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Yamaha Racing News

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Yamaha Satisfied with Vallelunga Test Results

Following on from a productive test session at Brno two weeks ago, the Yamaha Superbike and Supersport teams both headed to Italy this weekend for another test session, this time at Vallelunga. This circuit is new on the championship calendar for 2007 and is located just north of Rome. Built in 1959, the track was originally a sand mile oval. The most recent track alteration was in 2004 when it was extended by one kilometre to reach a total length of 4.11km. The main objective of this weekend’s test was for all riders to familiarise themselves with the circuit and, working with Pirelli, find the right tyres ahead of the race there in September.
Both Haga and Corser put in a large number of laps over the two-day session in very hot conditions, laying down 120 and 106 laps respectively in order to get the most data and find the best set-up for the unknown circuit. Haga faired best on day one, taking third slot with a best time of 1’37.535 while Corser was only 0.2 seconds behind his team mate in fifth.
The second day saw the best lap times of the day set in the cooler morning practice session before the track temperature soared towards 50°C. Corser took a second of his previous day’s best time and claimed third overall behind Xaus and Bayliss. Haga also managed to improve his best time but focused more on long runs than setting fast times. He ended the day in seventh with a 1’37.506 even though he is still suffering with some wrist pain since his race incident with Biaggi at Misano last month.
The Yamaha World Supersport Team ran a two-man team during this weekend’s test, with the Australian Supersport rider Jason O’Halloran riding alongside permanent rider Broc Parkes. Jason O’Halloran is only 19 and is riding an R6 in the Australian Supersport Championship where he is currently lying in second place, six points behind the leader, with only one round to go. The objective for Jason and the team was to get an understanding of his set-up and riding skills as well as gather quality feedback on the YZF-R6.
Parkes put a strong performance over the weekend to take third overall with 109 laps. His best time of the whole test came in the final fourth session when he put in a 1’40.032, showing the improvement the team had made over the duration of the weekend. O’Halloran showed determination, putting in 118 laps during the weekend to finish 13th overall, although his ideal times showed that he would have been higher up the board if he hadn’t been held up on one of his fastest laps.
Troy Corser (Yamaha Motor Italia WSB Team) “We tried everything we wanted to and have found a good set-up for here as well as some extra things like better wheelie control to help us at Brno later this month. I’m reasonably happy with my lap times. The high track temperature this afternoon made it interesting – it was about 50 degrees - and the sunshine made the track quite blistering for the tyres but I feel we found a good set-up for both cool and warm conditions. The layout of Vallelunga is quite technical, which I like though it is a bit bumpy in places. It’s actually a bit of a strange layout with the first half being quite fast, while the second half is slow. It takes some getting used to and is quite challenging for the right set-up. I’m happy with what we’ve achieved here, though.”
Noriyuki Haga (Yamaha Motor Italia WSB Team) “Today’s result was not as good as I would’ve liked, but I’m happy with the set-up information we got from the test. I did a few long runs and we started with the Brno setting, which we didn’t change much over the period of the test. I quite like the circuit; it is very tricky because of the combination of banking and blind corners but that makes it good fun! I am still suffering with a bit of pain in my wrist, which is annoying and I’m keen to let it rest now before the Brno race in a couple of weeks.”
Massimo Meregalli (Team Coordinator, Yamaha Motor Italia WSB Team) “Both Troy and Nori have put in a lot of laps this weekend. Nori did several long runs and focused more on finding the right race tyre. He seems to be happy with his set-up now despite having some pain in his wrist towards the end of the day. We still managed to test everything we wanted. Troy did his best time on race rubber and was very happy with result. This weekend he has focused on trying different set-ups and is happy overall. We are almost there now and the whole team is very positive and confident; we are now full of enthusiasm and ready to fight at Brno.”
Broc Parkes (Yamaha World Supersport Team) “It has been a couple of good days testing. On the first day we found some speed quickly but today it was harder to make as much improvement, but I think we did well in the end. The Honda’s good here but we just kept at it and got some useful data on chassis side. We just now need to put it all together for the next race at Brno. The conditions were hot and pretty much what we wanted as it’s given us a good indication of what it’ll be like for the race. The circuit is technical, that’s for sure but I think we’ll go well here, come the race.”
Jason O’Halloran (Yamaha World Supersport) “This weekend has been tough; I had a track, a bike and different tyres to learn but I think I came to terms with it all very quickly and am pleased with my progress. The team is very professional and everyone has been great at helping me find my feet this weekend. Over the course of the weekend we’ve made steps forward; I put in a long run today and it felt good, even though I still am not fully used to the tyres. In the Australian Supersport series there are only two or three guys consistently fast but in this championship everyone is fast. You need to be fast and good at every turn every lap which is tough. The circuit was enjoyable to ride with some fast sections. It’s very technical though; one small mistake could cost a lot of lap time.”
Terrell Thien (Team Manager, Yamaha World Supersport Team) “We’ve had a couple of good days here. We tested with Jason who proved to have lots of talent and is very professional despite his youthful age. He is keen to learn, which is always good, and I think he found it a valuable experience working in a world level team. He put in a good number of laps on the first day and provided us with some good data. He definitely has a promising future.
Broc also had a very good test this weekend. He focused on tyre testing and put in a few long runs. He wasn’t worried so much about setting the fastest lap; he was more concerned about finding the right set-up, which he did. The fast lap came with it, which is a very good sign. Broc was very consistent over the two days and I’m very pleased with his test. Overall, I am very pleased with how the weekend has gone. The track itself is tricky but that makes it a good challenge for us. It has been a good proving ground for the run up to the race.”
WSB Fastest Times 1. Xaus: 1'36.382 2. Bayliss: 1'36.556 3. Corser: 1'36.731 4. Toseland: 1'36.783 5. Biaggi: 1'37.440 6. Laconi: 1'37.455 7. Haga: 1'37.506 8. Rolfo: 1'37.647 9. Kagayama: 1'37.655 10. Fabrizio: 1’37.817
WSS Fastest Times 1. Brookes: 1'39.550 2. Sofuoglu: 1'39.818 3. Parkes: 1'40.032 4. Alfonsi: 1'40.262 5. Charpentier: 1'40.262 6. Fujiwara: 1'40.275 7. Roccoli: 1'40.610 8. Jones: 1'40.714 9. Foret: 1’40.837 10. Riba: 1'40.951 11. Fores: 1’41.010 12. Vizziello: 1’41.041 13. O’Halloran: 1’41.283
Alex Asigno

Yamaha continue with future MX2 title contenders

In 2007 Yamaha is enjoying again a very successful world championship motocross season. Joshua Coppins controls the MX1 class with a healthy 89 points margin halfway though the year, while Antonio Cairoli is in a league of his own ruling over the MX2 opposition with eight GP wins out of the nine rounds contested sofar. Although Cairoli will stay in the small capacity class for 2008, Yamaha is already grooming the next ‘blue’ generation for GP success and therefore are pleased to announce that Frenchman Nicolas Aubin has signed for two more years, while his teammate Davide Guarneri has also extended his Yamaha Team Ricci contract for 2008.   Since the motocross world turned to four stroke machinery Yamaha’s blue machines have been favorite with many top GP riders and the competitiveness of the YZ’s have given Yamaha an edge into retaining some of the hottest GP talents. Nicolas Aubin certainly is a member of that small group of potential winners and despite his young age of 19 he is already contesting his third season in the MX2 class, with 2007 being his breakthrough season. He came very close to victory when he finished runner up in the second moto of the Portguese GP in Agueda and currently holds seventh position in the standings.   At first glance some of Davide Guarneri’s past results might not categorize him in that same group of potential title contenders. Yet Davide has already tasted GP success when he won the second moto of the European GP held at Teutschenthal in 2005. The following year further progression was on the cards, but due to a virus infection Davide missed most of the second part of 2006. This season he missed the first three rounds due to an ankle injury, but since then Guarneri has come good, showing better finishes round after round. His speed now is on par with Cairoli’s top challengers which will see him hopefully enter the top 10 of the standings soon. Yamaha Team Ricci owner Ilario Ricci has been an important partner in Yamaha’s GP motocross efforts and he is obviously very content being able to continue with these riders; “Nicolas Aubin has proven this year to be even quicker then many expected. We started with him only this year and were not sure what level he could reach. I believe he exceeded expectations and he has proved his podium potential already. I'm very happy that he wants to ride with us for the next two seasons. Davide Guarneri is going into his fourth year with us for 2008. For years he has been one of Italy’s big talents, but his progress has been hampered with some injuries. However he has made a very strong comeback, recently finishing in and close to the top five. With these two high-potential youngsters on the improved 2008 YZ250F with YRRD (Yamaha Rinaldi R and D) performance parts we have a strong base for further improvement."    Yamaha Motor Europe’s racing division manager Laurens Klein Koerkamp shares Ricci’s buoyant mood for the future; “With Cairoli being the unrivalled number one in MX2 today, there will come a moment where he needs to find a new challenge in MX1. So we are working to prepare the next generation of riders who can potentially take over from Antonio. We believe Aubin and Guarneri are two of such riders that have the capacity to keep Yamaha at the top of the charts. It is great also that we can work towards this goal with both the French and Italian Yamaha distributors who represent us in the two biggest off road markets in Europe”.
Alex Asigno

