Yamaha Racing News

Fiat Yamaha Team hopes dashed in washout at Le Mans

Fiat Yamaha Team hopes dashed in washout at Le Mans

Torrential rain in Le Mans today doused the hopes of the Fiat Yamaha Team as Valentino Rossi and Colin Edwards struggled in the wet conditions and splashed home to sixth and twelfth respectively. An action-packed race, which saw seven riders crash out, was eventually won by Australian rider Chris Vermeulen, who took his first win in MotoGP.
Black clouds gathered ominously over the MotoGP grid and a few spots of rain just before 2pm meant the race was declared wet. Despite this the riders chose to start the race on slick tyres, with the option of making a pit-stop to change bikes if the weather worsened. Edwards started from pole but was uncomfortable from the start and had dropped to the back of the field by the end of the first lap, before becoming the first to make a pit-stop and change bikes on lap four. Rossi meanwhile pounced from fourth on the grid and took the lead at turn two, holding it until he was passed by Yamaha rider Sylvain Guintoli and Randy de Puniet on lap six as the track became wetter. Rossi was one of the last five riders to come in and change after ten laps and things looked promising at first as he fought back to third but, having opted for a harder-compound wet tyre, he was unable to keep up the momentum as the rain grew heavier and slipped back through the field. Sixth place nonetheless gained him ten important championship points and he holds on to second in the standings. Unfortunately things did not improve for his team-mate; Edwards persevered to the flag but continued to struggle throughout the race.    Valentino Rossi - position 6th; "Of course I'm very upset about this result because I had a very good feeling in the dry at the start. We made some good modifications to the bike, it was working very well and I thought I was going to be able to fight for the victory. Unfortunately the weather ruined it for us today! We made the pit stop and started the second part of race with hard rain tyres, because we thought it was only going to be light rain. Sadly we were wrong and when the rain got heavier my tyre was too hard for the conditions and I couldn't push. I was very slow from then on and didn't have any grip from the rear. In the last five laps it was quite dangerous as it was very hard to stay upright and I think I lost five or six seconds per lap at the end. We had hoped that this would be a track at which we could gain some ground on Stoner and it's going to be a very hard battle from here because he is very fast, not just on the straights but everywhere! I want to congratulate Chris Vermeulen today because he rode a great race, I think he's a bit of a magician in the rain!"
Colin Edwards - position 12th; We encountered some problems that I've run into before - in Australia last year when I crashed in the rain and at the Jerez test this year. It's hard to explain, but to me it feels like it's related to the engine braking - when we've got less traction from the tyres in the wet it just seems to appear. I think even yesterday's crash was down to something similar. Basically I try to put it into the corner but the rear comes round on me and it slides. Valentino and I have quite different styles - he holds the clutch in there a lot longer whilst I just kind of dump it and today it was a big problem for me. To be honest that wasn't really rain racing for me, it was more like ice racing and it was impossible. At the start it was at its worst because being on a slick tyre with a damp track just exacerbated the problem. I came in early because in the circumstances I thought I'd gamble and hope it was going to chuck it down with rain, but a few laps out there on rain tyres when it wasn't that wet wasn't fun either. I came back in again, thinking maybe the tyre was too hard, and we tried a softer rain tyre and that was better in the end. I'm really sorry to the team and to everyone involved; I don't like wasting my first pole and I had hoped for great things today."
Davide Brivio - Team Director; "Today's race was run in very difficult conditions, which is a pity when we had high hopes for both riders. Valentino was running well but when it started to rain we chose a tyre for light rains and then, unfortunately, the rain came down very heavily and very hard and it just wasn't the right tyre for those conditions. This is why after he changed bikes he was very good but as the rain got heavier he started to go backwards. He did well to finish the race in this situation and get some points. For Colin, we don't really know what to say but the conditions of today and the lower temperatures made it difficult for him and it was a day to forget after his great pole position. I think in the dry he could have had a good race but this sadly wasn't to be. He was uncomfortable with the bike and from the start he wasn't going well. All we can do now is move on from Le Mans, put it behind us and look forward to Mugello."    In front of the home crowd of the Dunlop Yamaha Tech 3 Team, the Grand Prix of France was a truly momentous affair as Makoto Tamada and Sylvain Guintoli both scored top ten results as they finished ninth and tenth respectively raising the bar in what was another stellar performance for the team. Both Dunlop Yamaha Tech 3 riders rose to the wet weather circumstances with Sylvain creating his own piece of personal history as he overtook seven times world champion Valentino Rossi to lead a MotoGP for the first time. Unfortunately he was caught out by the worsening conditions as he tried to extend his lead causing him to crash but quickly remounted. Makoto was able to stay out a few more laps on slicks before his enforced pit-stop. He rode a steady and sensible race in the atrocious conditions that saw many other riders crashing out also attain his best result of the season so far. The scene had been set for a magnificent weekend during qualifying when Sylvain was on top of the time sheets with 10 minutes to go, finally missing the top spot by just 0.8 of a second. This weekend has given the team a tremendous boost with the Italian Grand Prix in two weeks time but in the meantime will remain at Le Mans for two days of testing to further improve performance of the Dunlop tyres and Yamaha machines. Makoto Tamada - position 9th; That was a very different race. I am happy to finish but I am not overly happy because I had the potential to go faster but I have no complaint with anything as we raced in such severe conditions. We also learnt many things in this race as when it was just a little bit wet I lost too much time and it was hard to decide at what time was best to come in. When it became very wet the lap times became a lot better and I felt very comfortable and in those conditions we had a lot of grip with the Dunlop tyres. Now we are here to test for a couple of days so it is important for us to work a lot on the bad points we have when the track is not dry but not all wet. This is a good result for the team and I know now that we are making many improvements that will help us for the rest of the year.    Sylvain Guintoli - position 10th: That was a pretty funny race but I am extremely happy with the entire weekend. This is something special for me to do what I did in front of my home crowd with my good qualifying and the race. I got a very bad start as I wheelied off the line. I felt very confident passing everybody as I was trying to find a rhythm and the next thing I know I am in front with no one to chase. When I was in front for that one lap I didn't think about it, I just went for it. I was very surprised when the rear came around and made me crash as it didn't seem that wet. If I hadn't crashed I would have stayed out for a few more laps as it was not really wet enough to change bike. 10th is my best result so I have to be very happy even with a crash but the entire weekend has been brilliant. We can take a lot out of this weekend as we got rid of any doubts about how competitive we can be. I am now very confident with the bike and my riding and I am looking forward to Mugello to continue my progress.
Herve Poncharal - Dunlop Yamaha Tech 3 Team Manager This has been a very weird French Grand Prix. We had a really good qualifying session and a strong warm-up this morning. It was an incredible start to the race. Sylvain was exceptional as he said to me before the start that it would be good to lead for just one lap and he did it! It didn't look too good for him at the start as he was 13th at the first split but he fought his way through. When I saw the rain coming harder I thought it wasn't looking too good but we were ready for a crash and he was prepared to take the chance. Everyone around the track enjoyed seeing Sylvain in front and after he crashed he showed very good fighting spirit to pick the bike up and continue. I would also like to thank Makoto as he showed great fighting spirit too to finish in 9th place and to have our two riders in the top ten is a sensational result. This weekend has been a huge step forward for the team and I think now we can be fighting for top ten finishes at every race. We have two days to test more things here at Le Mans and feel that we can make some more steps before the next race in Italy.   Circuit Length: 4180 Temp: 13 Weather: Wet     2007 MotoGP France - Le Mans 20/05/2007 Race 1 - 28 Laps Pos. Rider Manu. Nat. Total Time 1 Chris Vermeulen Suzuki AUS 50'58.752 2 Marco Melandri Honda ITA 0'12.599 3 Casey Stoner Ducati AUS 0'27.347 4 Daniel Pedrosa Honda ESP 0'37.328 5 Alex Hofmann Ducati GER 0'49.166 6 Valentino Rossi Yamaha ITA 0'53.563 7 John Hopkins Suzuki USA 1'1.073 8 Loris Capirossi Ducati ITA 1'21.241 9 Makoto Tamada Yamaha JPN -1 Laps 10 Sylvain Guintoli Yamaha FRA -1 Laps 11 Fonsi Nieto Kawasaki ESP -1 Laps 12 Colin Edwards Yamaha USA -3 Laps
Rider Standings 20/05/2007
Pos. Rider Manu. Nat. Points 1. Casey Stoner Ducati AUS 102 2. Valentino Rossi Yamaha ITA 81 3. Daniel Pedrosa Honda ESP 62 4. Marco Melandri Honda ITA 61 5. Chris Vermeulen Suzuki AUS 55 6. John Hopkins Suzuki USA 48 7. Loris Capirossi Ducati ITA 38 8. Colin Edwards Yamaha USA 35 9. Toni Elias Honda ESP 35 10. Nicky Hayden Honda USA 30 11. Alex Hofmann Ducati GER 30 12. Alex Barros Ducati BRA 27 13. Carlos Checa Honda ESP 20 14. Randy De Puniet Kawasaki FRA 19 15. Shinya Nakano Honda JPN 15 16. Sylvain Guintoli Yamaha FRA 12 17. Makoto Tamada Yamaha JPN 11
Team Standings 20/05/2007
Pos. Team Points 1. Ducati Marlboro Team 140 2. FIAT Yamaha Team 116 3. Rizla Suzuki 103 4. Honda Gresini 96 5. Repsol Honda Team 92 6. Pramac D'Antin 57 7. Kawasaki Racing Team 28 8. Tech3 Yamaha 23 9. Honda LCR 20 10. Konica Minolta Honda 15 11. Team Roberts 4
Manufacturer Standings 20/05/2007
Pos. Manufacturer Points 1. Ducati 102 2. Honda 89 3. Yamaha 81 4. Suzuki 71

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Alex Asigno

May 20, 200717 yr

Successful test at Misano for Yamaha

Successful test at Misano for Yamaha

Today the Yamaha Motor Italia WSB Team finished a two-day test hot on the heels of last weekend’s races at Monza. Following on from Haga’s double win at Monza the team went straight to the Misano circuit on the Adriatic coast of Italy where they participated in a private test alongside key riders from Ducati, Kawasaki and DFX Honda.
The focus of the two-day session was for the team to test various new parts and for the riders to learn the new Misano circuit. From 2007 races at Misano will now go the other way round the track in a bid to increase safety as well as the racing excitement. This effectively means a whole new track for the riders to learn.
Corser had a successful two days taking the second fastest unofficial time both days just behind Bayliss. Having lapped a 1’36.6 on day one he went on to take a second off his time the next day to do a 1’35.6. Following on from his double win last weekend, Haga was fifth fastest on day one and went over a second quicker on day two as he learnt the track and made progress with setting up the new parts.
The team is now confident of fully utilizing the new parts to get the best out of the all-new 2007 R1 at the seventh round of the championship at Silverstone in just over a week’s time.
Troy Corser (Yamaha Motor Italia WSB Team) “The test has proved very valuable. We got the chance to test all the new parts we wanted including engine, chassis and suspension items as well as trying different tyres. I feel that the past two days have helped us start to resolve the problems I encountered at Monza. We have focused on doing race distances and we have done a lot of laps. It has been tiring but I am fairly happy with my lap times considering this.
The test was also very good for learning the new Misano circuit and where the bumps are, which is everywhere! I have also got a good idea of what race setting to use for the Misano race which isn’t far away.”
Noriyuki Haga (Yamaha Motor Italia WSB Team) “I am very tired as we have come straight from Monza to Misano but even so the test has been good. The circuit now goes the other way and we have not ridden it like this before so it was good to learn where all the bumps are. We tested various new engine parts which were good although we could do with more time to really get the best out of them. So far, so good though.”
Massimo Meregalli (Team Coordinator – Yamaha Motor Italia WSB Team) “The test has gone well – both riders have done many laps and the team has worked hard even though everyone is tired after Monza. We managed to test all the parts including a variable intake system which is also used on the production R1. The test has given us some invaluable time to get the system set up right for each rider. We also tested different mapping settings and Troy focused on engine braking as this was a problem for him at Monza. I am happy with the results and we have got some good data and information which is bound to help us at Silverstone.”
Fastest times (both days combined): Troy Bayliss (Ducati) 1’35”3 Troy Corser (Yamaha) 1’35”6 Lorenzo Lanzi (Ducati) 1’35”9 Noriyuki Haga (Yamaha) 1’36”6 Ruben Xaus (Ducati) 1’36”8 Fonsi Nieto (Kawasaki) 1’36”9 Regis Laconi (Kawasaki) 1’37”1 Michel Fabrizio (Honda) 1’38”2 Marco Borciani (Ducati) 1’39”0 Mauro Sanchini (Kawasaki) 1’39”0

