Abe took 13th and 12th place finishes, with local favourite Sebastien Gimbert retired from the opener with brake problems and took 11th in race two. In the championship, Abe finished 13th, Nakatomi 17th and Gimbert 19th on the kit part development bikes.
Noriyuki Haga (Yamaha Motor Italia) "The first race was good fun with some big fighting with James and Troy. I made a mistake under braking but the bike worked very good and I was able to push hard and catch the leaders. For the second race we kept everything the same but unfortunately rear tyre performance was not as good and after two or three laps I knew that it would be very hard to win the race. I am a little disappointed not to be able to take second in the championship today. I only finished 10 points behind Toseland in the championship and it for sure there were some places where we lost points."
 
Andrew Pitt   
Andrew Pitt (Yamaha Motor Italia) "We went for a softer front tyre in race two and on the brakes, going into corners, it was moving a little bit. It was never one I really liked, but I used the harder one in race one and crashed. I didn't quite have the speed in the early laps, and I just hung in there and got back up to fifth, which was an ok result to end the season on. We've had a good season I'd like to thank Yamaha for giving me this opportunity to run at the front of the championship for the past two years."
 
Shinichi Nakatomi   
Norick Abe (Yamaha Motor France) "So-so! This weekend everything was pretty bad with the set-up in qualifying and afterwards. Other times we can improve on race day but this time it maybe got worse. The lap times were not as good as in qualifying. I don't know why. I have raced two years in this team and everyone is so kind, it is like a family now."
Shinichi Nakatomi (Yamaha Motor France) "In race one I had a good finishing position, up on what I could do normally. In race two we changed the settings a little bit and they were better, and I was behind Walker and Kagayama. I pushed and pushed but the front washed out and I fell down."
 
Sebastien Gimbert (Yamaha Motor France) "My races were unbelievable. I had a problem in race one with a warped brake rotor and no brakes. Then I had no grip in the second race. But I finished 11th and scored good points."
Massimo Meregalli (Yamaha Motor Italia) "Having both riders in the top five is a fine achievement for our team, although there has to be some disappointment as our target at the start of the season was to go for the title. We've improved a lot this year and it gives us a good base for next season. Today Noriyuki made the same tyre choice for the two races, but in the second the rear did not work the same. In the first race it had been perfect but in the second the bike started to slide after around two laps. Andrew was not so confident with the front end today and couldn't push as hard as he wanted to. In the end he did the best he could and fifth in the championship is a good result."
Martial Garcia (Team Manager - Yamaha Motor France) "Sebastien was not so lucky with a warped disc in race one. In race two, finishing between Barros and Abe was a good result. Abe got some useful points for the team, and it was too bad that he did not have enough grip. The tenth of Nakatomi was very nice, although he fell in race two. I would like to thank everyone for their efforts in 2006."
Circuit Length: 4411 Temp: 22 Crowd: 61000 Weather: Sunny     2006 WSB Magny Cours 08/10/2006 Race 1 - 23 Laps Pos. Rider Manu. Nat. Total Time 1 James Toseland Honda GBR 38'53.856 2 Noriyuki Haga Yamaha JPN 0'0.115 3 Troy Corser Suzuki AUS 0'0.412 4 Troy Bayliss Ducati AUS 0'3.000 5 Yukio Kagayama Suzuki JPN 0'7.152 6 Chris Walker Kawasaki GBR 0'14.906 7 Alex Barros Honda BRA 0'17.330 8 Lorenzo Lanzi Ducati ITA 0'17.474 9 Regis Laconi Kawasaki FRA 0'25.257 10 Shinichi Nakatomi Yamaha JPN 0'25.883 11 Michel Fabrizio Honda ITA 0'31.542 12 Max Neukirchner Suzuki GER 0'33.422 13 Norick Abe Yamaha JPN 0'36.159 14 Roberto Rolfo Ducati ITA 0'40.867 15 Joshua Brookes Kawasaki AUS 0'50.110 18 Andrew Pitt Yamaha AUS 0'57.659
Race 2 - 23 Laps Pos. Rider Manu. Nat. Total Time 1 Troy Bayliss Ducati AUS 38'54.239 2 Troy Corser Suzuki AUS 0'1.282 3 James Toseland Honda GBR 0'3.388 4 Noriyuki Haga Yamaha JPN 0'8.524 5 Andrew Pitt Yamaha AUS 0'11.836 6 Karl Muggeridge Honda AUS 0'14.126 7 Lorenzo Lanzi Ducati ITA 0'15.217 8 Chris Walker Kawasaki GBR 0'18.212 9 Yukio Kagayama Suzuki JPN 0'20.224 10 Alex Barros Honda BRA 0'23.387 11 Sebastien Gimbert Yamaha FRA 0'28.965 12 Norick Abe Yamaha JPN 0'33.071 13 Michel Fabrizio Honda ITA 0'33.125 14 Max Neukirchner Suzuki GER 0'35.223 15 Pierfrancesco Chili Honda ITA 0'40.136
Best Lap Rider Manu. Nat. Total Time Troy Bayliss Ducati AUS 1'40.370
 Rider Standings 08/10/2006
Pos. Rider Manu. Nat. Points 1. Troy Bayliss Ducati AUS 406 2. James Toseland Honda GBR 320 3. Noriyuki Haga Yamaha JPN 313 4. Alex Barros Honda BRA 240 5. Andrew Pitt Yamaha AUS 239 6. Troy Corser Suzuki AUS 234 7. Yukio Kagayama Suzuki JPN 204 8. Lorenzo Lanzi Ducati ITA 160 9. Chris Walker Kawasaki GBR 150 10. Fonsi Nieto Kawasaki ESP 139 11. Michel Fabrizio Honda ITA 122 12. Karl Muggeridge Honda AUS 113 13. Norick Abe Yamaha JPN 108 14. Regis Laconi Kawasaki FRA 103 15. Ruben Xaus Ducati ESP 103 17. Shinichi Nakatomi Yamaha JPN 48 21. Sebastien Gimbert Yamaha FRA 18
Manufacturer Standings 08/10/2006
Pos. Manufacturer Points 1. Ducati 425 2. Honda 398 3. Yamaha 388 4. Suzuki 352 5. Kawasaki 221 6. Petronas 19
RACE REPORT 08/10/2006 Curtain takes runners-up slot in France   Kevin Curtain   
Yamaha Motor Germany's Kevin Curtain took the runners-up spot in the 2006 Supersport World Championship after crashing out at Magny Cours today.
The Australian needed to finish eighth or higher to deny Sebastien Charpentier (Honda) the world title for the second year, but crashed out of fourth place on the eighth lap of 22. Charpentier went on to win the race from team-mate Kenan Sofuoglu and become the first rider to win the championship two times.
Curtain's still-injured team-mate Broc Parkes rode a brilliant race to take the final podium position. The Australian, who won at Magny Cours 12 months ago, stayed with the leaders for the opening part of the race but slipped back to take the flag 10 seconds behind the leader.
Yamaha GMT94's David Checa finished fifth at his team's home race, his best result since taking fourth place at Misano in June, although it was a bad end to the season for Yamaha Team Italia. Massimo Roccoli crashed out at the final chicane on the second lap while team-mate Gianluca Vizziello scored just two points for 14th position.
The results see Charpentier win the title by seven points from Curtain, with Sofuoglu taking third ahead of Parkes. Roccoli who, like Curtain and Parkes, won one round on his YZF-R6 this year, ends the year in sixth.
Yamaha has re-signed Curtain and Parkes to lead its world supersport challenge in 2006. Roccoli has also demonstrated his commitment to the brand by signing a two year extension to his contract with Yamaha's Italian distributor, Yamaha Motor Italia.
Kevin Curtain (Yamaha Motor Germany) "I just don't know what to say. It all seemed too good to be true and we came back to reality with a bang. That's my first race crash of the year and I just can't believe that it had to happen today. I don't really know what happened, I was running with Checa and was trying to pull a bit of a gap on him as we had almost touched a few times. I was going through the long left when I just lost the front and went down. I'm feeling down just now but I know that I'll be able to refocus and come back to challenge for the title next year."
 
Broc Parkes   
Broc Parkes (Yamaha Motor Germany) "It's been a very disappointing day for us and I can't believe that Kevin hasn't won the championship. Our team has put so much into this season and after Brands Hatch it seemed that we had two chances at the title. Sebastien has taken the opportunity and I must congratulate him and his team, because they have done a great job. After Assen I lost my own chance of winning the championship when I crashed and got injured, but today I was ready and willing to help Kevin. I thought that he was behind me, in fourth, and it was only when the race finished I knew that he was out. I'm so disappointed for Kevin but I feel that I have ridden well in these last two races. I like this circuit and fully fit I could probably have run with Sebastien and Kenan today. I felt the power drain out of my body at about half distance and I was happy to bring it home on the podium. I want to win the title so badly next year and I'll be training hard over the winter to make sure that we come back fitter and stronger."
David Checa (Yamaha GMT94) "I got a good start and I thought I had a shot at the podium but the headwind lowered our top speed today. I was chasing Curtain when he just lost the front and I had a similar experience when I lost both wheels. I thought I would crash but the bike picked itself up. I think we showed what we could do today, with a little more power we might have been further up."
Gianluca Vizziello (Yamaha Team Italia) "I destroyed my first bike in the morning warm-up and I had to ride my spare bike in the race, with which I do not have as good a feeling. I tried to get some points for the championship but I am sorry for the team as I could not make a good performance today."
Massimo Roccoli (Yamaha Team Italia) "I was trying to recover from a bad start when my front wheel touched the kerb and I went down at the final chicane. I'm disappointed, because I lost any chance of fifth in the championship, but it has been a good season with our win at Misano the definite high point."
Circuit Length: 4411 Temp: 27 Crowd: 61000 Weather: Sunny     2006 WSS Magny Cours 08/10/2006 Race 1 - 22 Laps Pos. Rider Manu. Nat. Total Time 1 Sebastien Charpentier Honda FRA 38'14.775 2 Kenan Sofuoglu Honda TUR 0'3.779 3 Broc Parkes Yamaha AUS 0'10.879 4 Gianluca Nannelli Ducati ITA 0'19.556 5 David Checa Yamaha ESP 0'22.790 6 Robbin Harms Honda DNK 0'25.745 7 Katsuaki Fujiwara Honda JPN 0'29.437 8 Johan Stigefelt Honda SWE 0'31.609 9 Stephane Chambon Kawasaki FRA 0'35.190 10 Yoann Tibero Honda FRA 0'37.552 11 Simone Sanna Honda ITA 0'52.996 12 Mauro Sanchini Yamaha ITA 0'55.346 13 Gregory Leblanc Honda FRA 0'55.462 14 Stuart Easton Ducati GBR 0'59.631 15 Vesa Kallio Yamaha FIN 1'4.252
Best Lap Rider Manu. Nat. Total Time Sebastien Charpentier Honda FRA 1'42.506
 Rider Standings 08/10/2006
Pos. Rider Manu. Nat. Points 1. Sebastien Charpentier Honda FRA 194 2. Kevin Curtain Yamaha AUS 187 3. Kenan Sofuoglu Honda TUR 157 4. Broc Parkes Yamaha AUS 145 5. Robbin Harms Honda DNK 117 6. Massimo Roccoli Yamaha ITA 96 7. Yoann Tibero Honda FRA 80 8. Johan Stigefelt Honda SWE 70 9. Gianluca Vizziello Yamaha ITA 69 10. Xavi Fores Yamaha ESP 49 11. David Checa Yamaha ESP 44 12. Gianluca Nannelli Ducati ITA 43 13. Katsuaki Fujiwara Honda JPN 39 14. Simone Sanna Honda ITA 32 15. Stephane Chambon Kawasaki FRA 31
Manufacturer Standings 08/10/2006
Pos. Manufacturer Points 1. Honda 277 2. Yamaha 240 3. Ducati 87 4. Kawasaki 62 5. Suzuki 39
RACE REPORT 08/10/2006 Corti takes French win and championship silver   Claudio Corti   
Yamaha young gun Claudio Corti ended his first season in the FIM Superstock 1000 Cup on a high with a win at Magny Cours.
The 19-year-old Yamaha Team Italia racer led for most of the 14-lap race to take his fourth win in the ten race series. The Italian, who won the 600cc superstock class on a YZF-R6 last season, has won more races than any other rider on his YZF-R1 SP and ends the year second in the championship.
Starting on pole position, his third of the season, Corti grabbed the holeshot as behind him four riders went down at the first corner. Low temperatures saw many riders crash out of the race, but Corti rode intelligently to build up heat in his tyres and increase his pace as the race went on.
Fellow Italian Alessandro Polita (Suzuki), who came to France as the champion, passed Corti on lap four and led briefly, but the Yamaha man was able to regain the lead on four laps later and retain it to the chequered flag. Polita came home two seconds behind the Yamaha in second place, with former European supersport champion Matteo Baiocco making it two YZF-R1 SPs on the podium, in third.
Corti's win moves him onto 156 championship points, 21 behind Polita in the final standings and 34 ahead of third placed Ayrton Badovini (MV Agusta).
Claudio Corti (Yamaha Team Italia) "I made a good start and was able to push in the early laps. When I looked behind me I could see that only two riders were behind me, Polita and Baiocco, and this helped me relax. Alessandro passed me but I was able to increase my pace and build up a gap on him. To win here is the best way to end the season I can imagine. Many people have helped me in my career and I would like to dedicate my silver medal to Yamaha, the FMI (Italian motorcycle federation) and my team."
Circuit Length: 4411 Temp: 16 Crowd: 61000 Weather: Dry     2006 Superstock Magny Cours 08/10/2006 Race 1 - 14 Laps Pos. Rider Manu. Nat. Total Time 1 Claudio Corti Yamaha ITA 24'37.791 2 Alessandro Polita Suzuki ITA 0'1.975 3 Matteo Baiocco Yamaha ITA 0'2.705 4 Ilario Dionisi Yamaha ITA 0'6.275 5 Emeric Jonchiere Suzuki FRA 0'11.139 6 Arne Tode Suzuki GER 0'11.475 7 Riccardo Chiarello Kawasaki ITA 0'11.746 8 Herve Gantner Yamaha CHE 0'17.334 9 Marko Jerman Suzuki SVK 0'18.450 10 Enrique Rocamora Yamaha ESP 0'19.786 11 Sheridan Morais Suzuki RSA 0'22.745 12 Olivier Depoorter Yamaha BEL 0'24.472 13 Danilo Dell'omo Suzuki ITA 0'24.812 14 Raphael Chevre Suzuki CHE 0'25.927 15 Petter Solli Yamaha NOR 0'32.251
Best Lap Rider Manu. Nat. Total Time Claudio Corti Yamaha ITA 1'44.667
 Rider Standings 08/10/2006
Pos. Rider Manu. Nat. Points 1. Alessandro Polita Suzuki ITA 177 2. Claudio Corti Yamaha ITA 156 3. Ayrton Badovini MV Agusta ITA 122 4. Luca Scassa MV Agusta ITA 118 5. Brendan Roberts Suzuki AUS 87 6. Matteo Baiocco Yamaha ITA 87 7. Enrique Rocamora Yamaha ESP 78 8. Loic Napoleone Suzuki FRA 58 9. Riccardo Chiarello Kawasaki ITA 57 10. Denis Sacchetti Kawasaki ITA 45 11. Danilo Dell'omo Suzuki ITA 42 12. Richard Cooper Honda GBR 41 13. Sheridan Morais Suzuki RSA 35 14. Ilario Dionisi Yamaha ITA 35 15. Alex Martinez Mas Kawasaki ESP 30
Manufacturer Standings 08/10/2006
Pos. Manufacturer Points 1. Suzuki 209 2. Yamaha 174 3. MV Agusta 153 4. Kawasaki 95 5. Honda 45
Alex Asigno
Yamaha Motor Italia riders Noriyuki Haga and Andrew Pitt will start tomorrow's final round of the 2006 Superbike World Championship from fifth and ninth places respectively.
Both men made small mistakes on their superpole lap to slip down the order from their positions in regular qualifying and, despite not qualifying as well as hoped, the Yamaha Motor Italia riders are primed for action in tomorrow's 22-lap showdown.
A damp circuit, caused by overnight rain, meant that superpole positions were decided by Friday's times. Only a few riders ventured out onto the circuit during the session, with the best time some six seconds from the ultimate dry weather performance.  
After ending yesterday fourth on the timesheets, Pitt was the fourth to last rider to take to his superpole lap. Despite clocking his best lap time of the weekend, a 1:40.090, the Australian rider was unable to make as big an improvement as many of his rivals on the soft qualifying rubber. His time saw him take the ninth slot on the grid for tomorrow's races, on the outside of the third row.
 
Haga was last to depart for his superpole lap after holding the provisional pole position but made a small mistake on the opening part of the lap. An improved performance in the latter part of the lap saw Haga post a lap time of 1:39.914, to end the superpole session directly in front of Pitt, in fifth.
Rain has meant that set-up time has been at a premium at Magny Cours this weekend, although Haga and Toseland gave fans a sneek preview of tomorrow's action in the afternoon practice session, when they spent 10 laps trading positions and never separated by a few bike lengths. The speedy R1 has proved rapid around the French circuit, with Yamaha riders recording the top three speeds in the superpole session. At 285.7kph through the speed trap, Sebastien Gimbert was the fastest on his Yamaha Motor France machine, followed by Haga (284.2kph) and Pitt (283.5kph).
 
Sebastien Gimbert   
The Yamaha Motor France squad saw two of its riders qualify for the top 16 superpole shootout. Home rider Gimbert was the fastest of the squad's trio, earning a third row start with 12th position. Shinichi Nakatomi starts from the fourth row maintaining his pre-superpole 14th, although fellow Japanese Norick Abe was one of the men to lose out in the weather conditions. The Japanese rider was hoping to improve his 18th position from Friday but had no chance due to the wet conditions this morning. Abe was able to find some improvements in the afternoon free practice session, ending 16th on the timesheets.
Pole position for tomorrow's races goes to outgoing world champion Troy Corser (Suzuki), with James Toseland (Honda), Lorenzo Lanzi (Ducati) and Karl Muggeridge (Honda) completing the front row.
Noriyuki Haga (Yamaha Motor Italia) "Second row is ok, in fact in many ways fifth (on the grid) is better than third or fourth because I am on the outside going into the first corner. Race set-up is good but we're going to make a few changes to the gearbox settings to make it a little better still. The conditions made it pointless to ride in the morning session but this afternoon went well and I had fun riding in the group with Toseland."
 
Andrew Pitt (Yamaha Motor Italia) "I made a mistake on the first sector of my superpole lap and for sure I'm disappointed to be starting ninth. But actually our race set-up is ok and we should be in good shape for the race. I did a good simulation in the practice and our race pace seems to be up there with everyone else."
Sebastien Gimbert (Yamaha Motor France) "The first free practice session was difficult because I could not do many laps due to a small technical problem. Later on, we worked very well on the suspension and I was able to get into the 1:40 bracket. I can go fast with the bike and am able to make consistent laps. Tomorrow, I shall try to shine to thank my team, my mechanics and my sponsors. This is also the occasion to prove the qualities of the endurance riders."
 
Shinichi Nakatomi   
Shinichi Nakatomi (Yamaha Motor France) "Yesterday during the timed session, I could go faster and faster when I followed some riders like Chili, Nieto and Fabrizio. My best improvement was when I followed Troy Corser - I went one second quicker! Many riders here are following other riders. For me, it was a good progression. I am very happy to have made superpole but my settings for the race are also good. We only have very little details to improve and we do that step by step."
Norick Abe (Yamaha Motor France) "Yesterday I was 18th and I wanted to qualify for superpole this morning. But the conditions were so bad that is was impossible. So I had to change my mind. We work on the bike to improve the setting. Tomorrow I must make a good race."
Massimo Meregalli (Team Coordinator - Yamaha Motor Italia) "I think that we're in a good situation for the race. Despite missing the morning session we know what tyres to use in the races and both riders have made good simulations. I think Andrew expected a little more on his superpole lap. He made a few mistakes and that cost him a few places on the grid, although his race pace is good and he should be up there tomorrow. Nori ran with Toseland in the afternoon and found a good rhythm. We'll make a few changes to the gearbox on his bike tonight but otherwise we are ready for what should be some good races tomorrow."
Circuit Length: 4411 Weather: Dry     2006 WSB Magny Cours 07/10/2006 Superpole Pos. Rider Manu. Nat. Total Time 1 Troy Corser Suzuki AUS 1'39.147 2 James Toseland Honda GBR 1'39.355 3 Lorenzo Lanzi Ducati ITA 1'39.773 4 Karl Muggeridge Honda AUS 1'39.911 5 Noriyuki Haga Yamaha JPN 1'39.914 6 Troy Bayliss Ducati AUS 1'39.944 7 Max Neukirchner Suzuki GER 1'39.961 8 Yukio Kagayama Suzuki JPN 1'40.079 9 Andrew Pitt Yamaha AUS 1'40.090 10 Fonsi Nieto Kawasaki ESP 1'40.270 11 Chris Walker Kawasaki GBR 1'40.307 12 Sebastien Gimbert Yamaha FRA 1'40.613 13 Alex Barros Honda BRA 1'41.113 14 Shinichi Nakatomi Yamaha JPN 1'41.412 15 Regis Laconi Kawasaki FRA 1'41.475
Qualifying 2 Pos. Rider Manu. Nat. Total Time 1 Noriyuki Haga Yamaha JPN 1'40.474 2 James Toseland Honda GBR 1'40.734 3 Lorenzo Lanzi Ducati ITA 1'40.821 4 Andrew Pitt Yamaha AUS 1'40.872 5 Troy Corser Suzuki AUS 1'40.936 6 Yukio Kagayama Suzuki JPN 1'40.950 7 Fonsi Nieto Kawasaki ESP 1'40.954 8 Troy Bayliss Ducati AUS 1'41.006 9 Karl Muggeridge Honda AUS 1'41.044 10 Alex Barros Honda BRA 1'41.184 11 Chris Walker Kawasaki GBR 1'41.385 12 Michel Fabrizio Honda ITA 1'41.547 13 Sebastien Gimbert Yamaha FRA 1'41.563 14 Shinichi Nakatomi Yamaha JPN 1'41.644 15 Max Neukirchner Suzuki GER 1'41.648 18 Norick Abe Yamaha JPN 1'41.993
QUALIFYING 2 REPORT 07/10/2006 Second row for Curtain in title decider   Kevin Curtain   
Championship leader Kevin Curtain will start tomorrow's final round of the Supersport World Championship from the head of the second row after failing to improve his time in a rain-affected final qualifying session at Magny Cours today.
The Australian Yamaha Motor Germany rider, who needs to finish eighth or higher in the 22 lap race to win the title, was looking to improve upon his 1:43.765 lap from Friday when a light rain fell - curtailing any opportunity to move up to the front row.
Ahead of Curtain will be two other YZF-R6s, with his Yamaha Motor Germany team-mate Broc Parkes an impressive third at the circuit where he scored his first race win in the class. The 24-year-old improved his Friday time by almost a second before the rain arrived, moving him up from sixth on the provisional grid. Joining Parkes on the front row will be will be Yamaha GMT94's David Checa. The Spaniard, who has completed hundreds of laps of the circuit in endurance racing, was another overnight improver.
Massimo Roccoli will start the race from eighth position on the Yamaha Team Italia entry, with team-mate Gianluca Vizziello 12th after failing to improve his time.
Pole position goes to Sebastien Charpentier (Honda), with his team-mate Kenan Sofuolu in second position.
Circuit Length: 4411 Weather: Changeable     2006 WSS Magny Cours 07/10/2006 Qualifying 2 Pos. Rider Manu. Nat. Total Time 1 Sebastien Charpentier Honda FRA 1'42.506 2 Kenan Sofuoglu Honda TUR 1'43.097 3 Broc Parkes Yamaha AUS 1'43.514 4 David Checa Yamaha ESP 1'43.763 5 Kevin Curtain Yamaha AUS 1'43.765 6 Katsuaki Fujiwara Honda JPN 1'44.032 7 Gianluca Nannelli Ducati ITA 1'44.170 8 Massimo Roccoli Yamaha ITA 1'44.238 9 Johan Stigefelt Honda SWE 1'44.367 10 Stephane Chambon Kawasaki FRA 1'44.371 11 Robbin Harms Honda DNK 1'44.430 12 Gianluca Vizziello Yamaha ITA 1'44.452 13 Fabien Foret Kawasaki FRA 1'44.553 14 Mauro Sanchini Yamaha ITA 1'44.556 15 William De Angelis Honda ITA 1'44.638
Alex Asigno
Yamaha Motor Italia's Noriyuki Haga topped the timesheets in today's opening practice session at Magny Cours, while team-mate Andrew Pitt also impressed with the fourth fastest time of the day.
In a close qualifying session that saw the top ten riders covered by less than one second, the Japanese rider topped the timesheets for virtually the whole session. Haga set a best time of 1:40.474 just six minutes into the session and was never to be topped. The Yamaha man went on to work at finding the best possible settings for Sunday's two 23-lap races and declared himself generally happy with his day's work, despite an off-track excursion midway through the session.
Pitt ended the day four-tenths of a second behind his team-mate, fourth in the overnight standings. The Australian also worked on race set-up, although he lost a little track time when one of his machines developed a minor technical problem in the morning free practice session. Confirming the R1's potency at the French circuit, Pitt and Haga sit jointly at the top of the speed charts, gunning their Yamahas through the speed trap at 285kph.
Both riders go into Sunday's races with similar objectives: Haga is looking to overhaul James Toseland (Honda) for second place in the championship while Pitt looks to consolidate his best ever season by retaining his fourth place in the points' standings.
 
Home rider Sebastien Gimbert was the quickest of the Yamaha Motor France riders, ending the day 13th on a circuit he knows like the back of his hand. Shinichi Nakatomi was less than one tenth of a second behind his team-mate in his first competitive outing at the circuit. Norick Abe tried various machine set-ups throughout the day and ended the day 18th fastest.
Final qualifying positions will be decided by tomorrow's superpole session for the top 16 riders. Making up the provisional top four is second placed Toseland and Lorenzo Lanzi (Ducati), in third.
Noriyuki Haga (Yamaha Motor Italia) "As always we are working to make a good setting for the race, but it is still nice to be at the top of the timesheets, even if it is only on the Friday. I like this circuit and the feeling with the bike is already very good, although we will continue working hard and trying to make the bike a little better at a few points on the track."
 
