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GP Win Number 88 for Everts in World Championship Opener

Yamaha Intur Sports Motocross Team rider and reigning MX1 World Champion Stefan Everts left the opening round of the 2006 series having increased his record-career total of GP victories to 88 and proved his rhetoric concerning the new aluminium frame YZ450FM was completely founded. 16,000 spectators flocked to the Zolder circuit in Belgium for the Karcher Grand Prix of Flanders, the first race of fifteen in this season's campaign. Teammate Cedric Melotte managed tenth position overall. Rainfall in the days leading up to the event meant that the fine Belgian dirt at the former Formula one circuit was soft and sodden, and throughout practice churned into a demanding and difficult prospect. Following through on his excellent pre-season form Stefan Everts did not put a foot wrong on Saturday to clinch his first pole position since the 2005 Grand Prix of South Africa. 33-year-old Everts began the opening moto behind former rival Sebastien Tortelli and although he tried to pressurise the Frenchman, drawing close on several occasions, he was unable to seize the lead and lost any chance of victory in the last third of the heat when he was held up by backmarkers. The pair surprisingly lapped everybody up to fifth position. Melotte, who is still coming back to full fitness after a wrist problem limited his pre-season preparation, finished in ninth. The 27 year old, who was an overall winner at the first ever MX1 GP - also at Zolder - in 2004, made a mistake two laps from the chequered flag which cost him sixth place. Spanish sponsors Intur Sports were announced as the new backers for the Rinaldi team in an entertaining function on Saturday evening and they must have been pleased as Moto2 saw a dominant performance from Everts as he broke away from Sebastien Tortelli in a role-reversal of the first sprint. The Belgian has been raving about the handling and performance of the new YZ450FM and gave a large section of his fans an ample demonstration of his synergy with the Rinaldi-fettled machine. He would win by almost 40 seconds and his 2-1 scorecard gave him a familiar top step of the podium. Cedric Melotte had a problem with his goggles that affected his eyesight and he was close to crashing on several occasions but was able to steer his Yamaha past the chequered flag in eighth spot for tenth in the final classification. The second round of the series will take place in two weeks time, on Easter Sunday, at the Bellpuig circuit in Catalonia, Spain. The Grand Prix of Portugal will occur just one week on from the trip to the Iberian Peninsula. Stefan Everts, Yamaha Intur Sports Motocross team: "I was making a lot of mistakes in the first race and was not riding smooth enough to really catch Sebastien. After that though the ice was broken and I knew I had one more moto to make things better. I changed my position on the start line and got into the first corner ahead. I pushed really hard in those first few laps and Sebastien was with me for a while but I focussed on my own riding and it worked. I was happy with the bike. We changed a few little things with suspension but the performance was great today and I felt comfortable. It is very early for the Championship. Sebastien is right there but Pichon missed a lot of points today, Josh is out and I expected the Suzuki boys to be closer, but there is still a long way to go."   Cedric Melotte, Yamaha Intur Sports Motocross team: "I was struggling over the weekend with my wrist and my condition. Everything is improving but to come here and do 40 minutes with a weak wrist was unbelievable. The track was so difficult. If I had not crashed in the first race I would have been fifth and this was OK. After a few minutes of the second moto I got some dirt in my goggles and I could not see or concentrate on my lines. I am happy enough with the result because at least twice I thought that 'I should stop otherwise I will crash' because I could not see. The ruts were really deep and to come away with a top ten in the conditions is satisfying." Race classification MX1 Round: 1 - 2006 GP of Flanders, Belgium Circuit: Zolder Race: 21 Laps  Pos.  Rider Manufacturer  Nat. Total Time  1   S. Tortelli KTM  FRA  39' 22.213  2   S. Everts Yamaha  BEL  +11.063  3   T. Leok Kawasaki  EST  +1' 5.994  4   S. Ramon Suzuki  BEL  +1' 33.493  5   K. De Dycker Honda  BEL  +1' 54.790  6   J. Barragan KTM  ESP  +1 lap(s)  7   P. Leuret  Honda  FRA  +1 lap(s)  8   K. Strijbos Suzuki  BEL  +1 lap(s)  9   C. Melotte Yamaha  BEL  +1 lap(s)  10   S. Sword Kawasaki  GBR  +1 lap(s)  11   J. Garcia Vico Honda  ESP  +1 lap(s)  12   B. Verhoeven Kawasaki  NED  +1 lap(s)  13   A. Pyrhonen TM  FIN  +1 lap(s)  14   W. Avis KTM  RSA  +1 lap(s)  15   D. Theybers Suzuki  BEL  +1 lap(s)  16   M. Van Daele Honda  BEL  +1 lap(s)  17   J. Noble Honda  GBR  +1 lap(s)  18   M. Hucklebridge Kawasaki  GBR  +1 lap(s)  19   C. Federici Kawasaki  ITA  +1 lap(s)  20   E. Eggens Kawasaki  NED  +1 lap(s)  Race 2: 22 Laps  Pos.  Rider Manufacturer  Nat. Total Time  1   S. Everts Yamaha  BEL  40' 9.339  2   S. Tortelli KTM  FRA  +38.639  3   K. Strijbos Suzuki  BEL  +1' 15.573  4   T. Leok Kawasaki  EST  +1' 23.799  5   S. Ramon Suzuki  BEL  +1' 30.347  6   S. Sword Kawasaki  GBR  +1' 39.574  7   K. De Dycker Honda  BEL  +1 lap(s)  8   C. Melotte Yamaha  BEL  +1 lap(s)  9   J. Barragan KTM  ESP  +1 lap(s)  10   P. Leuret  Honda  FRA  +1 lap(s)  11   J. Noble Honda  GBR  +1 lap(s)  12   M. Priem Yamaha  BEL  +1 lap(s)  13   B. Jorgensen Honda  DNK  +1 lap(s)  14   M. Van Daele Honda  BEL  +1 lap(s)  15   A. Pyrhonen TM  FIN  +1 lap(s)  16   B. Verhoeven Kawasaki  NED  +1 lap(s)  17   J. Dobes Suzuki  CZE  +1 lap(s)  18   L. Freibergs Suzuki  LVA  +1 lap(s)  19   M. Hucklebridge Kawasaki  GBR  +1 lap(s)  20   M. Norlen Suzuki  SWE  +1 lap(s)  Championship standings MX1 Pos.  Rider  Manufacturer  Nat. Points  1   Stefan Everts Yamaha  BEL 47  2   Sebastien Tortelli KTM  FRA 47  3   Tanel Leok Kawasaki  EST 38  4   Steve Ramon Suzuki  BEL 34  5   Kevin Strijbos Suzuki  BEL 33  6   Ken De Dycker Honda  BEL 30  7   Jonathan Barragan KTM  ESP 27  8   Stephen Sword Kawasaki  GBR 26  9   Cedric Melotte Yamaha  BEL 25  10   Pascal Leuret  Honda  FRA 25  11   Bas Verhoeven Kawasaki  NED 14  12   James Noble Honda  GBR 14  13   Antti Pyrhonen TM FRA 14 14   Marvin Van Daele Honda  BEL 12  15   Javier Garcia Vico Honda  ESP 10  16   Manuel Priem Yamaha  BEL 9  17   Brian Jorgensen Honda  DNK 8  18   Wyatt Avis KTM  RSA 7 19   Danny Theybers Suzuki BEL 6  20   Mark Hucklebridge Kawasaki GBR 5  Manufacturers standings MX1 Pos. Manufacturer Points  1  Yamaha 25  2  KTM 22  3  Kawasaki 20  4  Suzuki 18  5  Honda 15  6  TM 2  MX2 : Gundersen marks Yamaha debut with podium result Round: 1 - 2006 GP of Flanders, Belgium Circuit: Zolder Date: 2 April 2006 Crowd: 16000 Temp: 11ºC Weather: Overcast Ricci Racing's Kenneth Gundersen scored an emotional podium in his debut for the team and on the formidable YZ250F at Zolder, Belgium today for the first round of fifteen in the 2006 FIM World Championship. The Karcher Grand Prix of Flanders occurred in front of a decent 16,000 attendance considering the cold and wintery conditions.  Gundersen notched results of second and sixth to place third overall in his first top three appearance for over two years and his first in the MX2 class since 2001. The Norwegian has battled back from multiple knee and cartilage operations in the last 18 months. The 25 year old showed promising form despite some less than perfect starts on the wet and rough Belgian terrain. He had to ditch his goggles early in the first moto but was still able to pass the KTMs of Rattray and De Reuver. In the second race he ensured his fresh silverware as the highest placed Yamaha rider. World Champion Antonio Cairoli, who dislikes the Belgian circuit, fell on the first lap of the first moto and with the track at its wettest throughout the weekend he rode well to break into the top fifteen and collect six points. The Italian crashed on Saturday and received a blow to his left leg but was able to show his true colours in the second moto as passed he title rival Marc de Reuver and crossed the finish line with the runner-up position behind eventual overall winner Tyla Rattray. The De Carli rider's mishap earlier in the day meant that he placed seventh overall. Alessio Chiodi showed decent speed and all the experience of a three times World Champion to take sixth spot in the first moto in the soggy conditions. The Italian was however fighting the debilitating effects of an illness and after slipping down the order and out of the points in the second race retired to the pits. Billy Mackenzie, who is 22 years old next week, wasn't able to get the set-up on his YZ250F correctly dialled for the conditions and it cost the Scot in the first race as he registered a disappointing twenty-fourth position. Adjusting several aspects of the machine for the second moto he managed a more creditable ninth after passing British Championship rival Carl Nunn on the last lap. Kenneth Gundersen, Ricci Racing: "This feels unbelievable. I have been out for so long. Last year I did some GPs but my leg was not good enough to ride. I trained a lot this winter and the way that this team have supported me is incredible. Yamaha and so many people have helped me and this came out today. In the first moto I felt like I could have won if I didn't have to throw away my goggles on the first lap; second place was good though. It took me a little while to get going in the second race and finally I ran out of time to take any more positions." Antonio Cairoli, De Carli Yamaha: "The first heat was not so good because I crashed on the first lap and I lost a lot of time and positions to get going again. I was totally last and had a lot of work to do. I finished 15th and it was OK for training because I do not like this track so much! In the second race I started well but in the first corner someone touched me and it cost me a few places. I caught and passed many riders like De Reuver and Pourcel. Tyla is always very good at this track. My leg was OK and is only stiff when I am resting." Alessio Chiodi, Ricci Racing: "The first part of the first moto was pretty good but after about 25 minutes I started to feel bad and my stomach was really bothering me. I finished the race but I could feel that a fever was coming. I was in the gate before the second moto and I thought that I would try to see what I could do but the bumps on the track just made it worse. When I saw I was down in 27th I thought it was better to stop."    Race classification MX2 Round: 1 - 2006 GP of Flanders, Belgium Circuit: Zolder Race: 21 Laps  Pos.  Rider Manufacturer  Nat. Total Time  1   D. Philippaerts KTM  ITA  40' 20.154  2   K. Gundersen Yamaha  SWE  +8.667  3   T. Rattray KTM  RSA  +10.029  4   M. De Reuver KTM  NED  +14.091  5   S. Pourcel Kawasaki  FRA  +26.399  6   A. Chiodi Yamaha  ITA  +35.053  7   C. Pourcel Kawasaki  FRA  +43.876  8   C. Nunn KTM  GBR  +50.949  9   T. Searle Kawasaki  GBR  +1' 6.716  10   A. Meo Honda  FRA 
Alex Asigno
Alex Asigno