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Alex Asigno

May 16, 200717 yr

Near perfect weekend for Yamaha in Germany

Near perfect weekend for Yamaha in Germany

Yamaha Motocross Team's Josh Coppins continued his 100% podium record with third place overall in the German GP held at the 'Talkessel' circuit of Teutschenthal. His teammate Marc de Reuver enjoyed his best moto result to date in a MX1 GP race, finishing second to Coppins in the first heat. A crash in the second moto unfortunately destroyed Marc's chance for his first GP victory. 
Coppins gained his first pole position on the YZ450FM during an initially wet Timed Practice on Saturday. High winds on Friday meant that the practice schedule had to be cut in order to complete the set-up of the circuit, Nevertheless the Yamaha Motocross Team had a decent day of preparation enjoying a pleasing one-two for both of their riders as Marc de Reuver flew to a lap-time just four thousandths of a second slower than Coppins. Despite the adverse conditions at the start of the weekend (Saturday was windy, cloudy and with occasional showers) Sunday dawned sunny and slightly breezy. With its climbs, drops, banked curves and undulations Talkessel still has a flowing layout even though a new sandy loop had been installed. The hard terrain had also been mixed with sand in many places with a view to generating more lines which was partially successful. The speed remained fairly high and the course was not the most technically difficult of the calendar; therefore the gaps between riders remained constant and tricky to cut down.    The first MX1 moto saw an excellent start for the Italian crew as Coppins pulled away from de Reuver and the pair kept a comfortable distance over Steve Ramon. A repeat result looked as though it might happen later in the afternoon but the three second lead diligently created by Coppins vanished when the 30 year old hit neutral and crashed in the sand. He remounted in eighth and then joined in a thrilling five rider fight for the lead.
In theory it should have been de Reuver's race and Grand Prix. Riding at the venue where he won his first Grand Prix in 2003 the Dutchman looked comfortable when he inherited Coppins' position but then slipped off his 450 in a surprising crash. Devastated by his mistake he then could do no better than eighth place, which gave him fourth overall; still his best finish so far this year. Coppins meanwhile had re-launched an offensive and climbed into the top four but he then clipped his right foot on a bank after exiting a corner a little too fast and twisted his ankle, nullifying his speed somewhat. He confirmed sixth to seal the third step of the podium. Coppins' lead in the standings has increased by seven points over Kevin Strijbos, who could only take fifth, and now reaches 43 for almost a full Grand Prix advantage.
Josh Coppins, Yamaha Motocross Team: "I was riding well in the second moto and passed Brown for the lead. I pulled a nice little advantage over the others and was happy with that but I hit a neutral going through the sand and crashed. I restarted around sixth or seventh and was riding quite good again, passing a few guys, although I then hit the bank with my foot with five or six laps to go and took it a bit easy after that. The first moto win was good because this track is so fast and the racing is so close that a couple of seconds lead is a lot here compared to other circuits. I was comfortable and able to control the race. The second moto was frustrating. I made a mistake that I am disappointed about because I was in a good position. It was a so so day but on the bright side I was able to extend my lead in the championship."    Marc de Reuver, Yamaha Motocross Team: "Even in my junior motocross races did I not give away a race like that! I went into the corner and my right hand slipped off the grip. I don't know why because I always took the same rut. The bike was still running and I picked it up straightaway. I lost only two places and thought that the moto was still there for me but then Ramon pushed me over the berm and just into the fence and everyone in that group went through. I have nothing more to say except that I am sick of this. I should have won it easily, with 'two fingers in my nose' even. I was riding so smoothly and it was just a stupid thing."
Carlo Rinaldi, Team Manager, Yamaha Motocross Team: "It could easily have been a one-two for the team. The first moto was easy for them both and it looked as though the second race was going to be the same, even when Josh crashed because Marc had the lead and Josh could have made second overall. It turned around very quickly though because Marc made the mistake and Josh twisted his ankle. Marc was so angry and disappointed. He lost a lot of time and speed. The second half of the second moto was hard for us!"   Circuit Length: 1780 Temp: 20 Crowd: 32000 Weather: Showers     2007 GP of Teutschenthal, Germany 13/05/2007 Race 1 - 19 Laps Pos. Rider Manu. Nat. Total Time 1 Joshua Coppins Yamaha NZL 41'33.823 2 Marc De Reuver Yamaha NED 0'6.946 3 Steve Ramon Suzuki BEL 0'11.243 4 Ken De Dycker Honda BEL 0'13.949 5 David Philippaerts KTM ITA 0'14.865 6 Kevin Strijbos Suzuki BEL 0'17.440 7 Gordon Crockard Honda IRL 0'26.508 8 James Noble Honda GBR 0'29.096 9 Maximilian Nagl KTM GER 0'34.254 10 Manuel Priem TM BEL 0'45.676 11 Bradley Anderson Yamaha GBR 0'46.596 12 Mike Brown Honda USA 0'49.656 13 Tanel Leok Kawasaki EST 0'51.164 14 Jonathan Barragan KTM ESP 0'53.206 15 Clement Desalle Suzuki BEL 1'1.365 16 Sébastien Pourcel Kawasaki FRA 1'5.529 17 Alex Salvini Yamaha ITA 1'7.947 18 Pierre A. Renet Honda FRA 1'9.753 19 Kornel Nemeth Suzuki HUN 1'13.081 20 Aigar Leok Yamaha EST 1'31.115
Race 2 - 19 Laps Pos. Rider Manu. Nat. Total Time 1 David Philippaerts KTM ITA 39'49.343 2 Sébastien Pourcel Kawasaki FRA 0'2.008 3 Steve Ramon Suzuki BEL 0'3.729 4 Kevin Strijbos Suzuki BEL 0'4.221 5 Gordon Crockard Honda IRL 0'7.718 6 Joshua Coppins Yamaha NZL 0'11.974 7 Jonathan Barragan KTM ESP 0'24.821 8 Marc De Reuver Yamaha NED 0'29.354 9 Billy MacKenzie Kawasaki GBR 0'31.323 10 Aigar Leok Yamaha EST 0'34.459 11 Mike Brown Honda USA 0'36.376 12 Pierre A. Renet Honda FRA 0'40.458 13 Thomas Allier Kawasaki FRA 0'50.129 14 Ken De Dycker Honda BEL 0'53.742 15 Tanel Leok Kawasaki EST 0'55.388 16 Maximilian Nagl KTM GER 0'56.356 17 Marvin Van Daele Honda BEL 0'57.910 18 Julien Vanni Honda FRA 0'58.589 19 Kornel Nemeth Suzuki HUN 1'1.208 20 Bradley Anderson Yamaha GBR 1'5.050
Rider Standings 13/05/2007
Pos. Rider Manu. Nat. Points 1. Joshua Coppins Yamaha NZL 234 2. Kevin Strijbos Suzuki BEL 191 3. Steve Ramon Suzuki BEL 156 4. Ken De Dycker Honda BEL 131 5. Sébastien Pourcel Kawasaki FRA 130 6. Jonathan Barragan KTM ESP 121 7. Marc De Reuver Yamaha NED 115 8. David Philippaerts KTM ITA 115 9. Tanel Leok Kawasaki EST 112 10. James Noble Honda GBR 104 11. Mike Brown Honda USA 100 12. Manuel Priem TM BEL 81 13. Maximilian Nagl KTM GER 80 14. Billy MacKenzie Kawasaki GBR 73 15. Kornel Nemeth Suzuki HUN 66 16. Gordon Crockard Honda IRL 62 17. Aigar Leok Yamaha EST 57 18. Marvin Van Daele Honda BEL 49 19. Thomas Allier Kawasaki FRA 43 20. Pierre A. Renet Honda FRA 38
Manufacturer Standings 13/05/2007
Pos. Manufacturer Points 1. Yamaha 234 2. Suzuki 205 3. KTM 181 4. Honda 163 5. Kawasaki 157 6. TM 81 7. Aprilia 2
RACE REPORT 13/05/2007 Cairoli unstoppable in Teutschenthal    The phenomenon that is Antonio Cairoli's form in the MX2 Motocross World Championship showed no signs of fading today as the flamboyant Sicilian won the Grand Prix of Germany for the fifth round of fifteen in the series. It was the Yamaha De Carli representative's fifth consecutive success (sixth stretching back to 2006) and his fourth double moto triumph of the year.   Antonio Cairoli has now won nine MX2 motos from the ten contested this season. His worst result is still the second position he took in the first race of the Spanish Grand Prix. Enjoying ruthless speed on the YZ250F and combined with an excellent physical condition, not to mention a large dose of confidence, the 21 year old is currently unstoppable. The 2005 World Champ and 2006 runner-up gained his third consecutive pole position as the MX2 qualification heats were scraped with the change of timetable and replaced by an MX1 Timed Practice chrono.    "Tony" hole-shotted both motos and lead from the first corners until the last. The first race was processional and only lively in the final three laps when defending number one Christophe Pourcel closed down the gap to the red-plated '222' machine to set up an exciting climax. Cairoli however showed the extent of his control to register his fastest lap of the race in the final minutes to ensure his chequered flag. The second moto presented a clearer run on a rougher track. Cairoli stretched his lead over Pourcel and Tyla Rattray in the first half of the 18 laps and had the trophy in his pocket from that stage. Cairoli, who waved to the crowd on the last circulations, dedicated his win to 'all the mothers' in recognition of mothering Sunday in Germany. The Italian's good mood was further buoyed by enlarging his lead in the MX2 championship by six points over Pourcel. His advantage now stands at a hefty 66, almost three full motos.    Yamaha Ricci Racing's Davide Guarneri came back to form in only his second Grand Prix of the year. The friendly Italian won his first (and only so far) moto at Teutschenthal in 2005. He made two decent jumps from the gate and finished fifth in both races for the same classification in the final table.
Team-mate Kenneth Gundersen took the next highest moto placing behind Cairoli with third position in the first race. The Norwegian did not make any mistakes despite pressure from Tyla Rattray. He suffered a bad start in the second moto however and could only work his way back to fourteenth. Gundersen, who has bittersweet memories of Teutschenthal (he won the 250cc GP here in 2002 but then also crashed hard and sustained the painful knee injury that kept him out of the series for well over a year in 2004) was seventh overall and one place behind Nicolas Aubin who did not get away from the gate well in either sprint and couldn't find a good rhythm in Motoone but collected ninth and sixth after two hard rides. His tussle with Tommy Searle was particularly entertaining from which he managed to emerge victorious.
Yamaha's motocross crew next race will be the home Grand Prix for Yamaha held at the popular Sugo circuit in two weeks time. Yamaha are undefeated on their Japanese territory with MX1 and MX2 victory in the previous two years. The third incarnation of the Grand Prix of Japan represents round six of the World Championship and the only non-European meeting this season. A special preview, with comments from Yamaha's main protagonists, will be issued next week.
Antonio Cairoli, Yamaha De Carli: "I am happy to give this win to all the mothers as it is mother's day and I love mine very much! This was an important victory as I have never finished on the podium here and for the championship it was very positive. The track was a bit more difficult than before, rougher even, and I prefer this because when it is too easy everybody goes so fast. In the first moto I had the holeshot and went hard on the first lap to make a gap over Gundersen. I could see that Christophe was coming fast but I was able to control the race. He came close at the end but I made two strong laps at the end and he couldn't pass me. The second moto was a little easier. The track was more technical. I took a lead of six or seven seconds over Christophe and it was not as stressful. On the last lap I said 'Ciao' to the crowd."
Kenneth Gundersen, Yamaha Team Ricci: "Even with a bit of arm-pump in the first race I could keep third and that was a good result but in the second I made a bad start and couldn't get my rhythm. I was struggling against the bike and the track and couldn't get any speed. To be honest I was riding really badly and that was disappointing because a good overall finish was wasted."
Davide Guarneri, Yamaha Team Ricci: "I love this track and I felt quite good today. I had a problem on the left turns because my ankle is still a bit weak but I had two good starts and my speed was also good. Two fifth positions is a great result because this is only my second race of the year and I hope in the next few GPs I can do even better."   Circuit Length: 1780 Temp: 20 Crowd: 32000 Weather: Showers     2007 GP of Teutschenthal, Germany 13/05/2007 Race 1 - 18 Laps Pos. Rider Manu. Nat. Total Time 1 Antonio Cairoli Yamaha ITA 39'32.155 2 Christophe Pourcel Kawasaki FRA 0'2.695 3 Kenneth Gundersen Yamaha NOR 0'46.329 4 Tyla Rattray KTM RSA 0'47.786 5 Davide Guarneri Yamaha ITA 0'52.944 6 Pascal Leuret Honda FRA 1'3.364 7 Marcus Schiffer KTM GER 1'15.902 8 Matti Seistola Honda FIN 1'19.038 9 Nicolas Aubin Yamaha FRA 1'19.801 10 Carl Nunn Yamaha GBR 1'34.835 11 Jeremy Van Horebeek KTM BEL 1'36.225 12 Gautier Paulin Honda FRA 1'38.275 13 Shaun Simpson Kawasaki GBR 1'40.741 14 Dennis Verbruggen Yamaha BEL 1'41.345 15 Tommy Searle KTM GBR 1'42.596 16 Tom Church Kawasaki GBR 1'43.701 17 Sean Hamblin Suzuki USA 1'50.893 18 Jason Dougan Suzuki GBR 1'53.369 19 Avis Wyatt KTM RSA 1'54.673 20 Manuel Monni Yamaha ITA 2'4.369
Race 2 - 18 Laps Pos. Rider Manu. Nat. Total Time 1 Antonio Cairoli Yamaha ITA 39'29.074 2 Christophe Pourcel Kawasaki FRA 0'2.511 3 Tyla Rattray KTM RSA 0'43.072 4 Pascal Leuret Honda FRA 0'50.695 5 Davide Guarneri Yamaha ITA 1'0.381 6 Nicolas Aubin Yamaha FRA 1'6.520 7 Tommy Searle KTM GBR 1'10.604 8 Matti Seistola Honda FIN 1'11.903 9 Avis Wyatt KTM RSA 1'14.497 10 Carl Nunn Yamaha GBR 1'15.371 11 Anthony Boissière Kawasaki FRA 1'16.450 12 Manuel Monni Yamaha ITA 1'22.141 13 Jeremy Van Horebeek KTM BEL 1'25.861 14 Kenneth Gundersen Yamaha NOR 1'28.738 15 Gareth Swanepoel Kawasaki RSA 1'30.724 16 Dennis Verbruggen Yamaha BEL 1'42.208 17 Rui Goncalves KTM POR 1'45.505 18 Tom Church Kawasaki GBR 1'46.453 19 Sean Hamblin Suzuki USA 1'47.569 20 Marcus Schiffer KTM GER 2'2.330
Rider Standings 13/05/2007
Pos. Rider Manu. Nat. Points 1. Antonio Cairoli Yamaha ITA 247 2. Christophe Pourcel Kawasaki FRA 181 3. Tyla Rattray KTM RSA 180 4. Pascal Leuret Honda FRA 143 5. Tommy Searle KTM GBR 137 6. Nicolas Aubin Yamaha FRA 121 7. Kenneth Gundersen Yamaha NOR 118 8. Gareth Swanepoel Kawasaki RSA 113 9. Matti Seistola Honda FIN 104 10. Marcus Schiffer KTM GER 85 11. Anthony Boissière Kawasaki FRA 67 12. Steven Frossard Kawasaki FRA 58 13. Manuel Monni Yamaha ITA 55 14. Erik Eggens Suzuki NED 54 15. Tom Church Kawasaki GBR 53 16. Carl Nunn Yamaha GBR 53 17. Dennis Verbruggen Yamaha BEL 47 18. Xavier Boog Yamaha FRA 46 19. Matteo Bonini Yamaha ITA 42 20. Shaun Simpson Kawasaki GBR 42 23. Davide Guarneri Yamaha ITA 40
Manufacturer Standings 13/05/2007
Pos. Manufacturer Points 1. Yamaha 247 2. Kawasaki 209 3. KTM 199 4. Honda 148 5. Suzuki 88

