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Alex Asigno
With many riders commenting that the motocross and enduro special tests in Canada were similar to those found in Finland it was little surprise that Samuli Aro topped the Enduro 2 class on both days at the fifth round of the WEC. Having claimed the E2 class win on both days at the GP of Italy, Samuli continued his good form to claim two more day wins. On day one Yamaha riders Stefan Merriman and Johnny Aubert surrounded the Finn on the podium with the UFO Corse Yamaha team mates placing 30 seconds apart and in second and third places respectively. On day two Aro was again the rider to beat and was joined by countryman Mika Ahola and Johnny Aubert on the podium. For Merriman numerous crashes early in the day knocked the Australian's confidence in the challenging conditions and saw him place in an eventual fifth position. For Aubert day two was also a difficult one, but for a very different reason. Having broken a rib at the GP of Italy Aubert had been unable to train or ride a bike prior to the Canadian GP and as a result found the event extremely hard. In the '06 Enduro 2 world championship standings Stefan Merriman is currently second to Samuli Aro while Aubert lays fourth, just 10 points off third. Currant Enduro 3 world championship leader David Knight continued his domination of the E3 class in Canada topping the class on both days. Finishing three and a half minutes ahead of his team-mate Marko Tarkkala on day one the Manxman then placed close to five minutes ahead on day two and in doing so finished the weekend unbeaten in the E3 class. Claiming third on both days was French rider Seb Guillaume.
Johnny Aubert (UFO Corse Yamaha) Enduro 2 class - Day 1: Third, Day 2: Third "I feel extremely tired after the race because I wasn't able to train or ride since the last round of the world championship, because I broke some ribs. I have tried my hardest but I felt really tired at the end of each day. I made some small crashes on day one but apart from that everything went pretty well. I finished on the podium so I was happy with that. "I crashed once on each of the special tests on the first lap on day two and then twice on the extreme test on the final lap. Apart from being really tired during the race it has been a good event. It wasn't as difficult as the race in Italy, which was a good thing. The tests were difficult but the course was really enjoyable." Stefan Merriman (UFO Corse Yamaha) Enduro 2 class - Day 1: Second, Day 2: Fifth "Day one went ok but my performances on the enduro test let me down. It was very similar to Finnish conditions, which obviously favoured Aro and Ahola. I pushed as hard as I could without wanting to ride over the limit but it was so difficult on the enduro test because there were tree roots, rocks and ruts everywhere. "Day two went badly right from the start because I crashed three times in the first enduro test. I just couldn't find any sort of a rhythm and every time I hit a tree root I seemed to crash before I knew what had happened. I lost a lot of time there. That knocked my confidence and it was hard to get it back. It was so easy to damage your bike in the enduro test so I just took it steadily. "The event was really good - the organisers have done a great job. I would have liked the ground conditions to have been a little harder but apart from that it has been great."    Race classification Enduro 2 Round: 5 - Parry Sound, Canada Circuit: Parry Sound Race: day 1 Pos.  Rider Manufacturer  Nat. Total Time  1   S. Aro KTM  FIN  45' 16.980  2   S. Merriman Yamaha  AUS  +54.190  3   J. Aubert Yamaha  FRA  +1' 23.920  4   M. Ahola Honda  FIN  +2' 24.540  5   F. Planet KTM  FRA  +2' 25.110  6   N. Paganon Husqvarna  FRA  +3' 24.000  7   C. Guerrero GasGas  ESP  +3' 38.530  8   X. Galindo KTM  ESP  +3' 55.780  9   F. Dini Yamaha  ITA  +4' 22.090  10   V. Salonen HusaBerg  FIN  +4' 27.820  11   K. Caselli KTM  USA  +4' 35.630  12   N. Kanney Yamaha  USA  +4' 50.690  13   E. McConnell TM  GBR  +5' 28.700  14   G. Kearney Suzuki  AUS  +7' 44.720  15   G. Giroux Suzuki  CAN  +8' 16.740  16   K. Glasgow KTM  CAN  +9' 12.190  17   K. Graffunder KTM  CAN  +10' 51.960  18   R. Reed KTM  CAN  +12' 40.800  19   D. Watt  HusaBerg  CAN  +12' 41.730  20   B. Rempel KTM  CAN  +12' 49.060  Race 2: day 2 Pos.  Rider Manufacturer  Nat. Total Time  1   S. Aro KTM  FIN  58' 27.680  2   M. Ahola Honda  FIN  +52.650  3   J. Aubert Yamaha  FRA  +1' 56.220  4   F. Planet KTM  FRA  +1' 59.320  5   S. Merriman Yamaha  AUS  +2' 37.710  6   N. Paganon Husqvarna  FRA  +3' 6.000  7   X. Galindo KTM  ESP  +3' 22.660  8   A. Botturi Aprilia  ITA  +3' 55.180  9   C. Guerrero GasGas  ESP  +3' 58.010  10   K. Caselli KTM  USA  +4' 25.450  11   N. Kanney Yamaha  USA  +4' 30.760  12   F. Dini Yamaha  ITA  +4' 53.670  13   V. Salonen HusaBerg  FIN  +6' 32.650  14   K. Glasgow KTM  CAN  +6' 51.570  15   E. McConnell TM  GBR  +7' 42.090  16   G. Giroux Suzuki  CAN  +10' 28.030  17   D. Watt  HusaBerg  CAN  +13' 5.760  18   I. McKill KTM  CAN  +13' 19.200  19   T. Burman HusaBerg  SWE  +13' 50.690  20   K. Graffunder KTM  CAN  +14' 7.000  Championship standings Enduro 2 Pos.  Rider  Manufacturer  Nat. Points  1   Samuli Aro KTM  FIN 228  2   Stefan Merriman Yamaha  AUS 205  3   Mika Ahola Honda  FIN 200  4   Johnny Aubert Yamaha  FRA 190  5   Fabien Planet KTM  FRA 142  6   Cristobal Guerrero GasGas  ESP 135  7   Xavier Galindo KTM  ESP 131  8   Valtteri Salonen HusaBerg  FIN 92  9   Fabrizio Dini Yamaha  ITA 91  10   Alessandro Botturi Aprilia  ITA 85  11   Nicolas Paganon Husqvarna  FRA 75  12   Paul Edmondson Honda  GBR 74  13   Andrea Beconi Beta  ITA 62  14   Andrea Belotti KTM  ITA 61  15   Euan McConnell TM  GBR 58  16   Kurt Caselli KTM  USA 40  17   Emmanuel Albepart Honda  FRA 39  18   Petteri Silvan KTM  FIN 28  19   Thierry Klutz Sherco  BEL 21  20   Christophe Nambotin Husqvarna  FRA 20  Manufacturers standings Enduro 2 Pos. Manufacturer Points  1  KTM 228  2  Yamaha 226  3  Honda 200  4  GasGas 139  5  HusaBerg 92  6  Aprilia 85  7  Husqvarna 83  8  Beta 67  9  TM 57  10  Suzuki 36  11  Sherco 31  12  Kawasaki 16  Enduro 1 : Fifth position on both days for Micheluz Round: 5 - Parry Sound, Canada Circuit: Parry Sound Date: 16 July 2006 Crowd: 4000 Temp: 26ºC Weather: Sunny Spaniard Ivan Cervantes and Italian Simone Albergoni shared a day win each in the Enduro 1 class at the GP of Canada, the fifth round of the '06 World Enduro Championship. It was Cervantes that topped the first day ahead of Albergoni after the two riders fought tooth and nail all day. With just 10 seconds separating the two, Pole Bartosz Oblucki claimed third, finishing close to one minute behind Albergoni. On day two positions were reversed at the top of the class with Albergoni getting the better of the current E1 championship leader. Winning four of the day's nine special tests Albergoni placed 40 seconds ahead of Cervantes with the Spaniard finishing almost the exact same distance ahead of third placed rider Bartosz Oblucki. Due to the logistical challenges and high costs of competing in Canada less than 10 E1 WEC regulars travelled to North America with just nine and eight riders respectively scoring points in the E1 class. With just one rider representing the UFO Corse Yamaha team in Canada Italian Maurizio Micheluz had a good weekend finishing in fifth position on both days. Finding the soft and in places rocky conditions difficult to master, Maurizio finished day one without problems but then crashed hard on day two. Despite being de-tuned by his crash Maurizio claimed valuable championship points and currently sits in fifth in the E1 world championship standings. Maurizio Micheluz (UFO Corse Yamaha) Enduro 1 class - Day 1: Fifth, Day 2: Fifth "I felt like I rode quite well on day one - not great but ok. I didn't make any mistakes and I finished fifth, which I was reasonable happy with. I think that if I had pushed any harder I would have crashed because I didn't feel so comfortable in the conditions. "On day two I crashed hard on the second enduro test and I didn't feel so good after that. I just wanted to finish the race as best as I could after that. It was a strange race because the ground in the special tests was very different to what I am used to. The organisation was very good though and the race was really interesting."    Race classification Enduro 1 Round: 5 - Parry Sound, Canada Circuit: Parry Sound Race: day 1  Pos.  Rider Manufacturer  Nat. Total Time  1   I. Cervantes KTM  ESP  46' 51.770  2   S. Albergoni Honda  ITA  +10.090  3   B. Oblucki Husqvarna  POL  +1' 7.480  4   A. Belometti KTM  ITA  +1' 21.980  5   M. Micheluz Yamaha  ITA  +2' 39.810  6   A. Roberts Yamaha  AUS  +3' 9.030  7   M. Hartmann KTM  GER  +3' 51.760  8   S. Cuthbertson KTM  CAN  +7' 48.260  9   J. Skinner KTM  CAN  +10' 58.180  Race 2: day 2  Pos.  Rider Manufacturer  Nat. Total Time  1   S. Albergoni Honda  ITA  59' 14.260  2   I. Cervantes KTM  ESP  +39.070  3   B. Oblucki Husqvarna  POL  +1' 18.960  4   A. Belometti KTM  ITA  +1' 22.820  5   M. Micheluz Yamaha  ITA  +4' 55.480  6   A. Roberts Yamaha  AUS  +6' 0.140  7   S. Cuthbertson KTM  CAN  +9' 40.140  8   J. Skinner KTM  CAN  +12' 5.560  Championship standings Enduro 1 Pos.  Rider  Manufacturer  Nat. Points  1   Ivan Cervantes KTM  ESP 241  2   Simone Albergoni Honda  ITA 212  3   Alessandro Belometti KTM  ITA 174  4   Bartosz Oblucki Husqvarna  POL 167  5   Mauricio Micheluz Yamaha  ITA 161  6   Petri Pohjamo TM  FIN 105  7   Helder Rodrigues Yamaha  POR 97  8   Mike Hartmann KTM  GER 84  9   Nicolas Deparrois Husqvarna  FRA 75  10   Freddy Blanc KTM  FRA 74  11   Peter Bergvall Suzuki  SWE 52  12   Julien Gauthier Honda  FRA 43  13   Frederik Georgsson KTM  SWE 41  14   Roberto Bazzurri Husqvarna  ITA 32  15   Anthony Roberts Yamaha  AUS 30  16   Shane Cuthbertson KTM  CAN 27  17   Joan Jou Yamaha  ESP 27  18   Robert Carlsson Yamaha  SWE 26  19   James Skinner KTM  CAN 25  20   Manuel Pievani KTM  ITA 24  29   Fernando Ferreira Yamaha  POR 13  30   Alexandre Mendes Yamaha  FRA 12  33   Arnau Vilanova Yamaha  ESP 10  35   Andre Fernandez Yamaha  POR 6  37   Santos Helio Yamaha  ESP 4  Manufacturers standings Enduro 1 Pos. Manufacturer Points  1  KTM 241  2  Honda 212  3  Husqvarna 177  4  Yamaha 166  5  TM 105  6  Suzuki 77  7  Kawasaki 24
Alex Asigno
Reigning World Champion Stefan Everts, of the Yamaha Intur Sports Motocross team, now has just three more victories to reach a magical and all-time record total of 100 career wins after taking his 97th success and tenth consecutive triumph at Sun City in South Africa today. The 33 year-old Belgian clinched both motos in dominant and now familiar fashion in front of 25,300 spectators to stretch his unbeaten run to ten rounds and nineteen races. A journey of almost 200km was necessary to reach the luxurious holiday 'oasis' of Sun City from the capital of Johannesburg. The complex boasts one of the best and most spectacular hotels in the world in the form of the 'Palace' and the motocross circuit is an entirely man-made creation sculpted from land next to the large car-park situated just beyond the entrance to the resort. The venue set standards once again for its organisation and the pleasant layout of the surroundings including two sides of the track flanked by grandstands and decent viewing possibilities. The terrain had been improved over the two previous years with softer dirt allowing for more ruts and racing lines although the hard pack was still slippy in places. Everts captured his fourth pole position in a row and sixth of the season yesterday with a late lap only eight hundredths of a second ahead of Steve Ramon. He started moto one in third place and needed a circulation to gently ease his way past his countryman and then holeshotter Josh Coppins. With a customary clear track stretching ahead, Everts began to work and pulled out a lead of five seconds over his Honda rival in a matter of minutes. His 18th consecutive moto victory was then a formality and he only had to worry about the backmarkers which was a tough task in itself. The second outing was almost a carbon-copy and Everts crossed the line almost five seconds ahead of the New Zealander with Ramon also in attendance. The eighth double of 2006 represented Everts' first triumph on African soil and the landmark means that his lead in the standings has pulled to 136 points. In theory his tenth World Championship could be won in the fairytale setting at Namur, Belgium during the first week of August. Cédric Melotte finished the opening race in sixth position and put up a stiff resistance to the speed and aggression of Ken de Dycker while holding fourth but eventually had to concede two places to his fellow Belgian and Tanel Leok. Later on in race two he was picking his way through the field after a bad start but got a stone in his throat and struggled to breathe. The luckless Belgian was again forced to stop and the DNF was his sixth of the campaign. He is 8th in the World Championship 14 points behind Pascal Leuret. The Grand Prix of the Czech Republic, home to two World Championship celebratory parties for Everts and Yamaha in the last five years, will take place once more at the Loket circuit in the far west of the country near the idyllic town of Karlovy Vary. Stefan Everts, Yamaha Intur Sports Motocross Team: "I am a bit surprised myself at how I can win so many GPs, and maybe in a few years time I will look back at what I have done so far and realise the achievement. I have also never won ten in a row, nine was the most; so that is a personal record. I have never won in South Africa before so that also was special. I did not wave to the crowd on the last lap this time! I came here with a positive outlook after two years of bad luck and it really worked out today." Cédric Melotte, Yamaha Intur Sports Motocross Team: "I am trying to ride and enjoy myself on the bike at the moment and that is what I did in the first race. My arms got a little bit tired in the last three or four laps. I had a really bad start in the second race but I was coming back slowly. I was gaining on De Dycker and Leuret and was enjoying myself. I was pushing hard for the top ten but then something entered my throat and I could not breathe and wanted to vomit. It is a real shame because I could not continue and should have had a good result." Carlo Rinaldi, Racing Manager, Yamaha Intur Sports Motocross Team: "It was another perfect weekend. Stefan's starts were not as good as we have become accustomed to but he proved again who is the fastest. There is not much to say because we have seen this type of GP before this season; Stefan just wants to win at any cost. We made a few settings on the bike but we changed hardly anything. Cédric had a half decent race the first time and while he was coming back from a bad start he got a piece of dirt caught in his throat. He could not breathe and had to stop, losing a lot of points, so that was a pity."   Race classification MX1 Round: 10 - 2006 GP of Sun City, South Africa Circuit: Sun City Race 1: 20 Laps  Pos.  Rider Manufacturer  Nat. Total Time  1   S. Everts Yamaha  BEL  39' 49.835  2   J. Coppins Honda  NZL  +5.555  3   S. Ramon Suzuki  BEL  +11.709  4   T. Leok Kawasaki  EST  +19.545  5   K. De Dycker Honda  BEL  +21.713  6   C. Melotte Yamaha  BEL  +53.306  7   P. Leuret  Honda  FRA  +1' 2.336  8   M. Priem Yamaha  BEL  +1' 4.923  9   K. Strijbos Suzuki  BEL  +1' 11.786  10   J. Bill Yamaha  GBR  +1' 27.554  11   A. Pyrhonen TM  FIN  +1' 34.262  12   W. Avis KTM  RSA  +1' 49.209  13   J. Barragan KTM  ESP  +2' 43.560  14   J. Garcia Vico Honda  ESP  +1 lap(s)  15   G. Crockard Honda  GBR  +1 lap(s)  16   C. Dugmore Kawasaki  RSA  +1 lap(s)  17   K. Stegen  Suzuki  RSA  +1 lap(s)  18   L. O'Farrel Yamaha  RSA  +1 lap(s)  19   D. Keramidis Honda  GRC  +3 lap(s)  20   C. van Niekerk TM  RSA  +4 lap(s)  Race 2: 20 Laps  Pos.  Rider Manufacturer  Nat. Total Time  1   S. Everts Yamaha  BEL  40' 19.139  2   J. Coppins Honda  NZL  +4.591  3   S. Ramon Suzuki  BEL  +9.215  4   T. Leok Kawasaki  EST  +37.551  5   K. Strijbos Suzuki  BEL  +40.730  6   J. Barragan KTM  ESP  +1' 25.723  7   K. De Dycker Honda  BEL  +1' 32.927  8   P. Leuret  Honda  FRA  +1' 37.300  9   A. Pyrhonen TM  FIN  +1' 39.573  10   J. Bill Yamaha  GBR  +1' 40.537  11   G. Crockard Honda  GBR  +1' 41.009  12   M. Priem Yamaha  BEL  +2' 4.872  13   W. Avis KTM  RSA  +1 lap(s)  14   C. Dugmore Kawasaki  RSA  +1 lap(s)  15   J. Noble Honda  GBR  +1 lap(s)  16   L. O'Farrel Yamaha  RSA  +1 lap(s)  17   R. van der Westhuizen Honda  RSA  +2 lap(s)  18   K. Stegen  Suzuki  RSA  +2 lap(s)  19   K. Bowen KTM  RSA  +3 lap(s)  20   A. Nielsen Yamaha  KEN  +3 lap(s)  Championship standings MX1 Pos.  Rider  Manufacturer  Nat. Points  1   Stefan Everts Yamaha  BEL 492  2   Kevin Strijbos Suzuki  BEL 356  3   Steve Ramon Suzuki  BEL 334  4   Tanel Leok Kawasaki  EST 330  5   Ken De Dycker Honda  BEL 322  6   Jonathan Barragan KTM  ESP 235  7   Pascal Leuret  Honda  FRA 186  8   Cedric Melotte Yamaha  BEL 172  9   Javier Garcia Vico Honda  ESP 172  10   Manuel Priem Yamaha  BEL 168  11   Julien Bill Yamaha  GBR 167  12   James Noble Honda  GBR 138  13   Brian Jorgensen Honda  DNK 131  14   Antti Pyrhonen TM  FIN 128  15   Marvin Van Daele Honda  BEL 127  16   Joshua Coppins Honda  NZL 116  17   Gordon Crockard Honda  GBR 102  18   Sebastien Tortelli KTM  FRA 99  19   Danny Theybers Suzuki  BEL 84  20   Wyatt Avis KTM  RSA 63  Manufacturers standings MX1 Pos. Manufacturer Points  1  Yamaha 492  2  Suzuki 409  3  Honda 361  4  Kawasaki 334  5  KTM 291  6  TM 128  MX2 : Cairoli takes first victory of 2006 Round: 10 - 2006 GP of Sun City, South Africa Circuit: Sun City Date: 16 July 2006 Crowd: 25300 Temp: 31ºC Weather: Hot MX2 World Champion Antonio Cairoli climbed the top step of the podium for the first time this season at a hot Grand Prix of South Africa. The De Carli Yamaha rider completed an excellent tenth round of the FIM World Championship for the manufacturer and only the second time this term that Yamaha have owned both classes on the same day. The Sun City circuit was again a gleaming picture of good organisation and attention to detail. In its third and final year of hosting the South African round the venue even counted on an improved terrain, perhaps the biggest weak point of past editions. Softer dirt from the dark clay texture meant less dust and more grip. Cairoli was masterful in qualification and enacted a text-book performance by leading from gate to flag in the second heat, earned second pick of slot on the start line for the two 35 minute and 2 lap motos. The first race saw the World Champion circulating in a lonely third after a dodgy start meant that he lost the back of David Philippaerts and Tyla Rattray disputing the win. He pushed through to third despite having trouble with a bent plastic radiator guard catching the bars of the 250F because of an off-track excursion. The top three finish was a decent platform from which to try for the overall and he defeated local favourite Rattray by winning the second moto in style for his sixth race trophy from the twenty held so far. Kenneth Gundersen was visiting South Africa for the first time having missed the last two years due to injury. The first moto saw the Norwegian clatter a haybale that had been dragged into his path and he fell heavily onto his left hand. The Ricci Racing rider needed medical attention at the side of the track and will now head back to Italy tomorrow night for an examination on a possible broken bone in his wrist. Alessio Chiodi showed signs that he is coming back to the decent speed he showed before a fast practice crash in Japan left the former World Champion with an injured knee. The Italian is still missing race fitness however and ended the day twelfth overall after a set of average starts. Davide Guarneri slipped off his 250 in the first qualification heat race yesterday and injured his right knee. The Italian was a reduced force but scored ninth overall with moto finishes of ninth and 12th. Antonio Cairoli, Team Yamaha De Carli: "For sure I am very happy about this win because for many GPs I have been close to victory but one mistake has cost me dear. I managed to take one moto in the past but then finished too far back in the other. It is the first time I have won in South Africa. I had some trouble with the radiator guard in the first moto after I jumped off the track; it was difficult to balance and I lost a lot of time. It was a fast race so I thought about the points. I really liked the track because the mud was softer this year and there were many jumps." Alessio Chiodi, Yamaha Team Ricci: "The knee is a little bit better but my physical condition is not so good because I have not been able to train properly recently. I hope things will get better, it is coming back slowly."   Race classification MX2 Round: 10 - 2006 GP of Sun City, South Africa Circuit: Sun City Race 1: 20 Laps  Pos.  Rider Manufacturer  Nat. Total Time  1   D. Philippaerts KTM  ITA  39' 58.600  2   T. Rattray KTM  RSA  +1.252  3   A. Cairoli Yamaha  ITA  +27.332  4   G. Swanepoel Kawasaki  RSA  +32.669  5   C. Nunn KTM  GBR  +34.481  6   T. Searle Kawasaki  GBR  +38.529  7   D. Guarneri Yamaha  ITA  +42.451  8   S. Pourcel Kawasaki  FRA  +45.990  9   A. Chiodi Yamaha  ITA  +46.376  10   C. Pourcel Kawasaki  FRA  +47.003  11   M. Monni KTM  ITA  +59.201  12   R. Goncalves KTM  POR  +1' 11.559  13   T. Church Kawasaki  GBR  +1' 39.682  14   J. Dougan Honda  GBR  +2' 1.111  15   M. Kok Suzuki  RSA  +2' 4.076  16   B. MacKenzie Yamaha  GBR  +1 lap(s)  17   K. Fitzgerald Yamaha  RSA  +1 lap(s)  18   N. Naude  Yamaha  RSA  +1 lap(s)  19   F. Fourie KTM  RSA  +1 lap(s)  20   F. Ford Yamaha  RSA  +1 lap(s)  Race 2: 20 Laps  Pos.  Rider Manufacturer  Nat. Total Time  1   A. Cairoli Yamaha  ITA  40' 44.327  2   T. Rattray KTM  RSA  +4.810  3   C. Nunn KTM  GBR  +6.250  4   C. Pourcel Kawasaki  FRA  +21.592  5   M. Monni KTM  ITA  +23.473  6   R. Goncalves KTM  POR  +26.331  7   S. Pourcel Kawasaki  FRA  +29.590  8   T. Searle Kawasaki  GBR  +30.146  9   D. Guarneri Yamaha  ITA  +38.294  10   G. Swanepoel Kawasaki  RSA  +52.685  11   B. MacKenzie Yamaha  GBR  +1' 2.303  12   A. Chiodi Yamaha  ITA  +1' 29.588  13   T. Church Kawasaki  GBR  +1' 47.242  14   J. Dougan Honda  GBR  +1 lap(s)  15   N. Naude  Yamaha  RSA  +1 lap(s)  16   R. Branch Kawasaki  RSA  +1 lap(s)  17   J. Kruger KTM  RSA  +1 lap(s)  18   J. de Bruin Yamaha  RSA  +1 lap(s)  19   F. Fourie KTM  RSA  +1 lap(s)  20   K. Fitzgerald Yamaha  RSA  +2 lap(s)  Championship standings MX2 Pos.  Rider  Manufacturer  Nat. Points  1   Christophe Pourcel Kawasaki  FRA 379  2   Antonio Cairoli Yamaha  ITA 347  3   David Philippaerts KTM  ITA 329  4   Tyla Rattray KTM  RSA 305  5   Marc De Reuver KTM  NED 284  6   Carl Nunn KTM  GBR 241  7   Billy MacKenzie Yamaha  GBR 228  8   Tommy Searle Kawasaki  GBR 224  9   Gareth Swanepoel Kawasaki  RSA 210  10   Sébastien Pourcel Kawasaki  FRA 207  11   Kenneth Gundersen Yamaha  NOR 194  12   Rui Goncalves KTM  POR 193  13   Alessio Chiodi Yamaha  ITA 185  14   Davide Guarneri Yamaha  ITA 153  15   Manuel Monni KTM  ITA 125  16   Luigi Seguy Yamaha  FRA 94  17   Anthony Boissière Yamaha  FRA 87  18   Aigar Leok Yamaha  EST 73  19   Matti Seistola Honda  FIN 69  20   Pierre-Alexandre Renet Honda  FRA 56  Manufacturers standings MX2 Pos. Manufacturer Points  1  KTM 459  2  Yamaha 433  3  Kawasaki 403  4  Honda 153  5  Suzuki 22
Alex Asigno
Just seven days after Italy won the football World Cup with a dramatic victory against France in Berlin, Camel Yamaha Team rider Valentino Rossi produced an equally stunning performance to seal another success for his country on German soil thanks to a remarkable MotoGP win at the Sachsenring circuit near Dresden. Starting from tenth place on the grid after struggling to find the right set-up for his YZR-M1 machine in practice, the odds were stacked heavily against Rossi as he aimed to close the gap on series leader Nicky Hayden (Honda) with another win. However, the reigning World Champion again confounded all the predictions with his superb skill and dogged determination. Already shifted up one place on the grid from his qualifying position of eleventh after Casey Stoner (Honda) was ruled out of the race through injury, Rossi continued to make his way forward as soon as the red lights were out, passing four riders by the end of the first lap to immediately get in contact with the lead group. After carefully picking off Kenny Roberts (Team KR) and Makoto Tamada (Honda), Rossi set about the lead group of Hayden, Dani Pedrosa (Honda) and Marco Melandri (Honda) and by lap 13 of 30 he was in front. The Italian held on to a slim lead for all but one of the remaining laps, when Melandri made one of his many attacks stick, before holding off a barrage of attacks from all three rivals in a dramatic final corner to seal his fourth win of the season. Whilst Rossi was able to rescue a dismal situation in practice, unfortunately the same could not be said for his team-mate Colin Edwards, who was unable to make any further progress with his bike setting in the morning warm-up and struggled to eleventh place. Valentino Rossi (1st; 41'49.248) "That was an unbelievable race for me and my team. The first thing I have to say is 'sorry' to my M1 because last night was the first time in our relationship that I ever doubted her! But she was true to me once again and for this I owe a huge thank you to Jeremy and all my mechanics and engineers. Last night I didn't think I could win this race but we made a change in the morning warm-up and then again before the race in the afternoon and today my M1 flew. In some parts of the track it was very, very fast. We also did a great job together with Michelin and at the start I realised that my rhythm was good enough to battle for the win. Once I got to the front I knew I was probably two or three tenths faster than the other guys but it wasn't enough to escape and I had to battle with Dani, Nicky and Marco - each one was a great fight. Marco was so strong at the end of the race and I have to give my big congratulations to him, but thankfully I got the right line in the last corner and I was able to win. Italy became World Champions in the football last weekend and I won today; Germany is a good country for us!" 
