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Yamaha Racing News

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Haga hot in Valencia qualifying

Noriyuki Haga was in fine form during qualifying for Sunday's third round of the Superbike World Championship, ending the day fourth on the timesheets. Having enjoyed successful tests at Valencia and Misano prior to this event, the Japanese star was able to take advantage of the Yamaha Motor Italia team's continuing development work to put his YZF-R1 to the head of the timesheets for much of the session, only to be displaced in the closing stages. Despite his provisional front row starting position, Haga and his team will work on improving rear tyre grip and endurance ahead of Sunday's two races. Haga's team-mate Andrew Pitt had a difficult first day in Valencia, struggling with set-up problems that saw him slide off at slow speed during the session. The Australian started the day with the settings used successfully during the recent Misano test, only to revert back to the tried and Valencia set-up with limited success. The former supersport world champion was perplexed by the lack of front end feeling offered by his machine and will work with his team on rectifying the situation ahead of tomorrow's final qualifying and superpole sessions. Despite his problems Pitt still ended the day in 14th position. Yamaha Motor France's Norick Abe had one of his best qualifying performances as a superbike rider. The Japanese star, who fought for a podium placing in Valencia last year, was using a new specification engine for the first time and topped the timesheets during the session, ending the day seventh. Team-mate Shinichi Nakatomi was another giving his best showing of the year, finishing the day in 17th. Provisional pole position was today taken by world champion Troy Corser (Suzuki), with championship leader Troy Bayliss (Ducati) and Steve Martin (Petronas) making it a trio of Australians at the head of the leaderboard. With weather forecasts predicting a high chance of rain, today's positions could determine the qualifying positions for tomorrow's top 16 superpole session. Noriyuki Haga "Compared to the test here a few weeks ago the grip levels are very low. Our times are not so bad but we must work on making the rear tyre work better, so tonight we will sit with the team and plan some big changes for tomorrow. This is one of my favourite tracks so I hope that we can find the changes to allow us to fight for the lead over the race distance." Andrew Pitt "I've got a problem with the front end and that caused me to crash. We started today with the settings we used at the Misano test, but they just didn't work here. We went back to what we used at the test here last month but I was just losing the front end everywhere. It was bouncing up and down and I just couldn't push at all. We're going to have to sort it out tonight but I'm not getting down about it. We're not far off the pace and if we can sort this problem out then we should be right up there." Norick Abe "My team has worked very hard to improve the engine performance for this race. In the first two races our performances were not so good and at the two tests we had I tried out six or seven engine specifications that did not seem much different. For this race we have another new engine and it is a big improvement. On my time attack lap I came across many slow riders and I was not able to make a faster lap time. I am feeling very confident for the weekend and hope to continue our improvements tomorrow." Shinichi Nakatomi "It's my best qualifying so far and I am happy with the progress we have made. The times are very close and I will be doing my best to make the superpole tomorrow." Massimo Meregalli "It seems that there is some kind of problem on Andrew's bike because we used the settings from when we rode here earlier this month and it is just not right. We are looking at the problem now and will have it fixed for tomorrow. Noriyuki did a good job but we are still not satisfied, we need to work on improving the set-up and will try some different things for tomorrow." Martial Garcia "We have made some good improvements to the bike following the Misano test and our riders have responded with some good performances. I am also very pleased with the performance of our other regular rider Sebastien Gimbert. He is not here this weekend as he is competing at Le Mans with Yamaha GMT94 and has put them on pole position." Parkes second in supersport practice Broc Parkes ended today's first qualifying session for Sunday's third round of the Supersport World Championship in second position. On a circuit that offered little grip following heavy overnight rain the 24-year-old Australian's best lap of 1:37.942 was headed only by world champion Sebastien Charpentier (Honda). Parkes and his Yamaha Motor Germany team-mate Kevin Curtain arrived at the circuit using the settings found at their successful Valencia test earlier this month, only to find that they didn't work as well on the slippery circuit. Despite this the team worked to adapt the bike to the conditions, allowing Parkes to go over half a second quicker than his test time. Curtain ended the day seventh fastest with a lap time of 1:38.646 with 18-year-old Spanish wild-card Jordi Torres eighth on another YZF-R6. Final qualifying takes place tomorrow afternoon.
Alex Asigno

WSB : Abe leads Yamahas in Valencia qualifying

Norick Abe had his best qualifying performance of the season, ending the day as the top Yamaha rider after setting the eighth fastest time in superpole. The former MotoGP star is reveling in a new specification engine provided by his Yamaha Motor France squad and has been up with the top riders all weekend. Fourth place in the pre-superpole practice session suggests that Abe should be at the sharp end in tomorrow's races. Yamaha Motor Italia riders Noriyuki Haga and Andrew Pitt will start from the third row in tomorrow's two 23-lap races in Valencia after setting the 10th and 11th fastest time in superpole. Both riders are finding grip levels at a premium on the Spanish track, which is not offering riders the same amount of traction they had at the official FGSport test at the venue several weeks ago. Despite running consistently strongly in race trim, Haga was unable to exploit the potential of his YZF-R1 in the one-lap superpole, struggling for rear end grip in a error-strewn lap. The Japanese star was unable to fully utilise the grip of his soft qualifying tyre and suffered a number of time sapping slides on his flying lap. While Haga lost five places from his position after the two one-hour sessions, Pitt dug deep to gain four places despite not completely eradicating the front-end handling problems that blighted him during Friday's session. The Australian rider survived a minor scare when he lost the front end in the preceding practice session, narrowly avoiding a crash by holding the bike up with his elbow. Yamaha Motor France's Shinichi Nakatomi found himself in the unfortunate situation of being one of the few riders to improve his time in the Saturday morning session but being shuffled back from his provisional grid position. The superbike rookie took over a tenth of a second from his best Friday lap time, but found himself dropped four places to 21st on the final grid as riders below him in the overnight standings found greater improvements. Lorenzo Alfonsi, standing in for the absent Sebastien Gimbert on the other Yamaha Motor France bike, will start from the back of the grid in his first race for the team. The former European superstock rider is not only having his first outing for the team, it is also his first race since suffering a serious injury at the end of last year. Pole position for tomorrow's races goes to world champion Troy Corser (Suzuki) with Troy Bayliss (Ducati), Lorenzo Lanzi (Ducati) and Steve Martin (Petronas) completing the front row. Norick Abe (Yamaha Motor France) "The whole team is very motivated this weekend. For this race I have a new engine and it feels good, which is creating a good feeling in the team. There was more grip in the afternoon practice than in the superpole and it made the bike slide more easily on my time attack lap. I am happy with eighth. I am making very consistent laps and I hope that I can go and fight at the front tomorrow." Noriyuki Haga (Yamaha Motor Italia) "Of course, I am very disappointed to be starting 10th. After having a good test here earlier this month we are having traction problems this weekend. The superpole lap was not good. I made one mistake but also the rear traction was not as good as I had when I tried the qualifying tyre in the practice. The races will be very, very difficult for us but we will try to improve the bike overnight and work to get the best result possible." Andrew Pitt (Yamaha Motor Italia) "I don't know if it's the rain we've been having or what it is but we just can't seem to get any grip this weekend. I'm lacking confidence in the front end. During the afternoon practice I had a big slide and ended up saving it on my elbow: the bike just went down and my elbow dug in and held me up. We made a lot of changes overnight but nothing seems to be making an improvement. Nori and I both seem to have the same problems and it's going to be a tough race for us tomorrow. The one thing we have on our side is that at least we are able to do consistent lap times over a race distance. Tonight though we will have a look to see what else we can try to make things better for the races."   Shinichi Nakatomi (Yamaha Motor France) "It was a shame we had the wet conditions in the morning as this meant I was unable to improve my time from yesterday. Tomorrow I will aim for a good start and try to get some points. I understand the Valencia track quite well now and I am pleased that we are all finding improvements with our bikes this weekend." Massimo Meregalli (Team Coordinator - Yamaha Motor Italia) "After two tests in Valencia and Misano we felt that we had made a good step forward, only to come here and find that we are fighting for grip. We came to Valencia using the same settings we had at the test, although now Noriyuki cannot make the same lap times. Our bike seems to be very sensitive to changes in the conditions and tonight we will sit down to try and further understand the problems, although with the surface here in Valencia we might arrive tomorrow morning and find it has changed again." Martial Garcia (Team Manager - Yamaha Motor France) "Second row and top Yamaha is a good result for us. Norick is always very strong here and I am confident he can do some good races tomorrow. Shinichi is improving too but we must also remember that he is working as a development rider for Soqi suspension and this means that sometimes he is a little bit up and down in the sessions. Despite this he is a very consistent racer and I think that we can target some points for him tomorrow."    Round: 3 - Spain Circuit: Valencia Circuit Length: 4005 Lap Record: 1' 35.007 (Neil Hodgson, 2003) Fastest Lap Ever: 1' 34.633 (Neil Hodgson, 2003) Date: 22 April 2006 Temp: 24ºC Session 2 :  Pos.  Rider  Manufacturer  Nat.  1st Qualifying  2nd Qualifying   Superpole  1  T. Corser  Suzuki  AUS   1' 34.920     1' 36.640     1' 34.992  2  T. Bayliss  Ducati  AUS   1' 34.963     1' 35.260     1' 35.175  3  L. Lanzi  Ducati  ITA   1' 35.999     1' 35.926     1' 35.203  4  S. Martin  Petronas  AUS   1' 35.653     1' 36.811     1' 35.255  5  F. Nieto  Kawasaki  ESP   1' 36.004     1' 36.211     1' 35.351  6  R. Laconi  Kawasaki  FRA   1' 36.161     1' 37.668     1' 35.410  7  C. Walker  Kawasaki  GBR   1' 36.428     1' 35.522     1' 35.452  8  N. Abe  Yamaha  JPN   1' 35.974     1' 37.257     1' 35.701  9  J. Toseland  Honda  GBR   1' 36.116     1' 36.571     1' 35.784  10  N. Haga  Yamaha  JPN   1' 35.658     1' 37.227     1' 36.115  11  A. Pitt  Yamaha  AUS   1' 36.262     1' 37.281     1' 36.214  12  Y. Kagayama  Suzuki  JPN   1' 35.670     1' 37.559     N/A  13  R. Xaus  Ducati  ESP   1' 35.721     N/A     1' 36.362  14  F. Foret  Suzuki  FRA   1' 36.026     1' 36.986     1' 36.502  15  R. Rolfo  Ducati  ITA   1' 36.848     1' 36.348     1' 36.786  16  A. Barros  Honda  BRA   1' 36.130     1' 37.040     1' 36.887  21  S. Nakatomi  Yamaha  JPN   1' 36.794     1' 36.659   WSS : Front row for Yamaha Motor Germany pair Round: 3 - Spain WSS Circuit: Valencia Date: 22 April 2006 Temp: 21ºC Weather: Sunny Yamaha Motor Germany riders Kevin Curtain and Broc Parkes sped their YZF-R6s to the front row of tomorrow's world supersport race in Valencia. Curtain took advantage of the unexpectedly sunny conditions at the Spanish circuit to improve his time from Friday by almost one second to bag second place on the grid, behind world champion and current points leader Sebastien Charpentier (Honda).  The Yamaha Motor Germany squad worked hard overnight to change the set-up of the rapidly improving R6, giving Curtain confidence going into tomorrow's 23-lap race. The Australian has already taken second place finishes in each of the first two rounds and would dearly love to add to his three career wins in the class in tomorrow's race. Team-mate and fellow Australian Broc Parkes will start from fourth position, even though he was unable to better his Friday time in today's 45 minute final session. Like Curtain, he worked on finding a good race set-up and is happy with the way his machine is performing. Joining Charpentier, Curtain and Parkes on the front row is Japanese rider Katsuaki Fujiwara (Honda). Two other R6 riders made it to the top 10 in qualifying. Javi Fores and Jordi Torres, two privately entered Spanish riders, ended the day in fifth and 10th places respectively. Round: 3 - Spain WSS Circuit: Valencia Circuit Length: 4005 Lap Record: 1' 38.874 (Alessio Corradi, 2003) Fastest Lap Ever: 1' 37.331 (Chris Vermeulen, 2003) Date: 22 April 2006 Temp: 21ºC Session 1 :  Pos.  Rider  Manufacturer  Nat.  1st Qualifying  2nd Qualifying  1  S. Charpentier  Honda  FRA   1' 36.913     1' 37.565   2  K. Curtain  Yamaha  AUS   1' 38.646     1' 37.698   3  K. Fujiwara  Honda  JPN   1' 38.141     1' 37.750   4  B. Parkes  Yamaha  AUS   1' 37.942     1' 38.201   5  X. Fores  Yamaha  ESP   1' 39.534     1' 38.385   6  R. Harms  Honda  DNK   1' 38.403     1' 38.672   7  B. Veneman  Suzuki  NED   1' 38.960     1' 38.448   8  K. Sofuoglu  Honda  TUR   1' 38.489     1' 39.240   9  Y. Tibero  Honda  FRA   1' 38.643     1' 39.122   10  J. Torres  Yamaha  ESP   1' 38.724     1' 38.716   11  K. Andersen  Suzuki  NOR   1' 39.216     1' 38.772   12  M. Roccoli  Yamaha  ITA   1' 39.672     1' 38.836   13  J. Stigefelt  Honda  SWE   1' 39.266     1' 38.971   14  C. Zaiser  Ducati  AUT   1' 39.003     1' 38.980   15  G. Vizziello  Yamaha  ITA   1' 39.137     N/A   16  W. De Angelis  Honda  ITA   1' 39.794     1' 39.216   18  K. Noyes  Yamaha  USA   1' 39.415     1' 39.412
Alex Asigno