Yamaha close two year agreement with David Philippaerts

The Yamaha Motocross Team has agreed with the Italian star rider David Philippaerts to ride their factory YZ450FM in the MX1 world championship for 2008 and 2009.   Next year David will race alongside present MX1 world championship leader Joshua Coppins to defend the Yamaha Motocross Team’s leading position in the premier motocross class, mixing Coppins’ vast MX1 GP winning experience with Philippaerts’ youthful aggression and future promise. Yamaha are still discussing with current Yamaha Motocross Team rider Marc de Reuver about the continuation of their relationship.   Before his rise to GP stardom Philippaerts was racing with Yamaha machinery and the guidance of 1999 Yamaha MX500 world champion Andrea Bartolini, who now currently is test rider for the Yamaha Motocross Team. In 2004 David made his fulltime debut in the MX2 class finishing his first year 19th overall. The following year his progress was quick and impressive, winning his first GP in France (round nine), followed by a further win in South Africa. Last season David’s results further improved and he finished third overall, adding four more MX2 GP victories achieved in Bulgaria, Italy, UK and the Czech Republic to his tally.   In 2007 Philippaerts made a very successful switch to MX1 and currently holds fourth position overall, the result of three GP podiums including one win at Teutschenthal, Germany   Profile Name: David Philippaerts Date of Birth: 7 December 1983 Nationality: Italian
Career highlights 2006: 3rd MX2 World Championship, 2nd Italian International Championship 2005: 4th MX2 World Championship 2004: 19th MX2 World Championship, Italian Champion 2003: Italian Champion 2002: 2nd Italian Championship, 3rd European 125 Championship 1993: Started racing
Alex Asigno

Edwards takes fighting fourth in Germany as Rossi slides out

Fiat Yamaha Team rider Colin Edwards rode a strong race in sweltering conditions today to take a best-ever Sachsenring finish of fourth, after starting from thirteenth on the grid for the German Grand Prix. Team-mate Valentino Rossi had a disappointing day as he slid out of the race early on when challenging for sixth position, in a race which was led from start to finish by Dani Pedrosa.
In front of 101,083 fans and with temperatures touching 33 degrees, today's thirty-lap race looked like being a test of endurance - both for riders and tyres. Rossi started from sixth but dropped to eighth at the start, taking two laps to pass Alex Barros before finding himself in seventh behind Randy de Puniet on lap three. He soon made his move on the Frenchman and looked to be safely through but a small mistake proved costly and sent him tumbling into the gravel trap.
Edwards meanwhile was making steady progress through the pack as he gained more and more confidence in his M1 and his Michelin tyres. On lap 24 he suddenly found himself within striking distance of Marco Melandri and Casey Stoner, passing them both on the next lap to take fourth. With a podium in his sights he set about trying to close the gap on Nicky Hayden but was not quite able to catch his fellow American, eventually crossing the line just under two tenths adrift. Rossi remains second in the championship but the gap to Stoner grows to 32 points, whilst Edwards consolidates seventh after taking 13 points today.
Colin Edwards Position: 4thTime: +18.299 "The beginning of that race was pretty tough, I almost crashed out a few times and it felt like I almost had too much grip on the rear! As time went on though I started to feel better and better and when Hayden passed me back again it made me pretty determined to keep pushing. Suddenly I looked up and there were three of them in front of me and at that stage I felt like the podium was a possibility. Getting past Stoner and Melandri was fine but I couldn't quite get back to Hayden which was a pity. A podium would have been nice but, after yesterday's qualifying, I'm pretty happy with fourth; it's my best ever finish here by miles. It was an exhausting race and you don't realise till you cross the finish line how much strain thirty laps around here puts on the left side of your body - my shoulder's pretty sore now! I want to say a big thank you to Michelin, my team and Yamaha because they've had to work really hard this weekend to find a way to make things come together and they did a great job. We knew this morning that we'd found a good package and to finish fourth after starting thirteenth is great. We're heading for Laguna on a high!"
Valentino Rossi Position: DNFTime: - "Unfortunately I made a mistake today and I want to say sorry to everyone - my team, Yamaha and of course all my fans. I lost some places at the start and had to wait a lap before I could start to push, but everything was feeling very good. Getting past de Puniet was hard because in the part of the track where it's best to overtake he was very fast. Finally I made my move and I made a great pass but I made a mistake and lost the front. I'm so disappointed because today our package was working very well and we missed the chance to make up a lot of points on Stoner. We know from Pedrosa and Colin's performance that the Michelin tyres worked well until the end and I'm sad that we weren't there to fight. Luckily Stoner was only fifth so the points situation is not as bad as it could have been. I'm very glad we only have seven days until the next race because right now I'm feeling quite bad, but very determined for America!"
Davide Brivio - Team Director "Congratulations to Colin, it's a great result for him and it gives him and his team a lot of encouragement and confidence for his home race in Laguna Seca. Michelin did a good job this weekend and our tyres worked very well until the end. On the other side, it's a great disappointment with Valentino because we lost the chance to recover some points. However this is racing and we know that our package is working very well now and we will get the chance to try again in just one week's time. Today gives us double motivation for Laguna." Disappointing weekend for Dunlop Yamaha Tech 3
In the extreme temperatures that engulfed the German Grand Prix held at the challenging Sachsenring circuit in the picturesque undulating hills in the east of Germany the Dunlop Yamaha Tech 3 Team proved to be a difficult weekend for team riders Sylvain Guintoli and Makoto Tamada. The weekend looked promising after MotoGP rookie Sylvain Guintoli claimed his best qualifying position of the year in ninth fastest position but unfortunately race day didn¹t reflect his progress. Sylvain failed to finish the race after a mishap during the opening lap of the race caused him to crash. His teammate Makoto Tamada also had a weekend to forget as he was never on the pace all weekend struggling to be comfortable to the bike to finish 13th.    Makoto Tamada Position: 13thTime: +2 laps This was a very disappointing weekend for me as I never felt happy with the bike. I tried everything but I wasn¹t comfortable and I could never find a good rhythm. During the race nothing changed and I decided to pit to change a tyre to see if that would improve my confidence and make me push hard but still I didn¹t feel good in my riding. I have to think very hard about this weekend and hopefully use it to improve my feeling for next weekend in America.    Sylvain Guintoli Position: DNFTime: - To say I¹m extremely disappointed is an understatement as I felt that I could¹ve done something very good this weekend after such a good qualifying. I got off the line well and pushed very hard dicing with Colin Edwards, which was very good for my confidence. At the end of the fourth lap when I was coming into the last corner I noticed that the engine revs dropped to be very low. This caused me to run wide onto the dirty part of the track and I lost the rear, which caused me to highside. All I can do now is put this behind me and hope to continue with some good progress next weekend at Laguna.
Hervé Poncharal - Dunlop Yamaha Tech 3 Team Manager This weekend is a very big disappointment as we were hoping for quite a high result because last year here we had our best result when we finished just 17 seconds behind the winner. Also Sylvain scored his best qualifying result on Saturday when he was ninth fastest so to come away with these results is very hard to accept. We knew Sylvain was going to push hard as he was determined to make up for his bad starts he has had lately but it was not to be. Sachsenring is a very tight track and if you get offline here it can bite hard and unfortunately that is what happened to Sylvain. As for Makoto I don¹t know what happened as he was off the pace all weekend so it is very puzzling for everyone in the team as they put in so much work to give him the best package possible.   Circuit Length: 3671 Temp: 33 Weather: Dry     2007 MotoGP Germany - Sachsenring 15/07/2007 Race 1 Pos. Rider Manu. Nat. Total Time 1 Daniel Pedrosa Honda ESP 41'53.196 2 Loris Capirossi Ducati ITA 0'13.166 3 Nicky Hayden Honda USA 0'16.771 4 Colin Edwards Yamaha USA 0'18.299 5 Casey Stoner Ducati AUS 0'31.426 6 Marco Melandri Honda ITA 0'31.917 7 John Hopkins Suzuki USA 0'33.395 8 Anthony West Kawasaki AUS 0'41.194 9 Alex Hofmann Ducati GER 0'43.214 10 Michel Fabrizio Honda ITA 0'44.459 11 Chris Vermeulen Suzuki AUS 1'1.894 12 Kurtis Roberts KR212V USA 1'10.721 13 Makoto Tamada Yamaha JPN -2 Laps 14 Carlos Checa Honda ESP -3 Laps
Rider Standings 15/07/2007
Pos. Rider Manu. Nat. Points 1. Casey Stoner Ducati AUS 196 2. Valentino Rossi Yamaha ITA 164 3. Daniel Pedrosa Honda ESP 144 4. John Hopkins Suzuki USA 103 5. Marco Melandri Honda ITA 97 6. Chris Vermeulen Suzuki AUS 93 7. Colin Edwards Yamaha USA 88 8. Loris Capirossi Ducati ITA 77 9. Nicky Hayden Honda USA 73 10. Alex Barros Ducati BRA 69 11. Alex Hofmann Ducati GER 60 12. Toni Elias Honda ESP 49 13. Randy De Puniet Kawasaki FRA 40 14. Carlos Checa Honda ESP 27 15. Shinya Nakano Honda JPN 25 16. Makoto Tamada Yamaha JPN 23 18. Sylvain Guintoli Yamaha FRA 18
Team Standings 15/07/2007
Pos. Team Points 1. Ducati Marlboro Team 273 2. FIAT Yamaha Team 252 3. Repsol Honda Team 217 4. Rizla Suzuki 196 5. Honda Gresini 146 6. Pramac D'Antin 129 7. Kawasaki Racing Team 69 8. Tech3 Yamaha 41 9. Honda LCR 27 10. Konica Minolta Honda 25 11. Team Roberts 12 12. none 6
Manufacturer Standings 15/07/2007
Pos. Manufacturer Points 1. Ducati 208 2. Yamaha 184 3. Honda 174 4. Suzuki 131 5. Kawasaki 64 6. KR212V 12
Alex Asigno