 
Colin Edwards (11th; + 29.308) "What can I say? I guess I'm just slow around here. The guys worked their butts off all weekend trying to give me something but we simply couldn't get the bike working and I never had the pace. It looked like Valentino was in the same situation but today he pulled out something like his 700th miracle and you can only take your hat off to a great champion. We changed some things for the warm-up this morning but I wasn't comfortable so we went back to the setting from yesterday, which we knew wasn't ideal either. The first few laps were okay but I struggled to pass Toni Elias and by the time I got past him we were way back. From there on it was just a battle to keep the bike on the track and there wasn't much more I could do but bring it home." Davide Brivio - Camel Yamaha Team Director "Valentino was unbelievable today, fantastic. This was a very important victory for the championship because we've collected a lot of points but more than that it is a big psychological boost to win a fight in this way. This victory is a fruit of the hard work from the engineers, the team and Valentino - we have a great group of people here and they never give up. We always try to win races and today Valentino made it possible. Colin wasn't able to recover a difficult situation but now he has seven days before getting a big chance to turn things around in his home Grand Prix." Sachsenring provides huge step forward for Tech 3 Yamaha Racing Team With another top 10 finish and a result that saw Carlos Checa finish closer to the leaders that at any other race of the 2006 season, the German Grand Prix at the Sachsenring circuit provided a huge step forward for the Tech 3 Yamaha Team and the performance of the team's Dunlop tyres. Checa was involved in a tense battle throughout the race to miss out on seventh place by just 0.389 of a second to eventually finish ninth in an enthralling race won by fellow Yamaha rider and defending world champion, Valentino Rossi. Carlos was only 17 seconds in arrears after the 30-lap battle. In another positive result, Checa's best lap of 1'23.097 was just 0.424 of a second off the fastest lap of the race. Englishman, James Ellison had to overcome handling problems in his quest to finish 13th, picking up some valuable points for himself and the team. Carlos Checa (9th, +17.097 secs Fastest lap 1'23.779) This has been a very good result for us and I am very happy. The gap to the winner was the closest we have ever been this year, so that is another positive step considering that we had some chatter and after 17 laps something went wrong with the engine. This is no excuse of course but, basically overall our consistency and speed is good. The first race of the year we were 59 seconds behind the winner, now we are 17 seconds and also we were with other riders fighting for positions so this has been a very big improvement. I'm quite satisfied. We started with the tyre we knew from practice and overall we are working quite well. Now I hope that Yamaha will help us with the chatter and maybe the engine a little bit. On the chassis side, the tyres are getting better and better but we need to work on the chassis as we can see the official team is struggling as well. I think it is a general problem with the Yamaha we must work together and even us with different tyres we are finding this problem but we will continue to work hard and hopefully we can continue to progress and improve the way we have done in the last four races. ". James Ellison (13th +1'02.029 Fastest lap 1'25.634) "I wish I could say I was happy but that would be far from the truth. I had very bad chattering for most of the race. The whole balance of the bike was really good but I couldn't run it into turns very fast because of the chatter so I had to pull back and I couldn't run the speed I wanted to. The tyres were working well but I couldn't get the times I wanted. At the start I could see Colin and the rest of the boys and I kept them close for 10 laps or so but then the chatter starting getting worse and worse and it started happening in more areas of the track. I just had to bring it home so I'm happy I did that and got some more points for myself and the team but that's about all I'm happy about as I'm pretty disappointed. I've had a chat to Carlos about the chatter as he has dealt with things like that for years. He told me that if you try to carry the speed going into the corner it just gets worse so you have to brake as hard as you can and then throw it in because he knows it's going to chatter. I've just got to change my riding to adapt to it because, it takes a while as if a bike is chattering the last thing your brain is telling you is to just throw it in because you think you will crash. I've just got to get on with it and see what I can do. I really hope the next race at Laguna Seca is different because this year has become extremely frustrating. I can't tell you how much I want to improve and get up to a pace I know I can run at." Herve Poncharal - Tech3 Yamaha Team Director "Altogether, a very good weekend and the very best weekend for us so far this season. We were only 17 seconds behind the winner at the end so for sure this is by far the best result we have had. We were a bit worried about the second part of the race but the tyre was really stable and we have definitely gained on performance and durability of the Dunlop tyres. At the end of the race we were in front of Hopkins on the Suzuki and on Bridgestones. We were catching Vermeulen but just a bit too late to pass him - another lap and we would have! We could've been seventh, that's no big deal but clearly we are happy we improving. To be 12 seconds in front of Edwards was another positive sign for us. We are not talking about Valentino because he is on another planet after what he has done today. To be the second Yamaha in the race, second Yamaha on the grid and fastest Yamaha in morning warm-up was extremely satisfying for everyone so it confirms that the Yamaha/Dunlop combination worked very well here at Sachsenring and the improvements are getting bigger and improving all the time. We have another race before the summer break so we hope to continue at this same pace and to be able to fight again for a top 10 finish. James rode a steady race as he didn't finish that far from Colin which is ok. Both our riders were in the points. In the team's championship we move up, Carlos is gaining some more points so we are happy. Race classification MotoGP Round: 10 - 2006 MotoGP Sachsenring Circuit: Sachsenring Circuit Length: 3671 Lap Record: 1' 23.355 (Daniel Pedrosa, 2006) Fastest Lap Ever:  1' 23.355 (Daniel Pedrosa, 2006) Race: 30 Laps  Pos.  Rider Manufacturer  Nat. Total Time  1   V. Rossi Yamaha  ITA  41' 59.248  2   M. Melandri Honda  ITA  +0.145  3   N. Hayden Honda  USA  +0.266  4   D. Pedrosa Honda  ESP  +0.307  5   L. Capirossi Ducati  ITA  +8.764  6   S. Nakano Kawasaki  JPN  +9.147  7   C. Vermeulen Suzuki  AUS  +16.608  8   S. Gibernau Ducati  ESP  +16.648  9   C. Checa Yamaha  ESP  +17.097  10   J. Hopkins Suzuki  USA  +17.786  11   T. Elias Honda  ESP  +27.425  12   C. Edwards Yamaha  USA  +29.308  13   J. Ellison Yamaha  GBR  +1' 2.029  14   J. Cardoso Ducati  ESP  +1' 19.997  Fastest Race Lap:   Pos.  Rider Manufacturer  Nat. Total Time  1   D. Pedrosa Honda  ESP  1' 23.355  Championship standings MotoGP Pos.  Rider  Manufacturer  Nat. Points  1   Nicky Hayden Honda  USA 169  2   Valentino Rossi Yamaha  ITA 143  3   Daniel Pedrosa Honda  ESP 140  4   Marco Melandri Honda  ITA 134  5   Loris Capirossi Ducati  ITA 118  6   Casey Stoner Honda  AUS 91  7   Colin Edwards Yamaha  USA 77  8   Shinya Nakano Kawasaki  JPN 67  9   Kenny Roberts Team Roberts KR  USA 66  10   John Hopkins Suzuki  USA 64  11   Makato Tamada Honda  JPN 59  12   Toni Elias Honda  ESP 58  13   Sete Gibernau Ducati  ESP 52  14   Chris Vermeulen Suzuki  AUS 46  15   Carlos Checa Yamaha  ESP 44  17   James Ellison Yamaha  GBR 17    Manufacturers standings MotoGP Pos. Manufacturer Points  1  Honda 221  2  Yamaha 172  3  Ducati 127  4  Suzuki 81  5  Kawasaki 71  6  Team Roberts KR 66  Team standings MotoGP Pos. Team Points  1  Repsol Honda Team 309  2  Camel Yamaha Team 220  3  Fortuna Honda Team 192  4  Ducati Marlboro Team 177  5  Rizla Suzuki 110  6  Honda LCR 91  7  Kawasaki Racing Team 84  8  Team Roberts KR 66  9  Tech3 Yamaha 61  10  Konica Minolta Honda 59  11  Pramac D'Antin 20  Race classification GP250 Round: 10 - 2006 GP250 Sachsenring Circuit: Sachsenring Circuit Length: 3671 Lap Record: 1' 25.118 (Sebastian Porto, 2004) Fastest Lap Ever:  1' 24.618 (Alex de Angelis, 2005) Race: 29 Laps  Pos.  Rider Manufacturer  Nat. Total Time  1   Y. Takahashi Honda  JPN  41' 30.350  2   A. de Angelis Aprilia  SMR  +0.058  3   J. Lorenzo Aprilia  ESP  +1.013  4   A. Dovizioso Honda  ITA  +4.021  5   H. Barbera Aprilia  ESP  +9.384  6   R. Locatelli Aprilia  ITA  +19.242  7   A. West Aprilia  AUS  +26.457  8   H. Aoyama KTM  JPN  +26.607  9   S. Aoyama Honda  JPN  +26.741  10   S. Guintoli Aprilia  FRA  +30.621  11   A. Baldolini Aprilia  ITA  +44.754  12   F. Battiani Aprilia  ITA  +45.063  13   M. Poggiali KTM  SMR  +48.793  14   J. Smrz Aprilia  CZE  +52.317  15   A. Espargaro Honda  ESP  +52.369  Fastest Race Lap:   Pos.  Rider Manufacturer  Nat. Total Time  1   A. de Angelis Aprilia  SMR  1' 25.284  Championship standings GP250  Pos.  Rider  Manufacturer  Nat. Points  1   Jorge Lorenzo Aprilia  ESP 174  2   Andrea Dovizioso Honda  ITA 172  3   Yuki Takahashi Honda  JPN 133  4   Alex de Angelis Aprilia  SMR 131  5   Hiroshi Aoyama KTM  JPN 116  6   Roberto Locatelli Aprilia  ITA 114  7   Hector Barbera Aprilia  ESP 100  8   Sylvain Guintoli Aprilia  FRA 65  9   Anthony West Aprilia  AUS 58  10   Marco Simoncelli Gilera  ITA 55  11   Shuhei Aoyama Honda  JPN 48  12   Alex Debon Aprilia  ESP 35  13   Jakub Smrz Aprilia  CZE 34  14   Manuel Poggiali KTM  SMR 31  15   Martin Cardenas Honda  COL 28  Manufacturers standings GP250 Pos. Manufacturer Points  1  Aprilia 221  2  Honda 189  3  KTM 120  4  Gilera 55
Alex Asigno
Camel Yamaha Team riders Valentino Rossi and Colin Edwards both face an uphill battle in tomorrow's German Grand Prix after struggling to come to terms with the undulating demands of the Sachsenring circuit in the final free practice and qualifying session today. Neither rider was able to find an adequate setting for the YZR-M1 in yesterday's opening sessions and despite making progress today they did not take the necessary steps forward required to make a challenge for the front row of the grid, which is headed by Dani Pedrosa (Honda) for the second successive race. As the action got underway below clear blue skies and pleasant summer temperatures of 22ºC, Rossi's main difficulty was balancing the intense force exerted on the front end of the bike at this circuit, a problem exacerbated by the extra rear grip offered by the softer qualifying tyres. Whilst the Italian is hopeful of working on a solution with his team overnight, Edwards is less optimistic having been unable to exactly pinpoint the root of his problems and leaving only tomorrow's 20-minute warm-up to clarify an adequate set-up and tyre choice for the race. Rossi will aim to make as much progress as possible early in the race as he starts from the fourth row in eleventh spot whilst Edwards has an even bigger challenge ahead as he looks to remount from a row further back in fifteenth. Valentino Rossi (11th - 1'22.868; 32 laps) "The race setting is not so bad but things were very different on the qualifying tyre. We are getting too much weight onto the front end of the bike and when the rear qualifying tyre grips so much this pushes the front even harder and I almost crashed a couple of times. My hand is still a bit sore but to be honest when I am riding I don't even think about it and this is not what is troubling us today. It looks like tomorrow will be tough because Dani Pedrosa has a very fast pace but I am starting from a long way back. Unfortunately I can't say that we are down in eleventh because I was unlucky; today we deserve to be in eleventh and we have a lot of work to do. It's difficult to overtake at this track and you need a good setting to make up positions in the race. At the moment our bike is not quite ready and this situation is not limited to today - it seems we have struggled in practice all year. Once again I need another great job from my mechanics tonight so that I can try and chase the lead group tomorrow." Colin Edwards (15th - 1'23.087; 29 laps) "I'm feeling disappointed and frustrated tonight because we've tried everything - changed the steering head column, the rear links, the swingarm links - but not got anywhere. The bike is a little better than yesterday but it is still not fast enough and when I'm following other guys around it seems as though they are running at a different track. Honestly, I think the team has worked harder here than at any other circuit this year but it's just not happening for us and we need a miracle now. The bike is a bit of a handful at the moment and the worrying thing is that I don't know exactly where we can find the improvement in time for tomorrow's race. Anyway, we'll keep working and see if we can come up with something in the morning." Davide Brivio - Camel Yamaha Team Director "Again it will be a difficult start to the race for us, with Valentino and Colin on the fourth and fifth rows. We are struggling with the qualifying tyre, even though Valentino's race pace is not so bad - very similar to Pedrosa and Hayden. The problem for him now is his position on the grid because it is a big disadvantage at such a tight circuit like this. We will do our best to make the right changes for him in the morning and hopefully we can come up with something for Colin too. We need a big effort from the whole team over the next 24 hours and I'm sure our riders will do their bit to perform." Confidence inspiring qualifying session for Tech 3 Yamaha Team Under the blazing German sunshine the solitary qualifying session for the MotoGP class was a confidence inspiring occasion for the Tech 3 Yamaha Team as lead rider, Carlos Checa qualified in 12th fastest position, just 1.1 seconds off pole position taken by Dani Pedrosa (Honda). In the final moments of the session, Carlos was denied the rare experience of being the leading Yamaha rider as world champion, Valentino Rossi relegated the experienced Spaniard one place on the grid by just 0.096 second. Teammate, James Ellison improved his time to move up the grid slightly but is nonetheless, disappointed that he ran out of time to improve his 18th place on the grid. Carlos Checa (12th, 1'22.964, 33 laps) "Of course for us personally this is good as we are quite close to Valentino and at this moment he is the best rider even if here his position is not his usual. This weekend we have worked quite well heading in the right direction and making advances with the Dunlop race tyres but we still have some limitations especially with the qualifying tyres. We are ready for tomorrow with a pretty good setup and hopefully we can build on what we have been doing in the recent races. We cannot be perfectly satisfied with this situation because it is clear that all riders on Yamaha are struggling around here. "Anyway for the race I am more confident than I am with qualifying. We have a good tyre and I think the setting we have chosen for the race we will have a good pace but hopefully even though warmup is early tomorrow there will be enough heat in the track to do some more final testing to make sure we have made the right decisions. I must get a good start as if we are too far back in the first corner with how close the lap times are it will be very difficult to move up many positions as it is also very hard to overtake around here. James Ellison (18th 1'24.464, 28 laps) "I'm not happy as although I dropped my times, yesterday's sessions were a loss. With the setup we had on Friday you kind of lose your confidence because we had so many problems it takes time to build up confidence again. If you arrive at a circuit and the bike works it's awesome because you can build on it all weekend but when you start bad like it's very difficult to get your head up to speed again. We've been chipping away and slowly building to the times we wanted to get but we really wanted to get into the 23 second bracket. We made a couple of mistakes with the last qualifier so I'm very disappointed with that to be honest. We had another tyre lined up but we just ran out of time. We might've gone quicker, we might've gone slower - who knows - it would've just been nice to try it. I'm not happy at all as I have only qualified five-tenths faster than I did last year and I'm on a bike way more capable than what I had. That's the result, so I have to live with it and try and get a good start to get away with them and hopefully move up a few places." Herve Poncharal - Tech3 Yamaha Team Director "It was another positive day for us as in the morning and afternoon Carlos was right up there with everybody else. For the majority of both sessions Carlos was the first Yamaha and it was only in the last seconds that Valentino got him but we are on the same row and in front of Colin Edwards. This makes us very happy - not to see Valentino and Colin so far back - but shows us the improvements that keep continuing with the Dunlop tyres. We are confident we can do a good first part of the race but because of the rain on Friday morning and all the setting changes we had to make, we didn't manage to do a full race distance in hot conditions as yesterday was a lot cooler on track. Tomorrow's forecast is a lot hotter than today, so we are a little bit concerned about the last 10 laps of the race because 30 laps around here on a high temperature track is very demanding on tyres - this is our main worry to see how those 10 laps unfold but I guess we have to wait and see. We have improved on our qualifying tyres but unfortunately the last run of Carlos for some reason we couldn't improve. If we had dropped another tenth of a second we could be a row closer because the lap times are so close but our main concern is durability and race distance more than grid position. It was also quite a good improvement from James. Yesterday he was nowhere and today he is running low to mid 1'24 second laps, which for MotoGP is a fairly decent lap time. Let's hope he can run at that pace for the entire race because there are guys in front of him that he can stay with and hopefully pass during the race.""    Round: 10 - 2006 MotoGP Sachsenring Circuit: Sachsenring Circuit Length: 3671 Lap Record: 1' 23.705 (Sete Gibernau, 2005) Fastest Lap Ever: 1' 21.815 (Daniel Pedrosa, 2006) Date: 15 July 2006 Temp: 22ºC Session 1 :  Pos.  Rider  Manufacturer  Nat.  1st Qualifying 1  D. Pedrosa  Honda  ESP   1' 21.815   2  K. Roberts  Team Roberts KR  USA   1' 21.907   3  N. Hayden  Honda  USA   1' 22.083   4  S. Nakano  Kawasaki  JPN   1' 22.273   5  L. Capirossi  Ducati  ITA   1' 22.329   6  M. Melandri  Honda  ITA   1' 22.420   7  S. Gibernau  Ducati  ESP   1' 22.469   8  C. Stoner  Honda  AUS   1' 22.577   9  J. Hopkins  Suzuki  USA   1' 22.701   10  M. Tamada  Honda  JPN   1' 22.866   11  V. Rossi  Yamaha  ITA   1' 22.868   12  C. Checa  Yamaha  ESP   1' 22.964   13  R. De Puniet  Kawasaki  FRA   1' 22.974   14  C. Vermeulen  Suzuki  AUS   1' 23.050   15  C. Edwards  Yamaha  USA   1' 23.087   16  T. Elias  Honda  ESP   1' 23.660   18  J. Ellison  Yamaha  GBR   1' 24,464.000  
Alex Asigno
Yamaha Team this weekend at the vertigo-inducing Sachsenring circuit in Germany, host to the tenth round of the 2006 MotoGP World Championship. One of the tightest and most undulating tracks in the world welcomes the most unpredictable season in recent history, with Valentino Rossi and Colin Edwards both having played their part in a dramatic campaign that has seen five different race winners, nine different riders on the podium and thirteen different front row starters.   A roller-coaster season continues for the Camel Rossi added to his season-tally of three victories with a stunning second place in the last round at Donington Park, where he rode through the pain of hand and ankle injuries to put his YZR-M1 machine back on the podium and cut the gap to series leader Nicky Hayden (Honda) to 35 points. That memorable performance at his talisman track was the 121st time that Rossi had stood on a Grand Prix podium - the same number as Phil Read and a figure bettered only by the legendary Giacomo Agostini and Angel Nieto. Rossi has now also scored a total of 2977 points in all classes and victory in Germany would make him the first rider in history to pass the 3000 mark. Sixth place for Colin Edwards at Donington was the 30th successive race at which he has scored points, a record made all the more remarkable by the drama of the previous round at Assen, when he crashed out of the lead in the final corner only to remount and bravely struggle across the line in thirteenth place. The only rider with a longer sequence of successive point scoring finishes is Mick Doohan, who managed it for 37 races, but the more pressing issue for Edwards now is a return to the form that saw him fighting for victory in that breathtaking Dutch TT two weeks ago. Valentino Rossi: Back to fitness Valentino Rossi arrives in Germany with the benefit of an extra weekend to recover from the hand injuries he sustained in the middle of a Grand Prix triple-header at Assen. After struggling through the discomfort to score valuable points in Holland and Great Britain, he is now hoping to be fit enough to fight for his fourth win of the season and his fourth in all classes at the Sachsenring circuit. "I am very confident that by Sachsenring my hand will be back to 100%, or near enough," says Rossi, who won the German Grand Prix for Yamaha last year to add to previous MotoGP and 250cc successes in 2002 and 1999. "I have been working hard with my physiotherapist Marco Montanari and Dr Costa and hopefully it will continue to improve at this rate. It's really nice to have had time for a rest now after three very hard weeks, even if it's not so long. I spent some time in Italy and then a few days at home in London, relaxing and seeing friends. "The important thing for Sachsenring is that we come out of the box on Friday morning ready to make the most of every available minute of practice time. We can't afford to lose time in practice with set-up problems like we had in Donington, and I am sure that Yamaha has been working at the maximum over the break so we will be ready to be competitive from Friday morning. Sachsenring is quite a different track, very tight and twisty, but last year our bike worked very well there, we were able to win and hopefully that will be the case again this year." Colin Edwards: To Japan and back Whilst his team-mate and most of their rivals have had time to rest this week, the relentless pursuit of speed has continued unabated for Colin Edwards, who has been out in Japan completing testing work for Yamaha ahead of the Suzuka 8-Hour race. Edwards was at Suzuka for two days as he prepares to compete in the prestigious event on 30th July alongside Yamaha Superbike rider Noriyuki Haga, but he is already back in Europe and gathering his strength for another important weekend of MotoGP action. "It was hard to go straight out to Japan after such a long run of races but I'm quite excited about doing the 8-Hour again, especially as it's ten years since Nori and I won it together before," reflected Edwards, who will ride for the Yamaha Blue Racing Team aboard a specially prepared YZF-R1 SP. "Testing has gone quite well this week, just getting used to being back on a Superbike again and getting reacquainted with the track. We've got a competitive package so hopefully we're going to be in a position to really go for it when we go back for the race after Laguna. "Obviously there's a lot of work to do before then and the small matter of two GPs in two weekends, including my home race! Sachsenring will be really important because we had a lot of problems with the bike at Donington that we didn't solve and we can't afford to lose any more time. The track itself has two different parts - one where it's very difficult to overtake and another which requires a massive physical effort because it works the left-hand side of your body really hard The tyres are under a lot of strain and it's vital to make the right choice so they don't overheat on the left-side. Generally I get along pretty well with the layout and there are always a lot of fans so it should be a good weekend." Davide Brivio: Still enough time Camel Yamaha Team Director Davide Brivio is hopeful that a fully fit Valentino Rossi will appear at the Sachsenring on Thursday afternoon in readiness for a renewed assault on the championship standings when the action gets underway on Friday morning. Rossi's recent progress has been hampered by his injuries but with the benefit of a brief rest behind him Brivio remains confident that the World Champion has enough races to turn the situation around and successfully defend his title for the fifth time. "Now it's funny because we almost consider a weekend off as a break!" smiles Brivio. "Anyway we are hoping that this week gives Valentino a chance to recover and arrive at the Sachsenring with his injury troubles behind him. We are expecting him to be fit from Friday morning so we are hopeful of a 'normal' weekend for both him and Colin. The situation with Valentino has delayed our recovery in the championship over the past couple of rounds but there are eight races left and we still have enough time. "Our aim is to close the gap even further before the summer break so this race and the next one at Laguna Seca are very important. As far as the Sachsenring is concerned we had some problems with our bike there the first season with Valentino but we found a good setting last season and he was able to win the race. Sincerely I think the track suits the characteristics of the 2006 version M1 but we will have to wait and see on Friday morning. I hope so!" Technically speaking: Sachsenring according to Mike Norton Located in the heartland of the former East Germany's once glorious motorcycle racing industry, the Sachsenring is built right next to the old road course, a characteristic the track shares with Brno in the nearby Czech Republic. The current circuit could not be more different, its ultra-modern nature showing in its relatively slow lap times, with slow corners juxtaposed with some dazzlingly fast ones - including a super fast downhill right hander which was added in 2003. It is this that provides the circuit's biggest challenge, for riders and technicians alike. "The Sachsenring is a difficult track - it's quite short and it's not one of Valentino's favourites," explains Mike Norton, Öhlins Suspension Technician for Valentino Rossi. "It's one of my busiest weekends because the set-up of the bike is all about finding a compromise between braking for that monstrous downhill section and handling through the slow sections. It's a bit of a trade-off really between getting Valentino good through the slow part and good enough to stop the bike at the bottom of the hill. Valentino often wins races on the brakes so he's a little bit different to most riders and you always have to have some margin in the front fork. "You also spend a lot of time on the edge of the tyre at Sachsenring, right on the angle, and again that causes us an imbalance in the bike compared to normal. But Valentino's feedback is very good compared to other riders I've worked with. You can give him a change and be miles off centre but he'll ride around it and you'll either see a good lap time or a bad one, which then gives us an idea of where to go. From that point of view he's very good to work with and he always gives you 100%." Valentino Rossi: information Age: 27 Lives: London, UK Bike: Yamaha YZR-M1 GP victories: 82 (56 x MotoGP/500cc, 14 x 250cc, 12 x 125cc) First GP victory: Czech Republic, 1996 (125cc) First GP: Malaysia, 1996 (125cc) GP starts: 166 (106 x MotoGP/500cc, 30 x 250cc, 30 x 125cc) Pole positions: 41 World Championships - 7 Grand Prix (1 x 125cc, 1 x 250cc, 1 x 500cc, 4 x MotoGP) Colin Edwards: Information Age: 32 Lives: Conroe, Texas Bike: Yamaha YZR-M1 First GP: Japan, 2003 (MotoGP) GP starts: 57 x MotoGP World Championships - 2 World Superbike Sachsenring Lap Record: Sete Gibernau (Honda) 2005, 1'23.705 Sachsenring Best Lap: Max Biaggi (Honda) 2004, 1'22.756 2005 German Grand Prix Results: 1. VALENTINO ROSSI (ITA) Yamaha, 35'04.434 2. Sete Gibernau (SPA) Honda, +0.685 3. Nicky Hayden (USA) Honda, +885 8. COLIN EDWARDS (USA) Yamaha, +14.849
Alex Asigno