WSB : Abe back to the front in Valencia

Yamaha's world superbike riders overcame a lack of traction to bring home a good haul of points at round three of the series in Valencia today. Norick Abe was the leading Yamaha rider, ending the day with a pair of fourth places and only narrowly missing out on a podium finish in his second outing. The Japanese star was in superb form all weekend after his Yamaha Motor France squad brought along a new specification engine for the race. The team, which uses and is responsible for development of Yamaha's YEC kit parts, worked hard after below par performances in Qatar and Phillip Island. In both races Abe made good starts and worked hard to battle with fellow Yamaha rider Noriyuki Haga. In the afternoon's second race the two-time 500cc Grand Prix winner looked like coming home third for what would have been his first ever superbike podium, only to be passed by Lorenzo Lanzi (Ducati) on the final lap. Despite a little disappointment at missing out on third, Abe was delighted with the performance of his R1 and at being back running with the leaders. Yamaha Motor Italia riders Haga and Andrew Pitt had a tough day struggling with set-up problems. For Haga, the two races were virtually carbon copies of each other, holding third for much of the race but succumbing to Lanzi and Abe in the final few laps. The Japanese rider suffered electrical problems in both outings, affecting his machine's quick shift system and the power delivery of the engine. Despite the first race problems, Haga was able to bring his R1 home in fifth place. Set-up changes and the replacement of various electrical components brought hope of a better result in race two and, after a good start, Haga was challenging eventual winner Troy Bayliss (Ducati) in the battle for second. Unfortunately for Haga the problem reemerged and his lap times dropped off, drawing him into the clutches of Abe and Lanzi. Despite his disappointment at not battling for the podium, Haga had the consolation of moving up two places in the championship, leaving Valencia in fourth place. Pitt also had two similar races, unable to fix the front end grip problems he faced all weekend. The Australian came home tenth in the first race following a bad start and finished ninth in race two, at the back of a three-way battle for seventh with Kawasaki riders Chris Walker and Regis Laconi. Yamaha Motor France's improved fortunes allowed Shinichi Nakatomi to show his true colours. The Japanese newcomer grabbed two 12th places in a wonderful display of aggressive riding on his R1. After a somewhat lonely race one, the second outing saw Nakatomi was involved in an intense four-way battle for tenth that included no less than multiple Grand Prix winner Alex Barros (Honda) and former superbike world champion James Toseland (Honda). In the end Nakatomi finished just a tenth of a second behind Toseland, but claimed Barros as a scalp. Both Valencia races were won by Bayliss, with defending world champion Troy Corser (Suzuki) second both times. In the championship, Bayliss extends his lead to 22 points over second placed Corser with Toseland third and Haga fourth. Pitt slips back one place to sixth, with Abe's 26 points taking him up to eighth place overall. The next round takes place at Yamaha Motor Italia's local Monza circuit in two weeks' time. Norick Abe (Yamaha Motor France) "Two good results today, so I am very happy with that. In the second race compared to the first I had a better feeling but in the beginning the top two were gone and in a different world. I caught up with Lanzi then tried so hard to catch Haga. When I passed him I tried to make a gap but by that stage the tyres were spinning a lot. I think the Ducati has good traction in that condition, because Lanzi was very fast at the end. So I am a little disappointed to miss the podium but the whole day was a big improvement over the first rounds, so I am very happy." Noriyuki Haga (Yamaha Motor Italia) "After qualifying we knew that this was going to be a tough race but the problems we had today made it impossible to fight for the podium. In the first race the traction was not so good but I thought I could take third until the engine lost power. For the second race the feeling with the bike was better but the problem came back and there was nothing I could do when Abe and Lanzi came past." Andrew Pitt (Yamaha Motor Italia) "In the first race we also tried something different on the start and it didn't work, which gave me a lot of work to do. We made some improvements to the bike after qualifying and between the races but I was still struggling for front end grip. The bike was actually quite good for the first ten laps but when it went off I couldn't push as hard as I wanted to. I was able to run with guys like Toseland and Laconi but the confidence in the front end wasn't there and I couldn't make a pass." Shinichi Nakatomi (Yamaha Motor France) "I'm pleased to have two good races and score some championship points. The main difference this weekend was that the team has made the bike a lot better than at the first two races, so I could go fast and have some good battles in the second race. We had three days of testing here as well so that also makes a difference." Martial Garcia (Team Manager - Yamaha Motor France) "We found the correct settings today and adapted well to the tyres. We made tests all winter with the old tyres but are now racing with the new ones, which are much better but they do increase chattering and sometimes that means we are lost in the set-up. In the Misano test we recovered confidence and we can see the results now." Massimo Meregalli (Team Coordinator - Yamaha Motor Italia) "It has been a difficult weekend for us. Noriyuki's bike developed an electrical problem which caused some problems with the engine power. We replaced the sensors between the races but it did not fix the problem. Andrew had problems with front end grip but rode well to get some good points. To be honest, we know that Valencia is not one of our best circuits but we are an ambitious team with a goal of winning the championship so even though we came here knowing it would be difficult we are never satisfied with fifth places. On the positive side, Noriyuki has moved up the championship table to fourth and when you consider that he was seventh in the championship this time last year we are clearly going in the right direction."  Race classification WSB Round: 3 - Spain Circuit: Valencia Circuit Length: 4005 Lap Record: 1' 35.007 (Neil Hodgson, 2003) Fastest Lap Ever:  1' 34.633 (Neil Hodgson, 2003) Race: 23 Laps  Pos.  Rider Manufacturer  Nat. Total Time  1   T. Bayliss Ducati  AUS  37' 4.634  2   T. Corser Suzuki  AUS  +2.765  3   L. Lanzi Ducati  ITA  +14.225  4   N. Abe Yamaha  JPN  +17.126  5   N. Haga Yamaha  JPN  +18.225  6   Y. Kagayama Suzuki  JPN  +18.495  7   R. Xaus Ducati  ESP  +22.693  8   R. Laconi Kawasaki  FRA  +24.233  9   J. Toseland Honda  GBR  +28.799  10   A. Pitt Yamaha  AUS  +28.946  11   A. Barros Honda  BRA  +34.558  12   S. Nakatomi Yamaha  JPN  +37.151  13   M. Fabrizio Honda  ITA  +43.368  14   D. De Gea Honda  ESP  +45.753  15   F. Foret Suzuki  FRA  +46.586  Race 2: 23 Laps  Pos.  Rider Manufacturer  Nat. Total Time  1   T. Bayliss Ducati  AUS  37' 6.508  2   T. Corser Suzuki  AUS  +0.790  3   L. Lanzi Ducati  ITA  +15.133  4   N. Abe Yamaha  JPN  +16.004  5   N. Haga Yamaha  JPN  +16.929  6   F. Nieto Kawasaki  ESP  +17.056  7   C. Walker Kawasaki  GBR  +19.967  8   R. Laconi Kawasaki  FRA  +21.395  9   A. Pitt Yamaha  AUS  +21.801  10   M. Fabrizio Honda  ITA  +32.166  11   J. Toseland Honda  GBR  +32.259  12   S. Nakatomi Yamaha  JPN  +32.355  13   F. Foret Suzuki  FRA  +32.648  14   A. Barros Honda  BRA  +33.875  15   S. Martin Petronas  AUS  +38.052  Fastest Race Lap:   Pos.  Rider Manufacturer  Nat. Total Time  1   T. Corser Suzuki  AUS  1' 35.374  Championship standings WSB Pos.  Rider  Manufacturer  Nat. Points  1   Troy Bayliss Ducati  AUS 125  2   Troy Corser Suzuki  AUS 103  3   James Toseland Honda  GBR 86  4   Noriyuki Haga Yamaha  JPN 64  5   Alex Barros Honda  BRA 62  6   Andrew Pitt Yamaha  AUS 58  7   Lorenzo Lanzi Ducati  ITA 47  8   Norick Abe Yamaha  JPN 40  9   Michel Fabrizio Honda  ITA 34  10   Ruben Xaus Ducati  ESP 33  11   Roberto Rolfo Ducati  ITA 32  12   Fonsi Nieto Kawasaki  ESP 29  13   Yukio Kagayama Suzuki  JPN 24  14   Regis Laconi Kawasaki  FRA 22  15   Chris Walker Kawasaki  GBR 21  20   Shinichi Nakatomi Yamaha  JPN 8  23   Sebastien Gimbert Yamaha  FRA 3  Manufacturers standings WSB Pos. Manufacturer Points  1  Ducati 126  2  Suzuki 113  3  Honda 91  4  Yamaha 84  5  Kawasaki 40  6  Petronas 4  WSS : Curtain completes Yamaha's century of supersport podiums Round: 3 - Spain Circuit: Valencia Date: 23 April 2006 Crowd: 42000 Temp: 21ºC Weather: Sunny Yamaha scored its 100th podium finish in the Supersport World Championship with a second place for Yamaha Motor Germany's Kevin Curtain in Valencia today. Curtain's podium makes Yamaha the first manufacturer to reach that milestone in a class in which it has consistently been strong. Massimo Meregalli's win at Misano in 1997 was the manufacturer's first podium finish in the class and since then Yamaha has gone on to win three manufacturer and a rider's world title with Yamaha Motor Germany's Jörg Teuchert in 2000. Australian rider Curtain made a poor start in today's race, ending the first lap in fourth place but fighting his way through to second at the flag. After moving into second on lap four Curtain had something of a lonely race, six seconds behind race winner Sebastien Charpentier (Honda) but three ahead of third placed Katsuaki Fujiwara (Honda). In a good day for Yamaha Motor Germany, Broc Parkes came home fourth in what is only the third race for the latest model YZF-R6. With showers throughout the weekend limiting the amount of dry practice time both Yamaha's Australian riders failed to find a perfect set-up for what turned out to be a dry race. Having worked hard to move through the pack, Curtain found his rear tyre was unable to provide the grip needed to close down Charpentier and was forced to settle for what was his third second place of the season. Parkes meanwhile had a problem of brake fluid leaking onto his footpegs after the top of the rear brake cylinder was displaced by the rider's boot. Despite not affecting the performance of his machine, Parkes understandably rode cautiously as he was unaware of the source of the fluid. Yamaha's third-generation YZF-R6 was well represented in the race, with six machines in the top ten and several young riders catching the eye. Nineteen-year-old wild-card Jordi Torres equaled his fine qualifying position with fifth in the race, while fellow Spaniard Xavi Fores, 20, ran second in the early laps but faded to eighth at the flag. Yamaha Team Italia riders Massimo Roccoli and Gianluca Vizziello finished just behind Fores, ending the day ninth and tenth respectively. The race was led from lights to flag by world champion Charpentier to extend his lead over Curtain to 15 points in the championship. Parkes moves up to fourth in the points with three of the 13 races completed with Fores and Roccoli sharing fifth place alongside Yoann Tiberio (Honda). Kevin Curtain (Yamaha Motor Germany) "I didn't get the best of starts and by the time I made it through to second Sebastien had got away. I tried hard to catch him but I'd worked my rear tyre too hard and didn't have enough grip. I'm happy enough with the result though. Our bike is still developing and we lost a lot of set-up time here due to the rain. Fair play to Sebastien though, he was the best rider today and deserved to win. Hopefully we'll have a new specification engine at Monza, if not then by Silverstone, and Pirelli will be supplying a new front tyre which we have tested and works much better with our bike." Broc Parkes (Yamaha Motor Germany) "I suppose I got some points today but I'm not that happy. I realised in the middle of the race that there was some fluid leaking onto the bike and I thought it was maybe oil from the rear shock. It turned out it was the cap that had come off the rear brake master cylinder, but it was always in the back of my mind that something could maybe go on the tyre, so I had to hold back a bit." Jordi Torres (Speed Moto) "I was very nervous at the start of the race and in the first corner a lot of riders passed me. I regained my concentration and started to pass a few other riders. At the end of the race my tyre was pretty much finished but I tried to control the situation I was in and scored fifth place. I am very pleased about that because this is my first race in this championship, which is run at a very high level." Massimo Roccoli (Yamaha Team Italia) "I rode quite nervously in the opening laps but by lap five I had settled down and was able to make up some positions. With about five laps to go the bike seemed to be straining a bit and although I was still able to have a good battle with Fores I could not quite pass him. We definitely improved our set-up from yesterday and I am quite happy with the result, although I know we must still work harder." Gianluca Vizziello (Yamaha Team Italia) "I was having a good race in front of Massimo until close to the end, when I lost some grip at the front. I had a lot of front end slides and twice saved a crash on my knee. Massimo was able to pass on one of these moments and when I looked behind and saw no-one close I backed off and took a safe finish." Race classification WSS Round: 3 - Spain Circuit: Valencia Circuit Length: 4005 Lap Record: 1' 38.664 (Sebastien Charpentier, 2006) Fastest Lap Ever:  1' 38.664 (Sebastien Charpentier, 2006) Race: 23 Laps  Pos.  Rider Manufacturer  Nat. Total Time  1   S. Charpentier Honda  FRA  38' 12.713  2   K. Curtain Yamaha  AUS  +6.537  3   K. Fujiwara Honda  JPN  +9.454  4   B. Parkes Yamaha  AUS  +11.750  5   J. Torres Yamaha  ESP  +15.964  6   R. Harms Honda  DNK  +17.007  7   Y. Tibero Honda  FRA  +19.548  8   X. Fores Yamaha  ESP  +22.400  9   M. Roccoli Yamaha  ITA  +22.513  10   G. Vizziello Yamaha  ITA  +24.708  11   B. Veneman Suzuki  NED  +25.317  12   J. Brookes Ducati  AUS  +27.194  13   W. De Angelis Honda  ITA  +31.740  14   T. Lauslehto Honda  FIN  +37.082  15   S. Le Grelle Honda  BEL  +41.951  Fastest Race Lap:   Pos.  Rider Manufacturer  Nat. Total Time  1   S. Charpentier Honda  FRA  1' 38.664  Championship standings WSS Pos.  Rider  Manufacturer  Nat. Points  1   Sebastien Charpentier Honda  FRA 75  2   Kevin Curtain Yamaha  AUS 60  3   Robbin Harms Honda  DNK 31  4   Broc Parkes Yamaha  AUS 29  5   Massimo Roccoli Yamaha  ITA 22  6   Xavi Fores Yamaha  ESP 22  7   Yoann Tibero Honda  FRA 22  8   Johan Stigefelt Honda  SWE 20  9   Joshua Brookes Ducati  AUS 20  10   Kenan Sofuoglu Honda  TUR 16  11   Katsuaki Fujiwara Honda  JPN 16  12   Gianluca Vizziello Yamaha  ITA 16  13   Christian Zaiser Ducati  AUT 15  14   Jordi Torres Yamaha  ESP 11  15   Sebastien Le Grelle Honda  BEL 11  21   Didier Van Keymeulen Yamaha  BEL 2  Manufacturers standings WSS Pos. Manufacturer Points  1  Honda 75  2  Yamaha 60  3  Ducati 22  4  Kawasaki 8 5  Suzuki 5  FIM Superstock 1000 Cup: Corti eighth on Superstock 1000 debut Round: 1 - Spain Circuit: Valencia Date: 22 April 2006 Crowd: 42000 Temp: 20ºC Weather: Sunny European Superstock 600 champion Claudio Corti gave a good display on his first race in the FIM Superstock 1000 Cup, finishing eighth on his Yamaha Team Italia YZF-R1 SP. Starting 12th on a circuit dampened by overnight rain, the 18-year-old Italian steadily worked his way through a field of more experienced riders, pipping local rider Alex Martinez (Kawasaki) across the line and almost catching South African superbike champion Sheridan Morais (Suzuki) and the battle for sixth place. After a thrilling race-long battle for the lead, it was Italian Alessandro Polita (Suzuki) who stood on the top step of the podium after a sometimes frantic battle with Spanish wild-card Ivan Silva (Kawasaki). Ayrton Badovini (MV Agusta) was third with Spaniard Enrique Rocamora the leading Yamaha rider, finishing fourth on his YZF-R1 SP. Claudio Corti (Yamaha Team Italia) "This has been a difficult race for me as we have found it difficult to get traction all weekend and I could not ride as well as I would like. When I consider this is my first time racing the R1 then this is not so bad, but I am still disappointed with the result. The next race is at Monza, which is my local track, and I am sure that if the team can make some progress then I can go for the win there."   Race classification FIM Superstock 1000 Cup Round: 1 - Spain Circuit: Valencia Circuit Length: 4005 Lap Record: 1' 39.034 (Massimo Roccoli, 2005) Fastest Lap Ever:  1' 39.034 (Massimo Roccoli, 2005) Race: 13 Laps  Pos.  Rider Manufacturer  Nat. Total Time  1   A. Polita Suzuki  ITA  22' 4.712  2   I. Silva Kawasaki  ESP  +0.303  3   A. Badovini MV Agusta  ITA  +3.751  4   E. Rocamora Yamaha  ESP  +5.418  5   L. Scassa MV Agusta  ITA  +5.729  6   D. Sacchetti Kawasaki  ITA  +9.290  7   S. Morais Suzuki  RSA  +9.409  8   C. Corti Yamaha  ITA  +10.143  9   A. Martinez Mas Kawasaki  ESP  +10.149  10   S. Saltarelli Kawasaki  ITA  +13.128  11   M. Baiocco Yamaha  ITA  +18.002  12   R. Cooper Honda  GBR  +25.076  13   D. Dell'omo Suzuki  ITA  +27.910  14   R. Chiarello Kawasaki  ITA  +29.890  15   I. Dionisi Yamaha  ITA  +29.983  Fastest Race Lap:   Pos.  Rider Manufacturer  Nat. Total Time  1   A. Polita Suzuki  ITA  1' 39.789  FIM Superstock 1000 Cup championship standings Pos.  Rider  Manufacturer  Nat. Points  1   Alessandro Polita Suzuki  ITA 25  2   Ivan Silva Kawasaki  ESP 20  3   Ayrton Badovini MV Agusta  ITA 16  4   Enrique Rocamora Yamaha  ESP 13  5   Luca Scassa MV Agusta  ITA 11  6   Denis Sacchetti Kawasaki  ITA 10  7   Sheridan Morais Suzuki  RSA 9  8   Claudio Corti Yamaha  ITA 8  9   Alex Martinez Mas Kawasaki  ESP 7  10   Simone Saltarelli Kawasaki  ITA 6  11   Matteo Baiocco Yamaha  ITA 5  12   Richard Cooper Honda  GBR 4  13   Danilo Dell'omo Suzuki  ITA 3  14   Riccardo Chiarello Kawasaki  ITA 2  15   Ilario Dionisi Yamaha  ITA
Alex Asigno