Coppins back on the podium with second in Faenza

Yamaha Motocross Team's Joshua Coppins closed the second third of the 2007 FIM MX1 Motocross World Championship with runner-up position at a sun-soaked Monte Coralli circuit for the Grand Prix Citta di Faenza. The 30 year old New Zealander guided his works YZ450FM to a pair of second places in front of 29,000 spectators and under the heavy weight of near-40 degree temperatures to return to the podium at the second home event of the season for his Rinaldi team.    Monte Coralli had been the subject of a dedicated facelift from the club in order to host their first premier class Grand Prix since the 1990s and the first event since the creation of the MX1 and MX2 categories in 2004. The track was dwarfed by a long and fast uphill drag from the start gate that was only interrupted by a narrow kink that made the section a perilous prospect. The course was typically Italian with rock-hard and sometimes dusty terrain constituting the fast and twisty layout. Coppins, who was fighting fit again after feeling weak in Sweden two weeks ago after suffering with flu, started slowly in the first moto but paced himself excellently. The New Zealander pulled through to second position from the lower half of the top ten and passed former team-mate Ken de Dycker on the last lap to take the runner-up slot behind runaway victor Sebastien Pourcel. It was one of the best performances of the day. In the second race the championship leader started better and gave chase to Pourcel. For most of the moto Coppins was alone and although he tried to close down the gap, the Frenchman was elusive. With title rival Ramon struggling down in eighth position Coppins not only participated in his ninth podium ceremony of the season but extended his advantage by 18 points over the Belgian Marc de Reuver was unable to compete after complications from the left shoulder he hurt in the heavy practice crash at the Grand Prix of Sweden two weeks ago. The Dutchman had medical checks prior to travelling to Italy that revealed no damage to the joint but lacked strength in his arm during the first free practice session at Faenza and was in no condition to lap at speed or consider the race. Coppins fronts the world championship by 107 points and with just five rounds and 250 points remaining. De Reuver is still fourteenth.
The eleventh round will start an intense run of four meetings in five weeks as the World Championship hurries towards it climax. The Grand Prix of Czech Republic is next on July 29th and is followed by visits to Belgium, Ireland and the UK to complete the month of August. The final GP of the year will occur in Holland on the first weekend of September.    Josh Coppins, Yamaha Motocross Team: "Every race I try to win and, like the team, I always do my best but if I cannot take the victory then I want to be on the podium and that's what I did this weekend. I didn't focus at the start of the first race and tried to do something different with my approach which was a mistake. It did not work and made it a hard race for me. I had to be patient and could not attack too hard as there was nowhere to pass, but I soon found some spots and I really pushed to get to the front. The second moto was more like normal but I had to pace myself a little bit. My worst race was Sweden two weeks ago and I lost eight points there but I recouped those and more today. For me it is all about the big picture. I still have some goals left this year and I want to win more but of course the championship is getting nearer."    Marc de Reuver, Yamaha Motocross Team: "The crash from Sweden was really hard and it was not about the pain this weekend because I can handle that but on the downhills the muscle on the back of my shoulder had no power and I could not control the bike. We have made scans and everything but there was no problem. I have a plate in my neck and there is nothing wrong with that so I am a little bit lost as to where the trouble might be."
Carlo Rinaldi, Team Manager, Yamaha Motocross Team: "Marc could not ride because of too much pain with his left shoulder but Josh shone today. He had a fantastic ride in the first moto after a bad start and he came back very strong to second position. He was in the first three for the second moto and tried for some laps to catch Pourcel but was not close enough for a final attack. Second overall was very good though especially because the nearest guys to us in the championship had a bad day."   Circuit Length: 0 Temp: 36 Crowd: 29000 Weather: Sunny     2007 GP of Faenza, Italy 15/07/2007 Race 1 - 22 Laps Pos. Rider Manu. Nat. Total Time 1 Sébastien Pourcel Kawasaki FRA 38'56.573 2 Joshua Coppins Yamaha NZL 0'3.639 3 Ken De Dycker Honda BEL 0'7.226 4 Mike Brown Honda USA 0'9.356 5 Jonathan Barragan KTM ESP 0'14.101 6 David Philippaerts KTM ITA 0'16.277 7 Julien Bill Honda CHE 0'19.546 8 Steve Ramon Suzuki BEL 0'35.468 9 Billy MacKenzie Kawasaki GBR 0'38.093 10 Kevin Strijbos Suzuki BEL 0'39.626 11 James Noble Honda GBR 0'41.143 12 Tanel Leok Kawasaki EST 0'41.448 13 Manuel Priem TM BEL 0'51.177 14 Alex Salvini Yamaha ITA 0'53.057 15 Christian Beggi Honda ITA 0'57.445 16 Pierre A. Renet Honda FRA 1'1.776 17 Marvin Van Daele Honda BEL 1'5.955 18 Aigar Leok Yamaha EST 1'14.056 19 Kornel Nemeth Suzuki HUN 1'18.509 20 Alessio Chiodi Aprilia ITA 1'27.852
Race 2 - 22 Laps Pos. Rider Manu. Nat. Total Time 1 Sébastien Pourcel Kawasaki FRA 39'38.053 2 Joshua Coppins Yamaha NZL 0'4.413 3 Billy MacKenzie Kawasaki GBR 0'6.376 4 Mike Brown Honda USA 0'7.476 5 Jonathan Barragan KTM ESP 0'9.288 6 Julien Bill Honda CHE 0'10.745 7 Tanel Leok Kawasaki EST 0'25.927 8 Steve Ramon Suzuki BEL 0'29.295 9 Marvin Van Daele Honda BEL 0'35.660 10 Ken De Dycker Honda BEL 0'42.629 11 James Noble Honda GBR 0'48.552 12 Kornel Nemeth Suzuki HUN 0'50.685 13 Manuel Priem TM BEL 0'58.123 14 Alex Salvini Yamaha ITA 1'4.748 15 David Philippaerts KTM ITA 1'8.429 16 Aigar Leok Yamaha EST 1'14.034 17 Kevin Strijbos Suzuki BEL 1'17.080 18 Lauris Freibergs Yamaha LVA 1'18.687 19 Gordon Crockard Honda IRL 1'21.247 20 Danny Theybers Suzuki BEL 1'25.706
Rider Standings 15/07/2007
Pos. Rider Manu. Nat. Points 1. Joshua Coppins Yamaha NZL 445 2. Steve Ramon Suzuki BEL 338 3. Sébastien Pourcel Kawasaki FRA 285 4. David Philippaerts KTM ITA 278 5. Jonathan Barragan KTM ESP 272 6. Ken De Dycker Honda BEL 256 7. Mike Brown Honda USA 255 8. Kevin Strijbos Suzuki BEL 250 9. Tanel Leok Kawasaki EST 240 10. Billy MacKenzie Kawasaki GBR 218 11. James Noble Honda GBR 195 12. Manuel Priem TM BEL 155 13. Kornel Nemeth Suzuki HUN 152 14. Marc De Reuver Yamaha NED 136 15. Maximilian Nagl KTM GER 107 16. Gordon Crockard Honda IRL 102 17. Marvin Van Daele Honda BEL 93 18. Aigar Leok Yamaha EST 84 19. Julien Bill Honda CHE 83 20. Pierre A. Renet Honda FRA 65
Manufacturer Standings 15/07/2007
Pos. Manufacturer Points 1. Yamaha 445 2. Suzuki 385 3. Kawasaki 353 4. KTM 351 5. Honda 331 6. TM 155 7. Aprilia 9
