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Yamaha Racing News

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Superbike World Championship preview: round 11 - Imola

The penultimate round of the 2006 Superbike World Championship takes place this weekend at the famous Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari in the town of Imola, the championship's third visit of the year to Italy.
The technically demanding circuit is steeped in heritage thanks mainly to its history as a Formula One circuit but it is also famous as a bike venue too, having hosted the classic Imola 200 events during the Seventies and, more recently, Grand Prix and superbike racing. The circuit's surface bears the scars of this history, with the old tarmac proving bumpy and providing the bike racers with a tough challenge to find good settings. Despite this, Imola is generally very popular with the riders - its challenging layout providing the sort of test that only the old-fashioned classic circuits can. Last year's event took place in atrocious weather conditions that eventually led to the cancellation of race two.
The Yamaha Motor Italia squad goes into the meeting looking to give another strong showing for their home fans and to help their riders meet their end-of-season targets. With Ducati's Troy Bayliss looking like clinching the series thanks to a 87 point advantage, the team's Noriyuki Haga is targeting more wins to add to solitary success so far this year and to consolidate his second place in the championship, which would equal his best ever end of season ranking.
Team-mate Andrew Pitt has also taken one win this season, in Misano, and is looking to get back on track after crashing out of the second race in Germany. The Australian has been the man on form in the latter part of the season, with only a slower than hoped for start to the season and a double DNF in Brno denying him a crack at the title. Having been the top points scorer at Assen, Pitt was unlucky to slip off last time out in Lausitz. That failure to score moved him down to fifth in the championship, one point behind outgoing champion Troy Corser (Suzuki).
 
Race date: 1 October 2006 Circuit: Imola Country: Italy Track length: 4933m Opened: 1953 Fastest ever superbike lap: 1'48.075 (Chris Vermeulen) Superbike lap record: 1'48.389 (Troy Corser) Last year's winner: Chris Vermeulen (Honda) Circuit telephone: +39 0542 31444 Circuit web site: http://www.autodromoimola.com
"The result at Lausitz was disappointing because we made the wrong tyre choice in race one and then just touched the footrest down and crashed in the second," said Pitt. "I was disappointed to slip back to fifth in the championship but the bike was working really well and we were lucky that Barros and Corser also missed out on the big points. Imola's a circuit that I like. I've some good memories of the place, as I won the supersport title there in 2001. It's a challenging track with a lot of blind corners. To go well there you need a lot of confidence in the bike, which is good for us as the R1 is working really well. Who knows where we can end the season? Second place is not out of the question but my aim is just to keep finishing on the podium in these last two weekends and then the championship positions will sort themselves out." In the Supersport World Championship, Yamaha Motor Germany's Kevin Curtain can lift the title at Imola. The veteran Australian goes to Italy 27 points ahead of current champion Sebastien Charpentier (Honda) and will win his first world crown should he leave Italy with at least 26 points over his rival going into the final round.
"I never expected to go to Imola with such a big lead," says Curtain. "I had hoped that maybe I could have something like 10 points advantage after Lausitz so to be in this position is something we couldn't dream of. It's all a credit to the team, who have worked so hard to put us in this situation. We had a new bike at the start of the season but straight away we have been competitive. With a lot of hard work we now have a bike which is as good as anything else out there. Imola is where I had my first ride with Yamaha Germany, in 2003, and I've gone well there in the past. I'm not thinking too much about the championship and am going with the same attitude as always, to pick up as many points as possible and let everything look after itself."
Curtain should be joined at Imola by his team-mate Broc Parkes. Parkes missed the race at Lausitz after crashing at Assen. The Australian will is ready to race but must undergo a final fitness test in Imola. Should he be declared fit by the circuit medics then he will look to consolodate his third place in the championship standings.
 
 
Alex Asigno

Pitt leads the Yamaha charge in Imola

Yamaha Motor Italia's Andrew Pitt was the top R1 rider in today's first qualifying session for Sunday's penultimate round of the 2006 Superbike World Championship in Imola, ending the day seventh fastest in a close session that sees the top 14 riders covered by just over a second.
The Australian gunned his Yamaha around the long and demanding circuit in best time of 1:50.502, just 0.463 behind the day's fastest rider James Toseland (Honda). Pitt, who lifted the 2001 world supersport crown at the Italian venue, went through the usual Friday programme of testing tyres and settings ahead of Sunday's two races, working mostly with his crew chief Dave Marton and datalogging expert Carlo Luzzi to find the optimal gearbox settings for the complex Formula One circuit.
Pitt's team-mate Noriyuki Haga struggled with a wrist injury sustained in Germany three weekends ago, ending the day in 11th. The Japanese star damaged some ligaments in both his wrists and found the going tough around the bumpy circuit after failing to get the R1 set up exactly to his liking. Despite his handicap, Haga is confident that he can make some improvements to the set-up of his machine ahead of tomorrow's final qualifying sessions.
Fastest rider today was 2004 world champion Toseland, ahead of outgoing champion Troy Corser (Suzuki). Current series leader Troy Bayliss ended the day fourth, with Yukio Kagayama (Suzuki) rounding out the top four. The superbike riders will have a final one hour qualifying session tomorrow morning, with the top 16 riders going through to the one-lap superpole session, which will decide the first four rows of the grid for Sunday's two 21-lap races.
 
Norick Abe   
Norick Abe led Yamaha Motor France's trio of riders in Imola. The Japanese former Grand Prix rider ended the day in 16th position, provisionally occupying the final slot for tomorrow's grid-deciding superpole session. Sebastien Gimbert ended the day 21st, just two seconds from pole sitter Toseland, with Shinichi Nakatomi less than a tenth of a second behind his French team-mate on his Imola debut, in 24th.
Andrew Pitt (Yamaha Motor Italia) "The main thing we've been working on is finding a good gearbox setting. This place is such a compromise that when you get the gearing right for one corner it's out at the next. We had a couple of little niggling problems with the electronics but overall it's been a good day. We were able to try out a lot of different tyres and we're pretty sure what we'll be running on Sunday. Our race pace seems good and the guys ahead of us are only doing one faster lap before dropping back to the same pace, so I think we'll be right up there."
 
Noriyuki Haga   
Noriyuki Haga (Yamaha Motor Italia) "We're still trying to find the right balance of the bike and tonight we'll make some changes to improve the feeling. Imola is a very physical circuit and my wrist is still quite painful, but I do not think this will be a problem because when the lights go out you forget about any problems you have."
Norick Abe (Yamaha Motor France) "Not such a bad day! The bike is working ok and close to the top riders, so this is an alright result for us. I hope that tomorrow we can stay in the top 16 and qualify for the superpole. That would prepare us for a good race."
Shinichi Nakatomi (Yamaha Motor France) "This is my first time at Imola so today my priority is to learn the course and improve the set-up. Tonight we will try some things and I am quite confident that I can get faster as the weekend goes on."
Massimo Meregalli (Team Coordinator - Yamaha Motor Italia) "The times are very close today and we can still make some improvements. Andrew had a few small problems with the electronics today, while Noriyuki is still trying to find a different balance on his bike. We will make some changes tonight and see what tomorrow brings."
Circuit Length: 4959 Weather: Sunny     2006 WSB Imola 29/09/2006 Qualifying 1 Pos. Rider Manu. Nat. Total Time 1 James Toseland Honda GBR 1'50.039 2 Troy Corser Suzuki AUS 1'50.250 3 Troy Bayliss Ducati AUS 1'50.265 4 Yukio Kagayama Suzuki JPN 1'50.357 5 Alex Barros Honda BRA 1'50.388 6 Ruben Xaus Ducati ESP 1'50.468 8 Michel Fabrizio Honda ITA 1'50.553 9 Max Neukirchner Suzuki GER 1'50.659 10 Ivan Clementi Ducati ITA 1'50.768 11 Noriyuki Haga Yamaha JPN 1'50.882 12 Karl Muggeridge Honda AUS 1'50.882 13 Lorenzo Lanzi Ducati ITA 1'51.003 14 Fonsi Nieto Kawasaki ESP 1'51.077 15 Chris Walker Kawasaki GBR 1'51.227 16 Norick Abe Yamaha JPN 1'51.338 21 Sebastien Gimbert Yamaha FRA 1'52.034 24 Shinichi Nakatomi Yamaha JPN 1'52.108
QUALIFYING 1 REPORT 29/09/2006 Curtain third in first practice   Kevin Curtain   
Championship leader Kevin Curtain prepared for Sunday's penultimate supersport round by setting the third fastest time in today's first qualifying session at Imola.
The Australian set a best time of 1:53.728 around the famous Italian circuit to claim a spot on the provisional front row alongside title rival Sebastien Charpentier (Honda), Kenan Sofuoglu (Honda) and last year's Imola winner Gianluca Nannelli (Ducati). With two rounds of the series remaining it will be either Curtain or 2005 champ Charpentier who will be crowned king of the 600 class, with Yamaha Motor Germany man Curtain holding a 27 point advantage going into this weekend's race.
Yamaha Team Italia's Gianluca Vizziello, winner of the Italian championship race held at Imola last weekend, was sixth fastest, with team-mate Massimo Roccoli, who was last week crowned as his national supersport champion, tenth after taking a tumble during the session.
Curtain's team-mate Broc Parkes made a welcome return from injury to take 12th place on the provisional grid. The Australian missed the last round after breaking ribs and punturing a lung in Assen but is ready to race in Imola, albeit not at 100 percent fitness.
Final qualifying for Sunday's race takes place tomorrow (Saturday).
Circuit Length: 4959 Weather: Dry     2006 WSS Imola 29/09/2006 Qualifying 1 Pos. Rider Manu. Nat. Total Time 1 Sebastien Charpentier Honda FRA 1'52.842 2 Kenan Sofuoglu Honda TUR 1'53.081 3 Kevin Curtain Yamaha AUS 1'53.728 4 Gianluca Nannelli Ducati ITA 1'53.790 5 Robbin Harms Honda DNK 1'53.902 6 Gianluca Vizziello Yamaha ITA 1'54.202 7 Katsuaki Fujiwara Honda JPN 1'54.250 8 Yoann Tibero Honda FRA 1'54.355 9 Johan Stigefelt Honda SWE 1'54.521 10 Massimo Roccoli Yamaha ITA 1'54.718 11 Stephane Chambon Kawasaki FRA 1'54.891 12 Broc Parkes Yamaha AUS 1'54.993 13 Christian Zaiser Ducati AUT 1'55.186 14 Matthieu Lagrive Honda FRA 1'55.330 15 David Checa Yamaha ESP 1'55.402
Alex Asigno

Front row for Andrew as Haga shows more improvements

Yamaha Motor Italia's Andrew Pitt rode a super-smooth lap during today's superpole session to take a front row start for tomorrow's races in Imola, with team-mate Noriyuki Haga on the second row after making big improvements to his machine set-up.
Having worked methodically on finding a good race setting throughout the four one-hour practice sessions, Pitt demonstrated his ultimate pace with a blistering 1:49.433 lap time to take third on the grid for tomorrow's races. Despite being almost half-a-second quicker than his previous best lap of the weekend, the Australian's YZF-R1 looked like it was running on rails as he shot himself up from seventh to third on the final grid.
Haga had struggled to find a perfect set-up for his machine around the demanding five kilometre Imola track on Friday, hindered in no small part by ligament damage to his left wrist. The Japanese rider's pit crew made changes to the chassis set-up of his R1 overnight to find something closer to a satisfactory solution for tomorrow's races, although the Yamaha Motor Italia team will make some further changes to the set up overnight in a bid to further improve Haga's competitiveness. Like Pitt, Haga set his best lap of the weekend on his superpole outing, dipping into the 1:49 bracket for the first time of the weekend.
Norick Abe was the fastest of the Yamaha Motor France riders in qualifying. The Japanese rider qualified for superpole after ending the two one-hour timed practice sessions in 14th position, although he was unable to improve his qualifying position on his grid-deciding lap and will start the race from 15th. Abe's team-mates both failed to make the cut for superpole. Shinichi Nakatomi will start his first race at the circuit from 22nd position, while Frenchman Sebastien Gimbert struggled with set-up and fitness problems throughout the weekend. He will start tomorrow's races from 25th on the grid.
 