Andrew Pitt   
Andrew Pitt (Yamaha Motor Italia) "I found a good rhythm this afternoon and we were able to get through lot of work. Overall it's not been a bad day. The main thing we need to improve are the gearbox settings but I know that the team will look at all the data tonight and try and find a solution for tomorrow."
Sebastien Gimbert (Yamaha Motor France) "I lost some time in the morning session as we had problems with both bikes, but in the afternoon I was able to make some good laps. My fastest lap was not perfect, as I made mistakes in the first two sectors, and I know that I can go faster tomorrow."
Shinichi Nakatomi (Yamaha Motor France) "We made a test here a few weeks ago so this circuit is not new to me. I'm happy to be so close to the top riders and I hope to remain in the superpole tomorrow. It would be good to get some strong results at my team's home race and end my first season in Europe on a high."
 
Norick Abe   
Norick Abe (Yamaha Motor France) "We changed the bike settings from the morning to the afternoon but it turned out that what we had in the morning was better, as we had less grip and stability in the afternoon. For tomorrow we will try to go in another direction again and hopefully this will help us make a better lap time."
Massimo Meregalli (Team Coordinator - Yamaha Motor Italia) "It's been a good day, certainly better than at Imola last weekend. Both riders were able to do a run a lot of laps and we're pleased that both are at the top end of the timesheets. Andrew needs to find a better gearbox (setting) but otherwise I think we are in good shape for the races."
Circuit Length: 4411 Weather: Dry     2006 WSB Magny Cours 06/10/2006 Qualifying 1 Pos. Rider Manu. Nat. Total Time 1 Noriyuki Haga Yamaha JPN 1'40.474 2 James Toseland Honda GBR 1'40.734 3 Lorenzo Lanzi Ducati ITA 1'40.821 4 Andrew Pitt Yamaha AUS 1'40.872 5 Troy Corser Suzuki AUS 1'40.936 6 Yukio Kagayama Suzuki JPN 1'40.950 7 Fonsi Nieto Kawasaki ESP 1'40.954 8 Troy Bayliss Ducati AUS 1'41.006 9 Karl Muggeridge Honda AUS 1'41.044 10 Alex Barros Honda BRA 1'41.184 11 Chris Walker Kawasaki GBR 1'41.385 12 Michel Fabrizio Honda ITA 1'41.547 13 Sebastien Gimbert Yamaha FRA 1'41.563 14 Shinichi Nakatomi Yamaha JPN 1'41.644 15 Max Neukirchner Suzuki GER 1'41.648 18 Norick Abe Yamaha JPN 1'41.993
QUALIFYING 1 REPORT 06/10/2006 Curtain third despite early crash   Kevin Curtain   
Championship leader Kevin Curtain ended today's first practice in third position, despite suffering a crash at a cold and grey Magny Cours circuit.
The Australian crashed at Adelaide corner on his seventh lap of the afternoon qualifying session but, despite completing just a handful of laps, Curtain remained one of only three riders to break the 1:44 bracket.
Curtain was one of many riders to be caught out by the low surface temperatures, which saw many of the supersport riders crash out, thankfully without injury.
Curtain's team-mate Broc Parkes ended the day sixth on the other Yamaha Motor Germany YZF-R6. The Australian is still riding in some discomfort following his big crash in Assen last month and rode with a safety first attitude around the circuit where he scored his maiden world supersport victory 12 months ago.
Yamaha GMT94's David Checa took a provisional seventh place at his team's home race. The Spaniard knows the Magny Cours circuit well from his many outings in the Bol d'Or 24-hour race, which is held at the circuit each September.
Yamaha Team Italia's Gianluca Vizziello and Massimo Roccoli ended the day on the provisional third row, in 10th and 11th positions respectively.
Sebastien Charpentier (Honda) took provisional pole position, just ahead of his team-mate Kenan Sofuoglu, with Katsuaki Fujiwara (Honda) completing the front row with Curtain.
Circuit Length: 4411 Weather: Dry     2006 WSS Magny Cours 06/10/2006 Qualifying 1 Pos. Rider Manu. Nat. Total Time 1 Sebastien Charpentier Honda FRA 1'42.829 2 Kenan Sofuoglu Honda TUR 1'43.097 3 Kevin Curtain Yamaha AUS 1'43.765 4 Katsuaki Fujiwara Honda JPN 1'44.032 5 Gianluca Nannelli Ducati ITA 1'44.170 6 Broc Parkes Yamaha AUS 1'44.273 7 David Checa Yamaha ESP 1'44.277 8 Johan Stigefelt Honda SWE 1'44.367 9 Stephane Chambon Kawasaki FRA 1'44.371 10 Gianluca Vizziello Yamaha ITA 1'44.452 11 Massimo Roccoli Yamaha ITA 1'44.741 12 Simone Sanna Honda ITA 1'44.869 13 Barry Veneman Suzuki NED 1'45.044 14 Kai Borre Andersen Suzuki NOR 1'45.081 15 Robbin Harms Honda DNK 1'45.147
Alex Asigno
The Yamaha Motor Italia squad travels to this weekend's final round of the 2006 Superbike World Championship with Noriyuki Haga looking to take the runner-up slot in the championship from Honda rider James Toseland.
While Troy Bayliss (Ducati) celebrated his second world title in Imola last weekend, the British rider overtook Haga in the battle for second place and holds a two point advantage going into the final race.
Haga had a difficult time in Imola, where set-up problems restricted him to fourth and sixth place finishes, but is focused on equalling his best ever final ranking by taking second in the championship.
"There are only two points between me and James so I know what I have to do," says 31-year-old Haga. "I like the Magny Cours circuit and have won there in the past. It has an interesting mix of long straights, some fast corners and very slow hairpins. There are a lot of places where you can make a pass under braking and this is one of our strengths with the R1. As always I will be going with the target of winning the races. If I can do that then the championship will look after itself."
 
Andrew Pitt has his own targets going to Magny Cours after yet another impressive outing in Imola. The Australian has been one of the revelations of the season and moved up to fourth in the standings with a third and fourth place finish last weekend. The former supersport champion knows that a good result is required in France if he is to fend off the attentions of the in form Alex Barros (Honda) and outgoing world champion Troy Corser (Suzuki) in the battle for fourth.
In the Supersport World Championship, Yamaha Motor Germany's Kevin Curtain aims to give Yamaha its first riders title since 2000 and, in doing so, end Honda's four-year run of dominance in the class. The Australian goes to the final round with an 18 point advantage over defending champion Sebastien Charpentier (Honda), meaning he needs to finish in eighth place or better to add a world title to his 13 Australian championships.
"I was disappointed that I couldn't challenge Sebastien in Imola," explains Curtain. "We struggled for rear grip but I rode with the championship in mind, so third was an ok result. All year we've been working towards the championship, so this weekend will be no different. We know exactly what we need to do to win the title and that's exactly what we'll focus on this weekend."
Curtain's team-mate Broc Parkes made a fighting return from injury in Imola and could potentially take third in the championship. The Australian's enforced absence saw him overtaken by the in form Kenan Sofuoglu (Honda) and is hoping for a good result at the track where he took his first world championship win 12 months earlier. "I should be much fitter this week than last," says Parkes. "It was hard work in Imola but I was pleased with my result because it pretty much tied up fourth in the championship." 
Alex Asigno
Andrew Pitt continued his rich vein of form at Imola today, scoring a podium finish in the day's opening race to move up to fourth in the championship ahead of next weekend's final round of the season.
The Yamaha Motor Italia rider backed up his hard fought third place in race one with a tremendous fourth around the demanding Imola circuit in race two. Meanwhile team-mate Noriyuki Haga fought set-up problems to post a fourth and sixth place finish, keeping his hopes of finishing second in this year's championship well and truly alive.
Race one saw both the red Yamahas fighting for the lead, with Pitt overtaking pole man Troy Bayliss (Ducati) on the second lap. The Yamaha man rode confidently at the front for five laps, only to slip back to fifth after the rear of his machine slid violently as he exited a corner. Despite struggling for rear grip, the Australian was able to regain a good rhythm and pass his way through to third, behind the Hondas of Alex Barros and James Toseland, by lap 19 of the 21-lap race.
Haga too found himself plagued by rear grip problems. After holding third in the opening laps, he had no answer to the advancing Barros and Toseland. The Japanese stuck diligently to his task and was rewarded with fourth place at the flag, overtaking Bayliss as he crossed the line for the final time.
 
Both of the Yamaha riders made slight adjustments to their machines for the second outing and it looked like the changes would pay dividends as they occupied second and third behind Bayliss in the opening laps. Pitt was able to push his fellow Australian harder than anyone else, but eventually the Yamaha man succumbed to front end grip problems and was passed by the slow-starting Barros and Yukio Kagayama (Suzuki), who crossed the line in second and third. Bayliss took the chequered flag for his 11th win of the season, with Haga behind Toseland in sixth.
 
Norick Abe was Yamaha Motor France's leading rider in Imola, scoring 12 points from ninth and 11th place finishes to move him up one place, to 13th, in the championship. Team-mate Shinichi Nakatomi had one of the best weekend's of his rookie world superbike season, finishing 11th and 12th in the races, although the team's third member, Frenchman Sebastien Gimbert, had a disaster at one of his favourite circuits. Still racing with an injury sustained in Assen he retired from both races.
Bayliss' performances secured him his second world title with one round remaining, while Barros' win makes him the eighth different race winner in what has proved an exciting season. The battle for the silver medal is very much alive, with Haga trailing Toseland by just two points following today's races. Pitt currently lies fourth in the series and will also be looking to defend his eight point advantage over Barros in France.
 
Andrew Pitt (Yamaha Motor Italia) "Overall I'm pretty happy, although I'd have liked to have got another podium in the second one as well. In the first race the rear grip was gone after a few laps but after I had a big slide I was able to find my rhythm again and work my way through to the podium. For the second race we made quite a few changes and moved some more weight onto the front of the bike. It was a definite improvement and the bike worked better for longer, but as the fuel went down the front started pushing a bit. I thought that maybe I could get past Kagayama, as he was making some mistakes, but by the end the front tyre was gone and I couldn't take the risk. At the end of the day we've come to a track that we felt wouldn't be one of the best for our bike and got some good results to move up to fourth in the championship. On Friday we were struggling but my team is working very hard and it's always great to give them a podium at one of their home races, so it's been a good day."
Noriyuki Haga (Yamaha Motor Italia) "In the end it was not such a bad result. All weekend we found it difficult to get a perfect feeling with the bike and this made the races hard work, especially around this demanding circuit. In both races I was able to make a good start and fight for a few laps. In the end I had to ride for the points. Ten years ago I think I would have crashed trying to win the race, but today I was able to use my head and think of the championship. Now we go to Magny Cours two points behind Toseland, so this is not so bad and possible for us to overcome."
Norick Abe (Yamaha Motor France) "So many riders crashed in race one that the result maybe looked better than it was. I was lucky to be ninth. We had problems with rear grip, lots of sliding and moving. Then between the races we changed a few small settings and maybe the bike worked better, because the lap times were faster. But we were still sliding everywhere, uphill and downhill!"
 
Shinichi Nakatomi   
Shinichi Nakatomi (Yamaha Motor France) "I started from the 22nd position on the grid and then I passed some riders. My lap times and positions went better and better from Friday to Sunday. I finished the second race 1.8 behind Abe and my fastest lap was on the 19th of the 21 laps, so for my first time on this track, it is good progress."
Massimo Meregalli (Team Coordinator - Yamaha Motor Italia) "Of course, we would prefer to be winning the races but I think that today we did a good job as we had a problem getting race distance out of our tyres. Andrew rode very well in both races and is now fourth in the championship. Noriyuki has had some small problems over the weekend and although we lost some points to Toseland he made sure he didn't crash and got as many points as possible. We have two riders in the top four of the championship and our targets for Magny Cours are now clear: for Noriyuki it is to finish second in the championship, while Andrew must defend his fourth place."
Martial Garcia (Team Manager - Yamaha Motor France) "It is a good overall result with one ninth position, two 11th and one 12th. Our two riders are in fact the first privateers on this very difficult and dangerous track with a bad surface, so we have many reasons to be happy. Sebastien Gimbert, injured at Assen and the Bol d'Or, tried everything but unfortunately had to retire. Abe is now 13th in the championship standings and Nakatomi, for his first year, is 17th which is good because the level is very high. We hope that Sebastien Gimbert will feel better at Magny Cours and that he will be able to express himself properly on bike."
Circuit Length: 4959 Temp: 28 Crowd: 86500 Weather: Sunny     2006 WSB Imola 01/10/2006 Race 1 - 21 Laps Pos. Rider Manu. Nat. Total Time 1 Alex Barros Honda BRA 39'0.096 2 James Toseland Honda GBR 0'4.351 3 Andrew Pitt Yamaha AUS 0'6.809 4 Noriyuki Haga Yamaha JPN 0'11.179 5 Troy Bayliss Ducati AUS 0'11.537 6 Lorenzo Lanzi Ducati ITA 0'20.974 7 Fonsi Nieto Kawasaki ESP 0'23.055 8 Karl Muggeridge Honda AUS 0'23.747 9 Norick Abe Yamaha JPN 0'27.289 10 Regis Laconi Kawasaki FRA 0'29.160 11 Shinichi Nakatomi Yamaha JPN 0'30.792 12 Chris Walker Kawasaki GBR 0'32.104 13 Ivan Clementi Ducati ITA 0'38.537 14 Roberto Rolfo Ducati ITA 0'45.410 15 Joshua Brookes Kawasaki AUS 0'48.494
Race 2 - 21 Laps Pos. Rider Manu. Nat. Total Time 1 Troy Bayliss Ducati AUS 38'57.069 2 Alex Barros Honda BRA 0'1.413 3 Yukio Kagayama Suzuki JPN 0'4.355 4 Andrew Pitt Yamaha AUS 0'5.387 5 James Toseland Honda GBR 0'6.418 6 Noriyuki Haga Yamaha JPN 0'9.615 7 Lorenzo Lanzi Ducati ITA 0'12.429 8 Karl Muggeridge Honda AUS 0'14.895 9 Troy Corser Suzuki AUS 0'19.708 10 Regis Laconi Kawasaki FRA 0'20.577 11 Norick Abe Yamaha JPN 0'23.473 12 Shinichi Nakatomi Yamaha JPN 0'25.368 13 Fonsi Nieto Kawasaki ESP 0'31.340 14 Chris Walker Kawasaki GBR 0'32.993 15 Roberto Rolfo Ducati ITA 0'41.830
Best Lap Rider Manu. Nat. Total Time Alex Barros Honda BRA 1'50.266
 Rider Standings 01/10/2006
Pos. Rider Manu. Nat. Points 1. Troy Bayliss Ducati AUS 393 2. James Toseland Honda GBR 295 3. Noriyuki Haga Yamaha JPN 293 4. Andrew Pitt Yamaha AUS 239 5. Alex Barros Honda BRA 231 6. Troy Corser Suzuki AUS 218 7. Yukio Kagayama Suzuki JPN 193 8. Lorenzo Lanzi Ducati ITA 152 9. Chris Walker Kawasaki GBR 140 10. Fonsi Nieto Kawasaki ESP 139 11. Michel Fabrizio Honda ITA 117 12. Karl Muggeridge Honda AUS 113 13. Norick Abe Yamaha JPN 105 14. Ruben Xaus Ducati ESP 103 15. Regis Laconi Kawasaki FRA 96 17. Shinichi Nakatomi Yamaha JPN 42 21. Sebastien Gimbert Yamaha FRA 18
Manufacturer Standings 01/10/2006
Pos. Manufacturer Points 1. Ducati 412 2. Honda 373 3. Yamaha 368 4. Suzuki 336 5. Kawasaki 211 6. Petronas 19
RACE REPORT 01/10/2006 Podium placing keeps Curtain on title track   Kevin Curtain   
Yamaha Motor Germany rider Kevin Curtain will go in to next weekend's final world supersport round with an 18-point advantage after finishing third at Imola today.
The race was won by championship rival Sebastien Charpentier (Honda), who needed to beat the Yamaha man to keep his title defence alive, but Curtain's sensible ride to his ninth podium of the season keeps him in the driving seat for next weekend's race in Magny Cours.
The Imola event proved somewhat less exciting than most of the year's previous supersport races. From the lights it was Charpentier's team-mate Kenan Sofuoglu who led the race, riding in formation with his team-mate until the Frenchman unsurprisingly took the lead with eight laps remaining.
Behind them, Curtain struggled for traction and rode a lonely race, with five seconds of tarmac ahead and behind him for much of the race. Yamaha Team Italia's Gianluca Vizziello, winner of the previous weekend's Italian supersport championship race at the same venue, had a great race to secure the best result of his world supersport career, crossing the flag in fourth place.
 
Broc Parkes   
Broc Parkes, team-mate to Curtain in the Yamaha Motor Germany squad, rode heroically to bring his YZF-R6 home in sixth place, just one month after receiving serious injuries in a crash at Assen. The Australian was still in considerable discomfort from his injured neck and ribs, but rode a determined race to bag 10 points that could prove vital in deciding his final championship position.
Massimo Roccoli made it four YZF-R6s in the top ten, bringing his Yamaha Team Italia entry home in tenth. Spain's David Checa finished 12th on the Yamaha GMT94 R6.
The series will now be decided next weekend at the last round of the year in Magny Cours. Curtain goes to the French Formula One circuit on 187 points, with Charpentier on 169. Parkes will be looking to reclaim third place at the circuit where he gained his maiden world supersport win 12 months earlier. The Australian currently lies eight points behind third placed Sofuoglu, on 129 points.
Kevin Curtain (Yamaha Motor Germany) "I did the best I could with what I had but we just didn't have enough rear grip to challenge Sebastien and Kenan today. I don't know what it was, if it was the temperature or the tyre, but it made it a long hard and lonely race. I'm disappointed that I couldn't run with Sebastien today but if you'd told me at the start of the season that we'd be going to the final race with an 18 point lead I'd have taken it like a shot. We did a professional job today and we've now got to do more of the same at Magny Cours next weekend."
 
Gianluca Vizziello   
Gianluca Vizziello (Yamaha Team Italia) "I got off the line really well but I made a mistake when I changed into second and this lost me a lot of time and places. After that I pushed hard and just found a good rhythm. I was able to run the same lap times as the guys in front of me so there is a little disappointment as you never know what I might have been capable of had I got away with the leaders. Anyway, I am very happy and I would like to dedicate the result to my team, who have worked very hard for me."
Broc Parkes (Yamaha Motor Germany) "I just got on and pushed as hard as I could and tried to stay at the same pace for the whole race. The guys in front of me were a little bit quicker, a bit more than I felt comfortable pushing, so I powered on at my best pace and felt good in the middle of the race. I could see Vizziello in front of me and he was making some mistakes. But I had no stamina at all and found it hard to change the bike from side-to-side in the middle of the chicanes. I think I will be a lot better next weekend but, considering the circumstances, I'm quite happy with today's result."
Massimo Roccoli (Yamaha Team Italia) "I wanted to get a good result for my fans today but I went into the race knowing that it would be difficult because we struggled to find a good set-up in practice. I'm now looking forward to Magny Cours. It is a challenging track and I will be doing my best to get back up to fifth in the championship."
Circuit Length: 4959 Temp: 28 Crowd: 86500 Weather: Sunny     2006 WSS Imola 01/10/2006 Race 1 - 21 Laps Pos. Rider Manu. Nat. Total Time 1 Sebastien Charpentier Honda FRA 40'7.972 2 Kenan Sofuoglu Honda TUR 0'0.406 3 Kevin Curtain Yamaha AUS 0'9.627 4 Gianluca Vizziello Yamaha ITA 0'13.983 5 William De Angelis Honda ITA 0'14.390 6 Broc Parkes Yamaha AUS 0'16.870 7 Gianluca Nannelli Ducati ITA 0'18.171 8 Katsuaki Fujiwara Honda JPN 0'18.534 9 Yoann Tibero Honda FRA 0'31.522 10 Massimo Roccoli Yamaha ITA 0'31.561 11 Johan Stigefelt Honda SWE 1'32.047 12 David Checa Yamaha ESP 0'36.420 13 Barry Veneman Suzuki NED 0'43.105 14 Stuart Easton Ducati GBR 0'43.674 15 Chris Peris Yamaha CAN 0'47.734
Best Lap Rider Manu. Nat. Total Time Sebastien Charpentier Honda FRA 1'53.388
 Rider Standings 01/10/2006
Pos. Rider Manu. Nat. Points 1. Kevin Curtain Yamaha AUS 187 2. Sebastien Charpentier Honda FRA 169 3. Kenan Sofuoglu Honda TUR 137 4. Broc Parkes Yamaha AUS 129 5. Robbin Harms Honda DNK 107 6. Massimo Roccoli Yamaha ITA 96 7. Yoann Tibero Honda FRA 74 8. Gianluca Vizziello Yamaha ITA 69 9. Johan Stigefelt Honda SWE 62 10. Xavi Fores Yamaha ESP 49 11. David Checa Yamaha ESP 33 12. Christian Zaiser Ducati AUT 30 13. Gianluca Nannelli Ducati ITA 30 14. Katsuaki Fujiwara Honda JPN 30 15. Kai Borre Andersen Suzuki NOR 29
Manufacturer Standings 01/10/2006
Pos. Manufacturer Points 1. Honda 252 2. Yamaha 224 3. Ducati 74 4. Kawasaki 55 5. Suzuki 39
RACE REPORT 01/10/2006 Corti moves up to second at Imola   Claudio Corti   
Yamaha Team Italia rider Claudio Corti moved up to second place in the FIM Superstock 1000 Cup after a dramatic race in Imola.
The 19-year-old from Como finished the race fourth but was moved up to third following the exclusion of race winner Luca Scassa (MV Agusta) for a technical infringement.
Corti made a good start from fourth on the grid, lying in second place to in the opening laps. While Scassa was able to pull away up front and take the flag by over two seconds, Corti slipped back into a thrilling five-way battle for the remaining podium slots, which was eventually won by Australian rider Brendan Roberts (Suzuki).
Corti raced elbow-to-elbow with series leader Alessandro Polita (Suzuki) on the final lap and although the Yamaha man tried to overtake his fellow Italian for the final podium position on several occasions, he could not quite force his YZF-R1 SP past his more experienced rival.
With Scassa's exclusion, Roberts was declared the winner and Polita's second position seals the championship in his favour. Corti moves up to second place, 26 points behind the champion. Ironically, had Scassa not been excluded Corti would have gone to Magny Cours with the slimmest of hopes of winning the title.
Despite being unable to win the title at the final race Corti will be looking to retain a top three position in the championship, his initial target after moving up from the 600cc class he won last year.
Claudio Corti (Yamaha Team Italia) "I started very fast but found myself slipping back into the pack after a few laps. I was able to recover and tried very hard to pass Polita on the final lap. He defended his line well and seemed to be able to accelerate out of the slow corners a little bit more quickly than me today. Probably our set-up wasn't quite as good as it could have been today but it's a good result and we're now second in the championship, so I am happy."
Circuit Length: 4959 Temp: 23 Crowd: 86500 Weather: Sunny     2006 Superstock Imola 01/10/2006 Race 1 - 12 Laps Pos. Rider Manu. Nat. Total Time 1 Brendan Roberts Suzuki AUS 23'4.667 2 Alessandro Polita Suzuki ITA 0'0.538 3 Claudio Corti Yamaha ITA 0'0.624 4 Ayrton Badovini MV Agusta ITA 0'2.939 5 Matteo Baiocco Yamaha ITA 0'6.047 6 Loic Napoleone Suzuki FRA 0'10.025 7 Roberto Lunadei Yamaha ITA 0'15.101 8 Danilo Dell'omo Suzuki ITA 0'15.527 9 Leonardo Biliotti MV Agusta GER 0'15.907 10 Gilles Boccolini Kawasaki ITA 0'16.449 11 Marko Jerman Suzuki SVK 0'16.585 12 Enrique Rocamora Yamaha ESP 0'18.130 13 Matej Smrz Honda CZE 0'22.745 14 Arne Tode Suzuki GER 0'23.202 15 Sheridan Morais Suzuki RSA 0'26.382
Best Lap Rider Manu. Nat. Total Time Alessandro Polita Suzuki ITA 1'54.426
 Rider Standings 01/10/2006
Pos. Rider Manu. Nat. Points 1. Alessandro Polita Suzuki ITA 157 2. Claudio Corti Yamaha ITA 131 3. Ayrton Badovini MV Agusta ITA 122 4. Luca Scassa MV Agusta ITA 118 5. Brendan Roberts Suzuki AUS 87 6. Enrique Rocamora Yamaha ESP 72 7. Matteo Baiocco Yamaha ITA 71 8. Loic Napoleone Suzuki FRA 58 9. Riccardo Chiarello Kawasaki ITA 48 10. Denis Sacchetti Kawasaki ITA 45 11. Richard Cooper Honda GBR 41 12. Danilo Dell'omo Suzuki ITA 39 13. Sheridan Morais Suzuki RSA 30 14. Alex Martinez Mas Kawasaki ESP 30 15. Ivan Silva Kawasaki ESP 27
Manufacturer Standings 01/10/2006
Pos. Manufacturer Points 1. Suzuki 189 2. MV Agusta 153 3. Yamaha 149 4. Kawasaki 86 5. Honda 45
Alex Asigno
Yamaha Motor Italia's Andrew Pitt rode a super-smooth lap during today's superpole session to take a front row start for tomorrow's races in Imola, with team-mate Noriyuki Haga on the second row after making big improvements to his machine set-up.
Having worked methodically on finding a good race setting throughout the four one-hour practice sessions, Pitt demonstrated his ultimate pace with a blistering 1:49.433 lap time to take third on the grid for tomorrow's races. Despite being almost half-a-second quicker than his previous best lap of the weekend, the Australian's YZF-R1 looked like it was running on rails as he shot himself up from seventh to third on the final grid.
Haga had struggled to find a perfect set-up for his machine around the demanding five kilometre Imola track on Friday, hindered in no small part by ligament damage to his left wrist. The Japanese rider's pit crew made changes to the chassis set-up of his R1 overnight to find something closer to a satisfactory solution for tomorrow's races, although the Yamaha Motor Italia team will make some further changes to the set up overnight in a bid to further improve Haga's competitiveness. Like Pitt, Haga set his best lap of the weekend on his superpole outing, dipping into the 1:49 bracket for the first time of the weekend.
Norick Abe was the fastest of the Yamaha Motor France riders in qualifying. The Japanese rider qualified for superpole after ending the two one-hour timed practice sessions in 14th position, although he was unable to improve his qualifying position on his grid-deciding lap and will start the race from 15th. Abe's team-mates both failed to make the cut for superpole. Shinichi Nakatomi will start his first race at the circuit from 22nd position, while Frenchman Sebastien Gimbert struggled with set-up and fitness problems throughout the weekend. He will start tomorrow's races from 25th on the grid.
 