MX1 : Victory 90 for Everts after Portuguese thriller

Yamaha Intur Sports Motocross Team rider Stefan Everts steered his YZ450FM to a sixth consecutive victory and the third this season today at a warm Grand Prix of Portugal and the Agueda circulated populated by 15,500 spectators. It was the 90th career success for the reigning number one and came after a gripping first moto tussle with Sebastien Tortelli (KTM).  The third round of fifteen in the 2006 FIM MX1 World Championship took place in good weather conditions with sunshine and decent temperatures bathing the fifth and sixth motos of the season. Only 24 hours early the climate had been quite different. Hard rain throughout Friday night and some more showers Saturday forced the FIM to shrink the Saturday practice timetable to conserve the sodden track. With only one free practice before the 30 minute qualification 33-year-old Everts sealed the third fastest lap time. The track was dry and rough for the opening moto and the various ruts provided a nice technical contrast to the faster sections of the course. The first outing of the day was a classic and one of the best performances by Everts in several years. The Belgian fought all race long with Sebastien Tortelli and produced what has to be considered as a contender for the 'over-taking move of the season' by leaping past the Frenchman cresting a jump-on-the-turn to regain the lead early in lap ten. Tortelli kept applying pressure but Everts was faultless and needed to be. Eventually the Frenchman made a mistake on the final circulation and crashed giving the reigning number one an easy passage to the chequered flag. In the second race Everts was fourth going around the second corner but attacked aggressively and passed leader Tortelli in the same bend as earlier in the day. The Frenchman crashed shortly afterwards and dislocated his hip. The severity of the injury is unknown but if he is forced to miss the next Grand Prix then it will leave Everts in a strong position in terms of the Championship. Alone at the front he controlled the moto by a relatively comfortable margin over Jonathan Barragan (KTM). Cedric Melotte continues to find his speed after a pre-season wrist injury but the friendly Belgian suffered with two bad starts and a second moto crash today. The 27-year-old had to dispel a lot of energy to come back from a lowly position in the first moto to ninth and then fell on the tight second corner of the second race and was far behind the field before deciding to retire after another spill. Stefan now heads Tanel Leok (Kawasaki) by 27 points in the world championship standings. After two consecutive rounds within the Iberian Peninsula the fourth test of the series will take place in a fortnight at the Teutschenthal circuit for the Karcher Grand Prix of Germany. Stefan Everts: "It has been a hard day for me, especially with that first moto. I was in the lead but Sebastien was there the whole race and pushing me. I had to ride defensively because I know he is very aggressive and could try anything. The moment he passed me I got him back going up the hill and I think that was an important move that decided the rest of the race. In the second moto I was very aggressive on the first lap and could pass Sebastien in the same place. I tried to pull away but the moment I saw him on the ground I lost my concentration and couldn't really find my rhythm or pace. Jonathan followed me hard and I know he is very fit. It was another tough race but I am happy with this double victory." Cedric Melotte: "I don't know what happened today but it was not a good weekend for me. My jumps were not bad out of the gate but everybody closed me off on the first turn and that happened twice. I had two bad starts and the track was not good for passing. I tried to come back in the first race and ended up ninth; I know I can do better than that but I was feeling a bit lost out there. In the second heat I crashed on the second corner with Brian and took a long time to get going again. I tried hard to come back but lost the front wheel. It was hard to restart again and finally I decided to stop. It was a weekend without any luck and I just want to focus on the next GP now." Carlo Rinaldi: "It was a very good day on Stefan's side as once again he proved that he wants to beat everybody, even if it means riding defensively like he did in the first moto. It looked like Tortelli had a bit more than him but he rode with a good strategy and in a smart way. In the second moto he was quickly in the lead and tried to manage the gap with Barragan but was not riding so well or as smooth as he usually is. It was a bad day for Cedric and I feel very sorry for him because he needs some good results. It was very difficult to come back on this track." NB: In the last few years the manufacturer standings were calculated by FIM based upon the total GP result (combined overall standings after two motos), with 25 points for the manufacturer winning the overall GP. This was remarkable as riders can win 25 points per heat, and therefore a maximum of 50 points per GP. As per 2006 the manufacturer standings of FIM are based upon the same calculations as for the riders championship: for each heat manufacturer points are to be gained, regardless of the overall GP position.   Race classification MX1 Round: 3 - 2006 GP of Agueda, Portugal Circuit: Agueda Race: 21 Laps  Pos.  Rider Manufacturer  Nat. Total Time  1   S. Everts Yamaha  BEL  40' 11.933  2   S. Tortelli KTM  FRA  +20.727  3   K. De Dycker Honda  BEL  +33.544  4   K. Strijbos Suzuki  BEL  +40.260  5   J. Barragan KTM  ESP  +44.074  6   T. Leok Kawasaki  EST  +49.921  7   S. Ramon Suzuki  BEL  +54.458  8   J. Noble Honda  GBR  +1' 19.327  9   C. Melotte Yamaha  BEL  +1' 25.116  10   S. Sword Kawasaki  GBR  +1' 28.637  11   J. Garcia Vico Honda  ESP  +1' 30.252  12   G. Crockard Honda  GBR  +1' 30.862  13   M. Priem Yamaha  BEL  +1' 33.701  14   B. Jorgensen Honda  DNK  +1' 36.929  15   P. Leuret  Honda  FRA  +1' 42.669  16   M. Van Daele Honda  BEL  +1' 50.107  17   J. Bill Yamaha  GBR  +1' 52.142  18   A. Pyrhonen TM  FIN  +2' 5.337  19   C. Federici Kawasaki  ITA  +1 lap(s)  20   L. Freibergs Suzuki  LVA  +1 lap(s)  Race 2: 21 Laps  Pos.  Rider Manufacturer  Nat. Total Time  1   S. Everts Yamaha  BEL  39' 23.754  2   J. Barragan KTM  ESP  +5.746  3   K. Strijbos Suzuki  BEL  +11.695  4   T. Leok Kawasaki  EST  +18.728  5   K. De Dycker Honda  BEL  +22.443  6   M. Priem Yamaha  BEL  +29.741  7   J. Bill Yamaha  GBR  +50.317  8   P. Leuret  Honda  FRA  +1' 1.967  9   W. Avis KTM  RSA  +1' 9.310  10   A. Pyrhonen TM  FIN  +1' 15.542  11   J. Garcia Vico Honda  ESP  +1' 18.807  12   L. Freibergs Suzuki  LVA  +1' 21.424  13   G. Crockard Honda  GBR  +1' 30.916  14   D. Theybers Suzuki  BEL  +1' 34.707  15   A. Salvini Suzuki  ITA  +1' 37.602  16   J. Lindhe KTM  SWE  +1' 38.460  17   M. Van Daele Honda  BEL  +1' 39.379  18   S. Sword Kawasaki  GBR  +1' 40.329  19   K. Salaets Yamaha  BEL  +1' 40.598  20   B. Jorgensen Honda  DNK  +1' 48.115  Championship standings MX1 Pos.  Rider  Manufacturer  Nat. Points  1   Stefan Everts Yamaha  BEL 142  2   Tanel Leok Kawasaki  EST 115  3   Sebastien Tortelli KTM  FRA 99  4   Kevin Strijbos Suzuki  BEL 98  5   Ken De Dycker Honda  BEL 97  6   Jonathan Barragan KTM  ESP 97  7   Steve Ramon Suzuki  BEL 83  8   Cedric Melotte Yamaha  BEL 66  9   Pascal Leuret  Honda  FRA 65  10   Manuel Priem Yamaha  BEL 53  11   Stephen Sword Kawasaki  GBR 51  12   Javier Garcia Vico Honda  ESP 44  13   James Noble Honda  GBR 42  14   Antti Pyrhonen TM  FIN 41  15   Julien Bill Yamaha  GBR 39  16   Marvin Van Daele Honda  BEL 30  17   Brian Jorgensen Honda  DNK 27  18   Danny Theybers Suzuki  BEL 25  19   Wyatt Avis KTM  RSA 18  20   Gordon Crockard Honda  GBR 16  Manufacturers standings MX1 Pos. Manufacturer Points  1  Yamaha 142  2  KTM 125  3  Suzuki 121  4  Kawasaki 115  5  Honda 97  6  TM 41    MX2 : Cairoli takes first podium of the season Round: 3 - 2006 GP of Agueda, Portugal Circuit: Agueda Date: 23 April 2006 Crowd: 15500 Temp: 20ºC Weather: Changeable MX2 World Champion Antonio Cairoli was third overall today at Agueda for the Portuguese Grand Prix. The De Carli Yamaha representative made the perfect start in the first moto and defended a slender margin ahead of Kawasaki's Christophe Pourcel for the entire race distance. It was his second consecutive moto win after success in Spain last week, but, like the meeting at Bellpuig, the Italian was luckless in the other half of the Grand Prix and was the victim of a collision entering the first turn that caused him to crash and restart last. The world champion showed considerable skill on a layout that was difficult to pass on, rising to 10th - good enough to take his first top three result of the year. The track was very rough and dry after sunny spells on Saturday and clear blue skies throughout race day. The Grand Prix had begun under a dark cloud - literally - as heavy rain battered the circuit through Friday night and forced the MX2 qualification heats to be scrapped in favour of a 30 minute timed practice period. Thankfully the weather did not play further havoc and 15,500 spectators attended encouraged by a decent forecast. Kenneth Gunderson had taken his first podium since 2002 at Zolder and proceeded to notch a moto victory at Bellpuig last week for the first time in three years. The Norwegian was in no condition to play the role of protagonist on this occasion however after feeling sick all weekend. He started well in moto1 and was briefly as high as third but faded back to 12th and had to be assisted into the medical centre for a saline drip. In moto two he tried to gather some points but had to pull out after eight laps. Bike it Dixon Yamaha's Billy Mackenzie was sixth overall. The 22-year-old Scot had marked his first career Grand Prix podium at the same venue for the 2005 Grand Prix of Portugal and was the second Yamaha home in moto one after just being beaten to a possible fifth position by the KTMs of Carl Nunn and David Philippaerts; the trio crossed the line only three seconds apart. In the second moto he was slightly off the pace and had to fend off British championship rival Tommy Searle for sixth. Former three times world champion Alessio Chiodi was the second best Yamaha rider with fifth overall. The veteran was pass the chequered flag in eighth after finally managing to get the better of Rui Goncalves and Searle. The Italian was not assisted by a poor jump from the gate that placed him mid-pack on the opening lap. Later in the day he made a better launch from the line and rode safely to third. Davide Guarneri was again unfortunate after a crash caused him to retire in moto one. He was 15th in moto two. Cairoli is now fourth in the series standings and 39 points behind Tyla Rattray who won for the third consecutive GP. Chiodi is fifth and Mackenzie is tied in seventh. The world championship will reconvene after a one week break at Teutschenthal for the Karcher Grand Prix of Germany on May 7th. Antonio Cairoli, De Carli Yamaha: "The first race was good for me but I am not happy about the second because of the crash at the start. I pushed so hard to close the gap to the other riders and take positions but this track was not an easy one for overtaking. I finished tenth which was OK but it was not a good day for me. Race after race we are getting better and faster. I want to fight with Tyla and he is a very fast rider. We need to be stronger at the start because I showed that I have the speed." Kenneth Gunderson, Ricci Racing: "I don't know what the problem is now but I know I am sick. I need to see a doctor on Tuesday and find out what's wrong. I think it must be a virus or something because I could push for two laps and then after that I was completely finished. I tried in the first moto to get some points but in the second it was impossible." Alessio Chiodi, Ricci Racing: "The first moto was all about a bad start and the track made it difficult to pass. The other riders were fast and it was difficult to catch them. Finishing 8th was not so good and I understood where I needed to improve. In the second moto I was riding with more confidence. My rhythm was fast and I could take third. The track was difficult because in some places you had grip and in others not and it was very rough. I am about 80 per cent satisfied with the result today."     Race classification MX2 Round: 3 - 2006 GP of Agueda, Portugal Circuit: Agueda Race: 22 Laps  Pos.  Rider Manufacturer  Nat. Total Time  1   A. Cairoli Yamaha  ITA  40' 13.833  2   C. Pourcel Kawasaki  FRA  +0.890  3   T. Rattray KTM  RSA  +19.172  4   M. De Reuver KTM  NED  +33.150  5   C. Nunn KTM  GBR  +47.112  6   D. Philippaerts KTM  ITA  +48.536  7   B. MacKenzie Yamaha  GBR  +50.388  8   A. Chiodi Yamaha  ITA  +54.435  9   R. Goncalves KTM  POR  +1' 5.476  10   T. Searle Kawasaki  GBR  +1' 8.568  11   G. Swanepoel Kawasaki  RSA  +1' 12.363  12   K. Gundersen Yamaha  SWE  +1' 26.011  13   M. Seistola Honda  FIN  +1' 28.273  14   A. Boissière Yamaha  FRA  +1' 29.044  15   P A. Renet Honda  FRA  +1' 50.163  16   N. Aubin Kawasaki  FRA  +1' 31.498  17   M. Monni KTM  ITA  +1 lap(s)  18   M. Schiffer KTM  GER  +1 lap(s)  19   J. Wing KTM  SWE  +1 lap(s)  20   X. Hernandez Yamaha  ESP  +1 lap(s)  Race 2: 21 Laps  Pos.  Rider Manufacturer  Nat. Total Time  1   T. Rattray KTM  RSA  39' 11.834  2   C. Pourcel Kawasaki  FRA  +8.857  3   A. Chiodi Yamaha  ITA  +17.681  4   P. Caps Honda  BEL  +22.236  5   M. De Reuver KTM  NED  +25.641  6   B. MacKenzie Yamaha  GBR  +27.180  7   T. Searle Kawasaki  GBR  +30.227  8   C. Nunn KTM  GBR  +32.700  9   G. Swanepoel Kawasaki  RSA  +35.124  10   A. Cairoli Yamaha  ITA  +45.236  11   L. Seguy Yamaha  FRA  +50.739  12   A. Boissière Yamaha  FRA  +58.974  13   S. Pourcel Kawasaki  FRA  +1' 4.029  14   M. Nagl KTM  GER  +1' 5.196  15   D. Guarneri Yamaha  ITA  +1' 16.064  16   M. Seistola Honda  FIN  +1' 18.555  17   N. Aubin Kawasaki  FRA  +1' 19.248  18   M. Monni KTM  ITA  +1' 39.370  19   X. Hernandez Yamaha  ESP  +1' 45.106  20   P A. Renet Honda  FRA  +1' 59.068  Championship standings MX2 Pos.  Rider  Manufacturer  Nat. Points  1   Tyla Rattray KTM  RSA 128  2   Marc De Reuver KTM  NED 108  3   Christophe Pourcel Kawasaki  FRA 108  4   Antonio Cairoli Yamaha  ITA 89  5   Alessio Chiodi Yamaha  ITA 81  6   Carl Nunn KTM  GBR 76  7   David Philippaerts KTM  ITA 74  8   Billy MacKenzie Yamaha  GBR 74  9   Kenneth Gundersen Yamaha  SWE 73  10   Tommy Searle Kawasaki  GBR 57  11   Rui Goncalves KTM  POR 54  12   Sébastien Pourcel Kawasaki  FRA 52  13   Patrick Caps Honda  BEL 46  14   Luigi Seguy Yamaha  FRA 42  15   Davide Guarneri Yamaha  ITA 38  16   Gareth Swanepoel Kawasaki  RSA 37  17   Antoine Meo Honda  FRA 27  18   Matti Seistola Honda  FIN 26  19   Anthony Boissière Yamaha  FRA 24  20   Pierre-Alexandre Renet Honda  FRA 20  24   Aigar Leok Yamaha  EST 13  28   Xavier Hernandez Yamaha  ESP 5    Manufacturers standings MX2   Pos. Manufacturer Points  1  Yamaha 139  2  KTM 137  3  Kawasaki 110  4  Honda 68
Alex Asigno

Rossi set for 100th MotoGP appearance in Turkey

Camel Yamaha Team rider Valentino Rossi reaches another special milestone in his illustrious career this weekend as he contests his 100th consecutive premier-class race in the Grand Prix of Turkey. The Italian and his team-mate Colin Edwards travel to the Istanbul Park circuit, located 300 kilometres north west of the capital city of Ankara, looking to build on tentative first impressions of the track from last year, when they finished second and seventh respectively in a race won by Marco Melandri. The third round of the current season will also be Rossi's 160th appearance in all classes since making his 125cc debut in Malaysia in 1996. So far he has amassed an incredible tally of 80 victories, his latest coming just over two weeks ago in the Grand Prix of Qatar; a triumph that also moved the 27-year-old level with Mick Doohan on 54 premier-class wins, leaving him second only to the legendary Giacomo Agostini, on 68. The Istanbul Park circuit was designed by famed German architect Hermann Tilke, the man behind the Sepang, Bahrain and Shanghai circuits, and was used for the first time by the MotoGP World Championship last October. The spectacular 5.378 kilometre track features fourteen turns - eight lefts and six rights - and like Phillip Island it has the unusual characteristic of running anti-clockwise. Like the Losail circuit in Qatar, several of the Istanbul track's corners are based on famous bends at other circuits, such as the 'Senna Esses' at Sao Paolo, the 'Spoon Curve' at Suzuka and the 'Eau Rouge' at Spa. Spectators have ideal facilities to enjoy the action, with seating capacity for around 130,000 fans and an impressive main grandstand which can hold up to 25,000. Sunday's schedule will start one hour later than usual, with the red lights due to go out for the MotoGP race at 1500h local time (CET +1). Valentino Rossi: Record Breaker As well as taking him level with Mick Doohan in terms of career wins, Valentino Rossi's victory at Qatar also pulled him to within striking distance of the all-time record Grand Prix points total, currently held by Max Biaggi. Having now scored a total of 2886 points in all classes Rossi will move ahead of Biaggi simply by finishing in ninth place or above this Sunday. However, as always, his only target is victory at one of only two circuits on the current calendar where he has yet to climb onto the top step of the podium in at least one of the three classes. "Qatar was like the start of my championship but we're already behind in the points and we need to do our best to catch up," said Rossi. "My rivals are very strong and we need to be able to fight for the win again in Turkey. Istanbul isn't one of my favourite tracks and we had a really hard time there last year - we had already won the championship and it was difficult to stay 100% focused at that stage of the season, plus we had some set-up problems with the bike. This time we go there feeling fully motivated. "We don't know how the new bike will react at this circuit; I hope that it will go well and that we won't have any vibration problems. There are some fantastic fast corners so if the bike is working well it could be great fun to ride there. We tested again after Qatar and we made some improvements, and although we still haven't completely solved our problems hopefully even if they do reappear at some stage, we're going to be able to cope with them better now." Colin Edwards: Hard work will pay off Colin Edwards is keen to get to Turkey this weekend as he aims to convert the fast and consistent pace he has shown during pre-season testing and Grand Prix practice sessions into a solid race result. Eleventh and ninth place finishes from the first two rounds have not been a true reflection of the Texan's efforts this year and he is keen to turn things around at a circuit he admits he struggled to get to grips with last season. "I have to say I wasn't too enamoured with the track when we rode it last October but I was busy trying to adapt to a new riding style at the time and it didn't make life easier," says Edwards. "This time my riding style is sorted out but we still have a few problems with the bike so we'll have to see how it goes. I was very disappointed with the way things went in Qatar but it has been nice to have an extra weekend off over Easter to mull things over and I can't wait to get out and put it right on the track. "So far this season we've been strong in practice - if anything just struggling a little bit to make the step up on a qualifying tyre but in general the pace on race tyres has been good. We were unlucky at Jerez and I was really confident of a good result in Qatar but we came up against a few problems in the race that hadn't bothered us in practice. The day of tests after the race gave us some good data to work from and hopefully things run smoothly from day one in Turkey." Davide Brivio: An interesting challenge Camel Yamaha Team Director Davide Brivio sees this weekend's race as the ideal opportunity to measure early development of the 2006 version YZR-M1 machine at another challenging and demanding venue. After overcoming initial problems in Qatar to end the weekend with a victory for Valentino, the Italian is hoping for more of the same from his team in Turkey and expects the timing of this year's race to favour a more fruitful outcome than last October's event at the same circuit. "Last year Istanbul Park was one of the circuits where we had the most difficulties but that Grand Prix was the penultimate of the season, when everything was already won," explains Brivio. "It will be interesting to see how we go this time around, with the race at the beginning of the year and coming at a time when we really need to get some points for both riders. "It will be a challenging weekend because we still have to fix the problems that we have had with the 2006 version of the YZR-M1. We will test again on Monday in Istanbul after the race, in order to further try to improve the bike. Despite these issues, we showed in Qatar that we can already be competitive and now we have to take that to Turkey. Valentino's win has given the whole team and the engineers a real boost and the motivation is definitely there to try to win again in Turkey." Technically speaking: Anrea Zugna on Istanbul Like all Herman Tilke tracks, Istanbul Park possesses a wide variety of corners and the challenge is further enhanced by plenty of gradients, with the track built on four different ground levels. However, by far the most exciting feature of the layout is turn eleven - a fifth gear bend that is taken at speeds approaching 270km/h, making it easily the fastest corner in the MotoGP World Championship. Combined with some of the tightest chicanes on the calendar, the key to set-up at Istanbul Park is about making compromises. "Istanbul is a tricky circuit because it has some of the fastest corners in the world combined with some of the slowest," explains Andrea Zugna, Colin Edwards' Data Engineer. "In turn eleven you need good stability at high speed to give the rider the confidence he needs to attack the corner, but from turn twelve to the end of the lap you have three very slow chicanes which require good agility; so you have to find a balanced set-up between those two characteristics. "This track is also unique because of the changes of elevation. For example turn one dips downhill before going immediately up again, creating a lot of compression on the front forks. The rider's skill is also very important because there is only really one racing line and they must find it - especially through the three consecutive lefts in the middle of the lap, where it is also very bumpy. It is important that they have confidence in the front through here. Last year Colin struggled a little because it was the first time he used his new riding style but his pace in practice was good and his fastest lap came towards the end of the race so we know the data is good. Hopefully it will make life a little easier this weekend!" Valentino Rossi: Information Age: 27 Lives: London, UK Bike: Yamaha YZR-M1 GP victories: 80 (54 x MotoGP/500cc, 14 x 250cc, 12 x 125cc) First GP victory: Czech Republic, 1996 (125cc) First GP: Malaysia, 1996 (125cc) GP starts: 159 (99 x MotoGP/500cc, 30 x 250cc, 30 x 125cc) Pole positions: 40 World Championships - 7 Grand Prix (1 x 125cc, 1 x 250cc, 1 x 500cc, 4 x MotoGP) Colin Edwards: Information Age: 32 Lives: Conroe, Texas Bike: Yamaha YZR-M1 First GP: Japan, 2003 (MotoGP) GP starts: 51 x MotoGP World Championships - 2 World Superbike Istanbul Lap Record: Marco Melandri (Honda) 2005 - 1'53.111 Istanbul Best Lap: Sete Gibernau (Honda) 2005 - 1'52.334 2005 Results: 1. Marco Melandri (Honda) 41'44.139 2. Valentino Rossi (Yamaha) +1.513 3. Nicky Hayden (Honda) +6.873 7. Colin Edwards (Yamaha) +29.255
Alex Asigno