Pole position for tomorrow's races goes to series leader Troy Bayliss (Ducati), with a superpole lap of 1:48.804. James Toseland (Honda) will start second, with Pitt and outgoing champion Troy Corser (Suzuki) completing the front row.
Andrew Pitt (Yamaha Motor Italia) "We had a difficult day yesterday and even this morning we were still trying to find that little bit extra. We finally found the right direction this afternoon, so thanks to the team for their efforts. Te lap itself felt good, although I ran out of tyre towards the end of the lap and wasn't sure just how quick I was. This is a track where it is important to be on the front row and I'm really pleased as it has turned out to be a good day's work for us."
 
Shinichi Nakatomi   
Noriyuki Haga (Yamaha Motor Italia) "As usual we made a lot of changes overnight and the feeling of the bike is definitely better, although still not quite good enough. For me, qualifying is not so important, so second row is ok. Tonight we will try to make another step forward for the races, so we will see how it goes in the morning. One of the problems is that this is a bumpy track and I still have pain in my wrist. I still need a painkiller to race, so I hope that the wrist does not affect my performance tomorrow."
Massimo Meregalli (Team Coordinator - Yamaha Motor Italia) "I'm happy with the performance of the riders today. Both found improvements today, not big changes but enough to help improve the balance of the bike for superpole. As always you never know what is going to happen in the races but I am happy and looking forward to tomorrow."
Norick Abe (Yamaha Motor France) "This morning went quite well and I was able to run in the 1:50 bracket. For the afternoon we put in a new engine which has much better performance but which meant the gearbox settings needed changed. Because the gearbox setting was not quite right it was difficult on the superpole lap, but still my lap time was ok. I think we can make some improvements tomorrow. Always the second race is better for us anyway, so hopefully we can have a good first race and a better second one."
 
Shinichi Nakatomi (Yamaha Motor France) "Step by step we are improving the bike but there are many fast riders in superbike and this makes it difficult. I am sure I can make some more improvements for the races but we must wait and see what tomorrow brings."
Sebastien Gimbert (Yamaha Motor France) "For sure I am disappointed to be starting 25th, especially as this is a track that I like and have done well at before. After riding at the Bol d'Or it's proving difficult to adapt to this bike again. I am still not 100 percent fit after my crash in Assen and because I destroyed the bike there we are still having to work on finding a good set-up."
Circuit Length: 4959 Weather: Sunny     2006 WSB Imola 30/09/2006 Superpole Pos. Rider Manu. Nat. Total Time 1 Troy Bayliss Ducati AUS 1'48.804 2 James Toseland Honda GBR 1'49.394 3 Andrew Pitt Yamaha AUS 1'49.433 4 Troy Corser Suzuki AUS 1'49.442 5 Yukio Kagayama Suzuki JPN 1'49.497 6 Max Neukirchner Suzuki GER 1'49.840 7 Noriyuki Haga Yamaha JPN 1'49.856 8 Alex Barros Honda BRA 1'49.888 9 Ruben Xaus Ducati ESP 1'49.958 10 Lorenzo Lanzi Ducati ITA 1'50.081 11 Michel Fabrizio Honda ITA 1'50.362 12 Ivan Clementi Ducati ITA 1'50.737 13 Karl Muggeridge Honda AUS 1'50.892 14 Regis Laconi Kawasaki FRA 1'50.963 15 Norick Abe Yamaha JPN 1'51.147
Qualifying 2 Pos. Rider Manu. Nat. Total Time 1 Yukio Kagayama Suzuki JPN 1'49.758 2 Troy Corser Suzuki AUS 1'49.875 3 James Toseland Honda GBR 1'50.039 4 Ruben Xaus Ducati ESP 1'50.155 5 Alex Barros Honda BRA 1'50.212 6 Troy Bayliss Ducati AUS 1'50.214 7 Andrew Pitt Yamaha AUS 1'50.250 8 Michel Fabrizio Honda ITA 1'50.350 9 Max Neukirchner Suzuki GER 1'50.376 10 Noriyuki Haga Yamaha JPN 1'50.745 11 Vittorio Iannuzzo Suzuki ITA 1'50.755 12 Ivan Clementi Ducati ITA 1'50.768 13 Lorenzo Lanzi Ducati ITA 1'50.799 14 Norick Abe Yamaha JPN 1'50.832 15 Karl Muggeridge Honda AUS 1'50.882 22 Shinichi Nakatomi Yamaha JPN 1'51.406 25 Sebastien Gimbert Yamaha FRA 1'52.034
QUALIFYING 2 REPORT 30/09/2006 Curtain secures front row start in Imola   Kevin Curtain   
Kevin Curtain secured a vital front row start for tomorrow's 11th round of the Supersport World Championship in Imola.
The Yamaha Motor Germany rider set a best time of 1:53.512 around the Italian circuit to grab fourth place on the grid for the 21-lap race.
Getting on the front row was the main priority for the Australian YZF-R6 rider, who will become world champion if he beats Sebastien Charpentier (Honda) in tomorrow's race. Charpentier starts the race from pole position, with fellow Honda riders Kenan Sofuoglu and Katsuaki Fujiwara joining him on the front row.
Curtain's team-mate Broc Parkes missed out on a second row start by less than a tenth of a second. The 24-year-old Australian is still quite stiff after his huge crash in Assen less than a month ago, but was still able to take over a second off his best time from Friday to take ninth on the grid for tomorrow's race.
Starting one place ahead of Parkes will be Yamaha Team Italia's Gianluca Vizziello, who won the Italian supersport championship race at Imola last weekend. His team-mate, the newly crowned Italian supersport champion Massimo Roccoli, was a surprisingly low 13th on the grid, one place ahead of Yamaha GMT94's David Checa.
Circuit Length: 4959
  2006 WSS Imola 30/09/2006 Qualifying 2 Pos. Rider Manu. Nat. Total Time 1 Sebastien Charpentier Honda FRA 1'52.245 2 Kenan Sofuoglu Honda TUR 1'52.541 3 Katsuaki Fujiwara Honda JPN 1'53.441 4 Kevin Curtain Yamaha AUS 1'53.512 5 Gianluca Nannelli Ducati ITA 1'53.758 6 Robbin Harms Honda DNK 1'53.902 7 William De Angelis Honda ITA 1'53.906 8 Gianluca Vizziello Yamaha ITA 1'53.960 9 Broc Parkes Yamaha AUS 1'53.991 10 Johan Stigefelt Honda SWE 1'54.019 11 Yoann Tibero Honda FRA 1'54.225 12 Chris Peris Yamaha CAN 1'54.373 13 Massimo Roccoli Yamaha ITA 1'54.426 14 David Checa Yamaha ESP 1'54.429 15 Christian Zaiser Ducati AUT 1'54.497
Alex Asigno

Polished performance moves Pitt up to fourth

Andrew Pitt continued his rich vein of form at Imola today, scoring a podium finish in the day's opening race to move up to fourth in the championship ahead of next weekend's final round of the season.
The Yamaha Motor Italia rider backed up his hard fought third place in race one with a tremendous fourth around the demanding Imola circuit in race two. Meanwhile team-mate Noriyuki Haga fought set-up problems to post a fourth and sixth place finish, keeping his hopes of finishing second in this year's championship well and truly alive.
Race one saw both the red Yamahas fighting for the lead, with Pitt overtaking pole man Troy Bayliss (Ducati) on the second lap. The Yamaha man rode confidently at the front for five laps, only to slip back to fifth after the rear of his machine slid violently as he exited a corner. Despite struggling for rear grip, the Australian was able to regain a good rhythm and pass his way through to third, behind the Hondas of Alex Barros and James Toseland, by lap 19 of the 21-lap race.
Haga too found himself plagued by rear grip problems. After holding third in the opening laps, he had no answer to the advancing Barros and Toseland. The Japanese stuck diligently to his task and was rewarded with fourth place at the flag, overtaking Bayliss as he crossed the line for the final time.
 
Both of the Yamaha riders made slight adjustments to their machines for the second outing and it looked like the changes would pay dividends as they occupied second and third behind Bayliss in the opening laps. Pitt was able to push his fellow Australian harder than anyone else, but eventually the Yamaha man succumbed to front end grip problems and was passed by the slow-starting Barros and Yukio Kagayama (Suzuki), who crossed the line in second and third. Bayliss took the chequered flag for his 11th win of the season, with Haga behind Toseland in sixth.
 
Norick Abe was Yamaha Motor France's leading rider in Imola, scoring 12 points from ninth and 11th place finishes to move him up one place, to 13th, in the championship. Team-mate Shinichi Nakatomi had one of the best weekend's of his rookie world superbike season, finishing 11th and 12th in the races, although the team's third member, Frenchman Sebastien Gimbert, had a disaster at one of his favourite circuits. Still racing with an injury sustained in Assen he retired from both races.
Bayliss' performances secured him his second world title with one round remaining, while Barros' win makes him the eighth different race winner in what has proved an exciting season. The battle for the silver medal is very much alive, with Haga trailing Toseland by just two points following today's races. Pitt currently lies fourth in the series and will also be looking to defend his eight point advantage over Barros in France.
 