Pole position for tomorrow's races goes to series leader Troy Bayliss (Ducati), with a superpole lap of 1:48.804. James Toseland (Honda) will start second, with Pitt and outgoing champion Troy Corser (Suzuki) completing the front row.
Andrew Pitt (Yamaha Motor Italia) "We had a difficult day yesterday and even this morning we were still trying to find that little bit extra. We finally found the right direction this afternoon, so thanks to the team for their efforts. Te lap itself felt good, although I ran out of tyre towards the end of the lap and wasn't sure just how quick I was. This is a track where it is important to be on the front row and I'm really pleased as it has turned out to be a good day's work for us."
 
Shinichi Nakatomi   
Noriyuki Haga (Yamaha Motor Italia) "As usual we made a lot of changes overnight and the feeling of the bike is definitely better, although still not quite good enough. For me, qualifying is not so important, so second row is ok. Tonight we will try to make another step forward for the races, so we will see how it goes in the morning. One of the problems is that this is a bumpy track and I still have pain in my wrist. I still need a painkiller to race, so I hope that the wrist does not affect my performance tomorrow."
Massimo Meregalli (Team Coordinator - Yamaha Motor Italia) "I'm happy with the performance of the riders today. Both found improvements today, not big changes but enough to help improve the balance of the bike for superpole. As always you never know what is going to happen in the races but I am happy and looking forward to tomorrow."
Norick Abe (Yamaha Motor France) "This morning went quite well and I was able to run in the 1:50 bracket. For the afternoon we put in a new engine which has much better performance but which meant the gearbox settings needed changed. Because the gearbox setting was not quite right it was difficult on the superpole lap, but still my lap time was ok. I think we can make some improvements tomorrow. Always the second race is better for us anyway, so hopefully we can have a good first race and a better second one."
 
Shinichi Nakatomi (Yamaha Motor France) "Step by step we are improving the bike but there are many fast riders in superbike and this makes it difficult. I am sure I can make some more improvements for the races but we must wait and see what tomorrow brings."
Sebastien Gimbert (Yamaha Motor France) "For sure I am disappointed to be starting 25th, especially as this is a track that I like and have done well at before. After riding at the Bol d'Or it's proving difficult to adapt to this bike again. I am still not 100 percent fit after my crash in Assen and because I destroyed the bike there we are still having to work on finding a good set-up."
Circuit Length: 4959 Weather: Sunny     2006 WSB Imola 30/09/2006 Superpole Pos. Rider Manu. Nat. Total Time 1 Troy Bayliss Ducati AUS 1'48.804 2 James Toseland Honda GBR 1'49.394 3 Andrew Pitt Yamaha AUS 1'49.433 4 Troy Corser Suzuki AUS 1'49.442 5 Yukio Kagayama Suzuki JPN 1'49.497 6 Max Neukirchner Suzuki GER 1'49.840 7 Noriyuki Haga Yamaha JPN 1'49.856 8 Alex Barros Honda BRA 1'49.888 9 Ruben Xaus Ducati ESP 1'49.958 10 Lorenzo Lanzi Ducati ITA 1'50.081 11 Michel Fabrizio Honda ITA 1'50.362 12 Ivan Clementi Ducati ITA 1'50.737 13 Karl Muggeridge Honda AUS 1'50.892 14 Regis Laconi Kawasaki FRA 1'50.963 15 Norick Abe Yamaha JPN 1'51.147
Qualifying 2 Pos. Rider Manu. Nat. Total Time 1 Yukio Kagayama Suzuki JPN 1'49.758 2 Troy Corser Suzuki AUS 1'49.875 3 James Toseland Honda GBR 1'50.039 4 Ruben Xaus Ducati ESP 1'50.155 5 Alex Barros Honda BRA 1'50.212 6 Troy Bayliss Ducati AUS 1'50.214 7 Andrew Pitt Yamaha AUS 1'50.250 8 Michel Fabrizio Honda ITA 1'50.350 9 Max Neukirchner Suzuki GER 1'50.376 10 Noriyuki Haga Yamaha JPN 1'50.745 11 Vittorio Iannuzzo Suzuki ITA 1'50.755 12 Ivan Clementi Ducati ITA 1'50.768 13 Lorenzo Lanzi Ducati ITA 1'50.799 14 Norick Abe Yamaha JPN 1'50.832 15 Karl Muggeridge Honda AUS 1'50.882 22 Shinichi Nakatomi Yamaha JPN 1'51.406 25 Sebastien Gimbert Yamaha FRA 1'52.034
QUALIFYING 2 REPORT 30/09/2006 Curtain secures front row start in Imola   Kevin Curtain   
Kevin Curtain secured a vital front row start for tomorrow's 11th round of the Supersport World Championship in Imola.
The Yamaha Motor Germany rider set a best time of 1:53.512 around the Italian circuit to grab fourth place on the grid for the 21-lap race.
Getting on the front row was the main priority for the Australian YZF-R6 rider, who will become world champion if he beats Sebastien Charpentier (Honda) in tomorrow's race. Charpentier starts the race from pole position, with fellow Honda riders Kenan Sofuoglu and Katsuaki Fujiwara joining him on the front row.
Curtain's team-mate Broc Parkes missed out on a second row start by less than a tenth of a second. The 24-year-old Australian is still quite stiff after his huge crash in Assen less than a month ago, but was still able to take over a second off his best time from Friday to take ninth on the grid for tomorrow's race.
Starting one place ahead of Parkes will be Yamaha Team Italia's Gianluca Vizziello, who won the Italian supersport championship race at Imola last weekend. His team-mate, the newly crowned Italian supersport champion Massimo Roccoli, was a surprisingly low 13th on the grid, one place ahead of Yamaha GMT94's David Checa.
Circuit Length: 4959
  2006 WSS Imola 30/09/2006 Qualifying 2 Pos. Rider Manu. Nat. Total Time 1 Sebastien Charpentier Honda FRA 1'52.245 2 Kenan Sofuoglu Honda TUR 1'52.541 3 Katsuaki Fujiwara Honda JPN 1'53.441 4 Kevin Curtain Yamaha AUS 1'53.512 5 Gianluca Nannelli Ducati ITA 1'53.758 6 Robbin Harms Honda DNK 1'53.902 7 William De Angelis Honda ITA 1'53.906 8 Gianluca Vizziello Yamaha ITA 1'53.960 9 Broc Parkes Yamaha AUS 1'53.991 10 Johan Stigefelt Honda SWE 1'54.019 11 Yoann Tibero Honda FRA 1'54.225 12 Chris Peris Yamaha CAN 1'54.373 13 Massimo Roccoli Yamaha ITA 1'54.426 14 David Checa Yamaha ESP 1'54.429 15 Christian Zaiser Ducati AUT 1'54.497
Alex Asigno
Yamaha Motor Italia's Andrew Pitt was the top R1 rider in today's first qualifying session for Sunday's penultimate round of the 2006 Superbike World Championship in Imola, ending the day seventh fastest in a close session that sees the top 14 riders covered by just over a second.
The Australian gunned his Yamaha around the long and demanding circuit in best time of 1:50.502, just 0.463 behind the day's fastest rider James Toseland (Honda). Pitt, who lifted the 2001 world supersport crown at the Italian venue, went through the usual Friday programme of testing tyres and settings ahead of Sunday's two races, working mostly with his crew chief Dave Marton and datalogging expert Carlo Luzzi to find the optimal gearbox settings for the complex Formula One circuit.
Pitt's team-mate Noriyuki Haga struggled with a wrist injury sustained in Germany three weekends ago, ending the day in 11th. The Japanese star damaged some ligaments in both his wrists and found the going tough around the bumpy circuit after failing to get the R1 set up exactly to his liking. Despite his handicap, Haga is confident that he can make some improvements to the set-up of his machine ahead of tomorrow's final qualifying sessions.
Fastest rider today was 2004 world champion Toseland, ahead of outgoing champion Troy Corser (Suzuki). Current series leader Troy Bayliss ended the day fourth, with Yukio Kagayama (Suzuki) rounding out the top four. The superbike riders will have a final one hour qualifying session tomorrow morning, with the top 16 riders going through to the one-lap superpole session, which will decide the first four rows of the grid for Sunday's two 21-lap races.
 
Norick Abe   
Norick Abe led Yamaha Motor France's trio of riders in Imola. The Japanese former Grand Prix rider ended the day in 16th position, provisionally occupying the final slot for tomorrow's grid-deciding superpole session. Sebastien Gimbert ended the day 21st, just two seconds from pole sitter Toseland, with Shinichi Nakatomi less than a tenth of a second behind his French team-mate on his Imola debut, in 24th.
Andrew Pitt (Yamaha Motor Italia) "The main thing we've been working on is finding a good gearbox setting. This place is such a compromise that when you get the gearing right for one corner it's out at the next. We had a couple of little niggling problems with the electronics but overall it's been a good day. We were able to try out a lot of different tyres and we're pretty sure what we'll be running on Sunday. Our race pace seems good and the guys ahead of us are only doing one faster lap before dropping back to the same pace, so I think we'll be right up there."
 
Noriyuki Haga   
Noriyuki Haga (Yamaha Motor Italia) "We're still trying to find the right balance of the bike and tonight we'll make some changes to improve the feeling. Imola is a very physical circuit and my wrist is still quite painful, but I do not think this will be a problem because when the lights go out you forget about any problems you have."
Norick Abe (Yamaha Motor France) "Not such a bad day! The bike is working ok and close to the top riders, so this is an alright result for us. I hope that tomorrow we can stay in the top 16 and qualify for the superpole. That would prepare us for a good race."
Shinichi Nakatomi (Yamaha Motor France) "This is my first time at Imola so today my priority is to learn the course and improve the set-up. Tonight we will try some things and I am quite confident that I can get faster as the weekend goes on."
Massimo Meregalli (Team Coordinator - Yamaha Motor Italia) "The times are very close today and we can still make some improvements. Andrew had a few small problems with the electronics today, while Noriyuki is still trying to find a different balance on his bike. We will make some changes tonight and see what tomorrow brings."
Circuit Length: 4959 Weather: Sunny     2006 WSB Imola 29/09/2006 Qualifying 1 Pos. Rider Manu. Nat. Total Time 1 James Toseland Honda GBR 1'50.039 2 Troy Corser Suzuki AUS 1'50.250 3 Troy Bayliss Ducati AUS 1'50.265 4 Yukio Kagayama Suzuki JPN 1'50.357 5 Alex Barros Honda BRA 1'50.388 6 Ruben Xaus Ducati ESP 1'50.468 8 Michel Fabrizio Honda ITA 1'50.553 9 Max Neukirchner Suzuki GER 1'50.659 10 Ivan Clementi Ducati ITA 1'50.768 11 Noriyuki Haga Yamaha JPN 1'50.882 12 Karl Muggeridge Honda AUS 1'50.882 13 Lorenzo Lanzi Ducati ITA 1'51.003 14 Fonsi Nieto Kawasaki ESP 1'51.077 15 Chris Walker Kawasaki GBR 1'51.227 16 Norick Abe Yamaha JPN 1'51.338 21 Sebastien Gimbert Yamaha FRA 1'52.034 24 Shinichi Nakatomi Yamaha JPN 1'52.108
QUALIFYING 1 REPORT 29/09/2006 Curtain third in first practice   Kevin Curtain   
Championship leader Kevin Curtain prepared for Sunday's penultimate supersport round by setting the third fastest time in today's first qualifying session at Imola.
The Australian set a best time of 1:53.728 around the famous Italian circuit to claim a spot on the provisional front row alongside title rival Sebastien Charpentier (Honda), Kenan Sofuoglu (Honda) and last year's Imola winner Gianluca Nannelli (Ducati). With two rounds of the series remaining it will be either Curtain or 2005 champ Charpentier who will be crowned king of the 600 class, with Yamaha Motor Germany man Curtain holding a 27 point advantage going into this weekend's race.
Yamaha Team Italia's Gianluca Vizziello, winner of the Italian championship race held at Imola last weekend, was sixth fastest, with team-mate Massimo Roccoli, who was last week crowned as his national supersport champion, tenth after taking a tumble during the session.
Curtain's team-mate Broc Parkes made a welcome return from injury to take 12th place on the provisional grid. The Australian missed the last round after breaking ribs and punturing a lung in Assen but is ready to race in Imola, albeit not at 100 percent fitness.
Final qualifying for Sunday's race takes place tomorrow (Saturday).
Circuit Length: 4959 Weather: Dry     2006 WSS Imola 29/09/2006 Qualifying 1 Pos. Rider Manu. Nat. Total Time 1 Sebastien Charpentier Honda FRA 1'52.842 2 Kenan Sofuoglu Honda TUR 1'53.081 3 Kevin Curtain Yamaha AUS 1'53.728 4 Gianluca Nannelli Ducati ITA 1'53.790 5 Robbin Harms Honda DNK 1'53.902 6 Gianluca Vizziello Yamaha ITA 1'54.202 7 Katsuaki Fujiwara Honda JPN 1'54.250 8 Yoann Tibero Honda FRA 1'54.355 9 Johan Stigefelt Honda SWE 1'54.521 10 Massimo Roccoli Yamaha ITA 1'54.718 11 Stephane Chambon Kawasaki FRA 1'54.891 12 Broc Parkes Yamaha AUS 1'54.993 13 Christian Zaiser Ducati AUT 1'55.186 14 Matthieu Lagrive Honda FRA 1'55.330 15 David Checa Yamaha ESP 1'55.402
Alex Asigno
Poland's Bartosz Oblucki and Frenchman Marc Germain shared top honours in the Enduro 1 class at the eighth and final round of the 2006 World Enduro Championship, the GP of France held in Boussac. With conditions far from ideal following heavy rain during the days leading up to the race, as well as during the event itself, the last round of the 2006 WEC series proved to be extremely challenging for all competitors. Performing at his best in the slippery conditions Oblucki placed 14 seconds ahead of Italian Simone Albergoni after a day long battle while Germain, making his first appearance in the 2006 WEC series having focused his efforts on national events in France this season, placed third and ahead of Spain's Ivan Cervantes. Needing just a handful of points from the first day's competition Cervantes claimed the E1 world championship title for the second consecutive season. With conditions harder on day two of the GP of France than they have been on any other day of the eight-round WEC series this season Yamaha rider Marc Germain claimed a popular victory finishing just over five seconds ahead of day one winner Oblucki. Although competing simply for fun Germain showed that he is still a world class performer despite opting not to compete in the full world championship series in 2006. Winning three of the day's four special tests in the E1 class Germain headed what was a great second day in France for Yamaha. With Oblucki second Portuguese Yamaha rider Helder Rodrigues claimed his first WEC podium of 2006 in third while UFO Corse Yamaha rider Maurizio Micheluz finished in fourth. In finishing fourth Micheluz claimed fifth in the 2006 E1 world championship, finishing as the highest placed Yamaha rider. Maurizio Micheluz (UFO Corse Yamaha) Enduro 1 class - Day 1: Sixth, Day 2: Fourth "I think that it is important to have good luck in a race with such bad conditions. On the first day I didn't have such good luck and I finished in sixth position. On the second day I just wanted to make sure that I didn't make any mistakes, and my result improved. I was being careful on all the special tests and finished in fourth and not so far behind third. I am happy with the way the race has gone and the championship. I finished in fifth position, which is my best championship result in the WEC, so I am happy. I am learning more every year so I'm looking forward to 2007." Marc Germain (Yamaha France) Enduro 1 class - Day 1: Third, Day 2: First "It was never my plan to get a really good result here at the world championship race in France. I have had a great season in France so I just wanted to race in front of the spectators that have supported me all season. I was really tired on day one because I didn't prepare for the race as well as I could. But I could see that I could still get a good result. I saw that I could improve my result with some good times on the enduro test. I was behind Oblucki going into the last tests, and I wasn't expecting to win, but he made a mistake and I won. I am really happy with this."
 
Temp: 12 Crowd: 20000 Weather: Rain     2006 Enduro 1 France 24/09/2006 Race 1 - 1 Laps Pos. Rider Manu. Nat. Total Time 1 Bartosz Oblucki Husqvarna POL 50'40.800 2 Simone Albergoni Honda ITA 0'14.360 3 Marc Germain Yamaha FRA 1'10.190 4 Ivan Cervantes KTM ESP 1'17.440 5 Alessandro Belometti KTM ITA 2'15.650 6 Maurizio Micheluz Yamaha ITA 2'27.460 7 Helder Rodrigues Yamaha POR 2'30.900 8 Julien Gauthier Honda FRA 2'45.010 9 Gregory Eyries Yamaha FRA 4'54.110 10 Damien Miquel Kawasaki FRA 5'37.640 11 Nicolas Deparrois Husqvarna FRA 6'7.790 12 Mike Hartmann KTM GER 6'45.290 13 Freddy Blanc KTM FRA 7'39.320 14 Evrard Gutkin TM FRA 8'23.400 15 Nicolas Joye KTM CHE 9'52.530
Race 2 - 1 Laps Pos. Rider Manu. Nat. Total Time 1 Marc Germain Yamaha FRA 33'57.610 2 Bartosz Oblucki Husqvarna POL 0'5.710 3 Helder Rodrigues Yamaha POR 1'13.610 4 Maurizio Micheluz Yamaha ITA 1'31.570 5 Ivan Cervantes KTM ESP 2'2.360 6 Julien Gauthier Honda FRA 3'24.230 7 Alessandro Belometti KTM ITA 4'22.270 8 Nicolas Deparrois Husqvarna FRA 4'42.430 9 Damien Miquel Kawasaki FRA 5'29.580 10 Joan Jou Yamaha ESP 5'32.960 11 Greg Evans KTM GBR 11'49.770 12 Nicolas Joye KTM CHE 14'41.870 13 Benoit Calomine KTM FRA 14'53.940
Rider Standings 24/09/2006
Pos. Rider Manu. Nat. Points 1. Ivan Cervantes KTM ESP 372 2. Simone Albergoni Honda ITA 318 3. Bartosz Oblucki Husqvarna POL 291 4. Alessandro Belometti KTM ITA 284 5. Maurizio Micheluz Yamaha ITA 255 6. Petri Pohjamo TM FIN 166 7. Helder Rodrigues Yamaha POR 155 8. Mike Hartmann KTM GER 148 9. Nicolas Deparrois Husqvarna FRA 125 10. Freddy Blanc KTM FRA 82 11. Julien Gauthier Honda FRA 71 12. Anthony Roberts Yamaha AUS 58 13. Peter Bergvall Suzuki SWE 52 14. Shane Cuthbertson KTM CAN 49 15. Marc Germain Yamaha FRA 45 44. Arnau Vilanova Yamaha ESP 10
Manufacturer Standings 24/09/2006
Pos. Manufacturer Points 1. KTM 372 2. Honda 333 3. Husqvarna 301 4. Yamaha 273 5. TM 173 6. Suzuki 90 7. Kawasaki 64 8. GasGas 23 9. Christini 19
RACE REPORT 24/09/2006 Merriman third, Aubert fourth in world championship   Stefan Merriman   
Finn Samuli Aro wrapped up the 2006 Enduro 2 world championship on day one of the GP of France by claiming his eighth E2 class win of the series. Winning just two of the opening day's seven special tests Aro placed eight seconds ahead of Frenchman Fabien Planet. Finishing in third was Finn Mika Ahola some 29 seconds behind Planet while Australian UFO Corse Yamaha rider Stefan Merriman placed in fourth five seconds behind Ahola having lost valuable seconds when he got wire wrapped around his rear wheel on one of the day's extreme tests.
On day two Mika Ahola improved on his day one result to top the E2 class finishing 32 seconds ahead of Merriman. With just 13 riders reaching the finish of the second day in the E2 class due to the severity of the conditions Merriman was followed home by Aro. With Aro topping the 2006 E2 world championship UFO Corse Yamaha team mates Merriman and Johnny Aubert placed in third and fourth.
French UFO Corse Yamaha rider Johnny Aubert's hopes of a good result at both his home round of the series and the final round of the championship ended when the former motocross rider DNF the opening day after just one timed special test. Crashing as he crossed a slippery wooded bridge on the extreme test Aubert took no further part in the event having injured his ankle. Although in pain at the time of his incident Aubert returned to the race on Sunday.
Johnny Aubert (UFO Corse Yamaha) Enduro 2 class - Day 1: DNF, Day 2: DNS "I crashed on the first timed enduro test, on one of the bridges. I am not sure what happened exactly but I had a lot of pain in my ankle. I had some problem with the bones but I don't think that anything is broken. On Monday I will go to Paris and there I will have a doctor examine my foot. I can walk on it but something is not right. I hope it is nothing too serious."
Stefan Merriman (UFO Corse Yamaha) Enduro 2 class - Day 1: Fourth, Day 2: Second "I got stuck in a fence on the extreme test on the last lap. I was just going up a rocky uphill, slipped backwards, and got caught up in the fence. I lost some time getting the wire out of the wheel, so that didn't help me. I had a fall on one of the tests earlier in the day as well but thankfully they were the only problems I had. With the conditions the way they were it could have been a lot worse. It would have been nice to have got onto the podium but fourth wasn't so bad. Day two was really tough. On the last enduro test I met one of the other riders coming towards me after he'd made a mess of one of the uphill. I had to try and dodge him, figure out where he'd come from, and I ended up getting stuck myself. It was a bit tricky in places. I find it difficult to ride at my best when I know that I can't win a championship. The race hasn't been too bad, despite the weather, and although there were a lot of ruts it's been pretty enjoyable."
Temp: 12 Crowd: 20000 Weather: Rain     2006 Enduro 2 France 24/09/2006 Race 1 - 1 Laps Pos. Rider Manu. Nat. Total Time 1 Samuli Aro KTM FIN 48'12.910 2 Fabien Planet KTM FRA 0'8.300 3 Mika Ahola Honda FIN 0'37.630 4 Stefan Merriman Yamaha AUS 0'42.980 5 Andrea Belotti KTM ITA 2'6.710 6 Cristobal Guerrero GasGas ESP 2'8.100 7 Nicolas Paganon Husqvarna FRA 2'16.310 8 Paul Edmondson Honda GBR 2'52.010 9 Emmanuel Albepart Honda FRA 3'3.350 10 Andrea Beconi Beta ITA 3'15.040 11 Euan McConnell TM GBR 3'42.780 12 Alessandro Botturi Aprilia ITA 4'27.260 13 Thierry Klutz Sherco BEL 4'40.860 14 Fabrizio Dini Yamaha ITA 5'6.060 15 Jordan Curvalle Kawasaki FRA 6'1.340
Race 2 - 1 Laps Pos. Rider Manu. Nat. Total Time 1 Mika Ahola Honda FIN 32'20.250 2 Stefan Merriman Yamaha AUS 0'32.870 3 Samuli Aro KTM FIN 0'58.450 4 Paul Edmondson Honda GBR 1'4.460 5 Nicolas Paganon Husqvarna FRA 1'7.060 6 Fabien Planet KTM FRA 1'14.160 7 Euan McConnell TM GBR 1'50.890 8 Emmanuel Albepart Honda FRA 1'52.570 9 Andrea Beconi Beta ITA 1'58.090 10 Andrea Belotti KTM ITA 4'2.040 11 Fabrizio Dini Yamaha ITA 5'12.110 12 Alessandro Botturi Aprilia ITA 7'55.330 13 Jordan Curvalle Kawasaki FRA 9'23.220
Rider Standings 24/09/2006
Pos. Rider Manu. Nat. Points 1. Samuli Aro KTM FIN 360 2. Mika Ahola Honda FIN 328 3. Stefan Merriman Yamaha AUS 318 4. Johnny Aubert Yamaha FRA 277 5. Fabien Planet KTM FRA 239 6. Cristobal Guerrero GasGas ESP 210 7. Xavier Galindo KTM ESP 185 8. Nicolas Paganon Husqvarna FRA 153 9. Fabrizio Dini Yamaha ITA 141 10. Alessandro Botturi Aprilia ITA 135 11. Valtteri Salonen HusaBerg FIN 134 12. Euan McConnell TM GBR 108 13. Paul Edmondson Honda GBR 105 14. Andrea Beconi Beta ITA 98 15. Andrea Belotti KTM ITA 92
Manufacturer Standings 24/09/2006
Pos. Manufacturer Points 1. KTM 360 2. Yamaha 356 3. Honda 328 4. GasGas 210 5. Husqvarna 165 6. Aprilia 135 7. HusaBerg 134 8. Beta 112 9. TM 108 10. Sherco 58 11. Suzuki 52 12. Kawasaki 30
Alex Asigno
The penultimate round of the 2006 Superbike World Championship takes place this weekend at the famous Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari in the town of Imola, the championship's third visit of the year to Italy.
The technically demanding circuit is steeped in heritage thanks mainly to its history as a Formula One circuit but it is also famous as a bike venue too, having hosted the classic Imola 200 events during the Seventies and, more recently, Grand Prix and superbike racing. The circuit's surface bears the scars of this history, with the old tarmac proving bumpy and providing the bike racers with a tough challenge to find good settings. Despite this, Imola is generally very popular with the riders - its challenging layout providing the sort of test that only the old-fashioned classic circuits can. Last year's event took place in atrocious weather conditions that eventually led to the cancellation of race two.
The Yamaha Motor Italia squad goes into the meeting looking to give another strong showing for their home fans and to help their riders meet their end-of-season targets. With Ducati's Troy Bayliss looking like clinching the series thanks to a 87 point advantage, the team's Noriyuki Haga is targeting more wins to add to solitary success so far this year and to consolidate his second place in the championship, which would equal his best ever end of season ranking.
Team-mate Andrew Pitt has also taken one win this season, in Misano, and is looking to get back on track after crashing out of the second race in Germany. The Australian has been the man on form in the latter part of the season, with only a slower than hoped for start to the season and a double DNF in Brno denying him a crack at the title. Having been the top points scorer at Assen, Pitt was unlucky to slip off last time out in Lausitz. That failure to score moved him down to fifth in the championship, one point behind outgoing champion Troy Corser (Suzuki).
 
