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Yamaha Racing News

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Fourth position for Philippaerts in Ireland

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

Guerrero on French podium as Albergoni struggles

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

Gundersen due for knee op and Campano moves to MX1-GP

UTag Yamaha.com’s Kenneth Gundersen is likely to miss the rest of the 2008 FIM MX1-GP World Championship after he was diagnosed with a torn anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee and further damage inside the joint. His place on the YZ450F will be taken by team-mate Carlos Campano this weekend at Bellpuig for the Grand Prix of Spain while the British crew find a replacement. Gundersen – who missed almost two campaigns of racing after a cartilage problem with his right leg in 2004/05 – landed awkwardly during Saturday practice for the season-opening Grand Prix two weeks ago at Valkenswaard in Holland. The Norwegian, a GP Yamaha rider for the last two years, had a lot of pain and travelled back to his home on Sunday. Examinations revealed the extent of the injury and he is set to go under the surgeon’s knife in the first week of May after swelling around the knee has subsided. "It is a real shame for Kenneth, Yamaha, the team and all our sponsors,” said Team Manager Steve Dixon. “Kenneth had worked so hard over the winter and leading up to the first GP we were looking forward to some good results. I have never worked with someone as dedicated and as professional as Kenneth, he is so determined to achieve his goal and whilst he stayed in England I have witnessed that commitment.” “I really hope Kenneth can make a full recovery and we will hope to finish what we set out to do in 2009, albeit a year later.” Dixon also confirmed the new role for current MX2-GP rider and former Spanish Champion Carlos Campano. “We have moved Carlos up to the MX1 class so we can fulfil our MX1 obligations, as there simply does not seem to be any replacement riders around this early in the season,” he said. “We will have to adapt as the season goes on to maximise our coverage and profile on the track."
Alex Asigno

Coppins back in the groove ahead of motocross Spanish Grand Prix

Yamaha Monster Motocross Team’s Josh Coppins is ready to lift his push for the 2008 MX1-GP World Championship up a gear this weekend at Bellpuig for the Grand Prix of Spain and the second round of the series after almost two weeks of training and further recuperation from his broken toes. The New Zealander has spent ten days at the home of former world champion Jacky Vimond in the south west of France and has been clocking up track kilometres that he desperately missed in the wake of his injury several weeks before the start of the GP campaign in Holland. Coppins took a brave sixth position at Valkenswaard and insists that the time spent riding and training with coach Vimond, has been a positive experience ahead of the trip to Spain. “I have ridden more in these past two weeks than the five before Valkenswaard. It has been really helpful both physically and mentally. I felt that I was not prepared at all for Holland but now I am actually looking forward to going to Spain,” said the 31 year old who dominated both motos at a rain-hit 2007 Spanish Grand Prix. “My foot has been getting better and even though I have not been able to run or swim yet we are now at a point where I do not need to wear a special boot when I’m on the bike.” “Last year was obviously an awesome race for me, two comfortable moto wins, you can’t ask for more than that,” he added reflecting on his Bellpuig victory. “I like the track when it is a bit wet, technical and rutty as opposed to hard, dusty and fast. I am interested to see what I will be capable of this weekend. Going into Valkenswaard I wasn’t even that sure if I could finish and I took sixth place which I was very satisfied with. The championship will begin for me in these next few races.” Meanwhile team-mate David Philippaerts – after recovering from a cold – was trying to squeeze in riding sessions back at his home near Milan but constant showers across northern Italy did not assist his cause. The 24 year old captured fifth position on his debut with the YZ450F in the sand of Valkenswaard and now heads to several circuits that are a little more to his taste. “Bellpuig is a good track and I quite like it because it is similar to places we have in Italy,” he remarked. “The GP last year was quite strange because the practice was cancelled on Saturday because of rain and we only rode on Sunday. There was not much time to see the different lines coming up.” “I feel 100% now and I’m looking forward to the race,” he enthused when pressed about the illness he suffered in the wake of the first round. “We did not escape the rain in Italy and I was out riding only three times so I hope it keeps dry in Spain; when it rains it helps those Belgians!” Bellpuig, close to the city of Lleida in the west of Catalunya, in the north-east region of Spain, has been the traditional home of the Grand Prix since the turn of the century. The hillside setting involves some steep and spectacular set-ups/downs and can offer a fast layout when dry. Yamaha have won three out of four MX1-GP events there from 2004 and the year that the class was established. The forecast for the weekend predicts overcast skies although decent temperatures with a maximum of 23 degrees.
Alex Asigno

Philippaerts takes first podium in rain-hit Spanish GP

David Philippaerts finished as runner-up and gained his first podium result with the YZ450FM, giving the Yamaha Monster Motocross Team their maiden silverware of the FIM 2008 World Championship, after just one moto in a torrid and swampy Grand Prix of Spain at a soaked Bellpuig. Almost eleven hours of rain from the early hours of Sunday morning through to the close of the afternoon rendered the hillside circuit almost un-passable and the second MX1 moto was cancelled as the heaviest period of water lashed the sea of mud. The track had already been cut after numerous MX2 machines could not make the three steep step-ups only 20 minutes prior but the majority of MX1-GP riders were concerned about the conditions and the second sprint was eventually annulled leaving the results from the first race to decide the overall result. Josh Coppins was fourth through the slime and seat-high ruts in Moto1 and ensured that the team had their two riders within the top four in perhaps the hardest race conditions seen this century. It was all a stark contrast to the blue skies and sunshine of Saturday that saw the track, hard, dusty and fast with the top nine qualifiers split by just two seconds. With the drastic change in weather came a different race approach as the slow speed and care used by the riders turned the race into an exercise of survival and in which the wild alterations in the lap-chart, as people slipped and crashed throughout the 15 laps, was confusing to follow. Lap-times almost doubled. Philippaerts rode particularly well after becoming involved in a first corner crash with several others. The Italian soldiered on to move up the standings. He should have been joined in the top three by Coppins who was holding a steady second place behind leader and eventual winner Steve Ramon. The New Zealander however could not avoid two stationary riders on the step-ups and the needed time to remount and restart after his slip. With one just moto completed in extraordinary circumstances the world championship standings show that Philippaerts lies third, 15 points from the lead while Coppins is fourth, just 8 behind his team-mate. Round three will take place at Agueda in Portugal next week. David Philippaerts, Yamaha Monster Motocross Team: 2nd "I am very happy. After that start and the crash I did not expect to finish second. The Yamaha is so easy to ride and that is important in these conditions. Being third in the championship is a decent position for me. From the first GP last year I had two zeros in the points, but now I already have a podium. I was ready to race in that second moto but I was also prepared to go along with the majority for what they wanted to do. It was quite dangerous out there, the bike would stick in the mud over the jumps and you had to take some risks, having said that, I had some fun as I quite like the water!" Josh Coppins, Yamaha Monster Motocross Team: 4th "What a surreal weekend. In those conditions you just have to keep going and going. There is no strategy. You do need some luck but at the same time you have to be smart and not make too many big mistakes or bad decisions. Saturday was completely different and I was actually hoping for a bit of rain in the evening because it would slow the track and make it more technical. The race could have been better but I made a mistake and got caught out by two guys who were stuck on the hill and I could not avoid them. Anything at all could have happened in the second moto so overall, with sixth in the first round and fourth here, I can't be too disappointed. We will head to Portugal straight away Sunday evening and we'll stop somewhere and try to get everything cleaned!" Massimo Raspanti, Racing Manager, Yamaha Monster Motocross Team: "It was a really strange GP for everybody but I am happy because David made second and Josh was fourth. Josh had a small problem on one of the uphills and without this then he for sure would have been on the podium also. The difficulty of the race means that we are happy with the results and we made good points for the championship." Race 1 - 15 Laps Pos., Rider, Manu., Nat., Total Time 1, Steve Ramon, Suzuki, BEL, 40'49.290 2, David Philippaerts, Yamaha, ITA, 0'35.461 3, Ken De Dycker, Suzuki, BEL, 0'49.535 4, Joshua Coppins, Yamaha, NZL, 1'22.141 5, Tanel Leok, Kawasaki, EST, 2'3.530 6, Kevin Strijbos, Kawasaki, BEL, 2'25.114 7, Tom Church, Kawasaki, GBR, 2'28.305 8, Billy MacKenzie, Honda, GBR, 2'40.776 9, Clement Desalle, Suzuki, BEL, -1 Laps 10, Lauris Freibergs, Yamaha, LVA, -1 Laps 11, Alex Salvini, Suzuki, ITA, -1 Laps 12, Kornel Nemeth, KTM, HUN, -1 Laps 13, Alessio Chiodi, TM, ITA, -1 Laps 14, James Noble, KTM, GBR, -1 Laps 15, Manuel Priem, Kawasaki, BEL, -1 Laps 16, Pierre A. Renet, Suzuki, FRA, -1 Laps 17, Marvin Van Daele, Suzuki, BEL, -1 Laps 18, Marcus Schiffer, KTM, GER, -1 Laps 19, Maximilian Nagl, KTM, GER, -1 Laps 20, Loic Leonce, Yamaha, FRA, -2 Laps Rider Standings 20/04/2008 Pos., Rider, Manu., Nat., Points 1, Ken De Dycker, Suzuki, BEL, 70 2, Steve Ramon, Suzuki, BEL, 63 3, David Philippaerts, Yamaha, ITA, 55 4, Joshua Coppins, Yamaha, NZL, 47 5, Billy MacKenzie, Honda, GBR, 46 6, Maximilian Nagl, KTM, GER, 40 7, Kevin Strijbos, Kawasaki, BEL, 36 8, Manuel Priem, Kawasaki, BEL, 35 9, Kornel Nemeth, KTM, HUN, 33 10, Tanel Leok, Kawasaki, EST, 26 11, Clement Desalle, Suzuki, BEL, 22 12, Tom Church, Kawasaki, GBR, 20 13, Aigar Leok, Yamaha, EST, 20 14, Jonathan Barragan, KTM, ESP, 20 15, Lauris Freibergs, Yamaha, LVA, 16 16, Marcus Schiffer, KTM, GER, 14 17, Mike Brown, Honda, USA, 14 18, Marc De Reuver, Honda, NED, 13 19, Marvin Van Daele, Suzuki, BEL, 13 20, Alessio Chiodi, TM, ITA, 11 Manufacturer Standings 20/04/2008 Pos., Manufacturer, Points 1, Suzuki, 75 2, Yamaha, 55 3, KTM, 51 4, Honda, 48 5, Kawasaki, 45 6, TM, 11
Alex Asigno