Yamaha announces Intur Sports as new MX1 sponsor

Yamaha signed a new partnership agreement with Spanish tourism company Intur Sports which will see the Japanese manufacturer's factory motocross team known as Yamaha Intur Sports Motocross Team. INTUR SPORTS is a newly formed branch of the world renowned Intur Group, a family owned enterprise dedicated to the tourist industry in Spain. Today, the group owns six hotels in Spain, three of which are in the Benicasim area approximately 280 km south of Barcelona. The Intur Group network also includes restaurants, water parks, discos, etc. Belgian motocross legend Stefan Everts, who has won five consecutive world titles since joining Yamaha for the 2001 season, has used Intur Sports' facilities for his winter training programme for the past eight years and hosts his father Harry Everts' annual training schools in the area. The new look squad, which was unveiled to the media ahead of this weekend's opening Grand Prix in Zolder, Belgium, will feature both the Intur Sports and Benicasim logos on the team's YZ450FM machines. Copyright-free images for editorial use of the riders and bikes in their new livery can be found in the photo gallery section of www.yamaha-racing.com/mx1 Laurens Klein Koerkamp - Yamaha Motor Europe, Racing Division "It is always a pleasure to announce a new partner, especially one which is as passionate about motorsport as Intur Sports. We can offer them the exposure to grow their new business that mixes their existing strengths in facilities and accommodations with people involved in motorsports requiring such structures. I hope that we can enjoy a successful season together. The 2006 championship may mark Stefan's last campaign as a rider but it is also the start of a relationship with a new partner for the future." Juan Jose Gimeno - Intur Sports "Our close relationship with Stefan Everts and our passion for motorsports facilitated our decision to sponsor both Stefan personally and the team. Stefan has spent the last eight years training at our facilities and makes the place his home during the winter months. We strongly believe that this new partnership will benefit our company as well as Stefan and the Yamaha team. It is our intention to continue our association to motocross, and subsequently the Yamaha team, for many years to come. Intur Sports' mission is to create a different reason for tourists to come to Benicasim, by adding more value to our hotels, especially during wintertime. For sport groups we will offer the necessary facilities and accommodation. Intur Sports is located in an area of many opportunities, where the main temperature is around 20 degrees throughout the year, it's a great place to visit and state of the art when it comes to sport facilities. We therefore hope to welcome all involved in motocross in one of our hotels".
Alex Asigno
Alex Asigno

WSB / WSS Valencia - official test

Noriyuki Haga set the fastest Yamaha lap at a three-day official SBK practice session in Valencia, finishing sixth overall on his Yamaha Motor Italia R1, with a time of 1'35.259. He worked his way through a full testing programme and undertook an extensive evaluation of new parts and modified machine settings, in preparation for the forthcoming Valencia race on 23 April. Troy Bayliss (Ducati) set a new Superbike track best in the morning session of the final day, with a 1'33.758. Haga, unlike most of his 27 rivals at Valencia, set his best time in the final session, held in hotter and winder conditions than the more favoured mornings, and he put it down to the incremental improvements in set-up he and his team had made from the first session on. Haga's team-mate, Andrew Pitt, took his Yamaha Motor Italia R1 to a more than respectable eighth overall, in what is arguably the most competitive field in World Superbike's relatively short history. Norick Abe, from the Yamaha Motor France Ipone squad, ended his test somewhat prematurely, as he had started to run a temperature, after contracting a 'flu virus. He was to post a time good enough for 19th place, as he concentrated on trying out new engine specifications and front suspension components. Japanese World Superbike rookie Shinichi Nakatomi improved on his testing times from previous Valencia winter outings, and in the absence of team regular Sebastien Gimbert, Lorenzo Alfonsi, the 2004 European Superstock Champion, substituted on the team's third bike. Nakatomi would finish the three days 23rd, with Alfonsi 24th. Noriyuki Haga - Yamaha Motor Italia "We are quite happy with the test and both bikes are working very well. The newer gas fork seems very good. Generally our settings are quite good already but to go full race distance is another thing. We tried to do a full race simulation, but we could not manage it this time. We also did not get so many laps in on qualifying tyres, but at this moment we are in good condition on race tyres. We were not that affected by the wind that builds up in the afternoon, and it was just a gradual improvement in the settings that allowed me to go faster in the final afternoon session."
 