Andrew Pitt (Yamaha Motor Italia) "Overall I'm pretty happy, although I'd have liked to have got another podium in the second one as well. In the first race the rear grip was gone after a few laps but after I had a big slide I was able to find my rhythm again and work my way through to the podium. For the second race we made quite a few changes and moved some more weight onto the front of the bike. It was a definite improvement and the bike worked better for longer, but as the fuel went down the front started pushing a bit. I thought that maybe I could get past Kagayama, as he was making some mistakes, but by the end the front tyre was gone and I couldn't take the risk. At the end of the day we've come to a track that we felt wouldn't be one of the best for our bike and got some good results to move up to fourth in the championship. On Friday we were struggling but my team is working very hard and it's always great to give them a podium at one of their home races, so it's been a good day."
Noriyuki Haga (Yamaha Motor Italia) "In the end it was not such a bad result. All weekend we found it difficult to get a perfect feeling with the bike and this made the races hard work, especially around this demanding circuit. In both races I was able to make a good start and fight for a few laps. In the end I had to ride for the points. Ten years ago I think I would have crashed trying to win the race, but today I was able to use my head and think of the championship. Now we go to Magny Cours two points behind Toseland, so this is not so bad and possible for us to overcome."
Norick Abe (Yamaha Motor France) "So many riders crashed in race one that the result maybe looked better than it was. I was lucky to be ninth. We had problems with rear grip, lots of sliding and moving. Then between the races we changed a few small settings and maybe the bike worked better, because the lap times were faster. But we were still sliding everywhere, uphill and downhill!"
 
Shinichi Nakatomi   
Shinichi Nakatomi (Yamaha Motor France) "I started from the 22nd position on the grid and then I passed some riders. My lap times and positions went better and better from Friday to Sunday. I finished the second race 1.8 behind Abe and my fastest lap was on the 19th of the 21 laps, so for my first time on this track, it is good progress."
Massimo Meregalli (Team Coordinator - Yamaha Motor Italia) "Of course, we would prefer to be winning the races but I think that today we did a good job as we had a problem getting race distance out of our tyres. Andrew rode very well in both races and is now fourth in the championship. Noriyuki has had some small problems over the weekend and although we lost some points to Toseland he made sure he didn't crash and got as many points as possible. We have two riders in the top four of the championship and our targets for Magny Cours are now clear: for Noriyuki it is to finish second in the championship, while Andrew must defend his fourth place."
Martial Garcia (Team Manager - Yamaha Motor France) "It is a good overall result with one ninth position, two 11th and one 12th. Our two riders are in fact the first privateers on this very difficult and dangerous track with a bad surface, so we have many reasons to be happy. Sebastien Gimbert, injured at Assen and the Bol d'Or, tried everything but unfortunately had to retire. Abe is now 13th in the championship standings and Nakatomi, for his first year, is 17th which is good because the level is very high. We hope that Sebastien Gimbert will feel better at Magny Cours and that he will be able to express himself properly on bike."
Circuit Length: 4959 Temp: 28 Crowd: 86500 Weather: Sunny     2006 WSB Imola 01/10/2006 Race 1 - 21 Laps Pos. Rider Manu. Nat. Total Time 1 Alex Barros Honda BRA 39'0.096 2 James Toseland Honda GBR 0'4.351 3 Andrew Pitt Yamaha AUS 0'6.809 4 Noriyuki Haga Yamaha JPN 0'11.179 5 Troy Bayliss Ducati AUS 0'11.537 6 Lorenzo Lanzi Ducati ITA 0'20.974 7 Fonsi Nieto Kawasaki ESP 0'23.055 8 Karl Muggeridge Honda AUS 0'23.747 9 Norick Abe Yamaha JPN 0'27.289 10 Regis Laconi Kawasaki FRA 0'29.160 11 Shinichi Nakatomi Yamaha JPN 0'30.792 12 Chris Walker Kawasaki GBR 0'32.104 13 Ivan Clementi Ducati ITA 0'38.537 14 Roberto Rolfo Ducati ITA 0'45.410 15 Joshua Brookes Kawasaki AUS 0'48.494
Race 2 - 21 Laps Pos. Rider Manu. Nat. Total Time 1 Troy Bayliss Ducati AUS 38'57.069 2 Alex Barros Honda BRA 0'1.413 3 Yukio Kagayama Suzuki JPN 0'4.355 4 Andrew Pitt Yamaha AUS 0'5.387 5 James Toseland Honda GBR 0'6.418 6 Noriyuki Haga Yamaha JPN 0'9.615 7 Lorenzo Lanzi Ducati ITA 0'12.429 8 Karl Muggeridge Honda AUS 0'14.895 9 Troy Corser Suzuki AUS 0'19.708 10 Regis Laconi Kawasaki FRA 0'20.577 11 Norick Abe Yamaha JPN 0'23.473 12 Shinichi Nakatomi Yamaha JPN 0'25.368 13 Fonsi Nieto Kawasaki ESP 0'31.340 14 Chris Walker Kawasaki GBR 0'32.993 15 Roberto Rolfo Ducati ITA 0'41.830
Best Lap Rider Manu. Nat. Total Time Alex Barros Honda BRA 1'50.266
 Rider Standings 01/10/2006
Pos. Rider Manu. Nat. Points 1. Troy Bayliss Ducati AUS 393 2. James Toseland Honda GBR 295 3. Noriyuki Haga Yamaha JPN 293 4. Andrew Pitt Yamaha AUS 239 5. Alex Barros Honda BRA 231 6. Troy Corser Suzuki AUS 218 7. Yukio Kagayama Suzuki JPN 193 8. Lorenzo Lanzi Ducati ITA 152 9. Chris Walker Kawasaki GBR 140 10. Fonsi Nieto Kawasaki ESP 139 11. Michel Fabrizio Honda ITA 117 12. Karl Muggeridge Honda AUS 113 13. Norick Abe Yamaha JPN 105 14. Ruben Xaus Ducati ESP 103 15. Regis Laconi Kawasaki FRA 96 17. Shinichi Nakatomi Yamaha JPN 42 21. Sebastien Gimbert Yamaha FRA 18
Manufacturer Standings 01/10/2006
Pos. Manufacturer Points 1. Ducati 412 2. Honda 373 3. Yamaha 368 4. Suzuki 336 5. Kawasaki 211 6. Petronas 19
RACE REPORT 01/10/2006 Podium placing keeps Curtain on title track   Kevin Curtain   
Yamaha Motor Germany rider Kevin Curtain will go in to next weekend's final world supersport round with an 18-point advantage after finishing third at Imola today.
The race was won by championship rival Sebastien Charpentier (Honda), who needed to beat the Yamaha man to keep his title defence alive, but Curtain's sensible ride to his ninth podium of the season keeps him in the driving seat for next weekend's race in Magny Cours.
The Imola event proved somewhat less exciting than most of the year's previous supersport races. From the lights it was Charpentier's team-mate Kenan Sofuoglu who led the race, riding in formation with his team-mate until the Frenchman unsurprisingly took the lead with eight laps remaining.
Behind them, Curtain struggled for traction and rode a lonely race, with five seconds of tarmac ahead and behind him for much of the race. Yamaha Team Italia's Gianluca Vizziello, winner of the previous weekend's Italian supersport championship race at the same venue, had a great race to secure the best result of his world supersport career, crossing the flag in fourth place.
 
Broc Parkes   
Broc Parkes, team-mate to Curtain in the Yamaha Motor Germany squad, rode heroically to bring his YZF-R6 home in sixth place, just one month after receiving serious injuries in a crash at Assen. The Australian was still in considerable discomfort from his injured neck and ribs, but rode a determined race to bag 10 points that could prove vital in deciding his final championship position.
Massimo Roccoli made it four YZF-R6s in the top ten, bringing his Yamaha Team Italia entry home in tenth. Spain's David Checa finished 12th on the Yamaha GMT94 R6.
The series will now be decided next weekend at the last round of the year in Magny Cours. Curtain goes to the French Formula One circuit on 187 points, with Charpentier on 169. Parkes will be looking to reclaim third place at the circuit where he gained his maiden world supersport win 12 months earlier. The Australian currently lies eight points behind third placed Sofuoglu, on 129 points.
Kevin Curtain (Yamaha Motor Germany) "I did the best I could with what I had but we just didn't have enough rear grip to challenge Sebastien and Kenan today. I don't know what it was, if it was the temperature or the tyre, but it made it a long hard and lonely race. I'm disappointed that I couldn't run with Sebastien today but if you'd told me at the start of the season that we'd be going to the final race with an 18 point lead I'd have taken it like a shot. We did a professional job today and we've now got to do more of the same at Magny Cours next weekend."
 