Reed 2nd in St Louis to keep title dream alive

Yamaha's Chad Reed battled through the pain of his fractured shoulder to take a decent second position to main title rival Kevin Windham in front of almost 49,000 fans last weekend at the Edward Jones Dome in St Louis for the fifteenth round of seventeen in the Monster Energy AMA Supercross championship, also an FIM World Championship. Reed seized the lead on the first lap of the main event, taking place just one week after his heavy practice crash in Detroit, but was powerless to prevent Windham from seizing control. The result was nevertheless the Australian's eleventh podium of the season on the San Manuel YZ450F and means that his points lead was only cut to 13 with two races to go. "I was a long way from 100 percent tonight, going from twelfth last week to second is huge for me," he said. "I was back and forth this week seeing doctors and trying to just get everything taken care of. We made huge gains this week, and there were a lot of people who supported me. Unfortunately, we've been in this position a lot, so you learn over the years.Last weekend was just survival, while this weekend, I felt pretty good in practice. The track just got really gnarly in the main event, and the whoops were really tough, and I couldn't hang with Windham. I had to let go of my pride and look at the bigger picture, and that's tough. I felt, for the rest of the track, I had what it took to win; I just didn't have what it took in the whoops." "I feel like I'm still in control of this thing," he added. "To salvage a second this weekend, it was huge for me, and I think it was huge for my competitors. You can see that a lot of them are really motivated, still we got out there, got a good start, and I did what I had to do." Reed's team-mate Nathan Ramsey took a season-best finish with fourth place. Josh Hill was sixteenth. AMA Motocross Champion Grant Langston has missed the entire Indoor campaign with an eye affliction but hopes to begin riding very soon to prepare for his Outdoor defence. "He's coming over this week to start riding so that we can check him out, but we're still not completely sure he's going to be ready for Glen Helen," said team manager Jimmy Perry. "But that is the plan, for him to be ready to go come Glen Helen. His eye seems to be healing very slowly, so we'll have to wait and see." The penultimate Supercross meeting takes place at the Qwest Field in Seattle next weekend. Race 1 - 20 Laps Pos., Rider, Manu., Nat., Total Time 1, Kevin Windham, Honda, USA, 18'7.740 2, Chad Reed, Yamaha, AUS, 0'7.765 3, Andrew Short, Honda, USA, 0'16.083 4, Nathan Ramsey, Yamaha, USA, 0'22.079 5, Thomas Hahn, Kawasaki, USA, 0'26.788 6, David D Millsaps, Honda, USA, 0'31.473 7, Justin Brayton, KTM, USA, 0'37.787 8, Paul Carpenter, Honda, USA, 0'42.197 9, Travis Preston, Kawasaki, USA, 0'51.429 10, Jason Thomas, Honda, USA, 0'66.715 11, Nicholas Wey, KTM, USA, -1 Laps 12, David Vuillemin, Suzuki, FRA, -1 Laps 13, Heath Voss, Honda, USA, -1 Laps 14, Eric Sorby, Honda, USA, -1 Laps 15, Bryan K Johnson, Honda, USA, -1 Laps 16, Josh Hill, Yamaha, USA, -1 Laps 17, Jeff Gibson, Kawasaki, USA, -1 Laps 18, Kevin W. Johnson, Yamaha, USA, -1 Laps 19, Troy Adams, Honda, USA, -2 Laps 20, Kelly Smith, Kawasaki, USA, -20 Laps Rider Standings 19/04/2008 Pos., Rider, Manu., Nat., Points 1, Chad Reed, Yamaha, AUS, 318 2, Kevin Windham, Honda, USA, 305 3, David D Millsaps, Honda, USA, 244 4, Andrew Short, Honda, USA, 241 5, Josh Hill, Yamaha, USA, 196 6, Tim Ferry, Kawasaki, USA, 189 7, Nathan Ramsey, Yamaha, USA, 173 8, David Vuillemin, Suzuki, FRA, 146 9, Paul Carpenter, Honda, USA, 135 10, Nicholas Wey, KTM, USA, 131 11, Charles Summey, Yamaha, USA, 120 12, Heath Voss, Honda, USA, 109 13, Travis Preston, Kawasaki, USA, 93 14, Jason Thomas, Honda, USA, 85 15, Eric Sorby, Honda, USA, 83 25, Grant Langston, Yamaha, RSA, 38 39, Broc Hepler, Yamaha, USA, 3 Manufacturer Standings 19/04/2008 Pos., Manufacturer, Points 1, Yamaha, 339 2, Honda, 327 3, Kawasaki, 267 4, Suzuki, 195 5, KTM, 135
Alex Asigno