Andrew Pitt - Yamaha Motor Italia "This is the first time we've really had the grip here that we wanted, at previous tests the grip has always been a problem, and that makes it a lot easier to open the throttle sooner. That's a really big thing. We made some improvements to the existing machine and we played around with the engine settings, taking out a bit of power here and a putting it back in there. Just trying to soften the curve a bit, and it seems to be working. I put a soft tyre in this morning and made a reasonable lap but we mostly worked on race tyre consistency, and also tried a lot of front tyres, to work out which one is going to go the distance when we come here to race." Norick Abe - Yamaha Motor France "I tried new suspension on the front today and it was a real improvement. The new forks are definitely much better. We tried many different engine specs but they gave us basically the same result. Despite my machine being the slowest of the three bikes in the team, I made my best lap time, 1'35.9 on the last day. I'm happy for that and we did a lot of laps. Unfortunately I now have a fever of 38 degrees, so I decided to finish early and go home to rest." Shinichi Nakatomi - Yamaha Motor France "I was riding to be ready for full race distance, and we made a quite good lap time compared to my previous best, which was a 1'37.4. Now I have set a 1'36.7, in race conditions. Things are much better compared to the first test, especially the chassis condition. I have more confidence on the bike now as well." Lorenzo Alfonsi - Yamaha Motor France "I could have gone faster near the end, but when I wanted to use my qualifying tyre something hit my front wheel and my brake calliper, damaging both. I think everything will be OK for the race." Massimo Meregalli - Yamaha Motor Italia Team Director "I think we had a good test because we came here with a plan, to test four or five different pieces, and we got through everything. We found something to help the increased durability of the tyre, and maybe that was also down to the track conditions. We have been making progress race-by-race, and test-by-test in terms of the engine characteristic. Every time we have new mapping which works well on the development dyno it works well on the bike when we get to the track. I think Andrew and Nori, and all the team, worked very well on all three days." Circuit: Valencia Circuit Length: 4005km Lap Record: 1' 35.007 (Neil Hodgson, 2003) Fastest Lap Ever: 1' 33.758 (Troy Bayliss, 2006) Date: 27-29 March 2006 Temp: 24ºC Classification: 1 Bayliss T. Ducati AUS 1'33.758 2 Xaus R. Ducati SPA F05 1'34.659 3 Lanzi L. Ducati ITA 1'34.848 4 Corser T. Suzuki AUS 1'34.933 5 Martin S. Petronas AUS 1'35.178 6 Haga N. Yamaha JPN 1'35.295 7 Nieto F. Kawasaki SPA 1'35.377 8 Pitt A. Yamaha AUS 1'35.423 9 Fabrizio M. Honda ITA 1'35.437 10 Kagayama Y. Suzuki JPN 1'35.538 11 Barros A. Honda BRA 1'35.663 12 Walker C. Kawasaki GBR 1'35.758 13 Foret F. Suzuki FRA 1'35.771 14 Borciani M. Ducati ITA 1'35.834 15 Iannuzzo V. Suzuki ITA 1'35.873 19 Abe N. Yamaha JPN 1'35.967 23 Nakatomi S. Yamaha JPN 1'36.737 24 Alfonsi L. Yamaha ITA 1'36.900 Curtain and Parkes in the vanguard again Curtain and Parkes in the vanguard again Valencia, Spain 29/3/2006 Yamaha Motor Germany riders Broc Parkes and Kevin Curtain spent three fruitful days on track at Valencia, in what was a well-attended official SBK test. Of the 29 riders present, Curtain set the second best time, with Parkes's 1'38.443 putting him fourth overall. Quickest rider was Sebastien Charpentier (Honda). The Yamaha Motor Germany squad had one new front and one new rear control tyre to test on their new-for-2006 R6s, and an updated specification of engine management settings, each of which was deemed to be a real improvement. The team will receive another new batch of tyres for the forthcoming Misano official test, on 12 and 13 April. Massimo Roccoli finished the three days fifth fastest, with Gianluca Vizziello 11th. Reigning FIM Superstock 1000 champion Didier van Keymeulen was 17th on his R6. Kevin Curtain - Yamaha Motor Germany "I'm glad we managed to squeeze in those last five minutes, because we had just to make one more small test to decide what tyres we should have for the Valencia race. We have to work on a few little things, because I am still scraping the fairing sides at full lean, especially on the right hand side. I'm even touching the engine down sometimes. I'm sure we can sort something out, and otherwise we're pretty happy. Testing is always a never-ending struggle to get everything just right, but we're getting there." Broc Parkes - Yamaha Motor Germany "We made this a worthwhile test. We tried a lot of things, and in the afternoon session we found something better with the set-up. The bike is so new and we're finding that there is still a fine line to walk to find a good set-up. Maybe later in the year we can predict how the bike is going to react from track to track, but at the moment we started this Valencia test with the settings from Phillip Island and had to change them quite a lot." Official Valencia Test WSS Circuit: Valencia Circuit Length: 4005km Lap Record: 1' 38.874 (Alessio Corradi, 2003) Fastest Lap Ever: 1' 34.1 (Sebastien Charpentier, 2006) Date: 27 - 29 March 2006 Temp: 26ºC Classification: 1 Charpentier S. Honda FRA 1'37.437 2 Curtain K. Yamaha AUS 1'37.897 3 Sofuoglu K. Honda TUR 1'37.989 4 Parkes B. Yamaha AUS 1'38.443 5 Roccoli M. Yamaha ITA 1'38.572 6 Zaiser C. Ducati AUT 1'38.756 7 Harms R. Honda DNK 1'38.916 8 De Angelis W. Honda ITA 1'38.970 9 Veneman B. Suzuki NED 1'39.137 10 Tiberio Y. Honda FRA 1'39.144 11 Vizziello G. Yamaha ITA 1'39.264 12 Andersen K. Suzuki NOR 1'39.277 13 Stigefelt J. Honda SWE 1'39.354 14 Tunstall T. Honda GBR 1'39.524 15 Fores J. Yamaha SPA 1'39.628 17 Van Keymeulen D. Yamaha BEL 1'39.716 20 Peris C. Yamaha CAN 1'40.584 22 Enjolras J. Yamaha FRA 1'40.738 24 Velini A. Yamaha ITA 1'40.780 26 Forner Garcia D. Yamaha SPA 1'41.261 27 Ivanov V. Yamaha RUS 1'41.461 29 Berta A. Yamaha ITA 1'42.026
Alex Asigno
Alex Asigno

MotoGP Jerez test

The Camel Yamaha Team remained in Jerez yesterday for an intense afternoon of testing in an effort to find some answers to the problems they faced over the course of the season's opening weekend. Valentino Rossi and Colin Edwards completed 72 and 76 laps respectively and made some positive steps towards understanding the cause of the vibration that kept their lap times down during the weekend's practice sessions and forced them to start from the fourth row of the grid for sunday's race. Rossi, who was brought down by another rider at the first corner of the race after a lightening start, also completed one run yesterday on the 2005-specification YZR-M1, in order to compare its performance with the 2006 bike and gather more data to help the engineers find a final solution ahead of the next race. The Camel Yamaha Team now have a week's rest before they travel to Qatar early next week for the second MotoGP race of the season. Davide Brivio - Camel Yamaha Team Director "After such a disappointing opening weekend to the season, it was important for us to have the chance to test yesterday. It was a very useful and interesting day for us and we were able to collect a lot of important information which we believe will help us. It was good to be able to go back to some of the settings that we tried over the weekend and to evaluate them in a more relaxed atmosphere, without the time pressure of a race weekend. "In addition we decided to have Valentino ride the 2005 M1 for a few laps so we could compare its performance at this track with that of the new bike. It was interesting to see the difference - a few things about the '05 bike are better at the moment, but overall it seems the '06 bike is still a more improved package and Valentino's fastest times yesterday were on the 2006-spec M1. Anyway the data from this comparison should help us a lot as we continue to develop the new bike. Valentino was able to make some good improvements to the performance of the '06 bike so this is encouraging for Qatar. Colin's test wasn't quite as positive but after yesterday we now have a better idea of what to do in order to bring him back to the level he was at in Barcelona. It's been an important day for us and now the Yamaha engineers will work hard to evaluate the data gathered so that we can come to Qatar and fight at the front with both riders where they belong." Times: 1. Nicky Hayden (USA) Repsol Honda Team, 1'39.910 2. Sete Gibernau (SPA) Ducati Marlboro Team, 1'40.504 3. Loris Capirossi (ITA) Ducati Marlboro Team,1'40.798 4. Casey Stoner (AUS) Team LCR, 1'40.821 5. Dani Pedrosa (SPA) Repsol Honda Team, 1'40.845 6. Carlos Checa (SPA) Yamaha Tech 3, 1'40.932 7. Valentino Rossi (ITA) Camel Yamaha Team, 1'40.966 8. John Hopkins (AUS) Rizla Suzuki MotoGP, 1'41.096 9. Shinya Nakano (JPN) Kawasaki Racing Team, 1'41.178 10. Toni Elias (SPA) Fortuna Honda, 1'41.193 11. Makoto Tamada (JPN) Konica Minolta Honda, 1'41.234 12. Marco Melandri (ITA) Fortuna Honda, 1'41.400 13. Colin Edwards (USA) Camel Yamaha Team, 1'41.442 14. Chris Vermuelen (AUS) Rizla Suzuki MotoGP, 1'41.554 15. Kenny Roberts (USA) Team KR, 1'41.861 16. James Ellison (GBR) Yamaha Tech 3, 1'42.924 17. T. Okada (JPN) 1'43.265
Alex Asigno
Alex Asigno