RACE REPORT 15/07/2007 Cairoli runner-up at second home Grand Prix De Carli Yamaha's Antonio Cairoli had to settle for runner-up position in his second home Grand Prix of the season but still managed to put on a good show for his army of fans at the Monte Coralli circuit for the tenth round of fifteen in the MX2 World Championship. Unlike Mantova earlier in the year the series leader was unable to stamp his authority with dominance on a circuit that was quick and relatively simple compared to some of the more technical venues on the GP schedule. The conditions were also testing by the sheer intensity of the heat making Faenza the hottest event so far in 2007.    Cairoli took the opportunity to ease himself into the first moto and let title rival Christophe Pourcel head the pack in the formative stages. Much to the delight of the crowd Cairoli started to cut the difference to the Frenchman at the midway point and took the lead without problems to register his seventh moto success from the last five meetings. The 21 year old was handicapped by an average start in the second race and had to find a way past rookie Gautier Paulin and Tyla Rattray to reach second place. The Sicilian then set about trying to catch Pourcel who had taken the holeshot and set a pace at the front as hot as the weather. Although he could chip away at the eight second margin Cairoli was unable to reproduce the great pursuits enacted in Portugal and France and accepted second place for the GP; tied on points with Pourcel but taking the second step of the rostrum due to the second moto ranking. Pourcel made a small piece of history by joining his brother Sebastien (winning MX1) as GP winners on the same day. Tyla Rattray completed the MX2 top three.
Ricci Racing's Nicolas Aubin was twelfth overall and should have been higher after having an exciting race with Rattray in the first moto, going on to take fourth; one of his best moto classification of the season. The nineteen year old Frenchman had a problem with his goggles in the second sprint and misjudged a downhill approach with limited vision and crashed, ending his afternoon. He travels to the penultimate round of the French championship next week hoping to soon wrap up the series he currently leads.    Team-mates Davide Guarneri and Kenneth Gundersen had 'up and down' experiences. Guarneri, fell on lap one of Moto1 and then later - despite a decent recovery into the points - could not avoid a fallen rider and went off the track. He had to restart and was far behind the field so retired to conserve some energy for Moto2. A decent start saw him circulating in fourth place but he held sixth by the chequered flag and took fourteenth overall. Gundersen qualified well and looked sprightly but had some problems with his rear brake that restricted his speed; he took eighteenth at the end of the day.
Cairoli leads Pourcel by 102 points in the world championship and like fellow Yamaha compatriot Josh Coppins can begin counting down the ten motos, five GPs and 250 points left to play for. Aubin holds seventh and is eighteen points in front of Gundersen in eighth. The Grand Prix of Czech Republic at the Loket circuit represents round eleven on July 29th.    Antonio Cairoli, De Carli Yamaha: "I am satisfied with this result because the home race is always quite difficult with so many people coming to watch and see me. I'm happy with the races because the championship still looks good; it was just a day when Christophe was too fast to catch. I took a lot of risks to get close to him but after a while I settled for second. The track was hard because it was not that technical and it was very fast. I lost a lot of time passing other riders to get to second place and by then he was too far and our speed was more or less the same. I enjoyed the first moto though and I knew I could wait and then increase the pace later in the race."    Nicolas Aubin, Yamaha Team Ricci: "I am disappointed because I felt that I had a chance at the podium this weekend. I had a good start in the first moto and was right behind Rattray but lost my rhythm and could not get past him. I'm pleased with the start though because that has been a weak point, and I showed that in the second moto because I missed the gate drop! I was working to recover positions when I had a problem with my goggles. I took them off but had a load of earth come into my eyes and I missed my line going down to the lowest part of the track. I could not continue after the crash."
Kenneth Gundersen,: Yamaha Team Ricci: "It was like Sweden with the rear brake playing up in both motos today so we need to work on that for the next race. The first fifteen minutes it is OK but then it starts and it is so difficult to ride. I finished and got some points but I am disappointed because the weekend started well and ended badly."
Davide Guarneri,: Yamaha Team Ricci "I had a good reaction at the start but I crashed on the first lap of the first moto. I went back to sixteenth and from there I tried to fight and got up to tenth but Paulin crashed in front of me and to avoid him I had to go off the track. I did not go down but I lost a lot of time and decided to retire. In the second moto I started in the top five and had fourth position for a long time. I just ran out of strength at the end. My body could not cope with the temperatures. Despite this, the second race was quite go   Circuit Length: 0 Temp: 38 Crowd: 29000 Weather: Sunny     2007 GP of Faenza, Italy 15/07/2007 Race 1 - 22 Laps Pos. Rider Manu. Nat. Total Time 1 Antonio Cairoli Yamaha ITA 39'19.731 2 Christophe Pourcel Kawasaki FRA 0'4.448 3 Tyla Rattray KTM RSA 0'27.297 4 Nicolas Aubin Yamaha FRA 0'32.952 5 Pascal Leuret Honda FRA 0'51.713 6 Marvin Musquin Kawasaki FRA 0'57.075 7 Rui Goncalves KTM POR 0'59.004 8 Marcus Schiffer KTM GER 1'11.865 9 Jason Dougan Suzuki GBR 1'14.352 10 Gareth Swanepoel Kawasaki RSA 1'15.855 11 Tommy Searle KTM GBR 1'25.412 12 Anthony Boissière Kawasaki FRA 1'27.523 13 Matti Seistola Honda FIN 1'28.139 14 Carl Nunn Yamaha GBR 1'29.797 15 Xavier Boog Yamaha FRA 1'30.205 16 Jeremy Tarroux Yamaha FRA 1'41.211 17 Stephen Sword Kawasaki GBR 1'41.877 18 Tom Church Kawasaki GBR 1'48.264 19 Gregory Aranda Kawasaki FRA 1'50.527 20 Carlos Campano Yamaha ESP -1 Laps
Race 2 - 22 Laps Pos. Rider Manu. Nat. Total Time 1 Christophe Pourcel Kawasaki FRA 40'1.198 2 Antonio Cairoli Yamaha ITA 0'23.509 3 Tyla Rattray KTM RSA 0'35.800 4 Pascal Leuret Honda FRA 0'46.473 5 Tommy Searle KTM GBR 0'50.719 6 Davide Guarneri Yamaha ITA 0'54.064 7 Matti Seistola Honda FIN 0'55.561 8 Rui Goncalves KTM POR 0'59.556 9 Xavier Boog Yamaha FRA 1'5.106 10 Marcus Schiffer KTM GER 1'7.639 11 Gareth Swanepoel Kawasaki RSA 1'10.430 12 Kenneth Gundersen Yamaha NOR 1'18.859 13 Gautier Paulin Honda FRA 1'20.951 14 Jeremy Tarroux Yamaha FRA 1'22.771 15 Anthony Boissière Kawasaki FRA 1'26.378 16 Carl Nunn Yamaha GBR 1'28.450 17 Jason Dougan Suzuki GBR 1'31.251 18 Marvin Musquin Kawasaki FRA -1 Laps 19 Dennis Verbruggen Yamaha BEL -1 Laps 20 Carlos Campano Yamaha ESP -1 Laps
Rider Standings 15/07/2007
Pos. Rider Manu. Nat. Points 1. Antonio Cairoli Yamaha ITA 486 2. Christophe Pourcel Kawasaki FRA 384 3. Tyla Rattray KTM RSA 358 4. Tommy Searle KTM GBR 311 5. Pascal Leuret Honda FRA 304 6. Gareth Swanepoel Kawasaki RSA 245 7. Nicolas Aubin Yamaha FRA 215 8. Kenneth Gundersen Yamaha NOR 197 9. Matti Seistola Honda FIN 182 10. Anthony Boissière Kawasaki FRA 161 11. Marcus Schiffer KTM GER 152 12. Carl Nunn Yamaha GBR 143 13. Davide Guarneri Yamaha ITA 136 14. Xavier Boog Yamaha FRA 117 15. Rui Goncalves KTM POR 108 16. Tom Church Kawasaki GBR 97 17. Sean Hamblin Suzuki USA 76 18. Jason Dougan Suzuki GBR 74 19. Jeremy Van Horebeek KTM BEL 70 20. Dennis Verbruggen Yamaha BEL 69 22. Matteo Bonini Yamaha ITA 60 42. Carlos Campano Yamaha ESP 2
Manufacturer Standings 15/07/2007
Pos. Manufacturer Points 1. Yamaha 486 2. KTM 404 3. Kawasaki 401 4. Honda 310 5. Suzuki 172
Alex Asigno