Lorenzo takes spectacular maiden victory at Estoril

Jorge Lorenzo topped off an incredible opening month in MotoGP with his maiden premier class victory today, his first ever career win at Estoril. After three pole positions and two podiums, the Fiat Yamaha Team rookie went one step further to win the Portuguese Grand Prix in fine style, taking joint first in the championship standings in the process. It was also the second double podium of the season for the team, with Valentino Rossi finishing third. The first lap was a close battle between Lorenzo, Rossi and Dani Pedrosa with Lorenzo just prevailing over the line. Rossi however then passed him into turn one and pushed on ahead, leaving his team-mate to defend second position from Pedrosa, who was right on his tail. It began to spot with rain but Lorenzo kept his head and kept in touch with Rossi, despite pressure from Pedrosa behind him. On lap 11 Pedrosa made it past Lorenzo and stayed in front of him for two laps, but the Mallorcan was clearly cruising and, after setting the fastest lap of the race so far on lap 12, the Michelin-shod rider passed Pedrosa into turn one and set off after Rossi. He made his move later that lap in typically flamboyant fashion with a bold pass at the chicane and from then on it was a one-man-show as he extended his lead and eventually crossed the line 1.817 seconds in front of Pedrosa, who had passed Rossi on lap 15. At just 20 years of age, Lorenzo's victory today makes him the youngest rider in premier-class history to take three successive podiums and he now shares the championship lead with Dani Pedrosa on 61 points. Rossi consolidates third with 47 points whilst Fiat Yamaha top the Team's table and Yamaha the Constructor's. Jorge Lorenzo 1st - 45'53.089 "I feel like I'm in heaven! First of all I have to say thank you to Yamaha and to Fiat because without their confidence in me I wouldn't be here now. I can't believe it and it's really impossible for me to describe my feelings, I'm so happy for everyone! My team did a fantastic job and my Yamaha and my Michelin tyres worked very, very well today. The start of the race was quite crazy because there were some drops of rain and it looked like it might get worse. Anyway I just carried on and really I can't remember the details of exactly what happened…I remember making my pass on Valentino; I know it was quite a risk so I'm sorry to him but at that point I felt that I could make it and get away from him, so I took the chance and it worked. I'm so proud of everyone, to be here after just three races and at the top of the championship as well is something that I could never have even dreamed of. We can't afford to relax now however because Pedrosa and Rossi are here as well and they are two very fast and clever riders. I had some pain again in my arms today so tonight we will make a decision about whether or not I will have the operation before China, but for now I'm just going to enjoy this moment!"
Danielle Romagnoli - Team Manager "This is a dream come true for all of us; Jorge rode an unbelievable race. Watching him fight with the others it was impossible to believe that it is only his third race and now here he is, already a winner! Thanks to the team because they did a fantastic job to set the bike up and Yamaha and Michelin together gave us a fantastic package to work with. We had planned a test tomorrow but this will depend on the decision about Jorge's operation. There are three weeks until the next race so there is plenty of time for him to recover if he chooses to go ahead with it. Now we're looking forward to another exciting weekend with Jorge in China!" Valentino Rossi extended his Estoril podium record with third place today, meaning he has now finished on the podium at all of his nine career visits to the Portuguese track. Valentino Rossi 3rd +12.723 "At the end of the day this isn't a bad result for us because we expected this to be quite a difficult track for us. My M1 worked well today; I got a good start and was able to stay at the front to begin with and have some fun. My Bridgestone tyres were working well but I was thinking about trying to conserve them as much as possible because I knew 28 laps was going to be hard. Unfortunately I couldn't stay with Lorenzo and Pedrosa in the later stages and I started to slide a little bit, but anyway to have two podiums in a row with Bridgestone is very important because we're still in the learning stages of our relationship. I think we've made another step forward this weekend and we have an important test tomorrow - I hope in China we will be able to fight for the win!" Davide Brivio - Team Manager "Valentino defended very well today despite difficult conditions for us and we took a good podium and some important points. We expected it to be hard and I want to thank the team and our engineers for working hard all week and keeping the level of our Yamaha-Bridgestone package at the maximum. We're looking forward to another 15 races and we hope that in China we'll be in attacking form and able to get our first win with Bridgestone! We will work on tyres and settings for China tomorrow and then everyone will have a good rest before the next challenge." Masahiko Nakajima - Team Director "Very impressive! This weekend Jorge has been very consistent and to get a third pole position and then go on to win is fantastic. He showed a strong drive in the race and proved that he can keep his concentration at the maximum for the entire race. I want to congratulate him for a great achievement and thank him on behalf of everyone at Yamaha. "Unfortunately for Valentino we are still struggling a bit in some areas but anyway the combination between our chassis and the Bridgestone tyres is improving race by race. Step-by-step we are making progress and for sure here in Estoril everything went even better than in Jerez. This is a very unusual track; it requires a very delicate chassis balance because it has the slowest average speed in the world championship but also some very high-speed areas. In conclusion, I am happy with Valentino's podium in these difficult conditions and I am confident that next time we will improve even more together with Bridgestone. Fighting fourth for Edwards, Toseland seventh Colin Edwards claimed his best result of 2008 with a determined ride to fourth place in Estoril today, while a hard fought seventh moved James Toseland into the top five of the MotoGP world championship standings. Lying sixth and tantalisingly close to the leading bunch for the opening nine laps, Edwards comfortably held onto the fourth place that he seized on lap 17 after a mistake by fellow American Nicky Hayden. He briefly threatened to close on Valentino Rossi in third as he posted his fastest lap on lap 19 of 28 with a 1.38.083, but settled for his best result since the German GP last July. The race started in tricky and unpredictable conditions as light rain showers fell at several sections on the circuit, leaving riders unsure of exactly how hard to push in the early stages. The light rain certainly had an impact on Toseland's normal aggressive start. He slipped down to 11th on lap one, but fought back to overtake Loris Capirossi, Chris Vermeulen and Casey Stoner. The British rider only lost his chance of a third consecutive top six finish when Stoner passed him with eight laps remaining. Toseland and Edwards though ensured that Yamaha claimed four of the top seven places, and today's result strengthened Tech 3 Yamaha's fourth position in the all-important Team world championship standings. Colin Edwards 4th +17.223 "When you are sitting on the grid with big rain spots on the visor, it is the worst feeling because you just don't know what to expect. I actually got a good start but then somebody was out of the seat in turn one in front of me and then somebody else did the same at the second corner. I thought, 'it must be real slick because of the rain.' And it was a bit like being on ice. I just got my head down but it seemed they were just driving away from me. I was on it and the electronics were kicking in and working but I wasn't really going anywhere. Basically I couldn't build any heat in the tyre early on. Running that different tyre from Michelin for acceleration grip instead of maximum corner speed, for those conditions it didn't really work. Had it been dry from the start we'd have been good to fight for the podium. But with a bit of moisture I couldn't get any heat in the side of the tyre and no edge grip in the middle of the corner. Once I got heat into it I was motoring, which proved had it been dry, I'd gone for a good direction with Michelin. I wanted to be on the podium but I'll settle for fourth. It' something to build on and now we have got the new engine we can look forward with a lot of confidence. It was my best result for a long time so thanks to Tech 3 Yamaha and Michelin for that." James Toseland 7th +32.361 "It is another solid finish and I've moved into fifth in the championship, so I've got to be pleased with that. But it was a tough weekend. Losing that hour of dry set-up time on Friday was pretty crucial, but I still got a second row and top seven on a track I don't know. Honestly though I wasn't aggressive enough at the start. When we were coming to the grid I saw Rossi pointing to the sky but it was only spitting, and I thought they'd take it a bit easy at the start. I'd got spots of rain on my visor and those conditions are not nice and not knowing the track and a bit of inexperience with the tyres I just didn't realise how hard you can push. But I didn't get a great start and that lack of experience cost me because I wasn't sure where to brake for the first corner. I braked too early and got baulked. I got into a consistent pace and was running 38s but losing that hour on the first day meant the set-up wasn't spot on. It wasn't bad but it could have been better. The rear shock was too soft under acceleration and pumping. So when I opened the throttle that pumping just ran me a bit wide on the exit. The package I have got now with the new engine is better than that, and that's what makes it frustrating. I'm not as happy with this as my other results because the bike is capable of more. It was another good day for the Tech 3 team and Michelin so I'll be looking to get closer to the front in China." Herve Poncharal - Team Manager "What an incredible day for Yamaha, and I am glad Colin and James contributed to that. I have to say a big thanks to both of them because it was a very difficult race in extremely demanding conditions with the light rain making it hard to gauge how hard to push. Both of them rode a very strong race and fourth and seventh is a great result for the team. It is easily our best of the season so far and gives us a great platform to build on for the rest of the season. We are clearly moving forward together as a team and the future is looking very promising. Now we have everything clear with James and Yamaha we can look forward to getting better and better, particularly now we have the new engine from Yamaha to help us achieve the results we want. I'd also like to offer my warmest congratulations to Jorge Lorenzo on his first win for Yamaha and Michelin. I'm sure it won't be his last." Race 1 - 28 Laps Pos., Rider, Manu., Nat., Total Time 1, Jorge Lorenzo, Yamaha, ESP, 45'53.089 2, Daniel Pedrosa, Honda, ESP, 0'1.817 3, Valentino Rossi, Yamaha, ITA, 0'12.723 4, Colin Edwards, Yamaha, USA, 0'17.223 5, John Hopkins, Kawasaki, USA, 0'23.752 6, Casey Stoner, Ducati, AUS, 0'26.688 7, James Toseland, Yamaha, GBR, 0'32.631 8, Chris Vermeulen, Suzuki, AUS, 0'36.382 9, Loris Capirossi, Suzuki, ITA, 0'38.268 10, Shinya Nakano, Honda, JPN, 0'39.476 11, Alex De Angelis, Honda, SMR, 1'1.306 12, Toni Elias, Ducati, ESP, 1'3.867 13, Marco Melandri, Ducati, ITA, 1'9.525 14, Sylvain Guintoli, Ducati, FRA, 1'9.634 15, Randy De Puniet, Honda, FRA, 1'11.542 Rider Standings 13/04/2008 Pos., Rider, Manu., Nat., Points 1, Jorge Lorenzo, Yamaha, ESP, 61 2, Daniel Pedrosa, Honda, ESP, 61 3, Valentino Rossi, Yamaha, ITA, 47 4, Casey Stoner, Ducati, AUS, 40 5, James Toseland, Yamaha, GBR, 29 6, Loris Capirossi, Suzuki, ITA, 26 7, John Hopkins, Kawasaki, USA, 24 8, Colin Edwards, Yamaha, USA, 22 9, Andrea Dovizioso, Honda, ITA, 21 10, Nicky Hayden, Honda, USA, 19 11, Shinya Nakano, Honda, JPN, 16 12, Chris Vermeulen, Suzuki, AUS, 14 13, Marco Melandri, Ducati, ITA, 12 14, Randy De Puniet, Honda, FRA, 8 15, Alex De Angelis, Honda, SMR, 7 Team Standings 13/04/2008 Pos., Team, Points 1, FIAT Yamaha Team, 108 2, Repsol Honda Team, 80 3, Ducati Marlboro Team, 52 4, Tech3 Yamaha, 51 5, Rizla Suzuki MotoGP, 40 6, Kawasaki Racing Team, 27 7, Honda Gresini, 23 8, JIR Scot Team, 21 9, Team Alice, 10 10, Honda LCR, 8 Manufacturer Standings 13/04/2008 Pos., Manufacturer, Points 1, Yamaha, 65 2, Honda, 61 3, Ducati, 40 4, Suzuki, 27 5, Kawasaki, 24
Alex Asigno

Rossi takes outstanding victory after stunning ride in Portugal

Valentino Rossi made a triumphant return to the top step of the podium in Estoril today, sealing his fourth victory of the season with a masterful ride to victory in front of Dani Pedrosa and Casey Stoner. Rossi's eighth consecutive podium finish at this circuit was his first in six races, since his last victory at Assen back in June. Colin Edwards was unable to match his team-mate's pace today and slipped back through the field, eventually finishing in tenth.
With 41,566 spectators looking on, Rossi made a poor start from the outside of the front row and slipped to fifth around the first corner, before making up one place and crossing the line first time around behind Nicky Hayden in fourth. He quickly began to put the pressure on Hayden and passed him on lap three, whilst Pedrosa in the meantime picked off Stoner to take the lead. Lap-by-lap Rossi closed the gap and he showed the improved level of his new Yamaha engine when he passed his championship rival on the straight going into lap nine. From then on the race turned into a nail-biting head to head between Rossi and Pedrosa, the pair evenly matched on pace but faster in different areas of the track. With four laps to go Pedrosa ran wide and Rossi came through, only to make a similar mistake moments later, letting the Spaniard back past him. With Pedrosa beginning to slide and Stoner looking menacing in third, Rossi made his move with an inch-perfect pass on the penultimate lap but was forced to keep pushing at the limit to hold on until the end, crossing the line just 0.175 seconds ahead of Pedrosa.
Edwards meanwhile suffered with grip issues throughout, finding himself as far down as 17th at one point. The Texan did not give up however and battled back past several riders to finish tenth, taking six points and holding onto seventh in the championship. Rossi's maximum-points haul today means he clo ses the gap to Stoner to 76 points with five races remaining, the next of which comes at Motegi in Japan in one week's time.
Valentino Rossi - Position: 1stTime: 45'49.911 "First of all I want to dedicate this victory to Colin McRae, who sadly died yesterday. Colin is one of my idols from when I was very young and it's because of him that I have my passion for rally. It's a very sad day for motorsport and I am glad that I could win for him today. This is a very important victory for us in every way, it's the fourth one of the year so the numbers are starting to look a little bit better, and it's a great, great emotion to win again after so long without even a podium. Today my Yamaha and my tyres worked very well. Our new engine is better and today I was able to keep in the slipstream of the Honda and the Ducati on the straight, and even to go alongside them at some points, so this is very important. Michelin have done some good work on the tyres and today we were maybe stronger than our rivals. Once again we've shown that when the tyres are working well we can fight at the top. I had a great battle with Casey but most of all with Dani and it was fantastic fun to ride like this again, at the maximum and with a lot of good passes. When I passed Dani for the first time I tried to go but he was too good so I knew it was going to come down to the last few laps. At the end Dani started to slide a little and I knew I was stronger on the brakes than him in some places, so I was able to make a good pass. When I came out of the last corner on the second to last lap I could only think about how I lost the championship there last year so I knew I had to be far enough ahead next time around! I want to thank Yamaha, Michelin, my team and everyone around me, this is a great day and it's given us a lot of confidence to keep fighting to the end of the season."
Alex Asigno