Camel Yamaha team-mates Valentino Rossi and Colin Edwards will both start from the fourth row of the grid in tomorrow's British Grand Prix, after running into set-up problems during the second day of practice at Donington Park. Whilst Rossi continued to ride through the pain from the ankle and wrist injuries he sustained at Assen nine days ago, he also struggled to adapt his machine to the demands of the British track, where he has taken victory for five of the last six seasons.  Edwards was equally baffled by the lack of progress he made today after making positive initial steps yesterday. The base setting of the YZR-M1 machine has adapted swiftly to the fast and flowing nature of recent circuits such as Assen and Catalunya, but with only the morning warm-up remaining before tomorrow's 30-lap race the team still have plenty of room for improvement. A small consolation for Rossi was that Nicky Hayden (Honda), the current series leader, was also unable to challenge for a top grid position and will start in between the Yamaha pair on the fourth row in 11th spot. Colin Edwards (10th - 1'28.481; 30 laps) "The bike is really not working as well as we would like and to be perfectly honest we're not sure why. The things that worked so well last weekend don't seem to be having the same effect here and we're struggling to come up with an alternative at the moment. It's not for a lack of trying because my crew have worked really hard all day - we played about with the springs and the ride height but kept running down a blind alley. This is one of my favourite tracks and I'm used to turning up here and being in the top three from the first session - like I have for the past two years. In theory it should have been the same today but it's just not happening. Now we have to hope we can find something good in the morning, make a great start and just fight our way through!" Valentino Rossi (12th - 1'28.808; 28 laps) "We didn't expect to have so many problems here in Donington because last year our bike worked really well. It's a track where I've always been able to be really fast and go very well from the start, so it's quite disappointing. The situation with the wrist isn't so bad, but I've got some problems in the hard braking areas. For sure I can't ride how I would like to; we're not at the maximum. We've been quite confident because, since the new chassis in Le Mans, the bike has worked very well and been fast from the start, but here we can't find a good setting for some reason. Tomorrow we will try to find a way to make the situation a little better. Today with Dr Costa I decided to try with some painkillers, to understand better what we need to do for the race tomorrow. With these painkillers it seems I can ride more or less normally. Tomorrow me and my team will try to find the best possible setting to enable me to ride a good race and I will also do some more work with Dr Costa after warm-up in order to be in the best possible shape to ride." Davide Brivio - Camel Yamaha Team Director "It is a strange grid because nobody expects to see Colin, Valentino and Nicky all together on the fourth row. For sure the starting position will be the first problem for our riders to overcome tomorrow. I think with Colin has shown that he has the possibility to run a good race pace if we can just refine the setting a little more, and for Valentino we need to analyse things tonight and see if we can make it a little more comfortable - especially for his wrist. Today he was feeling stronger but he is clearly not at 100% yet so we will have to wait and see how he is tomorrow. But his problem is not just the injury - the bike setting is not where it should be yet and we are still unclear about the tyre choice for the race." The primary aim of the Tech 3 Yamaha Team is to improve at every outing and the solitary MotoGP qualifying session provided another encouraging result as Carlos Checa and James Ellison lowered their respective lap times in the battle for tomorrow's Gas British Grand Prix at the picturesque Donington Park circuit. Carlos's qualifying performance mirrored yesterday's practice sessions to be in 13th position, right behind world champion Valentino Rossi, as he spent the majority of the one-hour opportunity to concentrate on a race setup. Meanwhile, James who is keen to impress his legion of fans at his home Grand Prix, lowered his lap time from yesterday by a further second to be 16th on the grid. Carlos Checa (13th, 1'29.294, 31 laps) "We expected to do a little bit better but we are struggling at the end of the lap. We are very fast in the flowing part of the track - as fast as the leaders - so we still have a little work to do on the setup to get the Yamaha around the slower section as it is a combination of trying to get the bike to grip and steer at the slow part of the track so we will try something different for tomorrow. On the race tyres we are a lot closer than what our qualifying position indicates and we know that Dunlop are working very hard to improve the qualifying tyres so that we can get better grid positions. I'm confident that the changes we make over night will help in the area of the track we need to improve and this will assist in hopefully giving us a good result at the end of the race. After the last few races we know we have the consistency in the Dunlop tyres to race the distance and I think that some other riders on another brand of tyre will struggling to do 30 laps at the same pace in the heat. James Ellison (16th 1'30.382, 28 laps) "It hasn't been the best day for me after what has happened in recent weeks but I've taken two seconds off since yesterday morning and we are finding a pretty good setup on race tyres. We haven't finalised our setup but it has been gradually been getting better and better as front end feel is so important around here... I'm going quicker all the time I have made a good leap considering we haven't quite found that window but we're working on it. I'm one second off Carlos on race and qualifiers so that's encouraging because I know when we get that setup sorted I'll be right on him. This is also my home grand prix and I'm overwhelmed by the support I'm seeing around the track. I've spent a lot of time with the crowd this weekend and I've had nothing but loads of great support. They know I'm riding hard and trying 100% and that really means a lot to me. It's like playing football in front of a home crowd; you really want to do well, so I'm aiming to pay them back with a decent result. Herve Poncharal - Tech3 Yamaha Team Director "It was another quite good day today. The qualifying position is not as good as Assen but it is very close to the other Yamahas of Rossi and Edwards. We are not so bad on race tyres so it will be another interesting weekend. Of course, it is very important for James as it is his home Grand Prix and he wants to shine. It won't be easy but we know he will push hard all day and his lap times have improved considerably from when he took to the track yesterday morning. Our lap times to the fastest four or five are quite close on the Dunlop race tyres so if we can stay with some other factory bikes during the race we will learn even more in relation to them That is why we are here. Dunlop sent a lot of new stuff from Japan along with one of their senior engineers as this is an important race for them and an important time of the year. Everybody is already talking about next year and it is important for Dunlop to show what they can do, to show they are committed and to show where they want to go. But we will be aiming to improve our performances from today and continue to be more competitive in the race as we have proven in the last two races. We have shown that we are improving all the time in the performance of the entire package and we aim to keep that momentum going with a good result tomorrow.    Round: 9 - British Grand Prix Circuit: Donington Circuit Length: 4023 Lap Record: 1' 29.973 (Colin Edwards, 2004) Fastest Lap Ever: 1' 27.676 (Daniel Pedrosa, 2006) Date: 1 July 2006 Temp: 29ºC Session 1 :  Pos.  Rider  Manufacturer  Nat.  1st Qualifying 1  D. Pedrosa  Honda  ESP   1' 27.676   2  C. Vermeulen  Suzuki  AUS   1' 28.158   3  M. Melandri  Honda  ITA   1' 28.205   4  J. Hopkins  Suzuki  USA   1' 28.252   5  L. Capirossi  Ducati  ITA   1' 28.394   6  R. De Puniet  Kawasaki  FRA   1' 28.428   7  S. Nakano  Kawasaki  JPN   1' 28.431   8  C. Stoner  Honda  AUS   1' 28.447   9  K. Roberts  Team Roberts KR  USA   1' 28.473   10  C. Edwards  Yamaha  USA   1' 28.481   11  N. Hayden  Honda  USA   1' 28.509   12  V. Rossi  Yamaha  ITA   1' 28.808   13  C. Checa  Yamaha  ESP   1' 29.294   14  M. Tamada  Honda  JPN   1' 29.362   15  A. Hofmann  Ducati  GER   1' 29.479   16  J. Ellison  Yamaha  GBR   1' 30.382
Alex Asigno
The 'Stefan Everts and YZ450FM show' rolls on unabated within the 2006 MX1 World Championships as both the rider and motorcycle of the Yamaha Intur Sports team gained their ninth consecutive victory this weekend at Uddevalla for the Grand Prix of Sweden. The Scandinavian circuit had been reversed and some of the sections converted into more technical challenges but the hard and dusty terrain remained. 19,000 fans turned out in hot and sunny weather conditions. The 33 year old took his fifth pole position of the season (and third in a row) yesterday and did not hide his lack of fondness for the Uddevalla undulations, stating that the venue was one of his 'least favourites' of the calendar; hardly surprising as the Belgian has not won in Scandinavia since 2003. In the first moto Everts enacted a now familiar routine for his many fans by seizing the lead on the first lap and controlling the race from his pursuers. The Belgian notched his fourteenth moto win in a row despite the moto-long presence of Jonathan Barragan and a distance between the pair that fluctuated between one and three seconds for the total of a very hot 35 minute and 2 lap duration. On the last two laps it was the Intur Sports team rider who was more decisive through a pack of backmarkers and the first step in his 96th victory was complete. As in the British Grand Prix two weeks ago, Everts gave himself a harder job in the second sprint when he crashed on the first lap and had to work the entire race to catch his main rivals. Finally a fantastic performance was rounded off by overtaking leader Steve Ramon with one circulation remaining to notch his 15th moto win in succession. He now holds a career tally of 96 and is drawing ever closer to the big 'ton'. Cedric Melotte crashed in the morning warm-up period and jarred his hip. The Belgian needed painkillers to finish 11th in the first moto and pulled out of the second sprint unable to complete the distance. Everts' domination of the MX1 series can be seen in the World Championship standings. His points lead has stretched to 114, more than four motos, over Kevin Strijbos. Melotte is ninth. Livia Lancelot has taken third position in the Women's World Cup riding a YZ250F. The French youngster led the first moto until a heavy crash knocked her back to fourth. In some discomfort she made another mistake while out front in the second affair and claimed 10th. The teams can now enjoy another free weekend but machinery and spares will be packed and crated for the lengthy trip to the southern hemisphere and the Grand Prix of South Africa at the Sun City complex on July 16th. Stefan Everts, Yamaha Intur Sports Motocross Team: "This is not my favourite track here in Sweden so I knew it would be tough because in the past two years I had been struggling. However I took a good pole when everybody was close together and the first race went OK. Barragan kept close and I had a three second lead but I made a mistake in the whoops and he caught up, then we were into the lappers. It was tight at the end and I felt a bit tired because of the heat. I rested in between the races and then the second one was better. After the mistake the first few laps were pretty hard because everyone was going fast and it was not easy to pass. I saw the Suzuki guys pull away and I thought second might be possible but first was a long shot. At one stage Steve stopped gaining seconds on me and then started to lose them; that gave me some wings! I pulled harder and it was close. It was exciting for the crowd." Cedric Melotte, Yamaha Intur Sports Motocross Team: "I had a stupid crash this morning and needed to take some painkillers to enter the first race. Every time I sat down on the bike I had a lot of pain in my back and around my spine. I found it difficult to use my feet and I was fighting too much with the bike today. I preferred to stop in the second race because the pain was too much." Michele Rinaldi, Team Manager: "It was not an easy weekend for Stefan on this track and he was not the clear fastest. The first heat was OK and he made a very exciting race in the second one. He looked to have reached a highest position of third but Ramon slowed down and he picked up his speed and took a fantastic result for him, us and for Yamaha." Race classification MX1 Round: 9 - 2006 GP of Uddevalla, Sweden Circuit: Uddevalla Circuit Length: 1750 Race 1: 22 Laps  Pos.  Rider Manufacturer  Nat. Total Time  1   S. Everts Yamaha  BEL  38' 45.263  2   J. Barragan KTM  ESP  +4.324  3   J. Coppins Honda  NZL  +14.111  4   S. Ramon Suzuki  BEL  +23.370  5   T. Leok Kawasaki  EST  +24.941  6   K. Strijbos Suzuki  BEL  +54.231  7   G. Crockard Honda  GBR  +59.603  8   K. De Dycker Honda  BEL  +1' 8.611  9   J. Garcia Vico Honda  ESP  +1' 13.560  10   J. Noble Honda  GBR  +1' 18.441  11   C. Melotte Yamaha  BEL  +1' 24.967  12   B. Jorgensen Honda  DNK  +1' 30.351  13   J. Bill Yamaha  GBR  +1' 34.027  14   M. Van Daele Honda  BEL  +1' 38.964  15   D. Theybers Suzuki  BEL  +1' 40.610  16   A. Pyrhonen TM  FIN  +1 lap(s)  17   K. Nemeth Suzuki  HUN  +1 lap(s)  18   J. Lindhe KTM  SWE  +1 lap(s)  19   C. Desalle  Suzuki  BEL  +1 lap(s)  20   M. Kovalainen Honda  FIN  +1 lap(s)  Race 2: 22 Laps  Pos.  Rider Manufacturer  Nat. Total Time  1   S. Everts Yamaha  BEL  39' 54.109  2   S. Ramon Suzuki  BEL  +3.881  3   K. Strijbos Suzuki  BEL  +17.410  4   G. Crockard Honda  GBR  +22.967  5   J. Coppins Honda  NZL  +30.702  6   K. Nemeth Suzuki  HUN  +38.034  7   J. Garcia Vico Honda  ESP  +59.738  8   J. Noble Honda  GBR  +1' 7.798  9   K. De Dycker Honda  BEL  +1' 15.851  10   J. Bill Yamaha  GBR  +1' 18.647  11   M. Priem Yamaha  BEL  +1' 21.586  12   L. Freibergs Suzuki  LVA  +1' 27.213  13   M. Kovalainen Honda  FIN  +1' 30.737  14   A. Pyrhonen TM  FIN  +1' 36.841  15   N. Bradshaw Suzuki  GBR  +1' 37.859  16   A. Salvini Suzuki  ITA  +1' 44.060  17   T. Allier Kawasaki  FRA  +1' 55.534  18   C. Desalle  Suzuki  BEL  +1 lap(s)  19   B. Jorgensen Honda  DNK  +1 lap(s)  20   A. Bobkovs Honda  LVA  +1 lap(s)  Championship standings MX1 Pos.  Rider  Manufacturer  Nat. Points  1   Stefan Everts Yamaha  BEL 442  2   Kevin Strijbos Suzuki  BEL 328  3   Steve Ramon Suzuki  BEL 294  4   Tanel Leok Kawasaki  EST 294  5   Ken De Dycker Honda  BEL 292  6   Jonathan Barragan KTM  ESP 212  7   Javier Garcia Vico Honda  ESP 165  8   Pascal Leuret  Honda  FRA 159  9   Cedric Melotte Yamaha  BEL 157  10   Manuel Priem Yamaha  BEL 146  11   Julien Bill Yamaha  GBR 145  12   James Noble Honda  GBR 132  13   Brian Jorgensen Honda  DNK 131  14   Marvin Van Daele Honda  BEL 127  15   Antti Pyrhonen TM  FIN 106  16   Sebastien Tortelli KTM  FRA 99  17   Gordon Crockard Honda  GBR 86  18   Danny Theybers Suzuki  BEL 84  19   Joshua Coppins Honda  NZL 72  20   Alex Salvini Suzuki  ITA 55  Manufacturers standings MX1 Pos. Manufacturer Points  1  Yamaha 442  2  Suzuki 369  3  Honda 317  4  Kawasaki 298  5  KTM 267  6  TM 106  MX2 : Cairoli not rewarded for challenging ride in Sweden Round: 9 - 2006 GP of Uddevalla, Sweden Circuit: Uddevalla Date: 2 July 2006 Crowd: 19000 Temp: 30ºC Weather: Sunny World Champion Antonio Cairoli played a fundamental part in a fantastic first MX2 moto at Uddevalla today for the Grand Prix of Sweden but his runner-up position was tempered by two crashes in the second outing of round nine that lowered him to sixth overall. The Uddevalla course was perhaps at its toughest for the MX2 events. Watered and very slick before the first race of the day and then worn and bumpy starting the second sprint after lunch, the terrain was far from easy and physically demanding for the riders. Cairoli wowed the 19,000 attendance, bathed in 30c plus temperatures, with a re-enactment of his electric battles from Italy and Great Britain with his countryman David Philippaerts. The De Carli Yamaha representative pulled through from a mediocre start to pass Philippaerts and Christophe Pourcel and lead but could not escape the attentions of Philippaerts. The entertaining dice - with the riders using different lines and aggressive styles - went down to the last lap and the final corner when Philippaerts charged around the outside of the banked right hander to snatch victory by a tenth of a second. Later in the day Cairoli went down on the first lap and had to dispel a lot of energy to move up to the tenth. The Italian was fatigued by the end of the twenty two laps and made another mistake less than two minutes from the finish for a final standing of twelfth. Kenneth Gundersen demonstrated he was on good form by winning the second qualification heat yesterday. However the Norweigan, cheered on by many fans, family and friends, was unable to find the same speed in both of the motos as his stamina mysteriously deserted him. The Ricci Racing rider was eighth overall with eighth and tenth positions despite some decent starts. Team-mate Alessio Chiodi was eighth and thirteenth for a final standing of ninth in one of the former triple World Champion's less effective weekends. 'Chicco' is still feeling the effects of his harsh Japanese crash and subsequent knee injury and adopted a cautious approach on a tricky Scandinavian surface. Bike-it Yamaha UK Dixon Racing's Billy Mackenzie was trawling through the lower half of the top ten in the opening throes of the first moto until a small slip halted his progress by three positions. Several laps later he had to retire with a technical problem. Mackenzie again went down in the second moto but grabbed ninth position for minor consolation. The World Championship picture shows Cairoli in third trailing Pourcel by 48 points. Mackenzie is sixth and some distance away from Tyla Rattray in fifth. The tenth round of the series will be enacted at the plush Sun City complex for the Grand Prix of South Africa in two weeks time. Antonio Cairoli, Team Yamaha De Carli: "The first moto was really good but I did not have the energy to make a gap over Philippaerts. I have been training in the sand this week and I felt some arm-pump at this track; it was hard going over the bumps. After fifteen minutes I felt better and set a good rhythm over the others. On the last corner he went very fast on the outside and won by less than a second. I thought I had the race because he went crazy and straight on into the green fence. I don't think it was correct but Philippaerts is a very strong and fast guy. It was OK for the Championship but the second moto was a disaster. I started badly and then crashed on the first lap. I recovered to tenth but then crashed again with two laps to go because I was so tired and could not see the line. Pourcel winning that second heat was not good for the Championship. I want this title and must train harder to make it happen." Kenneth Gundersen, Yamaha Team Ricci: "Everything felt so good yesterday and today I had no energy at all. I was completely empty and it is so frustrating because I had some good starts but I was finished. I don't know what it is but I am not feeling good. I think I have some allergy. I will go home now and see the doctor. I was also training pretty hard these last two weeks and it may have affected me today. I will get some rest before South Africa." Alessio Chiodi, Yamaha Team Ricci: "I didn't have a good feeling on the track mainly because of my knee. I was being too cautious and I felt like I didn't have complete control. The knee still hurts so I am afraid of catching it again. My start was good in the first moto but in the next race I crashed after ten minutes and my confidence slipped. It is not a good day but I feel like my condition is slowly getting better." Race classification MX2 Round: 9 - 2006 GP of Uddevalla, Sweden Circuit: Uddevalla Circuit Length: 1750 Race 1: 22 Laps  Pos.  Rider Manufacturer  Nat. Total Time  1   D. Philippaerts KTM  ITA  39' 17.217  2   A. Cairoli Yamaha  ITA  +0.108  3   C. Pourcel Kawasaki  FRA  +9.254  4   M. De Reuver KTM  NED  +18.357  5   T. Rattray KTM  RSA  +23.307  6   G. Swanepoel Kawasaki  RSA  +39.353  7   T. Searle Kawasaki  GBR  +48.095  8   A. Chiodi Yamaha  ITA  +56.679  9   R. Goncalves KTM  POR  +1' 2.049  10   K. Gundersen Yamaha  NOR  +1' 3.657  11   C. Nunn KTM  GBR  +1' 14.223  12   A. Leok Yamaha  EST  +1' 21.815  13   N. Aubin Kawasaki  FRA  +1' 21.903  14   E. Remes  Honda  FIN  +1' 37.414  15   J. Wing KTM  SWE  +1' 46.161  16   C. Campano KTM  ESP  +1' 51.872  17   J. Dougan Honda  GBR  +2' 0.809  18   A. Pellegrini Suzuki  ITA  +1 lap(s)  19   J. Tarroux Kawasaki  FRA  +1 lap(s)  20   P A. Renet Honda  FRA  +1 lap(s)  Race 2: 22 Laps  Pos.  Rider Manufacturer  Nat. Total Time  1   C. Pourcel Kawasaki  FRA  40' 13.934  2   D. Philippaerts KTM  ITA  +11.074  3   T. Searle Kawasaki  GBR  +33.578  4   G. Swanepoel Kawasaki  RSA  +34.886  5   M. De Reuver KTM  NED  +40.170  6   D. Guarneri Yamaha  ITA  +43.236  7   C. Nunn KTM  GBR  +48.102  8   K. Gundersen Yamaha  NOR  +51.551  9   B. MacKenzie Yamaha  GBR  +52.057  10   S. Pourcel Kawasaki  FRA  +1' 6.734  11   M. Monni KTM  ITA  +1' 9.925  12   A. Cairoli Yamaha  ITA  +1' 13.686  13   A. Chiodi Yamaha  ITA  +1' 14.994  14   C. Campano KTM  ESP  +1' 35.092  15   N. Aubin Kawasaki  FRA  +1' 47.862  16   P A. Renet Honda  FRA  +1' 53.417  17   T. Church Kawasaki  GBR  +1 lap(s)  18   J. Wing KTM  SWE  +1 lap(s)  19   E. Remes  Honda  FIN  +1 lap(s)  20   X. Boog Yamaha  FRA  +1 lap(s)  Championship standings MX2 Pos.  Rider  Manufacturer  Nat. Points  1   Christophe Pourcel Kawasaki  FRA 350  2   David Philippaerts KTM  ITA 304  3   Antonio Cairoli Yamaha  ITA 302  4   Marc De Reuver KTM  NED 284  5   Tyla Rattray KTM  RSA 261  6   Billy MacKenzie Yamaha  GBR 213  7   Carl Nunn KTM  GBR 205  8   Tommy Searle Kawasaki  GBR 196  9   Kenneth Gundersen Yamaha  NOR 194  10   Gareth Swanepoel Kawasaki  RSA 181  11   Sébastien Pourcel Kawasaki  FRA 180  12   Rui Goncalves KTM  POR 169  13   Alessio Chiodi Yamaha  ITA 164  14   Davide Guarneri Yamaha  ITA 127  15   Manuel Monni KTM  ITA 99  16   Luigi Seguy Yamaha  FRA 94  17   Anthony Boissière Yamaha  FRA 87  18   Aigar Leok Yamaha  EST 73  19   Matti Seistola Honda  FIN 69  20   Pierre-Alexandre Renet Honda  FRA 56  Manufacturers standings MX2 Pos. Manufacturer Points  1  KTM 412  2  Yamaha 388  3  Kawasaki 367  4  Honda 139  5  Suzuki 16 
Alex Asigno
Camel Yamaha Team rider Valentino Rossi produced one of the performances of his life today as he rode through the pain of hand and ankle injuries to take a simply sensational second place in the British Grand Prix. Roared on by a partisan local crowd, who have taken the Italian to their hearts after a string of victories at this circuit, Rossi started steadily from twelfth on the grid but soon got into his rhythm and began passing riders with the flamboyance and determination that has already taken him to five consecutive MotoGP World Championship titles. With the series leader before today's action, Nicky Hayden (Honda), struggling to seventh place today, Rossi's incredible charge comes into sharper focus with a glance at the championship standings. With eight rounds remaining the Yamaha man trails the American by just 35 points and the destiny of the title is now back in his hands. Rossi remains in third place overall, however, after a second victory of the season for Dani Pedrosa (Honda) saw the Spaniard consolidate second spot. Rossi's team-mate Colin Edwards also produced a determined ride as he made up four places from his qualifying position to take sixth despite also struggling to find the correct set-up for his machine during practice. The American now heads to Japan to prepare for the Suzuka 8-Hour race he will contest on 30th July, before returning for the next round of the MotoGP season at Sachsenring, Germany, two weeks from now. Valentino Rossi (2nd; + 3.864) "That was an amazing race and a very important result for me. I am in a better position as far as the points are concerned and that is more important than winning the race. To be honest after Assen I wasn't sure if it would be possible to fight for a top result here but I wanted it so much because Donington is a very special place to me and the fans give me such incredible support every year. We were really surprised that the bike didn't work on Friday but the whole team worked really hard to find the right setting and the right tyre. After qualifying we decided we would try some new things this morning but the wet warm-up meant we had no chance to do that so we just took a gamble with the setting and it worked. It took me eight laps to understand just how good my pace could be and from that point I realised that my goal had to be the podium. I had some hard battles along the way but when I got up to Melandri it got even harder! We had real fun and neither of us wanted to back down. He was faster than me in some places and I was faster than him in others. In the end it came down to the last hairpin and we both braked around 20 or 30 metres deeper than normal. We both ran wide but luckily Marco went even wider than me and I was able to get in from of him. I finished second but today it felt like a win." Colin Edwards (6th; + 21.710) "It just hasn't clicked for us this weekend and I'm really disappointed, even though sixth place brings in a few decent points. Last year everything came easily here but from the first practice it was clear that it wasn't going to be the case this time around and we never really found our way, it was as simple as that. The bike wasn't too bad for the race and I could catch other riders easily but we didn't have the set-up to get past people on the brakes. That made life really difficult and the race was a struggle from start to finish. It's been a hard few weeks but now I have a bit of a change of scenery as I will head out to Japan to prepare for the 8 hour. I hope we'll be in better position to fight at Sachsenring in a couple of week's time." Davide Brivio - Camel Yamaha Team Director "This was a very important race because despite Valentino's injury we have been able to close the gap to Nicky Hayden in the championship. Valentino said it was more like a victory and the feeling in the team is the same because of the physical condition he was in and the fact he started from so far back on the grid. There was never any doubt about Valentino's qualities but he has performed like a true World Champion over a difficult few weeks and he deserves a rest now. Our engineers also did a great job to put everything together in time, they have also been working hard and will enjoy a couple of days off before the next race. Now we have eight races left and 35 points to make up before Valencia." Under a blazing summer sun, the Tech 3 Yamaha Team continued the positive progress of the last three weeks to claim some more points with another impressive result to add to the encouraging race finishes of the previous three meetings. Carlos Checa fought hard throughout the race to claim 10th after 30 gruelling laps while team mate James Ellison, who was keen to impress his supporters, also picked up a few confidence-inspiring points as he finished 14th. With the inspiring results of the last few weeks, due in part to the improved consistency of the Dunlop tyres, the Tech 3 Yamaha Team has more than doubled its points haul from the first six races of the year. Carlos Checa (10th, Fastest lap 1'30.496) "It was a very hard race and I was pushing all the time. We changed some things from yesterday but in the warm up we couldn't test them because of the wet track. At the start of the race with the different settings it took a few laps before I could get the good feeling from the front and rear tyres but then I got the confidence to start pushing the pace. It was not easy to pass Tamada at first, but when I got the rhythm my pace was a bit faster than him and I was able to overtake him and get away. This was a good feeling for me to pass a factory Honda and then to be able to catch De Puniet and pass him as well. It was a question mark for me to know the endurance of the tyre because of the changed settings but basically we've been growing and learning more about the set-up with the tyres as the Dunlops improve. We must be satisfied with the result as the starting point here wasn't easy. We made good progress through the weekend and I'm happy with the job that the mechanics and the team did, as well as the performance of the Dunlop tyres. I wish, I hope and I want to keep going like this and improve overall to get even better results in the next races." James Ellison (14th Fastest lap 1'31.402) "I got a good start but after that it all went a bit downhill. We made a few changes after qualifying so we didn't get a chance to test them in the morning warm up because of the rain so as a result during the race we didn't have any grip in the rear. Once we got a bit of wear on the edge of the tyre we started dropping back which was disappointing as I was running wide everywhere. Early in the race I was in front of Carlos and I wanted to stay there to have a good fight with him but it didn't happen. On the positive side I think we have learnt a lot more about the setup that will help us in a couple of weeks with the nature of the Sachsenring track where we go to next. I was happy to have raced and finish in the points in front of the British crowd but I wish I could've done better Herve Poncharal - Tech3 Yamaha Team Director "This was another good weekend after Catalunya and Assen and for sure these three races have been the best since we started the season. Carlos had a good pace in the race. He passed Tamada on a factory Honda with Michelins and De Puniet on a factory Kawasaki with Bridgestones, which is good for us. The last 10 laps he was lapping quicker than Hopkins and Capirossi in front of him so we are happy with the consistency and durability, but definitely we have to qualify better, because the gap we have after five laps - even though we are lapping the same as the guys in front - if we are seven or eight seconds behind them, we know there is no way we can catch them in a class like MotoGP. I'm very happy with Carlos as he was pushing 100% from the first lap to the end. It was really good for him to beat the Honda and come back on De Puniet, who was more than five seconds away at one stage, and put him behind us. It's another top 10 finish that was almost impossible to dream of at the start of the year. I'm also happy to see James in the points. For sure he is little disappointed about not doing better in his home grand prix but he also had quite a stable pace but it's altogether a good result and it's a good way to end these three races in a row that have been tough for everybody. We got some good points and now Carlos is equal with Vermeulen so the championship is now halfway through and I think if we can continue the way we have been in the last few races and reduce the gap to the leaders a bit more the second part of the championship will be quite exciting."    Race classification MotoGP Round: 9 - British Grand Prix Circuit: Donington Circuit Length: 4023 Lap Record: 1' 28.714 (Daniel Pedrosa, 2006) Fastest Lap Ever:  1' 27.676 (Daniel Pedrosa, 2006) Race: 30 Laps  Pos.  Rider Manufacturer  Nat. Total Time  1   D. Pedrosa Honda  ESP  44' 54.878  2   V. Rossi Yamaha  ITA  +3.864  3   M. Melandri Honda  ITA  +4.016  4   C. Stoner Honda  AUS  +5.776  5   K. Roberts Team Roberts KR  USA  +9.596  6   C. Edwards Yamaha  USA  +21.710  7   N. Hayden Honda  USA  +25.764  8   J. Hopkins Suzuki  USA  +29.034  9   L. Capirossi Ducati  ITA  +35.606  10   C. Checa Yamaha  ESP  +40.442  11   M. Tamada Honda  JPN  +41.062  12   R. De Puniet Kawasaki  FRA  +42.197  13   A. Hofmann Ducati  GER  +51.454  14   J. Ellison Yamaha  GBR  +1' 17.804  15   J. Cardoso Ducati  ESP  +1 lap(s)  16   C. Vermeulen Suzuki  AUS  +1 lap(s)  Fastest Race Lap:   Pos.  Rider Manufacturer  Nat. Total Time  1   D. Pedrosa Honda  ESP  1' 28.714  Championship standings MotoGP Pos.  Rider  Manufacturer  Nat. Points  1   Nicky Hayden Honda  USA 153  2   Daniel Pedrosa Honda  ESP 127  3   Valentino Rossi Yamaha  ITA 118  4   Marco Melandri Honda  ITA 114  5   Loris Capirossi Ducati  ITA 107  6   Casey Stoner Honda  AUS 91  7   Colin Edwards Yamaha  USA 73  8   Kenny Roberts Team Roberts KR  USA 66  9   Makato Tamada Honda  JPN 59  10   John Hopkins Suzuki  USA 58  11   Shinya Nakano Kawasaki  JPN 57  12   Toni Elias Honda  ESP 53  13   Sete Gibernau Ducati  ESP 44  14   Carlos Checa Yamaha  ESP 37  15   Chris Vermeulen Suzuki  AUS 37  18   James Ellison Yamaha  GBR 14  Manufacturers standings MotoGP Pos. Manufacturer Points  1  Honda 201  2  Yamaha 147  3  Ducati 116  4  Suzuki 72  5  Team Roberts KR 66  6  Kawasaki 61  Team standings MotoGP Pos. Team Points  1  Repsol Honda Team 280  2  Camel Yamaha Team 191  3  Fortuna Honda Team 167  4  Ducati Marlboro Team 158  5  Rizla Suzuki 95  6  Honda LCR 91  7  Kawasaki Racing Team 74  8  Team Roberts KR 66  9  Konica Minolta Honda 59  10  Tech3 Yamaha 51  11  Pramac D'Antin 18
Alex Asigno