Edwards to run "Texas Tornado' livery in Laguna Seca

Fiat Yamaha Team rider Colin Edwards will contest his home Grand Prix at Laguna Seca this weekend in a one-off special livery, starting from first practice on Friday. The popular American is well known to his legion of fans, both on home shores and worldwide, as the ‘Texas Tornado' and this weekend's livery has been inspired by his famous nickname.
The livery, which is Fiat Yamaha's second change of the season following the ‘Fiat 500' inspired bikes in Assen, represents a personal tribute to the two-time World Superbike champion and Edwards has been influential in the design process.
"I'm really happy with the final result!" said the 33-year old Texan. "The finished article is exactly how I imagined and I think it's transmitting just the message we were after, mixing the idea of the tornado with the American flag. I'm always very proud to race in front of my home fans and I'm especially pleased to have something extra special to give them this weekend; I'd like to say a big thank you to Fiat for giving me the chance to do something different!"
Edwards' bike will be unveiled today, Thursday 19th July, at 1700 local time in Pit Lane at the Laguna Seca circuit.
Alex Asigno

Albergoni claims second successive double podium result

UFO Corse Yamaha rider Simone Albergoni claimed his second successive double podium result at a round of the '07 World Enduro Championship when the Italian claimed a runner-up and third place finish in the Enduro 1 class at the GP of USA, round five of the WEC series. Having stood on the podium twice at his home round of the championship in Italy Simone came agonisingly close to collecting his first win of the season on day one in Hancock when he placed just four seconds behind current Enduro 1 class leader Juha Salminen from Finland. With Albergoni finishing in second and third over the two days his Spanish team-mate Cristobal Guerrero didn't fair quite as well and placed in sixth and fifth while Yamaha France rider Marc Germain claimed fourth on day one and a well deserved second position on day two.   The opening day of the GP of USA was one of, if not the, toughest day of the '07 WEC series held so far this season. With each of the event's three special tests run within the same time check all riders were given just four five-to-ten minute breaks during the gruelling seven hours of riding. With heavy rain prior to the event leaving many sections of the course and special tests extremely wet the rocky terrain ensured a physically demanding event.
Despite the challenging conditions UFO Yamaha rider Simone Albergoni rose to the occasion and pushed six-time enduro world champion Juha Salminen harder than any rider has this season. Despite a steady start Albergoni upped his pace as the day progressed and in winning four of the six special tests came within four seconds of being the first rider to beat Salminen this season. Making few mistakes all day Albergoni finished comfortably ahead of third place rider Bartosz Oblucki from Poland.
Narrowly missing out on a podium result Yamaha France rider Marc Germain placed fourth on day one, just over five seconds behind Oblucki. A rider that normally excels in slippery, grassy conditions Germain showed that despite the severity of the Hancock special tests he was 100 per cent focused on a podium result. Two places behind Germain in sixth Cristobal Guerrero saw his day spoiled by two costly mistakes in the rock littered extreme test.
Having pushed Salminen hard on day one Simone Albergoni started day two determined to go one better and claim his first win of the '07 WEC season. But despite his best efforts it wasn't to be as Salminen upped his pace and placed comfortably ahead of the Italian. Looking assured of a second runner-up result Albergoni ran into trouble on the very last special test of the event when his chain derailed on the extreme test. Losing around 20 seconds Albergoni placed in third. Showing that his day one result was no fluke Yamaha France rider Marc Germain again rode well on day two and thanks in part to mistakes from some of his closest rivals claimed the runner-up spot behind Salminen. For UFO Yamaha rider Cristobal Guerrero day two brought with it more disappointing luck as the young Spaniard, like Albergoni, derailed his chain on the final extreme test, costing him considerable time and dropping him to fifth. Claiming sixth on day two having finished in seventh on day one was the UFO Corse Yamaha team's third rider Maurizio Micheluz.    Simone Albergoni (UFO Corse Yamaha) Enduro 1 class - Day 1 Second, Day 2 Third: "Day one was really good for me. Finishing second and really close to Salminen is my best result of the season so far - it's always good to finish so close to the rider leading the championship. I felt pretty good all day although the conditions were really difficult. The second day wasn't so good. I made some mistakes and on the third lap my chain came off on the extreme test, which cost me some time. Finally I finished third because Oblucki and Guerrero had some problems, so things ended pretty good for me with two podium results." Cristobal Guerrero (UFO Corse Yamaha) Enduro 1 class - Day 1 Sixth, Day 2 Fifth: "I crashed twice on the extreme test on day one and only put in one good time on that test so it meant that I was pushing hard all day to make up for those mistakes. I ended up finishing in sixth, which wasn't so bad but not as good as I could have finished. The second day wasn't so good for me. It was possible to finish second but my chain came off on the last extreme test, which cost me a lot of time and ended my chances of second. I finished in fifth. All day things went well but then right at the end of the day it went bad. I guess that can happen some times."   Crowd: 1500 Weather: Sunny     2007 Enduro 1 United States 23/07/2007 Race 1 Pos. Rider Manu. Nat. Total Time 1 Juha Salminen KTM FIN 47'30.200 2 Simone Albergoni Yamaha ITA 0'4.140 3 Bartosz Oblucki Husqvarna POL 0'38.640 4 Marc Germain Yamaha FRA 0'44.000 5 Alessandro Belometti KTM ITA 0'49.660 6 Cristobal Guerrero Yamaha ESP 0'52.040 7 Maurizio Micheluz Yamaha ITA 1'32.590 8 Mike Hartmann KTM GER 3'53.400 9 Anthony Roberts Honda AUS 8'15.180 10 Juraj Dozsa KTM SVK 10'8.880 11 Steve Leivan Yamaha USA 15'2.330
Race 2 Pos. Rider Manu. Nat. Total Time 1 Juha Salminen KTM FIN 48'14.070 2 Marc Germain Yamaha FRA 1'26.320 3 Simone Albergoni Yamaha ITA 1'47.240 4 Bartosz Oblucki Husqvarna POL 1'53.350 5 Cristobal Guerrero Yamaha ESP 1'56.930 6 Maurizio Micheluz Yamaha ITA 2'24.680 7 Alessandro Belometti KTM ITA 2'30.270 8 Mike Hartmann KTM GER 4'35.080 9 Juraj Dozsa KTM SVK 9'42.090 10 Kyle Nelson Honda USA 15'44.930
Rider Standings 21/07/2007
Pos. Rider Manu. Nat. Points 1. Juha Salminen KTM FIN 250 2. Simone Albergoni Yamaha ITA 182 3. Marc Germain Yamaha FRA 175 4. Cristobal Guerrero Yamaha ESP 170 5. Alessandro Belometti KTM ITA 167 6. Bartosz Oblucki Husqvarna POL 163 7. Maurizio Micheluz Yamaha ITA 128 8. Mike Hartmann KTM GER 117 9. Anthony Roberts Honda AUS 79 10. Luca Cherubini TM ITA 59 11. Frederik Georgsson KTM SWE 56 12. Juraj Dozsa KTM SVK 51 13. Danielle Tellini KTM ITA 50 14. Joan Jou Yamaha ESP 45 15. Damien Miquel Kawasaki FRA 40
Manufacturer Standings 21/07/2007
Pos. Manufacturer Points 1. KTM 250 2. Yamaha 204 3. Husqvarna 163 4. Honda 109 5. TM 65 6. Suzuki 59 7. Kawasaki 48
RACE REPORT 23/07/2007 Aubert holds on third position in championship despite crash in USA  
Hoping to make up for the disappointment of scoring no points on the second day of the fourth round of the '07 WEC series UFO Corse Yamaha team rider Johnny Aubert saw his chances of a podium finish on day one of the GP of USA ended when he crashed on the event's enduro test, squashing his right middle finger between his handlebars and one of the many rocks that littered the test. Losing two-and-a-half minutes due to his fall and injured finger Johnny continued but due to the time he'd lost was only able to place sixth - a good result considering the immediate and extensive swelling to his finger. Narrowly missing out on placing fifth, were it not for his crash Aubert would likely have placed as runner-up.
On day two Aubert tried his best to match the pace of battling Finns Mika Ahola, who topped day one, and reigning class champion Samuli Aro. With the two setting a blistering pace Aubert opted to settle for third mid way through the day yet still placed comfortably ahead of fourth place finisher Valtteri Salonen.    Johnny Aubert (UFO Corse Yamaha) Enduro 2 class - Day 1 Sixth, Day 2 Third: "I crashed in the enduro test and squashed one of my fingers on my right hand between the handlebar and a rock, which was really painful and made things difficult for me on day one. I lost two and a half minutes in that one test, so that wasn't good at all. I still managed to finish in sixth, which considering how painful my finger was wasn't too bad. I really wanted to push as hard as I could on the second day, to try and make up for my disappointments on day one. But Ahola and Aro were too fast so there was no way I could win. Half way through the day I decided not to push too hard and to settle for third. I tried to push for a good result but things didn't quite go as well as I hoped they would this weekend."   Crowd: 1500 Weather: Sunny     2007 Enduro 2 United States 23/07/2007 Race 1 Pos. Rider Manu. Nat. Total Time 1 Mika Ahola Honda FIN 46'4.960 2 Stefan Merriman Aprilia AUS 1'31.560 3 Fabien Planet KTM FRA 1'32.630 4 Samuli Aro KTM FIN 1'42.020 5 Mike Lafferty KTM USA 3'20.230 6 Johnny Aubert Yamaha FRA 3'25.170 7 Nathan Kanney Husqvarna USA 3'29.750 8 Fabrizio Dini Yamaha ITA 3'30.150 9 Nicolas Paganon Aprilia FRA 3'56.610 10 Nicolas Deparrois Husqvarna FRA 3'57.700 11 Valtteri Salonen HusaBerg FIN 3'59.110 12 Xavier Galindo KTM ESP 5'46.510 13 Aaron Kopp Christini USA 9'38.080
Race 2 Pos. Rider Manu. Nat. Total Time 1 Mika Ahola Honda FIN 47'4.870 2 Samuli Aro KTM FIN 0'3.450 3 Johnny Aubert Yamaha FRA 1'19.310 4 Valtteri Salonen HusaBerg FIN 2'40.620 5 Fabien Planet KTM FRA 2'42.540 6 Stefan Merriman Aprilia AUS 2'49.660 7 Mike Lafferty KTM USA 3'30.690 8 Fabrizio Dini Yamaha ITA 3'40.820 9 Nicolas Paganon Aprilia FRA 3'58.600 10 Nicolas Deparrois Husqvarna FRA 4'1.580 11 Nathan Kanney Husqvarna USA 4'33.180 12 Xavier Galindo KTM ESP 4'56.830 13 Justin Tucker Yamaha USA 15'33.540 14 Ryan Brown GasGas USA 23'50.040 15 Dan MC Caslin KTM USA 35'42.460
Rider Standings 21/07/2007
Pos. Rider Manu. Nat. Points 1. Mika Ahola Honda FIN 233 2. Samuli Aro KTM FIN 207 3. Johnny Aubert Yamaha FRA 187 4. Fabien Planet KTM FRA 162 5. Stefan Merriman Aprilia AUS 158 6. Valtteri Salonen HusaBerg FIN 114 7. Fabrizio Dini Yamaha ITA 108 8. Xavier Galindo KTM ESP 105 9. Jari Juha Mattila Beta FIN 102 10. Nicolas Deparrois Husqvarna FRA 101 11. Rodrig Thain Suzuki FRA 79 12. Nicolas Paganon Aprilia FRA 71 13. Nathan Kanney Husqvarna USA 59 14. Patrick Caps GasGas BEL 51 15. Thierry Klutz Sherco BEL 51
Manufacturer Standings 21/07/2007
Pos. Manufacturer Points 1. Honda 233 2. KTM 211 3. Yamaha 199 4. Aprilia 166 5. Husqvarna 115 6. HusaBerg 114 7. Beta 102 8. Suzuki 79 9. GasGas 60 10. Sherco 51 11. BMW 25 12. Kawasaki 15 13. TM 9 14. Christini 8
Alex Asigno