Fiat Yamaha Team return to happy hunting ground in Malaysia

The Fiat Yamaha Team head straight from Australia to Malaysia this week as they contest the second Grand Prix in just seven days, with the penultimate race of the season set to take place at the Sepang International Circuit in Kuala Lumpur. Yamaha have been the most successful manufacturer in MotoGP at the ultra modern circuit, taking three victories from eight visits, and their strong record in Malaysia stretches back to the first ever race in the country back in 1991, when John Kocinski took 500cc honours at Shah Alam. The most recent Malaysian Grand Prix was also won by Yamaha, with Valentino Rossi taking his fourth premier-class win at Sepang following a stunning battle with Loris Capirossi last season. Rossi is keen to repeat that performance this weekend as he aims to become the first MotoGP rider ever to score 100 career podiums in the class - his third place finish at Phillip Island last Sunday having taken his tally to an unsurpassed 99. Rossi's team-mate Colin Edwards is also targeting a return to the podium after a dry spell of eight races since his last top-three finish at Donington Park. Sepang is one of the widest tracks on the calendar, measuring 16 metres across in some areas, and high track temperatures are always a factor in the tropical climate. With four major hairpins, and some fast and frequent changes of direction in its 5,542m layout, Sepang provides a stern workout for the entire bike set-up and its largely consistent, if demanding, climate makes it the ideal winter testing venue. However, after being completely resurfaced since preseason testing back in February, the teams will have to wait until first free practice on Friday morning to see how useful previous data will be for set-up this weekend. Valentino Rossi - "Our target is unchanged" Valentino Rossi's impressive career podium tally in MotoGP includes six from the past six seasons at Sepang, including those four victories. After extending his advantage over Dani Pedrosa in the battle for the important runner-up spot in the championship at the last round, the Italian is again targetting the top step of the podium as he aims to finish a difficult season on a high note. "I did everything I could in Australia but we couldn't challenge Stoner so our target for the final two races is unchanged - to fight for the win," says Rossi. "Sepang is another of my favourite tracks and I've had some great races there. Last year's battle with Loris was especially memorable, and I would really like to have the chance to fight like that with my rivals again this year. "We know that our bike generally goes well there and we have a lot of data from so much testing there, even if our bike has changed quite a bit from the start of the year when we were last there and the track has also, but hopefully we will be able to find a good package and be competitive. We have two races left and we are going to be doing everything we can to win them both so we can end the season in a good way." Colin Edwards - "Still determined" After another disappointing weekend in Australia, Colin Edwards prefers to focus on the positive preseason tests the team enjoyed at Sepang back in February, when both riders dipped under 990cc lap record pace during an extensive tyre workout. Edwards has not enjoyed the best of luck at Sepang in the past and has yet to finish above tenth place but he is confident of turning that around this weekend. "Despite only finishing ninth I did leave Phillip Island feeling like we salvaged something from the weekend because at times it was looking like it was going to be a lot worse and I think we learnt something," reflects Edwards. "For Malaysia, Michelin are bringing some stuff that I know from testing works for me on this bike at this track - we just have to hope it works just as well with the new surface. Hopefully if we put it together with what we learnt about the bike in Australia then we'll be in good shape. "The YZR-M1 went brilliantly at Sepang in preseason testing - now we will have to see how much better our rivals are there after a full season of development. Anyway, I'm glad to be going straight there from Australia because there's no time to sit about feeling disappointed about what happened Phillip Island. I'm still determined to get a good result before the end of the season and Sepang is a good place to do it." Davide Brivio - "A few question marks" It promises to be a busy weekend for Fiat Yamaha Team Director Davide Brivio, who arrived in Malaysia early this week to check out the newly resurfaced Sepang circuit. With weather forecasts predicting rain and the Grand Prix Commission set to announce a decision over tyre regulations for next season, there is plenty for the Italian to think about both off and on the track in Malaysia. "We had a great test here in February but it looks like the resurfacing has changed the track a lot so we don't know what the grip will be like," says Brivio. "It means we go there in pretty much the same shape as everybody else, with some doubts about what we tested here. The weather forecast we have is predicting rain each afternoon so there are question marks over the track and the conditions. "Apart from that, this is a circuit we have enjoyed a lot of success at in the past and Valentino has won here many times so we have to be confident. It will also be an important weekend because of the decision over a possible single-tyre rule for next year. Once it is made we can decide our exact development strategy for next season so we are all looking forward to hearing how it will work out. Then we can look ahead to making a stronger challenge next year."
 
Valentino Rossi : Information Age: 28 Lives: London, UK Bike: Yamaha YZR-M1 GP victories: 88 (61 x MotoGP/500cc, 14 x 250cc, 12 x 125cc) First GP victory: Czech Republic, 1996 (125cc) First GP: Malaysia, 1996 (125cc) GP starts: 189 (129 x MotoGP/500cc, 30 x 250cc, 30 x 125cc) Pole positions: 49 World Championships: 7 Grand Prix (1 x 125cc, 1 x 250cc, 1 x 500cc, 4 x MotoGP) Colin Edwards: Information Age: 33 Lives: Conroe, Texas Bike: Yamaha YZR-M1 First GP: Japan, 2003 (MotoGP) GP starts: 81 x MotoGP World Championships: 2 World Superbike Sepang: Lap Record L. Capirossi (Ducati) 2006, 2'02.127 Sepang: Best Lap V. Rossi (Yamaha) 2006, 2.00.605 Grand Prix Results: Sepang 2006 1. V. Rossi (Yamaha) 43'07.829 2. L. Capirossi (Ducati) +0.849 3. N. Hayden (Honda) +3.863 10. C. Edwards (USA) Yamaha +19.909
Alex Asigno

Yamaha Supercross stars enjoy a fantastic week

2007 MX2 world champion Antonio Cairoli has won the third round of the European Supercross Championship held at the Eicma motorcycle show in Milan, Italy. Meanwhile Yamaha US factory rider Chad Reed was crowned ‘King of Bercy’ at the world famous Paris-Bercy Supercross event in France for winning all but one of the races held from Friday to Sunday. Chad’s stalwart and 2007 AMA US Motocross champion Grant Langston raced to second overall making it a perfect weekend for Yamaha fans. After a long break from Supercross competition Chad Reed won all the heat races expect for one on the first day of the event. Grant Langston was his main rival during the entire week-end and was rewarded runner up in the 25th anniversary of the most prestigious European Supercross event. Reed sees his Bercy victory as a positive prelude to his 2008 AMA Supercross campaign; “I couldn’t expect a better result for my comeback at Bercy and I’m very happy to win this race for the first time. During three nights I had real good battles with Grant Langston and Andrew Short which was a great preparation for next season. The crowd was amazing as always in Bercy, I had fab time here in Paris!” Cairoli’s win in Milan gives him a comfortable lead in the European Supercross championship with 42 points, the result of winning the opening round in Bologna, Italy and a second place in Bilbao, Portugal. With two more rounds to go in Genova (24 November) and Munich (15 December) Cairoli’s outlook to retain his title look good as he enjoys a margin on second placed Degli Esposti of 15 points. The win in Milan was a perfect ending to Antonio’s week as he had a once-in-a-lifetime experience riding Valentino Rossi’s YZR-M1 on the Tuesday after the final MotoGP race held at the Ricardo Tormo circuit at Valencia, Spain. Cairoli normally spends all his time on a motorcycle off road, but occasionally rides on road and track too. Earlier in the year he spent considerable time on a YZF-R6 at the Misano race track during the annual Italian Yamaha Fest, but still harnessing the M1’s 200+ horsepower was intimidating prospect for the moto and supercross star; “I was more then a little anxious, also because Valentino’s bike has opposite gear change to what I, and normal road riders are used to. What impressed me most was the fearsome acceleration, which frankly speaking is the only real sensation you can get when you have limited riding skills on a bike like this.I was allowed to do just five lap, but I enjoyed it so much I requested and got another five! In fact I consider putting another M1 test in my next Yamaha contract! No but seriously, my future is not in road racing, I enjoy motocross too much, especially physical aspects of it.” Wisely Cairoli had no illusions and made no attempts to break the lap record, but rode safe and steady lapping the track in 1’51, some 20 seconds slower then the circuit fastest time.
Alex Asigno