Race date: 1 October 2006 Circuit: Imola Country: Italy Track length: 4933m Opened: 1953 Fastest ever superbike lap: 1'48.075 (Chris Vermeulen) Superbike lap record: 1'48.389 (Troy Corser) Last year's winner: Chris Vermeulen (Honda) Circuit telephone: +39 0542 31444 Circuit web site: http://www.autodromoimola.com
"The result at Lausitz was disappointing because we made the wrong tyre choice in race one and then just touched the footrest down and crashed in the second," said Pitt. "I was disappointed to slip back to fifth in the championship but the bike was working really well and we were lucky that Barros and Corser also missed out on the big points. Imola's a circuit that I like. I've some good memories of the place, as I won the supersport title there in 2001. It's a challenging track with a lot of blind corners. To go well there you need a lot of confidence in the bike, which is good for us as the R1 is working really well. Who knows where we can end the season? Second place is not out of the question but my aim is just to keep finishing on the podium in these last two weekends and then the championship positions will sort themselves out." In the Supersport World Championship, Yamaha Motor Germany's Kevin Curtain can lift the title at Imola. The veteran Australian goes to Italy 27 points ahead of current champion Sebastien Charpentier (Honda) and will win his first world crown should he leave Italy with at least 26 points over his rival going into the final round.
"I never expected to go to Imola with such a big lead," says Curtain. "I had hoped that maybe I could have something like 10 points advantage after Lausitz so to be in this position is something we couldn't dream of. It's all a credit to the team, who have worked so hard to put us in this situation. We had a new bike at the start of the season but straight away we have been competitive. With a lot of hard work we now have a bike which is as good as anything else out there. Imola is where I had my first ride with Yamaha Germany, in 2003, and I've gone well there in the past. I'm not thinking too much about the championship and am going with the same attitude as always, to pick up as many points as possible and let everything look after itself."
Curtain should be joined at Imola by his team-mate Broc Parkes. Parkes missed the race at Lausitz after crashing at Assen. The Australian will is ready to race but must undergo a final fitness test in Imola. Should he be declared fit by the circuit medics then he will look to consolodate his third place in the championship standings.
 
 
Alex Asigno
Poland's Bartosz Oblucki and Frenchman Marc Germain shared top honours in the Enduro 1 class at the eighth and final round of the 2006 World Enduro Championship, the GP of France held in Boussac. With conditions far from ideal following heavy rain during the days leading up to the race, as well as during the event itself, the last round of the 2006 WEC series proved to be extremely challenging for all competitors. Performing at his best in the slippery conditions Oblucki placed 14 seconds ahead of Italian Simone Albergoni after a day long battle while Germain, making his first appearance in the 2006 WEC series having focused his efforts on national events in France this season, placed third and ahead of Spain's Ivan Cervantes. Needing just a handful of points from the first day's competition Cervantes claimed the E1 world championship title for the second consecutive season.
With conditions harder on day two of the GP of France than they have been on any other day of the eight-round WEC series this season Yamaha rider Marc Germain claimed a popular victory finishing just over five seconds ahead of day one winner Oblucki. Although competing simply for fun Germain showed that he is still a world class performer despite opting not to compete in the full world championship series in 2006. Winning three of the day's four special tests in the E1 class Germain headed what was a great second day in France for Yamaha. With Oblucki second Portuguese Yamaha rider Helder Rodrigues claimed his first WEC podium of 2006 in third while UFO Corse Yamaha rider Maurizio Micheluz finished in fourth. In finishing fourth Micheluz claimed fifth in the 2006 E1 world championship, finishing as the highest placed Yamaha rider.
Maurizio Micheluz (UFO Corse Yamaha) Enduro 1 class - Day 1: Sixth, Day 2: Fourth "I think that it is important to have good luck in a race with such bad conditions. On the first day I didn't have such good luck and I finished in sixth position. On the second day I just wanted to make sure that I didn't make any mistakes, and my result improved. I was being careful on all the special tests and finished in fourth and not so far behind third. I am happy with the way the race has gone and the championship. I finished in fifth position, which is my best championship result in the WEC, so I am happy. I am learning more every year so I'm looking forward to 2007."
Marc Germain (Yamaha France) Enduro 1 class - Day 1: Third, Day 2: First "It was never my plan to get a really good result here at the world championship race in France. I have had a great season in France so I just wanted to race in front of the spectators that have supported me all season. I was really tired on day one because I didn't prepare for the race as well as I could. But I could see that I could still get a good result. I saw that I could improve my result with some good times on the enduro test. I was behind Oblucki going into the last tests, and I wasn't expecting to win, but he made a mistake and I won. I am really happy with this."
Temp: 12 Crowd: 20000 Weather: Rain     2006 Enduro 1 France 24/09/2006 Race 1 - 1 Laps Pos. Rider Manu. Nat. Total Time 1 Bartosz Oblucki Husqvarna POL 50'40.800 2 Simone Albergoni Honda ITA 0'14.360 3 Marc Germain Yamaha FRA 1'10.190 4 Ivan Cervantes KTM ESP 1'17.440 5 Alessandro Belometti KTM ITA 2'15.650 6 Maurizio Micheluz Yamaha ITA 2'27.460 7 Helder Rodrigues Yamaha POR 2'30.900 8 Julien Gauthier Honda FRA 2'45.010 9 Gregory Eyries Yamaha FRA 4'54.110 10 Damien Miquel Kawasaki FRA 5'37.640 11 Nicolas Deparrois Husqvarna FRA 6'7.790 12 Mike Hartmann KTM GER 6'45.290 13 Freddy Blanc KTM FRA 7'39.320 14 Evrard Gutkin TM FRA 8'23.400 15 Nicolas Joye KTM CHE 9'52.530
Race 2 - 1 Laps Pos. Rider Manu. Nat. Total Time 1 Marc Germain Yamaha FRA 33'57.610 2 Bartosz Oblucki Husqvarna POL 0'5.710 3 Helder Rodrigues Yamaha POR 1'13.610 4 Maurizio Micheluz Yamaha ITA 1'31.570 5 Ivan Cervantes KTM ESP 2'2.360 6 Julien Gauthier Honda FRA 3'24.230 7 Alessandro Belometti KTM ITA 4'22.270 8 Nicolas Deparrois Husqvarna FRA 4'42.430 9 Damien Miquel Kawasaki FRA 5'29.580 10 Joan Jou Yamaha ESP 5'32.960 11 Greg Evans KTM GBR 11'49.770 12 Nicolas Joye KTM CHE 14'41.870 13 Benoit Calomine KTM FRA 14'53.940
Rider Standings 24/09/2006
Pos. Rider Manu. Nat. Points 1. Ivan Cervantes KTM ESP 372 2. Simone Albergoni Honda ITA 318 3. Bartosz Oblucki Husqvarna POL 291 4. Alessandro Belometti KTM ITA 284 5. Maurizio Micheluz Yamaha ITA 255 6. Petri Pohjamo TM FIN 166 7. Helder Rodrigues Yamaha POR 155 8. Mike Hartmann KTM GER 148 9. Nicolas Deparrois Husqvarna FRA 125 10. Freddy Blanc KTM FRA 82 11. Julien Gauthier Honda FRA 71 12. Anthony Roberts Yamaha AUS 58 13. Peter Bergvall Suzuki SWE 52 14. Shane Cuthbertson KTM CAN 49 15. Marc Germain Yamaha FRA 45 44. Arnau Vilanova Yamaha ESP 10
Manufacturer Standings 24/09/2006
Pos. Manufacturer Points 1. KTM 372 2. Honda 333 3. Husqvarna 301 4. Yamaha 273 5. TM 173 6. Suzuki 90 7. Kawasaki 64 8. GasGas 23 9. Christini 19
RACE REPORT 24/09/2006 Merriman third, Aubert fourth in world championship   Stefan Merriman   
Finn Samuli Aro wrapped up the 2006 Enduro 2 world championship on day one of the GP of France by claiming his eighth E2 class win of the series. Winning just two of the opening day's seven special tests Aro placed eight seconds ahead of Frenchman Fabien Planet. Finishing in third was Finn Mika Ahola some 29 seconds behind Planet while Australian UFO Corse Yamaha rider Stefan Merriman placed in fourth five seconds behind Ahola having lost valuable seconds when he got wire wrapped around his rear wheel on one of the day's extreme tests.
On day two Mika Ahola improved on his day one result to top the E2 class finishing 32 seconds ahead of Merriman. With just 13 riders reaching the finish of the second day in the E2 class due to the severity of the conditions Merriman was followed home by Aro. With Aro topping the 2006 E2 world championship UFO Corse Yamaha team mates Merriman and Johnny Aubert placed in third and fourth.
French UFO Corse Yamaha rider Johnny Aubert's hopes of a good result at both his home round of the series and the final round of the championship ended when the former motocross rider DNF the opening day after just one timed special test. Crashing as he crossed a slippery wooded bridge on the extreme test Aubert took no further part in the event having injured his ankle. Although in pain at the time of his incident Aubert returned to the race on Sunday.
Johnny Aubert (UFO Corse Yamaha) Enduro 2 class - Day 1: DNF, Day 2: DNS "I crashed on the first timed enduro test, on one of the bridges. I am not sure what happened exactly but I had a lot of pain in my ankle. I had some problem with the bones but I don't think that anything is broken. On Monday I will go to Paris and there I will have a doctor examine my foot. I can walk on it but something is not right. I hope it is nothing too serious."
Stefan Merriman (UFO Corse Yamaha) Enduro 2 class - Day 1: Fourth, Day 2: Second "I got stuck in a fence on the extreme test on the last lap. I was just going up a rocky uphill, slipped backwards, and got caught up in the fence. I lost some time getting the wire out of the wheel, so that didn't help me. I had a fall on one of the tests earlier in the day as well but thankfully they were the only problems I had. With the conditions the way they were it could have been a lot worse. It would have been nice to have got onto the podium but fourth wasn't so bad. Day two was really tough. On the last enduro test I met one of the other riders coming towards me after he'd made a mess of one of the uphill. I had to try and dodge him, figure out where he'd come from, and I ended up getting stuck myself. It was a bit tricky in places. I find it difficult to ride at my best when I know that I can't win a championship. The race hasn't been too bad, despite the weather, and although there were a lot of ruts it's been pretty enjoyable."
Temp: 12 Crowd: 20000 Weather: Rain     2006 Enduro 2 France 24/09/2006 Race 1 - 1 Laps Pos. Rider Manu. Nat. Total Time 1 Samuli Aro KTM FIN 48'12.910 2 Fabien Planet KTM FRA 0'8.300 3 Mika Ahola Honda FIN 0'37.630 4 Stefan Merriman Yamaha AUS 0'42.980 5 Andrea Belotti KTM ITA 2'6.710 6 Cristobal Guerrero GasGas ESP 2'8.100 7 Nicolas Paganon Husqvarna FRA 2'16.310 8 Paul Edmondson Honda GBR 2'52.010 9 Emmanuel Albepart Honda FRA 3'3.350 10 Andrea Beconi Beta ITA 3'15.040 11 Euan McConnell TM GBR 3'42.780 12 Alessandro Botturi Aprilia ITA 4'27.260 13 Thierry Klutz Sherco BEL 4'40.860 14 Fabrizio Dini Yamaha ITA 5'6.060 15 Jordan Curvalle Kawasaki FRA 6'1.340
Race 2 - 1 Laps Pos. Rider Manu. Nat. Total Time 1 Mika Ahola Honda FIN 32'20.250 2 Stefan Merriman Yamaha AUS 0'32.870 3 Samuli Aro KTM FIN 0'58.450 4 Paul Edmondson Honda GBR 1'4.460 5 Nicolas Paganon Husqvarna FRA 1'7.060 6 Fabien Planet KTM FRA 1'14.160 7 Euan McConnell TM GBR 1'50.890 8 Emmanuel Albepart Honda FRA 1'52.570 9 Andrea Beconi Beta ITA 1'58.090 10 Andrea Belotti KTM ITA 4'2.040 11 Fabrizio Dini Yamaha ITA 5'12.110 12 Alessandro Botturi Aprilia ITA 7'55.330 13 Jordan Curvalle Kawasaki FRA 9'23.220
Rider Standings 24/09/2006
Pos. Rider Manu. Nat. Points 1. Samuli Aro KTM FIN 360 2. Mika Ahola Honda FIN 328 3. Stefan Merriman Yamaha AUS 318 4. Johnny Aubert Yamaha FRA 277 5. Fabien Planet KTM FRA 239 6. Cristobal Guerrero GasGas ESP 210 7. Xavier Galindo KTM ESP 185 8. Nicolas Paganon Husqvarna FRA 153 9. Fabrizio Dini Yamaha ITA 141 10. Alessandro Botturi Aprilia ITA 135 11. Valtteri Salonen HusaBerg FIN 134 12. Euan McConnell TM GBR 108 13. Paul Edmondson Honda GBR 105 14. Andrea Beconi Beta ITA 98 15. Andrea Belotti KTM ITA 92
Manufacturer Standings 24/09/2006
Pos. Manufacturer Points 1. KTM 360 2. Yamaha 356 3. Honda 328 4. GasGas 210 5. Husqvarna 165 6. Aprilia 135 7. HusaBerg 134 8. Beta 112 9. TM 108 10. Sherco 58 11. Suzuki 52 12. Kawasaki 30
Alex Asigno
MX1 World Champion Stefan Everts and vice-World Champion Antonio Cairoli gave Yamaha a 100% score in the MX-des-Nations event.
MX1 World Champion Stefan Everts ended his career by guiding Team Belgium to second place today at Matterley Basin in Great Britain for the 60th Motocross of Nations. The 33 year old finished the year in typical fashion by winning both of his races ahead of USA’s Ryan Villopoto and James Stewart in front of a record-breaking 85,000 people (weekend figure).
The track was rougher with larger jumps, and the problems with dust as seen in the British Grand Prix in June were lessened by heavy rain on Friday and again Sunday morning. A fantastic cosmopolitan crowd filled the Matterley site and created an exciting atmosphere but also verged on the point of overwhelming the venue due to the unprecedented numbers.
Stefan Everts powered into the lead of the first moto contested between the MX1 and MX2 classes. The Belgian was on the precipice of an interesting duel with James Stewart until the American crashed and the World Champ was free to run his own race with a lead of almost ten seconds. In his second outing (MX1 and MX Open) Everts engaged in an exciting tussle with David Philippaerts and James Stewart but once again found the right lines and rhythm to escape from his most direct rival and give World Championship motocross a memorable double over its AMA counterparts.
 
Despite the ten times Champion’s speed and results Belgium finished seven points behind the USA. Everts continued his remarkable record of being on the podium of every Nations event in which he has participated (all fourteen) but could not add a sixth victory to the last time he walked the top step with his two countrymen in 2004.
De Carli Yamaha rider Antonio Cairoli was absolutely sensational in the second moto between MX2 and the MX Open categories. The Italian had crashed and had a tough race earlier in the day but his fights with Ben Townley and Ryan Villopoto in Moto2 was the action highlight of the event and the flamboyance of the 2006 MX2 vice-champion on the YZ250F was a joy to behold. Cairoli’s victory ensured a clean sweep of the three races for Yamaha and Team Italy missed the podium by just one point.
Stefan Everts    After six seasons and six consecutive World titles – all with Yamaha - Stefan Everts now signs off an eighteen year, ten Championships and 101 Grand Prix winning career. He announced on Saturday that he will move into the position of race director with another manufacturer.
Stefan Everts, Team Belgium, Yamaha Intur Sports Motocross Team: “It was a pretty easy day. It was a great pity that Ricky didn’t ride because I believe he would have pushed for the individual win. Anyway it has been a great race for me. I am very happy to end this way. As a team we were a bit unlucky with Kevin’s bike problem and our chances might have been better if that had not happened; that’s racing. I am always very motivated for this race. I think that was one of the biggest crowds at a motocross event I have seen. It is incredible and for sure I am going to miss this event.”
Antonio Cairoli, Team Italy, Team Yamaha De Carli: “I felt really good with the bike and physically I am in good shape. In the first heat I got an unbelievable start and was second; this was excellent because we had all the MX1 bikes with us. After two corners Mackenzie had a bit too much adrenaline I think and hit my back wheel so I crashed. I came from last I think and finished tenth. I was quite satisfied but it wasn’t good for the team. I found it hard to make up ground with the MX1 bikes there also. I was high again, fifth, in the second moto. I waited five or six laps to see the lines of Villopoto and Townley. I was close to Villopoto when he made a mistake and ran off the track. I saw that Tedesco was not so fast and I could control the gap at the front. I really like this track and the fans were incredible when they were cheering me going to the lead.”
Michele Rinaldi, Team Manager, Yamaha Intur Sports Motocross Team: It's unfortunate that after an unbelievable successful 6 years the Yamaha - Everts relation has to come to an end. Yamaha has made a very good offer to Stefan to continue the relationship, which Stefan also admitted. But Yamaha was not prepared to make a similar position offer as KTM due to being differently organized and judging certain things differently. At the same time we are disappointed about the timing and the way the news was presented as we had agreed before with Stefan to lift it over the weekend.
It doesn’t change the fact that we are very proud that Yamaha, Stefan and the team together wrote a unique chapter in the Motocross World Championship history. And it will not affect our preparation nor determination to continue our successes in 2007
Alex Asigno
Camel Yamaha Team rider Valentino Rossi now trails MotoGP World Championship series leader Nicky Hayden (Honda) by just twelve points with two rounds remaining thanks to his fourth consecutive podium, his eighth from the last ten races, in Japan today. Rossi took second place in a race dominated and won by Loris Capirossi (Ducati), with Marco Melandri (Honda) completing the podium in a carbon copy of the front row order. The 20-point reward for Rossi moved him another nine closer to Hayden, who finished fifth behind Sete Gibernau (Ducati).
Colin Edwards had shown promise of mounting a podium challenge himself this weekend but unfortunately his excellent practice pace on race rubber did not translate into the top result he was hoping for. Despite making a good start from tenth on the grid the American was forced wide by another rider into turn one and lost several positions, dropping back to twelfth. However a determined ride from that point onwards saw him battle back to eighth place - a position he also now holds in the championship after moving above John Hopkins (Suzuki).
Valentino Rossi (2nd; +5.088) "I'm really happy with this second position today. It wasn't a great battle like in Sepang, but my rhythm was really good and my bike worked very well. We had a few problems in warm-up this morning and, like always, my mechanics, the Yamaha engineers and Michelin did a great job to make some last-minute changes to our race set-up. At the start my M1 was a little bit hard to ride but slowly I found my rhythm and then bit by bit I started to come closer to Marco. Once I passed him I started pushing to try to reach Loris and made the fastest lap, but once he realised I was coming closer he opened the throttle again and he was just too fast for me to catch. My bike worked brilliantly since Friday morning and I want to thank everyone for all their hard work, it seems that when everything is working for us then it's hard for the others! 20 points is a great result for me at this track, which isn't one of my favourites, and now we're only 12 points behind in the championship. We have two races left and if we can continue in this way then it's possible!" Colin Edwards (8th; +22.492) "I got off the line pretty well but then (Dani) Pedrosa pushed me out a bit on the exit of turn one and I had to chop it. I lost speed and then about three people went by me so I was playing catch-up from then on. I had to spend some time getting past (Makoto) Tamada and (Randy) De Puniet but then I got my head down and just kept going in the same rhythm. I was doing good lap times, consistent with what we were doing all weekend, but it wasn't enough to make up for our grid position and the problems in turn one. About 15 laps in I hit a bit of a wall, couldn't hold the load on the rear tyre and started losing corner speed, so life was more difficult from then on. Of course I'm really disappointed; we had a plan but it was messed up by our starting position and turn one. On the bright side we were able to run the same good pace we ran all weekend for most of the race, but it seems a few others, my team-mate included, found a bit extra today and what we had just wasn't enough!"
 
Davide Brivio - Camel Yamaha Team Director "Today was a very important race for us because we have been able to reduce the gap by another nine points, which keeps us on target. Our goal today was to finish on the podium and we did that so we are happy, even though Loris had a pace that Valentino wasn't quite able to follow. Unfortunately Colin couldn't quite live up to the high hopes he had raised before the race so we will investigate the reasons for that. We still have two races left and we want to help get him back to the front of the pack. The last three weeks have required a lot of energy, effort and concentration from the whole team and I am delighted the way every one of them has responded. Now we need them to keep it going for two more races and hopefully we will continue to get our rewards."
Tech 3 Yamaha Team satisfied with Motegi result after difficult weekend
 
It wasn't the result that the Tech 3 Yamaha Team desired as Carlos Checa celebrated his 200th Grand Prix start but the team will come away from the Japanese Grand Prix at the Motegi Twin Ring satisfied with the outcome after an extremely difficult weekend of practice and qualifying.
Carlos and his team mate, James Ellison battled as hard as they could for the entire race mixing it with the factory Suzuki team as Carlos eventually came home in 14th position and James secured one championship point to finish 15th in a race won by Loris Capirossi (Ducati)
Carlos Checa (14th, Fastest lap 1'48.992) "I cannot be really happy but I'm quite satisfied because we did our best. We must have some satisfaction because we did our best but certainly we are not happy because the result is quite far from where we want. After the many tyres we tested over the two days it was a bit of a compromise on tyre choice but it didn't end up too bad in the end. The pace has increased a lot this year and this makes it more difficult to demonstrate the evolution we are doing. I think to keep in the 1'49's all race is not so bad .I did these times last year and finished fourth but I think Dunlop need a little more time to improve the tyres. I was with the Suzuki team the entire race and we passed each other quite a few times then my tyre went off a little and I couldn't go with them. For me it was quite a cool race to be battling with others. I know inside myself I did my best and basically the main limitation is technical. It is good training for me and it is better to be here than at home as I'm still enjoying what I am doing very much. We knew that this year would be difficult and we would have different races where we would be struggling like here and then have other races like Phillip Island where we would have good results but then the wet tyre didn't work so well. Our target is to keep improving - even myself - I think we had a great opportunity even with all the problems because we fought against the limitations and the problems we had so we will keep going and we will keep learning. "
James Ellison (15thFastest lap1'49.616) "Truthfully, it's not such a bad end to the weekend after the struggle we had early on and to finish with a point is quite satisfying although I'm always hoping for a better result. It is the best race I have had yet, dicing with people and the one I have enjoyed the most. For the first time in a few races I really had fun out there today as I was actually able to race with a few guys and Carlos wasn't really that far in front of me, but in a way it was frustrating as I know I can go a lot faster. I was thinking if I didn't have these problems how much higher could I finish than where we are now? Honestly, I couldn't have tried any harder to get that one point. It is good because the team are very happy with the effort we both put in and it is nice to finish this bunch of races like this after the difficulties we have had. I still I want to do a lot more but this is where we are at the minute."
Herve Poncharal - Tech 3 Yamaha Team Director "It was definitely a difficult weekend but at least we had a bit more of a positive ending as we have been struggling on Friday and Saturday big time. We were very disappointed especially coming from Australia with such a good feeling with the bike and tyre package. Fortunately today both of our riders showed great fighting spirit and determination in battling from the first to the last lap with both of them in the top 15 getting points. That was something we didn't expect even after the positive warmup this morning. Sure we are down on performance but it was also good to see the top Dunlop management here from the chairman to the general manager and everyone involved in the project for them to see what was happening here, to see where we are an dto understand what we have to do in the future if we want to be competitive against our rivals. Hopefully, this difficult weekend will have some positive outcome. We have another two races to keep on working and try to improve our best race result which was a seventh in the USA. There is a possibility that we can do that. Finally, I want to congratulate Yamaha and Valentino for their brilliant race here and where they are now in the championship shrinking the points to the leader."
Circuit Length: 4801 Temp: 27 Weather: Dry     2006 MotoGP Motegi 24/09/2006 Race 1 - 24 Laps Pos. Rider Manu. Nat. Total Time 1 Loris Capirossi Ducati ITA 43'13.585 2 Valentino Rossi Yamaha ITA 0'5.088 3 Marco Melandri Honda ITA 0'8.378 4 Sete Gibernau Ducati ESP 0'9.712 5 Nicky Hayden Honda USA 0'11.944 6 Toni Elias Honda ESP 0'18.108 7 Daniel Pedrosa Honda ESP 0'19.937 8 Colin Edwards Yamaha USA 0'22.492 9 Kenny Roberts Team Robert KR USA 0'26.824 10 Makato Tamada Honda JPN 0'30.970 11 Chris Vermeulen Suzuki AUS 0'39.263 12 John Hopkins Suzuki USA 0'39.440 13 Kousuke Akiyoshi Suzuki JPN 0'45.595 14 Carlos Checa Yamaha ESP 0'49.571 15 James Ellison Yamaha GBR 1'9.085
Best Lap Rider Manu. Nat. Total Time Valentino Rossi Yamaha ITA 1'47.288
 Rider Standings 24/09/2006
Pos. Rider Manu. Nat. Points 1. Nicky Hayden Honda USA 236 2. Valentino Rossi Yamaha ITA 224 3. Marco Melandri Honda ITA 209 4. Loris Capirossi Ducati ITA 205 5. Daniel Pedrosa Honda ESP 202 6. Casey Stoner Honda AUS 119 7. Kenny Roberts Team Robert KR USA 110 8. Colin Edwards Yamaha USA 104 9. John Hopkins Suzuki USA 101 10. Sete Gibernau Ducati ESP 95 11. Chris Vermeulen Suzuki AUS 91 12. Shinya Nakano Kawasaki JPN 83 13. Toni Elias Honda ESP 81 14. Makato Tamada Honda JPN 81 15. Carlos Checa Yamaha ESP 60 18. James Ellison Yamaha GBR 21
Team Standings 24/09/2006
Pos. Team Points 1. Repsol Honda Team 438 2. Camel Yamaha Team 328 3. Ducati Marlboro Team 307 4. Fortuna Honda Team 290 5. Rizla Suzuki 192 6. Honda LCR 119 7. Kawasaki Racing Team 114 8. Team Roberts KR 110 9. Konica Minolta Honda 81 10. Tech3 Yamaha 81 11. Pramac D'Antin 26
Manufacturer Standings 24/09/2006
Pos. Manufacturer Points 1. Honda 319 2. Yamaha 262 3. Ducati 218 4. Suzuki 136 5. Team Robert KR 110 6. Kawasaki 94
Alex Asigno
Camel Yamaha Team rider Valentino Rossi delighted his legion of local fans with a sensational final lap in qualifying practice for the Grand Prix of Japan this afternoon. Rossi continued his excellent progress with another day of hard work on the race setting of his YZR-M1 before heading out to challenge Loris Capirossi (Ducati) for pole. Unfortunately Rossi's first attempt on qualifying tyres was baulked when a rider crashed in front him, forcing the Italian to make a last-minute pit-stop. It made for a tense finale as Rossi returned to the track and beat the chequered flag by just ten seconds, giving him one last chance to challenge Capirossi's dominance. The World Champion responded in typical style with a lap of 1'45.991 - inside last year's pole record but not quite enough to topple pole man Capirossi, meaning he will start tomorrow's race from second place.
Colin Edwards worked in tandem with Rossi throughout the day to improve the solid base setting the pair had found in yesterday's opening free practice sessions. The Texan was again one of the leading riders on race rubber, lapping consistently in the low 1'48 mark and even dipping under the lap record of 1'47.968. However, the Texan struggled to improve on that pace significantly after fitting a qualifying tyre and he slid down the time sheets in the closing stages, ending the session in tenth place and setting himself a tough challenge tomorrow from the fourth row of the grid.
Valentino Rossi (2nd - 1'45.991; 26 laps) "For sure I am very happy to be on the front row again for the fourth race in a row. My M1 has worked well from the start here so we've been able to work on the setting with various different things and then mix everything together to find the very best race set-up. Now it seems we're in good shape. The bike worked very well also with the qualifying tyre and I had very good grip. Unfortunately I lost one qualifying tyre when Hopkins crashed in front of me, but luckily my team did a great job with the pit-stop - it was even faster than a Formula 1 team! Fortunately I made a good lap with the final tyre and now we're starting from second. I am happy; tomorrow will be a difficult race but I am quite confident."
Colin Edwards (10th - 1'46.726; 26 laps) "I've been happier with my qualifying position but I've got a good race pace so it's not all doom! To be honest, even though on paper it doesn't look too great, I'm really happy with the bike right now. It's working really well, it's just we couldn't quite get it together with the qualifying tyre and when we put it in today it just overloaded the suspension a bit and made everything a bit too soft, so that's something we need to think about for the next time. Race-wise our setting is pretty good and I think I've got one of the best rhythms out there. Obviously it's annoying to be starting from the fourth row but I think I can come through the pack pretty quickly and then just get my head down! I need to get a good start, fight my way past a few people and then just keep pushing. I'm actually pretty excited about tomorrow and I'm looking for a good result."
 