After five days of intense physiotherapy on cracked bones in his right wrist and left foot, Camel Yamaha Team rider Valentino Rossi returned to MotoGP action for the first true test of his fitness since the Dutch TT in today's free practice sessions for the British Grand Prix. Rossi took to the Donington Park circuit with heavy strapping on his wrist but was able to complete 43 laps over the two sessions, running consistently at the top end of the timing screens before settling for the seventh fastest lap overall.  With Rossi focusing on adapting the bike both to the demands of the circuit and the diminishing limitations of his physical condition, his team-mate Colin Edwards worked diligently beside him on the set-up of his own YZR-M1 machine. With his last-corner battle for victory at Assen still fresh in the mind, today represented a perfect opportunity for the Texan to turn the page and focus on another podium assault in Sunday's ninth round of the season. Edwards lapped fourth fastest in the morning session and slipped to sixth in the afternoon, but after completing 53 laps he has plenty of crucial data to work from ahead of tomorrow's single qualifying session. COLIN EDWARDS (6th - 1'29.379; 53 laps) "To be honest my pace today wasn't quite as good as I had expected but we're still looking for a few things from the set-up that we'll work on tomorrow. We had a couple of problems today but by the end of the second session it was starting to come. Basically we need to get it turning into the corners a little better and there are some sections of the track where we're getting some vibrations, but it is nothing major. We played around with the tyres a little today but we've got plenty still to do and need to get our heads down in the morning before chasing a lap time in qualifying." VALENTINO ROSSI (7th - 1'29.416; 43 laps) "I'm happy to be riding again and enjoying myself on the bike. Assen was a very tough weekend for me but my physiotherapist has done a good job and I feel better, although still not at 100%. I still have some pain, especially under braking, but the mobility is much better and this is important. There are three hard braking areas at this track where I am struggling and to be honest I don't know how this will be in the race; I was losing strength towards the end of the afternoon session today and this could be a problem. As far as the lap time is concerned we need to make up a few tenths in certain areas but I think we can do this with a few changes to the bike. I will get some more treatment tonight and keep some ice on my wrist and we will see tomorrow." DAVIDE BRIVIO - CAMEL YAMAHA TEAM DIRECTOR "We're still working with both riders on the setting of the bike and it has been good to have a 'normal' first day - gathering data without anything spectacular happening and no dramas to worry about either. The good news is that Valentino can ride without too much pain or discomfort and he is trying his best to manage his condition and set fast laps. We know we have to be faster but we are still fine-tuning the set-up and have plenty of room for improvement tomorrow. The only question mark is how Valentino can hold up over the course of a race but we can't know that until Sunday. We'll just set up the bike and let the Clinica Mobile set up the rider!" The British Grand Prix at the historic Donington Park circuit is the third race in successive weekends for the MotoGP competitors and while it may be tiring, it has resulted in a steady progress of improved performances for the French Tech 3 Yamaha Team. Carlos Checa's overall lap times continue to get closer to the leaders and he is 12th fastest after the opening two free practices and in front of factory riders Chris Vermeulen (Suzuki), Randy de Puniet (Kawasaki) and Alex Hoffman (Ducati). At present less than a second separates the top 13 riders. His team mate, James Ellison, is also continuing down his own development path with the Tech 3 Yamaha and a new generation of Dunlop tyres to be in 17th position at his home race. Carlos Checa (12th, 1'29.842, 48 laps) "This track is quite difficult as it is very different from the beginning to the end and we seem to be having our biggest problems at the end of the lap. We have been testing a few different rear tyres and by the end of the session I think we have found a pretty good pace to work on. On the bike we started the day using pretty standard base settings like we used in Assen but it is not working here so we will have to be making a few changes and try something a bit different. We have to get some more weight over the front. It is getting better but it is still not enough as it is difficult to get it to steer quick enough. We have some things to try tomorrow and I am quite confident that we can improve. It is also a little hard having different tyres to test as we have to keep the same bike settings so we can tell the difference in the tyres. James Ellison (17th 1'31.306, 49 laps) "We have made a few more changes to the frame as we continue to make the bike better to ride but today I spent all of my time on it to compare it to the bike that I have really settled into. It has given us a few things to work on and a new direction to go, to compare to what I found at Barcelona and Assen and the feeling I'm getting from my preferred bike. I'm feeling pretty good after the crash I had last week. I thought my ankle might play up a bit but while I'm on the bike I'm fine, it's only when I rest and start to think about it that I feel anything. We have certainly learnt a few things today. My aim was to get into the 1'30 second bracket. We didn't get quite there but we were working on other things so I can't be too disappointed. I improved my morning time by well over a second so no doubt we will be making a few changes overnight to get an even quicker time and move up the grid like we did last week. Herve Poncharal - Tech3 Yamaha Team Director "This is a very special weekend for many reasons for the Tech 3 Yamaha Team. The first one is that it is the third race in just over two weeks so I think everyone is feeling a little tired. The second reason is that it is the home Grand Prix for James and also for Dunlop our tyre supplier and major partner this year. The entire team, including Carlos and James, went to visit the Dunlop facility in Birmingham on Tuesday and we were all quite impressed by what we saw with the factory and the speed at what they're putting into MotoGP tyre development. It was good for all of us to see how difficult their mission is and how much they are involved in the project. We have quite a few Japanese here from Dunlop this weekend to get a feel for the paddock and this will no doubt help things as well. This is good as we haven't seen this since the winter test and confirms to the team the efforts that Dunlop are endeavouring to accomplish with this MotoGP project. It's been a good day in practice as well as Carlos is within 0.8 sec of the fastest lap time and both riders took a second of their morning's time. We are losing most of our time in the fourth split at the end of the lap so we have to discover why this is happening because in the other three splits we are less than a third of a second off the leading riders. So far we are quite happy. We have been able to do quite a few laps and the weather looks very good for the weekend so -unlike other races - it will allow us to use all the time possible to work. James seems to be having a bit of difficulty understanding the bike during the sessions but I'm sure we have found the reasons now after speaking with him and he will have a much better time tomorrow. We really want him to do well in his home grand prix. Round: 9 - British Grand Prix Circuit: Donington Circuit Length: 4023 Lap Record: 1' 29.973 (Colin Edwards, 2004) Fastest Lap Ever: 1' 27.897 (Valentino Rossi, 2005) Date: 30 June 2006 Free Practice :  Pos.  Rider  Manufacturer  Nat.  Free Practice  1  D. Pedrosa  Honda  ESP   1' 28.970   2  J. Hopkins  Suzuki  USA   1' 29.025   3  C. Stoner  Honda  AUS   1' 29.064   4  M. Melandri  Honda  ITA   1' 29.196   5  S. Nakano  Kawasaki  JPN   1' 29.275   6  C. Edwards  Yamaha  USA   1' 29.379   7  V. Rossi  Yamaha  ITA   1' 29.416   8  K. Roberts  Team Roberts KR  USA   1' 29.544   9  N. Hayden  Honda  USA   1' 29.557   10  M. Tamada  Honda  JPN   1' 29.806   11  C. Checa  Yamaha  ESP   1' 29.842   12  C. Vermeulen  Suzuki  AUS   1' 29.941   13  R. De Puniet  Kawasaki  FRA   1' 30.342   14  A. Hofmann  Ducati  GER   1' 30.387   15  M. Fabrizio  Honda  ITA   1' 30.762   16  J. Ellison  Yamaha  GBR   1' 31.306
Alex Asigno
The Camel Yamaha Team head for the third race in as many weekends looking to end a gruelling run of races on a high as the MotoGP World Championship arrives in Great Britain this weekend. Following on from the elation of victory at Catalunya and the double disappointment of an injury for Valentino Rossi and a final-bend crash for Colin Edwards at Assen, the Donington Park race represents an ideal opportunity for both riders to bounce back before a well earned two-week break. Rossi, in particular, is in desperate need of a boost after conceding further ground to Nicky Hayden (Honda) at the top of the World Championship standings. The Italian fought bravely to eighth place despite riding with cracked bones in his hand and foot at the Dutch TT, but crucially he now trails the American by 46 points in the championship. Rossi has won seven times in all classes at Donington Park, one of his favourite MotoGP circuits, but a return to the top step of the podium will be a huge challenge as he battles to recover his fitness and as many points as possible. Edwards is sure to be given a hero's welcome by his army of British fans, thousands of whom cheered him to the verge of his first MotoGP victory just across the North Sea at Assen last Saturday. The British Grand Prix ranks equally with the Dutch TT as Edwards' most successful event in the premier-class, having finished second there two years ago and narrowly missing the podium last year, so he has high hopes that he can bounce back from that disappointment with another top performance. There is a slight change to the order of the races this weekend, with the main event taking place after the 250cc race but before the 125cc race. The red lights will go out for the MotoGP riders at 1pm local time, although this will not affect the regular schedule for fans around the world since it still coincides with the standard starting time of 2pm CET. VALENTINO ROSSI: A RACE AGAINST TIME MotoGP World Champion Valentino Rossi returns to his country of residence this weekend keeping the fingers on his good hand crossed that he will be in sufficiently good shape to challenge at the front of the field once again. The Italian left Assen on Saturday evening with his physiotherapist Marco Montanari, who will remain by his side for the rest of the week as he tries to recover as much strength as possible before the crucial ninth round of an intriguing championship. "We have a lot of work to do to improve the situation with my wrist and try to reduce the swelling and heal the bone as much as possible," explains Rossi. "It would be better to have a month now to recover but we are racers and we have to go straight to the next race, which is a pity. Anyway I hope we can improve it as much as possible so that I can ride well at Donington. For sure I won't be at full fitness, but we have five days to improve. Colin showed that the bike is working really well so hopefully it will be like this at Donington also for both of us. "Donington is like a second home Grand Prix for me and I hope the fans give me all the usual support because I need all the help I can get right now. It has been one of my favourite tracks ever since I rode the 125 there for the first time in 1996 and I have a lot of good memories - especially my first win with the 500 in 2001 and victories with Yamaha for the last two years. It's going to be a big challenge for me to stand on the top of the podium on Sunday, but as long as my hand continues to improve throughout the week, then I think we can try!" COLIN EDWARDS: A CHANCE FOR REVENGE The British Grand Prix can't come soon enough for Colin Edwards, who heads to another of his favourite tracks looking to bury his Assen nightmare with that elusive first MotoGP win. The amiable American refuses to dwell on the final corner calamity that denied him a visit to the top step of the podium in Holland as he looks on the positive side of a weekend that should provide the platform to another bid for the winners' champagne in England. "I can't deny that I'm still disappointed after what happened at Assen, but now I have to put that behind me and focus on Donington, which is one of my best tracks and a place I have always gone well," says Edwards. "I have to forget about what happened at the end of the race in Assen and focus on the fact that my bike worked perfectly all weekend, I was consistently fast and I was able to do a really great race up to the last chicane. "Now we have to hope that the situation is the same at Donington because my aim is to go out there and get my revenge! I want to make up for the disappointment for the team and my fans, and give them something to cheer about again. I always have loads of fans in the UK, a lot of them were there for me at Assen so let's hope they're all back to cheer me on again this weekend." DAVIDE BRIVIO: A LONG BATTLE AHEAD Camel Yamaha Team Director Davide Brivio is also in good spirits despite a weekend of drama and ultimate disappointment in Holland. The Italian knows that he could not have asked for much more from his riders on Saturday and he is confident that a similar level of effort from the whole team this weekend will finally reap the rewards they deserve. "Hopefully this week before Donington will be enough time for Valentino to make a decent recovery and we all hope to see him in better shape when he comes into the garage for practice on Friday morning," says Brivio. "Assen was a big disappointment for us in lots of ways but with Valentino in better shape and Colin in good form we have a chance to put things right at a circuit both riders like and in a country where they are both very popular. "Whatever progress Valentino makes this week we know he will not be at 100% but we expect him to show the same fight and determination that took him into the points at Assen. It was important he did that but the gap to Nicky Hayden at the top of the championship is significant and we can't afford to let him get too far ahead. He is a strong rider and I think it will be a hard push now until the final race of the season at Valencia." TECHNICALLY SPEAKING: DONINGTON ACCORDING TO MATTEO FLAMIGNI A dramatic viewing experience, Donington Park sits inside an amphitheatre style setting, with the spectator bankings ringing around the outside. The prevalent off-camber nature of the track is one of the main factors at play during the British Grand Prix, with a large tendency for the front tyre to push, making the right, left, right flick down the Craner Curve section something of a high tension rollercoaster ride. This sequence of sweeping corners is one of the fastest in the world and, according to Valentino Rossi's Data Technician Matteo Flamigni, it is a place the top riders can really make the difference. "I don't know of any other circuit in the world with a series of corners as fast as Craner Curves," says Flamigni. "The rider is more important than the machine here because it takes a lot of courage and skill to make up time through the first section of the track. In any case the bike setting must be stable enough to give the rider confidence at speeds of around 200km/h and agile enough to cope with the quick changes of direction. "Donington is like two circuits in one. After the fast opening two sections the second half of the lap is much slower because of the last section, which has two hard braking zones. Turn nine in particular is crucial because the riders go from something like 280km/h to around 60km/h, so the bike has to be good under braking - especially because these are key points to overtake at the end of the race. Setting up a motorcycle is always a question of making the right compromises but at Donington Park this is particularly true. The best bike out there will have the most accurate balance between performance in these two contrasting halves of the track." VALENTINO ROSSI: INFORMATION Age: 27 Lives: London, UK Bike: Yamaha YZR-M1 GP victories: 82 (56 x MotoGP/500cc, 14 x 250cc, 12 x 125cc) First GP victory: Czech Republic, 1996 (125cc) First GP: Malaysia, 1996 (125cc) GP starts: 165 (105 x MotoGP/500cc, 30 x 250cc, 30 x 125cc) Pole positions: 41 World Championships - 7 Grand Prix (1 x 125cc, 1 x 250cc, 1 x 500cc, 4 x MotoGP) COLIN EDWARDS: INFORMATION Age: 32 Lives: Conroe, Texas Bike: Yamaha YZR-M1 First GP: Japan, 2003 (MotoGP) GP starts: 56 x MotoGP World Championships - 2 World Superbike Donington Lap Record: Colin Edwards (Honda) 2004, 1'29.973 Donington Best Lap: Valentino Rossi (Yamaha) 2005, 1'27.897 2005 Results (Wet Race): 1. VALENTINO ROSSI (ITA) Yamaha, 52.58.675 2. Kenny Roberts (USA) Suzuki, +3.169 3. Alex Barros (BRA) Honda, +4.006 4. COLIN EDWARDS (USA) Yamaha, +10.292
Alex Asigno
Yamaha has finalized its plans for round five of the 2006 Endurance World Championship, the Suzuka 8-hour race held at the Japanese circuit on 30 July. A three-team entry will be headed by the YAMAHA BLUE RACING team, which will feature riders Colin Edwards and Noriyuki Haga riding a specially prepared YZF-R1 SP. The event will mark a reunion of the rider pairing which won the event in 1996, when they rode a Yamaha YZF750SP. Edwards is currently riding a Yamaha YZR-M1 for the factory's MotoGP team and is seen as one of the most consistent riders in the class. The American has won the Suzuka 8-Hour three times and the Superbike World Championship in 2000 and 2002. Haga is currently second in the Superbike World Championship, where he competes on a Yamaha YZF-R1 for the Yamaha Motor Italia squad. It will be Haga's first entry in the 8-hour since 2001. The other two factory-supported entries are the YSP Racing Team sponsored by PRESTO Corporation and Team Cha-llenger. The YSP Racing Team sponsored by PRESTO Corporation will enter the pair of Katsuyuki Nakasuga, who is competing this season in the JSB1000 class of the All Japan Championships, and Shinichi Nakatomi, who rides for Yamaha Motor France in the Superbike World Championship. Team Cha-llenger will enter with riders Norihiko Fujiwara, who has ridden in the 8-hour almost every year since 1992, and Nobuyuki Osaki, a Japanese supersport championship competitor. Many of the Endurance World Championship regulars will also make the trip to Japan, including Yamaha Austria Racing Team and Yamaha Phase One Endurance, who are currently second and fifth in the championship.
Alex Asigno
Andrew Pitt took his first ever win in the Superbike World Championship at Misano today as team-mate Noriyuki Haga gave the Yamaha Motor Italia squad its first ever double podium finish in the class. After colliding with another rider and failing to score in the opening race, the Australian rode intelligently to win race two while many top riders crashed out behind him. Making his intentions clear from the start, Pitt set the fastest lap of race two as he pulled away from the pack with world champion Troy Corser (Suzuki). When Corser crashed out on lap eight, Pitt found himself out in front of former world champions James Toseland (Honda) and Troy Bayliss (Ducati). When both Toseland and Bayliss made mistakes the Yamaha Motor Italia rider was able defend a five second lead over the battle for second, contested by Haga, Alex Barros (Honda) and Chris Walker (Kawasaki). Pitt rode sensibly to finish over two-and-a-half seconds ahead of Barros to give his team their first win of the season. Barros eventually took second place in what was a ferocious race long battle, with Haga getting the final podium spot from Walker on the last lap. Earlier in the day Haga finished fifth, his 27 point haul moving him up to second place in the championship. There were more mixed fortunes in the Yamaha Motor France camp. Norick Abe turned around a horrific qualifying session to score tenth and 13th place finishes from 22nd on the grid. Team-mate Sebastien Gimbert was 12th in race one but retired in race two, while Shinichi Nakatomi was unable to capitalize on his 13th place qualifying. The Japanese rookie crashed out of the opener and finished outside the points in the second heat.
With half of the season gone, Bayliss continues to lead the championship, 94 points ahead of Haga. Pitt's win sees him remain sixth in the championship but moves Yamaha into third place in the manufacturers standings. Round seven of the series takes place at Brno in the Czech Republic on July 23. Andrew Pitt (Yamaha Motor Italia) "It feels incredible to get that first win. I saw that Troy (Corser) was making some mistakes so I tried to keep the pressure on him. When he went down I saw that the lead was about 1.3 seconds over the next guy. For all I knew there was a big line of guys behind me so I tried to concentrate as there were a lot of laps to go. When I went past and saw 'six seconds' on my pit board I thought the mechanics had made a mistake and it was 0.6 seconds. Then, when we got down to the last five laps I knew that I could take it easier and enjoy things a bit more. It's a great feeling and I really have to thank my team. We did a lot of testing on used tyres because we knew that it was important to be consistent throughout the race. In the first race the bike was running wide on a full fuel load but for the second we completely changed the front end and run harder springs which made a big improvement." Noriyuki Haga (Yamaha Motor Italia) "Two very hard races. It was so hot and the tyre was gone after about five laps. I pushed very hard and spent the last 20 laps of each race fighting with the bike as well as with the other riders. I am very happy with the result though as it moves me to second in the championship. We had a good test at Brno recently so I am looking forward to riding there next month." Norick Abe (Yamaha Motor France) "To me this is the worst track! Until this morning I was so bad, always 20-something! We tried a few different settings for the race and they worked a bit better. In the first race a lot of riders fell and I gained some positions, but I think I passed about ten riders. I was losing the rear a lot in race one so we adapted the settings again for race two and in the beginning the lap times were better. In the hotter conditions in the afternoon, towards the end of the race, I was having lots of slides again and pushing the front. Compared to qualifying, it was much better." Shinichi Nakatomi (Yamaha Motor France) "A very hot race but in race one I made a mistake and fell. I had a better rear tyre choice of race two and felt better in this one but did not score any points. My injuries did not give me any real problems in the race." Massimo Meregalli (Team Coordinator - Yamaha Motor Italia) "A great day for us as a team and individually for our riders. I am very happy to see Andrew take his first win in superbike and I am sure this will be so important for his confidence. Nori has moved into second place in the championship and this is the first time that our team has had two riders on the same podium in superbike. I'm very proud of the progress we have made, because at the start of the season I would have said that this would be one of the worst tracks for our bike. Now our target is to ensure we maintain these results at every track between now and the end of the season." Race classification WSB Round: 6 - Misano Circuit: Misano Circuit Length: 4060 Lap Record: 1' 34.913 (Troy Bayliss, 2002) Fastest Lap Ever:  1' 33.525 (Troy Bayliss, 2002) Race: 25 Laps  Pos.  Rider Manufacturer  Nat. Total Time  1   T. Bayliss Ducati  AUS  40' 6.480  2   J. Toseland Honda  GBR  +6.493  3   Y. Kagayama Suzuki  JPN  +10.141  4   A. Barros Honda  BRA  +15.017  5   N. Haga Yamaha  JPN  +15.376  6   R. Laconi Kawasaki  FRA  +16.763  7   L. Lanzi Ducati  ITA  +23.857  8   F. Nieto Kawasaki  ESP  +34.167  9   R. Xaus Ducati  ESP  +35.254  10   N. Abe Yamaha  JPN  +35.335  11   K. Muggeridge Honda  AUS  +39.423  12   S. Gimbert Yamaha  FRA  +39.609  13   F. Foret Suzuki  FRA  +39.755  14   V. Iannuzzo Suzuki  ITA  +44.065  15   R. Rolfo Ducati  ITA  +48.495  16   A. Pitt Yamaha  AUS  +48.587  Race 2: 25 Laps  Pos.  Rider Manufacturer  Nat. Total Time  1   A. Pitt Yamaha  AUS  40' 18.671  2   A. Barros Honda  BRA  +2.717  3   N. Haga Yamaha  JPN  +6.559  4   C. Walker Kawasaki  GBR  +7.100  5   Y. Kagayama Suzuki  JPN  +7.276  6   M. Fabrizio Honda  ITA  +13.916  7   L. Lanzi Ducati  ITA  +14.148  8   J. Toseland Honda  GBR  +15.065  9   R. Xaus Ducati  ESP  +15.434  10   F. Foret Suzuki  FRA  +20.579  11   F. Nieto Kawasaki  ESP  +21.440  12   T. Bayliss Ducati  AUS  +23.417  13   N. Abe Yamaha  JPN  +25.602  14   K. Muggeridge Honda  AUS  +26.088  15   R. Rolfo Ducati  ITA  +26.712  16   V. Iannuzzo Suzuki  ITA  +33.556  17   S. Martin Petronas  AUS  +34.766  18   S. Nakatomi Yamaha  JPN  +37.406  19   R. Laconi Kawasaki  FRA  +40.146  20   I. Clementi Ducati  ITA  +47.341  Fastest Race Lap:   Pos.  Rider Manufacturer  Nat. Total Time  1   A. Pitt Yamaha  AUS  1' 35.123  Championship standings WSB Pos.  Rider  Manufacturer  Nat. Points  1   Troy Bayliss Ducati  AUS 254  2   Noriyuki Haga Yamaha  JPN 160  3   James Toseland Honda  GBR 157  4   Troy Corser Suzuki  AUS 149  5   Alex Barros Honda  BRA 146  6   Andrew Pitt Yamaha  AUS 128  7   Lorenzo Lanzi Ducati  ITA 80  8   Ruben Xaus Ducati  ESP 70  9   Chris Walker Kawasaki  GBR 64  10   Fonsi Nieto Kawasaki  ESP 61  11   Norick Abe Yamaha  JPN 60  12   Yukio Kagayama Suzuki  JPN 56  13   Karl Muggeridge Honda  AUS 52  14   Regis Laconi Kawasaki  FRA 52  15   Roberto Rolfo Ducati  ITA 48  18   Shinichi Nakatomi Yamaha  JPN 18  19   Sebastien Gimbert Yamaha  FRA 11  Manufacturers standings WSB Pos. Manufacturer Points  1  Ducati 260  2  Honda 196  3  Yamaha 189  4  Suzuki 188  5  Kawasaki 98  6  Petronas 4  WSS : Roccoli gives Yamaha breakthrough win at Misano Round: 6 - Misano Circuit: Misano Date: 25 June 2006 Crowd: 61000 Temp: 31ºC Weather: Sunny Yamaha Team Italia youngster Massimo Roccoli took his and the latest Yamaha YZF-R6's first world supersport win in a tough round six at Misano today. In blisteringly hot conditions, the boy from nearby Rimini held his nerve to fend off compatriot Simone Sanna (Honda) for an emotional win. The 21-year-old former Yamaha R6 cup champion led the race from lap three and showed maturity beyond his years to withstand intense pressure from the former 125cc Grand Prix winner who remained just centimetres from the Yamaha's rear wheel throughout the race. Polesitter Broc Parkes ended the race third on his Yamaha Motor Germany YZF-R6. The Australian run set a new lap record on lap two and ran with the leading duo for much of the race, only to slip back as he struggled for rear grip in the closing laps due to selecting a different rear tyre option to the majority of the grid. Yamaha GMT94's David Checa recovered from a poor start to gain his best result in the class. The Spaniard started from the front row but found himself swamped going into the first corner but fought through from tenth to take fourth at the chequered flag. Kevin Curtain had a tough weekend on the other Yamaha Motor Germany machine. Last year's runner-up was forced to start from the fourth row of the grid after being plagued by set-up problems during qualifying. The Australian was further hampered by a bout of sickness on race day but he was still able to ride a gritty and professional race to sixth place, keeping his hopes of lifting the championship well and truly alive. In a good day for the R6 riders, Yamaha Team Italia's Gianluca Vizziello ended the race seventh after being passed by Curtain on the final lap. Spanish privateer Xavi Fores made it six Yamahas in the top ten and continued his fantastic season with tenth position on his SLM Racing-entered machine. World champion Sebastien Charpentier (Honda) retains his place at the head of the leader board, despite missing the race at Misano through injury. He leads Curtain by the reduced gap of 30 points. Parkes is third, 12 points behind his team-mate, with Roccoli a further three points behind in fifth. Massimo Roccoli (Yamaha Team Italia) "It's incredible. My bike was perfect today. I went fast from the first lap and pushed hard for the whole race. I had no problems with arm pump like in previous races and I knew from Friday that I could have a good race here. I hoped for a podium but I did not expect to win. I was not sure if Sanna could pass me on the last lap so I just pushed as hard as I could. I'm very happy for the team and my fans and want to thank them for their support." Broc Parkes (Yamaha Motor Germany) "That was such hard work it feels like I've ridden about three races out there! I just struggled for rear grip today. I knew after about four or five laps that it was going to be tough and I had a lot of slides and big moments. I could see that Roccoli and Sanna had a lot more grip than me and I just had to settle for third. Maybe we could have chosen a different rear tyre and that would have improved things. Third is not a bad result, but I felt that we could have got more than that today." David Checa (Yamaha GMT94) "I am still too used to the bigger bikes I race in endurance. I was fifth into the first corner but then I got pushed wide by Harms, then I was pushed wide by Sofuoglu, so I decided that I should keep my tyres and get by those guys later. I had a soft front set-up to conserve the tyre in this heat. If there were more laps left I would have caught up with Broc in front, because he had killed his tyre at the end." Kevin Curtain (Yamaha Motor Germany) "We have had problems with the front this weekend, and we thought it was one thing, but it wasn't so we went the wrong way with set-up for two days. We had a bit of a change of set-up overnight and things seemed better, but by this time we had not had a chance to test which tyre was going to go the distance for the race. I ran out of rear grip and I think Broc was in the same boat. I woke up this morning and I wondered who was rocking the motorhome! I went to the Clinica Mobile and I was all right before the race - and when you get on the bike you forget everything anyway." Gianluca Vizziello (Yamaha Team Italia) "I did my best today. I had a good start but when I pushed hard the bike started sliding and I lost the riders in front of me. With seven laps to go tyre was really finished so I decided to stay in my position and score some good championship points." Race classification WSS Round: 6 - Misano Circuit: Misano Circuit Length: 4060 Lap Record: 1' 37.628 (Broc Parkes, 2006) Fastest Lap Ever:  1' 36.846 (Simone Sanna, 2003) Race: 23 Laps  Pos.  Rider Manufacturer  Nat. Total Time  1   M. Roccoli Yamaha  ITA  37' 55.059  2   S. Sanna Honda  ITA  +0.242  3   B. Parkes Yamaha  AUS  +4.936  4   D. Checa Yamaha  ESP  +6.492  5   R. Harms Honda  DNK  +9.805  6   K. Curtain Yamaha  AUS  +10.147  7   G. Vizziello Yamaha  ITA  +13.168  8   K. Sofuoglu Honda  TUR  +14.740  9   J. Stigefelt Honda  SWE  +16.107  10   X. Fores Yamaha  ESP  +19.665  11   M. Berger Kawasaki  FRA  +19.835  12   W. De Angelis Honda  ITA  +24.121  13   M. Lagrive Honda  FRA  +24.221  14   A. Vos Honda  NED  +25.557  15   M. Sanchini Yamaha  ITA  +26.474  Fastest Race Lap:   Pos.  Rider Manufacturer  Nat. Total Time  1   B. Parkes Yamaha  AUS  1' 37.628  Championship standings WSS Pos.  Rider  Manufacturer  Nat. Points  1   Sebastien Charpentier Honda  FRA 116  2   Kevin Curtain Yamaha  AUS 86  3   Broc Parkes Yamaha  AUS 74  4   Robbin Harms Honda  DNK 74  5   Massimo Roccoli Yamaha  ITA 71  6   Yoann Tibero Honda  FRA 50  7   Xavi Fores Yamaha  ESP 45  8   Johan Stigefelt Honda  SWE 42  9   Kenan Sofuoglu Honda  TUR 35  10   Gianluca Vizziello Yamaha  ITA 26  11   Katsuaki Fujiwara Honda  JPN 22  12   David Checa Yamaha  ESP 21  13   Joshua Brookes Ducati  AUS 21  14   Simone Sanna Honda  ITA 20  15   Christian Zaiser Ducati  AUT 15  32   Didier Van Keymeulen Yamaha  BEL 2  Manufacturers standings WSS Pos. Manufacturer Points  1  Honda 145  2  Yamaha 118  3  Ducati 34  4  Kawasaki 32  5  Suzuki 10  Superstock : More points for Corti in Misano Round: 4 - Misano Circuit: Misano Date: 25 June 2006 Crowd: 61000 Temp: 28ºC Weather: Sunny Yamaha Team Italia rider Claudio Corti brought his YZF-R1 SP home fifth in a dramatic fourth round of the FIM Superstock 1000 Cup at Misano. Starting from the front row, the 18-year-old Italian led briefly in the opening stages before slipping back as he struggled with set-up problems. After crashing in the morning warm-up, the current European Superstock 600 Champion was forced to race with his spare bike and was unable to exactly replicate the settings of his preferred machine.  Corti spent most of the race battling for third with Luca Scassa (MV Agusta), Brendan Roberts (Suzuki) and Riccardo Chiarello (Kawasaki) but looked set for sixth until picking up a position on the final lap, when Chiarello slid off. The Yamaha rider took to the grass but stayed upright to gain 11 championship points. Corti now lies fourth in the championship, on 50 points. The championship top three was reflected in today's race. Alessandro Polita (Suzuki) was the runaway winner and now leads the championship by 27 points from today's second placed rider, Ayrton Badovini (MV Agusta). Scassa eventually claimed the third spot on the Misano rostrum to move one point ahead of Corti in the championship standings, in third. Claudio Corti (Yamaha Team Italia) "I had a big crash in the morning practice and although I was ok the bike was very badly damaged. We didn't have enough time to repair the bike, so we had to use a spare. We didn't have enough time to set it up properly and I didn't have the same speed I had the rest of the weekend. Fifth is not so bad in the circumstances but I had wanted to do better at this circuit." Race classification FIM Superstock 1000 Cup Round: 4 - Misano Circuit: Misano Circuit Length: 4060 Lap Record: 1' 37.526 (Alessandro Polita, 2006) Fastest Lap Ever:  1' 37.526 (Alessandro Polita, 2006) Race: 15 Laps  Pos.  Rider Manufacturer  Nat. Total Time  1   A. Polita Suzuki  ITA  24' 48.301  2   A. Badovini MV Agusta  ITA  +6.602  3   L. Scassa MV Agusta  ITA  +9.519  4   R. Roberts Suzuki  AUS  +10.777  5   C. Corti Yamaha  ITA  +18.127  6   E. Rocamora Yamaha  ESP  +19.192  7   S. Saltarelli Kawasaki  ITA  +31.703  8   M. Smrz Honda  CZE  +31.965  9   R. Cooper Honda  GBR  +32.011  10   R. Chiarello Kawasaki  ITA  +33.028  11   A. Martinez Mas Kawasaki  ESP  +34.306  12   M. Baiocco Yamaha  ITA  +35.749  13   C. Tangre Suzuki  FRA  +36.451  14   M. Jerman Suzuki  SVK  +37.936  15   D. Dell'omo Suzuki  ITA  +43.021  Fastest Race Lap:   Pos.  Rider Manufacturer  Nat. Total Time  1   A. Polita Suzuki  ITA  1' 37.526  Championship standings FIM Superstock 1000 Cup Pos.  Rider  Manufacturer  Nat. Points  1   Alessandro Polita Suzuki  ITA 95  2   Ayrton Badovini MV Agusta  ITA 68  3   Luca Scassa MV Agusta  ITA 51  4   Claudio Corti Yamaha  ITA 50  5   Enrique Rocamora Yamaha  ESP 39  6   Riccardo Chiarello Kawasaki  ITA 33  7   Alex Martinez Mas Kawasaki  ESP 29  8   Denis Sacchetti Kawasaki  ITA 27  9   Matteo Baiocco Yamaha  ITA 23  10   Ivan Silva Kawasaki  ESP 20  11   Ilario Dionisi Yamaha  ITA 19  12   Simone Saltarelli Kawasaki  ITA 18  13   Sheridan Morais Suzuki  RSA 18  14   Richard Cooper Honda  GBR 14  15   Danilo Dell'omo Suzuki  ITA 14 