2008 Dakar rally cancelled amid safety concerns

The 2008 Dakar rally has been cancelled just one day before the 30th edition of the historic competition was due to start in Lisbon, Portugal. The late move was initiated over security concerns with at least eight of the fifteen stages passing through Mauritania in western Africa. An announcement issued by the event organisers A.S.O today stated that: “Based on the current international political tension and the murder of four French tourists last 24th of December linked to a branch of Al-Qaeda in Islamic Maghreb, but also and mainly the direct threats launched directly against the race by terrorist organisations, no other decision but the cancellation of the sporting event could be taken by A.S.O.” “A.S.O.’s first responsibility is to guarantee the safety of all: that of the populations in the countries visited, of the amateur and professional competitors, of the technical assistance personnel, of the journalists, partners and rally collaborators.” 52 Yamaha riders from a list of more than 250 were set to take the start in Lisbon. A.S.O has vowed that the future of the rally is not at threat. “The Dakar is a symbol and nothing can destroy symbols. The cancellation of the 2008 edition does not endanger the future of the Dakar,” the statement also read.
Alex Asigno

Tech 3 make progress in mixed conditions at Phillip Island

Mixed weather conditions couldn’t stop Tech 3 Yamaha duo Colin Edwards and James Toseland from making good progress at the Phillip Island circuit today. The second morning was dominated by persistent rain showers, but typical of the fast changing conditions experienced at Phillip Island, the grey and gloomy skies gave way to sunny but blustery conditions by midafternoon. The day’s unpredictable weather gave Toseland his first taste of Yamaha’s YZR-M1 in full rain conditions, with the British rider gaining valuable experience and data in the wet. Toseland completed 21 laps to post a 1.43.719 for the 11th quickest time. Edwards was eighth quickest in the wet with a new Michelin front rain tyre helping him register a best lap of 1.42.547.
 
After spending over two hours waiting for scattered damp patches to dry out, by the time Edwards and Toseland returned to the track, the rain and lower track temperature significantly reduced grip levels. Toseland ended the day with the sixth fastest time, clocking a 1.31.451 in the last hour. Edwards was 10th fastest with a best time of 1.31.593. Forecasts for the final day tomorrow predict sunny conditions throughout, with only a 20 per cent chance of light rain showers. James Toseland 6th 1.31.451 – 55 laps “It was important to try the bike in the wet for the first time and I got to grips with it quickly. Luckily I did a lot of wet tyre testing for Michelin last year at the Suzuka Eight-hour. I had five days of testing and three-and-a-half days were completely wet and I got a bit of time on the Michelin wets so I got a pretty good feeling pretty quickly. The electronics work very well and I had a lot of grip. The track was really dirty once it had dried. I don’t know whether the rain brought some sand with it but the track was really slippery. I went out and couldn’t break a 1.35 and it was completely dry. I got back down to some decent times but the conditions were still not as good as yesterday. There was just no drive grip exiting corners, so it was more difficult to make a lap time. Quite slow corners lead onto the fast straight sections on this track and if you can’t get good grip on the exit, you can’t carry momentum on the straight and that can cost a lot of time. It also got quite windy in the afternoon and that makes it difficult as well. I got some good experience of riding in the rain, and but hopefully it will be dry tomorrow so I can try a full race simulation.” Colin Edwards 10th 1.31.593 “It was a difficult day with the weather but we still managed to take something positive out of it. I tried a new front rain tyre from Michelin that I was asking about and they produced one out of the back of the truck and I was really happy with it. Michelin seem to have really taken steps forward with slick and wet tyres. The tyre was different to what I had in the wet last season and it felt more natural for my style. The electronics in the rain are so much better too. The bike is easier to ride. I came in after the first run and gave my electronics guys a hug because I was so happy with it. I liked the ’08 chassis in the rain too. It gives me a lot of confidence and I can understand more what’s going on with the front tyre. This afternoon the track was slippery as hell. I tried a few tyres from Michelin but it was hard to gauge with the track being so greasy. At the end of the day I think we have learned something for Michelin and Yamaha and that’s the key.” Results: 1. Stoner, Ducati Marlboro - 1'29.938 (45) 2. De Angelis, Honda Gresini - 1'30.449 (54) 3. Dovizioso, JiR Team Scot - 1'31.074 (60) 4. Nakano, Honda Gresini - 1'31.316 (74) 5. Haydon, Repsol Honda Team - 1'31.373 (72) 6. Toseland, Yamaha Tech3 - 1'31.451 (55) 7. Melandri, Ducati Marlboro - 1'31.478 (80) 8. Capirossi, Rizla Suzuki - 1'31.545 (62) 9. De Puniet, LCR Honda - 1'31.575 (72) 10. Edwards, Yamaha Tech3 - 1'31.593 (44) 11. Vermeulen, Rizla Suzuki - 1'31.774 (50) 12. West, Kawasaki Racing - 1'32.242 (75) 13. Elias, Alice Team - 1'32.246 (59) 14. Guintoli, Alice Team - 1'32.431 (64)
Alex Asigno

Fantastic 1-2 results at first 2008 race for Yamaha Motocross Team

The 25th edition of the Starcross International at Mantova in Italy kick-started the 2008 European motocross calendar last weekend and it was a positive meeting for the Yamaha Motocross Team as David Philippaerts took his first overall victory on the YZ450FM and Josh Coppins filled second position. The inaugural race of the year saw factory representation from all the manufacturers and a large quota of world championship riders line the gate. Across the three 20 minute and 2 lap motos on the rough and hard-pack sandy Italian terrain, Philippaerts rode strongly and did not drop out of the top three to post finishes of 2nd, 1st and 3rd. Coppins suffered from a spill in Saturday’s qualification heat that left the New Zealander with a sore shoulder. The 30 year old slipped off again on a chaotic first lap of the opening sprint but recovered to obtain a set of 7th, 4th and 4th positions. Philippaerts was a convincing winner in Moto2 and should have perhaps won the first race also if he did not need to briefly slow while in second place to sort out a brake concern. In the final outing he was unable to chase Jonathan Barragan but the Spaniard had mechanical trouble early in race two and was physically fresher than his peers. The team were testing for two days this week prior to their first competitive appearance of 2008 and will be clocking up kilometres again on the YZ450FM in the days after Mantova. The new Kayaba suspension units have had a benefit, and the improvement in the front end feeling of the chassis - helping the bike turn quicker - has been met with all-round approval from both riders.
Aside from the motos, that took place under bright sunshine but in modest temperatures, spectators were also treated to the ‘One-on-One’ contest in which selected riders from each class fought over one lap. Coppins was particularly sharp with his starts and won three face-offs (including a defeat of 2007 title rival Steve Ramon) to reach the final against 2007 pole position specialist Tanel Leok. Only a brave move from the Estonian through the triple on the second part of the lap prevented Coppins from walking away triumphant from this particular novelty, unique to the Starcross meeting. In the MX2 category Martin Barr was Yamaha’s top performer with a decent seventh place overall. Manuel Monni was also in the top ten with ninth position. Yamaha Motocross Team will be action again next week with the first round of the Italian championship taking place at the Montevarchi circuit. Yamaha Red Bull De Carli rider Antonio Cairoli was present as a spectator in Mantova and will join his team-mates Matteo Bonini and Alessandro Lupino at Montevarchi as the Italian squad open their account for 2008. David Philippaerts, 1st position: “This is a good start to the year and I am very happy for the team and everybody. The bike was really good today. It is very fast, maybe too fast for me at the moment! In the first race I had a small problem with the brake and had to stop quickly but my riding was good after that and I had some nice lines. In the second I was determined to win and passed many riders in the first corners. It was quite easy in the end. Barragan was fast in the last race but because he had a problem earlier he might have been fresher than the rest of us. We still have some time before the first Grand Prix and we are going in the right direction; my condition is getting stronger and the bike feels better each week. I am especially pleased with my starts today.” Josh Coppins, 2nd position: “I am happy it is all over as I don’t really like this track and I crashed on Saturday and hurt my shoulder. It was a tough weekend. I got to the last round of the ‘One on One’ but Leok just got by me on the triple. In the first moto I went down on the first lap and did pretty well to come back to 7th from 15th or 20th; something like that. I fought hard and my shoulder was tight afterwards. The second race was going OK and I moved past Pourcel for third at the end but unfortunately I got caught up with a lapped rider and that pushed me back. In the last I felt the pace with my shoulder. Overall there were too many mistakes and having two crashes was not good. However, we are on the podium so it was not a waste. We also rode the bike for the first time this week and I am pleased with what we have so far.” Mino Raspanti, Team co-ordinator: “I am really happy for the riders. The results were not really important this weekend but it was still good to do well and take the momentum we had from testing onto the race track. We had made some changes to the bike but the practice track is always different to the races where everything is much rougher and quicker. We have started our programme now and can begin counting down to the first Grand Prix."
Alex Asigno