Tricky first day for Camel Yamaha in Istanbul

Camel Yamaha Team riders Valentino Rossi and Colin Edwards spent the first day of practice for the Grand Prix of Turkey gathering important set-up data after encountering different track conditions to those they enjoyed here season. With this year's event taking place some six months earlier than the inaugural race here last October, overcast skies contributed to cool ambient temperatures of 20ºC and produced low grip levels on track, where Nicky Hayden (Honda) set the free practice pace with a best lap of 1'53.623.  Rossi adapted swiftly to the conditions in the morning and set the third fastest time of the opening practice, but he struggled to make any significant improvements in the afternoon and ended up eleventh on the overall time sheets. Edwards, meanwhile, was sixth fastest in both sessions - improving his lap time in the afternoon by 1.4 seconds. With plenty of work still to do the only worry for the riders now is the threat of rain, with dark clouds hovering over the circuit and local forecasts predicting a downfall tomorrow. Colin Edwards (1'54.042, 38 laps) "We started out with the base setting from Qatar but it didn't work very well for us here. Basically we then decided to go with a newer front tyre than the one we've been using in testing and it went much better. Combined with a few tweaks to the suspension I built up my confidence in the front and I was able to lay down some good lap times. In the end we put a pretty consistent run together and I'm happy. We're still getting some vibrations but it's only in a couple of corners and we can work around them with more time on the bike tomorrow; hopefully it will stay dry. The track was really dirty this morning but it started to clean up in the afternoon. If it stays dry then the grip should improve as the weekend goes on, but they're saying it might rain so I guess we'll have to wait and see." Valentino Rossi (1'54.662, 43 laps) "This morning we were fast straight away and this was quite encouraging. We were third and we thought that we would be able to continue in this way during the afternoon. However we made some modifications in order to improve the acceleration and unfortunately we lost a lot of grip in braking. In fact our lap times were more or less the same in the afternoon but the track was about half a second faster - this morning it was quite dirty - and now we are in 11th place. I am a bit worried but also quite positive because we made some changes at the end of the session, back towards this morning's settings, and we improved a lot and set our fastest lap of the day. So far we don't have any vibration and so we hope that it won't appear tomorrow if the grip improves." Davide Brivio - Camel Yamaha Team Director "In the morning things went well for Valentino and in the afternoon they went well for Colin so you could say we had a balanced day! The good news is that we have been able to work as we would on a normal weekend, without the distractions caused by the problems we experienced in the first race. We collected a lot of good information today that we can put to use tomorrow and find a way forward with the set-up of the bikes. The only question mark is the rain so the only thing we ask for is at least a few dry laps so that we can evaluate the solutions we come up with tonight. Valentino lost his feeling a little bit this afternoon but we will compare the data from the whole day and find the best way to work tomorrow."  Opening day brings highs and lows for Tech 3 Yamaha Team in Turkey The opening day of the third Grand Prix of 2006 at the sensational Istanbul Park circuit proved challenging for Tech 3 Yamaha Team riders Carlos Checa and James Ellison, and the pair finished the day 16th and 17th respectively after the two Free Practice sessions. Despite some set-up troubles, both riders however found some positive aspects from the day and Checa is happy to be almost fully fit again after an injury affected the start of his campaign. The Spaniard is now in a determined frame of mind to get back to the sterling performances he exhibited in pre-season testing. Ellison, meanwhile, showed that he is becoming more comfortable with the Yamaha YZR-M1 as his times get closer to his more experienced team-mate at every outing. Carlos Checa (1'56.838, 42 laps) "Today wasn't the best day. We've been testing the front tyres for a different setting but nothing seems to make a big difference to our times. Hopefully we will find a good direction for tomorrow, especially in the fast areas of the track. We are having a bit of trouble with the grip from the rear, but it seems to be the same for everyone. The Dunlop people are working hard to give us what we desire and every race the tyres are improving. It is only early in the season so I believe it won't be too long before we are a lot closer. I am confident working with Dunlop and hopefully we can get better tyres as soon as possible. My shoulder has improved so much since Qatar which is encouraging, although I still do not have full strength, especially under hard braking." James Ellison (1'56.943, 40 laps) "Today hasn't been too bad to be honest, although it hasn't been as good as we had hoped. We have made steady progress as we're tweaking things here and there. It's a completely different circuit to Qatar so we have a lot to work on but we'll make a few changes to improve the balance. I love this circuit. It is one of my favourite tracks, along with Laguna Seca and Phillip Island, so that helps when it comes to getting things done. With the layout, it has a bit of everything - especially the fast right hander. Doing nearly 300km/h with your knee on the deck and the bike moving underneath you is something very special. Hopefully tomorrow we can make some more progress with our race set-up and set some faster times." Herve Poncharal - Tech 3 Yamaha Team Director "Today was not easy in places. The position on the sheets isn't too important but we have to find some solutions. Carlos has almost recovered from the physical problem at Qatar with his left shoulder, which is encouraging, but we're still not at our full potential. We are quite happy with what is happening with Dunlop and they are working hard. They are listening and bringing new products to every race but at the end of the day we are fighting with two other brands that have been here much, much longer than Dunlop. There are also a lot more riders that can give them feedback and more data to work with. We knew this before we started the season, but we have confidence in Dunlop's capacity. It is only the third race and they have come from nowhere in MotoGP because it the first year for them with a factory machine. We are really not that far away and we will continue fighting. Tomorrow is another day and hopefully we will be in a better position for the race, come Sunday."    Round: 3 - 2006 MotoGP Turkey Circuit: Istanbul Circuit Length: 5378 Lap Record: 1' 53.111 (Marco Melandri, 2005) Fastest Lap Ever: 1' 52.334 (Sete Gibernau, 2005) Date: 28 April 2006 Temp: 20ºC Session 1 :  Pos.  Rider  Manufacturer  Nat.  1st Qualifying 1  N. Hayden  Honda  USA   1' 53.623   2  C. Stoner  Honda  AUS   1' 53.861   3  M. Melandri  Honda  ITA   1' 53.971   4  D. Pedrosa  Honda  ESP   1' 54.001   5  T. Elias  Honda  ESP   1' 54.022   6  C. Edwards  Yamaha  USA   1' 54.042   7  L. Capirossi  Ducati  ITA   1' 54.055   8  J. Hopkins  Suzuki  USA   1' 54.277   9  S. Gibernau  Ducati  ESP   1' 54.279   10  M. Tamada  Honda  JPN   1' 54.422   11  V. Rossi  Yamaha  ITA   1' 54.662   12  C. Vermeulen  Suzuki  AUS   1' 54.722   13  S. Nakano  Kawasaki  JPN   1' 54.967   14  K. Roberts  Team Roberts KR  USA   1' 55.179   15  R. De Puniet  Kawasaki  FRA   1' 55.700   16  C. Checa  Yamaha  ESP   1' 56.838   17  J. Ellison  Yamaha  GBR   1' 56.943 
Alex Asigno

Camel Yamaha Team progress dampened in Istanbul

Local weather forecasts predicting heavy rain for today's qualifying session at the Grand Prix of Turkey were borne out today as an early downfall and intermittent afternoon showers thwarted the Camel Yamaha Team's hopes of improving their YZR-M1 machines ahead of tomorrow's 22-lap race. After struggling to find an ideal setting for the demanding Istanbul Park circuit in yesterday's free practices, both Colin Edwards and Valentino Rossi had hoped to complete some dry laps before this afternoon's crucial grid decider but they were forced to splash their way through the puddles and battle hard for ninth and eleventh place respectively. Edwards' cause wasn't helped by a heavy fall in the morning session, which left him nursing several bruised joints, whilst Rossi has yet to get comfortable with his bike in either wet or dry conditions. For the second successive race, pole position went to an Australian rookie as Chris Vermeulen (Suzuki) showed impressive wet pace with a fastest lap of 2'04.617, holding off the challenge of yesterday's pacesetter Nicky Hayden (Honda) and Sete Gibernau (Ducati), who complete the front row. Colin Edwards (9th - 2'07.334, 21 laps) "I had a big highside this morning and came down heavily on my head, shoulders and knee. It was pretty painful but after two laps back on the bike you soon forget about that. To be honest I felt quite comfortable in the wet but if we want to be competitive in this race we have to find another two seconds from somewhere and I'm not quite sure where at the moment. Our tyre rivals seem to have an advantage but I also have to say 'hats off' to Nicky Hayden - I'm not sure how close he was to ending one of those laps on the floor but he showed that Michelin have a good wet tyre so we clearly need to find the performance from our own bike. Wet or dry we have to pull a result out from somewhere tomorrow, but after this afternoon's session I'm definitely keeping my fingers crossed for sunshine in the morning." Valentino Rossi (11th - 2'07.552, 20 laps) "We're having a lot of difficulty, not just at this track but during this period. Unfortunately the problem with the bike came late in the pre-season and we have not had time yet to fully understand it. It means we are off the pace here in the wet and the dry, but we don't completely understand why. It seems that our tyre competitor is strong here but we can't blame this. Nicky Hayden was very fast all day and after him the next Michelin rider is Casey Stoner; with the amount of MotoGP experience he has in these conditions we should be in front of him. I'm surprised, because last year our bike was really good in the wet and after the new bike worked so well at Catalunya during the rainy pre-season tests I was confident it would be good today as well, but it has been the opposite. I don't have enough confidence in the front to lean the bike over as much as I would like on the entry to the corners and not enough grip on the rear to make it up on the exit. If it's dry tomorrow then we have some things to try in the morning, but if the conditions are the same as today then it's going to be very hard for us." Davide Brivio - Camel Yamaha Team Director "We are clearly in a very difficult situation at the moment and we need to first understand our problems before we can work to improve them. The engineers are looking at the data as we speak and seeing if we can come up with something for tomorrow. Our team have shown in the past that they are capable of producing quick solutions and I have full confidence in them; somehow we have to find a better performance in the wet and in the dry conditions."  Rain causews frusrtation in qualifying for Tech 3 Yamaha Team The overcast skies and showers that greeted the Tech 3 Yamaha Team at the Istanbul Park circuit today caused many headaches as they searched for a suitable set-up in the miserable conditions at the undulating track. Rainwater pooled at various places on the track during today's sessions, making riding treacherous, but Carlos Checa and team mate James Ellison were determined to work through a variety of options in order to find the best race set-up. Despite their hard work, the contrasting elements over the two days of practice and qualifying conspired to hamper their attempts for a satisfactory solution, and the pair could only manage 15th and 19th positions respectively for tomorrow's 22-lap race. Carlos Checa (15th 2'10.322, 20 laps) "The rain caused many problems for me and I can't say I'm very happy with my qualifying position. We had some settings for the dry to try today but the bad weather changed all of it. If the rain is still here tomorrow it will be important to get a good start to improve my position early. If we can do that and with the direction we are heading in, with our choice of tyres and set-up, we have a chance of a good result. This morning we seemed to have found a good direction in the very wet conditions and this afternoon wasn't so wet but we also made some more good progress, but as I said I am not really happy with the final result. We should remember that Dunlop haven't got very much experience with wet weather tyres on MotoGP bikes, but I think that no matter what the conditions are we have made positive improvements ahead of the race." James Ellison (19th 2:12.298 19 laps) "I would be lying if I said I was happy. With the amount of water on the track and the slower times it was impossible for the tyres to hold their heat on the straight so that made it very difficult when I wanted to start pushing hard into the corners. Dunlop is learning all the time and that is part of being with one of those teams that are developing tyres at the same time. With the feedback we are giving them, I'm confident that it will work well for us in the future considering the experience the other tyre manufacturers have in all conditions." Herve Poncharal - Tech 3 Yamaha Team Director "It was a good chance to have a proper wet tyre test with many tyres to choose from and we proved to be quite competitive. We now have some useful information for Dunlop in our wet weather tyre development. I am confident that we will have a better result in the race than we have had in the dry and wet sessions of the last two days, because we know now which direction to go, even though we did not have enough time to test everything that we wished to."    Round: 3 - 2006 MotoGP Turkey Circuit: Istanbul Circuit Length: 5378 Lap Record: 1' 53.111 (Marco Melandri, 2005) Fastest Lap Ever: 1' 52.334 (Sete Gibernau, 2005) Date: 29 April 2006 Temp: 12ºC Session 1 :  Pos.  Rider  Manufacturer  Nat.  1st Qualifying 1  C. Vermeulen  Suzuki  AUS   2' 4.617   2  N. Hayden  Honda  USA   2' 4.823   3  S. Gibernau  Ducati  ESP   2' 5.003   4  L. Capirossi  Ducati  ITA   2' 5.540   5  J. Hopkins  Suzuki  USA   2' 5.700   6  R. De Puniet  Kawasaki  FRA   2' 6.102   7  C. Stoner  Honda  AUS   2' 7.277   8  S. Nakano  Kawasaki  JPN   2' 7.294   9  C. Edwards  Yamaha  USA   2' 7.344   10  K. Roberts  Team Roberts KR  USA   2' 7.345   11  V. Rossi  Yamaha  ITA   2' 7.552   12  T. Elias  Honda  ESP   2' 7.763   13  M. Tamada  Honda  JPN   2' 8.143   14  M. Melandri  Honda  ITA   2' 8.393   15  D. Pedrosa  Honda  ESP   2' 10.956   16  C. Checa  Yamaha  ESP   2' 10.956   19  J. Ellison  Yamaha  GBR   2' 12.298
Alex Asigno