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Alex Asigno

May 14, 200717 yr

Haga takes the double win at team's home round

Haga takes the double win at team's home round

A moment Haga had been working towards came today when he took race wins in both races at the home round of the Yamaha Motor Italia Team.
Haga went down to sixth at the start of race one behind Corser but quickly started to work his way up through the grid setting the fastest lap three times . By lap five Haga was battling with Toseland for the lead while Corser fought with Biaggi for sixth place. Haga won the fight for first and went on to complete a textbook race and take his first win at Monza in front of a record breaking 108,000 strong crowd.
Corser had less fortune than Haga in race one, running wide at Lesmo on two consecutive laps and struggling to make up any time on fifth place until errors by Bayliss and Biaggi on lap 14 significantly reduced the gap. The retirement of Rolfo right at the end of the race gave Corser a fifth place finish.
Haga got another bad start in race two but once again made his way up to second place by lap three. On lap seven Haga made his move to pass Toseland who he had been tailing and then set about putting some space between him and the rest of the field. From there on it was just up to Haga to bring the bike home safely to take his second win of the day. This completed a good weekend for the rider with him taking Superpole, both race wins and setting the fastest lap of the race in race one on the 2007 R1.
Corser got a good start and moved up from fifth to fourth and then fought hard in a battle between Biaggi and Rolfo for four laps with the riders swapping positions frequently. As the race progressed Corser struggled to keep pace with the pack and had to settle for sixth and ten points.
Today's excellent results puts Haga back in fierce contention for the championship as he now stands in second place and only 35 points behind lead man Toseland. Corser is in fifth having taken 21 points away from this weekend. Yamaha also lies second in the manufacturer standings with first place within reach.
Noriyuki Haga (1st and 1st - Yamaha Motor Italia) "Today was perfect - the perfect end to a perfect weekend. I have taken Superpole, won both races and got the fastest lap in the second race. This weekend the bike was feeling good and we didn't make any big changes to the set-up which is unusual for me. We focused on the engine because this is such a fast track and the results speak for themselves.
I would like to say thank you to the Team, Yamaha, Santander and all the other sponsors and people who have worked hard to make this possible. Taking the double win at the team's home round feels good and it is made all the sweeter as I have never won here before."
Troy Corser (5th and 6th - Yamaha Motor Italia) "This weekend has been very difficult; it has not gone to plan at all. Somehow I don't seem to be able to get the same top speed that Haga can achieve even though the bikes are the same. I had a couple of scary moments coming out of Lesmo when the back of the bike would let go and start coming round. I had it on Friday and then we seemed to solve the problem but I had it again in both races today. We have two days testing at Misano in the coming week so I really hope we can find out what's causing this and solve it before Silverstone."
Massimo Meregalli (Team Coordinator - Yamaha Motor Italia) "This has been a fantastic day - a double win at our home round where we have had over 800 guests today. Haga is now second in the championship and Yamaha are second in the manufacturer championship also. Haga rode very well, made no mistakes and really pushed hard. We had lots of fans here today because it is our home round and we are based very close to here. The atmosphere was exciting and I am sure we gave the fans some good racing.
I am really sorry for Troy - the positions he finished in today are not a true reflection of his capability and the effort he is putting in. We have a two-day test at Misano next week and we are going to work really hard to sort out the problem.
I would like to thank everyone involved in the team for all their hard work - today has been a good reward for us all."
Circuit Length: 5792 Temp: 26 Crowd: 108,000 Weather: Dry     2007 WSB Monza 13/05/2007 Race 1 - 18 Laps Pos. Rider Manu. Nat. Total Time 1 Noriyuki Haga Yamaha JPN 32'4.428 2 Troy Bayliss Ducati AUS 0'8.403 3 Max Biaggi Suzuki ITA 0'9.703 4 James Toseland Honda GBR 0'13.587 5 Troy Corser Yamaha AUS 0'14.898 6 Yukio Kagayama Suzuki JPN 0'14.954 7 Lorenzo Lanzi Ducati ITA 0'19.517 8 Michel Fabrizio Honda ITA 0'24.120 9 Karl Muggeridge Honda AUS 0'24.682 10 Max Neukirchner Suzuki GER 0'29.197 11 Joshua Brookes Honda AUS 0'32.654 12 Ruben Xaus Ducati ESP 0'34.054 13 Marco Borciani Ducati ITA 0'37.386 14 Alessandro Polita Suzuki ITA 0'37.704 15 Jakub Smrz Ducati CZE 0'41.377
Race 2 - 18 Laps Pos. Rider Manu. Nat. Total Time 1 Noriyuki Haga Yamaha JPN 32'5.318 2 James Toseland Honda GBR 0'2.691 3 Troy Bayliss Ducati AUS 0'2.841 4 Roberto Rolfo Honda ITA 0'3.188 5 Max Biaggi Suzuki ITA 0'3.551 6 Troy Corser Yamaha AUS 0'13.034 7 Yukio Kagayama Suzuki JPN 0'17.246 8 Regis Laconi Kawasaki FRA 0'18.410 9 Karl Muggeridge Honda AUS 0'29.017 10 Jakub Smrz Ducati CZE 0'29.686 11 Michel Fabrizio Honda ITA 0'30.371 12 Max Neukirchner Suzuki GER 0'31.982 13 Ruben Xaus Ducati ESP 0'32.165 14 Robertino Pietri Yamaha VEN 1'32.292 15 Dean Ellison Ducati GBR 1'41.840
Best Lap Rider Manu. Nat. Total Time Max Biaggi Suzuki ITA 1'46.172
Rider Standings 13/05/2007 Pos. Rider Manu. Nat. Points 1. James Toseland Honda GBR 229 2. Noriyuki Haga Yamaha JPN 194 3. Max Biaggi Suzuki ITA 191 4. Troy Bayliss Ducati AUS 164 5. Troy Corser Yamaha AUS 135 6. Lorenzo Lanzi Ducati ITA 107 7. Ruben Xaus Ducati ESP 106 8. Max Neukirchner Suzuki GER 81 9. Roberto Rolfo Honda ITA 77 10. Michel Fabrizio Honda ITA 60 11. Yukio Kagayama Suzuki JPN 60 12. Regis Laconi Kawasaki FRA 51 13. Fonsi Nieto Kawasaki ESP 46 14. Jakub Smrz Ducati CZE 44 15. Joshua Brookes Honda AUS 40 17. Shinichi Nakatomi Yamaha JPN 19
Manufacturer Standings 13/05/2007 Pos. Manufacturer Points 1. Honda 238 2. Yamaha 217 3. Ducati 209 4. Suzuki 191 5. Kawasaki 77
RACE REPORT 13/05/2007 West takes third for Yamaha in World Supersport   This weekend's newcomer, Anthony West, to the Yamaha World Supersport Team rode a gutsy race today to come third in the sixth round of the World Supersport Championship. Until this weekend Anthony West had not ridden a four-stroke bike since 2004 or ever ridden the Monza circuit before. Broc Parkes was running in second and looking confident when a technical fault ended his race early.
West got off to a bad start and moved down from 14th to 18th as he got entangled in a first chicane scrum. But undeterred he put his head down and had moved up to sixth by lap six. He then found himself in a three-way battle with Veneman and Fujiwara but had passed both riders within two laps to then focus on Charpentier. Within one lap he had made up the 1.2 seconds on Charpentier and out-braked him going into the chicane. By this point in the race the young Australian was putting his fastest laps of the race, consistently hitting the 1'50s.
With only three laps to go West then challenged Foret and Nannelli for second place with the riders swapping places every lap until on the last lap when West made a late challenge for second at the chicane only to be retaken aggressively by Foret at the Parabolica.
Having had such a successful start to the weekend and after qualifying fourth Parkes had an unlucky end today. In the race he got off to a good start and took the lead at the first corner. He lost the lead to Sofuoglu on lap three but was sitting confidently behind him waiting for the right opportunity to overtake when a technical fault caused his bike to stop, ending his race.
Roccoli had a disappointing race after qualifying in eighth yesterday. He started well enough but then made a mistake and lost several places. He finished in 11th taking five points away.
Anthony West (3rd - Yamaha World Supersport Team) "That was a tough race - I had to fight very hard out there but it was good. I was happy when I got to eighth place and started to relax into the race. I then realized I could catch the front runners so focused on them. When I caught up with Foret and Nannelli I could feel my tyres were wearing off so let them fight it out in front of me with a view to making a late challenge.
The bike feels really good now I've had a weekend to get to know it, it is fast too. I couldn't have done so well without such a good bike, it gave me lots of confidence. And the team is one of the most professional teams I have worked with - I would like to thank them for their efforts this weekend."
Broc Parkes (DNF - Yamaha World Supersport Team) "I can't believe the bad we had today. I had a really good bike and got a good start making sure I didn't go too crazy on the first lap. Sofuoglu came past me but I could see he wasn't consistent so I tagged onto him and was starting to get into a flow when the bike just stopped. The team and I have worked so hard to get the bike set up and this was shaping up to be the perfect opportunity for my first race win of the season. Now we just have to put this behind us and look forward to the next race which is at Silverstone. I normally go well there and have got second there before."
Massimo Roccoli (11th - Yamaha Team Italia) "I made a braking mistake at one point and I lost six places. Normally I prefer to have no one in front of me to be fast, but that cannot always be. The damage wasn't too bad but my expectation for today was higher than my results. I am not happy with today's race."
Circuit Length: 5792 Temp: 23 Crowd: 108,000 Weather: Dry     2007 WSS Monza 13/05/2007 Race 1 - 16 Laps Pos. Rider Manu. Nat. Total Time 1 Kenan Sofuoglu Honda TUR 29'44.471 2 Fabien Foret Kawasaki FRA 0'3.992 3 Anthony West Yamaha AUS 0'4.043 4 Gianluca Nannelli Ducati ITA 0'4.598 5 Barry Veneman Suzuki NED 0'8.348 6 Katsuaki Fujiwara Honda JPN 0'10.323 7 Yoann Tiberio Honda FRA 0'22.621 8 Lorenzo Alfonsi Honda ITA 0'25.613 9 David Salom Yamaha ESP 0'25.668 10 Simone Sanna Honda ITA 0'25.702 11 Massimo Roccoli Yamaha ITA 0'25.857 12 Miguel Praia Honda POR 0'26.562 13 Vesa Kallio Suzuki FIN 0'26.618 14 David Checa Yamaha ESP 0'31.074 15 Joan Lascorz Honda ESP 0'33.737 17 Sebastien Gimbert Yamaha FRA 0'43.971
Best Lap Rider Manu. Nat. Total Time Kenan Sofuoglu Honda TUR 1'50.550
Rider Standings 13/05/2007 Pos. Rider Manu. Nat. Points 1. Kenan Sofuoglu Honda TUR 145 2. Fabien Foret Kawasaki FRA 87 3. Katsuaki Fujiwara Honda JPN 53 4. Gianluca Nannelli Ducati ITA 43 5. Barry Veneman Suzuki NED 41 6. Andrew Pitt Honda AUS 40 7. Robbin Harms Honda DNK 39 8. David Salom Yamaha ESP 34 9. Massimo Roccoli Yamaha ITA 33 10. Broc Parkes Yamaha AUS 27 11. Pere Riba Kawasaki ESP 26 12. Lorenzo Alfonsi Honda ITA 26 13. Kevin Curtain Yamaha AUS 25 14. Craig Jones Honda GBR 25 15. Vesa Kallio Suzuki FIN 24 19. David Checa Yamaha ESP 20 23. Sebastien Gimbert Yamaha FRA 9
Manufacturer Standings 13/05/2007 Pos. Manufacturer Points 1. Honda 145 2. Kawasaki 97 3. Yamaha 82 4. Suzuki 48 5. Ducati 43
RACE REPORT 13/05/2007 Baiocco takes Monza Superstock win for Yamaha
Today's FIM Superstock 1000 Cup race was always going to be exciting following on from the drama at the last round in Assen but no one could have predicted the result as Matteo Baiocco took the win at his home round while Yamaha Team Italia team mates Corti and Pirro both crashed out.
Pirro, Corti, Van Keymeulen and Baiocco had been running in the top five throughout the weekend in qualifying with Pirro taking his second pole position of the season and Corti taking second. Baiocco qualified in fourth with Didier Van Keymeulen rounding up the Yamaha domination in fifth.
All four Yamaha-shod riders got good starts in the race with Corti taking the lead early on from Pirro. In the first three laps Corti, Pirro and Van Keymeulen all fought hard for the lead, with each taking the top slot at some stage. On lap four Corti high-sided whilst in the lead ending his race and just missing Van Keymeulen in the process, who had to take to the grass. Pirro took this chance to grab the lead and proceeded to build a good gap between him and Van Keymeulen.
Meanwhile Baiocco, riding for the Umbria Bike Team, was in his own battle for third with Dionisi until he managed to break away on lap eight to pass Van Keymeulen for second place. Van Keymeulen found himself heading back to fifth as his tyres started to wear off which allowed Dionisi and Aitchison through.
Pirro was all set to take the win when he crashed on the penultimate lap. Baiocco took up the lead position on his 2007 R1 and held off the other riders to take his first race win in the Superstock championship.
Today's result means that Baiocco now leads the championship with 60 points. Pirro and Corti both still have 45 points but have moved down to fifth and sixth respectively but Van Keymeulen has now joined them on 45 points in seventh position. In the manufacturer standings Yamaha lead with 90 points. With only four rounds gone the 2007 Superstock Championship is certainly close and the next round is in two weeks at Silverstone, UK.
Matteo Baiocco (1st - Umbria Bike) "This is a dream come true to win on this track in front of this crowd. I had a perfect last lap - I overtook Aitchison at the chicane and then Dionisi at the Ascari corner. I must thank the team because my R1 was perfect."
Michele Pirro (DNF - Yamaha Team Italia) "I don't know why I crashed, I am so disappointed. It was an important occasion for me to take a step forward in the championship standings. But I don't want to cry now because the season is so long and I must focus on going forward."
Claudio Corti (DNF - Yamaha Team Italia) "I have some pain in my hand and back but nothing serious. I let a very good result go but I am already thinking forward to the next race. Congratulations to Baiocco, his victory is certainly a good prize for him."
Circuit Length: 5792 Temp: 22 Crowd: 108,000 Weather: Dry     2007 Superstock Monza 13/05/2007 Race 1 - 11 Laps Pos. Rider Manu. Nat. Total Time 1 Matteo Baiocco Yamaha ITA 20'19.109 2 Mark Aitchison Suzuki AUS 0'0.004 3 Ilario Dionisi Suzuki ITA 0'0.136 4 Didier Van Keymeulen Yamaha BEL 0'0.510 5 Xavier Simeon Suzuki BEL 0'5.949 6 Marko Jerman Suzuki SVK 0'7.712 7 Sheridan Morais Ducati RSA 0'8.132 8 Rene Mahr Yamaha GER 0'14.693 9 Danilo Dell'omo MV Agusta ITA 0'14.743 10 Nicolo Canepa Ducati ITA 0'15.193 11 Daniel Sutter Yamaha CHE 0'20.413 12 Arne Tode Honda GER 0'20.731 13 Cederic Tangre Yamaha FRA 0'21.135 14 Marko Rohtlaan Honda EST 0'21.565 15 Brendan Roberts Ducati AUS 0'21.794
Best Lap Rider Manu. Nat. Total Time Mark Aitchison Suzuki AUS 1'49.575
 Rider Standings 13/05/2007
Pos. Rider Manu. Nat. Points 1. Matteo Baiocco Yamaha ITA 60 2. Mark Aitchison Suzuki AUS 58 3. Nicolo Canepa Ducati ITA 57 4. Ilario Dionisi Suzuki ITA 50 5. Didier Van Keymeulen Yamaha BEL 45 6. Michele Pirro Yamaha ITA 45 7. Claudio Corti Yamaha ITA 45 8. Xavier Simeon Suzuki BEL 38 9. Rene Mahr Yamaha GER 26 10. Marko Jerman Suzuki SVK 21 11. Sheridan Morais Ducati RSA 19 12. Matej Smrz Honda CZE 15 13. Cederic Tangre Yamaha FRA 14 14. Arne Tode Honda GER 13 15. Danilo Dell'omo MV Agusta ITA 13
Manufacturer Standings 13/05/2007
Pos. Manufacturer Points 1. Yamaha 90 2. Suzuki 71 3. Ducati 60 4. Honda 27 5. MV Agusta 17 6. Kawasaki 4

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Alex Asigno

May 13, 200717 yr

Yamaha qualify in 1st and 4th at home round

Yamaha qualify in 1st and 4th at home round

Noriyuki Haga put in an exceptionally fast lap in today's Superpole at Monza to take his first pole of the season. This success at the team's home circuit was made even better by Troy Corser completing the front row of tomorrow's grid in fourth. The team now goes into tomorrow's race ready to fight for the World Superbike Championship.
The day started well with both riders making good progress in this morning's qualifying session. Haga put in several long runs during the qualifying session to check his set-up and took third qualifying position going into Superpole. Corser and his team worked on improving the braking and front end set-up of his bike with the results quickly showing as he moved up from 12th to finish in sixth, with only 0.3 seconds gap up to second.
Corser was the first rider in the team to do his Superpole lap and comfortably beat the Superpole lap record he had set last year. He just missed the top of the leader board by under 0.09 seconds. Haga was one of the final riders to complete his lap and took the pole position as well as setting a new Superpole lap record of 1'44.941 - taking off almost 2 seconds from the standing record.
Today's track action puts both Yamaha Motor Italia riders on the front row which will be important as they go into the first tight chicane. Both riders will need to be in front when they reach this corner if they are to contend for the lead. The front row grid is completed by Bayliss in second and Biaggi in third.
Shinichi Nakatomi's weekend took a turn for the worse today as he crashed out of qualifying and ended his race hopes for Monza. He had been progressing well in this morning's qualifying practice and had secured 20th qualifying place when he lost the front of the bike and crashed into the gravel trap at the Ascari corner. He re-mounted and re-joined the circuit but a collision with another rider sent him back into the gravel where the bike fell on his foot, braking two toes and cutting short his weekend. It is hoped he will return at Silverstone.
Noriyuki Haga (1st - Yamaha Motor Italia) "I am very happy with pole but tomorrow is the most important day - that is when it all counts. The weekend so far has gone very well for myself and the team and I am confident for tomorrow. We have already fixed a race setting and tyre and have only a few minor suspension changes to do before the race."
Troy Corser (4th - Yamaha Motor Italia) "Today has gone well. We got a good set-up in practice this morning and put in some good lap times. Then Superpole went well, I was just a bit cautious going into the first chicane as I have overshot there twice already this weekend. It feels good to be on the front row at the team's home round. The bike feels really good and I am looking forward to tomorrow a lot."
Massimo Meregalli (Team Coordinator Yamaha Motor Italia) "This round is at the team's home of Monza. To have both riders on the front row with good set-ups and tyre choices done is excellent. Haga's Superpole lap was fantastic and I am very happy that we have solved Corser's problems from yesterday. The weekend has come together very well so far and we are now ready to fight for the championship tomorrow."   Circuit Length: 5792 Temp: 30 Weather: Hot and Sunny     2007 WSB Monza 12/05/2007 Superpole Pos. Rider Manu. Nat. Total Time 1 Noriyuki Haga Yamaha JPN 1'44.941 2 Troy Bayliss Ducati AUS 1'45.345 3 Max Biaggi Suzuki ITA 1'45.415 4 Troy Corser Yamaha AUS 1'45.430 5 James Toseland Honda GBR 1'45.824 6 Karl Muggeridge Honda AUS 1'46.232 7 Regis Laconi Kawasaki FRA 1'46.437 8 Yukio Kagayama Suzuki JPN 1'46.696 9 Michel Fabrizio Honda ITA 1'46.753 10 Roberto Rolfo Honda ITA 1'46.758 11 Joshua Brookes Honda AUS 1'46.948 12 Lorenzo Lanzi Ducati ITA 1'46.067 13 Fonsi Nieto Kawasaki ESP 1'47.145 14 Max Neukirchner Suzuki GER 1'47.146 15 Ruben Xaus Ducati ESP 1'47.553
Qualifying 2 Pos. Rider Nat. QUAL I QUAL II 1 Regis Laconi FRA 1'46.548 1'45.593 2 James Toseland GBR 1'45.953 1'46.691 3 Noriyuki Haga JPN 1'46.316 1'46.097 4 Max Biaggi ITA 1'47.205 1'46.155 5 Roberto Rolfo ITA 1'46.960 1'46.173 6 Troy Corser AUS 1'47.321 1'46.277 7 Troy Bayliss AUS 1'46.918 1'46.361 8 Karl Muggeridge AUS 1'46.462 1'47.137 9 Michel Fabrizio ITA 1'47.384 1'46.475 10 Joshua Brookes AUS 1'46.686 1'48.050 11 Max Neukirchner GER 1'47.351 1'46.705 12 Ruben Xaus ESP 1'46.775 1'47.199 13 Fonsi Nieto ESP 1'47.125 1'46.827 14 Yukio Kagayama JPN 1'46.972 1'46.875 15 Marco Borciani ITA 1'47.828 1'47.267 20 Shinichi Nakatomi JPN 1'48.384 1'48.093
Rider Standings 29/04/2007
Pos. Rider Manu. Nat. Points 1. James Toseland Honda GBR 196 2. Max Biaggi Suzuki ITA 164 3. Noriyuki Haga Yamaha JPN 144 4. Troy Bayliss Ducati AUS 128 5. Troy Corser Yamaha AUS 114 6. Ruben Xaus Ducati ESP 99 7. Lorenzo Lanzi Ducati ITA 98 8. Max Neukirchner Suzuki GER 71 9. Roberto Rolfo Honda ITA 64 10. Michel Fabrizio Honda ITA 47 11. Fonsi Nieto Kawasaki ESP 46 12. Regis Laconi Kawasaki FRA 43 13. Yukio Kagayama Suzuki JPN 41 14. Jakub Smrz Ducati CZE 37 15. Joshua Brookes Honda AUS 35 16. Shinichi Nakatomi Yamaha JPN 19
Manufacturer Standings 29/04/2007
Pos. Manufacturer Points 1. Honda 205 2. Ducati 173 3. Yamaha 167 4. Suzuki 164 5. Kawasaki 69
QUALIFYING 2 REPORT 12/05/2007 Yamaha on front row for Supersport race   The Yamaha World Supersport Team showed its determination today and was rewarded with a front row start position for tomorrow's race. Having spent the morning practice session focusing on finding the right race setting, Parkes went on to claim fourth position on tomorrow's grid.
Parkes spent the morning practice trying a series of small setting changes and was looking positive in second position for most of the session. In this afternoon's qualifying session he went on to knock 0.5 seconds off his best time from yesterday to move up to fourth slot. The front row tomorrow is headed by Sofuoglu (Honda) with fellow team mates Charpentier and Fujiwara completing the grid alongside Parkes.
Anthony West, who is standing in this weekend for the injured Kevin Curtain, had only his second day on the YZF-R6 and spent the morning session continuing to familiarise himself the bike's handling and weight characteristics. As the pace quickened throughout the day the 250 GP star found himself hampered by his non-standard leathers and was unable to improve upon his time from yesterday, eventually qualifying in 14th place.
Massimo Roccoli made better progress today after completely reviewing and revising his set up from yesterday. In qualifying he rapidly moved up from 13th place to eighth, taking almost a second off his best time so far this weekend.
Broc Parkes (4th - 1'50.903 - Yamaha World Supersport Team) "Today has been good, especially as the lap times have been so fast this weekend. We have made a series of small changes and found a good direction in today's qualifying. A new front fork setting and other changes have given me much better braking feeling, which we have been trying to solve since Assen. The team has worked hard to achieve this and I feel we have a pretty good bike for tomorrow's race now. It's going to be tough out there tomorrow but I'm looking forward to it."
Anthony West (14th - 1'51.867 - Yamaha World Supersport Team) "I have learnt a lot more about the bike today and I have a much better understanding of what needs to be done to set it up for me. We are very short on time though. The biggest things for me to get used to have been the weight of the bike and the way it handles when flicking from corner to corner. I'm not happy with fourteenth by any means. I want to be in the top five tomorrow and I need to get a good start tomorrow to have any chance of achieving that."
Massimo Roccoli (8th - 1'51.420 - Yamaha Team Italia) "This morning I went back to the beginning and slowly changed everything about the set up of my bike and it worked because I have got a much better setting than yesterday now. The second row is a decent place to start and the front row is very close. I need to get a good start tomorrow which I am confident I can do."
Circuit Length: 5792 Weather: Sunny     2007 WSS Monza 12/05/2007 Qualifying 2 Pos. Rider Nat. QUAL I QUAL II 1 Kenan Sofuoglu TUR 1'50.791 1'50.459 2 Sebastien Charpentier FRA 1'50.711 1'51.167 3 Katsuaki Fujiwara JPN 1'50.866 1'50.817 4 Broc Parkes AUS 1'51.557 1'50.903 5 Gianluca Nannelli ITA 1'51.889 1'51.006 6 Fabien Foret FRA 1'51.098 1'51.071 7 Barry Veneman NED 1'51.837 1'51.370 8 Massimo Roccoli ITA 1'52.315 1'51.420 9 Robbin Harms DNK 1'52.570 1'51.664 10 David Salom ESP 1'52.851 1'51.711 11 Gianluca Vizziello ITA 1'52.148 1'51.766 12 Joan Lascorz ESP 1'52.989 1'51.833 13 Pere Riba ESP 1'51.848 1'52.256 14 Anthony West AUS 1'51.867 1'51.937 15 Vesa Kallio FIN 1'52.672 1'51.873 20 David Checa ESP 1'52.960 1'52.167 25 Sebastien Gimbert FRA 1'53.148 1'52.872
Rider Standings 29/04/2007
Pos. Rider Manu. Nat. Points 1. Kenan Sofuoglu Honda TUR 120 2. Fabien Foret Kawasaki FRA 67 3. Katsuaki Fujiwara Honda JPN 43 4. Andrew Pitt Honda AUS 40 5. Robbin Harms Honda DNK 39 6. Barry Veneman Suzuki NED 30 7. Gianluca Nannelli Ducati ITA 30 8. Massimo Roccoli Yamaha ITA 28 9. Broc Parkes Yamaha AUS 27 10. David Salom Yamaha ESP 27 11. Pere Riba Kawasaki ESP 26 12. Craig Jones Honda GBR 25 13. Kevin Curtain Yamaha AUS 25 14. Sebastien Charpentier Honda FRA 23 15. Vesa Kallio Suzuki FIN 21 17. David Checa Yamaha ESP 18 22. Sebastien Gimbert Yamaha FRA 9
Manufacturer Standings 29/04/2007
Pos. Manufacturer Points 1. Honda 120 2. Kawasaki 77 3. Yamaha 66 4. Suzuki 37 5. Ducati 30