Corser Takes Race One Podium to Add to Superpole Win

Troy Corser had mixed fortunes on raceday at Losail, taking a fine third in race one but slipping backwards in race two to finish seventh as his tyres lost grip at half race distance. His team-mate Noriyuki Haga recovered from a crash in race one to secure an eventual 14th, and he was also in a leading position for much of race two, before the same lack of traction experienced by Corser made him drop through the field. He ended up 13th. Corser, the Superpole winner yesterday, was in sparkling early form in each race, looking set for a double podium finish at least. Haga 's race one crash came after Max Biaggi made a strong pass on the Japanese rider, and forced him wide, off the ideal racing line. Haga had set the best lap of the race in the first 18-lap contest, with a 1'59.217, before the lap record was broken in race two, by race winner Fonsi Nieto. Troy Bayliss won the first race, from Max Biaggi. Corser now leaves the Losail circuit fifth in the championship chase, on 25 points, with Haga 14th on five points. Troy Corser (3rd and 7th - Yamaha Italy WSB Team) "We made a tyre change between race one and race two just to be on the same tyres as everyone else. But it wasn't better it was worse. There was just no grip after a while and you can't race when you can't push hard. I'm really disappointed after getting Superpole yesterday, and it was obvious we had the speed to be competitive. That's about all I can say." Noriyuki Haga (14th and 13th - Yamaha Italy WSB Team) "Not such a great day after we started so well in each race. In the first race Biaggi took my front tyre and what can I say, it was a mistake. In race two I was following Troy and saving my time until the end but after nine laps I had chatter from the rear, then more the next lap, then it started moving, then there was no grip and I could not push any more. My wrist is sore so I have to rest that before the next race." Massimo Meregalli (Team Manager, Yamaha Motor Italia WSB Team) "This morning we made a choice of harder tyres, and this afternoon we went to the softer tyres of the other riders. Troy said that the traction was not enough in race one, so we decided to go with the ones that gave more performance. After ten laps, they were gone." Shinichi Nakatomi (21st and DNF - Team YZF Yamaha) "There was nothing I could do in race one because the tyre choice didn't give me any drive. In race two it started OK but then I was forced off the track. Disappointing but it is a strange circuit here." Martial Garcia(Team Manager, Team YZF Yamaha) "We were only in 21st position in race one because Shinichi chose a C tyre, the same as many riders, but it didn't have enough grip. In the second race somebody crashed in front of him and went into to gravel and rejoined after 30 seconds had passed. He carried on to test the tyre but when the grip dropped down he pulled in." Round 01 Losail, Qatar Track length: 5.380m Opened: 2004 Fastest Superbike lap: 1:58.053 (Troy Corser, Yamaha) Lap record: 1'59.156 (Fonsi Nieto, Suzuki) Last year's winners: Max Biaggi (Suzuki) and James Toseland (Honda) Ambient temperature: 24 degrees Weather: dry, sunny Race 1 - 18 Laps Pos., Rider, Manu., Nat., Total Time 1, Troy Bayliss, Ducati, AUS, 36'11.468 2, Max Biaggi, Ducati, ITA, 0'0.396 3, Troy Corser, Yamaha, AUS, 0'1.878 4, Ruben Xaus, Ducati, ESP, 0'4.487 5, Max Neukirchner, Suzuki, GER, 0'7.505 6, Carlos Checa, Honda, ESP, 0'9.639 7, Fonsi Nieto, Suzuki, ESP, 0'9.725 8, Yukio Kagayama, Suzuki, JPN, 0'19.537 9, Michel Fabrizio, Ducati, ITA, 0'23.156 10, Jakub Smrz, Ducati, CZE, 0'24.429 11, Roberto Rolfo, Honda, ITA, 0'27.595 12, Kenan Sofuoglu, Honda, TUR, 0'27.979 13, Gregorio Lavilla, Honda, ESP, 0'28.237 14, Noriyuki Haga, Yamaha, JPN, 0'30.205 15, Regis Laconi, Kawasaki, FRA, 0'31.882 16, Lorenzo Lanzi, Ducati, ITA, 0'32.067 17, Karl Muggeridge, Honda, AUS, 0'40.745 18, Ayrton Badovini, Kawasaki, ITA, 0'41.280 19, Vittorio Iannuzzo, Kawasaki, ITA, 0'41.333 20, Sebastien Gimbert, Yamaha, FRA, 0'41.743 21, Shinichi Nakatomi, Yamaha, JPN, 0'43.183 22, Ryuichi Kiyonari, Honda, JPN, 0'43.569 23, David Checa, Yamaha, ESP, 0'43.892 24, Russel Holland, Honda, AUS, 0'50.380 25, Shuhei Aoyama, Honda, JPN, 1'12.884 Race 2 - 18 Laps Pos., Rider, Manu., Nat., Total Time 1, Fonsi Nieto, Suzuki, ESP, 36'12.963 2, Ruben Xaus, Ducati, ESP, 0'0.301 3, Max Biaggi, Ducati, ITA, 0'1.321 4, Troy Bayliss, Ducati, AUS, 0'6.452 5, Michel Fabrizio, Ducati, ITA, 0'7.627 6, Lorenzo Lanzi, Ducati, ITA, 0'9.117 7, Troy Corser, Yamaha, AUS, 0'10.806 8, Max Neukirchner, Suzuki, GER, 0'11.661 9, Jakub Smrz, Ducati, CZE, 0'13.269 10, Kenan Sofuoglu, Honda, TUR, 0'14.563 11, Carlos Checa, Honda, ESP, 0'15.953 12, Makoto Tamada, Kawasaki, JPN, 0'16.748 13, Noriyuki Haga, Yamaha, JPN, 0'18.356 14, Gregorio Lavilla, Honda, ESP, 0'26.311 15, Roberto Rolfo, Honda, ITA, 0'26.560 16, Regis Laconi, Kawasaki, FRA, 0'26.683 17, Ayrton Badovini, Kawasaki, ITA, 0'26.821 18, Sebastien Gimbert, Yamaha, FRA, 0'28.650 19, Ryuichi Kiyonari, Honda, JPN, 0'33.150 20, Karl Muggeridge, Honda, AUS, 0'36.656 21, Russel Holland, Honda, AUS, 0'42.633 22, Shuhei Aoyama, Honda, JPN, 0'55.352 Best Lap Rider, Manu., Nat., Total Time Fonsi Nieto, Suzuki, ESP, 1'59.156 Rider Standings 23/02/2008 Pos., Rider, Manu., Nat., Points 1, Troy Bayliss, Ducati, AUS, 38 2, Max Biaggi, Ducati, ITA, 36 3, Fonsi Nieto, Suzuki, ESP, 34 4, Ruben Xaus, Ducati, ESP, 33 5, Troy Corser, Yamaha, AUS, 25 6, Max Neukirchner, Suzuki, GER, 19 7, Michel Fabrizio, Ducati, ITA, 18 8, Carlos Checa, Honda, ESP, 15 9, Jakub Smrz, Ducati, CZE, 13 10, Lorenzo Lanzi, Ducati, ITA, 10 11, Kenan Sofuoglu, Honda, TUR, 10 12, Yukio Kagayama, Suzuki, JPN, 8 13, Roberto Rolfo, Honda, ITA, 6 14, Noriyuki Haga, Yamaha, JPN, 5 15, Gregorio Lavilla, Honda, ESP, 5 Manufacturer Standings 23/02/2008 Pos., Manufacturer, Points 1, Ducati, 45 2, Suzuki, 36 3, Yamaha, 25 4, Honda, 16 5, Kawasaki, 5 ---------- RACE REPORT - 23/02/2008 Parkes Wins On new YZF-R6 As Foret Is Forced Out Broc Parkes scored a win on the 2008 Yamaha YZF-R6 first time out in World Supersport Championship, in a dramatic race that seemed almost certain to go the way of his team-mate Fabien Foret until the very last lap. Foret and Parkes had been looking for a one-two finish almost throughout, with Foret looking all set to win the 18-lap race, until he ran out of fuel on the very last lap. At that time he was leading by over two seconds from Joan Lascorz, Parkes and Craig Jones. Foret and the new Yamaha leave the circuit with the new lap record to their credit, a 2'02.626, set on lap nine. Unable to cross the finish line, Foret was not classified with a finish, but Parkes redoubled his efforts on a tense last lap to re-pass Lascorz on the home straight, and gain maximum points in round one. He now heads off to his home race at Phillip Island next week as the championship leader, on 25 points. David Salom continued his good form in qualifying through to raceday, earning a strong eighth place after a race-long fight with two other riders. Massimo Roccoli (Yamaha Team Italia Lorenzini by Leoni) retired on lap one with a clutch problem. Broc Parkes (1st - 37'05.271 - Yamaha World Supersport Team) "A good result for our side of the garage and the new YZF-R6 because at the end I was struggling a little bit for grip and when I saw Fabien go our I knew it was up to me to win so I pushed on anyway. I had a few front end slides on the last lap just because I was trying so hard, even though the tyres were good all race. I could still push them that hard at the end of the race and on the last corner I got into the slipstream and used the power of my Yamaha to get Lascorz over the line. It was a great win for me and we have struggled sometimes this weekend, but we got this season off to a good start. " Fabien Foret (DNF - Yamaha World Supersport Team) "It was really disappointing to be out of the race in such a fashion, especially as we had done so well all through practice, qualifying and the race itself. It was just fuel running out, not the bike, but it is still hard for the team and myself to take." Wilco Zeelenberg (Team Manager, Yamaha World Supersport Team) "It looked like two good results for almost all the race but bad luck for Fabien at the end. We filled the tanks completely before the race, that is sure, and our calculations showed we would have a safe amount of fuel left at the end of the race, obviously we used more. I am really happy for Broc to take the win and it is a relief after Fabien's misfortune. The season is long and we have two guys who can fight for the championship, but only one was able to get the result today. We won first time with an all new bike so we are happy, but we obviously have mixed feelings." Laurens Klein Koerkamp - YME Racing Division Manager "The story of raceday is clear - the bike was nearly perfect, the riders were nearly perfect, qualifying had been great and we just had some bad luck for Fabien at the end. It's a great result for Broc to win, especially in the first race for the new Yamaha YZF-R6, showing that the new roadbike technology works on the track as well." David Salom (8th - +17.888 seconds - Yamaha Spain World Supersport Team) "Not a bad race but my I didn't started very well and I could not make up the time in the first few laps. It was too late to go any higher than my group of riders, but it took us eight or nine races last year to reach the level that we have started this season at." Round 01 Losail, Qatar Track length: 5380m Opened: 2004 Fastest Supersport lap: 2:01.928 Fabien Foret (Yamaha) Lap record: 2:02.949 Sebastien Charpentier (Honda) Last year's winner: Kenan Sofuoglu (Honda) Race 1 Pos., Rider, Manu., Nat., Total Time 1, Broc Parkes, Yamaha, AUS, 37'5.271 2, Joan Lascorz, Honda, ESP, 0'0.048 3, Craig Jones, Honda, GBR, 0'0.755 4, Joshua Brookes, Honda, AUS, 0'9.502 5, Matthieu Lagrive, Honda, FRA, 0'11.962 6, Barry Veneman, Suzuki, NED, 0'17.428 7, Robbin Harms, Honda, DNK, 0'17.660 8, David Salom, Yamaha, ESP, 0'17.888 9, Chris Walker, Kawasaki, GBR, 0'25.883 10, Gianluca Vizziello, Honda, ITA, 0'32.236 11, Gregory Leblanc, Honda, FRA, 0'32.573 12, Ivan Clementi, Triumph, ITA, 0'35.117 13, Miguel Praia, Honda, POR, 0'36.390 14, Vesa Kallio, Honda, FIN, 0'36.608 15, Katsuaki Fujiwara, Kawasaki, JPN, 0'37.096 16, Didier Van Keymeulen, Suzuki, BEL, 0'38.526 17, William De Angelis, Honda, ITA, 0'42.675 18, Lorenzo Alfonsi, Kawasaki, ITA, 0'43.375 19, Mirko Giansanti, Honda, ITA, 0'44.319 20, Santiago Barragan, Honda, ESP, 0'45.924 21, Ilario Dionisi, Triumph, ITA, 0'47.277 22, Attila Magda, Honda, HUN, 1'24.963 23, Danilo Dell'omo, Honda, ITA, 1'25.440 24, Josep Pedro Subirats, Yamaha, ESP, -1 Laps Best Lap Rider, Manu., Nat., Total Time Fabien Foret, Yamaha, FRA, 2'2.626 Rider Standings 23/02/2008 Pos., Rider, Manu., Nat., Points 1, Broc Parkes, Yamaha, AUS, 25 2, Joan Lascorz, Honda, ESP, 20 3, Craig Jones, Honda, GBR, 16 4, Joshua Brookes, Honda, AUS, 13 5, Matthieu Lagrive, Honda, FRA, 11 6, Barry Veneman, Suzuki, NED, 10 7, Robbin Harms, Honda, DNK, 9 8, David Salom, Yamaha, ESP, 8 9, Chris Walker, Kawasaki, GBR, 7 10, Gianluca Vizziello, Honda, ITA, 6 11, Gregory Leblanc, Honda, FRA, 5 12, Ivan Clementi, Triumph, ITA, 4 13, Miguel Praia, Honda, POR, 3 14, Vesa Kallio, Honda, FIN, 2 15, Katsuaki Fujiwara, Kawasaki, JPN, 1 Manufacturer Standings 23/02/2008 Pos., Manufacturer, Points 1, Yamaha, 25 2, Honda, 20 3, Suzuki, 10 4, Kawasaki, 7 5, Triumph, 4
Alex Asigno