Alex Asigno
Andrew Pitt will start tomorrow's two-race sixth round of the Superbike World Championship from the front row of the grid after qualifying his Yamaha Motor Italia YZF-R1 third in today's superpole session at a hot Misano. The Australian set his best lap of the weekend in the one-lap qualifying run to the delight of his Yamaha Motor Italia squad. The former supersport world champion has run strongly throughout the practice sessions and was able to make minor improvements to give greater feedback from the front tyre. The Australian was able to do a race simulation in the afternoon session, running consistent times over 20 laps in preparation for tomorrow's two races. The superpole result sees Pitt equal his best qualifying position in the class. Having started third on the grid at this year's opening race in Qatar, where he went on to secure his first podium finish in the class. Pitt's team-mate Noriyuki Haga made big improvements with the set-up of his machine to go into the superpole session as the sixth fastest rider in regulation qualifying. After ending Friday practice in 12th, the Yamaha Motor Italia squad changed the geometry and gear ratios of Haga's YZF-R1 to improve the acceleration and steering of the machine. Although the Japanese star could not improve his grid position in the one-lap shootout, he is confident of challenging at the front in tomorrow's races - having completed a successful race simulation in the practice sessions. There were mixed fortunes for the Yamaha Motor France squad in Misano. Shinichi Nakatomi had his best qualifying of the season, ending regular qualifying in 16th place to make superpole for the first time. The Japanese rider put in his best lap of the afternoon on his flying lap - moving him up to 13th on tomorrow's grid. Team-mate Sebastien Gimbert will start one row behind his Japanese team-mate after ending qualifying 20th. Norick Abe again struggled at a circuit he openly dislikes. He ended the day a further row behind, in 22nd, although if there is any consolation for the former Grand Prix rider then it is that he starts three places higher than in last year's Misano races, where he managed to fight through to make the top 15. Pole position for tomorrow's two 25-lap races goes to James Toseland (Honda) who set a time of 1:33.833 on his qualifying run. World champion Troy Corser (Suzuki) and Steve Martin (Petronas) make up the front row alongside Pitt. Andrew Pitt (Yamaha Motor Italia) "I was actually a little bit surprised at how good the lap time was in superpole because I made a small mistake and that must've cost me a little time. The bike has been working really well all weekend so to get a front row start really tops things off and puts us in good shape for the race tomorrow. We've made a few improvements to the bike today to improve the feeling and give better tyre life. Pirelli has brought along a wider rear tyre for this race and although it seems to work on our bike and gives more grip, it does work the front tyre more. We'll decide in the morning if this is our best tyre option." Noriyuki Haga (Yamaha Motor Italia) "Second row is ok. The bike is working better today and is much easier for me to ride over the race distance. I was able to do a good race simulation and I'm confident that we're ready for the fight tomorrow!" Shinichi Nakatomi (Yamaha Motor France) "I am very happy to have made superpole and I think that it shows the progress we have made. I didn't really notice the pain in my arm today as I was so focused on my riding, although I think that it will be hard for me to be at 100 percent throughout both races tomorrow. It is important that I do not crash and make the injury worse but I will be trying hard in the races to get the best result possible." Sebastien Gimbert (Yamaha Motor France) "We had some front end grip problems which seems to be caused by the set-up of the front fork. We made some improvements in the afternoon and hopefully we can find more for the races. I had a crash in the afternoon session and have hurt my ankle, although nothing is broken." Norick Abe (Yamaha Motor France) "It's the same problem for me, I just can't seem to get any traction. I tried hard to make a better lap time but it just didn't happen. We will try a few things tonight and I hope that I can get some good starts in the races." Massimo Meregalli (Team Coordinator - Yamaha Motor Italia) "I'm quite satisfied with how things have gone so far. I'm pleased with Andrew's performance and not just with the fact that he has got on the front row. His time was very impressive and close to Toseland's pole time, which will give him a lot of confidence. He's in good shape for the race, as is Nori. He was able to do a good race simulation with 10 or 11 laps very similar to what Bayliss and Toseland were doing. Second row is ok for Nori as we know what he is capable of doing in the race." Round: 6 - Misano Circuit: Misano Circuit Length: 4060 Lap Record: 1' 34.913 (Troy Bayliss, 2002) Fastest Lap Ever: 1' 33.525 (Troy Bayliss, 2002) Date: 24 June 2006 Temp: 30ºC Session 2 :  Pos.  Rider  Manufacturer  Nat.  1st Qualifying  2nd Qualifying   Superpole  1  J. Toseland  Honda  GBR   1' 35.553     1' 35.199     1' 33.833  2  T. Corser  Suzuki  AUS   1' 35.016     1' 34.572     1' 33.866  3  A. Pitt  Yamaha  AUS   1' 35.448     1' 35.013     1' 34.031  4  S. Martin  Petronas  AUS   1' 35.313     1' 34.900     1' 34.178  5  C. Walker  Kawasaki  GBR   1' 35.255     1' 35.299     1' 34.472  6  N. Haga  Yamaha  JPN   1' 35.816     1' 35.115     1' 34.487  7  T. Bayliss  Ducati  AUS   1' 34.903     1' 34.494     1' 34.523  8  L. Lanzi  Ducati  ITA   1' 35.851     1' 35.146     1' 34.556  9  R. Laconi  Kawasaki  FRA   1' 35.166     1' 34.843     1' 34.648  10  Y. Kagayama  Suzuki  JPN   1' 35.561     1' 35.304     1' 34.685  11  A. Barros  Honda  BRA   1' 35.858     1' 35.312     1' 34.707  12  M. Fabrizio  Honda  ITA   1' 35.466     1' 35.356     1' 34.814  13  S. Nakatomi  Yamaha  JPN   1' 36.111     1' 35.593     1' 35.003  14  F. Nieto  Kawasaki  ESP   1' 35.667     1' 35.245     1' 35.007  15  R. Rolfo  Ducati  ITA   1' 35.682     1' 35.590     1' 35.410  16  M. Neukirchner  Ducati  GER   1' 36.091     1' 35.222  19  S. Gimbert  Yamaha  FRA   1' 36.144     1' 35.781       22  N. Abe  Yamaha  JPN   1' 36.625     1' 36.061       WSS : Yamaha takes pole in Misano Round: 6 - Misano WSS Circuit: Misano Date: 24 June 2006 Temp: 35ºC Weather: Sunny Broc Parkes demonstrated why Misano is one of his favourite circuits by taking pole position for tomorrow's sixth round of the Supersport World Championship, held at the Italian seaside venue. With reduced grip levels, due to the warm temperatures, all of the supersport riders struggled to match their times from April's test at the same venue. Parkes had been the fastest rider on display in April, posting a 1:36.411 lap time, although he was unable to go faster today. The 24-year-old Yamaha Motor Germany rider was one of only two riders to break the 1:37 barrier, setting a best time of 1:36.876 to take the second pole position of his career. Simone Sanna (Honda) will start from second on the grid. Confirming the latest YZF-R6's performance at Misano, Yamaha riders filled the next three positions on the grid. Local rider Massimo Roccoli and Yamaha GMT94's David Checa both topped the timesheets during the afternoon session but ended the day third and fourth respectively. Roccoli's Yamaha Team Italia colleague Gianluca Vizziello will lead the second row, in fifth, with Spanish YZF-R6 privateer Xavi Fores making it five Yamahas on the first two rows. Kevin Curtain will start from an uncharacteristically low fourth row on the grid after ending the day down in 14th position. The experienced Australian, who currently lies second to the absent Sebastien Charpentier (Honda), in the championship crashed mid-session and was forced to use his spare machine, which had different suspension settings and did not allow him to push as hard as on his preferred machine.   Round: 6 - Misano WSS Circuit: Misano Circuit Length: 4060 Lap Record: 1' 37.924 (Katsuaki Fujiwara, 2003) Fastest Lap Ever: 1' 36.846 (Simone Sanna, 2003) Date: 24 June 2006 Temp: 35ºC Session 1 :  Pos.  Rider  Manufacturer  Nat.  1st Qualifying  2nd Qualifying  1  B. Parkes  Yamaha  AUS   1' 37.407     1' 36.876   2  S. Sanna  Honda  ITA   1' 38.626     1' 36.999   3  M. Roccoli  Yamaha  ITA   1' 37.601     1' 37.096   4  D. Checa  Yamaha  ESP   1' 38.578     1' 37.263   5  G. Vizziello  Yamaha  ITA   1' 37.515     1' 37.288   6  Y. Tibero  Honda  FRA   1' 37.555     1' 37.473   7  X. Fores  Yamaha  ESP   1' 38.663     1' 37.589   8  C. Zaiser  Ducati  AUT   1' 38.183     1' 37.769   9  K. Sofuoglu  Honda  TUR   1' 39.756     1' 37.824   10  M. Berger  Kawasaki  FRA   1' 38.947     1' 37.841   11  R. Harms  Honda  DNK   1' 38.450     1' 37.976   12  W. De Angelis  Honda  ITA   1' 39.284     1' 37.993   13  J. Stigefelt  Honda  SWE   1' 38.555     1' 37.998   14  K. Curtain  Yamaha  AUS   1' 38.157     1' 38.013   15  M. Sanchini  Yamaha  ITA   1' 39.440     1' 38.137   16  M. Lagrive  Honda  FRA   1' 39.399     1' 38.143   18  B. Martinez  Yamaha  ESP   1' 39.101     1' 38.260   21  V. Ivanov  Yamaha  RUS   1' 39.888     1' 38.650   22  A. Corradi  Yamaha  ITA   1' 39.795     1' 38.687   24  S. Zerbo  Yamaha  ITA   1' 38.875     N/A   27  A. Velini  Yamaha  ITA   1' 39.985     1' 39.524   28  A. Berta  Yamaha  ITA   N/A     1' 39.621   31  J. Enjolras  Yamaha  FRA   1' 39.816     N/A
Alex Asigno
Camel Yamaha Team rider Colin Edwards came within metres of his first MotoGP World Championship victory today after dominating the Dutch TT until a breathtaking finale at Assen. Starting from the front row of the grid Edwards led the way from the first turn and set an electrifying pace that only American compatriot Nicky Hayden (Honda) was able to follow. With two laps remaining Hayden closed in and made his first lunge for the lead, forcing Edwards off the track and onto the escape road.  The 'Texan Tornado' looked consigned to second place but he produced a stunning fight-back to pull level with Hayden on the final lap and retake the lead with just a few corners to go. When Hayden launched one last attack into the final chicane, only to run straight onto the gravel, Edwards seemed certain to win but there was one final twist in the tale as he ran onto the grass on the exit from the corner and lost control of his YZR-M1 machine, which threw him into the air. As Edwards slid to the ground within touching distance of the finish line Hayden returned to the track to snatch his first win of the season, leaving the Yamaha man to pick his bike up and limp across the line in 13th place. Edwards' Camel Yamaha team-mate Valentino Rossi also produced one of his best rides of the season so far as he battled through the pain of cracked bones in his hand and ankle to take the flag in eighth place. Rossi started from the very back of the grid after struggling to qualify with the injury he picked up during Thursday morning's free practice session. However he made up ten positions in a brave ride to seal eight valuable championship points. Valentino Rossi (8th; +23.591) "That was a really hard race for me but Doctor Costa, Marco Montanari and the entire Clinica Mobile team did a great job on my hand and I was able to race until the end. I was in some pain, especially at the start and I wasn't able to ride at 100% of my ability, but it was okay. At the start I was worried how it would go, but when the adrenalin kicked in I started to feel like I could race and by the time we got to the midway point I was feeling much better and having some fun. I lost strength in my hand over the last three laps but I was able to hang on and we picked up some decent points in eighth place. The team have done a great job this weekend in difficult conditions. I wasn't able to do many laps in practice so they didn't have much data but the bike and the tyres felt great so I have to say a big thanks to everybody. I feel very sorry for Colin - he rode a great race and he was unlucky to make the mistake at the end because he deserved to win." Colin Edwards (13th; +40.412) "What can I say? Obviously I'm really disappointed because I know I should have won that race. The bike felt great from the start and I was really enjoying riding it out there. I knew my pace in practice would be hard for the other guys to cope with and that's how it proved to be. I got the start I wanted and just kept my head down, doing those times. When Nicky came up inside me two laps from the end he left the pass pretty late and there was nowhere for me to turn the bike into. I had to go straight and luckily it was at a point of the track where I could run back on again. I was determined not to lose hold of him and just gave it everything to give myself a chance on the last lap. I got past him and then tried to keep a really defensive line out of the final corner - I had no idea Nicky had run onto the gravel otherwise I wouldn't have needed to do it. Unfortunately I ran it a bit too tight onto the grass and the rear just spun up as I opened the throttle and it threw me off. I'm gutted but fair play to Nicky, it was a great race." Davide Brivio - Camel Yamaha Team Director "It was a great race and Colin missed out on the win by just a few metres. It's disappointing because we could already taste the victory champagne and we didn't expect that final twist. He made some wonderful moves on the last lap and he didn't deserve to go down like that, but that's racing! Valentino also rode brilliantly today, surprising everybody once again with his mental and physical strength. As a team we are very proud of both our riders today." Another top 10 result for Tech 3 Yamaha Team at Assen The evolution of Tech 3 Yamaha Team continued at the A-Style TT Assen as Carlos Checa furnished the team with another milestone when he climbed into the Top 10 for the second time in a week to finish in ninth position. Nicky Hayden (Honda) was the one to claim the win. Tech 3 team-mate, James Ellison didn't fair as well, crashing at the start of the fourth lap while in 12th place - right behind Carlos. It's a disappointing result for James who now heads to his home Grand Prix at Donington next week (July 2) suffering an ankle injury. With the improved results of the last two races, the Tech 3 Yamaha Team has doubled its points haul in the championship, inspiring the entire team to reach new heights in the upcoming Grands Prix to compliment the solid progression of recent weeks. Carlos Checa (8th, Fastest lap 1'38.119) "This is a very satisfying result for all of us as now we are in a fight with other riders. In the beginning of the race I tried to follow Melandri and Pedrosa but they started going away and I couldn't stay with them. It was better to stay with my pace as the feeling from the front wasn't so good. I caught and passed Tamada then step by step I also got by Vermeulen. I saw Rossi coming and by that time the chatter from the front increased. I also tried to stay with him but as the chatter was quite bad at that stage it was better to finish than risk a crash after all the hard work the team has done. We have to learn now where that is coming from as now we are going faster but we are also much closer to the front than at the beginning of the year. Dunlop has been putting in a very good effort and it is not easy from inside the box, I can tell you, but we have improved to be fighting with very strong rivals. We have made many steps in the last two races and now we are just one second off the top guys so this is the next step we have to work on. I am now able to fight and this is a lot more fun for me. When we compete with other riders it is much better than just trying to be the first Dunlop rider home. Now we hope that the improvements get us even closer in the next races. James Ellison (DNF Fastest lap 1'39.002) "Obviously I'm very disappointed but there are positives to take out of this weekend. I had a pretty good start as I've got a little trick I've been working on. I feel really comfortable on the bike and am able to be a bit more aggressive if anyone tries to get past and have the confidence to throw it back in front of them without hesitating when I see a front wheel coming alongside. I got in a pretty good position and stayed with Carlos but, going into Turn One I went in a little too hot and lost the front. I was trying real hard because I was comfortable and that's what you do. This is one meeting where I wanted to do really well as things are progressing nicely now and I wanted to use this as a springboard for Donington next week but now I've done a bit of damage to my ankle. It's pretty hard to walk on but with a week off some physio and ice packs I hope to be right. Besides being pretty mad at myself, I'm sorry for the team because they have been working non stop all year and they deserved to get a half decent result as well. Hopefully we can do something next week" Herve Poncharal - Tech3 Yamaha Team Director "We are very happy. Happy with the race result and also happy with the qualifying. We have made another step from Barcelona. We may have finished ninth instead of eighth like last week but we are closer to the front which is the most important thing. We are definitely now racing, as we have Vermeulen on the factory Suzuki and Bridgestones as well as Tamada on a factory Honda and Michelins behind us. We are now in the mid field so it proves we have made big improvements. I'm disappointed for James because he was going very well and was right with Carlos when he lost the front end. Otherwise I think he would have had a very encouraging result for him too. Both riders were quick in qualifying and both riders were strong in the race. We had stable tyres until the end of the race and the lap times are very consistent. Apart from the first four we had similar lap times to many others so that is very encouraging. We now go to Donington where normally Dunlop tyres perform well. We are looking for an improvement in all areas again next week and keep the progression going."     Race classification MotoGP Round: 8 - 2006 MotoGP Assen Circuit: Assen Circuit Length: 4555 Lap Record: 1' 37.106 (Nicky Hayden, 2006) Fastest Lap Ever:  1' 36.411 (John Hopkins, 2006) Race: 26 Laps  Pos.  Rider Manufacturer  Nat. Total Time  1   N. Hayden Honda  USA  42' 27.404  2   S. Nakano Kawasaki  JPN  +4.884  3   D. Pedrosa Honda  ESP  +7.525  4   C. Stoner Honda  AUS  +7.555  5   K. Roberts Team Roberts KR  USA  +8.078  6   J. Hopkins Suzuki  USA  +17.065  7   M. Melandri Honda  ITA  +18.090  8   V. Rossi Yamaha  ITA  +23.951  9   C. Checa Yamaha  ESP  +29.027  10   C. Vermeulen Suzuki  AUS  +31.627  11   M. Tamada Honda  JPN  +32.841  12   A. Hofmann Ducati  GER  +34.143  13   C. Edwards Yamaha  USA  +40.412  14   R. De Puniet Kawasaki  FRA  +1' 3.648  15   L. Capirossi Ducati  ITA  +1' 17.303  16   I. Silva Ducati  ESP  +1 lap(s)  17   J. Cardoso Ducati  ESP  +3 lap(s)  Fastest Race Lap:   Pos.  Rider Manufacturer  Nat. Total Time  1   N. Hayden Honda  USA  1' 37.106    Championship standings MotoGP   Pos.  Rider  Manufacturer  Nat. Points  1   Nicky Hayden Honda  USA 144  2   Daniel Pedrosa Honda  ESP 102  3   Loris Capirossi Ducati  ITA 100  4   Valentino Rossi Yamaha  ITA 98  5   Marco Melandri Honda  ITA 98  6   Casey Stoner Honda  AUS 78  7   Colin Edwards Yamaha  USA 63  8   Shinya Nakano Kawasaki  JPN 57  9   Kenny Roberts Team Roberts KR  USA 55  10   Makato Tamada Honda  JPN 54  11   Toni Elias Honda  ESP 53  12   John Hopkins Suzuki  USA 50  13   Sete Gibernau Ducati  ESP 44  14   Chris Vermeulen Suzuki  AUS 37  15   Carlos Checa Yamaha  ESP 31  18   James Ellison Yamaha  GBR 12  Manufacturers standings MotoGP   Pos. Manufacturer Points  1  Honda 176  2  Yamaha 127  3  Ducati 109  4  Suzuki 64  5  Kawasaki 57  6  Team Roberts KR 55  Team standings MotoGP Pos. Team Points  1  Repsol Honda Team 246  2  Camel Yamaha Team 161  3  Fortuna Honda Team 151  4  Ducati Marlboro Team 148  5  Rizla Suzuki 87  6  Honda LCR 78  7  Kawasaki Racing Team 70  8  Team Roberts KR 55  9  Konica Minolta Honda 54  10  Tech3 Yamaha 43  11  Pramac D'Antin 17  Race classification GP250 Round: 8 - GP250 Assen Circuit: Assen Circuit Length: 4555 Lap Record: 1' 40.500 (Jorge Lorenzo, 2006) Fastest Lap Ever:  1' 40.007 (Jorge Lorenzo, 2006) Race: 24 Laps  Pos.  Rider Manufacturer  Nat. Total Time  1   J. Lorenzo Aprilia  ESP  40' 30.770  2   A. de Angelis Aprilia  SMR  +8.168  3   A. Dovizioso Honda  ITA  +8.241  4   A. Debon Aprilia  ESP  +31.875  5   R. Locatelli Aprilia  ITA  +34.686  6   Y. Takahashi Honda  JPN  +39.326  7   M. Simoncelli Gilera  ITA  +39.383  8   A. West Aprilia  AUS  +45.104  9   H. Aoyama KTM  JPN  +47.526  10   M. Poggiali KTM  SMR  +59.296  11   A. Baldolini Aprilia  ITA  +1' 4.424  12   S. Aoyama Honda  JPN  +1' 5.827  13   F. Battiani Aprilia  ITA  +1' 14.392  14   A. Tizon Honda  ESP  +1' 21.750  15   A. Espargaro Honda  ESP  +1' 21.763  Fastest Race Lap:   Pos.  Rider Manufacturer  Nat. Total Time  1   J. Lorenzo Aprilia  ESP  1' 40.500  Championship standings GP250   Pos.  Rider  Manufacturer  Nat. Points  1   Andrea Dovizioso Honda  ITA 149  2   Jorge Lorenzo Aprilia  ESP 133  3   Yuki Takahashi Honda  JPN 99  4   Hiroshi Aoyama KTM  JPN 92  5   Roberto Locatelli Aprilia  ITA 91  6   Alex de Angelis Aprilia  SMR 91  7   Hector Barbera Aprilia  ESP 78  8   Sylvain Guintoli Aprilia  FRA 51  9   Marco Simoncelli Gilera  ITA 49  10   Anthony West Aprilia  AUS 42  11   Shuhei Aoyama Honda  JPN 38  12   Alex Debon Aprilia  ESP 35  13   Martin Cardenas Honda  COL 28  14   Manuel Poggiali KTM  SMR 28  15   Jakub Smrz Aprilia  CZE 27  Manufacturers standings GP250   Pos. Manufacturer Points  1  Aprilia 176  2  Honda 154  3  KTM 96  4  Gilera 49 
Alex Asigno
Camel Yamaha Team team-mates Colin Edwards and Valentino Rossi will start from opposite ends of the grid in tomorrow's 76th edition of the Dutch TT after enjoying contrasting fortunes in qualifying practice. Whilst Edwards was consistently amongst the fastest riders on track throughout the day, topping the time sheets in morning free practice before clocking the third quickest time to seal a front row start in the decisive afternoon session, Rossi continued to suffer from the effects of a heavy crash yesterday and was only able to complete fourteen laps in qualifying. The Italian's best effort was almost four seconds off the pole position time of 1'36.411 set by John Hopkins (Suzuki) and he now faces an anxious wait to see if he will be able to take his place at the very back of the grid for the eighth round of a luckless season. Rossi will undergo further therapy this evening but his participation in the event will not be 100% confirmed until after tomorrow's morning warm-up, when he will make a final assessment of his fitness along with the Clinica Mobile doctors. Colin Edwards (3rd - 1'36.755; 27 laps) "Obviously I would have liked to be on pole position and I felt with the pace we were setting that we had a good shot. I went out there at the start of the session and ran a couple of tyres. On my final race tyre I was really happy with the pace and then we started throwing some qualifiers on but I don't know if I had a 1'36.4 in my bag. I was pretty happy with 36.7 that I did but for Hopkins and Nakano to do a 36.4 was pretty impressive so it would have been a case of taking my brain out and setting it on one side to try and match that! Anyway, right there at the end Stoner and Pedrosa were just sitting in the middle of the track on my last lap so we'll never know. As I say my race pace is good so I'm looking forward to tomorrow and I just hope Valentino can make the best possible recovery overnight to try and salvage something from the weekend." Valentino Rossi (18th - 1'40.298; 14 laps) "This afternoon I tried using some painkillers but the fracture in my right wrist hurts a lot. Truly it was very difficult to ride - the hand is very swollen and I don't have much strength. Together with Marco Montanari and Doctor Claudio Costa we have done the best that was possible, I've had a lot of treatment and I was able to ride for a few laps, but the strong pain stopped me from finishing the qualifying session. Tomorrow we will see how I am and, depending on what happens in the warm-up, we will decide whether I will ride or not. Anyway it's going to be very difficult. We tried to move the brake lever a little bit down and we're now looking at the possibility of making a bigger brake lever to see if this is better for me." Davide Brivio - Camel Yamaha Team Director "Colin did a good job - he was consistently fast in every practice session and qualified on the front row so we couldn't ask for much more. The omens are good for the race for him and starting from the front row makes him one of the contenders to win the race. Unfortunately that is not the case for Valentino. He had to be very strong just to complete a few laps this afternoon and now it is just a case of letting him rest and seeing how his condition develops overnight. Obviously we want him to race but our first concern is his physical condition. Thankfully the Clinica Mobile is doing a fantastic job, as always, and we know he is in good hands." Tech 3 Yamaha Team on form in Assen Qualifying The improved performance of the Tech 3 Yamaha Team continued at the "A-Style" Assen TT when the experienced Carlos Checa gave the team it's most superb qualifying result of the 2006 season to place himself eighth on the grid for tomorrow's race. Additionally, team mate, James Ellison continued his climb through the ranks and will start from 14th position after recording his best time of the year to be just over half a second behind Checa These ever improving results are a fitting reward for the concentrated efforts and dedication that the team and tyre manufacturer, Dunlop have maintained since the season started and auger well for even more impressive results during the rest of the year. Carlos Checa (8th, 1'37.378, 31 laps) "This is our best qualifying position and the result makes me and the team very happy. We have improved our time from yesterday so tomorrow we start from the third row where we have never been before this year. .We have good pace and hopefully we can stay with our rivals that have been close to my lap times and have similar pace to me... We have confidence that we can keep the same lap times and this will give us a good chance tomorrow. In Barcelona we found the consistency and here it looks like we are even faster and closer to the lap times of our rivals. Hopefully, from our pace on race tyres not many riders can run at that. We have made another step and tomorrow I hope we take another one as we get closer and closer. I will be trying as hard as I normally do but now I am more confident, I feel fast and I believe in myself. James Ellison (14th 1'38.005, 28 laps) "We did pretty well. My aim today was to get into the '37 second bracket and I only missed out by less than a tenth of a second. Plus I'm well within range of Carlos so I'm happy. It should be good tomorrow because we have a good race tyre as Carlos and I have been doing laps on race tyres and we have a good setup and consistency. There's also been something found with the qualifying tyres and proves that Dunlop are always progressing and always looking for something better. We're improving bit by bit each weekend as we are learning and considering it is the first year for Dunlop with a team like this I think we are making pretty good progress now. The last few weeks have been great as since we have made the adjustments to the frame I can ride the bike like I want to. It makes it so much more enjoyable to ride and go out and have fun as well. Things are looking up all the time as morale has been boosted in the team by what is happening. We still need to progress but in a way the season started for us last weekend. Tomorrow I don't want to make any predictions as I just want to try my best, run a good race, be consistent with the times and stick with Carlos for the entire race. It should be good and I'm really looking forward to it. Herve Poncharal - Tech3 Yamaha Team Director "This is by far the very best qualifying position we have had so far and together with Marco (Melandri) and Alex (Hoffman) we are on the third row of the grid.. We are very happy because we have a race tyre that is good on performance and durability. We also have found something interesting now with the qualifying tyres to get a good grid position. The result of James is also very good as this is his best qualifying position. It is also the best lap time he has done with a race tyre and is closer to the leading guys. We know this is going to be a tough race and we have some good points that we can grab. It's still only the early part of the championship and we are very happy with the progress we are now making. I definitely think we are now heading in the good direction we have been striving for and hopefully we can continue in this direction at Donington and beyond. We are very happy. Also, I want to say that I am very sorry to see what has happened to Valentino and the team and I wish him all the best for tomorrow's race.    Round: 8 - 2006 MotoGP Assen Circuit: Assen Circuit Length: 4555 Lap Record: new track Fastest Lap Ever: 1' 36.411 (John Hopkins, 2006) Date: 23 June 2006 Temp: 20ºC Session 1 :  Pos.  Rider  Manufacturer  Nat.  1st Qualifying 1  J. Hopkins  Suzuki  USA   1' 36.411   2  S. Nakano  Kawasaki  JPN   1' 36.424   3  C. Edwards  Yamaha  USA   1' 36.755   4  N. Hayden  Honda  USA   1' 36.758   5  D. Pedrosa  Honda  ESP   1' 36.993   6  C. Vermeulen  Suzuki  AUS   1' 37.077   7  M. Melandri  Honda  ITA   1' 37.332   8  C. Checa  Yamaha  ESP   1' 37.378   9  A. Hofmann  Ducati  GER   1' 37.399   10  K. Roberts  Team Roberts KR  USA   1' 37.528   11  R. De Puniet  Kawasaki  FRA   1' 37.556   12  C. Stoner  Honda  AUS   1' 37.660   13  M. Tamada  Honda  JPN   1' 37.676   14  J. Ellison  Yamaha  GBR   1' 38.055   15  L. Capirossi  Ducati  ITA   1' 38.060   16  J. Cardoso  Ducati  ESP   1' 39.406   18  V. Rossi  Yamaha  ITA   1' 40.298