Rossi recovery foiled in Turkish thriller

Camel Yamaha Team rider Valentino Rossi made up valuable points in the MotoGP World Championship title chase after charging from eleventh place on the grid to take fourth overall in today's Turkish Grand Prix. Despite making a quick start from his lowly grid position, the Italian made a mistake on lap two and dropped as far back as twelfth. However crucial changes made to the setup of his YZR-M1 before the race then allowed him to pass no fewer than seven riders, as he lapped at the same pace as the leading group over the course of the race. By the time he had made his way through the pack it was too late for the Italian to challenge for the podium but a crash for Dani Pedrosa (Honda) on the final lap boosted his final position to fourth. Today's result makes Rossi the highest point-scorer of all time in the Grand Prix World Championship, overtaking Max Biaggi. Rossi's Camel Yamaha team-mate Colin Edwards made a decent start and remained in touch with the leaders for the opening laps but was unable to make any further progress and ended the race in ninth - the same position he had started from on the grid. At the front Marco Melandri (Honda) repeated his win from last season but was pushed all the way by Casey Stoner (Honda), who led the race until three corners from the end, when Melandri made his definitive pass. Nicky Hayden (Honda) was left to snap up the final podium position after Pedrosa's misfortune, the Spanish youngster tumbling out at turn one on the final lap when attacking Melandri and Stoner. Valentino Rossi (4th; + 6.209) "I got a good start off the line but I had been thinking about the first corner incident at Jerez and what had happened to Lorenzo in the 250 race, so I decided to go to the inside and it cost me four or five places. I made the positions back by the end of the first lap but I made a mistake under braking on lap two and lost three seconds and the chance for a podium today. We have had so many problems this weekend but we solved some of them in time for the race with some big modifications after the warm-up this morning and then the bike was okay, especially in the second half of the race when I really enjoyed riding it. It will be interesting to see how much more progress we can make in the test tomorrow because it is a long championship and the most important thing right now is not where we are in the standings or the points difference to the leader - the priority is to get the bike working as we know it can. This is a tough series and when you have problems you don't lose one or two places, you lose ten. It looks like there was a great battle at the front - it's a shame I wasn't involved! Looking at the championship right now I would say the top seven all have a chance to win the title but there is a long way to go yet." Colin Edwards (9th; + 22.847) "We didn't get it done at all this weekend and we need to sit down and work out why. It was always going to be a tough race today but I just didn't have the feeling or confidence with the bike to go out and battle with the guys we should be running with, which is the front group. We've got a test tomorrow and I'm keen to get out there and get as many laps in as possible. It's hard to overcome problems like the ones we're experiencing now because you don't get enough time during a Grand Prix weekend, so we'll get as much data together as we can before China. We simply have to come up with something for there because this situation can't go on for any longer." Davide Brivio - Camel Yamaha Team Director "Looking at Valentino's race pace he could have easily been on the podium today, or even won the race, which is a big plus point for us considering the problems we have had. On lap three he was seven seconds down but he finished closer to the winner than that, despite having to fight past so many riders. Even so this has not been a satisfactory weekend for us and we know we still have a lot of work to do, starting in tomorrow's test. We have two very positive riders and this mood runs all the way through the team, so we will be working very hard tomorrow. The changes we made to Valentino's bike today are encouraging but now we have to further this development. It was a tough Grand Prix but we have come out of it with many positives." Disappointing weekend for Tech 3 Yamaha Team The variable weather conditions that prevailed over the Istanbul Park Circuit during the Grand Prix of Turkey, cast a giant cloud over the efforts of the Tech 3 Yamaha Team that contributed to a disappointing weekend for all involved. After the improvement of the previous Grand Prix in Qatar, Carlos Checa and James Ellison were determined to continue the momentum but their efforts over the three days were not rewarded as they finished in 15th and 18th positions, respectively. However dark the cloud may appear, there was a silver lining as the unpredictable conditions ensured that the team logged important data to furnish the team's tyre supplier, Dunlop, for the remaining 14 rounds of the 2006 season. Carlos Checa (15th; + 59.855) "We started the race with a completely new setup starting from zero again and trying a new tyre so we didn't know what to expect. I had a good start and pushed hard but on the third lap I lost the front and ran off the track. I tired again but I had another slide and decided to back off a little and settle into a good rhythm to save the tyre. This worked a little as I was able to get my fastest lap near the end of the race. I also had some trouble with my shoulder near the finish as there are so many left hand corners here. "'It wasn't the best setup but with so much time lost we had to make a decision and unfortunately we went the wrong way. The way the weekend went I am not very happy but like I keep saying, this is a development year for Dunlop in MotoGP and it is most important that we supply them with as much information as possible so they can progress. When they go forward, we go forward and that is the main aim. That will help us as the season continues with the next race in China, and hopefully, my shoulder will be 100% by then." James Ellison (18th; + 1 lap) "It's like I'm making excuses all the time and its getting tiring but we haven't found a proper setting to start with. It's no one's fault as we're all working hard to try and find what we're looking for. It's not just us either as all four Yamaha riders seem to be struggling to find a decent setup. I thought for sure after the progress we make in Qatar we would have an even better weekend here and get a decent result. "On Friday we knew which direction to go, but I think, as it wasn't as warm today as on Friday it didn't help us. It's a combination of getting things to work and unfortunately the combination we tried today didn't work. I'm really disappointed." Herve Poncharal - Tech 3 Yamaha Team Director "It was certainly a tough weekend but the positive point is that we worked hard with dry tyres on day one, we did the same with the wet tyres on day two and we have given a lot of useful information to Dunlop. "Truthfully the race was not as bad as it looks. We were consistently quicker in the race than we were on Friday and Carlos's last laps were his fastest. Sure it wasn't fast enough but Carlos is still having problems with his left shoulder and we go out of here with some ideas of how to improve. "I can't say we are happy to finish where we were but I think we have been working quite well and I want to thank Carlos for being very constructive and very positive. With a rider like him I'm sure we can go forward and improve."    Race classification MotoGP Round: 3 - 2006 MotoGP Turkey Circuit: Istanbul Circuit Length: 5378 Lap Record: 1' 52.877 (Toni Elias, 2006) Fastest Lap Ever:  1' 52.334 (Sete Gibernau, 2005) Race: 22 Laps  Pos.  Rider Manufacturer  Nat. Total Time  1   M. Melandri Honda  ITA  41' 54.065  2   C. Stoner Honda  AUS  +0.200  3   N. Hayden Honda  USA  +5.458  4   V. Rossi Yamaha  ITA  +6.209  5   T. Elias Honda  ESP  +6.587  6   L. Capirossi Ducati  ITA  +16.682  7   C. Vermeulen Suzuki  AUS  +16.777  8   S. Nakano Kawasaki  JPN  +21.537  9   C. Edwards Yamaha  USA  +22.847  10   M. Tamada Honda  JPN  +30.483  11   S. Gibernau Ducati  ESP  +30.543  12   R. De Puniet Kawasaki  FRA  +34.284  13   K. Roberts Team Roberts KR  USA  +45.112  14   D. Pedrosa Honda  ESP  +53.525  15   C. Checa Yamaha  ESP  +59.855  16   A. Hofmann Ducati  GER  +1' 1.241  17   J. Hopkins Suzuki  USA  +1' 38.628  18   J. Ellison Yamaha  GBR  +1 lap(s)  Fastest Race Lap:   Pos.  Rider Manufacturer  Nat. Total Time  1   T. Elias Honda  ESP  1' 52.877  Championship standings MotoGP Pos.  Rider  Manufacturer  Nat. Points  1   Nicky Hayden Honda  USA 52  2   Loris Capirossi Ducati  ITA 51  3   Marco Melandri Honda  ITA 45  4   Casey Stoner Honda  AUS 41  5   Valentino Rossi Yamaha  ITA 40  6   Daniel Pedrosa Honda  ESP 32  7   Toni Elias Honda  ESP 32  8   Shinya Nakano Kawasaki  JPN 22  9   Colin Edwards Yamaha  USA 19  10   Sete Gibernau Ducati  ESP 18  11   Kenny Roberts Team Roberts KR  USA 17  12   Makato Tamada Honda  JPN 14  13   Chris Vermeulen Suzuki  AUS 13  14   Carlos Checa Yamaha  ESP 8  15   John Hopkins Suzuki  USA 7  17   James Ellison Yamaha  GBR 3  Manufacturers standings MotoGP Pos. Manufacturer Points  1  Honda 65  2  Ducati 51  3  Yamaha 43  4  Kawasaki 22  5  Team Roberts KR 17  6  Suzuki 16  Team standings MotoGP Pos. Team Points  1  Repsol Honda Team 84  2  Fortuna Honda Team 77  3  Ducati Marlboro Team 69  4  Camel Yamaha Team 59  5  Honda LCR 41  6  Kawasaki Racing Team 26  7  Rizla Suzuki 20  8  Team Roberts KR 17  9  Konica Minolta Honda 14  10  Tech3 Yamaha 11  11  Pramac D'Antin 2
Alex Asigno

Superbike World Championship preview: round four - Monza

Round four of the Superbike World Championship sees the series move to the historic Monza circuit in Italy, the fastest racetrack on the entire calendar. With top speeds often exceeding 300kph down the long home straight, the first of three Italian races this year is always an exciting slipstream battle on this unique circuit. For the Yamaha Motor Italia world superbike team this race takes on an extra importance, as their headquarters is based just a few kilometres from the circuit. While the points on offer are exactly the same as at the 12 other rounds of the championship, the emotional boost of a good result in their backyard will provide extra motivation for the team and their riders - especially after a difficult weekend at the last round in Valencia. Both the team's riders struggled for traction at the Spanish circuit, with a pair of fifth places for Noriyuki Haga and a couple of top tens for Andrew Pitt, keeping both riders in the top six of the championship - Haga fourth and Pitt sixth. And while historically the Monza circuit may not be one of the strongest for Yamaha's YZF-R1, both riders are confident that they can fight up front this weekend. Fans' favourite Haga had a difficult time in Monza last year, finishing ninth and 11th in the two races. This season the Japanese rider has consistently been among the frontrunners, finishing third once, fourth twice and fifth twice in the five races he has finished. Surprisingly Haga has never won in his adopted homeland. The Japanese star has won 19 races in his illustrious superbike career, but his best results in Italy are two third places (Monza 2002 and Imola 2005). Despite this, Haga still looks forward to Monza, as he explains: "Monza is not such a difficult track and good fun... if you have a fast bike! Valencia was difficult for us in many ways but now we must put it behind us and look forward to the championship. Monza is a very important race for the team and I will be doing my best to get a good result for them. Monza was my worst race of 2005 but our bike is definitely much better now than it was this time last year and our top speed is generally quite good, so if we can find a good setting and get away with the front group then anything can happen." With fifth and sixth place finishes, team-mate Pitt was the highest placed Yamaha rider at Monza last year. "Front end grip was the big problem at Valencia but it shouldn't be a factor in Monza. At Valencia you are leaned over on the side of the tyre for so long but Monza is completely different, mostly long straights and slow corners. Because of the slipstreaming it is important to get away with the leading group at Monza. Our starts have been pretty good this year so there is no reason why we can't be up there in the races." Yamaha will also be represented by the Yamaha Motor France team in Monza. The squad travel to Italy in high spirits after gaining their best results of the season in Valencia, where Norick Abe scored two fourth places and fellow Japanese rider Shinichi Nakatomi scored his first world championship points with a pair of 12ths. The team's other rider, Sebastien Gimbert, returns at Monza after missing Valencia due to his world endurance commitments. As always, Yamaha will be well represented in the supporting classes at Monza. In the Supersport World Championship, Yamaha Motor Germany riders Kevin Curtain and Broc Parkes lie second and fourth in the points after three rounds. Italian young guns Massimo Roccoli and Gianluca Vizziello are both running in the top ten of the series and go to Monza having finished first and second in the Italian championship round there last weekend. One rider who will not be present in Monza is last year's FIM Superstock 1000 champion Didier van Keymeulen. The Belgian had been riding a Yamaha YZF-R6 for the Moto 1 squad in world supersport but has split with the team following irreconcilable differences regarding machine and team set-up. Roccoli and Vizziello's Yamaha Team Italia team-mate Claudio Corti was another winner in the national championship race, won the superstock class. After taking a top 10 in the FIM Superstock 1000 Cup opener in Valencia, the European Superstock 600 champion is looking for his first world championship win at his home circuit this weekend.
Alex Asigno

Encouraging day's work for Camel Yamaha Team in Istanbul

Following Sundays' Turkish Grand Prix, the Camel Yamaha Team stayed on to test in Istanbul, making the most of a dry day after a rain-interrupted weekend as they searched for improvements to the 2006-spec YZR-M1. Valentino Rossi and Colin Edwards, who finished fourth and ninth respectively in the MotoGP race, had continued to experience problems throughout the weekend and were unable to find a perfect race set-up. Yesterday's test was therefore aimed at finding a better base setting and gathering yet more data in order to provide the Yamaha engineers with more information to work with ahead of the next race in China. It was a fruitful day's work and the Team was able to make up for the time lost to the rain on Saturday, with both riders finding a marked improvement to their settings and posting some good lap times. Edwards completed 60 laps with a best time of 1'53.31, whilst Rossi's fastest time of the day was 1'53.61 after 72 laps. The MotoGP paddock will reconvene in just over a week's time for the fourth race of the season in Shanghai, China, where Valentino Rossi took victory in the rain last year. Davide Brivio - Camel Yamaha Team Director "Once again we decided to take the chance to stay on and test after the race, as we saw this weekend that we still have work to do. Yesterday was a very important test for us as we continued from what we did during the weekend and tried a few more ideas in order to try to improve, and hopefully to fix, the problems that we've been having this season. We made some good progress with both riders and found a better setting for the bike and this was reflected in the lap times, which were better than those that Colin and Valentino set on Friday, when it was dry. Our work this weekend was interrupted by the rain on Saturday and we weren't able to find a good setting in time for the race, but yesterday we achieved that so hopefully that will help us in China. All this information will help the Yamaha engineers in their work over the next week, and now we look forward to a better situation for both our riders in China." Camel Yamaha Team Times: 1. Colin Edwards, 1'53.31 (60 Laps) 2. Valentino Rossi, 1'53.61 (72 Laps)
Alex Asigno

Haga fastest in Monza opener

Yamaha Motor Italia rider Noriyuki Haga gave his team reason to cheer at their home race as he sped to provisional pole position for Sunday's races at Monza. Light drizzle throughout the afternoon's one-hour qualifying session meant a reduced number of laps for the 30 superbike entrants but, despite the tricky conditions, Haga's best lap of 1:47.007 was only a fraction slower than Neil Hodgson's three-year-old ultimate lap record. Team-mate Andrew Pitt was happy with his day's work. The Australian ended the day in seventh but felt he could have been higher after taking a cautious line through the fast Parabolica curve. Both riders have been able to take advantage of improvements to their YZF-R1 machines, including a new specification swingarm. The team is hoping for dry conditions in tomorrow's final practice and qualifying sessions to allow them to make further improvements for Sunday's two 18 lap races, for which the final grid positions will be decided in tomorrow's superpole session. Yamaha Motor France had a tough day in Monza with Norick Abe destroying his machine in a spectacular highside mid-way through the session. The Japanese rider lost control of his YZF-R1 while exiting the Ascari chicane and was taken to hospital for precautionary checks. Tests confirmed that the rider has not broken any bones, although the team will wait until the morning before deciding if he is fit enough to take any further part in the weekend. Frenchman Sebastien Gimbert was the team's fastest rider, in 15th, with Japanese rookie Shinichi Nakatomi ending the day 23rd on his first visit to the circuit. Noriyuki Haga (Yamaha Motor Italia) "A good session. We've made some changes to the bike and they seem to be working well here. The team has brought a new swinging arm for us to try and it seems to have some benefits, although there are also a few disadvantages too. We need to test more tomorrow to make a final decision, but the bike feels good. I ran a lot of laps along with Troy Bayliss and we were able to have some fun passing and repassing each other. Hopefully we can make some more improvements for the race. The team has many fans and sponsors here this weekend and I have some friends coming over from Japan tonight. I hope that we can put a good performance on for them." Andrew Pitt (Yamaha Motor Italia) "We've come to Monza with a new set-up and so far it's working well for us. I'm feeling really confident with the bike and should probably be higher than seventh. On my fastest lap I was up at the first two splits but lost it all at the end. I probably just took it too easy going into Parabolica as I could see the spots of rain beading on my visor and wasn't sure how much grip there actually was. I'm quite happy though. We should be able to make some more improvements tomorrow and I'm confident that we'll be up there on Sunday." Shinichi Nakatomi (Yamaha Motor France) "It's a shame we couldn't do as many laps as we'd like because of the conditions today, as I must learn this circuit. We are not sure what the weather will be tomorrow but I am ready to improve whatever the conditions." Massimo Meregalli (Team Coordinator - Yamaha Motor Italia) "It's been a good day but I don't want to get carried away as it is only Friday. We weren't sure what to expect here as this is a fast track and top speed isn't perhaps our strength but the riders are happy with their bikes and it seems that the new swingarm we are using is also a step forward. We'll see what tomorrow brings but for now we are all satisfied with our day's work." Martial Garcia (Team Manager - Yamaha Motor France) "Norick had a bad crash today and we will decide tomorrow if he can race or not. He had a bit of a bang on the head, although the doctors say that nothing is broken. We will let him rest and see how things are in the morning."     Round: 4 - Italy Circuit: Monza Circuit Length: 5792 Lap Record: 1' 47.434 (Troy Bayliss, 2002) Fastest Lap Ever: 1' 46.981 (Neil Hodgson, 2003) Date: 5 May 2006 Temp: 19ºC Session 1 :  Pos.  Rider  Manufacturer  Nat.  1st Qualifying 1  N. Haga  Yamaha  JPN   1' 47.007   2  T. Bayliss  Ducati  AUS   1' 47.043   3  T. Corser  Suzuki  AUS   1' 47.591   4  J. Toseland  Honda  GBR   1' 47.751   5  R. Laconi  Kawasaki  FRA   1' 47.763   6  A. Barros  Honda  BRA   1' 47.769   7  A. Pitt  Yamaha  AUS   1' 47.793   8  R. Xaus  Ducati  ESP   1' 47.852   9  M. Fabrizio  Honda  ITA   1' 48.070   10  R. Rolfo  Ducati  ITA   1' 48.334   11  C. Walker  Kawasaki  GBR   1' 48.530   12  L. Lanzi  Ducati  ITA   1' 48.575   13  M. Neukirchner  Ducati  GER   1' 48.712   14  Y. Kagayama  Suzuki  JPN   1' 48.828   15  S. Gimbert  Yamaha  FRA   1' 48.871   16  I. Clementi  Ducati  ITA   1' 49.226   19  N. Abe  Yamaha  JPN   1' 49.497   23  S. Nakatomi  Yamaha  JPN   1' 49.890   WSS : Curtain third fastest in Monza Round: 4 - Italy WSS Circuit: Monza Date: 5 May 2006 Temp: 19ºC Weather: Dry Yamaha Motor Germany star Kevin Curtain was the leading R6 rider in qualifying for Sunday's fourth round of the Supersport World Championship at Monza in Italy. In dry but overcast conditions, the 40-year-old Australian was under the lap record pace as he set the third fastest time around the historic speedbowl, recording a best lap time of 1:52.038. Curtain was satisfied on what is his first visit to Monza with the latest YZF-R6. The squad are are taking advantage of a new specification front tyre from Pirelli. Both Curtain and his team-mate Broc Parkes have tested the tyre with good results and are delighted to have it available on a race weekend.  Yamaha Team Italia rider Gianluca Vizziello, who won the national supersport championship race at Monza the previous weekend, ended the day sixth with Parkes alongside him on the provisional second row of the grid, in seventh. Massimo Roccoli was 14th fastest on the second Yamaha Team Italia R6, with Yamaha GMT94's David Checa 19th in his first world supersport outing of the year. Championship leader Sebastien Charpentier (Honda) was the fastest man today with a 1:51.061 lap. Final practice for Sunday's race takes place tomorrow afternoon.   Round: 4 - Italy WSS Circuit: Monza Circuit Length: 5792 Lap Record: 1' 52.635 (Chris Vermeulen, 2003) Fastest Lap Ever: 1' 51.061 (Sebastien Charpentier, 2006) Date: 5 May 2006 Temp: 19ºC Session 1 :  Pos.  Rider  Manufacturer  Nat.  1st Qualifying 1  S. Charpentier  Honda  FRA   1' 51.061   2  K. Fujiwara  Honda  JPN   1' 51.844   3  K. Curtain  Yamaha  AUS   1' 52.038   4  K. Sofuoglu  Honda  TUR   1' 52.313   5  Y. Tibero  Honda  FRA   1' 52.444   6  G. Vizziello  Yamaha  ITA   1' 52.460   7  B. Parkes  Yamaha  AUS   1' 52.602   8  J. Stigefelt  Honda  SWE   1' 52.861   9  R. Harms  Honda  DNK   1' 53.021   10  S. Cruciani  Honda  ITA   1' 53.221   11  T. Lauslehto  Honda  FIN   1' 53.307   12  S. Le Grelle  Honda  BEL   1' 53.479   13  M. Roccoli  Yamaha  ITA   1' 53.501   14  B. Veneman  Suzuki  NED   1' 53.526   15  M. Berger  Kawasaki  FRA   1' 53.662   16  S. Chambon  Kawasaki  FRA   1' 53.722   17  V. Kallio  Yamaha  FIN   1' 53.755   18  D. Checa  Yamaha  ESP   1' 53.863   24  J. Enjolras  Yamaha  FRA   1' 54.695   25  X. Fores  Yamaha  ESP   1' 54.949   27  C. Peris  Yamaha  CAN   1' 55.100   29  D. Garcia  Yamaha  ITA   1' 55.472
Alex Asigno