Swedish stage launches 2008 WEC this weekend

With just days to go before the 2008 FIM World Enduro Championship begins with the Grand Prix of Sweden, the UFO Corse Yamaha team are busy putting the final touches to what they are confident will be a successful season with their WR450F and WR250F machinery. The series opener is being staged for the third successive season in Ostersund, deep within the heart of Scandinavia’s frozen north, the 16-day championship only weeks later will head to warmer climes in Portugal and Spain before continuing to travel through southern Europe eventually ending in France in mid-October. The only event of the year in which competitors are required to use spiked tyres to wade through the snow and ice, the Grand Prix of Sweden will once again present many unique challenges to the world’s best riders as they battle against the winter conditions. The expected sub-zero temperatures and heavily rutted snow-covered special tests require a dedicated approach and mindset. With the demands of the course and climate taken into consideration the first round of the ’08 WEC campaign will undoubtedly be a memorable one. For the UFO Corse Yamaha team’s number one Enduro 2 class rider, Johnny Aubert, 2008 is set to be a hugely important - and extremely challenging - season as he bids to claim his first enduro world championship. A proven WEC race-winner, the Frenchman will face the world’s most successful enduro rider – seven-time world champion Juha Salminen - in what is expected to be the closest fought tussle in any of the WEC classes this year. Having showed that he has the speed at the highest level following several dominant wins during the ’07 series, Aubert, who enters his third full term of international enduro competition, knows that winning the chilly season-opener will be a tall order but is confident that he has what it takes to win the coveted E2 crown. “My goal is nothing less than to win the Enduro 2 world championship this season,” comments Aubert. “Last year I proved that I could win races and although I wasn’t able to take the E2 title I ended the season well by topping the last round of the series and by winning the International Six Days Enduro in Chile. It certainly won’t be easy to beat Salminen but I am ready to fight.” In the Enduro 1 class the UFO Corse Yamaha team are also looking for success with Italian Simone Albergoni leading a three-rider assault on the category. Runner-up in 2007 Albergoni, now fully fit following a back injury that forced him to miss the ISDE late last season, has been training hard all winter in readiness for the start of the eight-round championship. Just like Aubert, Albergoni will face stiff competition in the division, not only from three-time world champion Ivan Cervantes but also reigning E2 number one Mika Ahola. “I’ve spent one full season racing for Yamaha and I’m ready for the start of the world championship,” offers Albergoni. “The first race in Sweden isn’t one that I have enjoyed the last two years but I’m looking forward to the championship returning to southern Europe. There are some really fast riders in the E1 class this season, but I’m looking forward to challenging for the title.” In addition to Albergoni’s plight the UFO Corse Yamaha team are also expecting Spaniard Cristobal Guerrero to regularly challenge for podium positions having sampled the view from the top step during 2007. Despite sustaining a shoulder injury at the final round of this winter’s Indoor Enduro World Cup, Guerrero, along with the UFO Corse Yamaha team’s third rider Maurizio Micheluz, is looking to ensure Yamaha is the dominant player in the Enduro 1 class this season, just as they were in 2007. 2008 Maxxis World Enduro Championship 15-16 March, GP Sweden, Östersund 29-30 March, GP Portugal Vale de Cambra 05-06 April, GP Spain Sitges 14-15 June, GP Poland Kwidzyn 19-20 July, GP Wales Llanidloes GB 26-27 July, GP France Uzerche 27-28 September, GP Italy Piediluco 11-12 October, GP Europe Alès - France
Alex Asigno