Yamaha MotoGP rider announcement

Yamaha Motor Co., Ltd announces that it has concluded a two-year agreement with 250cc World Champion Jorge Lorenzo. The 20-year-old Spaniard will make his MotoGP debut in 2008 aboard a YZR-M1, with direct Factory support.
Lorenzo, who won the 250 title in 2006, is currently leading the championship, after winning six out of the first ten races this season.
"Yamaha has been watching Jorge's career with interest for some time and we are delighted that he will be joining our MotoGP line-up from next season” - commented Lin Jarvis, Managing Director of Yamaha Motor Racing. “We are sure that he will be a valuable asset for the future and we look forward to the commencement of his MotoGP career with Yamaha.”
The exact structure of Yamaha’s team and rider organization is still under consideration at the present time. Further details, including Lorenzo’s team structure, will be announced in due course.
Alex Asigno

Guarneri's first GP win only highlight for Yamaha in Namur

With FIM MX1 World Championship leader Josh Coppins out of action due to a small shoulder break and second rider Marc de Reuver unable to get to grips with narrow and fast circuit at Namur, Yamaha Motocross Team were unfortunately without a representative for the Grand Prix of Belgium and the twelfth round of fifteen in the 2007 series watched by a 31,000 crowd today. The injury to Coppins - that hopefully should only mean a one race absence - and De Reuver's unsuccessful attempts to post a lap-time that put him in the top thirty on Saturday meant that the Italian team were not able to count on a rider for Sunday's races for the first time ever in their long and successful history. Prior to last week's GP of Czech Republic, Coppins had been present on the podium at nine of ten races, winning five. After Sebastien Pourcel won the Grand Prix with David Philippaerts second and Tanel Leok third, Coppins' advantage in the rider's standings has been reduced from 77 to 43 points - Steve Ramon was fifth overall - with three rounds (Ireland, Britain and Holland) remaining and 150 points left to win. For De Reuver a practice crash and a lack of confidence around the 'enduro-esque' 2500m circuit (tight, bumpy, dark and tree-lined) saw him miss the qualification cut-off mark for the first occasion since he entered Grand Prix racing in 2001. The world championship will reconvene at Moneyglass Demense for the Grand Prix of Northern Ireland in two weeks time and the meeting will be the first of three weekends in a row leading to the climax of the season. Carlo Rinaldi, Team Manager, Yamaha Motocross Team: "We honestly don't know what happened with Marc and I don't think he does either. He is completely lost at the moment in terms of confidence and motivation. He did not complain about the bike but admitted that he was scared out there. We are trying to support him as much as possible in many different ways but something needs to click inside of him and there is only so much we can do. There is no more news about Josh's injury at the moment. We have to wait a bit more to see what condition he might be in for Ireland. He will try to ride just before the GP."
Alex Asigno

Grand Prix of Northern Ireland comes too early for Joshua Coppins

Joshua Coppins is recovering well from his left shoulder injury sustained at round 11 of the MX1 World Championship held at Loket (Czech Republic) on the 29th of July, but unfortunately his present condition does not permit him to enter the Grand Prix of Northern Ireland held coming weekend at the Moneyglass Demense circuit. Coppins missed the Belgian Grand Prix two weeks ago and now had to decide to cancel his participation in round 13 of the championship as well.
Joshua does the very maximum to speed up his recovery, traveling between Belgium, Germany and the UK to seek specialist treatment. The extensive medical attention to the small crack in the neck of the glenoid of his left shoulder is having the desired healing effect, as confirmed by a CT scan made earlier this week which showed good progression of the bone coming back together. At his home base in Belgium, Dr. Claes has been consulted on the therapy which includes the use of a new magnetic 'ortho-pulse' device, massage and acupuncture given by a German naturopath improving blood flow and other advanced medical techniques.
Josh has also started with an intense physiotherapy program including a lot of swimming to improve movement in his shoulder, recently he expanded his training with road cycling and mountain biking, but he won’t ride his YZ450FM just yet. Expectation is that after another positive CT scan scheduled for next week Tuesday, Joshua can start riding his bike again to prepare for the British Grand Prix held on the 26th of August. He hopes to enter that race still leading the world championship. Before his crash at Loket Coppins held a very comfortable advantage of 107 points, but prior to this weekends Grand Prix of Northern Ireland his buffer has diminished to 43 points on second placed Steve Ramon with Sebastian Pourcel also still in contention with 83 points behind Coppins. Most likely the MX1 World Championship will go down to the wire until the last race of the series held at Lierop (NL) on the 2nd of September.
While Coppins is on his way to return to racing, Yamaha Team Ricci rider Kenneth Gundersen will enter the MX1 class at Moneyglass Demense. The 25 year old Norwegian is considering a move to this class for 2008 and considers his entry as a good test to see how competitive he can be. He hopes for good results that will contribute to Yamaha’s position in the manufacturers standing in MX1, which has shrunk to just one point over Suzuki. He will race on a YZ450F machine with YRRD kit (Yamaha Rinaldi R and D) prepared by his own team.
Alex Asigno