Yamaha men ready for Monza

Yamaha Motor Italia riders Andrew Pitt and Noriyuki Haga go into tomorrow's Monza races in good spirits after a strong showing in today's final qualifying sessions. Both riders have run consistently at the top of the timesheets, with Pitt third and Haga fourth at the end of the two one-hour qualifying sessions. Both men were to lose places in their grid deciding one-lap superpole runs, but with the leading riders covered by just fractions of a second around this long and fast circuit, Pitt and Haga are confident they can challenge at the front in what looks like being a pair of thrilling races. Haga, who was fastest in yesterday's practice session, went into superpole as the fourth fastest rider but was hampered by a vibration from the rear of his machine. The Japanese star parked his machine immediately after crossing the finish line, with the source of the vibration being traced to a faulty component. The problem caused Haga to slip back to 10th on tomorrow's grid, although the rider is confident of running with the leaders in tomorrow's races. Pitt ended regular qualifying as one of only three riders to break into the 1:46 bracket but was unable to replicate his best time on his superpole lap. The Australian was hampered on his flying lap due to the engine mapping switch not being set to the optimum position. Despite this handicap, Pitt was on schedule to take pole position at the second intermediate point, only to make a mistake on entry to the Parabolica corner. He ended the day in sixth position, confident he can make a good start and join the leading slipstreaming group around this unique circuit. Yamaha Motor France's three riders missed out on superpole at Monza. Frenchman Sebastien Gimbert was 18th fastest in the two one-hour sessions, only just missing out on a top 16 superpole place when his best time was eclipsed in the dying moments of the second session. Norick Abe missed the morning's final qualifying session as a result of the crash he had yesterday. Abe's best time of 1:49.497, set in Friday's less favourable conditions, was still good enough to qualify him for the races and the former MotoGP rider has been passed to ride by medical staff. Should he be fit enough to ride, he will start tomorrow's races from 27th. Team-mate Shinichi Nakatomi improved his Friday time by over a second to start from 20th place in his first visit to the historic circuit. Pole position for tomorrow's races goes to world champion Troy Corser (Suzuki) from his countryman Troy Bayliss (Ducati). Alex Barros (Honda) and Regis Laconi (Kawasaki) complete the front row. Andrew Pitt (Yamaha Motor Italia) "My superpole lap wasn't that great. We only realized afterwards that we were using the wrong engine map setting and that would have cost us a little bit of power. Probably someone knocked it when they were taking the bike back to the pits after I ran out of fuel, but it's not a big deal, as I made a mess going into the last corner of my superpole lap and that has probably cost us a place on the front row. I'm quite happy though, because we are able to do good lap times on the race tyre. It's all about getting away with the leading group around here and from the second row I'm quite confident that won't be a problem for us." Noriyuki Haga (Yamaha Motor Italia) "I felt a problem from the back of my bike throughout the superpole lap, a banging or vibration that said something was not right. I also had some fluid come up on my visor as I went into Parabolica, so I thought that it was best to park the bike at the end of the straight, just in case something serious was wrong. Superpole was not so good but for the race I think we are in good condition. The races will be close but I will try my hardest to go for the win." Massimo Meregalli (Team Corodinator - Yamaha Motor Italia) "Noriyuki wasn't as fast today as he was yesterday but I am confident that he will find his best form for the races as he always does. Andrew was also able to do a good race simulation today and we are ready for what should be some interesting races." Shinichi Nakatomi (Yamaha Motor France) "We made some progress today and I was able to go faster in the afternoon practice session than I did in qualifying. This looks good for the race and after some good results in Valencia hopefully we can find some more points in the races tomorrow." Norick Abe (Yamaha Motor France) "I am planning to race tomorrow but today I had too much pain in my back and wrists to ride. It was a very big crash and thankfully I cannot remember anything about it. Nothing is broken and the doctors say that I can race, although I decided not ride today so that I can be in the best condition for tomorrow." Round: 4 - Italy Circuit: Monza Circuit Length: 5792 Lap Record: 1' 47.434 (Troy Bayliss, 2002) Fastest Lap Ever: 1' 46.058 (Troy Corser, 2006) Date: 6 May 2006 Temp: 23ºC Session 2 :  Pos.  Rider  Manufacturer  Nat.  1st Qualifying  2nd Qualifying   Superpole  1  T. Corser  Suzuki  AUS   1' 47.591     1' 46.564     1' 46.058  2  T. Bayliss  Ducati  AUS   1' 47.043     1' 46.984     1' 46.360  3  A. Barros  Honda  BRA   1' 47.769     1' 47.218     1' 46.511  4  R. Laconi  Kawasaki  FRA   1' 47.763     1' 47.352     1' 46.597  5  C. Walker  Kawasaki  GBR   1' 48.530     1' 47.866     1' 46.978  6  A. Pitt  Yamaha  AUS   1' 47.793     1' 46.985     1' 47.015  7  K. Muggeridge  Honda  AUS   1' 49.764     1' 47.414     1' 47.082  8  J. Toseland  Honda  GBR   1' 47.751     1' 47.094     1' 47.133  9  Y. Kagayama  Suzuki  JPN   1' 48.828     1' 47.199     1' 47.156  10  N. Haga  Yamaha  JPN   1' 47.007     1' 48.026     1' 47.627  11  R. Rolfo  Ducati  ITA   1' 48.334     1' 47.959     1' 47.975  12  F. Foret  Suzuki  FRA   N/A     1' 47.935     1' 48.009  13  L. Lanzi  Ducati  ITA   1' 48.575     1' 47.937     1' 48.170  14  F. Nieto  Kawasaki  ESP   1' 49.578     1' 47.869     1' 48.240  15  M. Fabrizio  Honda  ITA   1' 48.070     1' 47.927     1' 48.969  18  S. Gimbert  Yamaha  FRA   1' 48.871     1' 48.208       20  S. Nakatomi  Yamaha  JPN   1' 49.890     1' 48.414       27  N. Abe  Yamaha  JPN   1' 49.497     N/A       WSS : Vizziello speeds to second in Monza Round: 4 - Italy WSS Circuit: Monza Date: 6 May 2006 Temp: 22ºC Weather: Sunny Gianluca Vizziello was the leading Yamaha rider in today's final world supersport qualifying session at Monza. The Yamaha Team Italia rider gunned his R6 around the fast Italian circuit in 1:51.753, an average speed of over 186kph, to take second on the grid for tomorrow's 16-lap race. The local rider won a national championship race at the circuit last weekend and would love to become the first man to win a world championship race on the latest model YZF-R6 in what is just his and the bike's fourth race in the class. In a close qualifying session, Yamaha Motor Germany's Kevin Curtain continued his run of front row starts, claiming fourth spot with a best time of 1:51.878. Vizziello's team-mate Massimo Roccoli had his best performance of the season in fifth but, by contrast, Yamaha Motor Germany's Broc Parkes suffered his worst qualifying of the year at Monza. He was one of the few riders who failed to improve his Friday time and will start from the third row, in 11th position. The Australian put his lowly position down to nothing more than being unable to put a consistent lap together but is confident of improving in the race. Pole position for tomorrow's race goes to championship leader Sebastien Charpentier (Honda).   Round: 4 - Italy WSS Circuit: Monza Circuit Length: 5792 Lap Record: 1' 52.635 (Chris Vermeulen, 2003) Fastest Lap Ever: 1' 50.580 (Sebastien Charpentier, 2006) Date: 6 May 2006 Temp: 22ºC Session 1 :  Pos.  Rider  Manufacturer  Nat.  1st Qualifying  2nd Qualifying  1  S. Charpentier  Honda  FRA   1' 51.061     1' 50.580   2  G. Vizziello  Yamaha  ITA   1' 52.460     1' 51.753   3  K. Fujiwara  Honda  JPN   1' 51.844     1' 51.829   4  K. Curtain  Yamaha  AUS   1' 52.038     1' 51.878   5  M. Roccoli  Yamaha  ITA   1' 53.501     1' 52.006   6  R. Harms  Honda  DNK   1' 53.021     1' 52.082   7  K. Sofuoglu  Honda  TUR   1' 52.313     1' 52.645   8  Y. Tibero  Honda  FRA   1' 52.444     1' 52.466   9  S. Le Grelle  Honda  BEL   1' 53.479     1' 52.525   10  J. Stigefelt  Honda  SWE   1' 52.861     1' 52.530   11  B. Parkes  Yamaha  AUS   1' 52.602     1' 52.687   12  C. Zaiser  Ducati  AUT   1' 52.706     1' 52.915   13  S. Chambon  Kawasaki  FRA   1' 53.722     1' 52.762   14  B. Veneman  Suzuki  NED   1' 53.526     1' 52.877   15  S. Cruciani  Honda  ITA   1' 53.221     1' 52.922   16  K. Andersen  Suzuki  NOR   1' 54.575     1' 52.949   18  X. Fores  Yamaha  ESP   1' 54.949     1' 53.235   20  V. Kallio  Yamaha  FIN   1' 53.755     1' 53.612   21  D. Checa  Yamaha  ESP   1' 53.863     1' 53.623
Alex Asigno