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Alex Asigno

May 12, 200717 yr

Haga takes provisional second in first qualifying

Haga takes provisional second in first qualifying

Noriyuki Haga showed what is to come in today's practice and qualifying sessions ending in second place. He set the pace in this morning's free practice finishing it in the top slot and having led it for most of the session as well as setting the session's fastest lap five times. It didn't stop there though and in the first qualifying session of the weekend he held the top slot until Toseland knocked him down to second towards the end.
Corser did not have as much luck as his team mate today, suffering a couple of problems throughout the day. The morning practice session went smoothly with the seasoned Australian getting down to the job of finding the right set-up. It was in the afternoon session that problems struck the #11 rider but he continued to ride through them to gather data for the team, riding almost race distance. He also posted his fastest time of the day and finished the session in 12th.
Shinichi Nakatomi riding for the Team Yamaha YZF squad also had technical issues to resolve during today's two riding sessions. The Japanese rider, who will start his 33rd race this weekend, stopped at one point on the track but rejoined the session later on to secure 19th place.
Toseland heads the board going into tomorrow's final qualifying session with Haga close behind and Karl Muggeridge in third.
Noriyuki Haga (2nd - 1'46.316 - Yamaha Motor Italia) "Second is good although I am not too concerned with where I am on the grid at the moment. Tomorrow is the most important with the second qualifying and Superpole. I have learnt from Assen that I need to be on the front row going in to Superpole in case of having any problems! The bike is feeling good and I have already made a long run on a tyre today which I am happy with." Troy Corser (12th - 1'47.321 - Yamaha Motor Italia) "I am not happy as you can probably understand. We didn't get enough track time and we have some braking problems with the bike that need to be solved before tomorrow. It's going to be a long night with the team checking all the data to identify and resolve the problem. All I know is that I have to go faster tomorrow and I know we can do better than twelfth."
Massimo Meregalli (Team Coordinator Yamaha Motor Italia) "We tried to prepare for this race as best as possible. Noriyuki had a good practice and he is quite confident in his and the bike's potential this weekend. With regard to Troy, we discovered a couple of problems today which we are resolving now. We believe he is be able achieve the same good result as he did last year. We have a lot of guests here at our home round and we are hopeful of providing them with a good result."
Shinichi Nakatomi (19th - 1'48.384 - Team Yamaha YZF) "I didn't expect to be right on the pace today but I didn't expect to have technical problems either. But despite technical issues I feel we have made some slow progress today. We have already identified the issues and are working to resolve them in time for tomorrow's second qualifying session. I am positive for tomorrow."   Circuit Length: 5792 Weather: Dry     2007 WSB Monza 11/05/2007 Qualifying 1 Pos. Rider Manu. Nat. Total Time 1 James Toseland Honda GBR 1'45.953 2 Noriyuki Haga Yamaha JPN 1'46.316 3 Karl Muggeridge Honda AUS 1'46.462 4 Regis Laconi Kawasaki FRA 1'46.548 5 Joshua Brookes Honda AUS 1'46.686 6 Ruben Xaus Ducati ESP 1'46.775 7 Troy Bayliss Ducati AUS 1'46.918 8 Roberto Rolfo Honda ITA 1'46.960 9 Yukio Kagayama Suzuki JPN 1'46.972 10 Fonsi Nieto Kawasaki ESP 1'47.125 11 Max Biaggi Suzuki ITA 1'47.205 12 Troy Corser Yamaha AUS 1'47.321 13 Max Neukirchner Suzuki GER 1'47.351 14 Michel Fabrizio Honda ITA 1'47.384 15 Marco Borciani Ducati ITA 1'47.828 19 Shinichi Nakatomi Yamaha JPN 1'48.384
QUALIFYING 1 REPORT 11/05/2007 Steady Start for Yamaha World Supersport Team
The Yamaha World Supersport Team played it cool and calm today with the focus on bedding in a new rider and finding the right race setting. They might have been playing it calm but the team still walked away with fifth and eighth qualifying places, Parkes and West respectively.
Parkes had a good morning going fourth fastest in today's free practice. He then spent the afternoon qualifying session finding the right set-up for this weekend and was in the top five for the whole 45 minute session. He ended the day in a comfortable fifth.
Newcomer to the bike, the team and the championship this weekend is Anthony West. Anthony replaces Kevin Curtain here at Monza while Kevin continues his recuperation back home in Australia. Curtain had been hoping to return to the saddle at this round but has been set back due to an infection in his leg wound. West is currently riding in the 250 GP Championship.
West had his first ride of the 2007 YZF-R6 today and also his first ride of the Monza circuit so the team was expecting it to take a little bit of time for him to get on the pace. But with seconds to go in this morning's free practice the young Australian leapt into sixth place. He proceeded to make good progress in the afternoon qualifying session claiming eighth qualifying place. In the process of finding the limit West suffered a low-side crash just before the end of the qualifying session at the infamous Parabolica corner but didn't suffer any injuries and is fired up for tomorrow.
Massimo Roccoli riding for the Yamaha Team Italia squad was not able to show his full riding potential today as he struggled with front end problems during practice and qualifying. He finished in 13th today.   Broc Parkes (5th - 1'51.557 - Yamaha World Supersport Team) "I missed out on using my last rear tyre because I came in too late at the end of the session, but it's not the end of the world. Today was more about finding a good set-up for the whole bike not just about setting a good time. That will come tomorrow. The bike felt good today and I am positive of getting up there in the second qualifying session tomorrow."   Anthony West (5th - 1'51.867 - Yamaha World Supersport Team) "Having been riding a 250 two-stroke the bike felt really strange for the first few laps and I thought it was going to take longer to get used to it than it has. The R6 feels a lot easier to ride than the last time I rode a 600cc bike in 2004. It just shows how much these bikes have developed. The biggest things for me to get used are the weight and way it moves when cornering compared to a two-stroke. It is a lot more physical but I am finding my style pretty quickly. I am very happy with eighth considering it is a strange track and bike to me. I'm looking forward to tomorrow as I know I have more to give."
Massimo Roccoli (13th - 1'52.315 - Yamaha Team Italia) "I have a very fast machine and I made some good steps in the Italian national championship last weekend but I still have some problems with the front end of the bike. We will be working on fixing it overnight as I need to start on the first or second row not in thirteenth this weekend. That is my goal for tomorrow's qualifying - first or second row."   Circuit Length: 5792 Temp: 25 Weather: Sunny     2007 WSS Monza 11/05/2007 Qualifying 1 Pos. Rider Manu. Nat. Total Time 1 Sebastien Charpentier Honda FRA 1'50.711 2 Kenan Sofuoglu Honda TUR 1'50.791 3 Katsuaki Fujiwara Honda JPN 1'50.866 4 Fabien Foret Kawasaki FRA 1'51.098 5 Broc Parkes Yamaha AUS 1'51.557 6 Barry Veneman Suzuki NED 1'51.837 7 Pere Riba Kawasaki ESP 1'51.848 8 Anthony West Yamaha AUS 1'51.867 9 Gianluca Nannelli Ducati ITA 1'51.889 10 Yoann Tiberio Honda FRA 1'52.088 11 Gianluca Vizziello Yamaha ITA 1'52.148 12 Matthieu Lagrive Honda FRA 1'52.195 13 Massimo Roccoli Yamaha ITA 1'52.315 14 Gilles Boccolini Kawasaki ITA 1'52.393 15 Lorenzo Alfonsi Honda ITA 1'52.412 22 David Checa Yamaha ESP 1'52.960 24 Sebastien Gimbert Yamaha FRA 1'53.148

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Alex Asigno

May 12, 200717 yr

Yamaha Motor Italia Looking for Success at Home Round

Yamaha Motor Italia Looking for Success at Home Round

The World Superbike Championship's next stop this coming weekend is the historic circuit of Monza in Italy for the sixth round in the 2007 series. The championship first came to the circuit in 1990 and this year will be its 14th visit.
The Monza circuit is located northeast of Milan and was built in 1922 by 3,500 workers with funding from the Milan Automobile Club. Monza is the fastest track to appear on the World Superbike calendar with riders often reaching speeds of over 300kph on the start/finish straight. As well as hosting the WSB Championship, the circuit features on the Formula 1 calendar.
The circuit actually consists of three tracks - GP, Junior and the Speed track which includes the oval banking for which the circuit is famous - though WSB uses the GP circuit. The track has been modified many times over the years to increase safety and provide better facilities for race teams and spectators. The last modification was in 2000 when amendments were made to the two chicanes to improve safety. Grandstand seating was also increased in 1997 to 51,000.
Monza is the home circuit for the Yamaha Motor Italia Team, who will be hoping for better luck than at Assen. In a weekend of mixed fortune at the last round Haga took second in race one but failed to finish race two. Corser had an equally turbulent time crashing out of third on the penultimate lap when fluid was sprayed on the rear tyre. Despite pain from the injuries he received in the accident Corser went on to finish fourth in race two and take away some much needed points.
Haga finished third and fourth last year at Monza. Though he is yet to win there Haga goes to Monza determined to provide the team with a win following his second place at Assen.
"Even though Monza is the team's home circuit it is not my favourite track because it has a long start/finish straight but not many corners. This makes it more of a machine's track than a rider's track," says Haga of the circuit. "After the disappointment of Assen though, the show must go on. I need to win at Monza to keep my championship fight alive and to erase the bad memories of the last round. I am always looking to win and nowhere more so than at Monza."
Monza was a good round for Corser in 2006 with second and third position finishes in addition to taking pole position and setting a new Superpole record. He also won there in 2005. For 2007 Corser goes to Monza with the opportunity to take his 40th pole of his Superbike career.
"I've been checked out by a sports therapist and nothing's broken from the crash in Assen, there's just a lot of deep bruising. I've had worse in a lot of other crashes so I'll be fine for Monza," he says of his injuries. "Monza should be a good race. The circuit is all about speed and the bike has enough of it so I'm confident of what we can achieve there. I've got a good history at that place. As for my 40th pole, well I'd love to get it at Monza for the team but my focus is more on getting on the front row. Pole would be an added bonus. The race is the most important thing."
The Yamaha World Supersport Team also had a mixed round at Assen with Parkes crashing out of the race in second place when he lost the front on the penultimate lap. Steve Martin stood in for Kevin Curtain who is recovering from a leg injury sustained at Valencia, and finished in a credible tenth place considering he had only had three hours on the bike prior to the race.
Parkes goes to Monza knowing he needs to finish on the podium and claim points to get him back in contention for the championship. He has shown his capability at Monza finishing second previously.
"We need to get some points on the board and I am aiming for some wins now to get myself back into the championship fight. We were heading in the right direction at Assen until the crash," he says. "There are still eight rounds to go and catching Sofuoglu is going to be tough but not impossible. If I had got second at Assen then I would have been third in the championship now. It's that tight so I'm confident I can move up the championship board if I can get a good finish. Anything can happen when everyone is this close in the points."
Regarding Monza, Parkes says, "I like Monza and even though the last couple of years there haven't been great for me I have finished second there in the past so I know I can do it again. Monza is all about horsepower and set-up and we've got a few more chassis and suspension adjustments to try that we didn't get time to do at Assen."
The Yamaha World Supersport Team had been hoping to welcome back Kevin Curtain at Monza but his recovery is taking longer than expected. He is still resting in Australia where he is seeing a specialist following an accident at Valencia in mid April when he cut the muscle in his right thigh. Kevin is making a good recovery and is now walking without crutches though he has recently got an infection in the wound which has delayed his return to the championship. Following a course of antibiotics it is hoped that he will be back for the Silverstone round later this month but he may need a further operation on the wound if the antibiotics don't work.    WSB rider Steve Martin stood in for Kevin at the last round in Assen but has not been released by the DFX squad for the Monza round. Instead, 250 GP race winner Anthony West will be stepping in to Curtain's shoes for Monza. Yet another Australian, West is racing in the 2007 250 GP Championship though he has raced in the World Supersport Championship previously at Brands Hatch in 2004. His biggest challenge this weekend will be to get used to the four-stroke engine characteristic against the two-stroke he is used to. The weight of the bike will also be a difference for him with the 600cc bike much heavier than the 250cc machine.
"I'm excited to be riding in Kevin's place this weekend though I wish him well. It will be good to ride a different bike in a different championship and at a track that I have never been to before. My GP season hasn't been great so far so this will be a good chance for me to have a really good race," he says. "Though I have ridden four-stroke bikes before, it's quite a while since I slung my leg over one. I would like to finish in the top five this weekend."
Massimo Roccoli, riding in the Yamaha Team Italia squad, went to Assen boosted by a win in the national Italian championship at Mugello the week before. Although he qualified in fifth Roccoli finished the race in 14th due to a wrong tyre choice. Roccoli goes to Monza determined to put in a good performance throughout the whole weekend.
Yamaha had great success in the FIM Superstock 1000 Cup at Assen, walking away with first, second and third place on the 2007 new YZF-R1. Pirro took his first Superstock win after moving up this year from the 125 MotoGP World Championship. Team mate Corti came second after being penalized for overtaking under a yellow flag and Belgian rider Didier van Keymeulen took the third podium space.
Pirro and Corti go into this third round both on 45 points and are second and third in the championship respectively. Van Keymeulen lies in seventh but with only a small points margin up to the Yamaha Team Italia riders. All three riders will be targeting the top spot at this weekend's round ensuring some close race action.
Track length: 5792m Track opened: 1922 2006 winner: Bayliss (Ducati), Bayliss (Ducati) 2006 fastest lap: 2'00.061 (Haga, Yamaha) WSB lap record: 1'59.696 (Bayliss, Ducati) Circuit tel: +39 039 24821 Circuit website: www.monzanet.it