Davide Brivio - Camel Yamaha Team Director "It's been another very good day for Valentino, it seems things are working well and it's nice to be consistently on the front row. It's good to be starting tomorrow's race, which is so important for us with regards to the championship, from this position. It looks like he's in good shape for the race and hopefully he can make the most of the start to get away in front. Unfortunately Colin wasn't able to qualifying in such a high position but he actually has a very strong race pace so the situation is not too bad. If he can get a good start then I think he will be able to come through the field quite quickly and once he's up front he should be able to stay there. Now we hope that the weather stays dry and that we can have a fun and exciting race!
Challenging weekend continues for Tech 3 Yamaha Team at Motegi Twin Ring
 
Although it was a challenging one hour qualifying session for the Tech 3 Yamaha Team there are plenty of encouraging signs to demonstrate to riders, Carlos Checa and James Ellison that the Japanese Grand Prix at the Motegi Twin Ring tomorrow could provide satisfactory results for the team in a session headed by Loris Capirossi on a Ducati.
With a multitude of Dunlop tyres to test it was never going to be an easy two days of practice and qualifying as Carlos and James will start from finished in 17th and 19th positions respectively. It was a confidence building exercise as well, as both riders lowered their lap times considerably and set their fastest times in the closing moments of the qualifying session.
Carlos Checa (17th, 1'47.905, 24 laps) "We knew we would have a lot of tyres to test here this weekend but to be in this position is not what we imagined after the success of last weekends efforts. We tried many different tyres that Dunlop has brought along for the weekend. We have cured the chattering problems from yesterday so now we will continue to work hard at improving the situation. We have proven to ourselves and everyone else this year we will try everything to reflect the hard work that the entire team has put in to find a little secret to work some magic. With the times I did on race tyres I am looking forward to the race as if I can get a good start I know I can stick with many of the riders that qualified in front of me and now we have good durability in the tyres I hope to be passing quite a few of them."
James Ellison (19th1'48.716, 23 laps) "We were struggling here yesterday but we have found something that has allowed us to improve our lap times. Even though we had so many tyres to test that may have put us behind a bit, we have found something in the setup to give us a good direction to work on overnight. We still haven't decided on a race tyre for tomorrow as with the way the weather has been we don't want to make a final decision until after warmup in the morning. The competition in MotoGP is so tight these days that if you are having a little problem you seem to be so far off the pace and that is what is happening here but nonetheless we will continue to work hard and hope for a competitive race tomorrow." .
Herve Poncharal - Tech 3 Yamaha Team Director "Fortunately today was better than yesterday so both riders are moving in the right direction and as usual Carlos and James have been working hard to find the best tyres to suit the conditions. It wasn't the best start for the Tech 3 Yamaha Team yesterday but that has been the case for most of the year as we continue to develop the Dunlop tyres during a race weekend. Sure, this is not the perfect situation but we came into this year knowing that we would have good days and bad days. Dunlop have been working extremely hard to supply us with as many tyres as possible to give us many options so it does take time to narrow the selections down but we have lowered our times considerably and this gives us confidence for a good result tomorrow."
Circuit Length: 4801 Temp: 22 Weather: Dry     2006 MotoGP Motegi 23/09/2006 Qualifying 1 Pos. Rider Manu. Nat. Total Time 1 Loris Capirossi Ducati ITA 1'45.724 2 Valentino Rossi Yamaha ITA 1'45.991 3 Marco Melandri Honda ITA 1'46.250 4 Shinya Nakano Kawasaki JPN 1'46.291 5 Sete Gibernau Ducati ESP 1'46.316 6 Toni Elias Honda ESP 1'46.326 7 Nicky Hayden Honda USA 1'46.489 8 Randy De Puniet Kawasaki FRA 1'46.512 9 Daniel Pedrosa Honda ESP 1'46.576 10 Colin Edwards Yamaha USA 1'46.726 11 Casey Stoner Honda AUS 1'46.847 12 Kousuke Akiyoshi Suzuki JPN 1'46.958 13 John Hopkins Suzuki USA 1'47.071 14 Kenny Roberts Team Robert KR USA 1'47.310 15 Chris Vermeulen Suzuki AUS 1'47.451 17 Carlos Checa Yamaha ESP 1'47.905 19 James Ellison Yamaha GBR 1'48.716
Alex Asigno
Camel Yamaha Team racers Valentino Rossi and Colin Edwards began their preparations for the Grand Prix of Japan in ideal fashion today, lapping at the top end of the time sheets throughout both free practice sessions and ending the day with the first and fourth fastest laps overall. Both riders were able to work on their race setting, adapting the machine configuration from the fast and flowing demands of Phillip Island to the stop-start nature of Motegi, before fitting a softer compound rear tyre in a trial run ahead of tomorrow's crucial qualifying practice.
Rossi was on the pace in both instances, running second fastest in the morning free practice and stepping up the tempo with a string of fast and consistent laps in the afternoon. His best time on a race tyre of 1'48.044 was just a fraction outside lap record pace and is a positive reflection of his potential in Sunday's race. Edwards, meanwhile, was delighted to follow up his positive progress in Australia with another impressive practice showing. The Texan topped the timing screens for lengthy spells in the afternoon as he also lapped in the low 1'48s before settling for the fourth fastest time overall as other riders also experimented with a qualifying tyre.
Valentino Rossi (1st - 1'46.981; 44 laps) "I am very happy with today; we've made a really good start. The track has a good grip and also Michelin have made great progress since this race last year, especially with the front tyre. They have a new front tyre here which gives me much better grip when braking and so I was able to ride the bike at the maximum straight away today, which meant that I had great fun! My pace is okay, although there are many riders with a similar rhythm so I think it's going to be a hard battle on Sunday! My best time today was done with the qualifying tyre and once again my bike worked perfectly in this situation, so this is good news for tomorrow. Colin was fast too today, as he was last weekend, which shows what good work we've done on our M1 over the last few races. This race is very important for the championship so it's nice to start off on the right foot with this good result. Now we wait to see if we can continue in this way tomorrow."
Colin Edwards (4th - 1'47.581; 41 laps) "We found something in Phillip Island which seems to have made all the difference; we pulled the bike out this morning and it felt good straight away. We've basically just softened up the setting and it's since felt like a completely different bike. Obviously Motegi is a very different track to Phillip Island but what we used today was pretty much the same bike with virtually the same setting - just a few modifications that we thought would help us here. The crew have done a great job and we've still got another day to work on improving the setting ahead of the race. We used a qualifying tyre today, which we don't usually do on a Friday, and I was really pleased with the lap time. Now we have to keep going, make sure we don't take a single step backwards and head into Sunday's race with confidence of a top result."
 
Davide Brivio - Camel Yamaha Team Director "For a start we are very happy to see Colin on top, more or less throughout the whole session today, so we have to keep going with him - improving his feeling with the bike and continuing to give him a good package to work with. Valentino has also made a good start and it is always an advantage when both riders feel comfortable from the first moment because they can push hard and give you lots of valuable data to work from. It means that we have a good setting now on both bikes so even if it rains tomorrow, as they say it might, we can be confident for Sunday. As far as using the qualifying tyre in free practice is concerned, we had actually already started to do this before Malaysia, to provide some information for the qualifying session on Saturday afternoon. However, I don't think there is any doubt that it is in the back of teams' minds now to set a good lap time, just in case there is a similar situation with the weather to the one we had at Sepang."
Circuit Length: 4801
  2006 MotoGP Motegi 22/09/2006 Free Practice Pos. Rider Manu. Nat. Total Time 1 Valentino Rossi Yamaha ITA 1'46.981 2 Shinya Nakano Kawasaki JPN 1'47.315 3 Marco Melandri Honda ITA 1'47.449 4 Colin Edwards Yamaha USA 1'47.581 5 Nicky Hayden Honda USA 1'47.610 6 Toni Elias Honda ESP 1'47.646 7 Loris Capirossi Ducati ITA 1'47.731 8 John Hopkins Suzuki USA 1'47.915 9 Randy De Puniet Kawasaki FRA 1'47.982 10 Kenny Roberts Team Robert KR USA 1'48.002 11 Casey Stoner Honda AUS 1'48.059 12 Makato Tamada Honda JPN 1'48.160 13 Sete Gibernau Ducati ESP 1'48.313 14 Kousuke Akiyoshi Suzuki JPN 1'48.317 15 Daniel Pedrosa Honda ESP 1'48.389 18 James Ellison Yamaha GBR 1'49.683 20 Carlos Checa Yamaha ESP 1'49.889
Alex Asigno
The final leg of an exhausting Grand Prix triple-header takes place in Japan this weekend as the chase for the MotoGP World Championship heads north from Australia with Camel Yamaha Team rider Valentino Rossi now the closest he has been to the series lead since the third round of the season in Turkey. Third place for the Italian at Phillip Island on Sunday moved him to within 21 points of Nicky Hayden (Honda), with this weekend's event at the Motegi circuit in the Tochigi prefecture providing another opportunity to cut that gap even further before the series returns to Europe for two final races in Portugal and Spain.
As well as lifting him up to second place in the championship, Rossi's 89th top-three career finish in the premier class also moved him ahead of Giacomo Agostini in the all-time podiums list, with just Mick Doohan above him on 95. The 27-year-old's goal is to add to that tally with his 59th victory at a circuit where he has already celebrated on the top step in 2001.
The statistics don't make such good reading for Rossi's Camel Yamaha team-mate Colin Edwards, whose impressive run of point-scoring finishes ended on 34 in Australia - just three short of another of Doohan's records. Edwards has a best finish of sixth at Motegi but he is doubly determined to improve on that in front of Yamaha's army of Japanese fans, who last saw him retiring from the Suzuka 8 Hour race with a mechanical problem in July.
Valentino Rossi: Nothing is impossible Valentino Rossi admits that Motegi is not high on his list of favourite destinations although that opinion could easily be changed by another top result on Sunday. The Italian has bounced back from a series of early-season setbacks to hit top form in recent weeks and with three rounds remaining he still has a realistic chance of wrestling the title from Hayden's grasp.
  "Honestly it's not a track I like very much and I haven't had such a good time there in the past, but we're going to have to do our best at Motegi," says Rossi, who didn't finish last year's race after a collision with Marco Melandri. "Three races in a row like this is very hard, especially with this one as the third! We need to make the most of the practice time there because it is not a great track for us. Last year especially it was not a good weekend; we had a lot of problems during the practices and then the race result was very bad!"
"A gap of 21 points is still a lot but it's not impossible so we can still try. Motegi is going to be a very important race for us, firstly because we know it's going to be difficult and secondly because we have to try to get more points from Hayden in order to stay in the fight. My M1 has been pretty good recently and I think we're going there in good shape, so hopefully we can make the most of the weekend and go back to Europe with an even better shot at the title."
Colin Edwards: Positive thinking After enjoying the support of family and friends in Australia, Colin Edwards will again benefit from huge backing this weekend thanks to his army of Japanese fans. Twice a winner of the Suzuka 8 Hour race, one of those alongside Rossi, Edwards enjoyed plenty of success in Japan during his Superbike career and he hopes to revive the glory days by building on a good weekend of set-up work with the YZR-M1 machine in Australia."
"I actually don't mind Motegi too much as a track, although I wouldn't say it's one of my favourites," says Edwards. "It's a pretty interesting track and I really like the four corners after the tunnel exit. We were sixth last year, which was okay, but we did have a few problems through the weekend to deal with which hopefully won't resurface this year. I've always enjoyed racing in Japan and I have loads of fans there, plus there's always a great atmosphere so it's generally a fun weekend."
"Phillip island was obviously really disappointing, especially since we made such massive strides forward over the weekend and I was finally feeling like I was back where I should be in the way I could ride the bike. Basically I just have to forget what happened and think about the positives from the weekend and with any luck what worked there will work next week and we'll be able to get on it from the start on Friday morning. It's good in this way that we've got another race straight away - no time to sit around dwelling on the past!"
Davide Brivio: Desperate for points Camel Yamaha Team Director Davide Brivio is expecting a tough weekend for his riders at a circuit that has traditionally not favoured Yamaha machinery. However, the Italian insists that the team's focus will not waver as they target another victory points haul in the quest to lift the MotoGP World Championship crown for the third successive season.
"Now we go to Motegi, which was very difficult for us last year and is never an easy track," admits Brivio. "We had a lot of set-up problems and then unfortunately Valentino crashed in the race and we came away with zero points! This year of course we are desperate for points so we need a very different weekend."
"Over the last few races the situation with our bike has been pretty good, so with any luck this will be the case even in Motegi. We know it will be difficult of course, but we go there in good shape and ready to fight. Colin was in great shape at Phillip Island but sadly the rain stopped him from getting the result he deserved. We hope he won't have any pain remaining from his fall and that he can keep working in the good way he was in Australia, as we all want to see him back on top again."
Technically speaking: Motegi according to Andrea Zugna Designed in 1997 as a test venue, Motegi has ultra-modern facilities although the outstanding paddock is not quite matched by the intricacies and character of a somewhat geometric circuit layout. A bump-free surface offers good levels of grip without being particularly abrasive, but the proliferation of second gear turns, linked for the most part by mini-drag strips, means braking and acceleration are the main prerequisite to a fast lap time, and consistency the key to a good race.
"Motegi is a stop and go track so it's very important to be very strong and stable on the brakes," explains Andrea Zugna, Colin Edwards' Data Technician. "You need a good front fork setting and then the engine braking setting is also very important. You also need to be strong on the acceleration in order to be able to get away quickly, otherwise you're going to be passed at the next braking point. It is quite stressful on the front tyre because of the long braking sections, so you need the right front setting to cope with this."
"It wasn't a very easy weekend for Colin last year; we didn't really find a way for him to have enough confidence in the front tyre for the race, so this is something we really need to work on from Friday morning this year. The Yamaha's strongest point is agility so it doesn't necessarily play to our strengths, but the M1 worked okay in Malaysia so we can start from this setting and hopefully make improvements from there."
Valentino Rossi: Information Age: 27 Lives: London, UK Bike: Yamaha YZR-M1 GP victories: 84 (57 x MotoGP/500cc, 14 x 250cc, 12 x 125cc) First GP victory: Czech Republic, 1996 (125cc) First GP: Malaysia, 1996 (125cc) GP starts: 170 (111 x MotoGP/500cc, 30 x 250cc, 30 x 125cc) Pole positions: 43 World Championships - 7 Grand Prix (1 x 125cc, 1 x 250cc, 1 x 500cc, 4 x MotoGP)
Colin Edwards: Information Age: 32 Lives: Conroe, Texas Bike: Yamaha YZR-M1 First GP: Japan, 2003 (MotoGP) GP starts: 62 x MotoGP World Championships - 2 World Superbike
Motegi Lap Record: Loris Capirossi (Ducati) 2005, 1'47.968 Motegi Best Lap: Loris Capirossi (Ducati) 2005, 1'46.363
2005 Japanese Grand Prix Results: 1. Loris Capirossi (ITA) Ducati, 43'30.499 2. Max Biaggi (ITA) Honda, +1.479 3. Makoto Tamada (JPN) Honda, +16.277 6. Colin Edwards (USA) Yamaha, +34.915 DNF: Valentino Rossi (ITA) Yamaha
Alex Asigno