Alex Asigno
Yamaha Motor Italia warmed up for their second home race of the season with a productive day of practice in Misano today. Andrew Pitt spent the day's two one hour sessions working on finding good race settings for his Yamaha YZF-R1 in the hot conditions. The Australian was able to try out all the Pirelli tyre options at his disposal and settle on his likely choices for the race. Pitt posted the sixth best time of the session, a 1:35.448, despite being held up in traffic. With track temperatures of over 50°C, grip levels proved significantly lower than at April's test at the same venue. Noriyuki Haga struggled to find as good a setting as he would have liked on his YZF-R1. The Japanese star, who lies third in the championship, plans to make changes to his machine overnight to improve the handling and traction of his machine. Like Pitt he worked exclusively on finding settings for Sunday's two 25-lap races, ending the day less than a second from provisional pole - in 12th place with a best of 1:35.816. Yamaha Motor France riders Norick Abe, Sebastien Gimbert and Shinichi Nakatomi all fought problems during the session. Nakatomi was the fastest of the trio, ending the day 19th despite riding with an arm injury sustained during the last round in Silverstone. Gimbert experienced set-up problems and ended the day in 20th with Abe complaining of a lack of traction as he ended the day an unusually low 24th. Championship leader Troy Bayliss (Ducati) was the fastest man on show today, recording a 1:34.903 on his final lap of the day. Troy Corser (Suzuki), Regis Laconi (Kawasaki) and Chris Walker (Kawasaki) complete the provisional front row. Andrew Pitt (Yamaha Motor Italia) "I was surprised at how well the bike has gone in these hot conditions. We did a lot of laps and have tested all our tyre options, so we know what we'll be using for the race. At the end we put the best settings on and I was able to do a good lap, even though I got held up in traffic a bit. Tomorrow it's about trying to refine the package further so that we can be in the best possible shape for the race." Noriyuki Haga (Yamaha Motor Italia) "The traction levels are a lot lower now than when we tested in April so we still have to improve the balance of the bike. I want to be able to change direction of the bike more easily and generally make the bike easier to ride. We'll look at the suspension and gearing tonight and I think we can find some progress for tomorrow." Sebastien Gimbert (Yamaha Motor France) "We had some problems with the chassis settings today so I think that we can make some big improvements tomorrow. The times are very close with just over a second between me and Bayliss in pole so I know that we can be close to superpole tomorrow." Shinichi Nakatomi (Yamaha Motor France) "I was able to do many laps today and my arm did not hurt too much, so this is promising for the race. I am glad to be coming to a circuit I know, because we have already tested here and I am pleased to be faster than my team-mates." Norick Abe (Yamaha Motor France) "For me it is the same as last year's race here. I have no grip and the back wheel is just sliding around. I tried very hard to make a good lap time, especially in those last three laps, but I could not make the improvement. We are already looking at the data to see what improvements we can make to try and find a solution for tomorrow." Massimo Meregalli (Team Coordinator - Yamaha Motor Italia) "I'm quite satisfied. Obviously you want to be right up the front but Andrew has had a good day and was able to find a setting that works well. He's already found a tyre that works for the race and tomorrow we'll make a few changes to try and give him more front end feeling. Nori is still looking for the best set-up but I am not too worried as he is often wanting to make big changes to the bike on the Friday night but we usually find a solution for Saturday." Round: 6 - Misano Circuit: Misano Circuit Length: 4060 Lap Record: 1' 34.913 (Troy Bayliss, 2002) Fastest Lap Ever: 1' 33.525 (Troy Bayliss, 2002) Date: 23 June 2006 Temp: 25ºC Session 1 :  Pos.  Rider  Manufacturer  Nat.  1st Qualifying 1  T. Bayliss  Ducati  AUS   1' 34.903   2  T. Corser  Suzuki  AUS   1' 35.016   3  R. Laconi  Kawasaki  FRA   1' 35.166   4  C. Walker  Kawasaki  GBR   1' 35.255   5  S. Martin  Petronas  AUS   1' 35.313   6  A. Pitt  Yamaha  AUS   1' 35.448   7  M. Fabrizio  Honda  ITA   1' 35.466   8  J. Toseland  Honda  GBR   1' 35.553   9  Y. Kagayama  Suzuki  JPN   1' 35.561   10  F. Nieto  Kawasaki  ESP   1' 35.667   11  R. Rolfo  Ducati  ITA   1' 35.682   12  N. Haga  Yamaha  JPN   1' 35.816   13  L. Lanzi  Ducati  ITA   1' 35.851   14  A. Barros  Honda  BRA   1' 35.858   15  K. Muggeridge  Honda  AUS   1' 35.965   16  F. Foret  Suzuki  FRA   1' 36.037   19  S. Nakatomi  Yamaha  JPN   1' 36.111   20  S. Gimbert  Yamaha  FRA   1' 36.144   24  N. Abe  Yamaha  JPN   1' 36.625   WSS : Yamaha dominant in first practice at Misano Round: 6 - Misano WSS Circuit: Misano Date: 23 June 2006 Temp: 31ºC Weather: Sunny Yamaha enjoyed a dream start to qualifying for Sunday's sixth round of the Supersport World Championship at Misano, with YZF-R6 riders occupying four of the top five places in first qualifying today. Yamaha Motor Germany's Australian rider Broc Parkes topped the timesheets with a time half-a-second under Katsuaki Fujiwara's three-year-old lap record. The 24-year-old had slipped off uninjured in the morning warm-up but fought back to set a best of 1:37.407, one-tenth-of-a-second faster than Gianluca Vizzello on the Yamaha Team Italia YZF-R6, in the afternoon's timed practice. Local rider Massimo Roccoli ended the day fourth on the other Yamaha Team Italia entry. The 21-year-old, who hails from nearby Rimini, posted a fastest time of 1:37.601 to complete the provisional front row. Young French rider Yoann Tibero is the odd man out on the provisional front row, taking third on his Honda. Parkes' team-mate Kevin Curtain had been at the top of the timesheets when his bike developed a minor technical fault with 15 minutes of the session remaining. The Australian was able to return to the pits and rejoin using his spare machine, but with his second bike using different settings he was unable to improve his time and slipped back to fifth. Yamaha GMT94's David Checa ended the day ninth to give the YZF-R6 five of the top 10 places on the grid. Grid positions for Sunday's 23-lap will be decided by in tomorrow afternoon's final qualifying session. Round: 6 - Misano WSS Circuit: Misano Circuit Length: 4060 Lap Record: 1' 37.924 (Katsuaki Fujiwara, 2003) Fastest Lap Ever: 1' 36.846 (Simone Sanna, 2003) Date: 23 June 2006 Temp: 31ºC Session 1 :  Pos.  Rider  Manufacturer  Nat.  1st Qualifying 1  B. Parkes  Yamaha  AUS   1' 37.407   2  G. Vizziello  Yamaha  ITA   1' 37.515   3  Y. Tibero  Honda  FRA   1' 37.555   4  M. Roccoli  Yamaha  ITA   1' 37.601   5  K. Curtain  Yamaha  AUS   1' 38.157   6  C. Zaiser  Ducati  AUT   1' 38.183   7  R. Harms  Honda  DNK   1' 38.450   8  J. Stigefelt  Honda  SWE   1' 38.555   9  D. Checa  Yamaha  ESP   1' 38.578   10  S. Sanna  Honda  ITA   1' 38.626   11  X. Fores  Yamaha  ESP   1' 38.663   12  S. Zerbo  Yamaha  ITA   1' 38.875   13  A. Vos  Honda  NED   1' 38.879   14  M. Berger  Kawasaki  FRA   1' 38.947   15  G. Leblanc  Honda  FRA   1' 39.005   16  B. Martinez  Yamaha  ESP   1' 39.101   20  M. Sanchini  Yamaha  ITA   1' 39.440   26  A. Corradi  Yamaha  ITA   1' 39.795   27  J. Enjolras  Yamaha  FRA   1' 39.816   28  V. Ivanov  Yamaha  RUS   1' 39.888   30  A. Velini  Yamaha  ITA   1' 39.985
Alex Asigno
Camel Yamaha Team rider Colin Edwards adapted better than any other rider to the track changes and mixed weather conditions that affected the first day of action at the Dutch TT today, clocking the fastest time in the afternoon session after lapping sixth quickest in the morning. The main concern for Yamaha at Assen today, however, was for the condition of Edwards' team-mate Valentino Rossi, who suffered a high-speed crash in the morning and was taken to a local hospital for treatment to a number of minor injuries. The Italian was two laps into his second run of the morning when the rear tyre of his YZR-M1 machine lost its grip on the cool Assen circuit and threw him into the air in the fast left-hander before the final chicane. After undergoing x-rays in the Clinica Mobile, which confirmed hairline fractures to the pisiform bone on his right hand and his left malleolus (ankle), Rossi was then taken to the Assen Hospital for a thorax scan which thankfully showed no further damage. He bravely returned to the track in the afternoon and set the twelfth fastest time despite being in some pain and discomfort. Colin Edwards (1st - 1'38.144; 28 laps) "The bike felt great today and it was easy to ride from the first moment I went out onto the track. Even with the changes this circuit still has plenty of banking and it creates its own load, so that saves a lot of time with the setting and you can more or less ride anything here. I've ridden a lot of inferior bikes to the M1 here and had a few problems but this is such a great bike - we've barely had to touch it today. I've always gone well here and it's a circuit I've always liked but it seems that from the first time I raced here in about 1995 they have made some kind of change each year to spoil the track. I think the latest changes are a step too far and I don't think we can call this 'The Cathedral' of MotoGP anymore - certainly the Dutch TT has lost a lot of its magic. It was a strange day because of that and because of the injury to my team-mate. I was glad to see him back in the garage this afternoon and hopefully we can work together to go much faster tomorrow." Valentino Rossi (12th - 1'39.458; 23 laps) "I'm okay and I would like everyone to relax about it, even if it's been quite hard for me to ride! I have a little fracture on my left foot and also a small fracture on my right wrist, so when I give gas and brake it's really hard. I don't have much power or feeling. Plus I got a big bruise on my thorax and I couldn't breathe well for a long time. I had all the examinations necessary to check if everything was okay and with some painkillers I was able to ride this afternoon. The problem this morning was that we started with a tyre that was a bit too hard on the left. When it started to rain I stopped and when I started again I felt that I didn't have enough grip on the left side. I tried to do another lap to see if the grip would improve, but in a really fast point, with the bike leaned over on the left side, I took a flight through the air! It was a big high-side and the first time I hit the ground was very hard. It's a really unlucky thing for us because here I can feel that our bike is working really well, as Colin has shown. The track is not like the old Assen, but anyway it's not so bad. I need to see how it will be when I can ride at the maximum and hopefully I will feel in better shape tomorrow so I can do that."  Davide Brivio - Camel Yamaha Team Director "I suppose it is fair to say that was a different day to normal! On one hand it was very positive because Colin was fast throughout and both he and his bike look good around this circuit. Of course Valentino had a big problem this morning but it was amazing to see him back out on track in the afternoon after such a heavy fall. Despite the pain he was in he managed to complete some laps and also gave us some feedback so let's just hope his condition improves. If Colin can continue like this and Valentino can get back to a decent level of fitness, then we should see them both on top on Saturday." Tech 3 Yamaha Team second fastest in opening practice The Tech 3 Yamaha Team proved today that persistence, hard work and dedication are rewarded as Carlos Checa finished the initial practice sessions in second fastest position for the A-Style Dutch TT on the new look Assen circuit. Checa's superlative time was just over a tenth of a second behind fellow Yamaha rider Colin Edwards who was fastest. Team mate, James Ellison also scored his most impressive practice time of the year to date to be only 1.5 seconds behind Edwards in 13th position, marginally behind number one Yamaha rider and multiple world champion, Valentino Rossi. As the season approaches the half-way point, the results confirm the ongoing improvement of the Dunlop race tyres, reflected in the ever decreasing gap to the top of the leaderboard. Carlos Checa (2nd, 1'38.259, 39 laps) "This is an excellent result for myself and the team and confirms all the hard work we have been doing. I now have the feeling with the Dunlop tyres that I can push more. I can go into the turn and exit the turn faster as rear stability and grip has been improving all the time. Of course we are always looking fro more but the question now is to get the endurance to last the entire race. There has been nothing changed on the bike since Barcelona and there we had improved a lot to give a better feeling but 85% of the improvement is all down to the tyres. It has been awhile since I have been in this position and sure I am happy but as a rider this is what I expect and desire. Sometimes you can't always be in front but I know the limitations and what we have We are racing in the top level with one of the best bikes in the world and I always have tried to be happy no matter how difficult the situation. This situation is getting better every race as since the tests at Le Mans and Mugello there has been a very big improvement so I feel that we a re getting closer Tomorrow, we need to make sure that we can qualify well to stay near this position and make sure we have a good tyre to do the job. We also need to find the suitable race tyre as today with the conditions and learning the new track we did not have enough time to do a proper distance but we have a good idea of which direction to go. I feel confident that after Barcelona we are closer now than we have been all year. James Ellison (13th 1'39.645, 35 laps) "This is definitely the happiest I have been all year. We just got pipped in the last few moments by Rossi and Pedrosa so maybe the position could have been even better but I'm not worried about that at the moment as we're still progressing. We're all very happy. We knew that once we could get the bike set up properly with the tyres I would be able to ride the bike the way I want to. I still don't feel like I'm right on the limit but it's the first time I'm riding like I was riding last year. It's been frustrating in the earlier races not being able to move around on the bike and use the bike aggressively. I've just had to sit on top of it and the bike was riding me. I feel a lot better on it now and I'm having fun every time I go out. I'm feeling a lot more relaxed on it, letting the bike move underneath me instead of fighting it, I'm telling it where to go and the improvements are coming now. The tyres are always improving. To be only 1.5 seconds off is a huge boost to me and a great inspiration to the team. We've been getting better every weekend and this has been a great improvement. Hopefully tomorrow is like everywhere else where the leading guys don't improve that much and I can narrow the gap a bit more because my aim this weekend is to be within a second of pole position because we always seem to be able to run quite a good race pace but we start too far back. Herve Poncharal - Tech3 Yamaha Team Director "This has been a very good day today after the great weekend we had in Barcelona. We have continued to work hard with Dunlop and in the end it shows that what we are doing is paying off. Both Carlos and James had a really good race in Barcelona and that has been an inspiration to keep on pushing harder here. Dunlop has always been quite good here in Assen, so hopefully this will continue. The weekend has started in a really positive way for us and it is very satisfying to see Carlos in second position and show what the Yamaha and the Dunlop tyres can do. For sure James is also a lot better than he has ever been. Ok, it is only day one but so far we have started the weekend well and we hope we can continue in this way for qualifying and the race. It is not only just one fast lap either as both riders are putting in the consistent lap times now as they both did a lot of fast laps s o naturally we'd really like to be in this same position tomorrow afternoon We knew from the start of the year it would take time to get the results. We will test the qualifying tyres tomorrow morning to see what works and I know both riders will be endeavouring to set even faster times and hopefully we have qualifying tyres that can do the job. The only real concern is the weather forecast as we will be hoping for the dry conditions to for the weekend. Round: 8 - 2006 MotoGP Assen Circuit: Assen Circuit Length: 4555 Lap Record: new track Fastest Lap Ever: 1' 38.144 (Colin Edwards, 2006) Date: 22 June 2006 Temp: 18ºC Free Practice :  Pos.  Rider  Manufacturer  Nat.  Free Practice  1  C. Edwards  Yamaha  USA   1' 38.144   2  C. Checa  Yamaha  ESP   1' 38.259   3  C. Stoner  Honda  AUS   1' 38.416   4  K. Roberts  Team Roberts KR  USA   1' 38.510   5  R. De Puniet  Kawasaki  FRA   1' 38.610   6  J. Hopkins  Suzuki  USA   1' 38.659   7  C. Vermeulen  Suzuki  AUS   1' 38.720   8  M. Tamada  Honda  JPN   1' 38.921   9  S. Nakano  Kawasaki  JPN   1' 38.965   10  N. Hayden  Honda  USA   1' 39.142   11  D. Pedrosa  Honda  ESP   1' 39.166   12  V. Rossi  Yamaha  ITA   1' 39.458   13  J. Ellison  Yamaha  GBR   1' 39.645   14  M. Melandri  Honda  ITA   1' 39.647   15  A. Hofmann  Ducati  GER   1' 40.248   16  L. Capirossi  Ducati  ITA   1' 40.688
Alex Asigno
Camel Yamaha Team rider Colin Edwards adapted better than any other rider to the track changes and mixed weather conditions that affected the first day of action at the Dutch TT today, clocking the fastest time in the afternoon session after lapping sixth quickest in the morning. The main concern for Yamaha at Assen today, however, was for the condition of Edwards' team-mate Valentino Rossi, who suffered a high-speed crash in the morning and was taken to a local hospital for treatment to a number of minor injuries. The Italian was two laps into his second run of the morning when the rear tyre of his YZR-M1 machine lost its grip on the cool Assen circuit and threw him into the air in the fast left-hander before the final chicane. After undergoing x-rays in the Clinica Mobile, which confirmed hairline fractures to the pisiform bone on his right hand and his left malleolus (ankle), Rossi was then taken to the Assen Hospital for a thorax scan which thankfully showed no further damage. He bravely returned to the track in the afternoon and set the twelfth fastest time despite being in some pain and discomfort. Colin Edwards (1st - 1'38.144; 28 laps) "The bike felt great today and it was easy to ride from the first moment I went out onto the track. Even with the changes this circuit still has plenty of banking and it creates its own load, so that saves a lot of time with the setting and you can more or less ride anything here. I've ridden a lot of inferior bikes to the M1 here and had a few problems but this is such a great bike - we've barely had to touch it today. I've always gone well here and it's a circuit I've always liked but it seems that from the first time I raced here in about 1995 they have made some kind of change each year to spoil the track. I think the latest changes are a step too far and I don't think we can call this 'The Cathedral' of MotoGP anymore - certainly the Dutch TT has lost a lot of its magic. It was a strange day because of that and because of the injury to my team-mate. I was glad to see him back in the garage this afternoon and hopefully we can work together to go much faster tomorrow." Valentino Rossi (12th - 1'39.458; 23 laps) "I'm okay and I would like everyone to relax about it, even if it's been quite hard for me to ride! I have a little fracture on my left foot and also a small fracture on my right wrist, so when I give gas and brake it's really hard. I don't have much power or feeling. Plus I got a big bruise on my thorax and I couldn't breathe well for a long time. I had all the examinations necessary to check if everything was okay and with some painkillers I was able to ride this afternoon. The problem this morning was that we started with a tyre that was a bit too hard on the left. When it started to rain I stopped and when I started again I felt that I didn't have enough grip on the left side. I tried to do another lap to see if the grip would improve, but in a really fast point, with the bike leaned over on the left side, I took a flight through the air! It was a big high-side and the first time I hit the ground was very hard. It's a really unlucky thing for us because here I can feel that our bike is working really well, as Colin has shown. The track is not like the old Assen, but anyway it's not so bad. I need to see how it will be when I can ride at the maximum and hopefully I will feel in better shape tomorrow so I can do that." Davide Brivio - Camel Yamaha Team Director "I suppose it is fair to say that was a different day to normal! On one hand it was very positive because Colin was fast throughout and both he and his bike look good around this circuit. Of course Valentino had a big problem this morning but it was amazing to see him back out on track in the afternoon after such a heavy fall. Despite the pain he was in he managed to complete some laps and also gave us some feedback so let's just hope his condition improves. If Colin can continue like this and Valentino can get back to a decent level of fitness, then we should see them both on top on Saturday." Tech 3 Yamaha Team second fastest in opening practice The Tech 3 Yamaha Team proved today that persistence, hard work and dedication are rewarded as Carlos Checa finished the initial practice sessions in second fastest position for the A-Style Dutch TT on the new look Assen circuit. Checa's superlative time was just over a tenth of a second behind fellow Yamaha rider Colin Edwards who was fastest. Team mate, James Ellison also scored his most impressive practice time of the year to date to be only 1.5 seconds behind Edwards in 13th position, marginally behind number one Yamaha rider and multiple world champion, Valentino Rossi. As the season approaches the half-way point, the results confirm the ongoing improvement of the Dunlop race tyres, reflected in the ever decreasing gap to the top of the leaderboard. Carlos Checa (2nd, 1'38.259, 39 laps) "This is an excellent result for myself and the team and confirms all the hard work we have been doing. I now have the feeling with the Dunlop tyres that I can push more. I can go into the turn and exit the turn faster as rear stability and grip has been improving all the time. Of course we are always looking fro more but the question now is to get the endurance to last the entire race. There has been nothing changed on the bike since Barcelona and there we had improved a lot to give a better feeling but 85% of the improvement is all down to the tyres. It has been awhile since I have been in this position and sure I am happy but as a rider this is what I expect and desire. Sometimes you can't always be in front but I know the limitations and what we have We are racing in the top level with one of the best bikes in the world and I always have tried to be happy no matter how difficult the situation. This situation is getting better every race as since the tests at Le Mans and Mugello there has been a very big improvement so I feel that we a re getting closer Tomorrow, we need to make sure that we can qualify well to stay near this position and make sure we have a good tyre to do the job. We also need to find the suitable race tyre as today with the conditions and learning the new track we did not have enough time to do a proper distance but we have a good idea of which direction to go. I feel confident that after Barcelona we are closer now than we have been all year. James Ellison (13th 1'39.645, 35 laps) "This is definitely the happiest I have been all year. We just got pipped in the last few moments by Rossi and Pedrosa so maybe the position could have been even better but I'm not worried about that at the moment as we're still progressing. We're all very happy. We knew that once we could get the bike set up properly with the tyres I would be able to ride the bike the way I want to. I still don't feel like I'm right on the limit but it's the first time I'm riding like I was riding last year. It's been frustrating in the earlier races not being able to move around on the bike and use the bike aggressively. I've just had to sit on top of it and the bike was riding me. I feel a lot better on it now and I'm having fun every time I go out. I'm feeling a lot more relaxed on it, letting the bike move underneath me instead of fighting it, I'm telling it where to go and the improvements are coming now. The tyres are always improving. To be only 1.5 seconds off is a huge boost to me and a great inspiration to the team. We've been getting better every weekend and this has been a great improvement. Hopefully tomorrow is like everywhere else where the leading guys don't improve that much and I can narrow the gap a bit more because my aim this weekend is to be within a second of pole position because we always seem to be able to run quite a good race pace but we start too far back. Herve Poncharal - Tech3 Yamaha Team Director "This has been a very good day today after the great weekend we had in Barcelona. We have continued to work hard with Dunlop and in the end it shows that what we are doing is paying off. Both Carlos and James had a really good race in Barcelona and that has been an inspiration to keep on pushing harder here. Dunlop has always been quite good here in Assen, so hopefully this will continue. The weekend has started in a really positive way for us and it is very satisfying to see Carlos in second position and show what the Yamaha and the Dunlop tyres can do. For sure James is also a lot better than he has ever been. Ok, it is only day one but so far we have started the weekend well and we hope we can continue in this way for qualifying and the race. It is not only just one fast lap either as both riders are putting in the consistent lap times now as they both did a lot of fast laps s o naturally we'd really like to be in this same position tomorrow afternoon We knew from the start of the year it would take time to get the results. We will test the qualifying tyres tomorrow morning to see what works and I know both riders will be endeavouring to set even faster times and hopefully we have qualifying tyres that can do the job. The only real concern is the weather forecast as we will be hoping for the dry conditions to for the weekend. Round: 8 - 2006 MotoGP Assen Circuit: Assen Circuit Length: 4555 Lap Record: new track Fastest Lap Ever: 1' 38.144 (Colin Edwards, 2006) Date: 22 June 2006 Temp: 18ºC Free Practice :  Pos.  Rider  Manufacturer  Nat.  Free Practice  1  C. Edwards  Yamaha  USA   1' 38.144   2  C. Checa  Yamaha  ESP   1' 38.259   3  C. Stoner  Honda  AUS   1' 38.416   4  K. Roberts  Team Roberts KR  USA   1' 38.510   5  R. De Puniet  Kawasaki  FRA   1' 38.610   6  J. Hopkins  Suzuki  USA   1' 38.659   7  C. Vermeulen  Suzuki  AUS   1' 38.720   8  M. Tamada  Honda  JPN   1' 38.921   9  S. Nakano  Kawasaki  JPN   1' 38.965   10  N. Hayden  Honda  USA   1' 39.142   11  D. Pedrosa  Honda  ESP   1' 39.166   12  V. Rossi  Yamaha  ITA   1' 39.458   13  J. Ellison  Yamaha  GBR   1' 39.645   14  M. Melandri  Honda  ITA   1' 39.647   15  A. Hofmann  Ducati  GER   1' 40.248   16  L. Capirossi  Ducati  ITA   1' 40.688
Alex Asigno