Gianluca Vizziello   
Gianluca Vizziello (Yamaha Team Italia) "I got off the line really well but I made a mistake when I changed into second and this lost me a lot of time and places. After that I pushed hard and just found a good rhythm. I was able to run the same lap times as the guys in front of me so there is a little disappointment as you never know what I might have been capable of had I got away with the leaders. Anyway, I am very happy and I would like to dedicate the result to my team, who have worked very hard for me."
Broc Parkes (Yamaha Motor Germany) "I just got on and pushed as hard as I could and tried to stay at the same pace for the whole race. The guys in front of me were a little bit quicker, a bit more than I felt comfortable pushing, so I powered on at my best pace and felt good in the middle of the race. I could see Vizziello in front of me and he was making some mistakes. But I had no stamina at all and found it hard to change the bike from side-to-side in the middle of the chicanes. I think I will be a lot better next weekend but, considering the circumstances, I'm quite happy with today's result."
Massimo Roccoli (Yamaha Team Italia) "I wanted to get a good result for my fans today but I went into the race knowing that it would be difficult because we struggled to find a good set-up in practice. I'm now looking forward to Magny Cours. It is a challenging track and I will be doing my best to get back up to fifth in the championship."
Circuit Length: 4959 Temp: 28 Crowd: 86500 Weather: Sunny     2006 WSS Imola 01/10/2006 Race 1 - 21 Laps Pos. Rider Manu. Nat. Total Time 1 Sebastien Charpentier Honda FRA 40'7.972 2 Kenan Sofuoglu Honda TUR 0'0.406 3 Kevin Curtain Yamaha AUS 0'9.627 4 Gianluca Vizziello Yamaha ITA 0'13.983 5 William De Angelis Honda ITA 0'14.390 6 Broc Parkes Yamaha AUS 0'16.870 7 Gianluca Nannelli Ducati ITA 0'18.171 8 Katsuaki Fujiwara Honda JPN 0'18.534 9 Yoann Tibero Honda FRA 0'31.522 10 Massimo Roccoli Yamaha ITA 0'31.561 11 Johan Stigefelt Honda SWE 1'32.047 12 David Checa Yamaha ESP 0'36.420 13 Barry Veneman Suzuki NED 0'43.105 14 Stuart Easton Ducati GBR 0'43.674 15 Chris Peris Yamaha CAN 0'47.734
Best Lap Rider Manu. Nat. Total Time Sebastien Charpentier Honda FRA 1'53.388
 Rider Standings 01/10/2006
Pos. Rider Manu. Nat. Points 1. Kevin Curtain Yamaha AUS 187 2. Sebastien Charpentier Honda FRA 169 3. Kenan Sofuoglu Honda TUR 137 4. Broc Parkes Yamaha AUS 129 5. Robbin Harms Honda DNK 107 6. Massimo Roccoli Yamaha ITA 96 7. Yoann Tibero Honda FRA 74 8. Gianluca Vizziello Yamaha ITA 69 9. Johan Stigefelt Honda SWE 62 10. Xavi Fores Yamaha ESP 49 11. David Checa Yamaha ESP 33 12. Christian Zaiser Ducati AUT 30 13. Gianluca Nannelli Ducati ITA 30 14. Katsuaki Fujiwara Honda JPN 30 15. Kai Borre Andersen Suzuki NOR 29
Manufacturer Standings 01/10/2006
Pos. Manufacturer Points 1. Honda 252 2. Yamaha 224 3. Ducati 74 4. Kawasaki 55 5. Suzuki 39
RACE REPORT 01/10/2006 Corti moves up to second at Imola   Claudio Corti   
Yamaha Team Italia rider Claudio Corti moved up to second place in the FIM Superstock 1000 Cup after a dramatic race in Imola.
The 19-year-old from Como finished the race fourth but was moved up to third following the exclusion of race winner Luca Scassa (MV Agusta) for a technical infringement.
Corti made a good start from fourth on the grid, lying in second place to in the opening laps. While Scassa was able to pull away up front and take the flag by over two seconds, Corti slipped back into a thrilling five-way battle for the remaining podium slots, which was eventually won by Australian rider Brendan Roberts (Suzuki).
Corti raced elbow-to-elbow with series leader Alessandro Polita (Suzuki) on the final lap and although the Yamaha man tried to overtake his fellow Italian for the final podium position on several occasions, he could not quite force his YZF-R1 SP past his more experienced rival.
With Scassa's exclusion, Roberts was declared the winner and Polita's second position seals the championship in his favour. Corti moves up to second place, 26 points behind the champion. Ironically, had Scassa not been excluded Corti would have gone to Magny Cours with the slimmest of hopes of winning the title.
Despite being unable to win the title at the final race Corti will be looking to retain a top three position in the championship, his initial target after moving up from the 600cc class he won last year.
Claudio Corti (Yamaha Team Italia) "I started very fast but found myself slipping back into the pack after a few laps. I was able to recover and tried very hard to pass Polita on the final lap. He defended his line well and seemed to be able to accelerate out of the slow corners a little bit more quickly than me today. Probably our set-up wasn't quite as good as it could have been today but it's a good result and we're now second in the championship, so I am happy."
Circuit Length: 4959 Temp: 23 Crowd: 86500 Weather: Sunny     2006 Superstock Imola 01/10/2006 Race 1 - 12 Laps Pos. Rider Manu. Nat. Total Time 1 Brendan Roberts Suzuki AUS 23'4.667 2 Alessandro Polita Suzuki ITA 0'0.538 3 Claudio Corti Yamaha ITA 0'0.624 4 Ayrton Badovini MV Agusta ITA 0'2.939 5 Matteo Baiocco Yamaha ITA 0'6.047 6 Loic Napoleone Suzuki FRA 0'10.025 7 Roberto Lunadei Yamaha ITA 0'15.101 8 Danilo Dell'omo Suzuki ITA 0'15.527 9 Leonardo Biliotti MV Agusta GER 0'15.907 10 Gilles Boccolini Kawasaki ITA 0'16.449 11 Marko Jerman Suzuki SVK 0'16.585 12 Enrique Rocamora Yamaha ESP 0'18.130 13 Matej Smrz Honda CZE 0'22.745 14 Arne Tode Suzuki GER 0'23.202 15 Sheridan Morais Suzuki RSA 0'26.382
Best Lap Rider Manu. Nat. Total Time Alessandro Polita Suzuki ITA 1'54.426
 Rider Standings 01/10/2006
Pos. Rider Manu. Nat. Points 1. Alessandro Polita Suzuki ITA 157 2. Claudio Corti Yamaha ITA 131 3. Ayrton Badovini MV Agusta ITA 122 4. Luca Scassa MV Agusta ITA 118 5. Brendan Roberts Suzuki AUS 87 6. Enrique Rocamora Yamaha ESP 72 7. Matteo Baiocco Yamaha ITA 71 8. Loic Napoleone Suzuki FRA 58 9. Riccardo Chiarello Kawasaki ITA 48 10. Denis Sacchetti Kawasaki ITA 45 11. Richard Cooper Honda GBR 41 12. Danilo Dell'omo Suzuki ITA 39 13. Sheridan Morais Suzuki RSA 30 14. Alex Martinez Mas Kawasaki ESP 30 15. Ivan Silva Kawasaki ESP 27
Manufacturer Standings 01/10/2006
Pos. Manufacturer Points 1. Suzuki 189 2. MV Agusta 153 3. Yamaha 149 4. Kawasaki 86 5. Honda 45
Alex Asigno

MotoGP Qatar test day 3

The Camel Yamaha Team finished their third day of testing at the Losail International Circuit with the track to themselves today, all other teams having begun testing one day earlier and finished yesterday. Alone on the track, Valentino Rossi and Colin Edwards were quickly able to complete the remaining Michelin tyre work they needed to do, before concluding the test with long runs in the afternoon. Neither Rossi nor Edwards improved on their times from yesterday of 1'56.53 and 1'56.81 respectively, and these remain the fastest times from the three days of testing. However both riders still lapped under lap record pace today, Rossi setting a best time of 1'56.78 after 49 laps and Edwards 1'57.07 from 57 laps. The Yamaha riders and team members now have a five day break before they rejoin the rest of the MotoGP paddock for the final 'winter' test in Sepang, Malaysia on 14th, 15th and 16th February. Valentino Rossi (1'56.78, 49 Laps) "Today was not quite as good as the last two days, mainly because the condition of the track was slightly worse and we didn't have such good grip. I think that last night there was a lot of wind and with only two bikes on the track today it wasn't enough to clean the surface properly. Anyway we continued to work, did our long run and found out some more information about the new M1 in different conditions. We have some vibrations and our top priority now is to find a way to fix this; I hope we can do that in Sepang. Anyway, in general this has been a good test and we have made some more improvements. The times have been quite good and we've done some important work with Michelin. Now I go home for a few days to rest before we start again in Sepang next week." Colin Edwards (1'57.07, 57 Laps) "Overall I am really happy with this test and I am looking forward to the season ahead. I am especially pleased with the setting of the bike, which we seem to be improving all the time. Both Yamaha and Michelin have worked really hard over the winter and, together with the new tyres, we've got a really good package. My long run was not bad this afternoon and the encouraging thing was that my times were consistent, even later on as the tyres started to go off slightly in the heat. It's difficult to compare to last year's race since the conditions are so different, but this year's Qatar race is only two months away now, so we hope that the work we've done at this test will put us in a good starting position for that weekend. The general progress of the bike has been great over just two tests this year so now we will hopefully be able to keep working like this in Sepang next week." Davinde Brivio - Camel Yamaha Team Director "It was interesting to come here in very good conditions and we got some good information which we can work on for the start of the season. It's good to now go immediately to Sepang to check again the settings that we found there at the first test in January. Sepang is the last really important test for us before the start of the season." Unofficial Lap Times: Valentino Rossi (ITA) Yamaha, 1'56.78 Colin Edwards(USA) Yamaha, 1'57.07 Qatar Lap Record: Nicky Hayden (Honda) 2005 - 1'57.903 Qatar Best Lap: Loris Capirossi (Ducati) 2005 - 1'56.917 Ambient temperature: 28.1 degrees Track temperature: 44.0 degrees Humidity: 50.3%
Alex Asigno

Yamaha Motor Italia announces main sponsor

The Yamaha Motor Italia World Superbike Team today announces a three-year sponsorship agreement with Santander Consumer Bank Italy, the leading consumer credit bank in the automotive industry.
The deal will see the YZF-R1 machines ofrun in the red and white corporate colours of the financial giant, which also works with Yamaha Motor Italia as a partner in the Yamaha Credit System - a finance programme available to Yamaha's Italian customers facilitating the purchase of their machines.
Santander Consumer Bank is part of the Gruppo Santander, the leading financial institution in Spain and one of the top ten international banks in the world. Gruppo Santander operates in 46 countries with 10,000 franchises servicing 59 million clients, with more than 126,000 employees. Santander Consumer Bank (SCB) is an important contributor to the success of the group. In Italy, SCB achieved much of its business success developing financial products for the automotive industry.
Laurens Klein Koerkamp - Yamaha Motor Europe, Racing Division "We're pleased to have secured a three-year partnership with Santander Consumer Bank. It is a very positive development that such a leading financial company values the marketing potential of motorcycle racing, and following their existing relationship with Yamaha Motor Italia this partnership is a perfect fit for us and a valuable new contribution to world superbike racing as a whole. Superbike is all about racing production machines which can be bought in our dealerships and this sponsor also has a strong presence in Yamaha's Italian dealerships providing financial services to our customers. I am sure it will be a very fruitful relationship giving our team the opportunity to further improve its competiveness, while Santander will surely raise their public profile in and outside the motorcycle population."
Mauro Viotto - C.E.O. of Santander Consumer Bank Italy "For us the partnership with Yamaha Motor Italia is very important from a commercial point of view. For many years we have been developing products, services and operations tailored for automotive partners. We want to support Yamaha Motor Italia and its dealer network with all these tools and with new ones that we will be developing following their needs through the Yamaha Credit System. We've already reached the lead between independent companies in the whole automotive market. Our aim is to increase our market share in motorcycle financing, in order to expand our existing leadership based largely upon consumer credit within the car segment. We think that the sponsorship of the Yamaha Motor Italia World Superbike Team will strengthen our relationship with the Yamaha dealer network, enabling us to reach our business goals together."
 