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Alex Asigno

May 9, 200717 yr

Cristobal Guerrero shows talent once again

Cristobal Guerrero shows talent once again

UFO Corse Yamaha mounted Spaniard Cristobal Guerrero produced two well deserved podium finishes at the GP of Portugal, staged in Marc de Canaveses, to once again show that he is the most exciting young talent in the Enduro 1 class in '07. Having claimed a career best result of fourth and third at his home round of the '07 WEC series, the GP of Spain, the former Enduro Junior World Champion placed in third and second in Portugal to claim his first ever double podium result.
With Finn Juha Salminen topping the E1 class results in Portugal as he has in both Spain and Sweden, it was Yamaha France rider Marc Germain who placed as runner-up on day one placing just under one and a half seconds ahead of Guerrero. Placing as runner-up in the three opening special tests on day one Cristobal set himself up well for a good result despite then falling in the opening enduro test. Despite his small mistake the Spaniard went on to perform consistently and placed a creditable third.
On day two Cristobal started in the best possible way by winning the first extreme test and in doing so made his intensions of another good result crystal clear. Going on to post the second fastest E1 class time on three of the day's tests Cristobal spent much of day two locked in a battle with Poland's Bartosz Oblucki. With little to separate the two riders Cristobal managed to claim the upper hand as the day neared its close and in beating Oblucki in the final three tests he ensured that he had done enough to claim the runner-up spot behind Juha Salminen and claim a career best result.
Also performing well in Portugal, despite failing to make it onto the podium on either day, was UFO Corse Yamaha rider Simone Albergoni. Fourth on both days Simone placed less than 11 seconds behind second placed rider Marc Germain on day one and then just 10 seconds away from team-mate Guerrero on day two. Performing well on the second and third laps on both days Simone's slow start to both days ultimately affected his results.
Disappointingly for the UFO Corse Yamaha team's third rider Maurizio Micheluz a seventh place finish on day one was followed by an 18th place finish on day two as the Italian's WR250 took water into its engine as he crossed a river. Due to losing time while working on drying out his bike's engine Maurizio received a 10 minute penalty, which dropped him to 18th position.    Cristobal Guerrero (UFO Corse Yamaha) Enduro 1 class - Day 1 Third, Day 2 Second: "It's been a really good race for me and to finish on the podium on both days is fantastic. At the start of the season I wanted to finish inside the top five so finishing third on day one and second on the second day is great, I'm really happy with my results. I didn't have too many problems although I had a few small crashes on both days. The start of the season has been great so I hope I can continue to finish with good results."    Simone Albergoni (UFO Corse Yamaha) Enduro 1 class - Day 1 Fourth, Day 2 Fourth: "My problem this weekend has been my first laps. On both days I was sleeping a little on the opening lap and lost some time there. After that I was able to find my rhythm and my speed. My problem was not being fast enough in the first lap. I won one test on day one and had some good times on both days but I can't afford to be slow on the first lap, not against a rider like Juha Salminen. My results weren't so bad but if my first laps were better then my result would have been better."    Maurizio Micheluz (UFO Corse Yamaha) Enduro 1 class - Day 1 Seventh, Day 2 18th: "It's not been a good weekend for me. The first day wasn't so bad but I had a really bad extreme test on the second lap, which cost me a lot of time. Day two was a disaster. I managed to get some water into my engine on one of the river crossings and I took a 10 minute penalty trying to fix it. After that I had some ok tests but with a 10 minutes penalty there was no way I could get a good result. I finished so at least I took some points."   Circuit Length: 4555 Crowd: 6500 Weather: Sunny     2007 Enduro 1 Portugal 07/05/2007 Race 1 Pos. Rider Manu. Nat. Total Time 1 Juha Salminen KTM FIN 44'17.800 2 Marc Germain Yamaha FRA 0'31.430 3 Cristobal Guerrero Yamaha ESP 0'32.800 4 Simone Albergoni Yamaha ITA 0'42.720 5 Alessandro Belometti KTM ITA 0'45.340 6 Bartosz Oblucki Husqvarna POL 0'48.040 7 Maurizio Micheluz Yamaha ITA 1'42.040 8 Mike Hartmann KTM GER 2'16.150 9 Anthony Roberts Honda AUS 2'31.150 10 Damien Miquel Kawasaki FRA 2'56.590 11 Luca Cherubini TM ITA 3'20.510 12 Danielle Tellini KTM ITA 3'32.720 13 Jordi Figueras KTM ESP 3'43.890 14 Joan Jou Yamaha ESP 3'48.930 15 Pedro Enes Yamaha POR 3'52.910
Race 2 Pos. Rider Manu. Nat. Total Time 1 Juha Salminen KTM FIN 54'41.680 2 Cristobal Guerrero Yamaha ESP 0'40.090 3 Bartosz Oblucki Husqvarna POL 0'41.720 4 Simone Albergoni Yamaha ITA 0'48.940 5 Marc Germain Yamaha FRA 0'49.640 6 Alessandro Belometti KTM ITA 1'40.520 7 Anthony Roberts Honda AUS 3'21.860 8 Damien Miquel Kawasaki FRA 3'37.930 9 Mike Hartmann KTM GER 4'5.840 10 Danielle Tellini KTM ITA 4'48.490 11 Jordi Figueras KTM ESP 5'4.190 12 Pedro Enes Yamaha POR 5'13.450 13 Fernando Ferreira Yamaha POR 5'47.380 14 Joan Jou Yamaha ESP 5'50.460 15 Tim Lewis TM GBR 6'2.250 18 Maurizio Micheluz Yamaha ITA 12'31.120
Rider Standings 05/05/2007
Pos. Rider Manu. Nat. Points 1. Juha Salminen KTM FIN 150 2. Cristobal Guerrero Yamaha ESP 108 3. Bartosz Oblucki Husqvarna POL 104 4. Alessandro Belometti KTM ITA 103 5. Simone Albergoni Yamaha ITA 98 6. Marc Germain Yamaha FRA 97 7. Mike Hartmann KTM GER 66 8. Maurizio Micheluz Yamaha ITA 66 9. Anthony Roberts Honda AUS 59 10. Damien Miquel Kawasaki FRA 40 11. Tomi Peltola Suzuki FIN 38 12. Frederik Georgsson KTM SWE 36 13. Danielle Tellini KTM ITA 36 14. Luca Cherubini TM ITA 34 15. Niklas Gustafsson KTM SWE 34
Manufacturer Standings 05/05/2007
Pos. Manufacturer Points 1. KTM 150 2. Yamaha 116 3. Husqvarna 104 4. Honda 69 5. Kawasaki 40 6. TM 40 7. Suzuki 38
RACE REPORT 07/05/2007 Johnny Aubert wins second consecutive GP    UFO Corse Yamaha rider Johnny Aubert claimed his second consecutive double Enduro 2 class win of the '07 World Enduro Championship season by twice topping the podium at the GP of Portugal, staged in Marco de Canaveses. With his confidence running high having claimed two impressive E2 class wins at the GP of Spain one week earlier Aubert opened up an early lead on day one, which was never headed.
Winning the first five tests of the opening day Aubert never looked like being beaten on his WR450 and despite constant pressure from reigning E2 world champion Samuli Aro, Finn Mika Ahola and Australian Stefan Merriman the former motocross racer remained in control and claimed a deserved win finishing just under 12 seconds ahead of his nearest rival. Putting his aggressive riding style to good work Aubert showed, as he did at the GP of Spain, that he has the speed to win the Enduro 2 world championship in '07. Placing second behind Aubert was Finn Mika Ahola who placed close to 30 seconds ahead of Merriman with Aro fourth.    On day two Aubert had to work a little harder for his victory, despite going on to win by close to 40 seconds. Placing eighth on the day's opening special test he then set about his winning ways topping seven of the day's 10 tests. Setting a pace that no other rider could match Aubert made light work of the rough, rutted and demanding special tests and finished the second day, as he had the first, as the fastest overall rider in the event.
As he did on day one Finn Mika Ahola placed in second to Aubert on day two with Samuli Aro claiming third. The UFO Corse Yamaha team's second E2 class rider Italian Fabrizio Dini placed in eighth on day one before moving one place higher with a seventh place result on day two.    Johnny Aubert (UFO Corse Yamaha) Enduro 2 class - Day 1 First, Day 2 First: "At the beginning of the race I was a little bit nervous. I was looking forward to the race after winning last weekend and although I didn't feel 100 per cent relaxed from the start on the first day after a few special tests I felt good. I opened up a good lead and began to ride smooth. I crashed once in the motocross test, but I only lost a few seconds. "Day two also went well but I crashed twice in the extreme test, which cost me some time. I had to push hard all day and from the second lap on I felt good. It was a hard race though because the special tests got really rough. Winning both days in Spain was great and winning both days here in Portugal is just fantastic. I'm so happy, and a little surprised. I'm really looking forward to the Italian GP now."   Circuit Length: 4555 Crowd: 6500 Weather: Sunny     2007 Enduro 2 Portugal 07/05/2007 Race 1 Pos. Rider Manu. Nat. Total Time 1 Johnny Aubert Yamaha FRA 43'55.040 2 Mika Ahola Honda FIN 0'11.190 3 Stefan Merriman Aprilia AUS 0'37.750 4 Samuli Aro KTM FIN 1'4.290 5 Rodrig Thain Suzuki FRA 1'22.640 6 Xavier Galindo KTM ESP 1'31.530 7 Fabien Planet KTM FRA 1'47.960 8 Fabrizio Dini Yamaha ITA 1'57.170 9 Valtteri Salonen HusaBerg FIN 2'15.520 10 Emmanuel Albepart Honda FRA 2'26.360 11 Thierry Klutz Sherco BEL 3'3.170 12 Jari Juha Mattila Beta FIN 3'11.140 13 Nathan Kanney Husqvarna USA 4'16.300 14 Victor Oliveira HusaBerg POR 8'54.850 15 Vito Carvalho HusaBerg POR 11'7.910
Race 2 Pos. Rider Manu. Nat. Total Time 1 Johnny Aubert Yamaha FRA 54'19.390 2 Mika Ahola Honda FIN 0'37.540 3 Samuli Aro KTM FIN 0'46.770 4 Stefan Merriman Aprilia AUS 1'26.430 5 Fabien Planet KTM FRA 2'3.350 6 Xavier Galindo KTM ESP 2'23.580 7 Fabrizio Dini Yamaha ITA 2'37.320 8 Valtteri Salonen HusaBerg FIN 2'44.220 9 Nicolas Deparrois Husqvarna FRA 3'19.390 10 Emmanuel Albepart Honda FRA 3'53.020 11 Patrick Caps GasGas BEL 4'7.830 12 Jari Juha Mattila Beta FIN 4'15.470 13 Thierry Klutz Sherco BEL 4'39.290 14 Felipe Zanol Yamaha ESP 10'16.420 15 Victor Oliveira HusaBerg POR 13'47.130
Rider Standings 05/05/2007
Pos. Rider Manu. Nat. Points 1. Mika Ahola Honda FIN 133 2. Johnny Aubert Yamaha FRA 132 3. Samuli Aro KTM FIN 123 4. Stefan Merriman Aprilia AUS 100 5. Fabien Planet KTM FRA 92 6. Jari Juha Mattila Beta FIN 77 7. Xavier Galindo KTM ESP 75 8. Valtteri Salonen HusaBerg FIN 67 9. Fabrizio Dini Yamaha ITA 63 10. Rodrig Thain Suzuki FRA 55 11. Nicolas Deparrois Husqvarna FRA 51 12. Thierry Klutz Sherco BEL 51 13. Emmanuel Albepart Honda FRA 37 14. Nathan Kanney Husqvarna USA 35 15. Patrik Wicksell KTM SWE 33
Manufacturer Standings 05/05/2007
Pos. Manufacturer Points 1. Honda 133 2. Yamaha 132 3. KTM 125 4. Aprilia 101 5. Beta 77 6. HusaBerg 67 7. Husqvarna 62 8. Suzuki 55 9. Sherco 51 10. GasGas 32 11. BMW 12 12. TM 9