100th premier class podium for Rossi in Jerez

Valentino Rossi reached another milestone in his career today, joining an elite group of riders who have stood on the premier class podium 100 times today after riding his Fiat Yamaha M1 to second place in Jerez. The seven-time world champion formed part of a podium double for the Fiat Yamaha Team as his team-mate Jorge Lorenzo finished third, claiming his second consecutive podium in his rookie season. Starting from fifth, Rossi did not get the best of starts and finished the first lap in sixth, but he soon settled into a good rhythm and was stalking Lorenzo, then in second, by lap three. On the next lap he passed his team-mate and set off after Dani Pedrosa, who had led from the start. The Spaniard was too quick today however and Rossi was unable to catch him, lapping comfortably in second until crossing the line at the end of the penultimate lap, when he mistakenly thought the race had finished and slowed down as he crossed the line. He quickly realised his error however and luckily had enough of a cushion from Lorenzo to hang on to second, eventually finishing 2.883 seconds behind Pedrosa. Rossi moves into third place in the championship, whilst Lorenzo holds onto second and the Fiat Yamaha Team leads the team's championship. Valentino Rossi 2nd - Time: +2.883 "I'm really happy with this podium because, even though it hasn't been so many races since the last one, it's been quite a lot of months! I am also very happy to have reached 100 podiums in MotoGP; now I am wondering if I can get to 200! It's a pity we couldn't win today and maybe I was a little bit too cautious at the start because I wanted to take care of my tyres, but in the end they worked very well from start to finish and so this is great for the future. It's always better to win but after the poor result in Qatar this is a very important second place to us, also because it's my first podium with Bridgestone. Thanks to my team, to Yamaha and to Bridgestone because we've made a lot of progress this weekend, continuing right up to making some small but important adjustments after warm-up this morning. My bike and tyres are working very well, we're third in the championship with a very long way to go and I'm feeling quite confident." Davide Brivio Team Manager "We are very satisfied with today's result, especially because this second place arrives after Qatar, where we learnt a lot. The Team, all the engineers and the technicians made a great job and used the information we got in Qatar in the best way to make a big step forward. Now we want to look at this race in Jerez as the start of our championship. Of course we still have a lot to learn about the Bridgestone/Yamaha combination, but I think both parties did an excellent job here and Valentino rode a great race and kept a very consistent rhythm. Tomorrow we will have one day of testing and we will do our best in order to be in good shape for Estoril. This is Valentino's 100th podium and also the first one with Bridgestone, so it's a special day, but we hope that there will be many others! Today I would really like to say "Bravi a tutti!" Fiat Yamaha Team new-recruit Jorge Lorenzo proved his Qatar podium was no fluke by taking third marking a great day for the team in front of over 130,000 Spanish fans and King Juan Carlos of Spain. Lorenzo started from pole for the second race running but was unable to keep pace with his countryman Dani Pedrosa, who led over the line for the first time. Meanwhile Rossi had moved to within striking distance of his team-mate by the third lap, making his move on the next lap and passing the Mallorcan to take second. Lorenzo rode strongly in third for the remainder of the race but was unable to get close enough to Rossi to mount a challenge, crossing the line 1.456 seconds adrift of the Italian. Jorge Lorenzo 3rd - Time: +4.339 "Of course I'm a little bit disappointed today because we thought that we might be able to make more of a challenge, but I can't complain because it's only my second race and I've had two podiums and two pole positions, so it's still a great result! To race today in front of so many Spanish fans and also The King was something incredible and I have really enjoyed myself a lot here. Dani was a fair winner today, his pace was very strong and I couldn't stay with him, but I am learning all the time and I will be stronger again at the next race. It's a very long championship and this is an important result for us. Thanks to my team and to Yamaha and Michelin, everyone worked very hard and I think we've done a very good job so far. To be second in the championship at this point is still far more than I expected and now I am just looking forward to the next race." Daniel Romagnoli _ Team Manager "Today's result is a great one! This was just the second race of Jorge's MotoGP career and he got his second consecutive podium! He rode the race of an "old" MotoGP rider today, in a very clever way. He concentrated on taking home the best result he could, without making any mistakes or wasting the great pole position he started from. The Team did an excellent job and, together with Michelin, we were able to find a good package for this track. Now of course motivation is running high and we will use today's result and data in order to improve things further and to go to Estoril in the best shape possible." Masahiko Nakajima - Team Director "Today I am very happy because we were able to get back onto the podium with Valentino and Jorge! This year is not easy because we don't have experience between the Bridgestone tyres and our M1, but after Qatar we investigated the problem with our set-up in order to make the tyres work better and improve our performance. This weekend we tested many solutions and finally we reached a very good set-up. As I said, I am very happy for Valentino because he can now fight again at his maximum level. In tomorrow's test we will work again to fine tune the set-up of his M1 with the Bridgestone tyres; we now want Valentino back on the highest step of the podium!" "Jorge's performance today was quite impressive. During the race it seems that he lost a little bit of the feeling with the bike that he had yesterday and on Friday, but anyway it is clear that he is ready to win a race, already! One of the team's tasks is to maintain a good atmosphere around Jorge and to make him feel relaxed and concentrated, and so far it seems that this is the case. As far as tomorrow's test is concerned, we will keep on working on the electronic setting and on testing more tyres with Michelin, as we look to continue to improve our package ahead of the next race." Heroic performance of James Toseland Tech 3 Yamaha's James Toseland produced a heroic performance in a sun drenched Spanish GP today, the British rider fighting illness to claim a deserved top six finish. In what proved to be a mentally and physically draining 27-lap race for Toseland, the rookie showed great strength of character to become the first British rider since 1990 to score successive top six premier class finishes. Weakened by a serious chest and throat infection all weekend, Toseland slipped down to 10th from eighth on the grid in a frantic opening, but then he produced a series of brilliantly executed overtaking moves to move into fifth by the penultimate lap. Toseland's never-say-die attitude saw him delight a 131,563-strong crowd with passes on Chris Vermeulen, Andrea Dovizioso and Loris Capirossi in quick succession at the Curva Sito Pons. Fifth going into the last corner, he had to settle for sixth after losing a place in a chaotic finale. Capirossi was the chief benefactor from a tangle between Dovizioso and Toseland as he snatched fifth from the 27-yearold. Having claimed his second consecutive front row start yesterday, Colin Edwards had a disappointing afternoon, crashing out of sixth on lap five at the Curva Sito Pons. He remounted but retired on lap six. Toseland's result leaves him sixth in the world championship standings, while Tech 3 Yamaha remain fourth in the team championship points. Toseland and Edwards are now looking forward to their first appearance on Yamaha's improved pneumatic valve engine at the next round in Estoril, Portugal. James Toseland 6th - Time: +27.808 "I really had to dig deep in that race. There are two groups of people that kept it together this weekend and they are the Tech 3 team and the Clinica Mobile people. I want to thank them for helping me get out there. At one point it looked like I might not be able to ride so to finish sixth is a great result. What I was worried about was if I couldn't breath properly then that might have made me dizzy in the race but luckily I was fine. The bike felt great and the front Michelin tyre worked great. That's why I was able to pass all the guys at the same place coming onto the back straight. I couldn't pass anybody down the straight and the only place I could pass was where I did. I was getting good drive off the corner but I still couldn't get side by side on the straights to line them up for a pass on the brakes. It would have been do-or-die on the brakes, but because my front tyre was so good it really hooked well mid-corner round turn five onto the back straight and my corner speed carried me underneath Vermeulen, Dovizioso and Capirossi. I was disappointed not to keep fifth, especially after I'd battled so hard for it. The last corner was a bit manic and I don't know how Andrea stayed on the track because he was in there so hot. I got a bit pushed out and Loris came up the inside. To finish sixth like in Qatar and back that result up on a track I've never raced at in my condition is really good for me. This bike and this team are capable of being in the top six, even with a touch of bronchitis. I'm looking forward to getting the new engine now. We are one of the few that can actually look forward to getting something new for the next race and I can't wait for the new engine." Colin Edwards DNF I'm disappointed. I didn't get a good start and compared to every start I've done this weekend it was a lot slower and I got caught up and tangled with Nicky and Stoner right off the start. I got in behind them and I just couldn't do anything. It's just what we are lacking in the motor. We can run the pace on our own but as soon as we get in traffic to where we can't carry the momentum round the corner, then we have a problem. We are just waiting for the new engine at the next race and that is going to make a big difference because now it is hard at the moment with the deficit we have got. I can get off the corner but when you have got somebody road blocking you midway through the corner it is hard to carry the momentum that we have to carry. You can't out-brake any of these guys from five bike lengths back. It is just not going to happen, so I was kind of stuck for a little bit and Capirossi motored by me into turn one. Then I was pretty angry because I didn't want to get stuck behind him. But I'd come off the corner and he'd just pull away. I was pushing trying get up there with the guys in front and I made a mistake. I lost the front coming onto the back straight but that's racing I guess. Before yesterday I hadn't had any moments on the front tyre. We had that big moment yesterday and today I was a bit unlucky. We've looked at the data and I was actually slower than the lap before but I must have hit a little but I'm not sure what happened. It didn't look like I should have crashed but I did. I felt really confident and thanks to my guys because they worked hard all weekend and it's a shame it turned out how it did." Herve Poncharal - Team Manager "I am speechless about James today. He has been in a really bad condition and we were really doubtful about whether he would ride this weekend. For the race distance on this physical track we had a big question mark, but what he did today shows the mark of a true champion. He was fighting very hard at a pace he was never at in practice because of his physical condition. He never gave up and was very strong throughout the whole race. He was almost fifth but the last corner is always a difficult place here. Dovizioso tried a bit too hard to pass but I'm still happy. James is improving all the time and for sure with the new engine and feeling fit in Estoril he will be even better. It was a very eventful weekend for Colin. Of course we are a bit frustrated and disappointed about Colin because he was so good all weekend. We had the memory of his podium from last year so we were hoping he could repeat it. We have to take the positive out of it and he has been fast all weekend and I think the good thing is that we will have the new engine from Estoril and it will be easier to race." Race 1 - 27 Laps Pos., Rider, Manu., Nat., Total Time 1, Daniel Pedrosa, Honda, ESP, 45'35.121 2, Valentino Rossi, Yamaha, ITA, 0'2.883 3, Jorge Lorenzo, Yamaha, ESP, 0'4.339 4, Nicky Hayden, Honda, USA, 0'10.142 5, Loris Capirossi, Suzuki, ITA, 0'27.524 6, James Toseland, Yamaha, GBR, 0'27.808 7, John Hopkins, Kawasaki, USA, 0'28.296 8, Andrea Dovizioso, Honda, ITA, 0'28.449 9, Shinya Nakano, Honda, JPN, 0'32.569 10, Chris Vermeulen, Suzuki, AUS, 0'35.091 11, Casey Stoner, Ducati, AUS, 0'42.223 12, Marco Melandri, Ducati, ITA, 0'44.498 13, Anthony West, Kawasaki, AUS, 0'45.807 14, Alex De Angelis, Honda, SMR, 0'45.871 15, Toni Elias, Ducati, ESP, 1'9.558 Rider Standings 30/03/2008 Pos., Rider, Manu., Nat., Points 1, Daniel Pedrosa, Honda, ESP, 41 2, Jorge Lorenzo, Yamaha, ESP, 36 3, Valentino Rossi, Yamaha, ITA, 31 4, Casey Stoner, Ducati, AUS, 30 5, Andrea Dovizioso, Honda, ITA, 21 6, James Toseland, Yamaha, GBR, 20 7, Nicky Hayden, Honda, USA, 19 8, Loris Capirossi, Suzuki, ITA, 19 9, John Hopkins, Kawasaki, USA, 13 10, Shinya Nakano, Honda, JPN, 10 11, Marco Melandri, Ducati, ITA, 9 12, Colin Edwards, Yamaha, USA, 9 13, Randy De Puniet, Honda, FRA, 7 14, Chris Vermeulen, Suzuki, AUS, 6 15, Toni Elias, Ducati, ESP, 3 Team Standings 30/03/2008 Pos., Team, Points 1, FIAT Yamaha Team, 67 2, Repsol Honda Team, 60 3, Ducati Marlboro Team, 39 4, Tech3 Yamaha, 29 5, Rizla Suzuki MotoGP, 25 6, JIR Scot Team, 21 7, Kawasaki Racing Team, 16 8, Honda Gresini, 12 9, Honda LCR, 7 10, Team Alice, 4 Manufacturer Standings 30/03/2008 Pos., Manufacturer, Points 1, Honda, 41 2, Yamaha, 40 3, Ducati, 30 4, Suzuki, 19 5, Kawasaki, 13
Alex Asigno

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