MotoGP Jerez race

An eventful weekend at Jerez ended in disappointing fashion today as both Valentino Rossi and Colin Edwards got caught in a first corner melee that ended their hopes of glory in the opening round of the 2006 MotoGP World Championship. The Camel Yamaha Team pair made good starts from ninth and tenth on the grid respectively but a collision between Rossi and Toni Elías (Honda) on the inside of turn one saw the Italian knocked from his YZR-M1 and sent Edwards wide into the gravel trap.  Despite some damage to his bike, Rossi showed the character of a true World Champion as he returned to the track, battling his way back into the field and picking off several riders to secure two championship points in fourteenth place. Edwards, meanwhile, fought from second last to eleventh by the end of the 27-lap encounter. Victory went to pole setter Loris Capirossi (Ducati) in a race time of 45'57.733, but he was pushed hard by second-placed Dani Pedrosa (Honda) on his debut in the MotoGP class. Nicky Hayden (Honda) completed the podium. Colin Edwards (11th; + 37.930) "I probably made the best race start of my whole life, Valentino got away well too and we went together into the first bend. Elias came up on the inside and I actually saw everything happen but to be honest I thought Vale would be able to stay on the bike so I kept my corner speed and tried to just run it around the outside. Unfortunately he went down and I had nowhere to go but the gravel. It really capped the weekend off for us but the truth is that we weren't fast enough to challenge today. This track has been a real pain for us and I can't wait to get away. We've got a test tomorrow but I'll be happy when we get to Qatar, where the bike worked really well in testing." Valentino Rossi (14th; + 1'05.766) "We knew this was going to be a difficult race but maybe not so difficult! I saw Toni come up on the inside and he hit me; this is racing and these things happen. I have known Toni for many years and he is a good rider. He apologised to me after the race so I told him not to worry - only to remember to brake next time and if it is too late then to hit another bike instead of me! Anyway I came back on the track and had a nice battle with Alex Hofmann. I am disappointed because I wanted to win the first race of the season but there is nothing we can do now. Only work hard to make sure we don't have these problems again and look forward to the next race in Qatar." Davide Brivio - Camel Yamaha Team Director "It seems that everything that could go wrong did go wrong for us this weekend. On Friday morning when we needed the time to test it rained and things have gone continually against us since then. We obviously still have a lot of work to do and for some reason our bike clearly doesn't work at this circuit so we are keen to find out why, if we can, in tomorrow's test. The engineers have a lot of data and everyone is working at 100% to find a solution. We were fast at Sepang, Qatar and Catalunya so there is no need to panic and we can look forward to the next race. On a positive note I thought both riders showed character to fight back after the first corner incident and hopefully they will have better luck next time." 
 
Race classification MotoGP Round: 1 - 2006 MotoGP Jerez Circuit: Jerez Circuit Length: 4423 Lap Record: 1' 40.596 (Valentino Rossi, 2005) Fastest Lap Ever:  1' 39.064 (Loris Capirossi, 2006) Race: 27 Laps  Pos.  Rider Manufacturer  Nat. Total Time  1   L. Capirossi Ducati  ITA  45' 57.733  2   D. Pedrosa Honda  ESP  +4.375  3   N. Hayden Honda  USA  +9.996  4   T. Elias Honda  ESP  +10.135  5   M. Melandri Honda  ITA  +19.547  6   C. Stoner Honda  AUS  +21.237  7   S. Nakano Kawasaki  JPN  +21.372  8   K. Roberts Team Roberts KR  USA  +32.414  9   J. Hopkins Suzuki  USA  +32.659  10   M. Tamada Honda  JPN  +35.983  11   C. Edwards Yamaha  USA  +37.930  12   C. Vermeulen Suzuki  AUS  +39.514  13   C. Checa Yamaha  ESP  +42.829  14   V. Rossi Yamaha  ITA  +1' 5.766  15   A. Hofmann Ducati  GER  +1' 23.300  16   J. Ellison Yamaha  GBR  +1 lap(s)  Fastest Race Lap:   Pos.  Rider Manufacturer  Nat. Total Time  1   L. Capirossi Ducati  ITA  1' 41.248  Championship standings MotoGP Pos.  Rider  Manufacturer  Nat. Points  1   Loris Capirossi Ducati  ITA 25  2   Daniel Pedrosa Honda  ESP 20  3   Nicky Hayden Honda  USA 16 4   Toni Elias Honda  ESP 13  5   Marco Melandri Honda  ITA 11  6   Casey Stoner Honda  AUS 10  7   Shinya Nakano Kawasaki  JPN 9  8   Kenny Roberts Team Roberts KR  USA 8  9   John Hopkins Suzuki  USA 7  10   Makato Tamada Honda  JPN 6  11   Colin Edwards Yamaha  USA 5  12   Chris Vermeulen Suzuki  AUS 4  13   Carlos Checa Yamaha  ESP 3  14   Valentino Rossi Yamaha  ITA 2  15   Alex Hofmann Ducati  GER 1  Manufacturers standings MotoGP Pos. Manufacturer Points  1  Ducati 25  2  Honda 20  3  Kawasaki 9  4  Team Roberts KR 8  5  Suzuki 7  6  Yamaha 5  Team standings MotoGP Pos. Team Points  1  Repsol Honda Team 40  2  Ducati Marlboro Team 25  3  Fortuna Honda Team 24  4  Rizla Suzuki 11  5  Honda LCR 10  6  Kawasaki Racing Team 9  7  Team Roberts KR 8  8  Camel Yamaha Team 7  9  Konica Minolta Honda 6  10  Tech3 Yamaha 3  11  Pramac D'Antin 1 
Alex Asigno
Alex Asigno