Haga gives Yamaha Motor Italia plenty to cheer in Monza

Noriyuki Haga gave the Tifosi plenty to cheer about with a fine podium finish at Monza today. The ever-popular Yamaha Motor Italia star equaled his best ever result around the historic circuit with third place in race two to the delight of his locally based team and a large and passionate crowd. Race one saw Haga involved in a three-way battle for second place with Troy Corser (Suzuki) and Alex Barros (Honda), which ultimately saw him finish fourth at the end of 18 grueling laps. For race two the Japanese star made some small changes to the suspension of his YZF-R1, allowing him to lead the way with Corser and Troy Bayliss (Ducati) until a lack of grip in the closing stages forced him to consolidate his podium finish. Team-mate Andrew Pitt also gave two stirring performances despite failing to get off the line cleanly. The Australian found himself boxed in at Monza's notoriously slow first chicane, which meant that he was unable get away with the leading group. In both races Pitt was able to run similar lap times to the leaders, allowing him to work his way up to the second group. In both instances he was able to finish at the head of the pack, for fifth place in race one and sixth in race two. Bayliss won both races to extend his lead in the championship to 36 points over Corser, who was third and second in today's races. Haga lies fifth in the championship but with a reduced gap to third. The Yamaha rider is just four points behind James Toseland (Honda) and two adrift of fourth placed Barros. Yamaha Motor France's riders had mixed fortunes in Monza. World superbike rookie Shinichi Nakatomi continued to impress with a season best tenth in race one and 12th in race two. The Japanese rider came from 20th on the grid and was dicing with illustrious company throughout the races, one of whom was team-mate Sebastien Gimbert, who finished 12th in race one before retiring with clutch problems in the second. But Norick Abe suffered a nightmare in Monza and received no reward for a gritty performance. After missing the Saturday practice sessions through injury, Abe must have wished he had stayed in his motorhome after becoming one of seven riders to go down in a first corner pile-up in race one. For race two he came from 27th on the grid to finish the race 16th, a fine performance for a rider suffering neck and wrist injuries but unfortunately not one which brought any championship points. Despite his failure to score, Abe remains in the championship's top ten, dropping just one place to ninth. Nakatomi moves up to 17th and Gimbert 22nd. The next race takes place at the Silverstone circuit in three weekend's time. Noriyuki Haga (Yamaha Motor Italia) "I'm very happy to finally get on the podium in Monza. We had two hard races and in the second I thought that I could stay with Bayliss and Corser but I had a small problem with rear grip. Our bike has worked very well this weekend and I am pleased for that I can make this good result at the home race of my team. I am now looking to get another good result in Silverstone as this is a track I like very much and where we had the first podium for the R1 last year." Andrew Pitt (Yamaha Motor Italia) "It was all about making a good start and unfortunately in both races I couldn't get cleanly through the first chicane. I thought that I rode well and my lap times were the same as the guys in the front group but they had already made a break and it was impossible to catch them. I'm disappointed as I expected more and thought we could be on the podium today but in both races I beat the guys I was racing with and that's about as much as I could do." Shinichi Nakatomi (Yamaha Motor France) "I was too far behind on the start but on the track I could catch people. After ten or 11 laps I was catching again but l missed a gear and lost about five positions. After that, I had to work very hard but we got some points in both races. It was a positive for us." Sebastien Gimbert (Yamaha Motor France) "It was a difficult weekend, for the team and for me. We had big problems with the clutch. In the first race it was not so bad but the second race was no good for me." Norick Abe (Yamaha Motor France) "We had very bad luck this weekend. My big crash on Friday was my mistake but also caused by the rainy conditions. So in first race I made a good start but somebody made a big mistake and many riders went out. That one was not my fault. In race two my right hand was in more pain than the first race and we didn't not have ideal settings because we had to miss practice sessions." Massimo Meregalli (Team Coordinator - Yamaha Motor Italia) "On Friday we felt that a podium was possible and although it didn't go so well in final qualifying I was confident that both riders could challenge after a good performance in the warm-up this morning. I'm pleased for Noriyuki because on Thursday he said to me that he never finishes on the podium here. Andrew also rode well and has been strong all weekend, so we can go to Silverstone confident of challenging for the podium again." Martial Garcia (Team Manager - Yamaha Motor France) "Nakatomi confirmed his good result of the first race in the second one, although this time there was no big crash like in race one, so more riders finished. Gimbert had a big problem with the clutch so he could not ride the bike. For Abe the situation was clear and he only rode for the team, only for us, so true thanks to him. He tried his heart out but missed a point by only one position in race two." Race classification WSB Round: 4 - Italy Circuit: Monza Circuit Length: 5792 Lap Record: 1' 46.815 (Troy Bayliss, 2006) Fastest Lap Ever:  1' 46.815 (Troy Bayliss, 2006) Race: 18 Laps  Pos.  Rider Manufacturer  Nat. Total Time  1   T. Bayliss Ducati  AUS  32' 23.100  2   A. Barros Honda  BRA  +3.982  3   T. Corser Suzuki  AUS  +4.216  4   N. Haga Yamaha  JPN  +4.395  5   A. Pitt Yamaha  AUS  +13.605  6   K. Muggeridge Honda  AUS  +13.665  7   R. Laconi Kawasaki  FRA  +14.066  8   R. Rolfo Ducati  ITA  +19.170  9   L. Lanzi Ducati  ITA  +25.729  10   S. Nakatomi Yamaha  JPN  +28.350  11   C. Walker Kawasaki  GBR  +29.639  12   S. Gimbert Yamaha  FRA  +30.354  13   F. Foret Suzuki  FRA  +43.838  14   L. Alfonsi Ducati  ITA  +44.312  15   I. Clementi Ducati  ITA  +44.530  Race 2: 18 Laps  Pos.  Rider Manufacturer  Nat. Total Time  1   T. Bayliss Ducati  AUS  32' 17.705  2   T. Corser Suzuki  AUS  +1.916  3   N. Haga Yamaha  JPN  +6.479  4   A. Barros Honda  BRA  +10.227  5   J. Toseland Honda  GBR  +11.910  6   A. Pitt Yamaha  AUS  +17.551  7   K. Muggeridge Honda  AUS  +17.720  8   F. Nieto Kawasaki  ESP  +17.825  9   C. Walker Kawasaki  GBR  +22.873  10   R. Rolfo Ducati  ITA  +31.603  11   L. Lanzi Ducati  ITA  +31.610  12   S. Nakatomi Yamaha  JPN  +34.282  13   F. Foret Suzuki  FRA  +35.273  14   M. Fabrizio Honda  ITA  +35.306  15   R. Xaus Ducati  ESP  +40.552  16   N. Abe Yamaha  JPN  +51.516  Fastest Race Lap:   Pos.  Rider Manufacturer  Nat. Total Time  1   T. Bayliss Ducati  AUS  1' 46.815  Championship standings WSB Pos.  Rider  Manufacturer  Nat. Points  1   Troy Bayliss Ducati  AUS 175  2   Troy Corser Suzuki  AUS 139  3   James Toseland Honda  GBR 97  4   Alex Barros Honda  BRA 95  5   Noriyuki Haga Yamaha  JPN 93  6   Andrew Pitt Yamaha  AUS 79  7   Lorenzo Lanzi Ducati  ITA 59  8   Roberto Rolfo Ducati  ITA 46  9   Norick Abe Yamaha  JPN 40  10   Fonsi Nieto Kawasaki  ESP 37  11   Michel Fabrizio Honda  ITA 36  12   Ruben Xaus Ducati  ESP 34  13   Chris Walker Kawasaki  GBR 33  14   Regis Laconi Kawasaki  FRA 31  15   Karl Muggeridge Honda  AUS 30  17   Shinichi Nakatomi Yamaha  JPN 18  22   Sebastien Gimbert Yamaha  FRA 7  Manufacturers standings WSB   Pos. Manufacturer Points  1  Ducati 176  2  Suzuki 149  3  Honda 124  4  Yamaha 113  5  Kawasaki 57  6  Petronas 4  WSS : Roccoli tops the R6s in Monza Round: 4 - Italy Circuit: Monza Date: 7 May 2006 Crowd: 90000 Temp: 22ºC Weather: Sunny Italian youngster Massimo Roccoli had his best result as a world supersport rider, bringing his Yamaha YZF-R6 home fourth at Monza today. The Yamaha Team Italia rider survived a last lap scare when he touched Kenan Sofuoglu (Honda) as he entered Parabolica corner for the final time. The pair, who had an intense battle in last year's superstock 1000 race at Monza, crossed the line side-by-side with the Yamaha man getting the verdict by just two-tenths of a second. Roccoli had been running a quiet race just behind the leading group for much of the 16 laps, only to be caught as he succumbed to arm pump in the latter stages of the race. He was unable to fend off the challenge of championship leader Sebastien Charpentier (Honda), who was charging through the field after a ride-through penalty, but successfully defended his place from Sofuoglu and the intense race-long battle between Yamaha Motor Germany's Broc Parkes and Ducati rider Stuart Easton. After qualifying down in 11th position Parkes had a difficult race. He found himself baulked at the first chicane and after picking off a few places he was unable to find a way past Easton and came home a disappointed seventh. It was day that promised so much but delivered so little for Yamaha Motor Germany. Kevin Curtain led for much of the way, until a technical problem halted him with four laps remaining. The Australian had been involved in a thrilling battle with eventual winner Yoann Tiberio (Honda) when his engine expired at the end of the home straight. Despite failing to score Curtain retains his second place in the championship standings. Third place for Charpentier sees him extend his lead over Curtain to 31 points with second-placed Monza finisher Robbin Harms (Honda) a further eight points adrift in third. Parkes remains fifth in the championship with Roccoli sixth. Roccoli's team-mate Gianluca Vizziello was another rider to leave Monza without any points. The Italian had been in sparkling form to qualify second but he spectacularly crashed out of sixth place after being baulked by another rider on lap three. Massimo Roccoli (Yamaha Team Italia) "I got a good start and felt that I could fight for the podium today, but in the end I had some problems with my arm. When Charpentier came past me I wanted to try and stay with him but he was just too fast and I had to concentrate on getting the best result possible. The pain in my arm made it hard for me when entering the corners but I was determined to get a good result and when Sofuoglu passed me I fought straight back. I'm happy to get a good result today and finishing so close to the podium has only made me more determined." Broc Parkes (Yamaha Motor Germany) "The main problem was qualifying back on the third row. I was able to make some good progress until I came across a Ducati that I had difficulty getting past. Sometimes I was able to get past on the brakes but I was never quite able to make enough of a break to stop him coming back at me down the straights." Kevin Curtain (Yamaha Motor Germany) "It's disappointing not to be able to take advantage of Charpentier's penalty and to take some points back but that's life and no one will go through a season without some bad luck, so hopefully this is ours for the season. There are still a lot of positives to take from this weekend and we just have to work hard and focus on Silverstone." Gianluca Vizziello (Yamaha Team Italia) "I'm not happy because I knew that I could fight for a good position and possibly the podium today. Someone cut across me going into Ascari so I had to brake hard and this made me crash out with Fujiwara." Race classification WSS Round: 4 - Italy Circuit: Monza Circuit Length: 5792 Lap Record: 1' 51.403 (Sebastien Charpentier, 2006) Fastest Lap Ever:  1' 51.403 (Sebastien Charpentier, 2006) Race: 16 Laps  Pos.  Rider Manufacturer  Nat. Total Time  1   Y. Tibero Honda  FRA  30' 14.618  2   R. Harms Honda  DNK  +1.924  3   S. Charpentier Honda  FRA  +4.255  4   M. Roccoli Yamaha  ITA  +7.224  5   K. Sofuoglu Honda  TUR  +7.499  6   S. Easton Ducati  GBR  +9.015  7   B. Parkes Yamaha  AUS  +9.117  8   J. Stigefelt Honda  SWE  +10.866  9   X. Fores Yamaha  ESP  +10.997  10   S. Chambon Kawasaki  FRA  +21.842  11   T. Lauslehto Honda  FIN  +25.332  12   S. Cruciani Honda  ITA  +25.478  13   D. Checa Yamaha  ESP  +26.654  14   V. Kallio Yamaha  FIN  +34.012  15   K. Andersen Suzuki  NOR  +38.406  Fastest Race Lap:   Pos.  Rider Manufacturer  Nat. Total Time  1   S. Charpentier Honda  FRA  1' 51.403  Championship standings WSS   Pos.  Rider  Manufacturer  Nat. Points  1   Sebastien Charpentier Honda  FRA 91  2   Kevin Curtain Yamaha  AUS 60  3   Robbin Harms Honda  DNK 52  4   Yoann Tibero Honda  FRA 48  5   Broc Parkes Yamaha  AUS 38  6   Massimo Roccoli Yamaha  ITA 36  7   Xavi Fores Yamaha  ESP 30  8   Johan Stigefelt Honda  SWE 28  9   Kenan Sofuoglu Honda  TUR 27  10   Joshua Brookes Ducati  AUS 21  11   Gianluca Vizziello Yamaha  ITA 17  12   Katsuaki Fujiwara Honda  JPN 16  13   Christian Zaiser Ducati  AUT 15  14   Sebastien Le Grelle Honda  BEL 12  15   Stuart Easton Ducati  GBR 10  25   David Checa Yamaha  ESP 3  26   Didier Van Keymeulen Yamaha  BEL 2  Manufacturers standings WSS   Pos. Manufacturer Points  1  Honda 100  2  Yamaha 73  3  Ducati 33  4  Kawasaki 14  5  Suzuki 7  European Superstock : Corti tenth in Monza Round: 2 - Italy Circuit: Monza Date: 7 May 2006 Crowd: 90000 Temp: 22ºC Weather: Sunny Yamaha Team Italia rider Claudio Corti finished tenth in today's second round of the FIM Superstock 1000 Cup at his local Monza circuit. Starting from tenth on the grid following a gear selection problem in the second qualifying session, the YZF-R1 SP rider made a superb start to lie third at the end of the opening lap. The 18-year-old from Como struggled for traction and slipped back into a fierce battle for seventh place but found himself slipstreamed across the finish line. In a photo finish, fellow R1 SP riders Ilario Dionsi and Matteo Baiocco passed Corti across the line - the three Yamahas covered by just one hundredth of a second at the finish. Emilio Rocamora was 11th on another Yamaha, a further two hundredths of a seconds behind. Italian Alessandro Polita (Suzuki) led from start to finish to take his second win of the season, with Riccardo Chiarello (Kawasaki) and Ayrton Badovini (MV Agusta) making it an all Italian podium. With two of the ten rounds gone, Polita leads with a perfect 50 points, 18 ahead of second placed Badovini. Corti is the top placed Yamaha rider, with 14 points in ninth place. Claudio Corti (Yamaha Team Italia) "I made a good start but after a few laps I lost all feeling with the bike. From then all I could think about was getting some points for the championship. It's not good but at least I have scored some points today."   Race classification FIM Superstock 1000 Cup Round: 2 - Italy Circuit: Monza Circuit Length: 5792 Lap Record: 1' 51.212 (Alessandro Polita, 2006) Fastest Lap Ever:  1' 51.212 (Alessandro Polita, 2006) Race: 11 Laps  Pos.  Rider Manufacturer  Nat. Total Time  1   A. Polita Suzuki  ITA  20' 31,118.000  2   R. Chiarello Kawasaki  ITA  +0.357  3   A. Badovini MV Agusta  ITA  +9.079  4   A. Martinez Mas Kawasaki  ESP  +9.449  5   L. Scassa MV Agusta  ITA  +9.531  6   D. Dell'omo Suzuki  ITA  +10.066  7   D. Sacchetti Kawasaki  ITA  +15.548  8   I. Dionisi Yamaha  ITA  +16.711  9   M. Baiocco Yamaha  ITA  +16.714  10   C. Corti Yamaha  ITA  +16.725  11   E. Rocamora Yamaha  ESP  +16.979  12   L. Napoleone Suzuki  FRA  +19.278  13   S. Saltarelli Kawasaki  ITA  +25.388  14   M. Jerman Suzuki  SVK  +28.751  15   P. Solli Yamaha  NOR  +30.366  Fastest Race Lap:   Pos.  Rider Manufacturer  Nat. Total Time  1   A. Polita Suzuki  ITA  1' 51.212  Championship standings FIM Superstock 1000 Cup   Pos.  Rider  Manufacturer  Nat. Points  1   Alessandro Polita Suzuki  ITA 50  2   Ayrton Badovini MV Agusta  ITA 32  3   Luca Scassa MV Agusta  ITA 22  4   Riccardo Chiarello Kawasaki  ITA 22  5   Alex Martinez Mas Kawasaki  ESP 20  6   Ivan Silva Kawasaki  ESP 20  7   Denis Sacchetti Kawasaki  ITA 19  8   Enrique Rocamora Yamaha  ESP 18  9   Claudio Corti Yamaha  ITA 14  10   Danilo Dell'omo Suzuki  ITA 13  11   Matteo Baiocco Yamaha  ITA 12  12   Ilario Dionisi Yamaha  ITA 9  13   Simone Saltarelli Kawasaki  ITA 9  14   Sheridan Morais Suzuki  RSA 9  15   Richard Cooper Honda  GBR 4
Alex Asigno

Aubert and Merriman both win a day each

Having produced two impressive results at the opening round of the '06 WEC series, his first ever world championship enduro competition, UFO Corse Yamaha rider Johnny Aubert again showed just how talented a rider he is by claiming his first ever WEC win on day two in Portugal. In doing so Aubert made it the perfect weekend for the UFO Corse Yamaha squad as Stefan Merriman claimed top honours in the E2 class on day one.  On day one Merriman made up for his disappointments at the opening round of the series in Sweden and placed 19 seconds ahead of Finn Mika Ahola and a further 13 seconds ahead of Finn Samuli Aro. Finishing in fourth position, due in part to having struggled on the event's difficult extreme special test, Johnny Aubert placed in fourth. On day two Aubert made none of the mistakes that had slowed his progress on day one and wanting to simply stand on the podium the former motocross racer claimed his first WEC victory. Winning seven of the day's eight special tests Aubert placed 23 seconds ahead of Mika Ahola with Merriman in third. In the E2 world championship standings Aubert is placed third, five points behind class leader Aro, with Merriman fourth. Johnny Aubert (UFO Corse Yamaha Enduro 2 class - Day 1 fourth, Day 2 first: "It's absolutely fantastic to have had such a great weekend and to have won my first ever world championship enduro race. I still can't believe it. When I saw the motocross and enduro tests I was confident that I could do well, but when I saw the extreme test I thought that I would really struggle. On day one I did find it difficult on the extreme test, and that affected my result. I also had a one big crash on the enduro test. "On day two I wanted to improve my extreme tests and fight for a position on the podium, and I did that. I felt really good on day two - on all the special tests. Winning my first world championship race in my first season of enduro is fantastic. I want to thank the UFO Corse Yamaha team for all there help and support and I hope I can continue with my good results. " Stefan Merriman (UFO Corse Yamaha Enduro 2 class - Day 1: first, Day third: "Winning on day one was great because things certainly didn't go to plan at the first round of the series in Sweden. I had a really good day, and enjoyed the event although it was really difficult. I got stuck on the extreme test, like most riders did, but that was my only real problem. "Day two was also good but Johnny was just faster than me. The tests got a lot rougher and I struggled a little with the long ruts in the corners. I pushed as hard as I could but it just wasn't enough. I know that with refinements to the bike's set-up I will be able to go faster so I'm looking forward to the next race in Spain. " 'Manxman' David Knight claimed top honours on both days in the Enduro 3 class finishing ahead of Finn Marko Tarkkala with Sweden's Bjorne Carlsson claiming third on both days.    Race classification Enduro 2 Round: 2 - Guimaraes, Portugal Circuit: Guimares Race: 1 Laps  Pos.  Rider Manufacturer  Nat. Total Time  1   S. Merriman Yamaha  AUS  37' 16.200  2   M. Ahola Honda  FIN  +37' 21.550  3   S. Aro KTM  FIN  +37' 34.670  4   J. Aubert Yamaha  FRA  +37' 47.050  5   P. Edmondson Honda  GBR  +38' 10.500  6   F. Planet KTM  FRA  +38' 32.600  7   X. Galindo KTM  ESP  +38' 33.410  8   C. Guerrero GasGas  ESP  +38' 36.440  9   E. Albepart Honda  FRA  +39' 13.660  10   A. Beconi Beta  ITA  +39' 16.980  11   A. Botturi Aprilia  ITA  +39' 44.240  12   A. Belotti KTM  ITA  +39' 46.550  13   F. Dini Yamaha  ITA  +39' 51.230  14   A. Toresson Suzuki  SWE  +39' 56.700  15   J. Curvalle Kawasaki  FRA  +40' 9.680  16   N. Paganon Husqvarna  FRA  +40' 38.680  17   E. Memmi Sherco  FRA  +40' 41.140  18   J. Pedrero Sherco  ESP  +40' 51.120  19   V. Salonen HusaBerg  FIN  +41' 19.670  20   G. Canova Husqvarna  ITA  +41' 26.190  Race 2: 1 Laps  Pos.  Rider Manufacturer  Nat. Total Time  1   J. Aubert Yamaha  FRA  36' 37.550  2   M. Ahola Honda  FIN  +37' 0.790  3   S. Merriman Yamaha  AUS  +37' 31.980  4   S. Aro KTM  FIN  +37' 48.920  5   C. Guerrero GasGas  ESP  +38' 22.910  6   P. Edmondson Honda  GBR  +38' 37.720  7   F. Planet KTM  FRA  +38' 40.320  8   F. Dini Yamaha  ITA  +38' 56.140  9   A. Beconi Beta  ITA  +39' 2.520  10   X. Galindo KTM  ESP  +39' 4.900  11   E. McConnell TM  GBR  +39' 7.430  12   A. Belotti KTM  ITA  +39' 8.620  13   E. Albepart Honda  FRA  +39' 47.060  14   A. Botturi Aprilia  ITA  +39' 54.450  15   N. Paganon Husqvarna  FRA  +39' 55.110  16   V. Salonen HusaBerg  FIN  +40' 1.390  17   E. Memmi Sherco  FRA  +41' 10.880  18   J. Pedrero Sherco  ESP  +41' 26.730  19   F. Mancinelli Beta  ITA  +41' 38.640  20   G. Canova Husqvarna  ITA  +41' 47.760  Championship standings Enduro 2 Pos.  Rider  Manufacturer  Nat. Points  1   Mika Ahola Honda  FIN 88  2   Samuli Aro KTM  FIN 88  3   Johnny Aubert Yamaha  FRA 83  4   Stefan Merriman Yamaha  AUS 76  5   Fabien Planet KTM  FRA 62  6   Cristobal Guerrero GasGas  ESP 49  7   Xavier Galindo KTM  ESP 46  8   Valtteri Salonen HusaBerg  FIN 41  9   Andrea Beconi Beta  ITA 36  10   Fabrizio Dini Yamaha  ITA 35  11   Paul Edmondson Honda  GBR 31  12   Alessandro Botturi Aprilia  ITA 28  13   Petteri Silvan KTM  FIN 28  14   Euan McConnell TM  GBR 26  15   Thierry Klutz Sherco  BEL 21  16   Emmanuel Albepart Honda  FRA 20  17   Riku Rihelainen HusaBerg  FIN 19  18   Andrea Belotti KTM  ITA 18  19   Patrik Wicksell KTM  SWE 15  20   Nicolas Paganon Husqvarna  FRA 11  Manufacturers standings Enduro 2 Pos. Manufacturer Points  1  Yamaha 90  2  Honda 88  2  KTM 88  3  GasGas 53  4  HusaBerg 41  5  Beta 36  6  Sherco 28  6  Aprilia 28  7  TM 25  8  Husqvarna 17  9  Suzuki 7  10  Kawasaki 6  Enduro 1 : Micheluz scores best career result at Guimaraes Round: 2 - Guimaraes, Portugal Circuit: Guimares Date: 7 May 2006 Crowd: 7000 Temp: 20ºC Weather: Dry UFO Corse Yamaha team rider Arnau Vilanova was still unable to compete in the second round of the '06 World Enduro Championship due to having injured his left foot while practicing at his home in Spain prior to the event. Portuguese rider Helder Rodrigues and UFO Corse Yamaha rider Maurizio Micheluz produced Yamaha's best results in the Enduro 1 class. With Rodrigues placing fourth on day one, Micheluz finished in fourth on day two to claim his best ever world championship result and in doing so lifted himself to sixth position in the Enduro 1 world championship standings. At the head of the class Italian Simone Albergoni claimed his first win of the '06 season by topping the podium on day one. Locked in a close battle with reigning E1 world champion Ivan Cervantes just four seconds separated the pair at the end of the day. Placing in third on day one was Italian Alessandro Belometti. On day two the top two finishing positions from day one were reversed with Cervantes claiming the win, 30 seconds ahead of Albergoni. Again placing third was Belometti. Maurizio Micheluz (UFO Corse Yamaha) Enduro 1 class - Day 1 eighth, Day 2 fourth: "The race was really difficult - not only the special tests but also the course because of the rocks and dust. But it has been a good weekend for me. I am really pleased to have finished fourth on day two because it is my best result in the WEC so far. Day one went pretty well for me and I was pleased with the way I was riding. But day two was much better. "I had a big crash on the enduro test, which made things hard for me but on day two I felt a lot better. The tests were really difficult but I enjoyed them. I didn't really have any problems so I am really happy. "    Race classification Enduro 1 Round: 2 - Guimaraes, Portugal Circuit: Guimares Race: 1 Laps  Pos.  Rider Manufacturer  Nat. Total Time  1   S. Albergoni Honda  ITA  38' 8.000  2   I. Cervantes KTM  ESP  +38' 12.900  3   A. Belometti KTM  ITA  +38' 50.090  4   H. Rodrigues Yamaha  POR  +39' 16.780  5   B. Oblucki Husqvarna  POL  +39' 53.930  6   M. Hartmann KTM  GER  +39' 46.830  7   P. Pohjamo TM  FIN  +40' 7.030  8   M. Micheluz Yamaha  ITA  +40' 14.910  9   N. Deparrois Husqvarna  FRA  +40' 55.980  10   P. Enes KTM  FRA  +41' 2,152.000  11   J. Jou Yamaha  ESP  +41' 35.030  12   F. Blanc KTM  FRA  +41' 38.290  13   F. Ferreira Yamaha  POR  +41' 5,255.000  14   M. Patrao Suzuki  POR  +42' 48.000  15   A. Mendes Yamaha  FRA  +43' 342.000  16   R. Hubers Yamaha  NED  +49' 2.330  17   S. Helio Yamaha  ESP  +1,13' 14.100  18   A. Fernandez Yamaha  POR  +1.14' 2,712.000  Race 2: 1 Laps  Pos.  Rider Manufacturer  Nat. Total Time  1   I. Cervantes KTM  ESP  37' 38.210  2   S. Albergoni Honda  ITA  +38' 8.640  3   A. Belometti KTM  ITA  +38' 29.650  4   M. Micheluz Yamaha  ITA  +39' 0.610  5   P. Pohjamo TM  FIN  +39' 3.150  6   F. Blanc KTM  FRA  +39' 28.410  7   H. Rodrigues Yamaha  POR  +39' 35.800  8   B. Oblucki Husqvarna  POL  +39' 48.210  9   M. Hartmann KTM  GER  +40' 8.100  10   N. Deparrois Husqvarna  FRA  +40' 35.300  11   A. Raphael Kawasaki  FRA  +40' 35.930  12   J. Gauthier Honda  FRA  +40' 38.550  13   J. Jou Yamaha  ESP  +41' 20.350  14   M. Patrao Suzuki  POR  +41' 38.500  15   A. Mendes Yamaha  FRA  +42' 46.410  16   F. Ferreira Yamaha  POR  +42' 51.880  17   R. Hubers Yamaha  NED  +43' 39.260  18   A. Fernandez Yamaha  POR  +59' 27.900  Championship standings Enduro 1 Pos.  Rider  Manufacturer  Nat. Points  1   Ivan Cervantes KTM  ESP 94  2   Simone Albergoni Honda  ITA 83  3   Petri Pohjamo TM  FIN 73  4   Alessandro Belometti KTM  ITA 68  5   Bartosz Oblucki Husqvarna  POL 65  6   Mauricio Micheluz Yamaha  ITA 61  7   Helder Rodrigues Yamaha  POR 55  8   Mike Hartmann KTM  GER 46  9   Peter Bergvall Suzuki  SWE 40  10   Freddy Blanc KTM  FRA 37  11   Robert Carlsson Yamaha  SWE 26  12   Frederik Georgsson KTM  SWE 23  13   Nicolas Deparrois Husqvarna  FRA 23  14   Pär Olsson Yamaha  SWE 19  15   Joan Jou Yamaha  ESP 18  16   Leit Holm KTM  FIN 15  17   Mario Patrao Suzuki  POR 14  18   Fernando Ferreira Yamaha  POR 13  19   Alexandre Mendes Yamaha  FRA 12  20   Pedro Enes KTM  FRA 11  25   Andre Fernandez Yamaha  POR 6  27   Santos Helio Yamaha  ESP 4  Manufacturers standings Enduro 1 Pos. Manufacturer Points  1  KTM 94  2  Honda 83  3  TM 73  4  Yamaha 66  5  Husqvarna 65  6  Suzuki 54  7  Kawasaki 10
Alex Asigno