Alex Asigno

Everts enjoys perfect season kickoff

With a second place and two heat wins Stefan Everts claimed victory for the third consecutive time in the Starcross di Mantova race in Italy. Riding in perfect harmony with his new aluminum framed Yamaha YZ450FM, the nine times world champion from Belgium opened the 2006 motocross season in the best possible way. In the first heat Everts had to give in to Sebastian Tortelli, the French MX250 world champion of 1998 who returned from the US to campaign the 2006 MX1 world championship. In the other two heats Tortelli experienced bike trouble and could not prevent Everts claiming the other two heat wins. Other then Tortelli in the first heat there were no other riders to really challenge Everts. Unfortunately this also the case for Stefan's teammate Cédric Melotte who was not yet able to go all the way, due to a wrist injury that needs more time to heal. Stefan Everts obviously was pleased with his season opener; "It is always nice to start the season with a victory. It was a pleasant surprise because it was impossible to tell how the race would go by looking at the qualifying results. Saturday and this morning I did not have a very good feeling with the track because the surface was still frozen, which makes the racing rather unpredictable. In the end everything went okay, the track started to soften throughout the day and thankfully my bike was in excellent condition. We will have to do more racing to find the perfect setting for the machine, but we are progressing well." On the other hand Stefan's teammate Cédric Melotte needs to further nurture his injury to arrive at full race fitness; "After my wrist operation in September I started practicing again mid December with the bike, but still I have too much pressure on my wrist. I have tried some pain killers and it did feel better, but I do not prefer to take any unnecessary risks, I simply have to think of the world championship. I will try to enter the international race in Pernes-les-Fontaines or Hawkstone Park to see how my wrist will hold."   The Italian David Philippaerts won the MX2 class, while Yamaha supported rider Aigar Leok (Van Beers Yamaha) made an impressive start of the year, classifying fifth overall, with fifth, sixth and seventh position heat finishes. Davide Guarneri of Yamaha Team Ricci ended the day dramatically by crashing at the start of the third heat in a spill with several other riders. Two retirements of teammate Kenneth Gundersen were a disappointment for the Norwegian, who qualified in first position." Kenneth Gundersen has positive outlook on the season ahead, despite the fact that he and his bike are not yet 100%:"I am satisfied with this first race, considering the fact that we had some problems with the front fork. Even though we still have to improve things further I am still very happy with the performance of the YZ250F. My riding technique has to further improve too over the next few months, but this should come when my knees get better, at the moment they are not yet 100% recovered. The world championship start is still two months away and I expect to be completely ready by then. Despite crashing in the third heat Davide Guarneri was able to make a good judgment of his bike and competitors; "I wanted to race here to have a good practice session before the start of the season and to judge the level of my competitors. We rode with the new suspension and other new parts on the bike and I'm rather pleased with my results. I expected that the others would go a bit faster, but I found it quite easy to match the pace of the leaders. It was a shame I crashed during the start of the third heat, brake problems forced me to retire from the race."    MX1 Overall result 1. Everts (Yamaha); 2. Strijbos (Suzuki); 3. Garcia Vico (Honda); 4. Ramon (Suzuki); 5. Leok(Kawasaki); 6. Salvini (Suzuki); 7. Sword (Kawasaki); 8. Jorgensen (Honda); 9. Beggi (Honda); 10. Correia (Suzuki); 11. Tortelli (KTM); 12. Verhoeven (Kawasaki); 13. Kovalainen(Honda); 14. Parshin (Suzuki); 15. Teybers (Suzuki). MX2 Overall result 1. Philippaerts (KTM); Rattray (KTM); 3. Meo (Honda); 4. Goncalves (KTM); 5. Leok A. (Yamaha); 6. Lombrici (KTM); 7. Pellegrini (Suzuki); 8. Guarneri (Yamaha); 9. Baima Besquet (Honda); 10. Boscolo (KTM); 12. Gundersen (Yamaha).
Alex Asigno

MotoGP Sepang test day 1

Camel Yamaha Team returns to Sepang for final 'winter' test   Camel Yamaha Team riders Valentino Rossi and Colin Edwards began their last three-day test in Sepang today, where they rejoined the rest of the MotoGP grid at the popular Malaysian venue. Fresh from their test in Qatar last week, Rossi and Edwards completed more valuable development work with the 2006-spec YZR-M1, both finishing the day in the top five on the unofficial time sheets. Focusing almost entirely on ironing out the small vibration problems they have been suffering from lately, fast lap times were not the aim of the day for the Yamaha pair. Despite this however, Rossi and Edwards were on the pace and well inside lap record time. Edwards was third behind Marco Melandri (Honda, 2'01.66) and Dani Pedrosa (Honda, 2'01.89) with a best lap of 2'02.00 from 54 laps whilst Rossi, who also completed 54 laps, was fifth with a time of 2'02.20.   Colin Edwards (2'02.00, 54 Laps) "It was seriously hot out there today and pretty exhausting! Today we concentrated on fixing the little bit of chatter we've had and played around with some front fork settings, just trying to dial it in. We made some good progress and we have a new front-end setting to try in the morning; we hope that this will be the final key. Honestly we didn't really concentrate much on lap times but it seems that they came anyway, so I'm pretty happy! The bike already feels even better than it did here in January, the new stuff we have from both Yamaha and Michelin is great and after Qatar I am feeling really confident, especially with the front-end. It's all going well so hopefully we can make the final steps we need over the next two days."    Valentino Rossi (2'02.20, 54 Laps) "Today we worked almost entirely on trying to solve the vibration problems that we have had. We changed many things, tried various different settings and collected a lot of important information throughout the day. Now we are looking forward to using all this information over the next two days and we are confident that we are close to fixing the problem. Once we've been able to fix it, we will be able to use this bike to its full potential. Yamaha has done a great job and the potential of this bike is very high, it's a big improvement to last year's M1 and I am sure that once we've solved this one remaining issue, things will be very good."  Davide Brivio - Camel Yamaha Team Director "Of course fixing this vibration is now our main focus and today we worked a lot with the entire team to try to find the right way forward. We had great cooperation between the two riders and both crews, exchanging information and experience and this is very important for the team's progress. We've been working on data collection today and we will continue tomorrow, trying some new things and gathering more information to help us. We've already done many days testing with this new bike and mostly it's going very well, now we have two more days here to continue with our improvement."  
Unofficial Lap Times: 1. Marco Melandri (ITA) Honda 2'01.66 2. Dani Pedrosa (SPA) Honda 2'01.89 3. Colin Edwards(USA) Yamaha 2'02.00 4. John Hopkins (USA) Suzuki 2'02.15 5. Valentino Rossi(ITA) Yamaha 2'02.20 6. Loris Capirossi (ITA) Ducati 2'02.64 7. Randy de Puniet (FRA) Kawasaki 2'02.75 8. Nicky Hayden (USA) Honda 2'02.86 9= Carlos Checa (SPA) Yamaha 2'03.40 9= Casey Stoner (AUS) Honda 2'03'40 11. Sete Gibernau (SPA) Ducati 2'03.51 12. Toni Elias (SPA) Honda 2'03.52 13. Kenny Roberts (USA) KR Honda 2'03.58 14. Makoto Tamada (JPN) Honda 2'03.66 15. Shinya Nakano (JPN) Kawasaki 2'04.02 16. Chris Vermeulen (AUS) Suzuki 1'04.10 17. Alex Hoffman (GER) Ducati 2'05.40 18. Jose Luis Cardosa (SPA) Ducati 2'05.81 19. James Ellison (GBR) Yamaha 2'05.90 Sepang Lap Record: Nicky Hayden (Honda) 2005 - 2'02.993 Sepang Best Lap: Loris Capirossi (Ducati) 2005 - 2'01.73 Ambient temperature: 37 degrees Track temperature: 54 degrees Humidity: 79%
Alex Asigno

MotoGP Sepang test day 2

Rain shower calls early halt to second day of Sepang test   Work ended early for Valentino Rossi and Colin Edwards today when day two of the Camel Yamaha Team's Sepang Test was cut short by a mid-afternoon rainstorm. The Team spent the morning working on different settings and testing tyres with Michelin, looking to eliminate the vibration that the riders have been experiencing lately, before the rain came down after lunch. Both riders ventured out in the wet on the 2006-spec M1, the first time they have been able to see the performance of the new bike in these conditions, but the track soon started to dry out in patches and they decided to call it a day after just a few laps. Shinya Nakano (Kawasaki) set the fastest time of the day with a lap of 2'01.80, followed by Loris Capirossi (Ducati, 2'01.87). Rossi, who celebrates his 27th birthday tomorrow, was close behind him with a time of 2'01.89 after 47 laps, whilst team-mate Edwards completed 57 laps and set the seventh fastest time with a lap of 2'02.20. The Camel Yamaha Team has one final day of testing remaining tomorrow.  Valentino Rossi (2'01.89, 47 Laps) "This morning we did quite a lot of laps and we were quite fast and consistent, so I was happy. We worked very well with Michelin and with one or two new tyres that they brought we made some good improvements to the vibration. Unfortunately in the afternoon it rained and we couldn't go on as we wished. We made a few laps in the rain just to see how the new bike was in the wet; we had some new things to try with the electronic mapping in these conditions, but we needed more time. After a few laps the track started to dry and then with the conditions half wet and half dry, we had to stop. Tomorrow we might do a long run and we will also continue with the work we started today."  Colin Edwards (2'02.20, 57 Laps) "The weather was a real disappointment today because we had a lot of work to do and we weren't able to complete as many laps as we had hoped. Anyway in the morning we concentrated on a new front fork setting and generally played around, looking for some improvements to the chatter issue. We didn't have enough time to do everything but we definitely made some steps in the right direction. We tested a couple of tyres for Michelin but then the rain came down. We did a few laps in the rain, just to check some settings and try out a couple of new things for Yamaha, and everything seemed okay in that area. Tomorrow we're going to get started nice and early as we've got a lot still to do; I really hope the weather is better!"    Davide Brivio - Camel Yamaha Team Director "Unfortunately the rain stopped us from completing all the work we wanted to do, but anyway we tried to use these conditions as best we could to check some things with the new bike. Tomorrow is our final day of testing in warm conditions before we return to Europe and we have to try to use all the time we have available to us." Unofficial Lap Times: 1. Shinya Nakano (JPN) Kawasaki, 2'01.80 2. Loris Capirossi (ITA) Ducati, 2'01.87 3. Valentino Rossi (ITA) Yamaha, 2'01.89 4. John Hopkins (USA) Suzuki, 2'01.90 5. Dani Pedrosa (SPA) Honda, 2'01.93 6. Carlos Checa (SPA) Yamaha, 2'02.06 7. Colin Edwards (USA) Yamaha, 2'02.20 8. Randy de Puniet (FRA) Kawasaki, 2'02.37 9. Toni Elias (SPA) Honda, 2'02.62 10. Marco Melandri (ITA) Honda, 2'02.65 11. Makoto Tamada (JPN) Honda, 2'02.66 12. Sete Gibernau (SPA) Ducati, 2'02.87 13. Nicky Hayden (USA) Honda, 2'02.93 14. Kenny Roberts (USA) KR Honda, 2'02.95 15. Chris Vermeulen (AUS) Suzuki, 2'03.18 16. Alex Hofmann (GER) Ducati, 2'04.23 17. Jose Luis Cardoso (SPA) Ducati, 2'04.65 18. James Ellison (GBR) Yamaha, 2'05.08 Sepang Lap Record: Nicky Hayden (Honda) 2005 - 2'02.993 Sepang Best Lap: Loris Capirossi (Ducati) 2005 - 2'01.731 Ambient temperature: 31 degrees Track temperature: 45 degrees Humidity: 74%
Alex Asigno