MotoGP Jerez qualifying

Camel Yamaha Team riders Valentino Rossi and Colin Edwards face an uphill battle in the opening round of the MotoGP World Championship tomorrow after vibration problems returned in this afternoon's qualifying practice at Jerez. After making progress with his YZR-M1 machine in yesterday's free practice, Rossi's cause was not helped by an incident early in today's session, when he became the first of five riders to end up in the gravel after oil was spilled on the track by another competitor. The red flags were duly raised and when the pit-lane reopened both Rossi and Edwards worked against the clock to solve their difficulties ahead of tomorrow's 27-lap race. However, bad luck struck for Edwards when he suffered a puncture to his rear tyre and the American was only able to qualify tenth fastest, one place behind his Italian team-mate. Pole position went to Loris Capirossi (Ducati) in an outright circuit record time of 1'39.064 and the Italian will be joined on the front row by his team-mate Sete Gibernau and Japanese rider Shinya Nakano (Kawasaki). Valentino Rossi (9th - 1'40.160, 28 laps) "I thought we had solved a lot of the problems yesterday but today they came back. The bike is still vibrating and with the qualifying tyre the problem became worse because the extra grip on the rear pushed the front even harder. Basically we are losing time in every part of the corner. Also the crash at the start of the session didn't help but we can't use that as an excuse. I have won the first race of the season every year since 2001 but it is going to be difficult tomorrow. I have always found that it helps to start the season with a win so I will still be going for it!" Colin Edwards (10th - 1'40.181, 23 laps) "I suppose you could say we are up the creek but the important day is tomorrow so we still have a paddle! Just when we thought we had the problem sorted out it has come creeping back. We've had three days of tests here and now two days this weekend but we just can't get on top of it. The vibration in the corners comes in at a certain speed so the effect is like having a speed limiter on the bike. To make things worse I had a puncture in my first qualifying tyre so we lost time at the end of the session too. Things don't look to be going too well for us at the moment but we'll try to pull a rabbit out of the hat tomorrow." Davide Brivio - Camel Yamaha Team Director "We still have some work to do to solve the problems completely. It has been a strange weekend because yesterday we lost a whole session because of the weather and then today we had another setback when Valentino crashed on the oil left by Alex Hofmann's bike. It didn't help because we had some solutions we wanted to try on that bike. It seems things are conspiring to make life difficult for us but we won't give up. It is clearly not a good situation with regard to the starting grid but the pace of the front riders is not too far from our own. If we can make some slight improvements in the morning then I think we will be in the right shape for a good race."    Round: 1 - 2006 MotoGP Jerez Circuit: Jerez Circuit Length: 4423 Lap Record: 1' 40.596 (Valentino Rossi, 2005) Fastest Lap Ever: 1' 39.064 (Loris Capirossi, 2006) Date: 25 March 2006 Temp: 20ºC Session 1 :  Pos.  Rider  Manufacturer  Nat.  1st Qualifying 1  L. Capirossi  Ducati  ITA   1' 39.064   2  S. Gibernau  Ducati  ESP   1' 39.285   3  S. Nakano  Kawasaki  JPN   1' 39.526   4  N. Hayden  Honda  USA   1' 39.666   5  D. Pedrosa  Honda  ESP   1' 39.734   6  T. Elias  Honda  ESP   1' 39.875   7  M. Melandri  Honda  ITA   1' 39.932   8  R. De Puniet  Kawasaki  FRA   1' 40.146   9  V. Rossi  Yamaha  ITA   1' 40.160   10  C. Edwards  Yamaha  USA   1' 40.181   11  C. Vermeulen  Suzuki  AUS   1' 40.215   12  J. Hopkins  Suzuki  USA   1' 40.340   13  K. Roberts  Team Roberts KR  USA   1' 40.497   14  C. Checa  Yamaha  ESP   1' 40.851   15  C. Stoner  Honda  AUS   1' 40.982   16  M. Tamada  Honda  JPN   1' 41.119   18  J. Ellison  Yamaha  GBR   1' 42.267
Alex Asigno
Alex Asigno

MotoGP Jerez free practice

Camel Yamaha Team rider Valentino Rossi kicked off his MotoGP World Championship defence in fine style today, setting the fastest lap time in the first free practice sessions for the opening round of the 2006 season at Jerez. After light rain showers hit the track this morning, when Rossi decided not to ride and his team-mate Colin Edwards put in just two laps, both riders were able to work without interruption in the afternoon as they aimed to iron out set-up difficulties encountered in recent pre-season tests at this circuit. Whilst Rossi was able to overcome the majority of his problems, immediately finding the right direction to work with the team's engineers and technicians, Edwards suffered a minor setback today but he is confident that he can recover lost ground in tomorrow morning's final free practice before the crucial afternoon qualifying session. The American clocked the seventh fastest time today as Loris Capirossi (Ducati) produced the strongest challenge to Rossi's dominance, lapping 0.012 seconds slower than his Italian compatriot. Valentino Rossi (1'41.613, 24 laps) "We haven't fixed everything just yet but the Yamaha engineers came up with a few ideas to solve the vibrations we suffered during the test and they all worked. So far we have come up with a setting that allows me to ride in a better way to control the bike and, even though we still have some small vibrations, it is giving us less problems. This is the perfect way to start the season and I am really happy with the way the team have worked. This afternoon the track conditions were still not perfect so the times weren't so fast, but I think tomorrow it will be better. Tomorrow we have to keep working hard to come up with some more solutions and I am sure we will be in good shape for the race. There is already a good atmosphere and I can't wait until Sunday!" Colin Edwards (1'42.266, 28 laps) "To be honest things didn't go as we would have wished today. After losing an hour this morning because of the weather we missed out on another 45 minutes in the afternoon. I felt something was wrong but it took a long time for us to work it out. Basically there was too much pressure in the tyre and once we realised that we were able to start working properly - unfortunately it was a bit too late to be reflected in the lap times. Looking across the garage we can see that the engineers have got some really good data that will definitely help us tomorrow to refine the set-up and sort out some of the problems we had in the test. It will be two important hours but I have full confidence in the job the team is doing." Davide Brivio - Camel Yamaha Team Director "It looks like we are making improvements and moving in the right direction, which is very encouraging at this early stage of the weekend. We lost this morning's session to the weather but I have to say that the engineers and the technicians made the most of the available time to make the first adjustments to the bikes. Both riders have done a different job today, and our team has great cooperation so now we can put all this information together and find the best way forward for both riders tomorrow morning. Hopefully the bad weather is now out of the way for the rest of the weekend." Round: 1 - 2006 MotoGP Jerez Circuit: Jerez Circuit Length: 4423 Lap Record: 1' 40.596 (Valentino Rossi, 2005) Fastest Lap Ever: 1' 39.419 (Valentino Rossi, 2005) Date: 24 March 2006 Temp: 20ºC Free Practice :  Pos.  Rider  Manufacturer  Nat.  Free Practice  1  V. Rossi  Yamaha  ITA   1' 41.613   2  L. Capirossi  Ducati  ITA   1' 41.625   3  D. Pedrosa  Honda  ESP   1' 41.798   4  S. Gibernau  Ducati  ESP   1' 41.798   5  S. Nakano  Kawasaki  JPN   1' 41.939   6  M. Melandri  Honda  ITA   1' 42.108   7  C. Edwards  Yamaha  USA   1' 42.266   8  N. Hayden  Honda  USA   1' 42.276   9  R. De Puniet  Kawasaki  FRA   1' 42.455   10  T. Elias  Honda  ESP   1' 42.518   11  K. Roberts  Team Roberts KR  USA   1' 42.538   12  C. Stoner  Honda  AUS   1' 42.552   13  C. Checa  Yamaha  ESP   1' 42.608   14  J. Hopkins  Suzuki  USA   1' 42.727   15  M. Tamada  Honda  JPN   1' 42.868   19  J. Ellison  Yamaha  GBR   1' 45.239
Alex Asigno
Alex Asigno

Everts takes another win at Valance

Rinaldi Yamaha rider Stefan Everts continued his victorious pre-season form by taking another overall triumph at the Valance International in France yesterday. The Belgian and reigning MX1 World Champion has won every major 'warm-up' event since the motocross calendar cranked into life at Mantova, Italy in February. His fifth success in as many weeks arrived thanks to another 1-1 set of results. He holeshotted both motos and enjoyed a tussle with KTM's Mickael Pichon in the first race before defeating his great rival. In the second sprint he controlled the heat from the first turn until the chequered flag. "In the first race I holeshotted but I had a small crash after a few laps and that put me back to fourth," he said. "Two laps later I had worked my way back to second and was attacking Pichon. It was a difficult track to pass and we had a tough battle; it must have been quite spectacular for the fans! Towards the end I was able to make a pass and won the heat." "In the second moto my start was again very good," he added. "Another holeshot meant that I was able to lead from start to finish. After fifteen minutes I already had a small gap over the others." Everts has now guided the YZ 450FM to the top of the podium in Belgium, Italy, France (twice) and the United Kingdom and is perfectly placed to stretch the run into the first round of the 2006 FIM World Championships that will take place on April 1st/2nd at Zolder in Belgium for the Grand Prix of Flanders. "This was my last race until Zolder and the whole pre-season period has left me with a great feeling," he concluded. "I will train hard for another few days and then take a small break before the first Grand Prix so that my body is fresh. To start so well in Valance was something incredible. Half of the race is won with a holeshot. In the past I have been struggling but we have worked on the bike and hopefully we will have a hard package to beat for the GPs." Cedric Melotte is still recovering from his injured wrist but was able to post results of 16th and 10th. Bike it Yamaha's Julien Bill grabbed a decent 6th position in the second moto. MX1 Moto1 1 Everts 2 Pichon 3 Tortelli 4 T.Leok 5 Leuret 6 Demaria 7 S.Pourcel 8 Friebergs 9 Martin 10 Theybers 16 Melotte MX1 Moto2 1 Everts 2 Tortelli 3 Pichon 4 S.Pourcel 5 Leuret 6 Bill 7 Demaria 8 Breugelmans 9 Martin 10 Melotte
Alex Asigno
Alex Asigno