Everts completes dream finale

By Alex Asigno in Archives

Stefan Everts closed a record-breaking career - boasting numbers and results surely never to be equalled - with his fourteenth victory from fifteen events Ernee at the French Grand Prix for the final round of the FIM 2006 MX1 World Championship.
The 33-year-old decorated Belgian, 2006 World Champion and ten times title winner across 125, 250, 500, MXGP and MX1 classes scooped his 101st career victory with two double triumphs watched and applauded by 17.000 appreciative spectators. The masses acknowledged a special chapter in motocross history as Everts took to the podium for the fifteenth time this year and for the final occasion after an eighteen year stint at the highest level.
The Ernee circuit had dried significantly after lengthy spells of rain on Friday led towards the practice programme being shortened on Saturday in the interests of preserving the terrain. Sunday witnessed blue sky and sunshine for the first time in three days and the hill-side track was a slippery and rough test with many ruts chopping the corners and jump take-offs.
Steering his YZ450FM with a new colour scheme that involved a chequered flag design inscribed with his 100 Grand Prix victories, as well as a set of white painted Pirelli tyres, Everts pulled away from Jonathan Barragan in the first moto for a comfortable victory as main rivals Mickael Pichon and Josh Coppins both fell. Coppins recovered to sixth.
The World Champion was also using new white Acerbis gear with large sections of shiny gold befitting his status as the king of the sport. The second race was a similar walkover and Everts had a lead of more than ten seconds by the end of the first third of the sprint. Everts completed a victory lap and then a lengthy podium ceremony with his World Championship peers gathered around in celebration.
Cedric Melotte will carry the number 11 plate for 2007. The Belgian's injured foot was still too painful for him to compete in what would have been his last Grand Prix for the Rinaldi team after a three year association.
From 15 Grand Prix Everts has won 14 and 27 motos, 22 of which he clinched in a row. He recorded 8 pole positions and posted 739 points from a possible maximum of 750. His lowest result was a third position taken in the first moto at Bellpuig for the Grand Prix of Spain.
Yamaha, with the new YZ450FM that has been so dominant this season, claimed the manufacturer's crown in Ireland and completed the campaign 140 points ahead of Suzuki. Michele Rinaldi has now finished his term as Team Manager and will step down to allow his brother Carlo to assume the reigns for 2007 and beyond.
Everts will now captain Team Belgium at Matterley Basin for the 60th Motocross of Nations next week for his last major international event.
Stefan Everts   
Stefan Everts, Yamaha Intur Sport Motocross Team: "It wasn't such a difficult race. I really wanted to enjoy this day and try to capture a lot of things that I can remember later about the weekend. It has been a great GP and Yamaha and Team Rinaldi have made some really nice surprises. To go into retirement with a victory here at my last Grand Prix is wonderful. Just before the second race I was getting emotional when the 15 second board' went up. I said to myself for the last time I am going to go for it and enjoy it. It has been a great year and an awesome ride. I could not have expected such a record with 14 out of 15 GPs. I think Japan was the best; I have never won a GP so easy. The Yamaha this year is for sure one of the best bikes I have ridden. When I got the new 450 last October I immediately felt that I could step up my level and speed, but I was not expecting to win this many races. Thanks again to the team and to everyone around me who has supported me."
Carlo Rinaldi, Racing Manager, Yamaha Intur Sports Motocross Team: "Every time it is harder to make some comment about these fantastic races. I have to admit that I had some doubt before today because I saw Stefan mentally tired in Lierop, but I do not know where he found the resolve and the energy to make two very good starts and easy motos. He was pushing just enough to win again twice. It is sad to make a farewell for him but we are very proud of our history and our record over the last six years. This is the best way to say goodbye to him and for him to say goodbye to motocross. The new bike has been working so well and has been excellent for Stefan's riding style. The season has not finished in a good way for Cedric but the injury he sustained at the Belgian Championship meant that he couldn't ride. We still have a good relationship with him and wish him luck for the future."
Press room   
Michele Rinaldi, Team Manager, Yamaha Intur Sports Motocross Team: "We signed Stefan for the 2001 season and we have had six years together trying to do our best. We have made some exceptional results. He is going to stop his career while still winning races and this is something unbelievable for sportsmen because you do not see this often, in any sport not just motocross. We have worked hard as a team but with a great Champion like Stefan he can really show all that effort. Motocross is a hard sport with many good riders but we did not expect a season like this. I think everyone; the team, Yamaha and Stefan can be satisfied today. It is a special day for me also and it was difficult for me this morning as my last time managing the team out front because next year I will be more behind-the-scenes and focus on YZ technical development."
Laurens Klein Koerkamp, Racing Manager, Yamaha Motor Europe: "It is difficult to comment because it is hard to take in what has happened today. It is the end of an era of a very special rider. To win six world titles with this Champion is an exceptional achievement and now it is the end of a unique relationship between rider and machine. It is an emotional day. Many years ago we raced mainly with prototype machines and every season we got closer and closer to using a production bike. Stefan's Yamaha this year is pretty stock, the frame is standard. Engine-wise there have been some tweaks but basically the Rinaldi team have worked with a production motorcycle that is already very good. We are really happy to have won in 2006 with this model."
Crowd: 17000 Weather: Dry     2006 GP of Ernée, France 17/09/2006 Race 1 - 20 Laps Pos. Rider Manu. Nat. Total Time 1 Stefan Everts Yamaha BEL 39'47.108 2 Jonathan Barragan KTM ESP 0'3.994 3 Kevin Strijbos Suzuki BEL 0'20.304 4 Tanel Leok Kawasaki EST 0'31.984 5 Ken De Dycker Honda BEL 0'34.192 6 Joshua Coppins Honda NZL 0'36.959 7 Steve Ramon Suzuki BEL 0'47.813 8 Brian Jorgensen Honda DNK 0'52.007 9 James Noble Honda GBR 0'55.251 10 Pascal Leuret Honda FRA 0'57.249 11 Kornel Nemeth Suzuki HUN 1'1.372 12 Gordon Crockard Honda GBR 1'6.338 13 Mark Jones Honda GBR 1'17.602 14 Clement Desalle  Suzuki BEL 1'20.666 15 Julien Vanni KTM FRA 1'21.569 16 Javier Garcia Vico Honda ESP 1'22.536 17 Manuel Priem Yamaha BEL 1'23.742 18 Antti Pyrhonen TM FIN 1'33.622 19 Alex Salvini Suzuki ITA 1'36.562 20 Marvin Van Daele Honda BEL 1'39.433
Race 2 - 20 Laps Pos. Rider Manu. Nat. Total Time 1 Stefan Everts Yamaha BEL 39'50.449 2 Joshua Coppins Honda NZL 0'8.456 3 Tanel Leok Kawasaki EST 0'18.562 4 Kevin Strijbos Suzuki BEL 0'28.354 5 Jonathan Barragan KTM ESP 0'30.939 6 Steve Ramon Suzuki BEL 0'32.686 7 Kornel Nemeth Suzuki HUN 0'47.489 8 Ken De Dycker Honda BEL 0'58.681 9 James Noble Honda GBR 1'1.768 10 Gordon Crockard Honda GBR 1'6.694 11 Bas Verhoeven Kawasaki NED 1'8.514 12 Pascal Leuret Honda FRA 1'16.892 13 Marvin Van Daele Honda BEL 1'31.347 14 Manuel Priem Yamaha BEL 1'39.713 15 Mark Jones Honda GBR 1'41.730 16 Clement Desalle  Suzuki BEL 1'44.078 17 Antti Pyrhonen TM FIN 1'50.532 18 Cyril Coulon Suzuki FRA -1 Laps 19 Lauris Freibergs Suzuki LVA -1 Laps 20 Rodrig Thain Kawasaki FRA -1 Laps
Best Lap Rider Manu. Nat. Total Time Stefan Everts Yamaha BEL 1'56.367
 Rider Standings 17/09/2006
Pos. Rider Manu. Nat. Points 1. Stefan Everts Yamaha BEL 739 2. Kevin Strijbos Suzuki BEL 529 3. Steve Ramon Suzuki BEL 483 4. Ken De Dycker Honda BEL 463 5. Tanel Leok Kawasaki EST 443 6. Jonathan Barragan KTM ESP 376 7. Joshua Coppins Honda NZL 330 8. Manuel Priem Yamaha BEL 278 9. Pascal Leuret Honda FRA 267 10. James Noble Honda GBR 226 11. Cedric Melotte Yamaha BEL 224 12. Javier Garcia Vico Honda ESP 201 13. Gordon Crockard Honda GBR 173 14. Antti Pyrhonen TM FIN 168 15. Julien Bill Yamaha GBR 167 16. Marvin Van Daele Honda BEL 155 17. Brian Jorgensen Honda DNK 144 18. Wyatt Avis KTM RSA 120 19. Kornel Nemeth Suzuki HUN 106 20. Danny Theybers Suzuki BEL 102
Manufacturer Standings 17/09/2006
Pos. Manufacturer Points 1. Yamaha 739 2. Suzuki 599 3. Honda 576 4. Kawasaki 458 5. KTM 454 6. TM 168
RACE REPORT 17/09/2006 Cairoli wins French GP but hands Championship title to Pourcel   Antonio Cairoli   
The MX2 Grand Prix of France at Ernee was won by De Carli Yamaha rider Antonio Cairoli with his second double triumph of the year and third GP success. While it completed a pleasant double victory for Yamaha at the final GP of the season, The 2005 World Champion had to settle for second in 2006 .
Cairoli led from first corner to the chequered flag for a superior opening moto victory ahead of Christophe Pourcel who was cheered on by the voluminous French public. At one stage it looked as though the Kawasaki rider might be able to challenge the De Carli representative but a spurt from Cairoli in the final laps was enough for him to keep control over a decreasing margin.
In the second race an exciting battle raged for two laps between the two protagonists. If Cairoli won again he would need Pourcel to fail to score and he would retain his World Championship. For a brief moment there was hope when Pourcel crashed out of the lead and down to fifth position. Cairoli assumed control ahead of Marc de Reuver and aced a set of laps in which he looked fast, comfortable and aggressive. Pourcel would finish the race however leaving the Sicilian second by 18 points. Cairoli ends the season as the rider with highest number of moto victories in the class with 12.
Billy Mackenzie   
Billy Mackenzie was the next best Yamaha rider in ninth position and his progress for a top five finish in the second moto was hindered by a bent gear lever that necessitated a visit to the pits. The Scot fought back hard to capture twelfth. Alessio Chiodi was eleventh but lacking race fitness after missing the last three Grand Prix. Ricci Racing team-mate Kenneth Gundersen could not get a good feeling on the track and only registered points in Moto one.
Six riders won MX2 Grand Prix in 2006 and aside from Cairoli with three triumphs, Billy Mackenzie was the other YZ250F pilot to mount the highest step of the rostrum with his second career victory at the Sugo circuit in Japan. The pair also collected eight fastest laps between them.
Mackenzie is the next highest placed Yamaha representative in the World Champonship with ninth, thanks partially to one GP win. The Bike it Yamaha Dixon Racing rider was handicapped by six non-scores however.
Kenneth Gundersen has finished thirteenth and took a top three result with third at Zolder in Belgium but also picked up nine DNFs. Alessio Chiodi was right in front of him in twelfth and a decent season was ruined at round five when a fast practice crash led to a damaged knee. A broken finger added to his woes and meant four Grand Prix out of action. The third Ricci Racing rider Davide Guarneri has ended a troubled campaign in 16th.
Cairoli, Mackenzie and Gundersen will also be on Motocross of Nations duty at Matterley Basin in seven days time.
Antonio Cairoli   
Antonio Cairoli, De Carli Yamaha: "I am happy to end the year like this but not so pleased with how I started the Championship because some mistakes cost me the title. I lost too many points at the beginning. I tried to put pressure on Christophe today. He crashed but his bike didn't break so he was able to finish the race. I am happy with the GP however because the Yamaha worked really well and I had a good feeling on the track. I will start next MX2 season with more conviction and I want to win back the title for Yamaha and me next year for sure."
Kenneth Gundersen, Ricci Racing: "I had two bad starts and wasn't riding well. I want to forget this year, go away and work hard and try to do better next season. There have been too many mistakes in the second half of the season. There has been some bad luck but I have also made some errors. One small positive is finishing without any big injury."
Alessio Chiodi, Ricci Racing: "I made my first race last weekend at the Italian Championship but my hand was sleeping out there over the jumps and I did not have much strength. My feeling on the bike was missing because I have not been able to train during the week. The season started well but I had some bad luck in Teutschenthal and then had the knee injury in Japan so it has not turned out well."
Circuit Length: 1111 Crowd: 17000 Weather: Dry     2006 GP of Ernée, France 17/09/2006 Race 1 - 20 Laps Pos. Rider Manu. Nat. Total Time 1 Antonio Cairoli Yamaha ITA 39'30.406 2 Christophe Pourcel Kawasaki FRA 0'15.533 3 David Philippaerts KTM ITA 0'30.975 4 Carl Nunn KTM GBR 0'54.684 5 Patrick Caps Honda BEL 0'56.665 6 Nicolas Aubin Kawasaki FRA 0'57.465 7 Tyla Rattray KTM RSA 1'0.129 8 Marc De Reuver KTM NED 1'3.913 9 Billy MacKenzie Yamaha GBR 1'17.012 10 Rui Goncalves KTM POR 1'18.166 11 Alessio Chiodi Yamaha ITA 1'20.098 12 Tommy Searle Kawasaki GBR 1'21.323 13 Kenneth Gundersen Yamaha SWE 1'23.989 14 Sébastien Pourcel Kawasaki FRA 1'45.334 15 Tom Church Kawasaki GBR 1'48.356 16 Matti Seistola Honda FIN 1'56.912 17 Aigar Leok Yamaha EST 1'58.355 18 Pierre-Alexandre Renet Honda FRA 2'0.355 19 Carlos Campano KTM ESP 2'2.133 20 Maximilian Nagl KTM GER -1 Laps 23 Matteo Bonini Yamaha ITA -1 Laps
Race 2 - 20 Laps Pos. Rider Manu. Nat. Total Time 1 Antonio Cairoli Yamaha ITA 40'0.081 2 Marc De Reuver KTM NED 0'9.920 3 David Philippaerts KTM ITA 0'14.839 4 Christophe Pourcel Kawasaki FRA 0'15.842 5 Carl Nunn KTM GBR 0'20.833 6 Tyla Rattray KTM RSA 0'24.021 7 Rui Goncalves KTM POR 1'9.374 8 Manuel Monni KTM ITA 1'11.896 9 Pierre-Alexandre Renet Honda FRA 1'12.094 10 Nicolas Aubin Kawasaki FRA 1'15.319 11 Tommy Searle Kawasaki GBR 1'16.093 12 Billy MacKenzie Yamaha GBR 1'17.863 13 Alessio Chiodi Yamaha ITA 1'30.863 14 Aigar Leok Yamaha EST 1'35.190 15 Anthony Boissière Yamaha FRA 1'38.843 16 Maximilian Nagl KTM GER 1'40.023 17 Matti Seistola Honda FIN 1'42.087 18 Carlos Campano KTM ESP 1'47.200 19 Matteo Bonini Yamaha ITA 1'48.354 20 Xavier Boog Yamaha FRA 1'52.027
Best Lap Rider Manu. Nat. Total Time Antonio Cairoli Yamaha ITA 1'57.015
 Rider Standings 17/09/2006
Pos. Rider Manu. Nat. Points 1. Christophe Pourcel Kawasaki FRA 581 2. Antonio Cairoli Yamaha ITA 563 3. David Philippaerts KTM ITA 480 4. Tyla Rattray KTM RSA 475 5. Marc De Reuver KTM NED 408 6. Carl Nunn KTM GBR 377 7. Rui Goncalves KTM POR 325 8. Tommy Searle Kawasaki GBR 315 9. Billy MacKenzie Yamaha GBR 302 10. Sébastien Pourcel Kawasaki FRA 298 11. Gareth Swanepoel Kawasaki RSA 286 12. Alessio Chiodi Yamaha ITA 229 13. Kenneth Gundersen Yamaha SWE 223 14. Manuel Monni KTM ITA 196 15. Aigar Leok Yamaha EST 160 16. Davide Guarneri Yamaha ITA 153 17. Matti Seistola Honda FIN 150 18. Anthony Boissière Yamaha FRA 112 19. Pierre-Alexandre Renet Honda FRA 106 20. Maximilian Nagl KTM GER 103 36. Matteo Bonini Yamaha ITA 9
Manufacturer Standings 17/09/2006
Pos. Manufacturer Points 1. KTM 682 2. Yamaha 657 3. Kawasaki 606 4. Honda 262 5. Suzuki 16
Alex Asigno
Valentino Rossi clinched the final spot on the podium with a daring manoeuvre in the very last corner of a dramatic flag-to-flag race, the first of its kind in MotoGP, held in mixed weather conditions at Phillip Island this afternoon. The drama started on the warm-up lap when a light shower meant that the race was recalled as wet, giving the riders chance to change tyres on the grid. However, with track conditions still relatively dry they all opted to stay on slicks until the rain intensified - Rossi eventually coming in to pit on lap eight, having battled back to third after dropping to ninth after a poor start from the front row.
The Italian's team-mate Colin Edwards had also been about to come in and change his tyres on the same lap but the American was caught out by a slippery patch of track in the middle of the second corner, which caused the rear tyre of his YZR-M1 machine to lose grip and step out before digging in again and throwing him over the handlebars. Edwards landed hard on his backside and was badly winded but thankfully he escaped any serious injury.
Rossi jumped onto his second bike and headed back out onto the track, although over-cautiousness on the wet tyres saw him lose several places and drop to eighth. After a brief battle with eventual winner Marco Melandri (Honda), Rossi took a few laps to carefully judge the condition of a track that had now begun to dry out again, making the performance of the wet tyres difficult to predict. Over the closing laps he picked up his pace and launched a typical charge past several riders, culminating in a thrilling final corner move on Sete Gibernau (Ducati) that sealed third place and moved him up to second in the championship, 21 points behind Nicky Hayden (Honda), who finished fifth. Chris Vermeulen (Suzuki) completed the podium in second place.
Valentino Rossi (3rd; +10.526) "I'm a little disappointed with third place because I know that in dry conditions we had a very good set-up and I think the result could have been better. Anyway, we can't do anything about the weather and in these circumstances I have to be thankful for third place because we have pulled some more points back on Nicky. After we changed the bike I lost a few places because I didn't have a good feeling initially on the wet tyre. Honestly I think this was my fault because once I found my rhythm I realized my M1 was in good shape and I was able to push more. I'm really happy with the second half of the race because the gap to Sete was seven seconds, but I made my mind up to try and pass him and my bike and my Michelin tyre worked very well to the end. I saw the red dot getting bigger and bigger and to pass him in the last corner was excellent. I would have liked to win for the sixth time here but at least I got to celebrate on the podium in front of all these wonderful fans. Now we are 21 points behind - it is a lot, but not impossible."
  Colin Edwards   
Colin Edwards (DNF) "That was a weird race. I actually got a decent start and I felt comfortable out there, but I think this flag to flag racing is dangerous. I think most of us thought we'd just keep riding until somebody crashed, and wouldn't you just know it - that person was me. I'd actually made my mind up to pit and I held my leg out to the crew as I came down the straight to warn them, so I wasn't pushing any harder than I had done on the previous lap. I was off the brakes and off the gas, just tipping it into turn two, when the rear stepped out then dug in and threw me into a handstand. I came down real hard on my backside and that's where the pain is right now. I'm extra disappointed because we'd done a good job with the bike this weekend and if it stayed dry we were all set for a top result. Unfortunately it seems whenever they put the race back an hour it gives the weather a chance to move in. I guess that's live television for you!"
Davide Brivio - Camel Yamaha Team Director "It's good news that Colin is not hurt after his crash, and it's really unlucky that it happened when he was going so well and after he had made such good progress this weekend. He could have had a good race so it's a pity for him. Today with Valentino we got five important points on Hayden, so in such difficult conditions, when it was very easy to make mistakes, we can consider this a very positive result. Well done to everyone in the team for managing a difficult situation so well. Although it wasn't the result we were hoping for today, all in all we're happy."
Downpour destroys efforts for Tech 3 Yamaha Team at Phillip Island
Carlos Checa   
It was a day that promised so much but delivered very little for the Tech 3 Yamaha Team as a rain shower lashed the Phillip Island circuit just as the Australian Grand Prix commenced. After qualifying in sixth position, there were high hopes for Carlos Checa but these ambitions evaporated as the field charged off the line as rain started falling.
In a historical moment for the sport it was left to the riders to make the decision to enter pit lane to change to their number two Yamaha's already setup with rain tyres as conditions worsened. Checa and his team mate James Ellison were the first riders to enter the pits to change to wet weather tyres and the decision appeared to pay off as Carlos was in second at one point but without a refined wet-weather set-up and varying conditions the wet weather tyres didn't last and both riders were forced to re-enter the pits to change machines once again.
Ellison battled on to finish 16th but it was a rare DNF for Carlos as he crashed out on the slippery surface.
Carlos Checa (DNF, Fastest lap 1'31.500) "I am very disappointed like the rest of the team but there is very little you can do with the weather. I think we did great to start with as we were second but the tyres just didn't survive and after a few laps the rubber was pretty bad on the left hand side. I decided to stop because it was very dangerous to stay out there. I went out again and in a slow corner I lost the rear and had a soft crash. Overall we had a fair weekend as we have made so much progress but the race was ruined by the weather. There is nothing we can do against that. We tried our best but that is the way things go sometimes. We have a few races left so I hope that we can get a result that reflects all the hard work we have been putting in."
James Ellison (16th; Fastest lap 1'35.287) "It was a very weird race that's for sure. I came in to change but the tyre we chose had no traction so I came in to change again but I still had no grip. I tried out there but it was just a matter of trying to keep the Yamaha upright. It was a day of trying to deal with things that were beyond us but at least I have created history by being the first rider to come in during a wet weather race to change tyres! We just have to cop this race on the chin and regroup for next weekend in Motegi. Who knows, it might be the same next weekend but at least we have learnt a lot here at Phillip Island so I suppose we have to look at the positives of this Grand Prix as we now know how much the Dunlop tyres have improved in the last few races.
Herve Poncharal - Tech 3 Yamaha Team Director "It was a very disappointing way to end a weekend that worked really well until the rain started to fall, I think all through the weekend we have been very good on race and qualifying tyres. Unfortunately the rain came and I think we made the right decision when Carlos and James came in a lap before the other guys and after a change of tyres allowed him to go out in second position, which was perfect. Unfortunately the tyres went off after three laps then he had to come in again and restarted with intermediates, but unfortunately he crashed out. We didn't have any rain conditions to practice in this weekend but we definitely made big, big improvements on race tyres but now we have to work on the wet tyres, that is the main thing we have learnt today. It is very disappointing but we look forward to Japan without rain so we can confirm our progress in race conditions.
Circuit Length: 4448 Temp: 23 Weather: Wet     2006 MotoGP Phillip Island 17/09/2006 Race 1 - 26 Laps Pos. Rider Manu. Nat. Total Time 1 Marco Melandri Honda ITA 44'15.621 2 Chris Vermeulen Suzuki AUS 0'9.699 3 Valentino Rossi Yamaha ITA 0'10.526 4 Sete Gibernau Ducati ESP 0'10.615 5 Nicky Hayden Honda USA 0'10.694 6 Casey Stoner Honda AUS 0'11.323 7 Loris Capirossi Ducati ITA 0'26.555 8 Shinya Nakano Kawasaki JPN 0'26.666 9 Toni Elias Honda ESP 0'57.234 10 Makato Tamada Honda JPN 1'2.231 11 Randy De Puniet Kawasaki FRA 1'2.432 12 John Hopkins Suzuki USA 1'18.109 13 Alex Hofmann Ducati GER 1'48.233 14 Kenny Roberts Team Robert KR USA -1 Laps 15 Daniel Pedrosa Honda ESP -1 Laps 16 James Ellison Yamaha GBR -2 Laps
Best Lap Rider Manu. Nat. Total Time Valentino Rossi Yamaha ITA 1'30.917
 Rider Standings 17/09/2006
Pos. Rider Manu. Nat. Points 1. Nicky Hayden Honda USA 225 2. Valentino Rossi Yamaha ITA 204 3. Marco Melandri Honda ITA 193 4. Daniel Pedrosa Honda ESP 193 5. Loris Capirossi Ducati ITA 180 6. Casey Stoner Honda AUS 119 7. Kenny Roberts Team Robert KR USA 103 8. John Hopkins Suzuki USA 97 9. Colin Edwards Yamaha USA 96 10. Chris Vermeulen Suzuki AUS 86 11. Shinya Nakano Kawasaki JPN 83 12. Sete Gibernau Ducati ESP 82 13. Makato Tamada Honda JPN 75 14. Toni Elias Honda ESP 71 15. Carlos Checa Yamaha ESP 58 18. James Ellison Yamaha GBR 20
Team Standings 17/09/2006
Pos. Team Points 1. Repsol Honda Team 418 2. Camel Yamaha Team 300 3. Ducati Marlboro Team 269 4. Fortuna Honda Team 264 5. Rizla Suzuki 183 6. Honda LCR 119 7. Kawasaki Racing Team 114 8. Team Roberts KR 103 9. Tech3 Yamaha 78 10. Konica Minolta Honda 75 11. Pramac D'Antin 26
Manufacturer Standings 17/09/2006
Pos. Manufacturer Points 1. Honda 303 2. Yamaha 242 3. Ducati 193 4. Suzuki 131 5. Team Robert KR 103 6. Kawasaki 94
Alex Asigno
Yamaha will mark the end of a great era today with a special livery on the YZ450FM of Stefan Everts, as the Belgian celebrates the final Grands Prix of his illustrious career.
The 33-year-old lined up on the gate for his first Grands Prix at Faenza (Italy) in 1989 and has since won a total of 100 Grands Prix and 10 world titles. Yamaha is marking the end-of-career occasion with a special livery. The design features all his 100 Grands Prix victories symbolising a chequered flag to mark the finish of Stefan’s Grands Prix career. Tyre sponsor Pirelli has fitted Stefan’s YZ450FM with special one-off white colour painted tyres, which have the same performance and durability as the regular black ones. Stefan on his turn has cooperated with clothing sponsor Acerbis who have produced a one-piece ‘golden’ riding suit to mark the occasion as well. This weekend’s French Grands Prix is a fitting venue for Everts’ final GP, Ernée being the venue of the Belgian’s finest day of racing when he won all three Grands Prix classes (125, MotocrossGP and 650) on one day in 2003. In addition to that remarkable achievement, Everts has broken every conceivable record in the sport. His 100 race wins and 10 titles far exceed anything achieved by any other rider. Stefan joined Yamaha for the 2001 season and has won a championship in each of those six seasons, accumulating 57 Grands prix wins on YZ four stroke machinery. The final races at world level for the Yamaha/Everts racing partnership will be next weekend’s Motocross of Nations, where Everts will represent Belgium for the very last time.
Alex Asigno
Valentino Rossi will start from the front row of the grid in third place with his Camel Yamaha team-mate Colin Edwards just two spots behind him in fifth when the Australian Grand Prix gets underway tomorrow, thanks to a much improved performance on the second day of action at Phillip Island. After initially struggling to find an adequate set-up for their YZR-M1 machines in yesterday's opening free practice sessions due to the cool spring temperatures, both riders worked effectively with their pit crews to find better grip for the rear tyre - improving their best lap times by almost two seconds and securing prime starting positions for tomorrow's crucial round in the process.
For Rossi the target is a sixth victory of the season as he looks to pull even closer to series leader Nicky Hayden (Honda). After an excellent run of recent form the Italian lies just 26 points short of the American and tomorrow promises to be another mouth-watering duel between the pair, with Hayden starting from pole position thanks to a record lap this afternoon. Edwards is also targeting his best finish of the season in front of a bumper Phillip Island crowd including many of his Australian family members and friends.
Valentino Rossi (3rd - 1'29.271; 28 laps) "The team did a really good job today because we had some difficulties setting the bike up yesterday, but today it worked really well and I was able to qualify on the front row, which is very important at this circuit. Because of the temperatures here we are finding it hard to get heat into the rear tyre and we struggled a bit again today, which is why I had to leave it so late before trying for the fast time on the qualifying tyre. We still have some work to do in this aspect on the race setting but with the qualifying tyre the grip was there and I was able to go third fastest, even though I ran off the track on my out lap and then my bike did a small wheelie in the last corner on my flying lap. Anyway I am happy and want to say a big thank you to my team and to Michelin for the excellent progress we made today. I'm surprised that Capirossi and Gibernau are so far back because they have got a very strong race pace so I suppose me and Nicky will be pushing hard from the start to try and escape."
Colin Edwards (5th - 1'29.680; 29 laps) "I don't think I've ever gone from one extreme to the other to this extent in my whole career! From being totally miserable yesterday I'm now really happy and content with our set-up and today's work. It's a good feeling! We've actually made a big move with the setting, back towards what we had at China and Le Mans and it seems to be working. The thing is we had a different chassis back then and we were suffering with chatter at the time so we never went back to that but the guys worked overtime and came up with a concoction that worked. I've really got to thank my team; we've changed almost everything possible since yesterday, from electronics to suspension and, bar the engine and the chassis, it's hardly the same bike today. They've put in the hours and it's clearly worked so I really am seriously grateful to them. I'm really happy with my race tyre and the set-up we used through the session and then the qualifier I used was like superglue! It's no secret that we were struggling in the tyre area too yesterday so I want to say thanks to Michelin, they've pulled something out overnight and it's looking good. I can't wait for tomorrow; it feels good to be starting at the right end of the grid for my favourite race of the year!
Davide Brivio - Camel Yamaha Team Director "It's been a very good day for us. Firstly we're all really pleased to see Colin back near the top again and feeling so much better with the bike. Then with Valentino we achieved our main target of starting on the front row and this is very important for tomorrow's race. I think it's going to be a very interesting race tomorrow! The race pace of both Valentino and Colin is very good and I think it's going to be a great fight, as it always is at Phillip Island, with a lot of overtaking. I hope that we will be in that fight with both our riders!"
Superb qualifying result for Tech 3 Yamaha Team at Phillip Island
Carlos Checa   
In another impressive step for the Tech 3 Yamaha Team, lead rider Carlos Checa scored the team a stunning qualifying position for the team when he secured the sixth fastest time in the solitary one-hour session as Nicky Hayden (Honda) claimed pole position.
Proving the giant leaps in the performance of the Dunlop qualifying tyres Carlos was also the fastest rider in the third free practice session held earlier in the day surprising the world with the result.
Besides providing the best qualifying time of 2006 for the Tech 3 Yamaha Team, Carlos was able to run very impressive times with race tyres instilling the team with confidence for what is hoped to be the best race result of the year.
While Carlos proved how well the team has progressed through the year in Dunlop's return to the premier class of racing, teammate James Ellison struggled as he will start from 18th position on the grid although he took two seconds of his lap times.
Carlos Checa (6th, 1'29.865, 29 laps) "That was definitely the best result for us for the year and being able to do laps in the 1'29 sec bracket was outstanding. It is also the biggest improvement for the Dunlop qualifying tyres that I have seen and doing it at a track like Phillip Island that is so hard on tyres is very satisfying and proves how hard Dunlop have been working. To be the fastest the morning gave me one of the best feelings I have ever had in racing. I love this track and I have had some very good results here over the years so I am looking forward to another good result tomorrow. Besides the times we could do on qualifying tyres we also have good pace on race tyres with excellent durability and stability so we are confident that we can get our best result of the year. As we have found this big improvement in our qualifying tyres it gives us a perfect chance to get away with the leaders as we are on the second row of the grid. If you said to me a few weeks ago that we would be on the second row of the grid I would've laughed at you but I must thank Dunlop and my Tech 3 team for all the hard work they have been putting in to try and make us more competitive."
James Ellison (18th1'31.998, 28 laps) "We are basically struggling with the same stuff as normal in the front and rear tyres using different rim sizes and different profiles. We found that as we are using very similar tyres to what Carlos is using and then we were able to start working ion the bike and see some changes to our times. We have been moving forward and finally broke into the 1'31 sec bracket so we made a few steps forward then we hit a wall. The next wall we have hit is in the three fast corners as its running into the corner and we're pushing wise so we are limited to how fast we can go into the corners. We have a plan and the boys seem to know what to do so hopefully we will find something overnight and be able to try something new in the morning to ensure we can run at a decent pace in the race Saying that, I'm really happy for Carlos as it's a fitting reward for all the hard work the team has been putting in and shows that the Dunlops are improving."
Herve Poncharal - Tech 3 Yamaha Team Director "First up I want to thank Carlos a lot. He has worked so hard all year and this proves the work and information he has been supplying is helping us and Dunlop. It has been a really good week so far and for sure the best weekend we have had all year. We are really happy to see everything improving the way it is and to see Carlos on top of the sheet this morning was truly a great moment. To be on the second row is also very important as this track is which is supposed to be one of the most difficult for tyres and we are doing well on both race and qualifying tyres. Second row is our best grid position so far and we are very optimistic but it is such a close grid and the racing is always so close here that anything can happen so you can hope for a top five but you can easily finish 14th or 15th The start will be very important as we have to be very aggressive for the first few laps so if we can do that we are in a very good shape so we can look for a strong result which would be superb. This result confirms what I have been saying all year with Dunlop improving race by race and together with Yamaha we have a very good package so this looks good for the future. Again I would like to congratulate Carlos as he has doing a very tremendous job."
Circuit Length: 4448 Temp: 17 Weather: Dry     2006 MotoGP Phillip Island 16/09/2006 Qualifying 1 Pos. Rider Manu. Nat. Total Time 1 Nicky Hayden Honda USA 1'29.020 2 Shinya Nakano Kawasaki JPN 1'29.258 3 Valentino Rossi Yamaha ITA 1'29.271 4 Kenny Roberts Team Robert KR USA 1'29.662 5 Colin Edwards Yamaha USA 1'29.680 6 Carlos Checa Yamaha ESP 1'29.865 7 Marco Melandri Honda ITA 1'29.949 8 Casey Stoner Honda AUS 1'29.969 9 Randy De Puniet Kawasaki FRA 1'30.037 10 Daniel Pedrosa Honda ESP 1'30.081 11 Makato Tamada Honda JPN 1'30.132 12 Sete Gibernau Ducati ESP 1'30.237 13 Loris Capirossi Ducati ITA 1'30.393 14 Toni Elias Honda ESP 1'30.498 15 John Hopkins Suzuki USA 1'31.143 18 James Ellison Yamaha GBR 1'31.998
Alex Asigno
Camel Yamaha Team riders Valentino Rossi and Colin Edwards were welcomed to the Phillip Island circuit by bright blue skies and cool ambient temperatures of 18ºC today, as the paddock breathed a sigh of relief that dismal recent forecasts were denied on the first day of practice for the Australian Grand Prix. The relatively good weather gave the riders ample opportunity to begin set-up work on their YZR-M1 machines as they worked to find an ideal configuration to suit the demands of the fast and flowing circuit over 27 laps on Sunday.
However relatively fresh track temperatures of 28ºC, compared to 45ºC on the first day in Malaysia one week ago, made life difficult for the Italian and the American as they tried to adapt their bikes to cope with the lower grip levels. Both riders struggled for rear traction and after ending the day in eighth and thirteenth place respectively they will aim to work specifically on this area in tomorrow morning's final free practice session before qualifying takes place in the afternoon. Randy de Puniet (Kawasaki) set the pace today with a best lap of 1'29.745.
Valentino Rossi (8th - 1'31.045; 58 laps) "Friday is always a difficult day for us because we have to make a lot of changes to the bike from one circuit to the next and today was no different. Especially here, since the track temperatures and the conditions are a big change from Malaysia, which makes life especially difficult and we have some work to do. The grip levels are lower than in past years and I think both Colin and I are struggling with the rear. For me it is taking me four or five laps to get the tyre up to a temperature where I can ride at the maximum so obviously this is not the ideal situation for me. We have to find a setting and a tyre that can deal with these cooler conditions better tomorrow because this is a very important race for us and I want to do well in front of the Australian fans. However we have gathered a lot of data today and we have some good ideas for tomorrow, so we're quite confident that we can improve the situation."
Colin Edwards (13th - 1'31.514; 55 laps) "It hasn't been a bad first day despite how it may seem on the time sheets. My only problem at the moment is on the rear - it steps out if I brake too hard, runs off line if I'm too fast through the corner and spins up if I get on the gas too early. The front end is great but the low track temperatures are really not helping the bike to work with the rear tyre we have at the moment. This will be our main focus tomorrow and I think once we get that sorted out then the lap times can come down dramatically. It seems Valentino has some similar problems and between both sides of the garage we have some good ideas, so let's see what happens tomorrow."
Davide Brivio - Camel Yamaha Team Director "Today was quite cold and we have found ourselves in a completely different situation to Malaysia, which we expected. Valentino spent a lot of time working to find a good race tyre, whilst Colin worked hard on adapting the setting of his bike after struggling at Sepang. We didn't test here in February like the other teams so we have a lot of work to do compared to them. Already we can see that our rivals are setting a strong pace and they will be hard to beat on Sunday, but we are confident we can make the right steps forward tomorrow." Tech 3 Yamaha Team shines in Australian sunshine at Phillip Island
Carlos Checa   
With unusually mild temperatures and pristine blue skies blessing the Phillip Island Grand Prix circuit, the Tech 3 Yamaha Team confirmed the ongoing improved developments of the latest range of Dunlop MotoGP tyres as Carlos Checa again recorded a time to place him in the top ten of the field after the opening two free practice sessions at the picturesque Phillip Island Grand Prix circuit.
In the second session Carlos was up to seventh fastest but with the combined times dropped back slightly, although still in an encouraging tenth fastest position just 0.092 second behind fellow Yamaha rider and defending world champion Valentino Rossi.
Teammate James Ellison continued his long season of disappointment to finish the day in 19th spot in a session where Kawasaki rider Randy De Puniet recorded the fastest time of the day
Carlos Checa (10th, 1'31.137, 43 laps) "Today was one of the best sessions we have had all year. I am very happy with the progress of the Dunlop tyres and today confirms the steps that we have achieved. To be so close to Valentino and in front of Colin Edwards is very encouraging for me although also being on a Yamaha I wish them all the best in their setup troubles. Phillip Island is one of my favourite tracks and to come here and records these times, shows that we are improving all the time. It is not only the time I am happy with as we are now getting very good consistency with the tyres and the durability is improving all the time. Also, we have much better side grip of the rear tyre compared to the troubles we had last week in Malaysia and this is allowing us better drive. Side grip is very important at a place like Phillip Island as we are on the edge of the tyre for very long periods, especially coming onto the straight and this is vital for a good lap time. I am looking forward to the sessions tomorrow as the weather seems to be getting better all the time so if we have a fine weekend we are expecting a very good result
James Ellison (19th1'32.778, 44 laps) "I wish I could be as happy as Carlos but today has been a continuation of the rest of the year so I am pretty disappointed. It is very frustrating to me and the rest of the team because no matter what direction we decide to go nothing works. All I can hope for is that we can decide something overnight that will help us in the morning as I am determined to finish this season on a high note. I love this Philip Island track and I don't think people realise how well I want to do here so I have to have the attitude that tomorrow is another day and that things will improve
Herve Poncharal - Tech 3 Yamaha Team Director "It is so good to be back in Australia and everyone really looks forward to coming to Phillip Island. Surprisingly the weather has been exceptional and it looks like it will get better as the weekend goes on. We are very happy after today and it is more satisfying because we did no testing here during the winter. The Dunlop tyres are working really well and this new batch have performed exceptionally from the first time out and the times and performance has been as good as we could have hoped. We are also putting in consistent lap times on race tyres and that makes us all smile at a place like Phillip Island as this track is so very hard on tyres. We are hoping for even more improved performance and wear with the tyres as the weather is expected to get warmer and this is very good for the Dunlops."
Circuit Length: 4448 Temp: 18 Weather: Dry     2006 MotoGP Phillip Island 15/09/2006 Free Practice Pos. Rider Manu. Nat. Total Time 1 Randy De Puniet Kawasaki FRA 1'29.745 2 Loris Capirossi Ducati ITA 1'30.310 3 Nicky Hayden Honda USA 1'30.471 4 Sete Gibernau Ducati ESP 1'30.693 5 Shinya Nakano Kawasaki JPN 1'30.716 6 Casey Stoner Honda AUS 1'30.768 7 Marco Melandri Honda ITA 1'30.863 8 Valentino Rossi Yamaha ITA 1'31.045 9 Kenny Roberts Team Robert KR USA 1'31.077 10 Carlos Checa Yamaha ESP 1'31.137 11 Makato Tamada Honda JPN 1'31.346 12 John Hopkins Suzuki USA 1'31.496 13 Colin Edwards Yamaha USA 1'31.514 14 Chris Vermeulen Suzuki AUS 1'31.846 15 Alex Hofmann Ducati GER 1'31.978 19 James Ellison Yamaha GBR 1'32.778
Alex Asigno
Camel Yamaha Team rider Valentino Rossi moved another step closer to the summit of the MotoGP World Championship today thanks to a breathtaking victory in the Malaysian Grand Prix. After starting from pole position the Italian was part of an entertaining battle for positions over the first half of the race before breaking clear alongside compatriot Loris Capirossi (Ducati). Just as they have done on so many occasions in the past, the pair became embroiled in a cat and mouse chase that had the 43,182 spectators on their feet until the very last lap.
With half a lap of the Sepang circuit remaining Rossi dived past Capirossi for the final time, opening out a crucial advantage within the next two corners and denying his rival the opportunity to make a last-gasp pass in the final hairpin. Dani Pedrosa (Honda) clinched the final podium position in third place despite riding with an injured knee. Rossi's victory moves him up to third in the championship, four points behind the Spaniard and 26 adrift of series leader Nicky Hayden (Honda), who finished fourth.
Colin Edwards managed a top ten finish despite struggling all weekend to find the appropriate set-up for his YZR-M1 machine at this track. The Texan was up against it as he started out from eleventh on the grid after yesterday's decision to base the qualifying positions on aggregate free practice times and he struggled to make an impression after losing touch with the leading pack. The series now moves on to Australia for the second of three races in as many weekends before returning to Europe for a tantalizing double header in Portugal and Spain.
Valentino Rossi (1st; 43'07.829) "That was another legendary battle between myself and Loris - very hard but also very fair. At Brno he escaped but today I was able to hang on to him. When both our bikes are working well it is always spectacular because his performs better in some sections and mine in others so it makes for a beautiful fight. I enjoy racing with him so much because there is a lot of respect between us and a great trust - he is probably the hardest rival I have ever had but also one of my best friends in the paddock. At one point I thought I'd got away but then he appeared again and I knew it was going to be a battle to the end. He tried to break free but I stayed with him and I think we passed each other about ten times in the last few laps, it was amazing. I want to say a huge 'thank you' to everybody at Yamaha because they virtually cancelled their summer holidays to get this bike working at the maximum again and I was able to push at 100% today. I also need to say another big 'thank you' to Michelin, who have worked really hard to help us to get back to this level of competitiveness. For the two Honda riders to finish third and fourth is not ideal but all I can do is keep winning races so that is what I will try to do."
Colin Edwards (10th; +19.909) "We've had the same problems since Mugello - I don't have enough rear grip and I can't push the bike as hard as I need to. This weekend we turned it upside down but still couldn't find that little bit of grip we need. We've been following Valentino a little with the setting and today I had virtually the same as him. I don't know how he does it, but somehow he does and today I couldn't. It's always tough starting from so far down the grid and I tried to make up the ground but from mid-race I was basically riding on my own, trying to cut down the gap to Melandri but without much success. Luckily we have another race in seven days at a place I love so hopefully we can move onwards and upwards in Australia."
Davide Brivio - Camel Yamaha Team Director "What an incredible day! Another great race from Valentino and from our part all I can say is that we really enjoyed the show but we're enjoying the 25 points even more! Valentino never gives up and his performance today was typical of him, I think that says it all. All our staff, from Japan to Italy and here in the paddock, have been working incredibly hard and this is their reward. Colin had a difficult weekend - he improved this morning but it wasn't enough. We're pleased that we have another race in seven days' time at a circuit both our riders like so all we can do is keep our heads down, stay focused and do our best to hold on to this championship in the four rounds that remain."
Another typically determined effort for Tech 3 Yamaha Team
 