MotoGP Sepang test day 3

Rain interrupts Camel Yamaha Team test on Rossi's birthday   Bad weather again today meant that track time for Yamaha duo Valentino Rossi and Colin Edwards was severely limited on their last day of testing in Sepang. The riders were unable to complete their planned long-runs but Rossi, who turned 27 today, made the most of the inactivity and celebrated with a large birthday cake in the team garage. Despite the rain the riders declared the test valuable and now head back to Europe looking forward to the final stages of preparation, before the first race in Jerez on 26th March. With track conditions patchy throughout the day, times were slightly slower across the board than yesterday. Rossi and Edwards only completed 34 and 28 laps respectively, Rossi setting the second fastest time of 2'02.06 and Edwards the fourth fastest with a lap of 2'02.33. Loris Capirossi (Ducati) was quickest in a time of 2'01.92. The Camel Yamaha Team now return home for a short holiday before they reconvene at the Montmelo circuit, outside Barcelona, for the Official MotoGP Tests on 3rd, 4th and 5th March.  Valentino Rossi (2'02.06, 34 Laps) "27 years is quite a lot and I am definitely getting old, although most of the time I still feel like I am only 16! Today we couldn't do much because of the weather but overall it's been a very interesting test. I am especially happy because we have made some good progress to solve the problem with the vibration. We have some new data now and we understand better why it's happening, and how to finally fix it. We're not yet at 100% and I think we can go faster, but I am feeling confident. Before the Jerez GP we might receive a small improvement for the engine, and hopefully we will have a bit more power. The test in Barcelona isn't so important for us but the final one in Jerez is very useful, as it's just a week before the first race and the conditions will be similar. Now we're close to the start of the season and it's already becoming clear who the main challengers will be; Melandri and Pedrosa especially are looking very fast and it also seems like Ducati are strong. I think it's going to be a very exciting year with some wonderful races!" 
Colin Edwards (2'02.33, 28 Laps) "Today was a bit of a wash-out for me! This morning we only tested a couple of tyres and then it looked like it might rain, so we decided to get started on our long run. Unfortunately I only had time for my warm-up and half a lap before it rained, so that was kind of it for the day! Anyway it's been a good test, we've learned a lot more about the bike and we've been able to try quite a lot of new things which seem to make sense. We're definitely not chasing our tails anymore and the bike is better than it was on Tuesday when we started; that's the most important thing. In general the new bike is great, pretty much everything is better than last year and now I am just counting down the days to the start of the season." Davide Brivio - Camel Yamaha Team Director We have concluded our overseas testing sessions and now we're going back to Europe for the final two tests. The conditions in Barcelona won't help us so much with the bike development but anyway we will try to make the most of it. The important test will be Jerez, which will be the final opportunity for some key preparation before the first race. At the moment we still have a small problem to solve with vibration but apart from that everything is going well. Now we have to work in cooperation with Michelin to find the best combination between the new bike and the new tyres, because both have great potential." The Yamaha Tech 3 outfit again surprised with very competitive times of Carlos Checa, who seems to have made the chance to Yamaha and Dunlop effortlessly. Yamaha debutant James Ellison however could not progress on the strong last day test results he achieved in Qatar. He will need some time to digest the input of the last tests to recalibrate himself for the Barcelona IRTA test starting on March 3. Carlos Checa (2'02.66) "The times have been really good this week and I am quite happy and surprised with the progress we have made so far. We didn't know what would happen coming here after the good first test we made in Qatar and we were prepared to have some problems, but things have been better than we expected and I am happy. The new bike is excellent, as I said before, and now we're starting to understand more about the tyres with Dunlop and how to work together with what we have. We have tried quite a lot of new things with Dunlop this week and there are some good improvements; we have found much better grip here which is helping me to have more confidence. "Anyway despite all this and the times we have set, I don't want to be overconfident or to start to think that things are going to be easy. We have only done two tests and, although the initial signs are good, we can't afford to relax. We have a lot of work to do and a long way to go. The conditions here have been quite strange and now we go to Barcelona, which is a very different track and with much colder weather. Let's wait and see what happens there. Of course it's my home track so it's always nice for me to ride there, but we have a lot of hard work ahead of us so I won't let anything distract me." James Ellison (2'05.70) "This test has really been one that I would like to forget! We started with the settings we had in Qatar because everything felt good there, but they were a mile off for this track so we gradually started to go back to what we had here in January. We got the times back to what they were then but I couldn't go any faster. My riding style is all wrong for here, comparing the data with Carlos' it's clear that I am still carrying way to much corner speed - a hang-over from my Superbike days - and I am having a real problem to make the change. I need to be running in fast on the brakes, stopping the bike, turning it and then firing it out, but it's not easy at this circuit, which I find very difficult. The encouraging thing is that I have been losing all my time on just three corners, so if I can crack my corner style, which I know I can, then I believe I can start to be more in touch with Carlos. "We've been pretty unlucky with the weather as well. Most of the time I spent on the old tyres, and then when we put some new stuff in yesterday it immediately started to rain! Exactly the same thing happened today; we tried some of the good tyres and the grip was much better straight away, but then we needed to change the bike at the front and as soon as we did that it started to rain again. "Anyway, I think I've just been thinking about everything too much! Now I am going to go home and spend some time mountain-biking - my second passion after riding motorcycles and my best form of training. I hope that I can clear my head a bit and go to Barcelona in a new frame of mind. I think I just need to just go there, ride the bike, trust in my ability a little bit and stop trying to think about too many things at once! I really like Barcelona so I hope it will be a big improvement there." Herve Poncharal - Tech 3 Yamaha Team Director "We are really happy and pleasantly surprised with the performance of Carlos this week. He was fast in Qatar, but it was only the first test and we knew that Qatar has always been a good track for Dunlop. We didn't know what would happen here, since Sepang has always been one of the more difficult tracks for Dunlop. Anyway, Carlos has been fast all week and it's looking very promising, we're very pleased with the situation with him. We certainly didn't expect this level of results that quickly so well done to Yamaha, Dunlop and Carlos for the work they've done together in a short space of time. "With James things have been more difficult and we haven't made as much progress as we had hoped. He's done a lot of laps but we haven't been able to find the right way forward for him. This is a difficult track for him and I think, after three tests here, he needs a break and a change of scenery. I hope that a bit of time to rest now will help him so that we can make a new start in Barcelona. "Overall it's been an important test and once again we've learned a lot. We also got the chance to do a couple of runs in the rain which was good. The most important thing is that we're leaving with bikes and riders in good shape for the tests in Spain and we're looking forward to the start of the season." Unofficial Lap Times: 1. Loris Capirossi (ITA) Ducati, 2'01.92 2. Valentino Rossi(ITA) Yamaha, 2'02.06 3. Shinya Nakano (JPN) Kawasaki, 2'02.20 4. Colin Edwards(USA) Yamaha, 2'02.33 5. John Hopkins (USA) Suzuki, 2'02.34 6. Randy de Puniet (FRA) Kawasaki, 2'02.47 7. Sete Gibernau (SPA) Ducati, 2'02.65 8. Carlos Checa (SPA) Yamaha, 2'02.66 9. Dani Pedrosa (SPA) Honda, 2'02.70 10. Nicky Hayden (USA) Honda, 2'02.86 11. Makoto Tamada (JPN) Honda, 2'02.87 12. Marco Melandri (ITA) Honda, 2'03.00 13. Toni Elias (SPA) Honda, 2'03.64 14. Alex Hofmann (GER) Ducati, 2'04.18 15. Kenny Roberts (USA) KR Honda, 2'04.30 16. Jose Luis Cardoso (SPA) Ducati, 2'04.82 17. James Ellison (GBR) Yamaha, 2'05.70 Sepang Lap Record: Nicky Hayden (Honda) 2005 - 2'02.993 Sepang Best Lap: Loris Capirossi (Ducati) 2005 - 2'01.731 Ambient temperature: 33 degrees Track temperature: 48 degrees Humidity: 74%
Alex Asigno

David Checa to miss opening supersport rounds

Yamaha GMT94 rider David Checa will miss the opening rounds of the 2006 Supersport World Championship after breaking his wrist in a testing accident on Wednesday.   The Spaniard had only completed a few laps at the Albacete circuit in his homeland when he crashed the YZF-R1 he is due to race at the Le Mans and Bol d'Or 24 hours endurance races alongside his supersport commitments.   "David is very disappointed," commented team owner Christophe Guyot. "He can't understand why he lost the bike but he has kept his iron will. He knows that even if he has to miss a few races there will be a lot more opportunities to prove how well he can race with GMT throughout the season."   With doctors recommending a four-week lay-off, Checa will miss the Qatar and Australian rounds of the Supersport World Championship, due to take place on February 25 and March 5 respectively. David is planning to return to the saddle for the Le Mans 24 hours race on 22-23 April. As this clashes with round three of the Supersport World Championship, Checa's first race outing on the R6 is expected to be at the Monza race on May 7.
Alex Asigno

Gobert joins Yamaha GMT94

Yamaha GMT94 has signed Australian rider Anthony Gobert to ride its YZF-R6 in the opening rounds of the Supersport World Championship. The eight-time world superbike race winner will substitute for the injured David Checa. Checa crashed in testing last week and broke his arm, forcing him out of the opening races in Qatar and Australia. After undergoing a successful operation on Friday the Spaniard is expected to return to the saddle by the end of March, leaving the team needing a replacement rider for the opening two races. Gobert, who celebrates his 31st birthday on the day of the Phillip Island race, rocketed onto the world superbike scene at the end of the 1994 campaign - taking pole position and a win at the Australian round. After three years in the championship 'The Go-Show' moved to 500cc Grands Prix before returning to the world superbike series in which he made his name in 2000. His win on the underpowered Bimota, again at Phillip Island, was as memorable as the race six years earlier and showed his undoubted natural talent as he won by almost 30 seconds in a wet race. His last world championship outing came in October 2000 when he rode a Yamaha YZF-R7 at Brands Hatch. In the intervening years he faced well-documented personal problems while racing in American and Australian national championships, but Anthony says he is fit and ready to race in what will be his debut world championship supersport races. "I'm really happy to have the opportunity to get back into the world series with a good team and bike," he said. "I took a few years out to work out what I wanted to do and I've realized that it is to get back into racing. I raced in Australia last year and it looked like I might be doing that again, until this offer came to ride in the first few races. At first I was approached for the Phillip Island race but I really wanted some time on the bike beforehand, so the team invited me along to Qatar as well. "The first race will really be a test for us. I raced supersport for Yamaha US in 2001 and 2002 but the bikes have changed a lot since then. It's a new track, team, tyres and bike for me and I haven't ridden for five months, so the goal in Qatar to get a good set-up and hopefully a top ten. If we can get into the groove in Qatar then there's no reason why we can't be aiming at the top five in Phillip Island." Round one of the Supersport World Championship takes place at the Losail circuit in Qatar this Saturday with round two at Phillip Island taking place eight days later.
Alex Asigno