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Alex Asigno

May 7, 200717 yr

Sensational double for Coppins and Cairoli in Italy

Sensational double for Coppins and Cairoli in Italy

Yamaha's emphatic presence in the MX1 and MX2 World Championship continues as Yamaha Motocross Team's Josh Coppins won his third Grand Prix of the year and Yamaha De Carli's Antonio Cairoli maintained a 100% record with his fourth consecutive success at a sunny and warm Mantova circuit for the Italian round and the fourth meeting of fifteen in the FIM competition.
The Mantova layout had been altered slightly from the course that opened the off-road racing calendar in February. The track, with its rough, sandy terrain and many jumps, won praise from most of the riders for the challenge it offered. The facility is unique in the way it is compacted in a squared 'stadium' setting, allowing wide views of most of the circuit. The first MX1 moto was a collection of incidents. Marc De Reuver started brightly and held fourth position behind Coppins in the early stages. On a surge of confidence the Dutchman took off to challenge David Philippaerts for the lead but the pair collided in a tight left-hander and both went down. Ken de Dycker moved through to head a four rider group but Coppins attacked right away and the duo swapped positions for several laps until De Dycker faded. For the last third of the race Coppins was not overtaken, although Tanel Leok kept him close company; the 30 year old rode comfortably to his fifth triumph from seven motos. De Reuver re-started outside of the top ten and eventually took the chequered flag in a humble twenty-third and out of the points.
Coppins again faced the threat of De Dycker in the second sprint. The former team-mates tangled before the New Zealander backed off to observe his rival. After four laps he was able to regain ground on the Belgian and swiftly relegated the 22 year old to second spot. The Rinaldi squad were naturally thrilled with victory at their home Grand Prix and Coppins cited the triumph as the best of his career after battling some set-up problems on Saturday. Further good news lay in store when De Reuver (sporting a close-cut hairstyle instead of his traditional lengthy locks) crossed the line in third spot for his second top three MX1 moto finish with Yamaha. Tanel Leok in second place and Sebastien Pourcel in third both made their first appearances on the podium, Coppins was able to extend his lead in the MX1 series by 17 points over Kevin Strijbos (who was fourth overall) and now enjoys a 36 point advantage. De Reuver's efforts leave him tenth.
Josh Coppins, Yamaha Motocross Team: "I'm pretty happy. It is no secret that I don't like this track and it looked obvious yesterday but we worked hard with the team, and Yamaha were really smart and made some good decisions for me. We really improved the bike over the two days. I knew my race pace was good but I could not go that little bit extra for a flying lap. Today I had to be a little bit clever and head-strong and fight to the end. The first moto was crazy because a lot of guys were trying to win the race in the first ten minutes. I let them do their own thing. I almost got caught up with Marc when he fell and that was a near miss. I started to ride better after that and gave my best. I had a pretty good idea that I could pass Ken again in the second moto. He had a couple of better lines so I let him go but I wondered how much energy he had left and when he started to slow I was confident I could lead again. I think this is the best win ever for me simply because I have never done well at this track and today went much better than I expected."
Marc de Reuver, Yamaha Motocross Team: "I felt really good from the first practice and I really thought this was going to be my weekend. I got the first corners right in the first moto and moved into fifth. I found it really easy to overtake from there and got up to second place. I then got a bit over-excited when I wanted to pass Philippaerts. It was not totally my fault. It was just a racing accident. It took a while before we got untangled and I was at the back and really disappointed. In the second race my start was good and I wanted to follow Josh because it is easy to blow yourself up on this track if you go crazy. We both moved past Mike Brown, but Ken de Dycker came through. At the end he tired and I thought I might be able to get him but I made some mistakes and decided to have a safe finish. Third is not so bad and lifts my results and points in the right direction again."
Carlo Rinaldi, Team Manager, Yamaha Motocross Team: "It has been a very good home GP and I am very happy mainly because the weekend did not start in the best way. Josh did not feel very comfortable on this track and we struggled on Saturday to get him running well with the bike, so we were not expecting such a good race. Josh showed one of his very positive characteristics though and reacted strongly. With good starts he had the patience to wait for the right moment to attack and won both motos. About Marc, I am pleased because physically he is getting better and speed-wise he is there, but I was disappointed when he crashed in the first moto and threw away a big chance for the race win. He proved that he was ready to win, but maybe he wasn't patient enough and that's a pity. He made up for it with a consistent race in the second moto and third place was very good for him because he needs the points."   Temp: 26 Crowd: 29000 Weather: Sunny     2006 2007 GP of Mantova, Italy 06/05/2007 Race 1 - 19 Laps Pos. Rider Manu. Nat. Total Time 1 Joshua Coppins Yamaha NZL 40'20.318 2 Tanel Leok Kawasaki EST 0'10.494 3 Kevin Strijbos Suzuki BEL 0'16.085 4 Sébastien Pourcel Kawasaki FRA 0'29.880 5 James Noble Honda GBR 0'34.911 6 Billy MacKenzie Kawasaki GBR 0'38.195 7 Steve Ramon Suzuki BEL 0'42.294 8 Gordon Crockard Honda IRL 0'46.664 9 David Philippaerts KTM ITA 0'49.336 10 Kornel Nemeth Suzuki HUN 0'55.145 11 Clement Desalle Suzuki BEL 1'10.513 12 Manuel Priem TM BEL 1'15.256 13 Aigar Leok Yamaha EST 1'28.505 14 Mike Brown Honda USA 1'31.926 15 Julien Bill Kawasaki CHE 1'32.921 16 Alex Salvini Yamaha ITA 1'34.455 17 Christian Beggi Honda ITA 1'43.475 18 Antti Pyrhonen Kawasaki FIN 1'48.314 19 Marko Kovalainen Honda FIN 1'52.786 20 Christian Stevanini Yamaha ITA 1'56.134
Race 2 - 19 Laps Pos. Rider Manu. Nat. Total Time 1 Joshua Coppins Yamaha NZL 40'56.507 2 Ken De Dycker Honda BEL 0'5.757 3 Marc De Reuver Yamaha NED 0'10.669 4 Sébastien Pourcel Kawasaki FRA 0'13.407 5 Steve Ramon Suzuki BEL 0'15.793 6 Tanel Leok Kawasaki EST 0'19.242 7 James Noble Honda GBR 0'28.599 8 Kevin Strijbos Suzuki BEL 0'39.096 9 Mike Brown Honda USA 0'49.588 10 Jonathan Barragan KTM ESP 0'59.306 11 Marvin Van Daele Honda BEL 1'3.127 12 Gordon Crockard Honda IRL 1'6.985 13 Aigar Leok Yamaha EST 1'21.234 14 Pierre A. Renet Honda FRA 1'25.998 15 Antti Pyrhonen Kawasaki FIN 1'43.079 16 Marko Kovalainen Honda FIN 1'45.801 17 Thomas Allier Kawasaki FRA 1'57.507 18 Christian Beggi Honda ITA 2'28.389 19 Julien Bill Kawasaki CHE -1 Laps 20 Scott Columb Suzuki NZL -1 Laps
Rider Standings 06/05/2007
Pos. Rider Manu. Nat. Points 1. Joshua Coppins Yamaha NZL 194 2. Kevin Strijbos Suzuki BEL 158 3. Steve Ramon Suzuki BEL 116 4. Ken De Dycker Honda BEL 106 5. Sébastien Pourcel Kawasaki FRA 103 6. Jonathan Barragan KTM ESP 100 7. Tanel Leok Kawasaki EST 98 8. James Noble Honda GBR 91 9. Mike Brown Honda USA 81 10. Marc De Reuver Yamaha NED 80 11. David Philippaerts KTM ITA 74 12. Manuel Priem TM BEL 70 13. Maximilian Nagl KTM GER 63 14. Kornel Nemeth Suzuki HUN 62 15. Billy MacKenzie Kawasaki GBR 61 16. Aigar Leok Yamaha EST 45 17. Marvin Van Daele Honda BEL 45 18. Thomas Allier Kawasaki FRA 35 19. Gordon Crockard Honda IRL 32 20. Clement Desalle Suzuki BEL 27
Manufacturer Standings 06/05/2007
Pos. Manufacturer Points 1. Yamaha 194 2. Suzuki 165 3. KTM 140 4. Honda 129 5. Kawasaki 127 6. TM 70 7. Aprilia 2
RACE REPORT 06/05/2007 Cairoli scores quartet of GP wins
The traditionally enthusiastic crowd were driven wild by Cairoli's third clean-sweep of both motos this season. The Sicilian, on the De Carli tuned YZ250F, has now won five from six and finished second in the other race categories, winnig all GP's thusfar in the 2007 season. Antonio was so dominant in his qualification heat Saturday that he could afford to make a good show for the crowd over the many Mantova jumps, he blitzed the first Grand Prix moto and held a lead of four seconds by the end of the second lap. From that point onwards the 2005 World Champion raced the track alone with the cheers of his many fans for company.   He repeated his excellence in the second race and his sheer speed on the opening lap after another ideal start was the deciding factor in delivering his fifteenth career success. There is little more to say about Cairoli's form this season except that the 21 year old is currently operating in a different league to his peers. His increased his margin to 55 points which means that he can afford two DNFs and still be leading the championship. With Tyla Rattray and Tommy Searle filling the other two podium steps Yamaha's next best placed representative was Yamaha Team Ricci's talent Nicolas Aubin with sixth overall. The French youngster - who looked so stylish over the table-top jumps - was eleventh and sixth in the two motos.
Team-mate Kenneth Gundersen ran as high as fourth for long stretches of the first moto but was passed by an energetic Gareth Swanepoel. His fifth position would be his only finish of the day as a heavy crash after landing awkwardly from a double jump forced the Norwegian to retire with a bruised left side of his body. Davide Guarneri was back in action and attempting his first Grand Prix of the season after sustaining an ankle injury. The Italian could not continue after his gear lever was smashed in the first moto but took a conservative thirteenth in the second outing. Both Bike it Yamaha Dixon Racing rider's score points today. Martin Barr completed the best weekend of his short GP career (started with appearances in 2006) by taking thirteenth overall with twelfth and fifteenth positions. British Champion Carl Nunn is coming back to full fitness and should have had a top ten result after running near the first five in the opening moto but slipped off and took four points for seventeenth. He was hit by another rider on the first lap of the second Moto and had to pit to change a bent rear brake lever. He finished the race, but out of the points.
Antonio Cairoli, Team De Carli Yamaha: "I am really happy with this race and I feel very good with my riding and also mentally. I had a great feeling with the bike at this track even though we made some changes for the second heat and I could win that race even easier. It helped to have pole position from Saturday as I could hold the inside line even if I did not get away in first from the gate. I was surprised that Christophe could not go with me in the second moto but after two laps I saw that I had a good enough gap and could control it from there. It was an important race for me as I know Motocross is getting more popular now in Italy; I have many fans and I'm really happy about this and to be able to win for them is fantastic."
Nicolas Aubin, Yamaha Team Ricci: "Sixth overall was not so bad today as my goal is to always be in the top ten. The first race my start was not very good but I could not find my rhythm and struggled to get the good lines. Things were better in the second race but I was on the limit sometimes and close to crashing. I got near to Searle but couldn't find a way through. I dropped back to get my rhythm going again and pushed hard to overtake but then crashed. I was lucky that the bike kept running and there was no damage."
Kenneth Gundersen, Yamaha Team Ricci: "In the first race I had a good start but got a bit tired towards the end so I thought I would make sure of fifth and see what I could do in the second moto. I had a poor start when we went out again but I was coming through well and reached the top ten before the crash. I'm sure the overall result would have been good but I just lost control."
The fifth meeting of the year takes place in just seven days time with the Grand Prix of Germany at the Talkessel circuit in Teutschenthal. The teams will cut through Europe this week to head to the east of the country and the venue near the city of Halle.   Temp: 27 Crowd: 29000 Weather: Sunny   2006 2007 GP of Mantova, Italy 06/05/2007 Race 1 - 19 Laps Pos. Rider Manu. Nat. Total Time 1 Antonio Cairoli Yamaha ITA 40'29.827 2 Tyla Rattray KTM RSA 0'8.985 3 Tommy Searle KTM GBR 0'11.718 4 Christophe Pourcel Kawasaki FRA 0'13.575 5 Kenneth Gundersen Yamaha NOR 0'32.325 6 Gareth Swanepoel Kawasaki RSA 0'41.013 7 Pascal Leuret Honda FRA 0'46.640 8 Sean Hamblin Suzuki USA 0'55.326 9 Tom Church Kawasaki GBR 0'56.844 10 Marcus Schiffer KTM GER 0'57.270 11 Nicolas Aubin Yamaha FRA 0'57.807 12 Martin Barr Yamaha GBR 1'7.415 13 Dennis Verbruggen Yamaha BEL 1'13.097 14 Steven Frossard Kawasaki FRA 1'17.216 15 Rui Goncalves KTM POR 1'18.799 16 Xavier Boog Yamaha FRA 1'25.239 17 Carl Nunn Yamaha GBR 1'29.917 18 Matti Seistola Honda FIN 1'32.600 19 Gregory Aranda Kawasaki FRA 1'34.173 20 Shaun Simpson Kawasaki GBR 1'36.827
Race 2 - 19 Laps Pos. Rider Manu. Nat. Total Time 1 Antonio Cairoli Yamaha ITA 41'12.692 2 Tyla Rattray KTM RSA 0'15.981 3 Gareth Swanepoel Kawasaki RSA 0'19.661 4 Tommy Searle KTM GBR 0'21.469 5 Christophe Pourcel Kawasaki FRA 0'22.998 6 Nicolas Aubin Yamaha FRA 0'45.140 7 Matti Seistola Honda FIN 0'51.466 8 Rui Goncalves KTM POR 1'0.340 9 Sean Hamblin Suzuki USA 1'6.121 10 Marcus Schiffer KTM GER 1'6.449 11 Shaun Simpson Kawasaki GBR 1'8.807 12 Pascal Leuret Honda FRA 1'16.883 13 Davide Guarneri Yamaha ITA 1'21.212 14 Avis Wyatt KTM RSA 1'25.093 15 Martin Barr Yamaha GBR 1'25.739 16 Dennis Verbruggen Yamaha BEL 1'26.468 17 Steven Frossard Kawasaki FRA 1'41.997 18 Gregory Aranda Kawasaki FRA 1'45.542 19 Matteo Bonini Yamaha ITA 2'0.415 20 Jeremy Tarroux Yamaha FRA -1 Laps
Rider Standings 06/05/2007
Pos. Rider Manu. Nat. Points 1. Antonio Cairoli Yamaha ITA 197 2. Tyla Rattray KTM RSA 142 3. Christophe Pourcel Kawasaki FRA 137 4. Tommy Searle KTM GBR 117 5. Pascal Leuret Honda FRA 110 6. Gareth Swanepoel Kawasaki RSA 107 7. Nicolas Aubin Yamaha FRA 94 8. Kenneth Gundersen Yamaha NOR 91 9. Matti Seistola Honda FIN 78 10. Marcus Schiffer KTM GER 70 11. Steven Frossard Kawasaki FRA 58 12. Anthony Boissière Kawasaki FRA 57 13. Erik Eggens Suzuki NED 54 14. Xavier Boog Yamaha FRA 46 15. Manuel Monni Yamaha ITA 45 16. Tom Church Kawasaki GBR 45 17. Matteo Bonini Yamaha ITA 42 18. Dennis Verbruggen Yamaha BEL 35 19. Sean Hamblin Suzuki USA 35 20. Shaun Simpson Kawasaki GBR 34 21. Carl Nunn Yamaha GBR 31 29. Davide Guarneri Yamaha ITA 8
Manufacturer Standings 06/05/2007
Pos. Manufacturer Points 1. Yamaha 197 2. Kawasaki 165 3. KTM 161 4. Honda 115 5. Suzuki 82

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Alex Asigno

May 13, 200717 yr

Scintillating Shanghai battle ends with second place for Rossi

Scintillating Shanghai battle ends with second place for Rossi

Fiat Yamaha Team rider Valentino Rossi fought a race-long battle with Casey Stoner during the Grand Prix of China today, the pair providing a thrilling spectacle until the 16th lap when Rossi was forced to concede victory to the Australian after a small mistake. Despite starting from the front row alongside pole-sitter Rossi, Colin Edwards had a less successful day as he suffered tyre problems from the start and dropped steadily down the order, eventually finishing a disappointing 11th.
John Hopkins took the lead into turn one but Rossi passed him on the first lap to cross the line in front. Edwards however had already slipped down to sixth and was unable to make up anymore ground from then on. By lap three Rossi had dropped behind both Stoner and Marco Melandri but before long Rossi had despatched his fellow countryman and set off after Stoner, eliciting a thrilling game of cat-and-mouse which kept everyone on the edge of their seats. Rossi's M1 worked perfectly throughout and the Italian was never more than a few tenths down on Stoner, exploiting the agility and corner speed of his Yamaha in the earlier sections to close the gap and often pass Stoner, but relinquishing ground down the long back straight where the Ducati had the advantage.
The pair kept up a blistering pace and only Hopkins could stay with them, closing the gap to half a second at one point in pursuit of his first podium. With seven laps to go and Rossi doing everything in his powers to find a way to make a pass stick on Stoner, the Yamaha rider made a mistake braking into the hairpin at the end of the back straight and ran off the track, letting Hopkins through. Rossi kept fighting and was able to pass the American back again to consolidate second place, but Stoner was too far ahead and took the flag three seconds in front. Edwards, meanwhile, had a difficult race as his package failed to work today and he was una ble to use the potential of his Yamaha, crossing the line 35 seconds behind the winner.    Valentino Rossi Position: 2ndTime: +3.036 "I enjoyed today a lot, it was a great race, a really exciting battle and my Yamaha was fantastic to the end. We knew that this track would be difficult for us so to be able to fight with Stoner at 100% for the entire race was a great feeling. Of course it's not a win, but I think second place is a very good result for us here. I didn't want to give up and just ride for second, I wanted to try to pass him and I made some good overtaking manoeuvres but wasn't able to stay in front down the straight. Then I made a mistake when I hit a bump when braking, had to release the brake and ran off track. It was a pity, but when you're riding on the limit lap after lap then things like this can happen; that's racing! Anyway I knew I couldn't give up, I had a nice battle with John and then was able to take second. I think these twenty points are really important and we're still second in the championship. I'm really more sad for what happened in Turkey because if we hadn't had the problem there then I might have been level with Stoner in the championship now. But the season is long and now we have several races in Europe at some of my favourite tracks and I think we're in good shape for them!"
Colin Edwards Position: 11thTime: +35.053 "I don't have much positive stuff to say about today's race! I had hoped that I would be able to try for a podium but right from the start I didn't have any rear grip and it was all I could do to keep it upright throughout the race. I genuinely believe that our bike is the best on the grid and I've never felt happier with it, but unfortunately the package as a whole isn't working for me at the moment and we need to understand why. I had a slightly different tyre to Valentino but he really showed his class again today. I just want to forget about this race and look forward to Le Mans, where I've always gone well." Davide Brivio - Team Director "If you had told us before we got here that we would take second place, we would have been happy with that. Then of course on Friday and Saturday we realised that we could in fact battle for the victory! Valentino was perfect today and he couldn't have done anything better. His mistake was due to his fighting spirit, his refusal to give up and his will to fight until the end; this is the mark of a champion. We showed we have huge potential, we lack a little bit of top speed and we must improve the performance of the engine so this is what we will be working on in the next few weeks. Colin showed with his performance yesterday that he has the ability to do well this season, but he used a different tyre and a different set-up to Valentino and unfortunately it didn't work for him today. Valentino and Yamaha are in perfect shape and Colin has proved that he too can do great things when everything's working well for him. The championship is still young and we will keep on fighting like we did today."
Season best result for Dunlop Yamaha Tech 3 Team
The Yamaha Tech 3 Team scored its best result of the year to date as Sylvain Guintoli finished in 13th position at the Grand Prix of China held in Shanghai. The result for the team could have been a lot better but unfortunately, his team mate Makoto Tamada was involved in an accident on the fourth lap of the race with fellow Japanese rider Shinya Nakano which forced his retirement. Among the positives that the team will take to the next Grand Prix is the fact that Sylvain was able to stay with defending world champion, Nicky Hayden, for several laps.    Sylvain Guintoli Position: 13thTime: +50.705 I'm very happy with the race and the weekend. It was a good boost for me to be so close to Nicky for so long after he was caught up in that first lap incident and I had a lot of fun racing with him. Unfortunately I made a little mistake towards the end of the race that allowed the gap to open up. Anyway, I am satisfied as the weekend didn't start very well as we had a lot more trouble than Jerez and Turkey to get the right tyre but we worked hard and managed to find a good tyre for the race. At the end of the day it is my best result in MotoGP, I was able to follow Rossi for a couple of laps during practice learning a few things and I managed to stay with the world champion for half the race so this has given me a good boost of confidence for my home Grand Prix in Le Mans in two weeks time. I am really looking forward to that and after testing with Dunlop and the Yamaha Tech 3 Team last year feel that the tyres should work well there and it a track I particularly like so hopefully I can score some more good points in front of my home crowd.
Makoto Tamada Position: DNF It was a shame my race only lasted three laps as I had a very good feeling with the bike and the tyres. I felt that this was going to be the best race of the year for me so far I am very disappointed that I crashed as we had good speed but I am also sorry for Shinya. I wasn't expecting to be going to pass him then but he was going a lot slower than I thought. I tried to avoid him by diving for the inside to take the corner but unfortunately we hit and we both went down and my bike was too badly damaged to continue The tyres are also getting better so I am feeling better on the bike everytime I ride it. Hopefully we can continue the progress at the next race and I can get a good result for myself and the team.
Herve Poncharal - Dunlop Yamaha Tech 3 Team Director It wasn't such a bad weekend for us but firstly I would like to say that we have to qualify better because during the entire weekend, apart for the last 30 minutes of the qualifying session, we were always quicker than a few riders who eventually qualified in front of us. Once we get to the race we go back to the same pace we had during the practices. Makoto was catching and passing a few guys and doing very well. He had a great start, was very aggressive but wasn't involved in the first lap crash. He was up to 11th as he was able to catch and pass a few riders but unfortunately - and we apologise to Shinya Nakano and his team - he was caught a bit by surprise as he was a lot faster but he didn't expect Shinya to brake so early at the end of the back straight and hit him from behind. It's a pity because when we see what Sylvain has done it was possible to have both riders score some good points. For myself personally, the best part of the weekend was Sylvain as he managed to stay right behind the world champion, Nicky Hayden for over 10 laps turning in the same lap times and this will be excellent for his confidence. He showed to many in the MotoGP paddock that he can race with anyone. The work we did at Istanbul is paying off so I hope that we will have many people come and support us at our home Grand Prix at Le Mans in two weeks time.   Circuit Length: 5451 Temp: 23 Weather: Dry     2007 MotoGP China - Shanghai 06/05/2007 Race 1 - 22 Laps Pos. Rider Manu. Nat. Total Time 1 Casey Stoner Ducati AUS 44'12.891 2 Valentino Rossi Yamaha ITA 0'3.036 3 John Hopkins Suzuki USA 0'6.663 4 Daniel Pedrosa Honda ESP 0'14.090 5 Marco Melandri Honda ITA 0'17.276 6 Loris Capirossi Ducati ITA 0'26.256 7 Chris Vermeulen Suzuki AUS 0'26.591 8 Randy De Puniet Kawasaki FRA 0'27.025 9 Alex Hofmann Ducati GER 0'28.108 10 Carlos Checa Honda ESP 0'32.957 11 Colin Edwards Yamaha USA 0'35.053 12 Nicky Hayden Honda USA 0'37.327 13 Sylvain Guintoli Yamaha FRA 0'50.705 14 Alex Barros Ducati BRA 0'55.264 15 Kenny Roberts KR212V USA 0'57.736
Best Lap Rider Manu. Nat. Total Time Casey Stoner Ducati AUS 1'59.857
 Rider Standings 06/05/2007 Pos. Rider Manu. Nat. Points 1. Casey Stoner Ducati AUS 86 2. Valentino Rossi Yamaha ITA 71 3. Daniel Pedrosa Honda ESP 49 4. Marco Melandri Honda ITA 41 5. John Hopkins Suzuki USA 39 6. Toni Elias Honda ESP 35 7. Colin Edwards Yamaha USA 31 8. Nicky Hayden Honda USA 30 9. Loris Capirossi Ducati ITA 30 10. Chris Vermeulen Suzuki AUS 30 11. Alex Barros Ducati BRA 27 12. Carlos Checa Honda ESP 20 13. Randy De Puniet Kawasaki FRA 19 14. Alex Hofmann Ducati GER 19 15. Shinya Nakano Honda JPN 15 16. Sylvain Guintoli Yamaha FRA 6 17. Makoto Tamada Yamaha JPN 4
Team Standings 06/05/2007 Pos. Team Points 1. Ducati Marlboro Team 116 2. FIAT Yamaha Team 102 3. Repsol Honda Team 79 4. Honda Gresini 76 5. Rizla Suzuki 69 6. Pramac D'Antin 46 7. Kawasaki Racing Team 23 8. Honda LCR 20 9. Konica Minolta Honda 15 10. Tech3 Yamaha 10 11. Team Roberts 4
Manufacturer Standings 06/05/2007 Pos. Manufacturer Points 1. Ducati 86 2. Yamaha 71 3. Honda 69 4. Suzuki 46 5. Kawasaki 23 6. KR212V 4