Carlos Checa   
The Tech 3 Yamaha Team led by Spaniard Carlos Checa put in another typically determined effort during the Malaysian Grand Prix held in sweltering conditions at the Sepang circuit in an absolutely enthralling race won in style by fellow Yamaha rider Valentino Rossi
Checa managed to finish in 12th position in front of factory rider Makoto Tamada while team mate James Ellison had another difficult weekend to finish just out of the points in 16th spot.
In a positive for the team to take to the next round at Phillip Island next weekend is that the lap times of Carlos were very similar to Colin Edwards who is also on a Yamaha rider and finished just two places behind him.
Carlos Checa (12th Fastest lap 2'03.466) I'm quite satisfied with the job I did today. I feel that we raced on the limit of what we have as the bike seemed a little down on power today but the tyre performance was quite constant so considering this I feel I did my best. We made no mistakes and we found some more good information for Dunlop to work with so working like this we have found something better for the remaining races
James Ellison (16th Fastest lap 2'04.692) I'm very disappointed to be honest. We've been working really hard all weekend to cure this handling problem as no matter what we do we cant get enough weight on the rear of the bike to make it steer into the corner but that has been going on all year. The frustrating thing is that no matter what we try with the setup we can't get the bike to handle properly. I have to thank my team because they have been working very hard all year attempting to get the most out of the bike.
Herve Poncheral - Tech 3 Yamaha Team Director It was another interesting weekend and as I have said many times this year this is a learning year so we have to expect that we won't have perfect weekends. Today we were 30 seconds to the front and we were very consistent with the Dunlop tyres. We lack a bit of performance and stability but we are now having a lot of durability so things are improving. I'm reasonably happy and we are definitely making progress every race. Stability used to be the worst problem but this has improved a lot so now we have to find half a second for the first ten laps so then we will for sure be a lot closer with many riders in front of us.
Circuit Length: 5548 Temp: 33 Weather: Dry     2006 MotoGP Sepang 10/09/2006 Race 1 - 21 Laps Pos. Rider Manu. Nat. Total Time 1 Valentino Rossi Yamaha ITA 43'7.829 2 Loris Capirossi Ducati ITA 0'0.849 3 Daniel Pedrosa Honda ESP 0'3.863 4 Nicky Hayden Honda USA 0'5.780 5 Sete Gibernau Ducati ESP 0'9.301 6 John Hopkins Suzuki USA 0'11.081 7 Kenny Roberts Team Robert KR USA 0'11.838 8 Casey Stoner Honda AUS 0'12.267 9 Marco Melandri Honda ITA 0'15.019 10 Colin Edwards Yamaha USA 0'19.909 11 Chris Vermeulen Suzuki AUS 0'23.371 12 Carlos Checa Yamaha ESP 0'30.884 13 Randy De Puniet Kawasaki FRA 0'36.335 14 Makato Tamada Honda JPN 0'48.777 15 Alex Hofmann Ducati GER 0'59.081 16 James Ellison Yamaha GBR 1'5.787
Best Lap Rider Manu. Nat. Total Time Loris Capirossi Ducati ITA 2'2.127
 Rider Standings 10/09/2006
Pos. Rider Manu. Nat. Points 1. Nicky Hayden Honda USA 214 2. Daniel Pedrosa Honda ESP 192 3. Valentino Rossi Yamaha ITA 188 4. Loris Capirossi Ducati ITA 171 5. Marco Melandri Honda ITA 168 6. Casey Stoner Honda AUS 109 7. Kenny Roberts Team Robert KR USA 101 8. Colin Edwards Yamaha USA 96 9. John Hopkins Suzuki USA 93 10. Shinya Nakano Kawasaki JPN 75 11. Sete Gibernau Ducati ESP 69 12. Makato Tamada Honda JPN 69 13. Chris Vermeulen Suzuki AUS 66 14. Toni Elias Honda ESP 64 15. Carlos Checa Yamaha ESP 58 18. James Ellison Yamaha GBR 20
Team Standings 10/09/2006
Pos. Team Points 1. Repsol Honda Team 406 2. Camel Yamaha Team 284 3. Ducati Marlboro Team 247 4. Fortuna Honda Team 232 5. Rizla Suzuki 159 6. Honda LCR 109 7. Team Roberts KR 101 8. Kawasaki Racing Team 101 9. Tech3 Yamaha 78 10. Konica Minolta Honda 69 11. Pramac D'Antin 23
Manufacturer Standings 10/09/2006
Pos. Manufacturer Points 1. Honda 278 2. Yamaha 226 3. Ducati 180 4. Suzuki 111 5. Team Robert KR 101 6. Kawasaki 86
Alex Asigno
Two second places at today's German round of the Superbike World Championship saw Yamaha Motor Italia's Noriyuki Haga move back into second place in the series.
Despite suffering a wrist injury in Saturday's free practice session, the Japanese star was able to lead both races and scored more points than any other rider at the EuroSpeedway Lausitz circuit. In the day's first race Haga made a good start and followed championship leader Troy Bayliss (Ducati) in the opening laps. When the Australian made an error, the Yamaha rider led a four-way battle for the lead with Yamaha Motor Italia team-mate Andrew Pitt and the Suzukis of Troy Corser and Yukio Kagayama. Pitt eventually slipped back to fourth as a result of an incorrect tyre choice, while Kagayama was able to pass the Yamaha as Haga's front tyre grip deteriorated in the closing stages.
Race two saw the same protagonists at the front but Pitt, now running the same specification tyres as the other front men, was an early casualty when he crashed on lap four. The Australian had been sitting comfortably with the leading pack, only to be pitched off in a lowside crash when his bike's footpeg touched the raised kerbing. That left James Toseland (Honda) in the lead with Haga breathing down his neck for the entire duration of the race. Despite his best efforts, the Yamaha rider could not find a way through and took the chequered flag two-tenths of a second behind the Briton.
Yamaha Motor France's Norick Abe brought his YZF-R1 home in 11th place in race two, with team-mate Shinichi Nakatomi gaining another point for 15th. The points provided some reward for the squad, who had a disappointing first race with neither rider scoring a point due to a poor choice of tyres.
Today's results mean that Haga moves back to second in the championship, 87 points behind series leader Bayliss with two rounds and four races remaining. Toseland is the only other rider with a mathematical chance of the title, a further six behind Haga, although Pitt's failure to score sees him surrender one place in the championship. The Yamaha man is now fifth in the series, although only one point behind Corser. Haga's forty points also saw Yamaha close in on Ducati at the head of the manufacturers championship. The Iwata company is now just 37 points behind their Italian rivals with a maximum of 100 available in the four remaining races.
The penultimate round of the championship takes place at the Imola circuit in Italy on 1 October.
Noriyuki Haga (Yamaha Motor Italia) "I am happy with the result because yesterday I hurt my wrist and was in a lot of pain. The doctors gave me some painkillers and I actually enjoyed both races, because there were some good fights. In the first race I was able to lead but in the last five laps my front tyre was gone and I could not do anything when Yuki passed me. We made some changes for the second and I was able to fight with James, although he rode very well and I could not pass him. Still, I am satisfied and I would like to thank all the medical staff who helped me get such good results today."
Andrew Pitt   
Andrew Pitt (Yamaha Motor Italia) "For the first race we chose a different rear tyre to most of the other guys and after ten laps it was gone and I had to settle for fourth. It had been a bit of a gamble, but the temperatures were higher than yesterday and we felt it might give us an advantage. We made a few changes for the second race and used the same tyres as the other guys. I felt really strong and was able to pass Kagayama and catch up to the leaders when I just touched the kerb with my footrest. That caused the weight to come off the back and I just slid off. I tried to get going again but the handlebar was broken off. I'm disappointed but the fact that Barros and Corser didn't score many points has limited the damage and I know that we will bounce straight back in Imola."
Norick Abe (Yamaha Motor France) "We had a lot of small problems in race one so it was hard to ride and I couldn't even get a point. Between the races we changed the bike balance by raising the rear and it was much better than race one. My lap times were much better and I kept them better all the way to the end, so I am quite happy."
Shinichi Nakatomi   
Shinichi Nakatomi (Yamaha Motor France) "I like the track but it was impossible to get the right setting, lots of bumps and tyre spinning. Between race one and race two I changed the settings but it did not make so much difference."
Massimo Meregalli (Team Coordinator - Yamaha Motor Italia) "The first race was very good for us, with both riders taking points from Toseland in the championship. We came here with the target of getting second and third in the championship by the end of the year, but now Andrew has dropped to fifth. Overall, though, we can leave here with many positives. The championship is still alive and Noriyuki had scored a lot of points despite his injury. Andrew was a little unlucky but has ridden well and I am sure that both our riders will be able to continue fighting at the front in Imola."
Martial Garcia (Team Manager - Yamaha Motor France) "We got a little bit lost because it was a long distance for the tyres to last, so we changed the settings for the second race and Norick could fight for tenth position after that. We have improved after the test here because we lost a lot around here at that time, and we have made it up a lot. I think this track is very delicate for set-up. I am happy - no crashes, some points and now ready for Imola."
Circuit Length: 4265 Temp: 23 Crowd: 51400 Weather: Sunny     2006 WSB Lausitzring 10/09/2006 Race 1 - 24 Laps Pos. Rider Manu. Nat. Total Time 1 Yukio Kagayama Suzuki JPN 39'57.421 2 Noriyuki Haga Yamaha JPN 0'1.239 3 Troy Corser Suzuki AUS 0'1.436 4 Andrew Pitt Yamaha AUS 0'8.725 5 Alex Barros Honda BRA 0'8.975 6 Karl Muggeridge Honda AUS 0'13.804 7 Troy Bayliss Ducati AUS 0'23.569 8 Lorenzo Lanzi Ducati ITA 0'23.846 9 James Toseland Honda GBR 0'27.217 10 Fonsi Nieto Kawasaki ESP 0'28.712 11 Chris Walker Kawasaki GBR 0'29.543 12 Regis Laconi Kawasaki FRA 0'29.869 13 Max Neukirchner Suzuki GER 0'31.275 14 Steve Martin Petronas AUS 0'34,783.000 15 Ruben Xaus Ducati ESP 0'37.010 16 Norick Abe Yamaha JPN 0'46.339 17 Shinichi Nakatomi Yamaha JPN 0'58.227
Race 2 - 24 Laps Pos. Rider Manu. Nat. Total Time 1 James Toseland Honda GBR 39'58.796 2 Noriyuki Haga Yamaha JPN 0'0.210 3 Troy Bayliss Ducati AUS 0'3.056 4 Yukio Kagayama Suzuki JPN 0'7.396 5 Karl Muggeridge Honda AUS 0'11.653 6 Lorenzo Lanzi Ducati ITA 0'21.386 7 Fonsi Nieto Kawasaki ESP 0'26.620 8 Michel Fabrizio Honda ITA 0'26.736 9 Ruben Xaus Ducati ESP 0'29.428 10 Chris Walker Kawasaki GBR 0'29.544 11 Norick Abe Yamaha JPN 0'29.779 12 Steve Martin Petronas AUS 0'38.463 13 Craig Jones Petronas GBR 0'45.259 14 Troy Corser Suzuki AUS 0'45.922 15 Shinichi Nakatomi Yamaha JPN 0'58.393
Best Lap Rider Manu. Nat. Total Time Troy Bayliss Ducati AUS 1'38.635
 Rider Standings 10/09/2006
Pos. Rider Manu. Nat. Points 1. Troy Bayliss Ducati AUS 357 2. Noriyuki Haga Yamaha JPN 270 3. James Toseland Honda GBR 264 4. Troy Corser Suzuki AUS 211 5. Andrew Pitt Yamaha AUS 210 6. Alex Barros Honda BRA 186 7. Yukio Kagayama Suzuki JPN 177 8. Chris Walker Kawasaki GBR 134 9. Lorenzo Lanzi Ducati ITA 133 10. Fonsi Nieto Kawasaki ESP 127 11. Michel Fabrizio Honda ITA 117 12. Ruben Xaus Ducati ESP 103 13. Karl Muggeridge Honda AUS 97 14. Norick Abe Yamaha JPN 93 15. Regis Laconi Kawasaki FRA 84 17. Shinichi Nakatomi Yamaha JPN 33 21. Sebastien Gimbert Yamaha FRA 18
Manufacturer Standings 10/09/2006
Pos. Manufacturer Points 1. Ducati 376 2. Yamaha 339 3. Honda 328 4. Suzuki 320 5. Kawasaki 196 6. Petronas 19
RACE REPORT 10/09/2006 Curtain closes in on supersport crown   Kevin Curtain, Kenan Sofuoglu and Fabien Foret   
Yamaha Motor Germany's Kevin Curtain took a step closer to winning the 2006 Supersport World Championship after extending his lead to 27 points at EuroSpeedway Lausitz.
The Australian, who had been fastest in all of the weekend's practice sessions, made a good start from pole position and led for 19 of the 23 laps. Turkish rider Kenan Sofuoglu (Honda) pressurised the Yamaha rider all the way and eventually took the lead on lap 20. Curtain still had some opportunities to retake the lead but, with the championship at stake, chose the discretionary option to take home a safe 20 points and his eighth podium finish of the year - crossing the line just one-tenth of a second behind Sofuoglu. With title rival Sebastien Charpentier (Honda) retiring from the battle for fourth, Curtain leaves Germany with a larger than expected advantage going into the final two races.
Fabien Foret, standing in for the injured Broc Parkes on the second Yamaha Motor Germany YZF-R6 rode a superb race to take the final podium position. The Frenchman had not even sat on the Yamaha prior to arriving in Germany, but the former world champion improved with each practice session and made a good start from the second row of the grid. Foret found himself fourth into the first turn but quickly passed Christian Zaiser (Ducati) to ride to a somewhat lonely third place, ten seconds behind the winner.
 
Gianluca Vizziello   
Yamaha Team Italia's Gianluca Vizziello had one of his best results of the season, ending the day sixth. Team-mate Massimo Roccoli overcame a disappointing qualifying to bring his R6 home in a points scoring 12th by the flag.
Kevin Curtain (Yamaha Motor Germany) "I really never expected to leave here with a 27 point advantage. I thought that maybe it would be possible to take four or five points from Sebastien today, so to take 20 is unbelievable. I knew that Kenan was with me all the way and I knew that he would be strong here. I tried to make a break but he stayed with me and I decided to ride for the championship. My team let me know exactly what was happening, so I knew that Charpentier was out. It was quite an easy decision for me in the end. I had the choice of settling for a safe 20 points or risking them for another five. From a championship point of view I've exceeded all my expectations and we can go to Imola and just keep doing what we're doing."
 