Cairoli seals second title while Coppins still tops MX1

Josh Coppins still leads the world championship despite missing his second Grand Prix in a row. The New Zealander has seen his advantage narrowed from 77 to 43 and now to 12 as main rival Steve Ramon could only finish fifth. Yamaha Motocross Team's Marc de Reuver was seventeenth after scoring points in just one moto in front of 18,500 people.
De Reuver started the third-to-last meeting of the year in sixteenth position after riders of both classes on a wet Saturday had only 45 minutes to practice and qualify on the brand new course created for this Grand Prix and with a view towards the 61st Motocross of Nations in September 2008. The heavy rain on Friday and Saturday meant that the track was deep and swampy and could not cope with a full practice programme. The schedule was vastly reduced and thankfully the showers stayed away from Sunday even though a chilly wind swept the open circuit.
The track itself drew compliments from most of the paddock for its challenging layout and big array of jumps, but the riders were not able to really test the terrain until good work had been carried out by the circuit staff to prepare the course for Sunday. The landings and take-offs were still dangerous and difficult due to the softness of the mud. De Reuver rode his own pace to pick up nine points for twelfth position in race one but did not look capable of breaking into the top ten. The second outing was not positive for the Dutchman as he simply could not get to grips with the track from the rear of the field and retired from the moto.
Joshua Coppins is hopeful of being able to ride for the first time this week since fracturing his shoulder in the Czech Republic. The British Grand Prix will take place next Sunday at Donington Park - another new racing course - before the Grand Prix of the Netherlands wraps up the season at Lierop in two weeks time.
Kenneth Gundersen took his first steps towards a return to the MX1 by entering the premier category with a view towards assisting Yamaha's plight to retain the manufacturer's title and gained two points for 19th in the first moto but crashed out of the second.
Marc de Reuver, Yamaha Motocross Team: "Practice and qualifying was OK but there was not much time on the track and it was really muddy. I was sixteenth, which was nothing special. In the first heat I was twenty-third at the start and I came up to twelfth but I had a really bad start in the second heat and could not get a rhythm. I wasn't jumping anything and could not get into it today."
Carlo Rinaldi, Team Manager, Yamaha Motocross Team: "Josh still has a twelve point lead so it could have been a lot worse today and we are happy about that but we are really disappointed for Marc. We expected a quite good race at least. He had two very bad starts but there was no reaction afterwards."
Alex Asigno

Dismal day for Yamaha as Rossi finishes seventh and Edwards slides out

The wooded hills of Brno, thronged by 141,632 spectators, proved a less than happy hunting ground for the Fiat Yamaha Team at today's Czech Grand Prix. Valentino Rossi was dogged by traction problems almost from the start and was only able to hang on for seventh, whilst Colin Edwards slid out of the race on the second lap.
Starting from sixth, Rossi slipped one place at the start but regained his starting position by the end of lap one, behind Loris Capirossi. The Italian then spent several laps on his fellow countryman's tail before he was able to pass him on lap eight of 22, but by then Rossi was suffering from grip problems and was unable to push on and clear a gap from the chasing pack. A few laps later he was passed by Chris Vermeulen and then by Capirossi, before Randy de Puniet began to threaten him in the closing stages and he was forced to use all his skills to keep the Frenchman behind him to the line. Edwards meanwhile failed to finish a race for only the third time in his Yamaha career, making a rare mistake on lap two and losing the front. He rejoined the race briefly but was unable to continue, coming into the pits on the next lap.
The race was won by Casey Stoner, who extends his championship lead over Rossi to 60 points. Edwards remains seventh with 93 points. The MotoGP paddock now has one weekend off before the San Marino Grand Prix, when Grand Prix motorcycle racing returns to Misano for the first time in 14 years.
Valentino Rossi - Position: 7thTime: +22.485 "We expected a difficult race today because we knew our potential here wasn't very high after the last two days. However it was even worse than we expected! I tried to keep my rhythm going but, after only seven or eight laps, the tyre started to slide a lot on the right side and from then on I wasn't able to open the throttle.
"Throughout the weekend we have done everything to try to find more traction. We have changed the setting a lot to try to find a way to make the tyre work, but unfortunately during the race we had no grip. Also, with the setting we had to use, we had to sacrifice some of our corner speed and this also slowed us down. It was very difficult today. I was able to do 1.59s to start with but after a few laps the tyre made a big step down and then I just had to wait for the end of the race.
"I had a hard time with Capirossi at the start; in some parts I was faster than him but I couldn't overtake him because he was pulling away from me on the straights. Eventually I got past him but he stayed with me and I couldn't pull clear. I pushed as hard as I could; at that time I wasn't too fast but not too slow either, but after that my tyre was finished and then Vermeulen came, then Loris again...I am sad because I wasn't even able to try to fight with them today. Towards the end I had to push at the limit to stay in front of de Puniet and luckily I managed, but we were a very long way from a good performance. I tried to change my style, to ride in a different way to help the situation, but it was no good.
"We have a test now but in reality our situation is quite bad and we have a few different problems to deal with. We will try to make the best of the next two days of work and to try to find something different for the next few races. We have to wait and see what we find, but for sure it's going to be very difficult. This is a very hard moment that we're in. We have six races to go and we just have to work as hard as we can to try to find a way to make some good results."
Alex Asigno

Fiat Yamaha Team push on with intensive day's testing in Brno

After the disappointment of yesterday's Czech Grand Prix, it was back to the drawing board today for Valentino Rossi and Colin Edwards as they embarked on the traditional two-day test at Brno, alongside almost the entire MotoGP paddock. The sun shone until mid-afternoon when it clouded over, eventually giving way to rain at about 4.30 pm.
The main focus of the test for both riders is tyre testing with Michelin and they worked through a variety of new material today as they seek to find a better package for the remaining six races, following recent issues. Rossi also got the chance to complete some laps with a new-specification engine, with which he will continue working tomorrow.
Colin Edwards - Position: 6th Time: 1'58.81 Laps: 51 "Michelin brought a lot of new stuff for us to try here today and I think, in total, I tried about four fronts and maybe five rears before the rain came. Unfortunately it doesn't seem like we've found a miracle yet! We're in a difficult situation but I am determined to give 110% to help Michelin get back to where they should be. I tried a new shock for Ohlins as well and some starting maps and electronics and everything else seems to be feeling pretty good. We've got another day tomorrow so let's hope it stays dry so we can get through the remainder of our testing programme."
Valentino Rossi - Position: 10th Time: 1'59.20 Laps: 66 "We tried a new engine today and I completed about 25 laps with it. Initially we haven't found that it's a lot faster, but anyway this is only the very first step so we need some more time to understand it better and to see how it can help us. Tomorrow we will continue to work with it again, for part of the day at least. We also did some work with tyres, but so far we haven't found anything special. We tried some new fronts but then, when we started to work with some new rear tyres it started to rain and so we weren't able to finish our work. Hopefully tomorrow we will be able to use the whole day, because we still have a lot of work to get through and this is a very important test for us."
Alex Asigno

Fiat Yamaha complete testing programme in Brno

Valentino Rossi and Colin Edwards rounded off two days of intensive work at Brno today, following Sunday's Czech Grand Prix. After heavy rain yesterday evening the track was still damp this morning, which delayed the start of action, but conditions improved throughout the day and both Rossi and Edwards managed to complete their planned testing programmes.
Once again both riders concentrated mainly on tyre testing, trying a variety of new material with Michelin. Rossi also put in laps with the new-specification engine, which he tried for the first time yesterday. The team now have a week's break before they head to Misano for the San Marino Grand Prix.
Colin Edwards - Position: 7th Time: 1'58.86 Laps: 50 "It was all about tyres again today and we actually found a front that I'm pretty happy with. It's something of a different theory to what we've been using before but it seems to work so I think we've gained something in that area. We also found something for the rear which we think could be good if we have a little more time to work on it and evolve it. Based on that I think we've definitely made some progress today. It's not going to change overnight but we've just got to go step-by-step, put in the laps and see how we go. I tried a couple more starting maps as well which I'm really happy with. I'm heading home now for a few days rest before Misano and we'll see how we get on there!"
Valentino Rossi - Position: 11th Time: 1'59.35 Laps: 69 "We continued today to test many tyres with Michelin, different components and different compounds. We haven't found a miracle tyre yet but we gave a lot of information to Michelin which will hopefully help them in their work for the next races. We used the new engine again for some of the day and found it a little bit better, although we need more time to work on it. Anyway we've given some important information to our engineers so they can continue with the development for the future. We've done a lot of work these two days and I know that Yamaha and Michelin will now do as much as possible with what we've found out here, and we will be ready to try again next week in Misano."
Davide Brivio - Team Director "We've worked a lot these two days and both riders have done a lot of laps, which is hard after an intensive race weekend. This is always a very important test, before the last part of the season, and this year has been no different. We've checked many options, especially with Michelin, and we hope that this information will help them to continue to improve the situation in the near future. We know that both Yamaha and Michelin will be working very hard over the next week and we will see how we get on in San Marino!"
Alex Asigno