Camel Yamaha Team follows express route to the orient

The whirlwind start to the 2006 MotoGP World Championship continues next weekend as the paddock's globetrotting journey heads eastwards across Asia to the Shanghai International Circuit in China. After visiting Spain, Qatar and Turkey in the opening three rounds of the series, the Camel Yamaha Team take their points quest back to the skies for another 'flyaway' race, before returning to start a European road trip that covers seven races in nine weeks - starting at the Le Mans circuit in France only seven days after the Chinese event. Valentino Rossi and Colin Edwards arrive in the country known locally as 'The Big Land' with a mixed bag of results under their arms after an unpredictable start to the campaign. Rossi followed up a first-corner fall at Jerez with victory in Doha before battling to fourth place in Istanbul after a weekend dogged by technical difficulties and bad weather. It has been a similar story for his Texan team-mate, who has shown excellent pace in practice but has yet to find a set-up package that will enable him to compete for race victories and podiums. The Shanghai circuit was designed by architects Hermann Tilke and Peter Wahl and its layout was inspired by the shape of the Chinese character 'shang', which stands for 'high' or 'above'. Other symbols represented in the architecture of the circuit facilities originate from Chinese history, such as the team buildings, which are arranged like pavilions on a lake to resemble the ancient Yuyan-Garden in Shanghai. One of the circuit's most impressive features is the extraordinary main grandstand, which holds capacity for 29,000 spectators and provides a spectacular view of almost 80 percent of the circuit. Valentino Rossi: Tight and technical After taking a surprise wet-weather victory at this circuit last season, Valentino Rossi is hoping for an identical result in different conditions this time around. The torrential rain that fell during the inaugural event at Shanghai one year ago set the scene for one of the most impressive performances of Rossi's career but, given the choice, the World Champion is hoping for a much more straightforward way to demonstrate his superiority next Sunday. "Out of all the victories in my career, China last year was the one I least expected because of the problems we had with the bike during the weekend and with the rain on race day," explains Rossi, who became the all-time record points scorer in Grand Prix history thanks to his fourth place finish in Turkey last week - a result that outs him fifth in the championship. "It was the first time I had won in the wet on the Yamaha, so it was a special victory, but this year I would definitely prefer a dry race. The 2006 version M1 didn't work as well as we had hoped in the wet practice sessions in Turkey and we need as much dry track time as possible to get the bike setting as I like it." Like Turkey the Shanghai circuit was designed by Hermann Tilke, but it is much more similar to the German architect's other effort at Sepang in Malaysia, with tight bends and long straights that, according to Rossi, make the rider's skill in setting the bike up even more important. "My first impressions of the circuit last year were very good but then it wasn't as much fun as I expected," explains the Italian. "It is actually quite tight and technical and is very much a Formula 1 track, so all the riders have a lot of hard work to do finding the right setting for the bikes. It is not ideal for MotoGP - it is a very demanding circuit and it will test the riders and the bikes to the maximum."
Colin Edwards: Expect the unexpected Colin Edwards says he is unsure about what to expect in China after experiencing such mixed fortunes at each of the opening three rounds this season. Like his team-mate, the American is hoping for favourable circumstances from the opening practice in order to gather crucial set-up data for the 2006 version YZR-M1 machine. "Because we had so little dry time at Shanghai last year I think there is a big question mark for everybody about what is going to happen," says Edwards, who currently lies ninth in the championship on 19 points. "It will be important to find a good setting for the bike as quickly as possible so that we can get some endurance testing in before the race and make sure we don't have the problems we've struggled with in previous weekends. This is a very important Grand Prix for us and we simply have to end it with a decent result before the championship heads back to Europe. "The test at Istanbul on Monday was quite beneficial because it gave us an idea of the lap times we could have done in the race if we weren't interrupted by the rain on Saturday, which was encouraging, although it didn't win us any points back! We got a lot of laps in, which is what we need right now, so the engineers have some good data to work on over the next week before the race and I'm confident they can come up with something for us in China." Davide Brivio: Positive thinking Camel Yamaha Team Director Davide Brivio is looking towards the Grand Prix in China as a major opportunity to turn around the team's early-season fortunes. Having enjoyed a particularly fruitful weekend in Shanghai at this stage last season, the Italian is hoping the event can prove to be a turning point for the team at the start of a critical phase of the championship. "Last year's race in China was very important for us because we won, and won well, in the wet and this helped us to find the solutions to some problems we had with the dry setting, so we are hoping it can be the same this time," says Brivio. "It has been a difficult start to the season but despite the bad luck of Valentino's crash in the first round at Jerez he is still very close to the top. We're looking forward to seeing what both he and Colin are capable of when the problems are solved and hopefully that can start in China. "Now we have eight races in eleven weekends, which is a lot and puts pressure on everybody. For example our drivers will be going straight from China to pick up the trucks and driving them to France without a break, but I think it is worse for the riders because they have no time to rest. In any case the next three months are the core of the season and a period where the situation regarding the championship becomes much clearer. The conditions are the same for everybody so we have to make sure we work to the best of our abilities and come through with a good share of the points." Technically speaking: Colin Edwards' suspension technician Robert Gronlund Despite being drawn by the same hand as the Istanbul Circuit in Turkey, Shanghai has different characteristics that bring to mind closer comparisons with the other Herman Tilke circuit of Sepang. Combining fast straights and hard braking zones with a series of slow and difficult corners, bike set-up is again a question of finding a compromised balance, whilst the big unknown this weekend will be the conditions - with last year's mixed bag of weather and the typically hot and humid climate making grip levels a complete mystery until Friday morning practice. "In some ways Shanghai is similar to Turkey but in other ways it is very different," explains Robert Gronlund, Colin Edwards' Ohlins suspension technician. "For instance, it doesn't flow as much as that track but it does have a mixture of fast corners and very hard braking zones, so in terms of the set-up the key is again to have a good compromise - especially with the suspension. The bike needs to turn well into the slow corners because, like with the final section in Turkey, you can lose a lot of time there. "The thing about Shanghai is that we have only been once and it was sometimes wet and sometimes dry, so we have a very limited amount of data. Really we're not worried about that though because we feel we made an important step during the test in Turkey. We have reduced the vibration problems we had at Jerez and Qatar and found a solution to the difficulties we had at Istanbul - just generally making the bike easier to ride. A lot will depend on the grip levels at Shanghai and it certainly won't be easy, but we are looking forward to it." Valentino Rossi: Information Age: 27 Lives: London, UK Bike: Yamaha YZR-M1 GP victories: 80 (54 x MotoGP/500cc, 14 x 250cc, 12 x 125cc) First GP victory: Czech Republic, 1996 (125cc) First GP: Malaysia, 1996 (125cc) GP starts: 160 (100 x MotoGP/500cc, 30 x 250cc, 30 x 125cc) Pole positions: 40 World Championships - 7 Grand Prix (1 x 125cc, 1 x 250cc, 1 x 500cc, 4 x MotoGP) Colin Edwards: Information Age: 32 Lives: Conroe, Texas Bike: Yamaha YZR-M1 First GP: Japan, 2003 (MotoGP) GP starts: 51 x MotoGP World Championships - 2 World Superbike Shanghai Lap Record: Alex Barros (Honda) 2005 - 2'13.716* Shanghai Best Lap: Sete Gibernau (Honda) 2005 - 1'59.710 Shanghai 2005 Results*: 1. Valentino Rossi (Yamaha) 50'02.463 2. Olivier Jacque (Kawasaki) +1.700 3. Marco Melandri (Honda) +16.574 8. Colin Edwards(Yamaha) +31.033 * Wet Race
Alex Asigno

Rossi floats back to the top at wet Shanghai

Camel Yamaha Team rider Valentino Rossi returned to the top of the MotoGP time sheets today as hard work during practice and testing following the last round at Istanbul began to bear fruit on the opening day of the Grand Prix of China. In soaking conditions caused by a steady downpour of fine rain throughout the day, Rossi repeated the form that saw him take a wet victory at the Shanghai circuit last season with the fastest times in both today's free practice sessions.  After setting the pace by just 0.002 seconds from Casey Stoner (Honda) in the morning, the Italian moved up a gear in the afternoon to improve his time by almost three seconds, holding off the challenge of Loris Capirossi (Ducati) by 0.355 seconds with an exemplary display of wet-weather riding. Meanwhile, his Camel Yamaha team-mate Colin Edwards also reported improved feeling with his YZR-M1 machine following positive progress during the Turkish test session, although the American was struggled to turn that into outright pace this afternoon. Valentino Rossi (1st; 2'09.393, 36 laps) "In Turkey we were able to understand some of the problems we were having with the bike and we found some good solutions. The modifications we made using that data here this morning were really good and now I can ride the bike at 100%. Even though it was wet the grip levels were very good, I was able to get a lot of lean angle in the corners and it was really good fun to ride as I want to. I'm really happy because I was fastest in both free practices today and this is a good sign for the weekend. The bike is working well in the wet but I think the solutions we have found for the setting will also work in the dry. Hopefully we will get the chance to find out tomorrow because the worst scenario would be to have another day of wet practice and then a dry race on Sunday." Colin Edwards (13th; 2'11.838, 24 laps) "I'm reasonably happy with today. We did some good work on the setting of the bike but when we got it to where I wanted to push for a good time we had a minor setback with the tyre and I had to go for a different compound, which didn't quite work out. The main thing is that I'm comfortable with the bike and I'm confident I can go much quicker tomorrow whether it's wet or dry. We basically started out with the dry setting we found in Turkey and made small adaptations for the wet conditions here. We found a really good suspension solution at the end so now we just need to put the whole package together with the right tyres tomorrow and run with it." Davide Brivio - Camel Yamaha Team Director "That was a very good session, especially after the problems we had in Istanbul. The engineers made some good steps with the setting and, thanks to their good work at the test in Turkey, Valentino was able to be fast again today. Watching him ride to the best of his ability is always very enjoyable and the situation here is clearly very different to what we found when it rained in Turkey. As far as Colin is concerned his lap time today does not reflect his true potential here. He has found a good setting and, although he couldn't finish the session off as he would have liked, there is a lot more to come from him. We have started off well at other races this year and not ended up with the right result so we have to make sure this good work continues right through until Sunday afternoon."  Rain dampens proceedings for Tech 3 Yamaha Team Although the rain overshadowed proceedings, the conditions gave the Tech 3 Yamaha Team an excellent chance to continue testing the ever improving range of Dunlop wet weather tyres. Both riders tested many different combinations of tyres during the two, one-hour practice sessions and recorded valuable data should the showers continue for the remainder of the weekend with Carlos Checa and James Ellison in 16th and17th positions respectively. Carlos Checa (16th, 2'14.914, 36 laps) "It has been a busy day testing tyres and these wet conditions have given us a perfect chance to find a direction to head with the amount of wet-weather tyres Dunlop has for us. But it's what we have to do to continue and hope we can improve further soon. I am not very happy as I'm five seconds off but that is what happens sometimes when we are testing at the same time as trying to find a setup. Now we have to find the tyre to settle on should these conditions continue over the weekend". James Ellison (17th. 2'15.880, 36 laps) "From this morning we made some adjustments by lowering the bike and softening the bike right off and it worked well as the lap times started to come down. We tried a few different tyres during the session and the last tyre we tried was pretty good. Carlos liked it as well so we have something to work on in the morning but we just have to find a way of generating more heat in the side of the tyre which is the problem we're having. Once we do that we should be in much better position. Testing during a meeting is a bit hard but at the end of the day that is what we are here for". Herve Poncharal - Tech3 Yamaha Team Director "Although the positions of Carlos and James are not the best, we are quite satisfied with the work that has been done today because again, we have done a few hours in the rain and they both have been through a lot of different tyres. "It's a tough job but this is "year one" with Dunlop in MotoGP with a factory bike and they have a lot to learn and a lot to understand to catch up to the other brands. We have to go through this testing program - that is something we have to do - and not everything we test is always suitable. But this is our mission and we have to continue. I'd like to thank my riders - especially Carlos - for the good job he is doing. Hopefully, by the end of the season, with all the tyre testing we do during a Grand Prix, we will be a lot closer. The target is to be a pretty competitive in 2007 but we're not going to catch up with the other two immediately."    Round: 4 - 2006 MotoGP Shanghai Circuit: Shanghai Circuit Length: 5451 Lap Record: 2' 13.716 (Alex Barros, 2005) Fastest Lap Ever: 1' 59.710 (Sete Gibernau, 2005) Date: 12 May 2006 Temp: 17ºC Free Practice :  Pos.  Rider  Manufacturer  Nat.  Free Practice  1  V. Rossi  Yamaha  ITA   2' 9.393   2  L. Capirossi  Ducati  ITA   2' 9.748   3  J. Hopkins  Suzuki  USA   2' 10.007   4  S. Gibernau  Ducati  ESP   2' 10.187   5  N. Hayden  Honda  USA   2' 10.247   6  M. Melandri  Honda  ITA   2' 10.411   7  D. Pedrosa  Honda  ESP   2' 10.815   8  C. Stoner  Honda  AUS   2' 11.016   9  M. Tamada  Honda  JPN   2' 11.313   10  R. De Puniet  Kawasaki  FRA   2' 11.425   11  C. Vermeulen  Suzuki  AUS   2' 11.438   12  K. Roberts  Team Roberts KR  USA   2' 11.615   13  C. Edwards  Yamaha  USA   2' 11.838   14  S. Nakano  Kawasaki  JPN   2' 12.496   15  T. Elias  Honda  ESP   2' 12.807   16  C. Checa  Yamaha  ESP   2' 14.914   17  J. Ellison  Yamaha  GBR   2' 15.880
Alex Asigno

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