Aubert third on WEC debut

UFO Corse Yamaha rider Johnny Aubert finished the opening round of the 2006 World Enduro Championship with two impressive third place positions in the competitive Enduro 2 class. Making his WEC debut at the Swedish event, the former motocross rider showed that not only is he a fast learner, but that he has the speed to challenge the series' more established riders for podium positions. Placing less than one-minute behind class winner Samuli Aro on day one, Aubert managed to win one of the day's special tests while remaining smooth, aggressive and consistent. On day two the Frenchman again rode well finishing just 37 seconds behind Aro, who again claimed the class win. In finishing in third position on both days Johnny is currently in third position in the E2 world championship standings, just 10 points behind Aro and four points behind runner-up Mika Ahola. Disappointingly the season opener wasn't a good one for Australian Stefan Merriman. After injury wrecked his 2005 season the former world champion hoped to get his 2006 campaign off to a strong start but struggled to master the challenging conditions in Sweden. Placing fifth on day one Merriman faired even worse on day two and despite not making any serious mistakes on either of the event's motocross, enduro or extreme tests he placed in sixth. Johnny Aubert "It's been a great weekend for me. Finishing third on day one was incredible for me, a great surprise. I hoped to learn during the race and before the race I hoped to finish inside the top 10. I am not sure why I was so fast because I didn't make so much training in these conditions. I enjoyed day one but it is so difficult adjusting to the conditions. "Although I finished third again on day two I didn't feel as good as I did on day one. I rode consistently all day, which I think really helped me. I didn't make any big mistakes and managing to finish on the podium again is great - a perfect start to my first world championship enduro season." Stefan Merriman "The best part of this weekend for me has been the finish of the race because I have had two very disappointing days. I really struggled on both days to be honest, I couldn't ride like I wanted to on day one and just paddled my way around the tests as best I could. It feels to me like you have to ride almost out of control, with little control of the front wheel. I like to ride knowing exactly what the front wheel of my bike is doing. If I don't have a good, positive feeling from the front wheel I don't have the confidence to push hard. That's exactly what has happened this weekend, I haven't had the confidence to push hard. "I didn't have any crashes on the tests but I had several in the checks. I did try making some changes to my bike for the second day but they didn't make any real difference. No, it's not been the best of weekends for me." 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: 1 - Sweden Circuit: Östersund Lap Record: 60' 51.650 (Samuli Aro, 2006) Race: 1 Laps  Pos.  Rider Manufacturer  Nat. Total Time  1   S. Aro KTM  FIN  64' 53.340  2   M. Ahola Honda  FIN  +26.720  3   J. Aubert Yamaha  FRA  +59.600  4   V. Salonen HusaBerg  FIN  +2' 9.090  5   S. Merriman Yamaha  AUS  +2' 37.550  6   F. Planet KTM  FRA  +3' 5.130  7   P. Silvan KTM  FIN  +3' 8.870  8   P. Wicksell KTM  SWE  +3' 54.350  9   R. Rihelainen HusaBerg  FIN  +3' 59.640  10   C. Guerrero GasGas  ESP  +4' 8.510  11   E. McConnell TM  GBR  +4' 15.130  12   X. Galindo KTM  ESP  +4' 25.500  13   T. Klutz Sherco  BEL  +4' 28.500  14   A. Beconi Beta  ITA  +4' 46.540  15   F. Dini Yamaha  ITA  +5' 35.980  16   G. Canova Husqvarna  ITA  +5' 58.040  17   CJ. Bjerkert KTM  SWE  +6' 16.600  18   P. Nurminen HusaBerg  FIN  +6' 31.740  19   T. Burman HusaBerg  SWE  +7' 0.020  20   A. Botturi Aprilia  ITA  +7' 4.090  Race 2: 1 Laps  Pos.  Rider Manufacturer  Nat. Total Time  1   S. Aro KTM  FIN  60' 51.650  2   M. Ahola Honda  FIN  +44.700  3   J. Aubert Yamaha  FRA  +1' 9.740  4   F. Planet KTM  FRA  +3' 2.580  5   V. Salonen HusaBerg  FIN  +3' 12.570  6   S. Merriman Yamaha  AUS  +3' 14.860  7   P. Silvan KTM  FIN  +3' 41.160  8   C. Guerrero GasGas  ESP  +3' 44.220  9   T. Klutz Sherco  BEL  +4' 16.860  10   X. Galindo KTM  ESP  +4' 44.310  11   A. Botturi Aprilia  ITA  +4' 53.120  12   F. Andersson KTM  SWE  +4' 54.450  13   F. Dini Yamaha  ITA  +4' 56.260  14   R. Rihelainen HusaBerg  FIN  +5' 0.860  15   A. Beconi Beta  ITA  +5' 5.890  16   E. McConnell TM  GBR  +5' 30.070  17   P. Nurminen HusaBerg  FIN  +5' 57.470  18   CJ. Bjerkert KTM  SWE  +6' 7.660  19   P. Wicksell KTM  SWE  +6' 11.240  20   G. Canova Husqvarna  ITA  +6' 18.390  Fastest Race Lap:   Pos.  Rider Manufacturer  Nat. Total Time  1   S. Aro KTM  FIN  60' 51.650 Championship standings Enduro 2 Pos.  Rider  Manufacturer  Nat. Points  1   Samuli Aro KTM  FIN 50  2   Mika Ahola Honda  FIN 44  3   Johnny Aubert Yamaha  FRA 40  4   Valtteri Salonen HusaBerg  FIN 34  5   Fabien Planet KTM  FRA 33  6   Stefan Merriman Yamaha  AUS 31  7   Petteri Silvan KTM  FIN 28  8   Cristobal Guerrero GasGas  ESP 24  9   Xavier Galindo KTM  ESP 20  10   Thierry Klutz Sherco  BEL 20  11   Riku Rihelainen HusaBerg  FIN 19  12   Euan McConnell TM  GBR 15  13   Patrik Wicksell KTM  SWE 15  14   Fabrizio Dini Yamaha  ITA 14  15   Andrea Beconi Beta  ITA 13  16   Alessandro Botturi Aprilia  ITA 11  17   Fritz Andersson KTM  SWE 9  18   Carl Johan Bjerkert KTM  SWE 7  19   Pentti Nurminen HusaBerg  FIN 7  20   Giuseppe Canova Husqvarna  ITA 6  Manufacturers standings Enduro 2 Pos. Manufacturer Points  1  KTM 50  2  Honda 44  3  Yamaha 40  4  HusaBerg 34  5  GasGas 24  6  Sherco 20  7  TM 15  8  Beta 13  9  Aprilia 11  10  Husqvarna 6  Enduro 1 : Sixth for Micheluz Round: 1 - Sweden Circuit: Östersund Date: 19 March 2006 Crowd: 4500 Temp: 5ºC Weather: Sunny With UFO Corse Yamaha team rider Arnau Vilanova unable to compete in Sweden due to having injured his ribs while training for the event Italian Maurizio Micheluz competed as the team's only E1 rider. Having never raced in winter conditions before Maurizio placed in sixth on both days showing that despite feeling far from at home in the cold, slippery conditions he was able to produce consistent results and finish both days comfortably inside the top 10. Finn Petri Pohjamo and Spaniard Ivan Cervantes claimed a day win each in Sweden with Cervantes claiming the lead in the E1 championship standings ahead of Pohjamo and Sweden's Peter Bergvall. Having finishing in sixth on both days Maurizio currently lies in sixth position in the E1 standings with seven rounds remaining.    Race classification Enduro 1 Round: 1 - Sweden Circuit: Östersund Lap Record: 62' 47.770 (Ivan Cervantes, 2006) Race: 1 Laps  Pos.  Rider Manufacturer  Nat. Total Time  1   P. Pohjamo TM  FIN  66' 46.540  2   I. Cervantes KTM  ESP  +14.870  3   S. Albergoni Honda  ITA  +18.540  4   P. Bergvall Suzuki  SWE  +23.870  5   B. Oblucki Husqvarna  POL  +1' 12.150  6   M. Micheluz Yamaha  ITA  +1' 38.910  7   A. Belometti KTM  ITA  +1' 51.230  8   R. Carlsson Yamaha  SWE  +2' 0.710  9   H. Rodrigues Yamaha  POR  +2' 12.900  10   F. Georgsson KTM  SWE  +2' 15.440  11   M. Hartmann KTM  GER  +3' 35.200  12   P. Olsson Yamaha  SWE  +5' 19.130  13   L. Holm KTM  FIN  +5' 2,704.000  14   F. Blanc KTM  FRA  +6' 51.960  Race 2: 1 Laps  Pos.  Rider Manufacturer  Nat. Total Time  1   I. Cervantes KTM  ESP  62' 47.770  2   P. Bergvall Suzuki  SWE  +26.490  3   B. Oblucki Husqvarna  POL  +27.690  4   P. Pohjamo TM  FIN  +44.910  5   S. Albergoni Honda  ITA  +48.440  6   M. Micheluz Yamaha  ITA  +1' 17.840  7   A. Belometti KTM  ITA  +1' 29.690  8   R. Carlsson Yamaha  SWE  +1' 47.640  9   F. Georgsson KTM  SWE  +2' 27.580  10   H. Rodrigues Yamaha  POR  +2' 57.330  11   P. Olsson Yamaha  SWE  +3' 43.390  12   M. Hartmann KTM  GER  +3' 48.620  13   M. Andreasson Suzuki  SWE  +4' 10.180  14   L. Holm KTM  FIN  +4' 47.360  15   F. Blanc KTM  FRA  +6 ' 11.310  16   M. Wiberg Honda  SWE  +8' 53.100  Fastest Race Lap:   Pos.  Rider Manufacturer  Nat. Total Time  1   I. Cervantes KTM  ESP  62' 47.770  Championship standings Enduro 1 Pos.  Rider  Manufacturer  Nat. Points  1   Ivan Cervantes KTM  ESP 47  2   Petri Pohjamo TM  FIN 43  3   Peter Bergvall Suzuki  SWE 40  4   Simone Albergoni Honda  ITA 36  5   Bartosz Oblucki Husqvarna  POL 36  6   Mauricio Micheluz Yamaha  ITA 30  7   Alessandro Belometti KTM  ITA 28  8   Robert Carlsson Yamaha  SWE 26  9   Frederik Georgsson KTM  SWE 23  10   Helder Rodrigues Yamaha  POR 23  11   Mike Hartmann KTM  GER 19  12   Pär Olsson Yamaha  SWE 19  13   Leit Holm KTM  FIN 15  14   Freddy Blanc KTM  FRA 13  15   Matts Andreasson Suzuki  SWE 8  16   Mikael Wiberg Honda  SWE 5  17   Arnau Vilanova Yamaha  ESP 0  18   Giuseppe Gallino Yamaha  ITA 0  19   Philip Powderly TM  IRL 0  20   Emilio Comotti Honda  ITA 0  Manufacturers standings Enduro 1 Pos. Manufacturer Points  1  KTM 47  2  TM 43  3  Suzuki 40  4  Husqvarna 36  4  Honda 36  5  Yamaha 30
Alex Asigno
Alex Asigno