The MotoGP World Championship returns to its oldest venue this weekend with a fresh new challenge awaiting it at the legendary Dutch TT. With major changes having taken place at the Assen circuit since last season, the whole of the Northern Loop section making way for a new car park and expanded viewing areas, the Camel Yamaha Team venture into the unknown this weekend as they look to extend their winning run to three straight races. The 76th edition of the Dutch TT welcomes MotoGP World Champion Valentino Rossi in top form, the Italian having taken consecutive victories at Mugello and Catalunya in the last two rounds to put his title defence firmly back on track. Rossi has won at Assen for three of the last four editions of the world-famous race and nothing less than another success will do as he aims to cut back a 29-point deficit to current series leader Nicky Hayden (Honda), who has yet to win a race this year. Rossi's team-mate Colin Edwards himself took three victories at Assen in the World Superbike series, including a double win on his way to the title in a gripping climax to the 2002 season. Last season he joined Rossi on the MotoGP podium after finishing in third place and, after continuing set-up work on the new version YZR-M1 chassis at Catalunya, he is confident of rejoining the battle for a top three position in Holland. Valentino Rossi: A great emotion Valentino Rossi is looking forward getting back out on track just five days after the 56th victory of his illustrious career in Barcelona. Despite his opposition to such a hectic run of races, which will almost certainly see some of the riders injured last Sunday missing at least one round, the Italian sees the next two weekends as a valuable opportunity to maintain his momentum and pull even closer to the championship lead. "Having three consecutive races is a problem because if you are injured in the first then you risk not being able to ride for two more races," comments Rossi. "By the third race the riders are also tired and begin to lose concentration so it's very tough for everyone. In the past Assen was one of my favourite tracks and it was always a great, great emotion to ride a MotoGP bike at the limit there. Sadly the track has been changed so I am not as excited about it as usual, because it seems from reports that some of the 'Assen magic' has gone. Anyway, I hope that it's still a good track and I know it will still be fun to race there; it always has a fantastic atmosphere and the Dutch fans are wonderful. "We have now won two races in a row and if we hadn't had the problem in Le Mans then that would be three, which means we are now more or less at the same level that we were at this time last year. These races are really important so I hope that we can manage to win as many as possible. I have moved up to third in the championship now but I still only took five points from Hayden in Barcelona and he is 29 points ahead of me, so we need to keep winning because he is a consistent podium finisher and he always fights to the end." Colin Edwards: Familiar Territory Colin Edwards returns to one of the most successful circuits of his career this weekend but, like Rossi, he is concerned that some of the natural character will have been lost with the recent modifications. After picking up a solid fifth place in the last round at Catalunya the American is now targeting a return to podium form as he heads into three important races at Assen, Donington and Laguna Seca. "I grew up on the next three tracks and I've finished on the podium at all of them in MotoGP so hopefully this can be a good spell for me," says Edwards. "On paper the Yamaha should work well at the new track and some more time with the new chassis will help us get up to speed. We know that what Valentino is using works so it's a case of adapting it to me, making a few small changes and getting as close to his pace as possible - if not improving on it. "Like a lot of the riders I have a lot of affection for the old Assen circuit and I hope it hasn't lost too much of its character. Whatever the track is like you can bet that the atmosphere is going to be just as crazy as ever and I always have a lot of fans there - especially some of the Brits who come over for the party. Hopefully I can give them something to shout about on Saturday afternoon." Davide Brivio: A team effort Such a hectic schedule of races is a major strain on any team and Camel Yamaha is no different. It requires a special effort from the riders and engineers right through to the catering staff and it is a point of the season where every member of the workforce plays a crucial role. Team Director Davide Brivio says everybody has a major part to play as the points quest continues with a second race in the space of just six days. "It was amazing watching the boxes being packed up in the pit garage and the hospitality unit being dismantled on Sunday night to think that in just two days' time they would all be put back together at a circuit 1800 kilometres away," says Brivio. "It is a huge challenge for the whole team and a lot of pressure but it is another example that shows how a rider cannot be successful on the track unless he has the right staff behind him to put everything in place. "Our target before Mugello was to win the next four races so now you could say the job is half done. We want the same level of performance at the next two rounds and the same result, although we know it will be difficult. Assen will be a very interesting challenge because it is virtually a new track - like going to China, Laguna Seca or Turkey last year - but the base setting of our bike has improved vastly and we hope it can be adapted quickly." Technically speaking: Assen according to Andrea Zugna Despite the dramatic changes to Assen's unique layout over the winter, it still promises to be one of the most technically and physically demanding circuits on the calendar for the MotoGP riders. With barely a straight piece of tarmac in sight, handling remains a major focal point due to high-speed chicanes and dramatic camber changes - the latter, in some places, resembling the profile of the public roads that the original circuit was based around 76 years ago. Andrea Zugna, Data Engineer for Colin Edwards, says the information gathered last season will still be highly valuable. "It will be interesting to see how the track is without the Northern Loop because that was a very characteristic section of the circuit, with high camber and left-right switches," says Zugna. "I suppose the first section of the circuit will now be similar to China, with a series of tight right-handers from turns one to four causing strain on the right hand side of the tyre, and that will also make it physically demanding on the riders. "As far as the setting is concerned we will still start with the same as last year because we know it works for around 90% of the track. On Friday morning we will analyse the data from the final 10% and the engineers will be able to make the adjustments based on that information. We expect Assen to be more like a 'normal' circuit now. It has always required only partial throttle and that will still be the case, so it is not too critical on gearbox and engine settings but does require a good compromise to cope with the fast direction changes and the slow chicane which was modified last year. Our setting worked well last year and we finished on the podium so hopefully that can be the case for both riders again." Valentino Rossi: information Age: 27 Lives: London, UK Bike: Yamaha YZR-M1 GP victories: 82 (56 x MotoGP/500cc, 14 x 250cc, 12 x 125cc) First GP victory: Czech Republic, 1996 (125cc) First GP: Malaysia, 1996 (125cc) GP starts: 164 (104 x MotoGP/500cc, 30 x 250cc, 30 x 125cc) Pole positions: 41 World Championships - 7 Grand Prix (1 x 125cc, 1 x 250cc, 1 x 500cc, 4 x MotoGP) Colin Edwards: information Age: 32 Lives: Conroe, Texas Bike: Yamaha YZR-M1 First GP: Japan, 2003 (MotoGP) GP starts: 55 x MotoGP World Championships - 2 World Superbike Assen Lap Record: New Track 2006 Dutch TT Results: 1. Valentino Rossi (ITA) Yamaha, 38'41.808 2. Marco Melandri (ITA) Honda, +1.583 3. Colin Edwards (USA) Yamaha, +7.643
Alex Asigno
Coming into the fourth round of the '06 World Enduro Championship leading the highly competitive Enduro 2 class French UFO Corse Yamaha rider Johnny Aubert started the GP Valli Bergamasche suffering with Influenza. Disappointingly for Aubert things were to get worse rather than better as a crash in the closing stages of day one resulted in him failing to start day two. Unable to perform at his best due to feeling far from 100 per cent Aubert still managed to push reigning Enduro 2 world champion Samuli Aro hard for much of the day one but crashed heavily on the last special test of the day, which dropped him to third. Managing to fit new tyres to his Yamaha in readiness for day two Aubert was advised my event medical staff to go to hospital prior to the start of the second day as he was suffering with pain in his chest, which was feared might be blood clot. Aubert's pain was diagnosed as being a broken rib but having travelled to hospital he was unable to start day two. With Aubert placing in third on day one his UFO Corse Yamaha team-mate Stefan Merriman claimed the runner-up spot with Finn Samuli Aro topping the class. On day two Aro again claimed the E2 class win with Merriman second and Finn Mika Ahola third. By placing in second on both days in Italy Merriman, who scored poorly at the first round of the series in Sweden, lifted himself to the runner-up spot in the E2 championship standings, just 11 points behind class leader Samuli Aro. Despite being unable to match the pace of Aro, Merriman performed consistently on both days having not wanted to take any risks in the dry and rocky conditions. With four rounds of the WEC series remaining Stefan is now looking forward to the first ever WEC events to take place outside of Europe when the world champion ship travels to Canada and the States for rounds five and six. Johnny Aubert (UFO Corse Yamaha) Enduro 2 class - Day 1: third, Day 2: DNS "Day one was going really well for me but it was hard for me because I was suffering with Influenza before the race. I pushed as hard as I could but I wasn't going to beat Samuli. I think that second should have been my place on day one. But I crashed really hard on the last lap and dropped to third, which was disappointing. It was still a good result though but I could have been second. When I crashed I hurt my ribs so I went to the doctor before the start of day two. I wasn't in so much pain but I was blue and there was one place that hurt a lot. They told me to go to the hospital to get checked out properly, which I did, because they were afraid that I might be a blood clot. Thankfully I wasn't but I had broken some ribs. Because I went to the hospital I was not able to make the start of day two." Stefan Merriman (UFO Corse Yamaha) Enduro 2 class - Day 1: second, Day 2: second "If my team-mate Johnny Aubert hadn't of crashed on day one then I would have been third, so I guess his mistake was good for me and bad for him. Both Samuli Aro and Johnny were really fast on day one but I was happy to have finished in second. It was too easy to get injured here or to DNF because there were so many rocks. I wasn't prepared to take any risks.I made a few mistakes on both days but I didn't have any really big crashes. It would have been nice to have won but finishing second on both days is good for my championship. It was an extremely difficult race and it's frustrating that the organisers only made changes to the race during the race because it was clear that four laps on both days was going to be too difficult before the start of the event." Race classification Enduro 2 Round: 4 - Bergamo, Italy Circuit: Valli Bergamasche Race 1: 1 Laps  Pos.  Rider Manufacturer  Nat. Total Time  1   S. Aro KTM  FIN  83' 3.690  2   S. Merriman Yamaha  AUS  +1' 46.720  3   J. Aubert Yamaha  FRA  +1' 55.720  4   M. Ahola Honda  FIN  +2' 13.980  5   A. Botturi Aprilia  ITA  +3' 48.200  6   X. Galindo KTM  ESP  +3' 57.970  7   C. Guerrero GasGas  ESP  +4' 0.090  8   F. Planet KTM  FRA  +4' 8.010  9   P. Edmondson Honda  GBR  +4' 54.290  10   V. Salonen HusaBerg  FIN  +4' 58.770  11   K. Caselli KTM  USA  +5' 30.780  12   A. Beconi Beta  ITA  +5' 32.860  13   S. Tonelli Honda  ITA  +5' 34.050  14   F. Dini Yamaha  ITA  +5' 40.450  15   A. Toresson Suzuki  SWE  +6' 38.020  16   E. Albepart Honda  FRA  +6' 38.050  17   N. Paganon Husqvarna  FRA  +7' 1.950  18   J. Curvalle Kawasaki  FRA  +7' 12.230  19   G. Canova Husqvarna  ITA  +8' 21.350  20   J. Simoncini Suzuki  ITA  +9' 11.400  Race 2: 1 Laps  Pos.  Rider Manufacturer  Nat. Total Time  1   S. Aro KTM  FIN  85' 44.810  2   S. Merriman Yamaha  AUS  +24.010  3   M. Ahola Honda  FIN  +1' 42.480  4   A. Belotti KTM  ITA  +2' 9.930  5   X. Galindo KTM  ESP  +2' 12.030  6   A. Botturi Aprilia  ITA  +2' 51.210  7   C. Guerrero GasGas  ESP  +2' 57.570  8   V. Salonen HusaBerg  FIN  +3' 11.140  9   F. Planet KTM  FRA  +3' 15.080  10   F. Dini Yamaha  ITA  +4' 5.860  11   N. Paganon Husqvarna  FRA  +4' 15.290  12   K. Caselli KTM  USA  +4' 38.410  13   S. Tonelli Honda  ITA  +5' 7.390  14   E. Albepart Honda  FRA  +5' 25.050  15   A. Beconi Beta  ITA  +5' 56.630  16   A. Toresson Suzuki  SWE  +6' 58.340  17   G. Canova Husqvarna  ITA  +7' 1.240  18   G. Falgari Kawasaki  ITA  +7' 28.290  19   J. Simoncini Suzuki  ITA  +8' 6.920  20   F. Mancinelli Beta  ITA  +10' 52.500  Championship standings Enduro 2 Pos.  Rider  Manufacturer  Nat. Points  1   Samuli Aro KTM  FIN 178  2   Stefan Merriman Yamaha  AUS 167  3   Mika Ahola Honda  FIN 160  4   Johnny Aubert Yamaha  FRA 150  5   Cristobal Guerrero GasGas  ESP 109  6   Fabien Planet KTM  FRA 108  7   Xavier Galindo KTM  ESP 104  8   Paul Edmondson Honda  GBR 74  9   Valtteri Salonen HusaBerg  FIN 73  10   Alessandro Botturi Aprilia  ITA 72  11   Fabrizio Dini Yamaha  ITA 70  12   Andrea Beconi Beta  ITA 62  13   Andrea Belotti KTM  ITA 61  14   Nicolas Paganon Husqvarna  FRA 45  15   Euan McConnell TM  GBR 44  16   Emmanuel Albepart Honda  FRA 39  17   Petteri Silvan KTM  FIN 28  18   Thierry Klutz Sherco  BEL 21  19   Christophe Nambotin Husqvarna  FRA 20  20   Kurt Caselli KTM  USA 19  Manufacturers standings Enduro 2 Pos. Manufacturer Points  1  Yamaha 184  2  KTM 178  3  Honda 160  4  GasGas 113  5  HusaBerg 73  6  Aprilia 72  7  Beta 67  8  Husqvarna 53  9  TM 43  10  Sherco 31  11  Suzuki 24  12  Kawasaki 16  Enduro 1 : Micheluz produces his best ever result & Vilanova back in Championship Round: 4 - Bergamo, Italy Circuit: Valli Bergamasche Date: 18 June 2006 Crowd: 28500 Temp: 28ºC Weather: Sunny Italian UFO Corse Yamaha rider Maurizio Micheluz produced his best ever World Enduro Championship result at the 40th GP Valli Bergamasche finishing in third place in the Enduro 1 class on day one. Having performed consistently in the first three rounds of the '06 WEC series Maurizio claimed his first ever world championship podium aboard his WR250F placing behind reigning E1 world champion Ivan Cervantes and countryman Simone Albergoni. Winning the first test of day one in the E1 class, and then going on to perform well throughout the day, Maurizio again rode well on day two to finish fourth. Despite not managing to place on the podium for a second time Maurizio's results lifted him to fourth in the Enduro 1 world championship standings where he lies just nine points adrift of third. The fourth round of the '06 World Enduro Championship saw Spaniard Arnau Vilanova make his debut ride for the UFO Corse Yamaha team having been forced to sit out the first three rounds of the WEC series due to injury. Disappointingly for Arnau a lack of race pace and fitness resulted in him placing in 11th on day one. With day one having taken its toll on Arnau he opted not to start day two. Claiming a double class win in Italy was reigning Enduro 1 world champion Ivan Cervantes. With his team-mate Alessandro Belometti having set the pace for much of day one Ivan inherited the lead when Belometti bent his rear sprocket and dropped seven minutes. Joining Cervantes on the podium on day one were Simone Albergoni and Maurizio Micheluz while on day two it was Belometti and Albergoni who stood either side of Cervantes on the rostrum. Maurizio Micheluz (UFO Corse Yamaha) Enduro 1 class - Day 1: third, Day 2: fourth "I am really happy with my weekend because I finished in a good position on both days. I am really happy with my result from day one because I claimed my first ever world championship podium. Finishing on the podium for the first time at my home GP is great. It was a really difficult race though, especially because of the heat and the dust. It was really physical on both days. Although it was a difficult race we have to remember that this is enduro. But I hope that the races don't get any harder than this." Arnau Vilanova (UFO Corse Yamaha) Enduro 1 class - Day 1: 11th, Day 2: DNS "It was a really difficult race to start my '06 world championship. Since I injured my foot I have been training at home but that is very different to racing at world championship level. I struggled a little bit but I didn't make any big mistakes. I need to work on my speed because the other riders have been racing all season."    Race classification Enduro 1 Round: 4 - Bergamo, Italy Circuit: Valli Bergamasche Race 1: 1 Laps  Pos.  Rider Manufacturer  Nat. Total Time  1   I. Cervantes KTM  ESP  84' 21.040  2   S. Albergoni Honda  ITA  +6.790  3   M. Micheluz Yamaha  ITA  +1' 51.530  4   B. Oblucki Husqvarna  POL  +2' 17.810  5   R. Bazzurri Husqvarna  ITA  +2' 29.000  6   F. Blanc KTM  FRA  +4' 8.760  7   N. Deparrois Husqvarna  FRA  +4' 56.750  8   H. Rodrigues Yamaha  POR  +5' 9.630  9   J. Gauthier Honda  FRA  +5' 49.710  10   M. Pievani KTM  ITA  +6' 15.740  11   A. Vilanova Yamaha  ESP  +7' 6.700  12   F. Georgsson KTM  SWE  +9' 5.270  13   N. Nicoli KTM  ITA  +9' 44.670  14   N. Joye KTM  CHE  +11' 0.710  15   A. Belometti KTM  ITA  +21' 21.230  Race 2: 1 Laps  Pos.  Rider Manufacturer  Nat. Total Time  1   I. Cervantes KTM  ESP  85' 0.410  2   A. Belometti KTM  ITA  +40.500  3   S. Albergoni Honda  ITA  +1' 31.020  4   M. Micheluz Yamaha  ITA  +3' 21.490  5   R. Bazzurri Husqvarna  ITA  +4' 46.090  6   H. Rodrigues Yamaha  POR  +5' 12.850  7   M. Hartmann KTM  GER  +5' 35.200  8   M. Pievani KTM  ITA  +6' 30.140  9   N. Deparrois Husqvarna  FRA  +6' 44.330  10   F. Scovolo Suzuki  ITA  +7' 46.440  11   F. Blanc KTM  FRA  +9' 54.470  12   F. Georgsson KTM  SWE  +11' 1.650  13   N. Nicoli KTM  ITA  +11' 27.800  14   N. Joye KTM  CHE  +14 ' 25.940  15   B. Oblucki Husqvarna  POL  +20' 47.250  Championship standings Enduro 1 Pos.  Rider  Manufacturer  Nat. Points  1   Ivan Cervantes KTM  ESP 194  2   Simone Albergoni Honda  ITA 165  3   Alessandro Belometti KTM  ITA 138  4   Mauricio Micheluz Yamaha  ITA 129  5   Bartosz Oblucki Husqvarna  POL 127  6   Petri Pohjamo TM  FIN 105  7   Helder Rodrigues Yamaha  POR 97  8   Nicolas Deparrois Husqvarna  FRA 75  9   Freddy Blanc KTM  FRA 74  10   Mike Hartmann KTM  GER 70  11   Peter Bergvall Suzuki  SWE 52  12   Julien Gauthier Honda  FRA 43  13   Frederik Georgsson KTM  SWE 41  14   Roberto Bazzurri Husqvarna  ITA 32  15   Joan Jou Yamaha  ESP 27  16   Robert Carlsson Yamaha  SWE 26  17   Manuel Pievani KTM  ITA 24  18   Andre Raphael Kawasaki  FRA 24  19   Pär Olsson Yamaha  SWE 19  20   Evrard Gutkin TM  FRA 18  26   Fernando Ferreira Yamaha  POR 13  27   Alexandre Mendes Yamaha  FRA 12  30   Arnau Vilanova Yamaha  ESP 10  32   Andre Fernandez Yamaha  POR 6  34   Santos Helio Yamaha  ESP 4  Manufacturers standings Enduro 1 Pos. Manufacturer Points  1  KTM 194  2  Honda 165  3  Husqvarna 137  4  Yamaha 134  5  TM 105  6  Suzuki 77  7  Kawasaki 24
Alex Asigno
The Superbike World Championship makes its second visit of the year to Italy this weekend, when the Misano Adriatico circuit plays host to round six of what is proving to be an exciting championship. The question on everyone's lips is who can stop Ducati's Troy Bayliss from extending his run of seven consecutive race wins. The man most likely to break that domination looks like being Yamaha Motor Italia's Noriyuki Haga. Haga has been supremely consistent this season, failing to finish just one race and never coming lower than fifth in the other nine races. He has been Bayliss' main challenger since the start of the European season in April, outscoring all but the Australian over the last three rounds to go to Misano third in the championship. The Japanese rider returns to Italy on the back of three consecutive podium finishes and a successful test in Brno. His Yamaha Motor Italia squad have worked hard to make the 2006 YZF-R1 easier to ride than last year's model and with every lap bringing a greater knowledge of the complex electronics systems used to manage the power, the team goes to Misano in good spirits.   "Last year we had a big traction problem in Misano," says Haga, who qualified a lowly 21st on the grid but still scored a pair of sixths at the seaside circuit last year. "My target for Misano is the same as at all races: to fight for the win. This year the bike is much better on this type of track and we had a good test at Misano in April, when I set the third fastest time and was able to do a good race simulation. I think that the conditions will be much hotter for the race and that this will change the grip levels but we now have a good base setting for the bike and it means that we do not have to make such big changes between each circuit." As an official Pirelli tyre test team, Haga and his team-mate Andrew Pitt spent their three days in the Czech Republic last week evaluating the latest products from the tyre company as well as trying out a host of new settings and development parts on their YZF-R1s. Running in hot temperatures as expected in Misano, Pitt set the second fastest time on race tyres with a 2:01.2, Haga was third fastest with a best of 2:01.5. Bayliss was the fastest rider on show with a 2:00.8. Showing the considerable improvements made to the bikes and tyres over the past year, all of the top riders were well under Haga's 2:03.747 lap record from last year's race. Pitt currently lies sixth in the series and has been a regular challenger at the front of the field this season. The Australian is in good form, having taken a pair of top five finishes in Silverstone. As always he goes into this weekend's race with a target of a podium finish. Like Haga, he was able to complete a full test programme in Brno and is looking forward to Misano. He says: "Misano is a circuit that I enjoy going to. It's normally very hot there, which along with the fact that you're on the left side of the tyre so long, means that it's a hard track on the tyres. It's mostly left hand corners around here and you're on the side of the tyre for a big part of the lap. There are only one or two right handers and a couple of chicanes. The most critical part at Misano is the triple left hand corner leading into the back straight. You need to get that right to get a good run onto the back straight, because in the race that's really the only chance you get to overtake. Our test went well there but we expect it to be hotter this weekend, so the grip levels are likely to be different for the race." Having spent two days testing in Lausitz last weekend, Yamaha Motor France will go to Misano hoping to recapture the form that saw Norick Abe take two fourth places in Valencia, a track with some similarities to this weekend's venue. The Japanese star currently lies ninth in the championship and, with last year's races and some valuable testing time around the venue, he will be expected to better the solitary point he scored in last year's races, even though Misano is one of his least favourite tracks. By contrast team-mate Sebastien Gimbert rates Misano as one of his favourites. He missed the race through injury last year but rode strongly to set the 11th fastest time in April's test. The team's third rider, Shinichi Nakatomi, could miss the race due to the arm injury he sustained in Silverstone. A decision will be made later this week as to whether the Japanese star will ride or not. As always, the event will also feature a round of the Supersport World Championship, where Yamaha Motor Germany's Kevin Curtain will look to take advantage of the absent championship leader Sebastien Charpentier. The Honda rider crashed at the Brno test and will miss the Misano race. Curtain currently lies second in the championship on his new-for-2006 YZF-R6, 40 points behind Charpentier. Curtain set the fastest supersport time at the Brno test, his 2:06.0 being over a second under the lap record. "The Brno test went real well," explained Curtain. "The bike is improving every time we get out on it. Pirelli brought along a lot of tyres to test and we've found some that work well with the R6. Misano should suit us. We've got to try and pull some points back on Charpentier and keep applying the pressure to him. There's still a long way to go in the championship and I've always maintained that nothing would be decided in the opening races. I had some bad luck in Monza but we will keep focussed and try not to make any mistakes." Curtain's team-mate Broc Parkes is a Misano specialist, having won an Italian championship race there last year and setting the fastest ever world supersport lap of the circuit in April's official test. Parkes was just one tenth of a second slower than his team-mate in Brno and will be looking for a good result in Misano to elevate him from his current fourth position in the championship and possibly put himself in a position to challenge for the title in the latter half of the season.
Alex Asigno
Stefan Everts' assault on the World Championship record books weathered its toughest test in weeks but came through unscathed at the eighth round of the 2006 series. At a hot and packed Matterley Basin circuit for the British Grand Prix the World Champion won both motos to stretch his unbeaten run to thirteen races and eight perfect rounds so far. Everts had claimed his second pole position in a row on Saturday on a very dry track that was hard and dusty. The long layout gave the impression of high speed but the riders were struggling to break the two minute barrier as they bobbed and weaved through the course situated in the middle of a natural bowl and among some picturesque scenery. Everts owned his twelfth consecutive moto in usual untouchable fashion. The 33 year old came close to crashing in a busy first corner but cut through from fourth position in the opening turns to be leading the pack by the end of the first lap. A more unconventional race lay in store later in the afternoon as a spill while leading on the fifth lap required some swift surgery to his standing and nine circulations later he had recouped four positions and passed Steve Ramon to again be the pace-setter. It was another dominant display from the Yamaha Intur Sports rider who also recorded the fastest lap of the sprint. Cédric Melotte continues to improve both his physical condition and his confidence. The Belgian was part of a tasty dice for second and third positions in the opening moto - at one stage the YZ450FMs were flying tandem - and eventually he defended fifth spot from Tanel Leok. In the second outing he gained another top ten placing with eighth for his best pair of results this year. Bike it Yamaha UK Dixon Racing's Julien Bill posted the seventh quickest lap-time in qualification and was running in the mid top ten for sections of the opening race until being relegated to tenth with an engine glitch. He was 13th in the final moto after a problem with his goggles. Everts leads the Championship by 99 points which gives him an advantage of almost two Grand Prix with only seven left to run. The Belgian is still firmly on course to reach 100 career victories and presently has 95. Cédric Melotte is eighth but only twelve points from seventh with the next round due to take place at Sweden in two weeks. Stefan Everts, Yamaha Intur Sports Motocross Team: "I hit a rock with my frame, the back wheel came out of the rut and I slid out. Josh passed me immediately but I was aggressive and got him back quickly. I was chasing Tanel but I was having a hard time around the first part of the track because it was so fast and the roosts coming up from all the dust made it difficult to see the lines. I made my way through one by one and then pushed quite hard to have a small gap after a few laps. I managed to bring my Yamaha to the chequered flag first and again I am very happy. After the small crash it made a good show for the fans and I was pleased with how I could still take the race." Cédric Melotte, Yamaha Intur Sports Motocross Team: "Finally I felt more like my old self. I had a long talk with Michele during the week about my life and not just motocross. His encouragement was unbelievable and he is very positive. I had a small problem with my back today and had a lot of pain. I needed an injection to race but I did not want to give up because I was feeling mentally much better. I am still physically not 100% and my riding style needs a high level of fitness. I needed a bit of time to come back but I am still confident for the rest of the season. It will be good to have a small break now and I can take my training step by step." Michele Rinaldi, Team co-ordinator, Yamaha Intur Sports Motocross Team: "It has been a difficult and delicate time for Cédric. He needed a long time to recover from his wrist and still wasn't fit to push for forty minutes. It was not the best situation for Cédric, Yamaha or for us. Today he proved he was fast and could ride at the front for half of the race but could not go to the end. I hope this will change soon because Stefan is giving us perfect results in one half of the team. Both riders really appreciate the new Yamaha and we can see that it is strong everywhere and in all kinds of conditions. We are taking many holeshots which shows the performance of the engine and we are all satisfied." Race classification MX1 Round: 8 - 2006 GP of Matterley Basin, UK Circuit: Matterley Basin Race 1: 20 Laps  Pos.  Rider Manufacturer  Nat. Total Time  1   S. Everts Yamaha  BEL  41' 8.529  2   K. De Dycker Honda  BEL  +4.816  3   J. Coppins Honda  NZL  +5.293  4   K. Strijbos Suzuki  BEL  +6.436  5   C. Melotte Yamaha  BEL  +16.789  6   T. Leok Kawasaki  EST  +20.713  7   G. Crockard Honda  GBR  +26.176  8   J. Garcia Vico Honda  ESP  +28.827  9   P. Leuret  Honda  FRA  +37.045  10   J. Bill Yamaha  GBR  +43.021  11   J. Noble Honda  GBR  +50.363  12   J. Barragan KTM  ESP  +1' 9.842  13   M. Jones Honda  GBR  +1' 12.970  14   S. Ramon Suzuki  BEL  +1' 18.796  15   M. Priem Yamaha  BEL  +1' 20.067  16   D. Theybers Suzuki  BEL  +1' 22.208  17   L. Freibergs Suzuki  LVA  +1' 22.777  18   A. Pyrhonen TM  FIN  +1' 28.109  19   C. Federici Kawasaki  ITA  +1' 31.970  20   N. Bradshaw Suzuki  GBR  +1' 36.825  Race 2: 19 Laps  Pos.  Rider Manufacturer  Nat. Total Time  1   S. Everts Yamaha  BEL  39' 21.708  2   K. Strijbos Suzuki  BEL  +3.372  3   S. Ramon Suzuki  BEL  +15.875  4   T. Leok Kawasaki  EST  +37.671  5   J. Coppins Honda  NZL  +45.447  6   J. Barragan KTM  ESP  +50.676  7   K. De Dycker Honda  BEL  +56.471  8   C. Melotte Yamaha  BEL  +59.626  9   M. Van Daele Honda  BEL  +1' 3.592  10   J. Garcia Vico Honda  ESP  +1' 8.873  11   M. Priem Yamaha  BEL  +1' 11.660  12   J. Noble Honda  GBR  +1' 21.470  13   J. Bill Yamaha  GBR  +1' 23.626  14   C. Federici Kawasaki  ITA  +1' 28.325  15   N. Bradshaw Suzuki  GBR  +1' 36.628  16   M. Jones Honda  GBR  +1' 41.671  17   J. Lindhe KTM  SWE  +1' 46.492  18   A. Salvini Suzuki  ITA  +1' 54.806  19   A. Bobkovs Honda  LVA  +2' 1.915  20   B. Verhoeven Kawasaki  NED  +2' 3.758  Championship standings MX1 Pos.  Rider  Manufacturer  Nat. Points  1   Stefan Everts Yamaha  BEL 392  2   Kevin Strijbos Suzuki  BEL 293  3   Tanel Leok Kawasaki  EST 278  4   Ken De Dycker Honda  BEL 267  5   Steve Ramon Suzuki  BEL 254  6   Jonathan Barragan KTM  ESP 190  7   Pascal Leuret  Honda  FRA 159  8   Cedric Melotte Yamaha  BEL 147  9   Javier Garcia Vico Honda  ESP 139  10   Manuel Priem Yamaha  BEL 136  11   Julien Bill Yamaha  GBR 126  12   Marvin Van Daele Honda  BEL 120  13   Brian Jorgensen Honda  DNK 120  14   James Noble Honda  GBR 108  15   Sebastien Tortelli KTM  FRA 99  16   Antti Pyrhonen TM  FIN 94  17   Danny Theybers Suzuki  BEL 78  18   Gordon Crockard Honda  GBR 54  19   Alex Salvini Suzuki  ITA 50  20   Wyatt Avis KTM  RSA 46  Manufacturers standings MX1 Pos. Manufacturer Points  1  Yamaha 392  2  Suzuki 329  3  Honda 279  4  Kawasaki 278  5  KTM 245  6  TM 94  MX2 : Another runner-up place for Cairoli Round: 8 - 2006 GP of Matterley Basin, UK Circuit: Matterley Basin Date: 18 June 2006 Crowd: 39000 Temp: 28ºC Weather: Hot Antonio Cairoli repeated his Italian Grand Prix runner-up position at Matterley Basin as the top two steps of the MX2 podium were again filled by David Philippaerts and the De Carli representative. The World Champion had started badly in the first race on a track that proved difficult for passing simply because the high speed and simple layout meant that the distances between riders remained constant and tricky to breach. He was able to improve his ranking by one digit to sixth after Nicolas Aubin faded back through the top ten. In the second moto he harried Philippaerts for the better part of the 35 minute and 2 lap distance before pulling away for his fifth race triumph of the season. Bike it Yamaha UK Dixon Racing's Billy Mackenzie was fourth after tying on points for the lower step of the podium but losing his third silverware of the term after finishing eighth in race two. The Scot was the first Yamaha home with third position in the first contest of the day in what was a decent performance in front of a very vocal supporting crowd. The 22 year old had several injections into a broken left hand and fought off the close attentions of Championship leader Christophe Pourcel for the runner-up place behind David Philippaerts until the last lap. The local resident was back to his aggressive best after two indifferent and troublesome Grand Prix but his impetuousness cost him in the afternoon after a mistake while third saw him run off the track and he struggled to rise higher up the classification. Mackenzie was briefly on the podium when Sebastien Pourcel overtook Tommy Searle for third but then almost crashed giving the British teenager his first ever top three and leaving the Yamaha man disappointed. Kenneth Gundersen was leading the moto1 until he lost the front end of the Ricci Racing Yamaha on a banked right hander and crashed down to sixth, finally able to rise to fifth. In the second outing he fought off Billy Mackenzie and passed Anthony Boisierre for sixth that gave him fifth overall. Davide Guarneri gained his best race result of the year in fourth position after leaving behind the tussle between his Yamaha compatriots Gundersen and Cairoli but collided with Gareth Swanepoel and did not finish race two. His team-mate Alessio Chiodi had small crashes in both motos and was eleventh. After two second positions and a victory in the last four motos Cairoli has moved up to second in the Championship 34 points behind Christophe Pourcel. Mackenzie is sixth and Gundersen seventh. After a heavy three week spell of consecutive races the World Championships have now earned a well deserved break. The Grand Prix of Sweden at the Uddevalla circuit will draw the teams and riders together on the first weekend of July. Antonio Cairoli, Team Yamaha De Carli: "I didn't start well and I was trying to come back through but I hit a wall with Gundersen because he was so hard to pass. I lost a lot of time. I rode with my head and I liked the track. I was thinking about the Championship in that first heat because I passed Tyla and de Reuver although I lost the race because of that start." Kenneth Gundersen, Yamaha Team Ricci: "Again my own mistake cost me, just like Montevarchi. I tried to be smooth too early and should have attacked for a few more laps before trying to set a rhythm but I came into the corner and the front slid out. I came from eighth to fifth in the first one and it wasn't a bad race. I struggled in the second moto and was fighting the bike." Alessio Chiodi, Yamaha Team Ricci: "Today was not so good because I had some decent positions but I crashed in both motos however my knee is getting better and that is one positive thing. The track was fast and the dry but it wasn't so bad." Billy Mackenzie, Bike it Yamaha UK Dixon Racing: "I'm gutted to be honest. Hearing the crowd cheering for twenty minutes after the race for someone else when I knew I should have been up there was hard to take and a bit of a downer. I tried my hardest. I made a small mistake after the whoops when I was third because I saw Cairoli and Philippaerts ahead of me and thought 'I can get them'. My hand has been getting better for three weeks now but it still forced me to have two bad Grand Prix. The medication I had today was great. I need to pick my head up now; fourth overall was fine and the points make it good."    Race classification MX2 Round: 8 - 2006 GP of Matterley Basin, UK Circuit: Matterley Basin Race 1: 19 Laps  Pos.  Rider Manufacturer  Nat. Total Time  1   D. Philippaerts KTM  ITA  39' 22.087  2   C. Pourcel Kawasaki  FRA  +5.443  3   B. MacKenzie Yamaha  GBR  +9.460  4   D. Guarneri Yamaha  ITA  +13.068  5   K. Gundersen Yamaha  NOR  +14.894  6   A. Cairoli Yamaha  ITA  +17.540  7   G. Swanepoel Kawasaki  RSA  +18.911  8   T. Searle Kawasaki  GBR  +19.706  9   N. Aubin Kawasaki  FRA  +21.875  10   S. Pourcel Kawasaki  FRA  +49.922  11   C. Nunn KTM  GBR  +52.163  12   R. Goncalves KTM  POR  +53.868  13   A. Chiodi Yamaha  ITA  +57.138  14   A. Boissière Yamaha  FRA  +1' 2.097  15   M. Monni KTM  ITA  +1' 10.702  16   P A. Renet Honda  FRA  +1' 17.198  17   T. Rattray KTM  RSA  +1' 23.172  18   R. Rowson Kawasaki  GBR  +1' 24.485  19   S. Simpson Honda  GBR  +1' 27.681  20   J. Dougan Honda  GBR  +1' 41.747  Race 2: 19 Laps  Pos.  Rider Manufacturer  Nat. Total Time  1   A. Cairoli Yamaha  ITA  39' 56.266  2   D. Philippaerts KTM  ITA  +11.233  3   T. Searle Kawasaki  GBR  +13.689  4   S. Pourcel Kawasaki  FRA  +14.190  5   R. Goncalves KTM  POR  +26.994  6   K. Gundersen Yamaha  NOR  +36.890  7   A. Boissière Yamaha  FRA  +40.631  8   B. MacKenzie Yamaha  GBR  +45.117  9   C. Nunn KTM  GBR  +49.390  10   A. Chiodi Yamaha  ITA  +50.918  11   M. Monni KTM  ITA  +51.632  12   C. Pourcel Kawasaki  FRA  +53.183  13   M. Seistola Honda  FIN  +1' 0.827  14   P A. Renet Honda  FRA  +1' 5.203  15   T. Rattray KTM  RSA  +1' 6.533  16   B. Anderson Yamaha  GBR  +1' 7.906  17   M. De Reuver KTM  NED  +1' 22.806  18   X. Boog Yamaha  FRA  +1' 27.227  19   S. Simpson Honda  GBR  +1' 30.413  20   J. Wing KTM  SWE  +1' 32.179  Championship standings MX2 Pos.  Rider  Manufacturer  Nat. Points  1   Christophe Pourcel Kawasaki  FRA 305  2   Antonio Cairoli Yamaha  ITA 271  3   David Philippaerts KTM  ITA 257  4   Marc De Reuver KTM  NED 250  5   Tyla Rattray KTM  RSA 245  6   Billy MacKenzie Yamaha  GBR 201  7   Carl Nunn KTM  GBR 181  8   Kenneth Gundersen Yamaha  NOR 170  9   Sébastien Pourcel Kawasaki  FRA 169  10   Tommy Searle Kawasaki  GBR 162  11   Rui Goncalves KTM  POR 157  12   Gareth Swanepoel Kawasaki  RSA 148  13   Alessio Chiodi Yamaha  ITA 143  14   Davide Guarneri Yamaha  ITA 112  15   Luigi Seguy Yamaha  FRA 94  16   Manuel Monni KTM  ITA 89  17   Anthony Boissière Yamaha  FRA 87  18   Matti Seistola Honda  FIN 69  19   Aigar Leok Yamaha  EST 64  20   Pierre-Alexandre Renet Honda  FRA 50  Manufacturers standings MX2 Pos. Manufacturer Points  1  KTM 365  2  Yamaha 351  3  Kawasaki 322  4  Honda 127  5  Suzuki 13