Fabien Foret   
Fabien Foret (Yamaha Motor Germany) "The jump from superbike to supersport was not so easy, especially after being off a bike for some time, but the team is really good, the bike too, and I soon remembered what a 600 was like to ride. At the end it was a good result so I have to give big thanks to the team for giving me the chance of this ride."
Gianluca Vizziello (Yamaha Team Italia) "I am very satisfied. Every race I am making more progress and so is the team, our understanding of how everything works is improving all the time. Lausitz is very good for my style and the bike has felt good all weekend, and also at Assen last weekend. Sixth is good for the championship and I hope to move up some more places in the last two races."
Massimo Roccoli (Yamaha Team Italia) "I had a problem getting enough traction out of the slow corners, I think because I am so light, and I had to settle for scoring as many championship points as I could. I'm not particularly happy that I could not ride aggressively but I think I was correct in riding for the points."
Circuit Length: 4265 Temp: 22 Crowd: 51400 Weather: Sunny     2006 WSS Lausitzring 10/09/2006 Race 1 - 23 Laps Pos. Rider Manu. Nat. Total Time 1 Kenan Sofuoglu Honda TUR 39'29.099 2 Kevin Curtain Yamaha AUS 0'0.130 3 Fabien Foret Yamaha FRA 0'9.654 4 Robbin Harms Honda DNK 0'10.564 5 Gianluca Nannelli Ducati ITA 0'19.925 6 Gianluca Vizziello Yamaha ITA 0'24.288 7 Christian Zaiser Ducati AUT 0'24.980 8 Kai Borre Andersen Suzuki NOR 0'25.058 9 Matthieu Lagrive Honda FRA 0'30.289 10 Stephane Chambon Kawasaki FRA 0'34.854 11 Stuart Easton Ducati GBR 0'35.811 12 Massimo Roccoli Yamaha ITA 0'36.092 13 Mauro Sanchini Yamaha ITA 0'36.430 14 Chris Peris Yamaha CAN 0'36.845 15 Tatu Lauslehto Honda FIN 1'0.846
Best Lap Rider Manu. Nat. Total Time Kenan Sofuoglu Honda TUR 1'42.090
 Rider Standings 10/09/2006
Pos. Rider Manu. Nat. Points 1. Kevin Curtain Yamaha AUS 171 2. Sebastien Charpentier Honda FRA 144 3. Broc Parkes Yamaha AUS 119 4. Kenan Sofuoglu Honda TUR 117 5. Robbin Harms Honda DNK 107 6. Massimo Roccoli Yamaha ITA 90 7. Yoann Tibero Honda FRA 67 8. Johan Stigefelt Honda SWE 57 9. Gianluca Vizziello Yamaha ITA 56 10. Xavi Fores Yamaha ESP 49 11. Christian Zaiser Ducati AUT 30 12. Kai Borre Andersen Suzuki NOR 29 13. David Checa Yamaha ESP 29 14. Simone Sanna Honda ITA 27 15. Stephane Chambon Kawasaki FRA 24
Manufacturer Standings 10/09/2006
Pos. Manufacturer Points 1. Honda 227 2. Yamaha 208 3. Ducati 65 4. Kawasaki 55 5. Suzuki 36
RACE REPORT 10/09/2006 Corti win keeps superstock championship alive   Claudio Corti   
Yamaha Team Italia youngster Claudio Corti took his third win of the season today to keep his hopes of winning the FIM Superstock 1000 Cup well and truly alive. The Yamaha YZF-R1 SP rider won by over three seconds as his title rivals all suffered disasters in Lausitz, moving him to within 22 points of the series lead with two races remaining.
The superstock race was delayed and cut back to just nine laps after championship leader Alessandro Polita (Suzuki) lost control of his machine in the original running. The Italian's machine rebounded onto the circuit, causing a spectacular accident as countryman Ilario Dionsi (MV Agusta) ploughed into the stricken bike. With carnage strewn across the track, officials had no choice but to red flag the race and reschedule it after the afternoon's supersport race.
In the restart, Corti was involved in a fight for the lead with Ayrton Badovini (MV Agusta), who arrived in Germany second in the championship. The Yamaha rider pushed his fellow countryman hard and when Badovini lost the front end at the start of lap six, he was able to cruise home to a comfortable win.
Corti's second win in as many weeks sees him move up to third in the championship, ahead of Badovini. Polita rode to take tenth place in the restarted race and continues to lead the series with 137 points. Luca Scassa (MV Agusta) is second, on 118 points, with Corti just three points further adrift.
Claudio Corti (Yamaha Team Italia) "I felt very comfortable running behind Badovini and felt that there were several places where I would be able to pass him if I needed to. I could also see that he was pushing hard and sliding around a lot, so I was almost waiting for his crash. I am very satisfied because we have been strong throughout the practices and the bike has been very good. I cannot think about the title because Polita still has a big points advantage, although finishing in the top three is a very achievable target."
Circuit Length: 4265 Temp: 23 Crowd: 51400
  2006 Superstock Lausitzring 10/09/2006 Race 1 - 9 Laps Pos. Rider Manu. Nat. Total Time 1 Claudio Corti Yamaha ITA 15'39.363 2 Brendan Roberts Suzuki AUS 0'1.082 3 Loic Napoleone Suzuki FRA 0'4.486 4 Dominik Lammert Suzuki GER 0'4.631 5 Luca Scassa MV Agusta ITA 0'4.943 6 Roberto Lunadei Yamaha ITA 0'13.107 7 Matteo Baiocco Yamaha ITA 0'13.273 8 Danilo Dell'omo Suzuki ITA 0'13.404 9 Richard Cooper Honda GBR 0'14.004 10 Alessandro Polita Suzuki ITA 0'14.763 11 Marko Jerman Suzuki SVK 0'16.773 12 Herve Gantner Yamaha CHE 0'19.372 13 Enrique Rocamora Yamaha ESP 0'20.271 14 Gilles Boccolini Kawasaki ITA 0'21.320 15 Riccardo Chiarello Kawasaki ITA 0'27.726
Best Lap Rider Manu. Nat. Total Time Claudio Corti Yamaha ITA 1'42.744
 Rider Standings 10/09/2006
Pos. Rider Manu. Nat. Points 1. Alessandro Polita Suzuki ITA 137 2. Luca Scassa MV Agusta ITA 118 3. Claudio Corti Yamaha ITA 115 4. Ayrton Badovini MV Agusta ITA 109 5. Enrique Rocamora Yamaha ESP 68 6. Brendan Roberts Suzuki AUS 62 7. Matteo Baiocco Yamaha ITA 60 8. Denis Sacchetti Kawasaki ITA 45 9. Riccardo Chiarello Kawasaki ITA 44 10. Richard Cooper Honda GBR 41 11. Loic Napoleone Suzuki FRA 40 12. Danilo Dell'omo Suzuki ITA 31 13. Alex Martinez Mas Kawasaki ESP 30 14. Sheridan Morais Suzuki RSA 29 15. Ivan Silva Kawasaki ESP 27
Manufacturer Standings 10/09/2006
Pos. Manufacturer Points 1. Suzuki 164 2. MV Agusta 140 3. Yamaha 133 4. Kawasaki 80 5. Honda 42
Alex Asigno
Yamaha Motor Italia riders Andrew Pitt and Noriyuki Haga gave a strong showing in Friday's qualifying for this weekend's world superbike round at EuroSpeedway Lausitz, ending the day fourth and seventh after the first qualifying.
Having attended July's Pirelli test at the same venue, the squad arrived in Germany with good base settings for their YZF-R1s and spent the day working to further refine the machine performance for Sunday's two 24 lap races.
Pitt's best time of 1:38.871 was just half a second down on provisional pole sitter Troy Bayliss (Ducati), who was over a second quicker than Ruben Xaus' four year old lap record. Suzuki team-mates Troy Corser and Yukio Kagayama complete the provisional front row.
The Australian was largely satisfied with his day's work. With lower temperatures and higher winds requiring a slightly different machine setting from last July's test, Pitt and his crew made subtle changes to his machine throughout the sessions. The team will make a few more changes, including revised gearing, tomorrow in a bid to give their man the best possible machine for Sunday's races.
 
Haga spent the day's two one hour sessions switching between his two machines, completing more laps than any other rider in the afternoon session. The Japanese rider has often ran with two differing specification machines on a race weekend but, with the team now certain of their best set-up, Haga worked on fine-tuning his 'spare' machine to give the same feeling as his number one bike. As always, the Japanese stuck worked on finding a good race tyre and suspension setting but still managed to set a lap time less than eight tenths of a second behind Bayliss.
Norick Abe was the leading Yamaha Motor France rider in 18th place, while team-mate and countryman Shinichi Nakatomi ended the day 26th on his competitive debut at the twisting Lausitz circuit.
 
Noriyuki Haga   
Yamaha Motor France's Sebastien Gimbert misses the Lausitz race after injuring his back in Assen last weekend, however the R1 ranks are boosted by the inclusion of last year's FIM Superstock 1000 Cup winner Didier van Keymeulen. The Belgian is entered as a wildcard on board the YZF-R1 he normally campaigns in the German championship and ended first qualifying in 22nd position.
Final practice and the grid deciding superpole session takes place tomorrow (Saturday) with the races scheduled for Sunday.
Andrew Pitt (Yamaha Motor Italia) "Not a bad day. The bike feels a little different from when we tested here, which I think could be down to the higher winds today. We've got a few things to try out for tomorrow. The bike's working well so we are just trying to make it a little easier and more consistent to ride. The rear tyre is the critical thing just now. The temperatures are lower today than when we tested and as a result we're seeing much higher wear today."
Noriyuki Haga (Yamaha Motor Italia) "The feeling with the bike is good but the lap time could be better, so maybe I must ride faster! I did a lot of long runs today and also did quite a lot of laps on my number two bike. We came here with a good setting and now both bikes have the same feeling, so I am happy. I have a few things to try tomorrow and I am confident that we can be in good condition before superpole."
 
Norick Abe   
Norick Abe (Yamaha Motor France) "We still have a few things to try and make the bike better for tomorrow but overall it's not too bad. The times are all very close so if we can make a small improvement then we can make it into superpole."
Shinichi Nakatomi (Yamaha Motor France) "This is a very tight circuit so I am learning all the time. Normally I can expect to make an improvement for Saturday and I think that the more I learn the faster I can go."
Massimo Meregalli (Team Coordinator - Yamaha Motor Italia) "Both riders had a good practice today. The riders are all working on finding a good race setting and they are quite happy with how it went. We will make a few small adjustments to the settings for both riders tomorrow but today we did a good job and hope to continue that tomorrow."
Circuit Length: 4265 Weather: Dry     2006 WSB Lausitzring 08/09/2006 Qualifying 1 Pos. Rider Manu. Nat. Total Time 1 Troy Bayliss Ducati AUS 1'38.331 2 Troy Corser Suzuki AUS 1'38.550 3 Yukio Kagayama Suzuki JPN 1'38.869 4 Andrew Pitt Yamaha AUS 1'38.871 5 Karl Muggeridge Honda AUS 1'38.948 6 Lorenzo Lanzi Ducati ITA 1'39.048 7 Noriyuki Haga Yamaha JPN 1'39.101 8 James Toseland Honda GBR 1'39.347 9 Alex Barros Honda BRA 1'39.572 10 Chris Walker Kawasaki GBR 1'39.591 11 Michel Fabrizio Honda ITA 1'39.609 12 Fonsi Nieto Kawasaki ESP 1'39.709 13 Steve Martin Petronas AUS 1'39.771 14 Ruben Xaus Ducati ESP 1'40.041 15 Regis Laconi Kawasaki FRA 1'40.149 18 Norick Abe Yamaha JPN 1'40.732 26 Shinichi Nakatomi Yamaha JPN 1'41.786
QUALIFYING 1 REPORT 08/09/2006 Curtain quickest in opening Lausitz practice   Kevin Curtain   
Championship leader Kevin Curtain continued his fine run of form in opening practice for Sunday's tenth round of the Supersport World Championship at EuroSpeedway Lausitz, setting the fastest time in today's first qualifying session.
The Australian Yamaha Motor Germany rider was almost seven tenths of a second quicker than second placed Kenan Sofuoglu (Honda) in the 45 minute session. Johan Stigefelt and Sebastien Cherpentier (both Honda) complete the provisional front row ahead of tomorrow's final session.
Yamaha Team Italia's Gianluca Vizziello ended the day in eighth position, just three tenths of a second slower than third placed Stigefelt. Fabien Foret, standing in for the injured Broc Parkes on the second Yamaha Motor Germany machine, ended his first day on the YZF-R6 in 14th, one place ahead of Massimo Roccoli on the other Yamaha Team Italia bike.
 
Circuit Length: 4265 Weather: Dry     2006 WSS Lausitzring 08/09/2006 Qualifying 1 Pos. Rider Manu. Nat. Total Time 1 Kevin Curtain Yamaha AUS 1'41.167 2 Kenan Sofuoglu Honda TUR 1'41.862 3 Johan Stigefelt Honda SWE 1'42.569 4 Sebastien Charpentier Honda FRA 1'42.571 5 Robbin Harms Honda DNK 1'42.613 6 Yoann Tibero Honda FRA 1'42.706 7 Kai Borre Andersen Suzuki NOR 1'42.712 8 Gianluca Vizziello Yamaha ITA 1'42.866 9 Katsuaki Fujiwara Honda JPN 1'42.921 10 Gianluca Nannelli Ducati ITA 1'42.956 11 Christian Zaiser Ducati AUT 1'43.039 12 Matthieu Lagrive Honda FRA 1'43.106 13 Stephane Chambon Kawasaki FRA 1'43.171 14 Fabien Foret Yamaha FRA 1'43.239 15 Massimo Roccoli Yamaha ITA 1'43.485 20 David Checa Yamaha ESP 1'44.227
Alex Asigno
Camel Yamaha Team riders Valentino Rossi and Colin Edwards completed a hard day's work with their Yamaha YZR-M1 machines today, as preparations got underway for the Malaysian Grand Prix with two free practice sessions. Both riders were eager to test the performance of their bikes at this circuit after a positive recent test in the Czech Republic, however it quickly emerged that the setting the team found at Brno was not as well suited to this layout or track temperatures in excess of 45ºC, which put the tyres under extreme stress.
After making dramatic changes to the bike for the afternoon session, reigning World Champion Rossi was able to knock almost a full second off his time within the first six laps, giving him renewed confidence after a disappointing morning when he could only manage the eleventh fastest time. Edwards suffered similar problems but was unable to solve them in time for an assault on the top positions today. The American is hoping to find a quick solution in tomorrow morning's final free practice before qualifying takes place in the afternoon.
Last year's winner Loris Capirossi (Ducati) set the pace today, dipping under pole record time with a lap of 2'01.711. There was bad news, however, for fellow title candidate Dani Pedrosa (Honda), who suffered a knee injury in a high-speed crash this afternoon.
Valentino Rossi (6th - 2'02.970; 41 laps) "It's been a difficult first day - more so in the morning than the afternoon, which means we are working in the right way. I was confident after the Brno test, especially about the tyres and the way they are working now with our M1. Unfortunately in the conditions we have found here that setting doesn't work so well and we had a few problems with tyre life. So in the afternoon basically we adapted the setting using the data we gathered in the January tests, when I was very fast, and things improved a lot. Tomorrow we'll move even closer to that setting and I'm very confident we can make a big improvement again. Loris was very fast today and it looks like it will be a tough challenge to beat him, but we have good base data for this circuit and I'm sure we can get back to the pace I know I am capable of here."
 
Colin Edwards   
Colin Edwards (12th - 2'03.355; 41 laps) "That was a really hard day and not what we were hoping for at all. I'm pretty disappointed after the good test we had at Brno because I expected to be in good shape from the start here. I couldn't find the right set-up today and there was no way for me to ride the bike properly. We're going to have to work in a completely different direction tomorrow and try to sort the situation out before qualifying. Valentino seems to have improved by going back towards the settings from January, despite the fact that the bike we have now is very different from the one we had then, so maybe this is the way to work. We will have a think about things tonight and start again tomorrow!"
Davide Brivio - Camel Yamaha Team Director "Today everyone has had to work very hard! Both riders have been testing different things and now we have to put it all altogether to find the right package and make sure we are competitive both in tomorrow afternoon's qualifying session and Sunday's race. Valentino is very close to the top and I think with a little bit more work he can be in good shape tomorrow. Colin is struggling a little at the moment but hopefully he too can improve in the morning. Tomorrow the weather might change things but we hope that it stays dry so that we can continue to make progress."
Circuit Length: 5548 Temp: 32 Weather: Dry     2006 MotoGP Sepang 08/09/2006 Free Practice Pos. Rider Manu. Nat. Total Time 1 Loris Capirossi Ducati ITA 2'1.711 2 Daniel Pedrosa Honda ESP 2'2.021 3 Kenny Roberts Team Robert KR USA 2'2.563 4 John Hopkins Suzuki USA 2'2.710 5 Makato Tamada Honda JPN 2'2.918 6 Valentino Rossi Yamaha ITA 2'2.970 7 Sete Gibernau Ducati ESP 2'2.981 8 Shinya Nakano Kawasaki JPN 2'3.100 9 Casey Stoner Honda AUS 2'3.171 10 Nicky Hayden Honda USA 2'3.199 11 Marco Melandri Honda ITA 2'3.248 12 Colin Edwards Yamaha USA 2'3.355 13 Randy De Puniet Kawasaki FRA 2'3.418 14 Chris Vermeulen Suzuki AUS 2'3.432 15 Carlos Checa Yamaha ESP 2'3.706 18 James Ellison Yamaha GBR 2'5.403
Alex Asigno

Micheluz top Yamaha in E1

By Alex Asigno in Archives

Round seven of the 2006 World Enduro Championship, the GP of Slovakia held in Krompachy 380km from the Slovakian capital of Bratislava, saw Spaniard Ivan Cervantes move closer to his second Enduro 1 world championship title after the KTM rider topped the E1 class on both days in Slovakia having performed faultlessly during the weekend. Finishing 42 seconds ahead at the end of the opening day's competition Ivan upped his pace on day two and extended his wining advantage to just over one minute. In claiming two class wins Cervantes is all but assured of winning the 2006 E1 world championship crown on day one at the series' final event in France. Placing as runner-up on day one was Cervantes' KTM team-mate Italian Alessandro Belometti. With Belometti looked in a day long battle with countryman Simone Albergoni just two seconds separated the pair, in favour of Belometti, at the end of day one. On day two it was Albergoni who placed in second position to Cervantes as Belometti had to fight his way back to third from fifth having crashed on the day's second enduro test.
With UFO Corse Yamaha rider Arnau Vilanova unable to compete in Slovakia due to suffering a form of hepatitis, Italian Maurizio Micheluz was again the team's only competitor in the Enduro 1 class. Again performing consistently against more experienced WEC competitors aboard his WR250F Micheluz finished the opening day in sixth position having struggled to get on the pace early in the day. On day two, having started well, Maurizio made a small mistake during the second extreme test and after getting rope wrapped around his rear wheel lost five minutes. Placing in an eventual ninth position Maurizio finished as high as second on one special test, indicating that had it not been for his misfortune he might well have placed close to, or even on, the E1 class podium
Maurizio Micheluz (UFO Corse Yamaha) - Day 1: Sixth, Day 2: Ninth "Day one went pretty good for me. I finished in sixth position but didn't ride so well on the first three special tests, I don't know why. At the end of the day I was just three seconds behind the fifth place rider, which I was happy with after my poor start to the day. Day two started much better than day one and I was confident that I could finish fifth or better. On the second extreme test I lost five minutes when I got some rope wrapped in my rear wheel. I was extremely disappointed because after my problem I was fast enough to finish fourth and I finished in second on some special tests. This is racing and apart from that I am really happy with the way I was riding."
 
Temp: 20 Crowd: 12750 Weather: Sunny     2006 Enduro 1 Slovakia 03/09/2006 Race 1 - 1 Laps Pos. Rider Manu. Nat. Total Time 1 Ivan Cervantes KTM ESP 41'57.650 2 Alessandro Belometti KTM ITA 0'42.160 3 Simone Albergoni Honda ITA 0'44.520 4 Bartosz Oblucki Husqvarna POL 0'50.940 5 Petri Pohjamo TM FIN 1'12.270 6 Maurizio Micheluz Yamaha ITA 1'16.050 7 Mike Hartmann KTM GER 2'20.000 8 Tomi Peltola Suzuki FIN 2'59.730 9 Nicolas Deparrois Husqvarna FRA 3'4.970 10 Helder Rodrigues Yamaha POR 3'8.810 11 Peter Podhorsky Yamaha SVK 7'29.510 12 Peter Katai KTM HUN 8'39.550 13 Rostislav Ondracka Husqvarna CZE 19'28.550
Race 2 - 1 Laps Pos. Rider Manu. Nat. Total Time 1 Ivan Cervantes KTM ESP 49'5.740 2 Simone Albergoni Honda ITA 1'2.030 3 Alessandro Belometti KTM ITA 1'22.220 4 Bartosz Oblucki Husqvarna POL 1'42.230 5 Petri Pohjamo TM FIN 1'50.960 6 Nicolas Deparrois Husqvarna FRA 2'12.360 7 Mike Hartmann KTM GER 2'12.830 8 Helder Rodrigues Yamaha POR 2'21.220 9 Maurizio Micheluz Yamaha ITA 6'33.670 10 Peter Katai KTM HUN 11'9.010 11 Peter Podhorsky Yamaha SVK 15'25.940
Rider Standings 03/09/2006
Pos. Rider Manu. Nat. Points 1. Ivan Cervantes KTM ESP 338 2. Simone Albergoni Honda ITA 296 3. Alessandro Belometti KTM ITA 254 4. Bartosz Oblucki Husqvarna POL 244 5. Maurizio Micheluz Yamaha ITA 222 6. Petri Pohjamo TM FIN 166 7. Mike Hartmann KTM GER 139 8. Helder Rodrigues Yamaha POR 121 9. Nicolas Deparrois Husqvarna FRA 102 10. Freddy Blanc KTM FRA 74 11. Anthony Roberts Yamaha AUS 58 12. Peter Bergvall Suzuki SWE 52 13. Shane Cuthbertson KTM CAN 49 14. Julien Gauthier Honda FRA 43 15. Frederik Georgsson KTM SWE 41 40. Arnau Vilanova Yamaha ESP 10
Manufacturer Standings 03/09/2006
Pos. Manufacturer Points 1. KTM 338 2. Honda 296 3. Husqvarna 254 4. Yamaha 228 5. TM 166 6. Suzuki 90 7. Kawasaki 41 8. GasGas 23 9. Christini 19
RACE REPORT 03/09/2006 Yamaha dominates in Slovakia   Johnny and Stefan on podium   
UFO Corse Yamaha team mates Stefan Merriman and Johnny Aubert claimed a Yamaha one-two in the Enduro 2 class on day one of the GP of Slovakia as the Australian and Frenchman placed in first and second positions respectively separated by an eventual 33 seconds. With Finns Samuli Aro and Mika Ahola making it a four-way fight it was reigning class champion Aro who eventually joined Merriman and Aubert on the podium in third but the day was all about the two UFO Corse Yamaha team riders Merriman and Aubert. With Merriman having the upper hand from the start the former world champion produced his best form of the season and during the second half of the day opened up what would become an unbeatable lead.
Johnny Aubert   
On day two the same two riders placed at the head of the Enduro 2 class, but unlike on day one it was Aubert who topped the E2 class results. Winning six of the day's special tests in the E2 class and enjoying the rougher conditions Aubert placed 18 seconds ahead of his team-mate Stefan Merriman to prove himself once again in his first season of World Enduro Championship competition. With the Yamaha mounted duo finishing in first and second Finn Aro again placed in third.
Johnny Aubert (UFO Corse Yamaha)- Day 1: Second, Day 2: First "It's been a great weekend for me. I am so pleased with my result, especially as the next round of the world championship is my home race in France. Day one went well but Stefan was just too fast so it wasn't possible to fight with him for the win. Day two was perfect for me. From the first enduro test I felt really good and was as fast as Stefan. I knew that I could win the day then so I pushed as hard as I could. The race was a little more technical, the tests were rougher and rutted. I seem to go better on the second day. I am really happy with my result."
Stefan Merriman   
Stefan Merriman (UFO Corse Yamaha)- Day 1: First, Day 2: Second "I've had a really good weekend. The event itself was really enjoyable, the special tests were typically Slovakian and thankfully it didn't rain. It's been a more traditional world enduro event. Day one went really well. I felt good right from the start of the day and didn't make any mistakes, which enabled me to win. On day two I wasn't quite quick enough to beat my team-mate Johnny Aubert but I was still happy with the way I rode. On Sunday I rode pretty much the same as I did on day one but Johnny went faster. Of course I would have liked to have won on both days but finishing in first and second is much better than my results at the last GP in the USA."
Temp: 20 Crowd: 12750 Weather: Sunny     2006 Enduro 2 Slovakia 03/09/2006 Race 1 - 1 Laps Pos. Rider Manu. Nat. Total Time 1 Stefan Merriman Yamaha AUS 41'19.050 2 Johnny Aubert Yamaha FRA 0'33.090 3 Samuli Aro KTM FIN 0'37.780 4 Mika Ahola Honda FIN 0'38.770 5 Fabien Planet KTM FRA 1'14.430 6 Cristobal Guerrero GasGas ESP 1'27.120 7 Jari Juha Mattila Honda FIN 1'54.310 8 Xavier Galindo KTM ESP 2'12.790 9 Valtteri Salonen HusaBerg FIN 2'28.100 10 Thierry Klutz Sherco BEL 2'28.300 11 Stefan Svitko KTM SVK 2'55.290 12 Alessandro Botturi Aprilia ITA 3'4.560 13 Christophe Nambotin Husqvarna FRA 3'5.440 14 Nicolas Paganon Husqvarna FRA 3'6.730 15 Andrea Beconi Beta ITA 3'10.520 17 Fabrizio Dini Yamaha ITA 3'36.400
Race 2 - 1 Laps Pos. Rider Manu. Nat. Total Time 1 Johnny Aubert Yamaha FRA 48'34.360 2 Stefan Merriman Yamaha AUS 0'18.130 3 Samuli Aro KTM FIN 0'37.430 4 Mika Ahola Honda FIN 0'43.620 5 Cristobal Guerrero GasGas ESP 1'39.850 6 Fabien Planet KTM FRA 1'40.650 7 Alessandro Botturi Aprilia ITA 1'48.370 8 Valtteri Salonen HusaBerg FIN 2'1.730 9 Christophe Nambotin Husqvarna FRA 2'18.870 10 Fabrizio Dini Yamaha ITA 2'22.990 11 Jari Juha Mattila Honda FIN 2'24.220 12 Nicolas Paganon Husqvarna FRA 2'26.290 13 Xavier Galindo KTM ESP 2'37.440 14 Thierry Klutz Sherco BEL 3'13.830 15 Andrea Beconi Beta ITA 3'16.570
Rider Standings 03/09/2006
Pos. Rider Manu. Nat. Points 1. Samuli Aro KTM FIN 315 2. Mika Ahola Honda FIN 283 3. Stefan Merriman Yamaha AUS 278 4. Johnny Aubert Yamaha FRA 277 5. Fabien Planet KTM FRA 202 6. Cristobal Guerrero GasGas ESP 195 7. Xavier Galindo KTM ESP 185 8. Valtteri Salonen HusaBerg FIN 134 9. Fabrizio Dini Yamaha ITA 124 10. Nicolas Paganon Husqvarna FRA 123 11. Alessandro Botturi Aprilia ITA 117 12. Euan McConnell TM GBR 84 13. Andrea Beconi Beta ITA 75 14. Paul Edmondson Honda GBR 74 15. Kurt Caselli KTM USA 66
Manufacturer Standings 03/09/2006
Pos. Manufacturer Points 1. Yamaha 316 2. KTM 315 3. Honda 283 4. GasGas 195 5. Husqvarna 135 6. HusaBerg 134 7. Aprilia 117 8. Beta 89 9. TM 84 10. Suzuki 52 11. Sherco 50 12. Kawasaki 16