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Alex Asigno

May 6, 200717 yr

Rossi claims sensational pole ahead of Shanghai showdown

Rossi claims sensational pole ahead of Shanghai showdown

An incredible flying lap from Valentino Rossi saw the Fiat Yamaha Team rider take his third pole of the season in China this afternoon, the Italian bettering last year's pole time by more than half a second with a perfect lap around the 5.2km Shanghai International Circuit. For the third time this season Rossi is also joined on the front row by his team-mate Colin Edwards, who qualified third, with the Yamaha pair separated by Edwards' fellow American John Hopkins.
The promised rain once again failed to appear and the hour-long qualifying session was played out on a dry track with the clouds giving way to bright sunshine by the end. The first 45 minutes passed busily for the Yamaha duo, who were intent on using all the available time to fine-tune their set-up and gather information about tyres before concentrating on their qualifying laps in the final stages. Edwards' first run with a soft Michelin qualifying tyre moved him close to the top of the order but it was Rossi's first flying lap that left everyone amazed, the Italian completing a faultless lap right on the limit of his Yamaha's capabilities to put in an incredible time of 1'58.424. Edwards' second flying lap was good enough to move him into second but he was eventually pushed down one place by Hopkins. Although Rossi's lap proved well out of the striking distance of his rivals, he showed it was no fluke by going within 0.1 seconds of his own time on his second qualifying tyre just minutes later.    Valentino Rossi Position: 1stTime: 1'58.424Laps: 24 "That was sincerely an incredibly exciting feeling for me; to ride my M1 right on the limit and make such a perfect lap at 100%. When I saw the time on the television I was quite surprised because I didn't know it was that fast, but I had pushed the bike to the maximum and I knew that it was a good lap. I had great grip from my Michelin qualifying tyre and my Yamaha worked perfectly, so a big thank you to everyone involved. I was able to arrive at every corner very fast and to brake at the last possible moment; a couple of times I was worried I was too late but every time my bike responded perfectly and I had great grip. I felt a lot of adrenalin from this lap! Despite both of us being on the front row, maybe we're not favourites for tomorrow and the race is a very different story. Anyway we've all done very well today. We need to make a couple more small modifications to the setting and then we will just hope for good weather again, a good start and a good race."    Colin Edwards Position: 3rdTime: 1'59.406Laps: 18 "Well done to the team, once again they've done a really good job, worked their tails off and here we are again on the front row alongside Valentino. The qualifying tyres are working really well this year and with the extra grip they give us we can really push hard. As for the race setting, we've changed a few things with the geometry today and it seems to have improved things a fair bit, although we've still got to make a final decision with regards to the race tyre. It's always going to be a little bit of a gamble but hopefully we'll make the right choice. The bike feels very good and a podium is definitely a realistic aim, but it's going to be a very long and hard race. Starting from the front row will be pretty important here and hopefully we can make the most of this advantage, avoid any repeats of the first-lap pile-up in Turkey and try to better last year's podium!"
Davide Brivio - Team Director "It's great for the team to have both riders on the front row once again, after the problems we had last year it's very encouraging that this is becoming a regular occurrence. When everything is working well our riders are always at the top so this shows the great potential of our package. Valentino's lap was exceptional today and Colin is also in good shape and riding very well; we're especially happy for him to be on the front row again after his unlucky crash in Turkey. Despite this qualifying result we know that tomorrow's race is going to be very difficult and our riders will have to fight at 100% throughout it. The team have done a great job and now they just need to make a few final preparations in the morning and then we'll be ready for an exciting race!"    2007 MotoGP China - Shanghai 05/05/2007 Qualifying 1 Pos. Rider Manu. Nat. Total Time 1 Valentino Rossi Yamaha ITA 1'58.424 2 John Hopkins Suzuki USA 1'59.315 3 Colin Edwards Yamaha USA 1'59.406 4 Casey Stoner Ducati AUS 1'59.516 5 Daniel Pedrosa Honda ESP 1'59.602 6 Marco Melandri Honda ITA 1'59.863 7 Randy De Puniet Kawasaki FRA 1'59.985 8 Alex Barros Ducati BRA 2'0.052 9 Nicky Hayden Honda USA 2'0.087 10 Shinya Nakano Honda JPN 2'0.157 11 Alex Hofmann Ducati GER 2'0.175 12 Toni Elias Honda ESP 2'0.205 13 Carlos Checa Honda ESP 2'0.319 14 Loris Capirossi Ducati ITA 2'0.369 15 Chris Vermeulen Suzuki AUS 2'0.680 17 Sylvain Guintoli Yamaha FRA 2'1.157 18 Makoto Tamada Yamaha JPN 2'1.178

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Alex Asigno

May 5, 200717 yr

Rossi and Edwards make solid start in Shanghai

Rossi and Edwards make solid start in Shanghai

A weekend of close racing beckons at the Grand Prix of China as the first day of practice finished with the top fourteen MotoGP riders separated by less than a second in Shanghai today. Fiat Yamaha team-mates Valentino Rossi and Colin Edwards were right in the mix and ended the day sixth and seventh fastest respectively in the combined standings, with Edwards just 0.2 seconds off the day's fastest time, set by John Hopkins.
With rain forecast for the afternoon this morning's Free Practice looked like being a crucial one and Rossi got things off to a strong start by finishing third fastest. Despite overcast skies and humid conditions however the rain stayed away and this afternoon's practice remained dry throughout, giving the riders further time to concentrate on set-up and tyre work with Michelin, conscious that bad weather could still arrive tomorrow to play havoc during Qualifying. Both riders were pleased with how quickly they were able to adapt their YZR-M1's to the demands of the stop-and-go circuit and will aim to make further improvements tomorrow, aware that every tiny advantage here could spell the key to success over their rivals.     Valentino Rossi Position: 6thTime: 2'01.390Laps: 47 "I'm not so happy with sixth position but the difference from the top is very small, only 0.18 seconds, and so the actual time is not so bad. All the riders are very close and already you can see that it's going to be a hard battle. For this reason we have to find every millimetre of difference in every corner of the track in order to have an advantage and it's also going to be important to start from the front. We're working hard to get the bike in the best possible shape but I can already ride my M1 quite well. We are missing a little bit of top speed on the straight but we're obviously making it up in other areas of the track where our bike is strong, because our overall times are similar to our rivals. Of course we've also been working closely with Michelin on the tyres and tomorrow we have a few more things to try; a couple of possibilities remain for us and from them we will decide our final race tyre. We were lucky with the weather today because we were waiting for rain but now it looks like it will come tomorrow or on Sunday instead. It's a pity; of course it's always better to race in the dry but we have had success here before under the rain and I think our bike is fast in the wet this year so lets wait and see."  
Colin Edwards Position: 7thTime: 2'01.409Laps: 46 "I've got a small engine modification to try here but actually I only managed a few laps with it at the end of the second session today. Tomorrow we'll use it a bit more and see how we get on with that. Anyway my time wasn't too bad today; it's ridiculously close amongst the top group so it looks like we could see some pretty exciting racing this weekend! I feel pretty good overall - we made a small modification to the geometry this afternoon and that's improved things a bit and we've got a couple more ideas just to finally tweak the setting a little more tomorrow. As for the tyres, we've found something good but we've got a couple more things to check before we make our final decision about the race tyre. However what we can do tomorrow might well depend on the weather!"
Davide Brivio - Team Director "All the riders are very close today so it's going to be very important to really fine-tune the bike and try to find the perfect setting. We've got both Valentino and Colin in the first group of riders and so far the bike seems to be working quite well for both of them. Now we need to work on the final tyre selection for both riders. Today we were expecting some rain but luckily it didn't come and we were able to use all the practice time we had. Now it looks like tomorrow could be wet so the information we got today is going to be very important for us."   Circuit Length: 5451 Temp: 24 Weather: Hazy     2007 MotoGP China - Shanghai 04/05/2007 Free Practice Pos. Rider Manu. Nat. Total Time 1 John Hopkins Suzuki USA 2'1.204 2 Marco Melandri Honda ITA 2'1.303 3 Daniel Pedrosa Honda ESP 2'1.333 4 Nicky Hayden Honda USA 2'1.346 5 Loris Capirossi Ducati ITA 2'1.365 6 Valentino Rossi Yamaha ITA 2'1.390 7 Colin Edwards Yamaha USA 2'1.409 8 Casey Stoner Ducati AUS 2'1.460 9 Alex Hofmann Ducati GER 2'1.771 10 Carlos Checa Honda ESP 2'1.881 11 Randy De Puniet Kawasaki FRA 2'1.896 12 Chris Vermeulen Suzuki AUS 2'1.991 13 Alex Barros Ducati BRA 2'2.051 14 Toni Elias Honda ESP 2'2.114 15 Makoto Tamada Yamaha JPN 2'2.242 17 Sylvain Guintoli Yamaha FRA 2'2.768

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Alex Asigno

May 4, 200717 yr

Yamaha goes Dutch for round five of the WSB

Yamaha goes Dutch for round five of the WSB

The World Superbike Championship goes to Assen this weekend and with Queen’s Day falling on the Monday after the race the Yamaha Motor Italia WSB Team will be celebrating this Dutch national holiday by wearing special team clothing over the weekend.
Queen’s Day, or Koninginnedag as it is called in Dutch, is a day of celebration of the Dutch monarchy. Queen Juliana started the festival on the date of her birthday (30th April) and when Queen Beatrix succeeded the throne in 1980 she kept the same celebration date as the weather on her own birthday in January often prohibited outdoor festivities.
The team shirts are orange and feature the Dutch coat of arms and will be worn by all team personnel in the Yamaha Motor Italia WSB Team. These shirts have been provided by team sponsor and clothing manufacturer DayGas Krum.Hero.
“Race day at Assen is the day before Queen’s Day, when most of the Dutch population will be wearing orange. I’m sure that the Dutch crowd in Assen will appreciate the team for wearing a very appropriate uniform on this special occasion!” said Leon Oosterhof, Racing Communications Manager at Yamaha Motor Europe’s Racing Division.     In preparation for the weekend celebrations, staff and riders from the World Superbike and Supersport teams visited the Yamaha Motor Europe’s head offices this week. During their two hour visit, Troy Corser and Noriyuki Haga from the Superbike team along with Broc Parkes from the Supersport team answered questions from staff at Yamaha Motor Europe as well as signing shirts and memorabilia, prior to traveling to Assen for the fifth round of the World Superbike Championship. In addition, all employees were given one of the limited edition team shirts to proudly wear this weekend at the races.
Talking about the visit, Leon said, “There are many Yamaha Motor Europe employees that follow Yamaha’s teams and riders in the World Superbike and World Supersport Championships. Many are passionate about racing and this was the perfect opportunity for them to meet the riders and teams in person and ask them questions. It was also nice for the teams to visit Yamaha's European headquarters and get an impression of all the activities and the atmosphere.”

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Alex Asigno

April 25, 200717 yr

Steve Martin to stand in for Kevin Curtain

Steve Martin to stand in for Kevin Curtain

Following on from the injuries Kevin Curtain sustained at Valencia, fellow Australian Steve Martin will ride as a replacement in the Yamaha World Supersport Team at this weekend’s Assen round.
Martin has ridden for the DFX Honda Team for the first four rounds of the World Superbike Championship this season, but the team has since informed him that they are unable to give him the opportunity to ride in Assen. The Yamaha World Supersport Team has snapped up this highly experienced rider to maintain the pace and work alongside Broc Parkes while Kevin recovers from his injuries.    Curtain suffered ripped muscles and a large cut in his right thigh when his bike hit him during a race incident at the Spanish round less than two weeks ago. He has certain limitations in muscle movement as well as hip pain and has flown home to Australia to rest and recover. It is hoped that he will be back with the Yamaha World Supersport Team at the next round at Monza on 13th May.
Steve Martin has a proven track record with over ten years experience in the World Superbike Championship including 168 race starts, 3 pole positions and 5 podium finishes. He knows the Assen circuit well and is looking forward to a positive weekend at Assen.
Steve says, “I can’t believe the way this all came about, but when Kevin also asked me personally to fill in for him I was in shock as it was the last phone call I was expecting. No one likes to fill in under these circumstances, especially when it’s one of your mates, but I will do the best job possible to help Kevin, Broc and the Yamaha World Supersport Team.
I know the team and they are very professional so I’m sure they will make it as easy as possible for me in every way. Already from the small dealings I have had with them I feel more settled than I have all year.”
Martin’s career highlights include winning the Australian Superbike Championship in 1999 and he has a wealth of experience across many types of manufacturers and championships. Prior to Pirelli becoming the single tyre supplier to the WSB/ WSS championships Steve had been a development rider for them for several years. With his versatile background Steve is expected to adapt swiftly to the Yamaha YZF-R6.