Superbike World Championship: round one - Qatar

Round 1: Losail, Qatar Track length: 5400m Opened: 2004 Fastest superbike lap: 2:01.244 (Troy Corser, Suzuki) Lap record: 2:01.852 (Sebastien Gimbert, Yamaha) Last year's winners: Troy Corser and Yukio Kagayama (both Suzuki) The 2006 Superbike World Championship gets underway this weekend at the Losail circuit in Qatar with Yamaha Motor Italia looking to build on a race-winning debut season in 2005. Having tested twice at the Middle Eastern circuit during the winter break, riders Noriyuki Haga and Andrew Pitt are more than familiar with the characteristics of the modern 5.4km circuit. The team has worked hard over the winter to increase the competitiveness of the YZF-R1. Most of the focus has gone into improving traction and rideability of the bikes over race distance. The new engine management system from Magneti Marelli has been well received by the riders, who commented on the improved power delivery and engine braking characteristics. "I'm happy with the bike," explains Pitt. "The R1 is really feeling more comfortable now and it's about evolution as much as anything else. Everything is looking good, we made some good progress at our December test in Qatar and I think that the team is well equipped to take on any problems that arise. The important thing is that I have a lot of confidence in the bike and that I really enjoy riding it now. The new electronics make it much easier to ride and we've pretty much found a good set-up for the race. The main thing we need to work on is finding a front tyre that will do the race distance. That was our big problem here last year, although it was our first race with the R1 and hopefully it won't be a problem this year." Having won two races and having outscored eventual champion Troy Corser over the second half of last year, Haga will undoubtedly be among the favourites for the 2006 title. It's a challenge the popular Japanese rider is relishing as he looks to win the title that has so far eluded him. "I don't feel any pressure," he says. "It is hard for me to say if I can win the title or not because we have still not tested with our rivals. We have made some good tests in Qatar and the bike is stronger than last year. It looks like Yamaha has been able to make the improvements I asked for at the end of last year so for now I am happy with progress. It is still my target to win the title. Every year I am close: second position, fourth position, third position... but never number one. I will always try my best at each race but only when we race with the others can I know how strong we are. All I can say now is that the championship is the one thing that I have never achieved. Every year I always go in with the attitude and focus to win it and this year is no different." Yamaha will be represented by a second distributor-backed squad in 2006. Yamaha Motor France will enter a three-rider team with Japanese rider Shinichi Nakatomi joining the incumbent Norick Abe and Sebastien Gimbert for his world superbike debut. In the world supersport race, Yamaha riders will make up the lion's share of the grid, with 15 riders aiming for glory on the new YZF-R6. Expected to lead the Yamaha charge is the officially-supported Yamaha Motor Germany squad of Kevin Curtain and Broc Parkes. The Australians were consistently among the front runners in the 2005 campaign and despite the early start to the season the German squad is as well prepared as possible, having tested successfully with the new bike at Valencia and Phillip Island.
Alex Asigno

WSB / WSS Qatar - Qualifying I

WSB : Yamaha makes a positive start at wet Qatar Round: 1 - Qatar Circuit: Losail Circuit Date: 23 February 2006 Temp: 22ºC Weather: Wet Yamaha Motor Italia riders Andrew Pitt and Noriyuki Haga got their seasons underway by posting the seventh and eighth fastest times in today's first qualifying session for round one of the 2006 Superbike World Championship at the Losail circuit in Qatar. For the second year in a row, riders arrived at the Losail circuit to find themselves faced with a wet opening practice, ironic considering that the country's annual rainfall is less than 130mm per year. The rain stopped prior to the timed afternoon session and, although the track was to dry out in places the Yamaha Motor Italia riders opted to save their tyre allocation and run just one set of wet-weather tyres each throughout the day. Having tested at the circuit just over two weeks ago, Haga sat out of the wet morning free practice session with Pitt completing just a handful of laps. With teams restricted to just nine front and 13 rear tyres throughout the weekend, the squad decided to preserve their rubber allocation for tomorrow's expected dry session. Even so, both riders were able get their first feel of the 2006-version YZF-R1 in wet conditions and carry out further work on the new engine management system. Yamaha Motor France rider Sebastien Gimbert, fastest of the 17 riders who ventured out in the soaked morning practice, continued his record strong performances around the Middle Eastern venue in today's opening practice. The Losail lap record holder ended the day in fifth position and keen to replicate the front row start he gained in Qatar last year during tomorrow's superpole session. Team-mate Norick Abe took no risks to end the day in 12th place while Shinichi Nakatomi was probably the rider most badly affected by the morning wash out. One of seven championship rookies this year, the Japanese newcomer is one of only three riders never to have ridden at the Losail circuit. The 27-year-old clocked 35 laps over the two sessions, making him the day's most active rider. He ended the day 24th in the overnight standings. Former world champion Troy Bayliss (Ducati) was the fastest man on track today, setting a 2:17.326 lap late in the session. Regis Laconi (Kawasaki) was second on 2:19.064 with Pitt and Haga less than a second behind, recording 2:19.991 and 2:20.164 respectively.   Sebastien Gimbert (Yamaha Motor France) "This has been a good track for me in the past. I was on the front row here last year and also got the lap record, so I know that I can be strong. I am usually quite good in these wet conditions but I hope that it is dry tomorrow and we can get a good setting for the race." Andrew Pitt (Yamaha Motor Italia) "We learned a lot today. This year's bike is definitely much better to ride in the wet (compared to last year's version) and we were able to work on the electronics again today and make some further improvements there. If the session had gone on for another 10 minutes then we could have gone out on intermediates but as it was we just used the one set of tyres for the morning and afternoon sessions. Even with a fresh set of wets I could have gone quicker but we didn't want to use up a set of tyres unnecessarily." Noriyuki Haga (Yamaha Motor Italia) "We did what we could to improve the bike in the conditions but really I wanted it to be dry today. We already have a base from our test here but I want to work a little bit more on improving the set-up and choosing our tyre for the race." Norick Abe (Yamaha Motor France) "Twelfth is neither bad nor good, in fact it's not really important. Tomorrow the conditions will change and everyone will go faster, so today I treated qualifying as a warm-up session for my body and to get a feel for riding the bike again." Shinichi Nakatomi (Yamaha Motor France) "Today is my first visit to this circuit so I had to make as many laps as possible to learn the layout. I hope that it is dry tomorrow and we can make some faster lap times." Massimo Meregalli (Team Coordinator - Yamaha Motor Italia) "Overall it has been a positive day for us. We had no problems and both riders are happy with the bike in wet conditions. We decided not to use up any more of our tyre allocation than necessary in these conditions. Hopefully it will be dry tomorrow and we can work on finding the best tyres for the race. Pirelli has brought along one option which is new to us, so we must try this out in the dry."     Round: 1 - Qatar Circuit: Losail Circuit Circuit Length: 5380 Lap Record: 2' 1.852 (Sebastien Gimbert, 2005) Fastest Lap Ever: 2' 1.244 (Troy Corser, 2005) Date: 23 February 2006 Temp: 22ºC Session 1 :  Pos.  Rider  Manufacturer  Nat.  1st Qualifying 1  T. Bayliss  Ducati  AUS   2' 17.326   2  R. Laconi  Kawasaki  FRA   2' 19.064   3  T. Corser  Suzuki  AUS   2' 19.614   4  C. Walker  Kawasaki  GBR   2' 19.684   5  S. Gimbert  Yamaha  FRA   2' 19.687   6  A. Barros  Honda  BRA   2' 19.834   7  A. Pitt  Yamaha  AUS   2' 19.991   8  N. Haga  Yamaha  JPN   2' 20.164   9  F. Battiani  Kawasaki  ITA   2' 20.200   10  F. Nieto  Kawasaki  ESP   2' 20.469   11  P. Chili  Honda  ITA   2' 20.695   12  N. Abe  Yamaha  JPN   2' 20.720   13  K. Muggeridge  Honda  AUS   2' 21.152   14  R. Rolfo  Ducati  ITA   2' 21.233   15  Y. Kagayama  Suzuki  JPN   2' 21.234   16  M. Neukirchner  Ducati  GER   2' 21.491   24  S. Nakatomi  Yamaha  JPN   2' 24.788   29  T. Al Naimi  Yamaha  QAT   2' 46.833   WSS : Three R6s provisional front row at rainy Qatar Round: 1 - Qatar Circuit: Losail Circuit Date: 23 February 2006 Temp: 19ºC Weather: Wet Yamaha riders occupied three of the top four places in today's wet first qualifying session for Saturday's opening round of the Supersport World Championship. With rain falling just before the start of the 45-minute session, riders remained cautious in the wet and humid conditions - valuing circuit and machine time ahead of ultimate speed. Despite taking it easy, Yamaha Motor Germany's Kevin Curtain found himself at the top of the leader board until the dying moments of the session, when young Turkish rider Kenan Sofuoglu (Honda) pushed hard to set a time almost two seconds quicker than his opponents. Curtain remained second by the chequered flag with another R6 rider, Gianluca Nannelli of the new Kopron Edo Racing squad third. Curtain's team-mate Broc Parkes completed the provisional front row on a promising start to what will be the third generation YZF-R6's first competitive race meeting. Final qualifying for Saturday's race takes place tomorrow and, with improved weather forecast, today's times are expected to be irrelevant in deciding the final grid. Round: 1 - Qatar Circuit: Losail Circuit Circuit Length: 5380 Lap Record: 2' 4.686 (Sebastien Charpentier, 2005) Fastest Lap Ever: 2' 3.747 (Sebastien Charpentier, 2005) Date: 23 February 2006 Temp: 19ºC Session 1 :  Pos.  Rider  Manufacturer  Nat.  1st Qualifying 1  K. Sofuoglu  Honda  TUR   2' 21.890   2  K. Curtain  Yamaha  AUS   2' 23.872   3  G. Nannelli  Yamaha  ITA   2' 24.021   4  B. Parkes  Yamaha  AUS   2' 24.757   5  K. Andersen  Suzuki  NOR   2' 25.853   6  M. Sanchini  Yamaha  ITA   2' 26.670   7  B. Veneman  Suzuki  NED   2' 26.770   8  X. Fores  Yamaha  ESP   2' 26.887   9  C. Zaiser  Ducati  AUT   2' 26.945   10  K. Fujiwara  Honda  JPN   2' 27.615   11  G. Vizziello  Yamaha  ITA   2' 27.690   12  S. Charpentier  Honda  FRA   2' 27.755   13  A. Gobert  Yamaha  AUS   2' 28.284   14  J. Brookes  Ducati  AUS   2' 28.508   15  D. Thomas  Kawasaki  AUS   2' 28.542   16  D. Garcia  Yamaha  ITA   2' 28.596   20  M. Roccoli  Yamaha  ITA   2' 29.666   23  A. Velini  Yamaha  ITA   2' 30.150   24  C. Peris  Yamaha  CAN   2' 30.164   26  V. Ivanov  Yamaha  RUS   2' 30.250   27  D. Van Keymeulen  Yamaha  BEL   2' 30.832
Alex Asigno