MotoGP Rnd 1 Jerez Preview

Camel Yamaha Team ready to begin title defence at Jerez The Camel Yamaha Team returns to southern Spain next weekend to begin the defence of its MotoGP World Championship titles. With Valentino Rossi taking the riders' crown for the fifth successive season, adding to both the team and manufacturers' titles in the year of Yamaha's 50th Anniversary, the factory outfit faces a tough challenge to live up to its 2005 success but the team is approaching the new campaign with optimism and fresh motivation. This will be the 20th consecutive Grand Prix at Jerez since the circuit was first used in 1987 - Assen and Donington are the only other current venues boasting a longer association with the series - and this year's opening round sees Rossi hunting for his seventh win there in all classes. Victory next Sunday would be his fifth in the premier-class and make him the most successful MotoGP rider ever at Jerez; with one more win than the legendary Mick Doohan. Colin Edwards has enjoyed limited success at the Andalucian track since racing there for the first time in 2003. His best result is a seventh-place finish two years ago but an encouraging pre-season with the 2006 version YZR-M1 has given the 'Texas Tornado' realistic hopes of producing his best form this time around. Valentino Rossi: New arrivals and new rivals Valentino Rossi defends his MotoGP title from a host of new riders this year after an influx of young talent from the 250cc and World Superbike categories. Dani Pedrosa (Honda), Casey Stoner (Honda), Randy de Puniet (Kawasaki) and Chris Vermeulen (Suzuki) have all demonstrated rapid progress during the pre-season tests and Rossi is looking forward to the fresh challenges they will present. "This year my main rivals have changed and the average age is much younger, so I will have to work out their strengths and weaknesses," said Rossi. "I have watched the career of Dani Pedrosa very closely since he was in 125cc and I have always been impressed by him and I expect him to be strong from the first race. Besides him, there are many different riders, manufacturers and teams that have been fast at different times throughout the pre-season so I hope that we can have some really good battles for the fans!" If Rossi needs further motivation to open his fifth consecutive title defence with a victory, he has the added target of protecting an impressive record of opening-round successes in recent years. The Italian has been victorious in round one of each of the last five seasons, all of which have ended with championship success, but he says that work must be done to improve the performance of his 2006-specification YZR-M1 at Jerez after recent tests at the same circuit. "We need to find more grip when the tyre is on the side," he explains. "At the test our speed in the corner was down considerably in some places so, where we usually have an advantage with the Yamaha, we were behind. Anyway, now the Yamaha engineers understand what has happened and they have a lot of data and information to fix it for the race. I have confidence in them, in Jeremy Burgess and in Michelin and I know that when we can use our bike at 100%, as we showed in Barcelona, it is the best bike on the grid. I love racing in Spain and I have many fans there, so I always look forward to the race in Jerez!" Colin Edwards: Driving towards success Colin Edwards is entering his second season with Yamaha, the first for him in MotoGP without a switch of team and bike during the winter. Lengthy pre-season tests, as well as valuable data gathered last year, have given the American a crucial platform for the new campaign - as evidenced by his form at the Official Test in Barcelona two weeks ago when he set the fastest time in the 'Qualifying' practice and drove away with the prize of a new car. "It's been a pretty intense few months testing and I am really happy that we've finally made it to the first race - this is where the fun starts!" smiled Edwards. "The great result at the Barcelona Test was a massive confidence boost to me and a validation of all the hard work that everyone's put in, but we have to use it as a trampoline to bigger and better things. As everyone knows, we had a bit of a setback at the Jerez test but I've said from the first time I rode the new M1 that it's a great bike and pretty much better in every way to the old one, so I have confidence that we will be okay come the race. "Jerez is a great race, it's a fantastic place to kick off the season and the atmosphere is always something special. As for the season in general, I have said that I am ready to win races and I stand by that. Of course, I've got to beat my team-mate and that's the hardest part! This is the first time in MotoGP that I've begun the season on the same bike and with the same team so I'm way ahead of where I have been every other year. I'm really looking forward to the new season!" Davide Brivio: Motivated and excited Camel Yamaha Team Director Davide Brivio has enjoyed a busy winter, with new title-sponsor Camel coming on board as well as an intense pre-season testing schedule in Malaysia and Qatar. The Italian has been pleased with the form shown by his riders despite recent problems at Jerez and says he is expecting another exciting and successful season. "Our winter programme went quite well, apart from the most recent session at Jerez when we faced a few problems," admits Brivio. "We weren't able to use the bike to its full potential but, thankfully, that was only a test and we were able to collect a lot of data that will be useful to us as we try to iron out those problems for the race. We have some ideas so hopefully they will turn into solutions on Friday morning. In any case we are very aware that this is just the first race of seventeen and it will be another long season. "As far as the team is concerned I would say they are even more motivated than last season. Obviously Valentino wants to win the title again and Colin is also very happy with the way the bike has performed in the winter. It is his second year in the team and we all want to take advantage of that. I would say that altogether the team is motivated, excited and very much looking forward to the start of the new season next weekend." Technically speaking: Daniele Romagnoli on Jerez With few hard braking points and little opportunity to fully open the throttle, the key to Jerez is about the rider's skill in picking the most effective racing line. The 4.423km track features five left and eight right hand corners with regular and quick changes in direction, meaning that the rider requires a responsive overall package and, above all, precise chassis set-up. "The most important and difficult aspect of set-up at Jerez is the chassis," explains Daniele Romagnoli, Chief Mechanic to Colin Edwards. "It is a particular circuit because the bike spends a lot of time at maximum lean and there are very few points that require maximum throttle, so the engine and the gearbox settings are not as important here as they are at other tracks. There are many high-speed corners with fast entry so the chassis has to be good, as do the suspension and the tyres. The riders need good grip at maximum lean so we work on the weight balance, spring rates and finding a good tyre." Valentino Rossi: Information Age: 27 Lives: London, UK Bike: Yamaha YZR-M1 GP victories: 81 (42 x MotoGP, 13 x 500cc, 14 x 250cc, 12 x 125cc) First GP victory: Czech Republic, 1996 (125cc) First GP: Malaysia, 1996 (125cc) GP starts: 157 (65 x MotoGP, 32 x 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: 49 x MotoGP World Championships - 2 World Superbike
Alex Asigno
Alex Asigno