Alex Asigno
Camel Yamaha Team rider Valentino Rossi emerged from a crash-strewn race at Catalunya with 25 more points to boost his world title defence, thanks to his third Grand Prix victory of the season at Montmelo today. One of the most dramatic races in recent history began to unfold from the first corner, when Sete Gibernau (Ducati) collided with his team-mate Loris Capirossi under braking and both riders went tumbling into the gravel at high speed, taking Marco Melandri (Honda) with them. All three riders were injured and unable to join the restarted race after the red flags were subsequently raised, although John Hopkins (Suzuki), Randy de Puniet (Kawasaki) and Dani Pedrosa (Honda) did make it back to the grid after also running off track during the first corner melee. Casey Stoner (Honda) repeated the excellent start he got at the first race start, taking the hole-shot and then leading over the first eight laps before eventually folding under constant pressure from Rossi and sliding into the gravel. With extremely high temperatures and low grip levels several other riders also crashed out, leaving Nicky Hayden (Honda) as the only man capable of chasing the Italian. With less than a second separating the pair for most of the race, Rossi turned on the style with typical flair in the closing stages and had opened out a 4.509 second advantage over the American when he took the chequered flag. With no fewer than eight riders failing to make it to the end of the race it was a credit to Rossi's team-mate Colin Edwards that he arrived home in fifth place, collecting some valuable championship points and more crucial data with the new version of the YZR-M1 chassis that was available to him on both bikes for the first time this season. The American's compatriots Hayden and Kenny Roberts (Team KR) completed the podium. Valentino Rossi (1st; 41'31.237) "The start of the race was hard for everybody because we were all very worried about the riders who crashed - especially Marco Melandri because we could see his accident was a bad one. Just before the start Doctor Costa told me that Marco was more or less ok and I was very relieved. Even then it was tough to concentrate on re-starting the race. I made a mistake at the start and Stoner came past me, but my bike was working so well that I was able to push from the beginning and when the fuel came down it was even better. I knew that some of the other riders were having trouble with their tyres but my team have done a great job with Michelin this weekend and I had lots of grip to the end. Hayden pushed very hard but I kept my pace up and was able to extend the advantage over him. The M1 has been so much fun to ride all weekend and I want to say a big thank you to the whole team for getting it to this stage. To win at two of my favourite tracks like Mugello and Catalunya is a big, big satisfaction for me." Colin Edwards (5th; +22.548) "I can't say I'm happy because I feel we missed a chance to finish on the podium today, but we're at an early stage with this chassis and we have made a lot of progress this weekend. We felt we had found a good compromise with the set-up in practice but the grip levels were low in the race and I kept losing the front. It's a difficult problem to ride around because it's a fine line between pushing it so hard that it folds and not pushing it enough to get the required load down to the track. I'm disappointed but I was very close to the incident in turn one and I know it could have been me in the ambulance, so things could have been worse for me. It was a big shock for all of us but thankfully nobody was seriously hurt and we all hope the injured riders can be back with us soon." Davide Brivio - Camel Yamaha Team Director "Of course we are delighted with the result and the confirmation of the progress with our bike. We now know that we have a competitive package for our riders so we hope we can fight like this every weekend until the end of the season. We said this was an important spell for us and I am delighted with the way the team, the riders and the bike have responded. Now we have just five days to the next one at Assen and we have to try and do it all over again!" Carlos Checa (8th, fastest lap 1'44.171) "That is one of the strangest races I have ever been in and I hope that everyone is fine. This is the sort of result I have been looking for. I am very happy with the race. It doesn't matter where we finished. What is important to me is that we have found the consistency to be able to push hard for the whole race. Also another thing that I am very happy with is the lap times that we can do now. We know now that we can keep a good pace and are able to fight for positions until the end. I had a good fight with Tamada and we were able to pass each other a few times. It is good to be back in this position. To do so many laps that are so close together means that we are improving all the time and we will be even closer as the year goes on. The other positives for us are with our lap times with Edwards and some others. We are much closer to them than a few races ago, so I hope we can improve and get some extra help from Dunlop and Yamaha for the next races ahead. This result will give everyone extra motivation to keep improving and with two races so soon it will be another chance for us to improve our consistency and race result. James Ellison (9th. fastest lap 1'45.108) "I'm pretty happy with the result and chuffed for my team and Dunlop. They have been working so hard all year to get this. I'm a bit disappointed that I couldn't do the same lap times as we did in warm-up but we are learning things all the time that we can use in future races. We learnt some things with suspension this weekend and I'm feeling more comfortable that I have ever felt and now I am able to slide and push hard. Because I'm feeling so much better on the bike I am not suffering from arm-pump because of hanging on so tightly, so I'm able to relax on it a bit more and let the bike do the work. We are improving the consistency of the Dunlop tyres better all the time. We still have a bit of trouble with side grip but I think with the banked corners at Assen this will not be so much of a problem. The traction of the Dunlop tyres has improved a lot as well. All these factors show that we are making progress all the time." Herve Poncharal - Tech3 Yamaha Team Director "We are very happy but are disappointed that the race had to be overshadowed by the accident that injured Loris, Marco and Sete. This is the sort of result the team and Dunlop have been working very hard to achieve and to be just over 30 seconds behind the leaders is the best news no matter what position we finished in. Clearly the work done since France and Mugello is starting to pay off and now we have found a good rhythm and consistency. We did a good race pace on Saturday and again in the warm-up this morning and to do similar ties in the race is very encouraging. Carlos did 17 laps all in the 1:44 second bracket and these continued right until the second last lap so that proves that we have the consistency we have been searching for. This is only the seventh race of the year and we have made big progress since the first round and this result with Carlos and James will motivate the team and Dunlop to work even harder. We are a bit disappointed that all the rides could not compete as I think we would've had a good result with everyone out there. To be posting similar laps to Colin is another indication that we are getting closer all the time. We now have two races back to back that will see the progress continue and hopefully we will be even closer to the leading riders. Race classification MotoGP Round: 7 - 2006 MotoGP Catalunya Circuit: Catalunya Circuit Length: 4727 Lap Record: 1' 43.048 (Nicky Hayden, 2006) Fastest Lap Ever: 1' 41.855 (Valentino Rossi, 2006) Race: 24 Laps Pos. Rider Manufacturer Nat. Total Time 1  V. Rossi Yamaha ITA 41' 31.237 2  N. Hayden Honda USA +4.509 3  K. Roberts Team Roberts KR USA +9.174 4  J. Hopkins Suzuki USA +13.465 5  C. Edwards Yamaha USA +22.548 6  C. Vermeulen Suzuki AUS +25.198 7  M. Tamada Honda JPN +30.622 8  C. Checa Yamaha ESP +31.277 9  J. Ellison Yamaha GBR +59.203 10  A. Hofmann Ducati GER +1' 14.062 11  J. Cardoso Ducati ESP +1' 46.815 Fastest Race Lap:  Pos. Rider Manufacturer Nat. Total Time 1  N. Hayden Honda USA 1' 43.048 Championship standings MotoGP Pos. Rider Manufacturer Nat. Points 1  Nicky Hayden Honda USA 119 2  Loris Capirossi Ducati ITA 99 3  Valentino Rossi Yamaha ITA 90 4  Marco Melandri Honda ITA 89 5  Daniel Pedrosa Honda ESP 86 6  Casey Stoner Honda AUS 65 7  Colin Edwards Yamaha USA 60 8  Toni Elias Honda ESP 53 9  Makato Tamada Honda JPN 49 10  Sete Gibernau Ducati ESP 44 11  Kenny Roberts Team Roberts KR USA 44 12  John Hopkins Suzuki USA 40 13  Shinya Nakano Kawasaki JPN 37 14  Chris Vermeulen Suzuki AUS 31 15  Carlos Checa Yamaha ESP 24 16  James Ellison Yamaha GBR 12 Manufacturers standings MotoGP Pos. Manufacturer Points 1  Honda 151 2  Yamaha 119 3  Ducati 105 4  Suzuki 54 5  Team Roberts KR 44 6  Kawasaki 37 Team standings MotoGP Pos. Team Points 1  Repsol Honda Team 205 2  Camel Yamaha Team 150 3  Ducati Marlboro Team 143 4  Fortuna Honda Team 142 5  Rizla Suzuki 71 6  Honda LCR 65 7  Konica Minolta Honda 49 8  Kawasaki Racing Team 48 9  Team Roberts KR 44 10  Tech3 Yamaha 36 11  Pramac D'Antin 17 Race classification GP250 Round: 7 - 2006 GP250 Catalunya Circuit: Catalunya Circuit Length: 4727 Lap Record: 1' 47.302 (Daniel Pedrosa, 2004) Fastest Lap Ever: 1' 46.220 (Jorge Lorenzo, 2005) Race: 23 Laps Pos. Rider Manufacturer Nat. Total Time 1  A. Dovizioso Honda ITA 41' 28.179 2  J. Lorenzo Aprilia ESP +0.095 3  A. de Angelis Aprilia SMR +0.422 4  R. Locatelli Aprilia ITA +1.587 5  A. Debon Aprilia ESP +3.136 6  H. Aoyama KTM JPN +4.032 7  Y. Takahashi Honda JPN +4.072 8  S. Guintoli Aprilia FRA +7.315 9  A. West Aprilia AUS +43.107 10  M. Cardenas Honda COL +43.193 11  M. Poggiali KTM SMR +43.582 12  A. Ballerini Aprilia ITA +44.405 13  J. Cluzel Aprilia FRA +52.426 14  A. Tizon Honda ESP +1' 5.476 15  F. Perren Honda ARG +1' 8.871 Fastest Race Lap:  Pos. Rider Manufacturer Nat. Total Time 1  A. de Angelis Aprilia SMR 1' 47.327 Championship standings GP250 Pos. Rider Manufacturer Nat. Points 1  Andrea Dovizioso Honda ITA 133 2  Jorge Lorenzo Aprilia ESP 108 3  Yuki Takahashi Honda JPN 89 4  Hiroshi Aoyama KTM JPN 85 5  Roberto Locatelli Aprilia ITA 80 6  Hector Barbera Aprilia ESP 78 7  Alex de Angelis Aprilia SMR 71 8  Sylvain Guintoli Aprilia FRA 51 9  Marco Simoncelli Gilera ITA 40 10  Shuhei Aoyama Honda JPN 34 11  Anthony West Aprilia AUS 34 12  Martin Cardenas Honda COL 28 13  Jakub Smrz Aprilia CZE 27 14  Alex Debon Aprilia ESP 22 15  Manuel Poggiali KTM SMR 22 Manufacturers standings GP250 Pos. Manufacturer Points 1  Aprilia 151 2  Honda 138 3  KTM 84
Alex Asigno
Camel Yamaha Team rider Valentino Rossi will line up in pole position for the first time in almost a year when the MotoGP World Championship riders take their place on the grid for the seventh round of the season at Catalunya tomorrow. The Italian has been in excellent form all weekend and after continuing yesterday's job to set his YZR-M1 up for the 25-lap race, he was able to concentrate fully on a burst of quick laps at the end of this afternoon's qualifying session. His fastest lap registered a new pole record of 1'41.855 and put him at the front of the MotoGP grid for the first time since the 2005 British Grand Prix last July. Colin Edwards also followed up positive work on his two machines yesterday with further progress in the morning free practice, when he set the fourth fastest time on race tyres. However, slight changes to the setting of his bike and the extra grip offered by a softer rear tyre had a detrimental effect as he pushed for a quick lap time at the end of the qualifying session, the American eventually dropping to twelfth place on the grid as a host of riders posted one-off flying laps, despite not matching the consistency demonstrated by Edwards. Rossi will be joined on the front row by two of Edwards' compatriots, John Hopkins (Suzuki) and Kenny Roberts (Honda KR). Valentino Rossi (1st - 1'41.855; 26 laps) "I am really, really happy - it is a big satisfaction to be back on pole after such a long time. The bike has been working really well all weekend and I have to say a big 'thank you' to everybody at Yamaha and all my engineers because they have worked so hard to build this new chassis and then make it work so well in such a short space of time. I said yesterday that we have been able to work in a normal way and this meant that today I was able to focus on finding a good setting for the qualifying tyre and putting some fast laps in at the end. It is the first time I have had this pleasure in a long time and to do it at this track is amazing because it is so much fun to ride here. There are some tough riders out there but I have a special feeling in front of these fans. They always treat me so well and I want to put on a good show for them tomorrow." Colin Edwards (12th - 1'42.655; 26 laps) "I don't seem to be getting any kind of luck in qualifying lately. We haven't had so much time yet with the new chassis and unfortunately when I put the softer tyre on it kept folding the front end, so I couldn't push harder for a time and get the place on the grid that my pace would otherwise reflect. Also we made a couple of changes to the setting - nothing major, just a millimetre here or there - but it seemed to add to the extra force on the front so we perhaps would have been better sticking to what we found in the morning. Tomorrow we'll have to go backwards a little bit with the setting and no doubt we can go forwards a lot during the race!"
Davide Brivio - Camel Yamaha Team Director "Of course it is very nice to be back on pole but the most pleasing thing is to see the constant progression we have made with the bike from Le Mans to Mugello to here. To come off the back of that win in Italy to take pole here is a reflection of the excellent work the team has done with the bike and we hope that this situation is now the 'norm' until the end of the season. It will be a difficult race tomorrow and we are still not sure of the conditions, but we know we can be involved and it will be up to Valentino to keep fighting to the end, as he always does. Colin has a good race pace but he didn't manage to get the best out of the qualifying tyres at the end. He will have another fight on his hands over the first few laps so we will see what happens." Carlos Checa (16th, 1'43.606, 29 laps) ."On race tyres we are stronger than we have ever been and during qualifying we did over 70% of the race distance to show that we now have the consistency. This is very positive but what is disappointing is the lack of performance in the qualifying tyres. We were doing the same times on the qualifying tyres as we managed on race tyres yesterday. After being 11th yesterday it is very disappointing because with qualifying tyres we should be able to go at least a second quicker... On race tyres we can do 1.44s and this is the pace we can run at. If we can get a good start and maintain the lap times that we have done over the last two days on race tyres it should be a good race for us. I had the best race pace today I have ever had and we were able to maintain the same lap times so I am looking forward to having a good battle with a bunch of riders that are close to me. When it was time for the qualifying tyres we tried three but none of them worked so we still have to work on this also. To be frustrated in this way is not the best way to understand the situation. Also on the race tyres we have found much more grip so we have to play around with the setup. To be just 1.2 seconds away from the leaders when everyone is on race tyres is very good for us but we have to improve the qualifying tyres so we may be able to get a better grid position and so be in a better place to battle with a big bunch of riders James Ellison (18th 1'44.727, 25 laps) "It hasn't been the best of days but at least - like Carlos - we are getting some consistency with the race tyres but it's pretty frustrating that our qualifying tyres aren't working too well so we drop down the field. Saying that I have a pretty good race pace and we know that we now have the Dunlop tyres that can last the distance." We are working very hard with Dunlop to come up with a solution and the hard work they have been putting in has been reflected with the improvement to the race tyres. Also we have found some improvements to the chassis and that is allowing me to ride the bike the way I like to ride. Now I can slide it and back it in with a lot more confidence that I have been able to do in previous races. Now that we have tested the tyres for almost an entire race distance it should bring us some better results." Herve Poncharal - Tech3 Yamaha Team Director "A bit disappointing with the starting position as we definitely have to work on the qualifying tyre to get a better grid position. We were doing 43.6 Friday morning with a race tyre and we are 43.6 with a qualifying tyre on Saturday afternoon. Sure when we see what the opposition is doing there is a gap between race and qualifying tyres and we have to work on that. Having said that, I think we are the closest we have ever been on race tyres and race pace. We have been doing race distance this morning and again this afternoon with a high track temperature and we are very consistent in the low 44's. it wont be enough to be in front but I think for the first time if everything goes like we are planning we will have a race without any drop off in tyre performance where we can be all race long in the 44's and we will see where it will take us. I look forward to this race and I especially hope that our riders will be able to stay with other riders and we will have a nice battle through the race instead of seeing the others just disappear and just racing on our own. On this track that is a real distinct possibility. I am happy. I'm not happy with the grid position but if we get a good start I think we can carry a pretty good lap time for the whole race. We did 18 laps this afternoon on the one tyre and maintained the lap times and the race is 22 so I think we should be ok. Round: 7 - 2006 MotoGP Catalunya Circuit: Catalunya Circuit Length: 4727 Lap Record: 1' 43.195 (Valentino Rossi, 2005) Fastest Lap Ever: 1' 41.855 (Valentino Rossi, 2006) Date: 17 June 2006 Temp: 28ºC Session 1 : Pos. Rider Manufacturer Nat. 1st Qualifying 1 V. Rossi Yamaha ITA   1' 41.855  2 J. Hopkins Suzuki USA   1' 41.984  3 K. Roberts Team Roberts KR USA   1' 42.055  4 C. Vermeulen Suzuki AUS   1' 42.211  5 S. Nakano Kawasaki JPN   1' 42.216  6 L. Capirossi Ducati ITA   1' 42.247  7 N. Hayden Honda USA   1' 42.305  8 C. Stoner Honda AUS   1' 42.344  9 M. Melandri Honda ITA   1' 42.492  10 R. De Puniet Kawasaki FRA   1' 42.620  11 D. Pedrosa Honda ESP   1' 42.648  12 C. Edwards Yamaha USA   1' 42.655  13 S. Gibernau Ducati ESP   1' 42.712  14 T. Elias Honda ESP   1' 42.853  15 M. Tamada Honda JPN   1' 42.869  16 C. Checa Yamaha ESP   1' 43.606  18 J. Ellison Yamaha GBR   1' 44.727
Alex Asigno
Next weekend the Circuit de Catalunya hosts the MotoGP World Championship for the fifteenth successive season since opening to coincide with the Olympic Games in 1992 and sees the Camel Yamaha Team looking to strike gold for the second consecutive race. Following on from Valentino Rossi's epic victory at his home Grand Prix in Italy less than two weeks ago, and backed up by encouraging data from a subsequent day of testing at the Mugello circuit, confidence could not be higher for a repeat result as the team look to close down the points gap to joint series leaders Loris Capirossi (Ducati) and Nicky Hayden (Honda). Rossi travels to Barcelona, one of his favourite cities in the world, having reached several milestones thanks to his 55th career MotoGP victory at Mugello. As well as taking him above Mick Doohan to second place in the all-time winners list behind Giacomo Agostini, it was also his 22nd success with Yamaha - the same number achieved by Kenny Roberts and bettered only by Wayne Rainey and Eddie Lawson - and it made Rossi the second highest points-scorer of all time behind Doohan. He will join the Australian as one of only two riders ever to pass 2000 career points if he finishes first or second at Catalunya. Rossi's team-mate Colin Edwards has also been making his mark in the history books despite not yet hitting his best form this season. Despite running into the gravel early in the race at Mugello, the Texan managed to fight his way back to finish in twelfth place to extend his run of successive points scoring finishes to 27. Only Mick Doohan, Wayne Gardner, Eddie Lawson and Valentino Rossi himself have ever put together a longer run. Edwards' target this weekend is to celebrate number 28 on the podium. Virtually 57 years to the day since the first ever World Championship Grand Prix at the Isle of Man TT in 1949, this weekend's event will provide the latest chapter in one of the most exciting and unpredictable eras in the history of the sport. After six rounds there are just 34 points covering the top six riders.  Valentino Rossi: Lucky seven? Catalunya is one of Valentino Rossi's most successful events, being one of three circuits where he has already stood on the top step of the podium on seven occasions - the others being Donington and Phillip Island. For the past two seasons he has taken victory for Yamaha and he is hopeful of repeating that feat as he aims to reduce a 34-point deficit to the championship summit. "Barcelona is always a great race for me and I've won there the last two years with Yamaha, so hopefully we can do it again," says Rossi. "Last year Gibernau set a fast pace and I tried 100% to follow him. Then I set the fastest lap three laps from the end, which at a track like Catalunya is amazing. Hopefully we can get this level of performance out of the bike and tyres again. Also I get a really good reception in Spain and it is always a pleasure to ride there. "I am looking forward to this weekend because now I think we have finally arrived where we should be with the bike. It worked really well at the Mugello test and now I think we've really shown that we can fight at the front again and win. From a technical point of view, since the new chassis has been available we've been able to ride like in the past. Now we're very fast but it's still hard to win races! This championship is very balanced between Ducati and Honda and Yamaha and the other riders are at a great level so it was very important for us to win at Mugello. Now we have an eleven race championship and we have to be on the podium at every round." Colin Edwards: Double chassis bonus After a week's break with his family on the beaches near Barcelona, Colin Edwards tackles the seventh round of the campaign in refreshed and determined mood following an indifferent run of early season results. The American has been hindered by a series of unfortunate incidents in recent races but the news that two units of the updated YZR-M1 chassis, which he tested with positive results at Mugello, will be at his disposal from the opening practice of the Spanish round has given him a vital boost. "I've been run into the gravel for the last two rounds but we've come out of them both in the points so I have to use that as springboard to better things over the next few races," admits Edwards. "There is no use lamenting about what could have been - I have never done that and I won't start now. The positive thing to come out of Mugello was the performance of the new chassis and I'm really looking forward to adapting the setting even more at Barcelona. It's another fast circuit so hopefully the bike adapts quickly and we can be on the pace from the start." Like Rossi, Edwards has positive memories of the Catalunya circuit thanks to his performance there in the official pre-season tests, when he drove home in a new car as a prize for setting the fastest time. "That seems a long time ago now but it's true that we went well there with an early version of this year's bike. We've made progress since then but the conditions will be very different so we'll have to wait and see." Davide Brivio: Triple target Camel Yamaha Team Director Davide Brivio is targeting a three-pronged attack on the MotoGP World Championship this weekend as he leads a continued revival for his team following a mixed start to the season. As well as building on positive recent development with the YZR-M1 machines, the Italian is hoping for another maximum points return from Valentino Rossi and a second podium of the season for Colin Edwards. "Before Mugello I said that our mission for the next few races was to recover points for Valentino and we had the perfect start to that with the victory," says Brivio. "Now we have an extremely important run at Barcelona, Assen and Donington where we must continue with this job and try to win every race. Valentino likes all three tracks and this is another reason why he was still so upbeat and optimistic after the disappointments in China and Le Mans. "For Colin this is also an important weekend because he found a good way with the new chassis at Mugello and we have high hopes that he can make a lot of progress with it in Barcelona. Both riders will be on the same specification bikes, with two units of the new chassis each, so we are starting from a good point. Continuing evolution with the bike, recovering more points for Valentino and getting Colin back on the podium; these are our three targets for Catalunya." Technically speaking: Catalunya according to Nicolas Goubert The Circuit de Catalunya offers a main straight capable of encouraging speeds exceeding 335kmh, and is completed by a sequence of long radius, medium/high speed sweepers and two tight left-hand hairpins. The combination of long radius corners riddled with a variety of cambers makes it demanding on chassis balance and means front-end feel is a key concern for every rider. These characteristics also mean that tyre life is a key topic in many pit box discussions between riders, crew chiefs and tyre technicians. "Catalunya can be very demanding on the front because there are a lot of downhill corner entries," explains Nicolas Goubert, Michelin's chief of motorcycle competition. "For the rain we've got only one specification, one profile with different programs depending on the conditions we have. For the slicks it is much more interesting because we have two different profiles. One has a smaller width, which means that the tyre is lighter and it's easier to tilt the bike from one side to the other. We have also started to work with a bigger size but the Yamaha riders prefer the small one. The reason is because they want to keep the character of having durability for the bike. For them it is an advantage and it is suited to their needs on their bike." "We are quite confident with both types of tyre from last year because we had very good results at Catalunya. It was the first time ever that the surface was new, the lap time was really good and Valentino set a new lap record at the very end of the race with a time that would have put him tenth on the grid. It was the first time ever that this happened so we are very happy with that and we just hope that our Yamaha riders will be as fast or faster this year." Valentino Rossi: information Age: 27 Lives: London, UK Bike: Yamaha YZR-M1 GP victories: 81 (55 x MotoGP/500cc, 14 x 250cc, 12 x 125cc) First GP victory: Czech Republic, 1996 (125cc) First GP: Malaysia, 1996 (125cc) GP starts: 163 (103 x MotoGP/500cc, 30 x 250cc, 30 x 125cc) Pole positions: 40 World Championships - 7 Grand Prix (1 x 125cc, 1 x 250cc, 1 x 500cc, 4 x MotoGP) Colin Edwards: Information Age: 32 Lives: Conroe, Texas Bike: Yamaha YZR-M1 First GP: Japan, 2003 (MotoGP) GP starts: 54 x MotoGP World Championships - 2 World Superbike Montmelo Lap Record: Valentino Rossi (Yamaha) 2005 - 1'43.195 Mugello Best Lap: Sete Gibernau (Honda) 2005 - 1'42.337 2005 Results 1. Valentino Rossi (ITA) Yamaha, 43'16.487 2. Sete Gibernau (ESP) Honda, +1.094 3. Marco Melandri (ITA) Honda, +7.810 7. Colin Edwards (USA) Yamaha, +18.762