Yamaha Fazer Owners Club

Yamaha Fazer Owners Club
The 2006 Yamaha FZ6 Fazer was designed for the all round rider who wants everything possible out of a 600 – the heart pumping fun of the R6-based fule injected engine, excellently responsive handling from the flawlessly tuned cast alloy frame and box section swingarm.
The 2006 Yamaha FZ6 Fazer comes with a wide 180 cross section rear tyre, plus heaps of cool street style and everyday usability. The FZ6 mixes it all up for an exhilarating ride anytime, anywhere.
Whether you have an owner of a 2003 Yamaha Fazer FZ6 600, or an owner 2005 FZS Fazer 600 this is a fun club to be a member of. Why don’t you let us know all about your new Yamaha Fazer at our Fazer Owners Club Forums. Here are the Yamaha Fazer 600 Owners Club Forums
2006 Yamaha FZ6 Fazer Technical specifications
Engine Engine type 4-stroke, forward-inclined, in-line 4-cylinder, DOHC, 16 valves Engine cooling Liquid cooled Displacement 600cc Bore x stroke 65.5 x 44.5mm Compression ratio 12.2:1 Maximum power 72kW (98 HP) @ 12,000rpm Maximum torque 63.1Nm (6.4 kg-m) @ 10,000rpm Lubrication system Wet sump Carbutator Grouped injected fuel injection Clutch type Wet, multiple-disc
Ignition system TCI Starter system Electric Transmission system Constant mesh, 6-speed Final transmission Chain Fuel tank capacity 19.4 litres (3.6 litres) Oil tank capacity 3.4 litres
Chassis Front suspension system Telescopic fork Front travel 130mm Rear suspension system Swingarm (Linkless type Monocross) Rear travel 130mm Front brake Double discs, Ø 298mm Rear brake Single disc, Ø 245mm Front tyre 120/70 ZR17 (58W) Rear tyre 180/55 ZR17 (73W)
Dimensions Length (mm) 2,095mm Width (mm) 755mm Height (mm) 1,085mm Seat height (mm) 795mm Wheel base (mm) 1,440mm Minimum ground clearance (mm) 130mm Dry weight (kg) 180 kg
 So why not choose the Yamaha Owners Club to be your new Fazer Owners Club!
Alex Asigno

Pitt on front row for Qatar opener

WSB : Pitt on front row for Qatar opener Round: 1 - Qatar Circuit: Losail Circuit Date: 24 February 2006 Temp: 30ºC Weather: Sunny Yamaha Motor Italia rider Andrew Pitt will start tomorrow's two 18-lap races from the front row of the grid after an impressive superpole lap saw him set the third fastest time. Team-mate Noriyuki Haga also put in a strong qualifying performance and will start from the second row, in sixth position. Rule changes for this season means that special soft qualifying tyres are not used during the two one-hour sessions, only in the one-lap superpole and preceding practice, Both the Yamaha riders looked strong during the morning qualifying session, occupying top five places on their race rubber and giving them optimism for tomorrow's races.  Both riders took advantage of the latest R1's increased controllability to take their place at the head of the timesheets during qualifying, Pitt ultimately ending the one-hour session third and Haga in fifth. Both were able to find further improvements in the afternoon's free practice session, although a small mistake from Haga saw him go slightly slower on his grid-deciding superpole lap. Pitt however achieved his target of a personal best lap in superpole, his 2:00.110 being bettered only by factory Ducati team-mates Troy Bayliss and Lorenzo Lanzi. Both riders have declared themselves happy with the race settings ahead of tomorrow's races, which could well be a close affair if today's times are anything to go by: just a second-and-a-half separates the top 13 riders from today's superpole session. The Yamaha Motor France squad had a tough day in Qatar with all three riders missing out on superpole. Fifth fastest in yesterday's wet qualifying, Losail lap record holder Sebastien Gimbert was again the fastest of the trio in combined qualifying, despite problems with his front brakes overheating during second qualifying. He will start the race from 18th on the grid after posting a best of 2:02.710. Team-mate Norick Abe will start one place further back after experiencing some problems with his favoured machine during the morning session. He was forced to switch to his spare machine during the morning session but found the set-up unsuited to the circuit. The third Yamaha Motor France rider, superbike debutant Shinichi Nakatomi, continued to learn both the circuit and his Pirelli-shod R1 retaining his 24th place from the overnight standings. All three riders were able to improve their lap times in the afternoon free practice session, although these would not count towards the grid position for tomorrow's races.   Andrew Pitt (Yamaha Motor Italia) "It's always good to get a front row start, especially around here as it is pretty dirty off the racing line. The bike has been working really well. The team has worked hard just to make it that bit easier to ride. We've got a much better understanding of the bike this year and hopefully that can pay off with some good results." Noriyuki Haga (Yamaha Motor Italia) "The bike is working well here and I am looking forward to the races. I did my best qualifying lap on the soft race tyre and that seemed to work better for me than the qualifier I used in my superpole lap. Our race set-up is good and the times are close. I think we will have some great racing tomorrow." Sebastien Gimbert (Yamaha Motor France) "It is disappointing miss out on superpole, especially considering I was on the front row here last year. I had a problem with the braking on my bike. The front discs were getting too hot and I couldn't brake as hard as I liked to." Norick Abe (Yamaha Motor France) "In the morning session I had a technical problem with my number one bike. I switched to my number two machine but it had a different set-up and I could not go as fast as I like to. We went faster in the afternoon but by then it was too late to make the superpole." Shinichi Nakatomi (Yamaha Motor France) "I am making improvements in each session but still I am learning the circuit. It has been difficult as there has not been much time to ride in the dry, but I am now looking forward to my first ever world superbike races." Massimo Meregalli (Team Coordinator - Yamaha Motor Italia) "In the end the feedback we had from our test here last month has been confirmed. We were satisfied with the results of our test but we had been testing on our own. Today was our first time on the track with our rivals and I think we can confirm the improvements we have made over the winter. I'm pleased for Andrew getting on the front row, while Nori lost some time through a small mistake on his superpole lap. I think we can do a good job tomorrow. Andrew did a lot of laps on the race tyre today and was still able to put in good lap times while with Noriyuki the most important thing is that he has a good set-up. If he is happy with the bike then you know that he is capable of good results."  Round: 1 - Qatar Circuit: Losail Circuit Circuit Length: 5380 Lap Record: 2' 1.852 (Sebastien Gimbert, 2005) Fastest Lap Ever: 2' 1.244 (Troy Corser, 2005) Date: 24 February 2006 Temp: 30ºC Session 2 :  Pos.  Rider  Manufacturer  Nat.  1st Qualifying  2nd Qualifying   Superpole  1  T. Bayliss  Ducati  AUS   2' 17.326     2' 0.639     1' 59.696  2  L. Lanzi  Ducati  ITA   2' 26.171     2' 1.369     2' 0.028  3  A. Pitt  Yamaha  AUS   2' 19.991     2' 0.818     2' 0.110  4  J. Toseland  Honda  GBR   2' 21.732     2' 1.692     2' 0.112  5  T. Corser  Suzuki  AUS   2' 19.614     2' 1.008     2' 0.206  6  N. Haga  Yamaha  JPN   2' 20.164     2' 1.314     2' 0.613  7  Y. Kagayama  Suzuki  JPN   2' 21.234     2' 1.579     2' 0.895  8  K. Muggeridge  Honda  AUS   2' 21.152     2' 0.745     No time  9  S. Martin  Petronas  AUS   2' 21.505     2' 1.613     2' 0.940  10  A. Barros  Honda  BRA   2' 19.834     2' 1.953     2' 0.960  11  R. Rolfo  Ducati  ITA   2' 21.233     2' 2.020     2' 1.072  12  C. Walker  Kawasaki  GBR   2' 19.684     2' 1.975     2' 1.137  13  F. Nieto  Kawasaki  ESP   2' 20.469     2' 1.809     2' 1.155  14  P. Chili  Honda  ITA   2' 20.695     2' 1.781     2' 2.038  15  M. Fabrizio  Honda  ITA   2' 22.655     2' 2.437     2' 2.596  16  M. Borciani  Ducati  ITA   2' 21.778     2' 2.449     2' 3.150  18  S. Gimbert  Yamaha  FRA   2' 19.687     2' 2.710       19  N. Abe  Yamaha  JPN   2' 20.720     2' 3.026       24  S. Nakatomi  Yamaha  JPN   2' 24.788     2' 3.741       28  T. Al Naimi  Yamaha  QAT   2' 46.833     2' 9.934        WSS : Curtain third on Qatar grid Round: 1 - Qatar WSS Circuit: Losail Circuit Date: 24 February 2006 Temp: 23ºC Weather: Sunny Having never run the latest R6 at the Losail circuit, the Yamaha riders were disappointed to find wet conditions for yesterday's opening practice sessions - restricting their set-up time ahead of Saturday's 18 lap race. Dry conditions also meant that yesterday's world supersport qualifying times were redundant by the very first lap of today's session, although in the end the expected names would be topping the leaderboard. After ending yesterday's wet first session in second place, Yamaha Motor Germany's Kevin Curtain again led the hordes of riders running the new YZF-R6. The multiple Australian champion, second in last year's series, recorded a 2:04.741 to end the day in third place despite crashing late in the session. Team-mate Broc Parkes will start tomorrow's race from the second row of the grid, in fifth place, after recording a best of 2:05.082. Spanish Yamaha privateer Xavi Fores of the SLM Racing team confirmed the R6's potential by recording the sixth fastest time, with Italian Gianluca Nannelli another R6 runner in the top ten. Reigning world champion Sebastien Charpentier (Honda) will start tomorrow's race from pole position. His team-mate Kenan Sofuoglu starts alongside him with Katsuaki Fujiwara (Honda) completing the front row in fourth place. Round: 1 - Qatar Circuit: Losail Circuit Circuit Length: 5380 Lap Record: 2' 4.686 (Sebastien Charpentier, 2005) Fastest Lap Ever: 2' 3.747 (Sebastien Charpentier, 2005) Date: 24 February 2006 Temp: 23ºC Session 1 :  Pos.  Rider  Manufacturer  Nat.  1st Qualifying  2nd Qualifying  1  S. Charpentier  Honda  FRA   2' 27.755     2' 3.093   2  K. Sofuoglu  Honda  TUR   2' 21.890     2' 4.089   3  K. Curtain  Yamaha  AUS   2' 23.872     2' 4.741   4  K. Fujiwara  Honda  JPN   2' 27.615     2' 4.756   5  B. Parkes  Yamaha  AUS   2' 24.757     2' 5.082   6  X. Fores  Yamaha  ESP   2' 26.887     2' 5.415   7  K. Andersen  Suzuki  NOR   2' 25.853     2' 5.924   8  M. Berger  Kawasaki  FRA   2' 30.213     2' 5.994   9  G. Nannelli  Yamaha  ITA   2' 24.021     2' 6.183   10  B. Veneman  Suzuki  NED   2' 26.770     2' 6.227   11  C. Zaiser  Ducati  AUT   2' 26.945     2' 6.265   12  M. Sanchini  Yamaha  ITA   2' 26.670     2' 6.362   13  G. Vizziello  Yamaha  ITA   2' 27.690     2' 6.447   14  W. De Angelis  Honda  ITA   2' 29.724     2' 6.647   15  C. Peris  Yamaha  CAN   2' 30.164     2' 6.734   16  M. Roccoli  Yamaha  ITA   2' 29.666     2' 6.818   17  A. Gobert  Yamaha  AUS   2' 28.284     2' 6.872   26  D. Van Keymeulen  Yamaha  BEL   2' 30.832     2' 7.972   28  A. Velini  Yamaha  ITA   2' 30.150     2' 8.219   29  D. Garcia  Yamaha  ITA   2' 28.596     2' 8.921   30  V. Ivanov  Yamaha  RUS   2' 30.250     2' 9.142
Alex Asigno

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