Yamaha wins in MX1 but looses grip on championship at British GP

Yamaha Motocross Team's Josh Coppins made a brave comeback to the FIM Motocross World Championship despite sustaining a two inch break to his left shoulder only four weeks ago but could not prevent his lead in the standings being lost to rival Steve Ramon. Meanwhile MX1 debutant Antonio Cairoli marked a new highlight in a truly wonderful season of success as the MX2 world champ won his first ever outing in the premier class with a 2008 production YZ450F in front of 28,000 spectators.
Coppins was back in action for the first time in two Grand Prix but completed few fast laps and took things easy on Saturday. The New Zealander commented that he was fighting pain in the joint but had medical attention and took to the line on Sunday to attempt to defend the 12 points he held in defiance of Ramon. The many jumps and rough ruts of the track were not ideal for the Kiwi.
The first moto at the new track inside the Donington Park MotoGP complex started perfectly as the 30 year old holeshotted on the YZ450FM. However he was unable to keep pace with the leaders and tried his best to remain as high in the classification as possible but was swamped by a group in the final laps and took fourteenth.
With the gap down from 12 to 4 points for the second race, Coppins tried again to fight his corner but had to pull into the pits after one lap as the former championship runner-up had no strength in his upper limb and could not control the bike properly.
His eighteenth position overall means that he lost the red plate for the first time this year to Ramon and now faces a tough job at Lierop to regain his status. The deserving champion and winner of five Grand Prix this year will need to obtain 14 points or more over Ramon (who is racing with a small fracture in his scaphoid) to claim his first world title.
Marc de Reuver was unable to make an impact on proceedings. The Dutchman retired from the first race and did not feel comfortable on the bike or the track. He did not take to the gate for the second moto.
2007 MX2 World Champion Antonio Cairoli could not have done a better job in the MX1 class to give Coppins support and also assist Yamaha's effort to retain the manufacturer's title. The Italian admitted that riding the production 2008 YZ450F after steering his YZ250F to nine Grand Prix victories this year was 'different' and placed more demands on his muscle groups. but still managed an incredible debut triumph by taking second and first positions in the two motos in his usual flamboyant style. He walked the top step with hardly any preparation to riding the 450 and leaving the factory bikes of Kevin Strijbos and Ken de Dycker behind on his production machine.
The World Championship will now face a tense and exciting conclusion. The final round of fifteen will take place next week in the deep and rough sand of Lierop for the Grand Prix of the Netherlands.
Alex Asigno

Edwards ninth and Rossi forced to retire as bad luck strikes in Misano

Valentino Rossi's hopes of a glorious homecoming to Misano ended after just five laps today, when an engine problem forced the Fiat Yamaha Team rider to retire when running strongly in fourth position. Rossi's team-mate Colin Edwards meanwhile struggled with rear grip in the later stages and was only able to bring his YZR-M1 home in his starting position of ninth.
With thousands of passionate Italian fans looking on, Rossi started the San Marino Grand Prix from second on the grid with high hopes of an exciting podium battle with chief rival and pole-sitter Casey Stoner. He dropped one place at the start and another a few turns later as first John Hopkins and then Chris Vermeulen came through, but never got the chance to fight back as he lost power in his engine on lap five of 28 and was forced to coast home to the pits. Edwards got a good start and rose to sixth at one point, but a lack of grip on the left side of his rear tyre meant he was unable to make any further headway through the field, eventually slipping to ninth behind Anthony West.
With Stoner the eventual winner, today's result sees Rossi's dream of a late-season championship revival slip further away as he now sits 85 points adrift in second, with a possible 125 points left available from five races. Edwards remains seventh with 100 points. The Fiat Yamaha Team will have a one-day test here tomorrow, before heading to Portugal in ten days time for round fourteen.
Colin Edwards - Position: 9thTime: +47.146 "I got a good start and managed to miss the big melee with Hayden and de Puniet. Then Checa almost took me out a couple of times and the second time I had to run wide and West and a couple of others came through. Once I'd got sorted again I had my work cut out getting back by West, but then I just got my head down and got going. Unfortunately however, the left-hand side of my tyre then started to give me trouble and I had no grip from then on. There are a lot of quick changes of direction here, turns one-two and four-five for example, and every time I had to flick it left it felt pretty scary. I had to adjust my pace accordingly and from there on in it was just survival and looking to salvage what points I could. It wasn't fun out there today to be honest!"
Valentino Rossi - Position: DNFTime: "At the start I felt I was lacking some temperature in my tyres and so I slipped back a little from my starting position. However apart from this I felt quite good, stable, with a good rhythm and confident that things would continue to improve as the temperature in my tyres increased. However on lap five, when I was braking hard, I suddenly felt something go and that was the end of my race. The engine was the same one that I used at the Brno test and also here in practice and it felt quite good; we don't yet know what the problem was today so we will have to wait until our engineers have had time to examine the situation.
"It would have been great, and very useful, to have a good result here in Misano today. I like the track a lot and I really wanted to do well in front of all the fans; it was a great emotion for me to see so many people in yellow. Unfortunately this wasn't the case today and now we know that the championship will be very, very difficult. Breaking down after just a few laps is frustrating and unlucky, especially because today we had good expectations and we had been fast during practice. But when bad things like this happen you have only two choices; give up or come straight back and start working again even harder than before. This is what we will do at Yamaha; me, my team, the engineers - everyone involved. We still have five races left and we will keep trying to get the result we deserve. Once again Stoner deserved to win today, so well done to him. We have a lot of work to do before Estoril."
Davide Brivio - Team Director "We used the new engine today and unfortunately something went wrong. We don't know yet exactly what, we won't be able to tell until our engineers have had a lot more time to look at it. It might not have been anything to do with the new technology, we need to check but this can happen and this is racing. It's just very disappointing for everyone and especially all the thousands of fans who came today to cheer Valentino on. Colin had some rear grip issues and he tried his best but unfortunately he too was not able to get the result he deserved. We have to look forward to Estoril now and keep working; we know that all the Yamaha engineers are very busy trying to improve our situation and we have confidence in them. Thanks to everyone for their hard work; we know we are capable of winning and so we will just keep trying."
Misano disapointing for Dunlop Yamaha Tech3
After an absence of 14 years Grand Prix racing returned to the re-vamped Misano circuit where Dunlop was victorious in the last premier 500cc class race to be held at the circuit with Luca Cadalora on the Marlboro Yamaha. History was not to be repeated for the Dunlop Yamaha Tech 3 Team as Sylvain Guintoli and Makoto Tamada finished in 12th and 14th positions respectively.
The weekend had a silver lining however as Sylvain repeated his qualifying performance of the previous race in Brno to start from 11th on the grid. With the first day of practice a washout when the circuit was flooded by devastating rains that caused the abandonment of the day, this ensured that with limited track time, set-up and tyre selection would play an even more important role than usual. Due to a first corner incident that eliminated Dani Pedrosa, Nicky Hayden and Randy De Puniet and then the unfortunate retirement of Valentino Rossi the race was not the spectacle we have come to expect of the MotoGP class.
Sylvain Guintoli (12th - Fastest lap 1'36.560) This race was similar to Brno as I think we proved we have a good qualifying package but we expected to struggle during the race because we couldn't find a rear tyre with good enough grip and endurance. The race was ok. The start was good and the first 12 laps I had a good battle with Nakano and we caught the group in front but after 12 laps the rear grip level started to drop away and I lost touch with the group. The second half of the race was not so much fun. I had a 12 second lead over the riders behind me and I just carried on with a fast enough rhythm so I could not be caught. One thing I am happy with is how much I am learning every time I ride the bike and what is needed in qualifying to get a good lap. I hope we can find something for Portugal so that we can fight for the entire race.
Makoto Tamada (14th - Fastest lap 1'36.645) The race wasn't so good for me. I had a good feeling for the first 12 laps and was able to keep a pretty good pace but then I had trouble with the rear. The performance stayed the same for a few laps but towards the end it dropped off again so all I could hope to do was ride the bike to make sure I finished. It's been a hard season so I hope we find something for the last races so that I may be able to battle with a few riders for the whole race and not just wait for something to happen.
Herve Poncharal - Dunlop Yamaha Tech 3 Team Manager Firstly I would like to apologise to all the fans that turned up as after the incident on the first lap and with Valentino retiring so early in the race it wasn't much of a spectacle when so much was expected of this race on its return to Misano. As for our weekend, this has been another race that has not gone the way we wanted. We have a good qualifying package but we are missing something in the race. We couldn't find a tyre that we were confident that would last us the entire race so we set everything up the best we could. Hopefully we can find some improvement in the race package to compliment the good work we do in qualifying and all the hard work the team is putting in trying to get the results we desire.
Alex Asigno

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