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Alex Asigno

April 24, 200717 yr

FIAT Yamaha Team hoping for points boost in China

FIAT Yamaha Team hoping for points boost in China

After the disappointment of an unrewarding weekend in Istanbul, the Fiat Yamaha Team take their quest for glory even further east this week as the MotoGP World Championship points-chase stops off in Shanghai. The Grand Prix of China is the fourth round of eighteen on this year's gruelling calendar and it promises to be one of the most challenging, with the horsepower-sapping nature of the circuit and the unpredictable weather of the world's ninth largest city sure to play their part.
The past two visits to Shanghai have provided almost polar extremes in the conditions, with a torrential downpour virtually flooding the circuit in the inaugural event of 2005 and then the intense heat of a year ago, when ambient temperatures during the race touched 31ºC, presenting an altogether different challenge. The event has also seen stark contrasts in fortunes for Valentino Rossi, who navigated his way to victory ahead of Olivier Jacque two years ago but suffered front tyre problems in the heat-wave of 2006 and was forced to retire from the race.
Colin Edwards provided some cheer for the team last year by clinching third place in what would prove to be his only podium finish of the campaign. This year the Texan heads to China with a rostrum already under his belt, thanks to his third place at Jerez, following an encouraging start to the season that was only spoiled by an unfortunate crash in Turkey, when he was knocked out of the leading group by another rider on the first lap. Edwards suffered a cut and swollen knee in the incident and was forced to skip a day of testing at Istanbul Park last Monday but he will be fit to resume action in Friday morning's opening free practice session.
Despite being drawn by the same hand as the Istanbul Park Circuit in Turkey, Shanghai has different characteristics that bring to mind closer comparisons with the other Herman Tilke circuit of Sepang. Combining fast straights and hard braking zones with a series of slow and difficult corners, bike set-up is a question of finding a compromised balance and enough horsepower to deal with the longest straight on the calendar, measuring 1202 metres. The unpredictable conditions and mixed data from previous seasons mean grip levels will be a complete mystery, making life even more difficult for Michelin's engineers as they try to adapt to new tyre restrictions in the most demanding of circumstances.
Valentino Rossi - "Mixed memories but clear focus" Valentino Rossi heads to Shanghai with his mind still fully focused on the job despite tyre problems at Istanbul and in this race last year. Other than when he fell and re-mounted to take 14th at Jerez last season, tenth place in Turkey was the Italian's worst-ever dry weather result since his rookie premier-class season in 2000 and he is keen to make amends this Sunday.
"We had a bad result in Turkey which we weren't expecting after being on pole, but Michelin have been working very hard to understand what went wrong and to ensure that it won't happen again," says Rossi. "We had a good test on Monday and tried a lot of new tyre combinations with China in mind, so we are going there with some ideas about what we think will work. Now it's a case of making what is hopefully the right tyre choice and then seeing how things go on Friday morning.
"Last year we had a big problem in China and I couldn't finish the race, but in 2005 I had a great victory there in the wet so I have some nice memories of this track as well as some bad ones! We know it's not ideal for our bike and maybe they're going to have to split the main straight in two - one part for Ducati and one part for the rest of us! Joking aside though, it's a very long straight and we know that we're going to lack some top speed on it but the new engine modifications we had in Turkey worked well and there's a good improvement, so hopefully it won't be too serious. We're second in the championship and we've lost a few points so we need to aim for a podium to get back on track."  
Colin Edwards - "Punching back!" Colin Edwards insists he will be back up and fighting in China despite being knocked to the canvas on the first lap of the Grand Prix of Turkey. The Texan has boxed clever throughout testing and the opening three rounds of the season to give himself an optimum chance of success this season and he is hoping his excellent relationship with Michelin can pay dividends in a race that will place huge emphasis on tyre choice. "Turkey was a real shame because I felt I could have challenged for a podium, but that's racing and there's no point getting angry and stewing over it," reflects Edwards. "I didn't test on Monday because my knee was pretty painful but a few days resting up at home has helped a lot and it's feeling a lot better. After starting the season pretty well it was disappointing to have such a bad time in Turkey for the team but that's our 'bogey' circuit and now we're looking forward to punching back in China! "Shanghai last year was good for me and I ended up on the podium and of course I'm aiming to repeat that with improvement this year! We know it's going to be a tricky track for us with the long straight but hopefully we can make it up on the other parts of the track. Again the tyres are going to be a big factor but Valentino and Michelin worked seriously hard on Monday in Turkey, while I was chair-bound, and I think they've got some good plans about what's going to work."  
Davide Brivio - "Defence the priority" Fiat Yamaha Team Director Davide Brivio says his riders face an uphill challenge in their battle for honours this weekend and admits the onus will be on defence rather than attack in the final 'flyaway' race before the start of the European term. The Italian pinpoints the long straights of Shanghai as a potential sticking point for the YZR-M1 but says his team are putting their faith in a new direction of development with Michelin tyres - aimed at an assault on the top positions during the decisive run of races up to summer.
"Turkey was disappointing but at the same time very important to get information and data about where the limit of the tyres is with these new bikes and where they can be improved," says Brivio. "We had a very good meeting with Michelin and developed some ideas during the test last Monday. Time will tell but it seems we have identified a new direction to work in and we are all keen to get to China to verify those ideas and help Michelin find a tyre that is most suitable for our bike and for our riders' style.
"China will be a very difficult race for us because of the long straight. It is not a track that allows us to maximise the potential of our bike, which is perhaps stronger at smaller, more 'rideable' circuits. We really have to go there and defend as much as possible and focus on getting the bike and tyres ready to attack when we return to Europe once more. Hopefully then we can be back fighting for the victory."  
Valentino Rossi : Information Age: 28 Lives: London, UK Bike: Yamaha YZR-M1 GP victories: 85 (59 x MotoGP/500cc, 14 x 250cc, 12 x 125cc) First GP victory: Czech Republic, 1996 (125cc) First GP: Malaysia, 1996 (125cc) GP starts: 177 (117 x MotoGP/500cc, 30 x 250cc, 30 x 125cc) Pole positions: 47 World Championships: 7 Grand Prix (1 x 125cc, 1 x 250cc, 1 x 500cc, 4 x MotoGP)
Colin Edwards: Information Age: 33 Lives: Conroe, Texas Bike: Yamaha YZR-M1 First GP: Japón, 2003 (MotoGP) GP starts: 69 x MotoGP World Championships: 2 World Superbike
Shanghai: Lap Record D.Pedrosa (Honda) 2006, 1'59.318
Shanghai: Best Lap D. Pedrosa (Honda) 2006, 1'59.009
Grand Prix Results: Shanghai 2006 1. D. Pedrosa (Honda) 44'07.734 2. N. Hayden (Honda) +1.505 3. C. Edwards (Yamaha) +14.634
. Valentino Rossi (ITA) Yamaha DNF

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Alex Asigno

May 1, 200717 yr

Albergoni scores first podium in Spain

Albergoni scores first podium in Spain

UFO Corse Yamaha rider Simone Albergoni put his disappointing result at the opening round of the '07 World Enduro Championship series behind him at round two of the series staged in Puerta Lumbreras, Spain, where the Italian placed in third and second position in the Enduro 1 class. Feeling completely at home on his WR250, and having recorded some strong results in the opening rounds of the Italian Enduro Championship ahead of the Spanish event, Simone showed that despite his frustrating start to the WEC series he now has the speed to battle for E1 class victory.
With conditions much different to those found at the series' opening winter enduro in Sweden, day one proved to be extremely difficult in places as a result of heavy rain on Friday evening. Leaving each of the events three special tests extremely slippery it was Finn Juha Salminen who managed to deal with conditions the best and claimed victory ahead of Italian Alessandro Belometti with Albergoni 10 seconds behind in third. Winning the third timed test of the day had it not been for a costly mistake in the day's eighth timed tests Simone would have placed as runner-up. Following Albergoni home on day one, and finishing less than half a second behind his more experienced team-mate, was Spaniard Cristobal Guerrero. Encouraged by his home crowd Guerrero, like Albergoni, topped one special test to claim his best result since winning the Enduro Junior world championship in '05.
On day two it was again Finn Salminen that set the pace winning all but four of the day's special tests in the E1 class. But behind the six-time enduro world champion both Simone Albergoni and Cristobal Guerrero managed to get ahead of Alessandro Belometti to claim the runner-up and third place positions respectively. With Albergoni winning two special tests to place 28 seconds behind Salminen. Guerrero again placed less than one second behind his team-mate in third. In finishing third Cristobal claimed his first ever podium finish in senior WEC competition. Disappointingly for the UFO Corse Yamaha team's third E1 class rider Maurizio Micheluz the second round of the '07 WEC series didn't go as well as the Italian had hoped. Having shown good speed in the Italian championship Maurizio struggled to get to grips with the conditions and as a result placed in seventh on both days.  
Simone Albergoni (UFO Corse Yamaha) Enduro 1 class - Day 1 third, Day 2 second: "I am really pleased with the way the GP of Spain has gone because the first round of the championship in Sweden was terrible. I am really happy because I now have a good feeling with the bike and am able to push hard. Finishing third on day one was really good. The start of the season was difficult for me because I struggled to adjust to my Yamaha as quickly as I hoped I would, but now I am really pleased with the performance of the bike. "The second day was tough - there were several riders that we really fast so to finish second is great. I had a really good fight with my team-mate Cristobal Guerrero, which was good. I am much happier with my result and the way I am riding."
Cristobal Guerrero (UFO Corse Yamaha) Enduro 1 class - Day 1 Fourth, Day 2 Third: "It's been a great weekend for me and my first podium finish in the WEC since I won the Enduro Junior championship in '05. On day one I missed the podium by one second, which was disappointing but at the same time it was good to know that my speed was good enough to fight with the riders at the top of the class. I only made one crash so it was a good day. "Day two was really tough. The tests were much rougher than on day one and it was really close between myself, Simone Albergoni, Bartosz Oblucki and Alessandro Albergoni. I could have finished second but Simone finished less than one second ahead of me. I am really pleased with the way the weekend has gone. I'm looking forward to Portugal now."
Maurizio Micheluz (UFO Corse Yamaha) Enduro 1 class - Day 1 Seventh, Day 2 Seventh: "It's been a bad weekend for me. I didn't feel good on the bike and just didn't have a good feeling with the special tests. I finished seventh on both days, which isn't good. I crashed many times on day one and things weren't much better on day two. I hope things will be better in Portugal."   Temp: 20 Crowd: 5600 Weather: Sunny     2007 Enduro 1 Spain 29/04/2007 Race 1 Pos. Rider Manu. Nat. Total Time 1 Juha Salminen KTM FIN 50'3.520 2 Alessandro Belometti KTM ITA 50'14.070 3 Simone Albergoni Yamaha ITA 50'44.690 4 Cristobal Guerrero Yamaha ESP 50'45.140 5 Marc Germain Yamaha FRA 51'8.520 6 Bartosz Oblucki Husqvarna POL 51'33.690 7 Maurizio Micheluz Yamaha ITA 51'50.430 8 Julien Gauthier Honda FRA 52'10.220 9 Mike Hartmann KTM GER 52'12.080 10 Luca Cherubini Honda ITA 52'47.890 11 Anthony Roberts Honda AUS 52'57.100 12 Miquel Damien Kawasaki FRA 53'40.870 13 Danielle Tellini KTM ITA 54'23.110 14 Gonzalo Reis KTM ITA 55'14.550 15 Gregory Eyries Yamaha FRA 55'35.030
Race 2 Pos. Rider Manu. Nat. Total Time 1 Juha Salminen KTM FIN 49'53.300 2 Simone Albergoni Yamaha ITA 50'21.750 3 Cristobal Guerrero Yamaha ESP 50'21.830 4 Alessandro Belometti KTM ITA 50'23.930 5 Bartosz Oblucki Husqvarna POL 50'48.840 6 Marc Germain Yamaha FRA 50'51.260 7 Maurizio Micheluz Yamaha ITA 51'14.940 8 Luca Cherubini Honda ITA 52'17.090 9 Julien Gauthier Honda FRA 52'21.400 10 Mike Hartmann KTM GER 52'26.210 11 Fabio Mossini Honda ITA 53'15.260 12 Anthony Roberts Honda AUS 53'16.410 13 Danielle Tellini KTM ITA 53'49.770 14 Miquel Damien Kawasaki FRA 50'1.470 15 Gonzalo Reis KTM ITA 54'29.070
Rider Standings 28/04/2007
Pos. Rider Manu. Nat. Points 1. Juha Salminen KTM FIN 100 2. Alessandro Belometti KTM ITA 72 3. Bartosz Oblucki Husqvarna POL 69 4. Cristobal Guerrero Yamaha ESP 66 5. Simone Albergoni Yamaha ITA 62 6. Marc Germain Yamaha FRA 59 7. Maurizio Micheluz Yamaha ITA 49 8. Mike Hartmann KTM GER 41 9. Tomi Peltola Suzuki FIN 38 10. Frederik Georgsson KTM SWE 36 11. Niklas Gustafsson KTM SWE 34 12. Anthony Roberts Honda AUS 33 13. Julien Gauthier Honda FRA 25 14. Luca Cherubini Honda ITA 24 15. Tobias Burman KTM SWE 21
Manufacturer Standings 28/04/2007
Pos. Manufacturer Points 1. KTM 100 2. Yamaha 72 3. Husqvarna 69 4. Honda 44 5. Suzuki 38 6. Kawasaki 16 7. TM 3
RACE REPORT 29/04/2007 Johnny Aubert wins first Enduro 2 race    Yamaha mounted Frenchman Johnny Aubert produced the best result of his enduro career to date at the second round of the '07 WEC series staged in Puerto Lumbreras where he topped the highly competitive Enduro 2 class on both days aboard his WR450. Hardly putting a foot wrong on day one, and then managing to claim victory on day two despite two falls and constant pressure from reigning E2 world champion Samuli Aro, Aubert signalled his intentions to claim his first enduro world title in '07.   With conditions in Spain starting wet on day one following heavy rain on Friday evening Aubert started the event in the best possible way by winning the six opening special tests on day one. Dropping just a few seconds to his E2 championship rivals on the seventh test of the day the former motocross rider then returned to his winning ways and topped a further three special tests before the day's close to win by close to one minute. Placing along side Aubert on the podium were Finn Mika Ahola and Australian Stefan Merriman.   With conditions much drier and much rougher on day two than they were on day one Aubert again started well and topped the first three tests on day two. Opening up a slender lead at the head of the E2 class only to lose it following two crashes, Johnny remained focused during the second half of the day and maintained his lead to claim a deserved win. Winning a total of eight special tests in the E2 class on day two Aubert also finished as the event's overall fastest competitor on both days one and two. Finishing on the podium alongside Aubert on day two were Finns Samuli Aro and Mika Ahola. Italian UFO Corse Yamaha team rider Fabrizio Dini recorded two top 10 results aboard his WR450 in Spain placing in 10th on day one and in ninth on day two.    Johnny Aubert (UFO Corse Yamaha) Enduro 2 class - Day 1 First, Day 2 First: "Day one was a little strange for me because I won the race quite easily. I didn't make any mistakes and felt really comfortable on all the special tests. Day two was a little harder because the special tests got really rough, but I still rode well. I crashed twice, and got stuck in a big rut in the extreme test on one lap, but still managed to stay at the top of the E2 results. Samuli Aro was also really fast, which meant that if I had made one more mistake I would have lost the lead, but I managed to stay in front and won like I did on day one. It's my first double victory so I am really pleased. I hope I can continue like this in Portugal next weekend."   Temp: 20 Crowd: 5600 Weather: Sunny     2007 Enduro 2 Spain 29/04/2007 Race 1 Pos. Rider Manu. Nat. Total Time 1 Johnny Aubert Yamaha FRA 49'10.520 2 Mika Ahola Honda FIN 50'8.540 3 Stefan Merriman Aprilia AUS 50'33.870 4 Fabien Planet KTM FRA 50'56.410 5 Samuli Aro KTM FIN 51'7.070 6 Jari Juha Mattila Beta FIN 51'25.170 7 Rodrig Thain Suzuki FRA 51'31.890 8 Xavier Galindo KTM ESP 51'39.370 9 Nicolas Deparrois Husqvarna FRA 52'1.110 10 Fabrizio Dini Yamaha ITA 52'16.280 11 Thierry Klutz Sherco BEL 52'37.570 12 Nathan Kanney Husqvarna USA 53'17.950 13 Joel Smets BMW BEL 54'32.560 14 Emmanuel Albepart Honda FRA 54'43.560 15 Sascha Eckert BMW GER 54'55.700
Race 2 Pos. Rider Manu. Nat. Total Time 1 Johnny Aubert Yamaha FRA 49'16.350 2 Samuli Aro KTM FIN 49'23.310 3 Mika Ahola Honda FIN 49'42.130 4 Stefan Merriman Aprilia AUS 50'20.590 5 Fabien Planet KTM FRA 50'29.140 6 Rodrig Thain Suzuki FRA 50'50.750 7 Xavier Galindo KTM ESP 51'8.130 8 Nicolas Deparrois Husqvarna FRA 51'11.360 9 Fabrizio Dini Yamaha ITA 51'18.680 10 Jari Juha Mattila Beta FIN 51'28.500 11 Thierry Klutz Sherco BEL 52'34.310 12 Patrick Caps GasGas BEL 52'41.180 13 Emmanuel Albepart Honda FRA 52'54.010 14 Felipe Zanol Yamaha ESP 53'9.370 15 Nathan Kanney Husqvarna USA 53'35.290
Rider Standings 28/04/2007
Pos. Rider Manu. Nat. Points 1. Mika Ahola Honda FIN 89 2. Samuli Aro KTM FIN 85 3. Johnny Aubert Yamaha FRA 82 4. Stefan Merriman Aprilia AUS 62 5. Fabien Planet KTM FRA 62 6. Jari Juha Mattila Beta FIN 59 7. Xavier Galindo KTM ESP 45 8. Valtteri Salonen HusaBerg FIN 42 9. Rodrig Thain Suzuki FRA 39 10. Nicolas Deparrois Husqvarna FRA 39 11. Fabrizio Dini Yamaha ITA 36 12. Thierry Klutz Sherco BEL 33 13. Patrik Wicksell KTM SWE 33 14. Nicolas Paganon Aprilia FRA 32 15. Nathan Kanney Husqvarna USA 27
Manufacturer Standings 28/04/2007
Pos. Manufacturer Points 1. Honda 89 2. KTM 87 3. Yamaha 82 4. Aprilia 63 5. Beta 59 6. Husqvarna 42 7. HusaBerg 42 8. Suzuki 39 9. Sherco 33 10. GasGas 22 11. BMW 12 12. TM 9

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Alex Asigno

April 30, 200717 yr