Perfect Everts rolls on with pre-season form

World Champion Stefan Everts continued his excellent run of results in the build-up to the 2006 Grand Prix season by dominating the first round of the Belgian Championship yesterday in a soggy Moerbeke-Waas. The Belgian guided his factory YZ450FM to first position in all three motos and led the last race from start to finish. It was another confident display from the 33 year old who has now won all of the four events he has contested (the first three being the Internationals in Italy, France and Britain) since the motocross calendar cranked into life during February. Riding the new version of the YZ, Everts has already stated how comfortable he feels on the 450 and is happy with the testing programme and modifications carried out by the Rinaldi team. Combined with this recent sizzling form Everts is a sure-fire favourite going into the first round of the World Championships that will take place in three weeks time at the Zolder circuit in Belgium for the Grand Prix of Flanders. "It went well and the conditions improved during the day," he said regarding his latest success. "It had been raining before the meeting and the temperatures dropped the eve of the race so the track was frozen in the morning. It started to melt however and this meant that it was very soft and became rough. The jumps were very rutty so it was a very technical course." "Except for the first race I was happy with my riding. We made some suspension changes after that first moto and everything was great; I just got stronger. Strijbos pushed hard and then Ramon was there also, but I led the last moto from start to finish." It was a busy weekend for national motocross as most domestic series commenced their 2006 campaigns. Reigning MX2 World Champion Antonio Cairoli was only able to score 3rd and 7th positions at Gallarate, Malpensa for the third round of the Italian series. The De Carli Yamaha rider lies second in the standings behind KTM's David Philippaerts, but was forced to concede the runner-up spot yesterday to Ricci Racing's Davide Guarneri. The young Italian's team-mate, former World Champion Alessio Chiodi, was fourth overall. In Britain Billy Mackenzie was second to Marc de Reuver (making a one-off appearance in the series) at the Cadders Hill circuit in Norfolk with results of 4th and 2nd. The Bike it Yamaha representative negotiated a bumpy track in cold conditions for a positive start to the first of eight races in the typically action-packed British competition. "At every first round of the British Championship I have either won or crashed so I was determined that I would leave with a couple of good races this time," the 21 year old Scotsman said. "I was only worried about Carl Nunn and the options for the Championship as he will be the one to beat. Overall it was not a bad weekend," he summarised. "For once it was a steady performance and taking De Reuver out of the equation I am leading the series so in that respect it was positive."
Alex Asigno
Alex Asigno

MotoGP IRTA Jerez test day 3

Pre-season testing draws to a close in Jerez   Valentino Rossi and Colin Edwards completed their final pre-season test in Jerez today in front of hordes of Spanish fans, after riding thousands of kilometres during a total of fifteen days' testing since January. Following a strong showing at the Barcelona Test last week, the Camel Yamaha Team's preparations have suffered something of a set back here and both riders have been hampered by vibration problems throughout the three days of this test. Despite not making as many improvements as they had hoped today, important information has been gathered over the three days which will hopefully enable the Yamaha engineers and Michelin to come up with a solution for the impending race. The time-sheets were topped today by Ducati duo Loris Capirossi and Sete Gibernau, with Capirossi lapping under Rossi's pole-time from 2005 with a lap of 1'39.411. Rossi, Edwards and the Camel Yamaha Team now have the chance to relax at home for ten days before they return to this circuit for the season-opening Spanish Grand Prix on 26th March. COLIN EDWARDS (7th, 1'40.721, 82 laps) "It would be nice if I could say that we've solved all our problems today, but sadly it's just not the case and we're still struggling a bit. I think we've really gone in circles a bit here. We've changed a lot of things and we haven't really concentrated on a race simulation or the endurance of the tyre, we've just been trying to find ways to dial out the problems we have. To be honest our pace isn't bad but it's certainly not a winning pace, which is frustrating when we saw in Barcelona last weekend how great our package is when it's all working! Yamaha and Michelin have more than enough information after three days and I am confident that they will come back with something to solve our problems. Anyway, that's it for testing! I'm heading home for ten days to chill out a little bit and let's hope that the new stuff we have when we come back for the race will help us out so we can challenge for a win." VALENTINO ROSSI (10th, 1'40.907, 83 laps) "There were so many people here today, it was like a race! Of course it's really nice to have so many spanish fans, but today it's been quite difficult for me even to go from the hospitality to the team truck! Yesterday I was confident that we could find some big improvements today but honestly that hasn't happened and now I am quite worried. The vibration has remained and at the moment we don't know how to solve it. Yamaha and Michelin have done a lot of good work today and we've tried many different tyres and settings, but we are still slow. This is the last test and throughout the whole pre-season period we've always been fast and the bike has felt good, but this test has been completely different. At the moment I am not sure what will happen in the race, we'll have to wait and see. I hope that Jeremy, together with the Japanese engineers and the Michelin technicians, can use all the data they have now to understand the problem and see how to solve it." DAVIDE BRIVIO - CAMEL YAMAHA TEAM DIRECTOR "After this test we don't know how the race will go, but it's been very important to have this chance to test before it. As the riders say, we've tried many different things and collected a lot of information. Now our engineers will have ten days to work on this and come up with some new ideas and solutions. This is the end of winter testing and we've seen that our bike can work very well at different tracks. We need to understand why this hasn't been the case here, but we're convinced we can find a way forward and we know that we still have a very good package." Like the factory team the Yamaha Tech 3 squad also had tough times in Jerez compared to the previous tests in Barcelona and Qatar. When Checa looked to challenge the top five times he crashed on a hot lap. He was taken to hospital for x-rays just to confirm he did not suffer any serious injuries. Team mate Ellison experimented with his riding style and tyres. Although he managed to eliminate chatter problems, he still needs to find a way to use his qualifying tyres come the race in less then two weeks time. CARLOS CHECA (11th - 1'41.134) "We're still improving a lot but we have a long way to go with the endurance of the tyre. It's hard to know at the moment what will happen over race distance. We've had a lot more problems here than in Qatar or Barcelona and of course this is disappointing, but we need to stay calm about this and remember that it's very early days. The bike is working well but there is a lot of work to do on the package. For now we can all relax for a short while and then finally start racing!" JAMES ELLISON (18th - 1'42.686) "It's been slow, steady progress. Every time I get to a new circuit it's taking me longer than everyone else to get comfortable on the bike and so I'm not making progress as quickly as I should, but I am getting there. The first couple of days I tried to follow Carlos and see how and learn something from him. I've been trying to copy his riding style but to be honest it wasn't really working for me. This morning I went back to riding how I've always ridden and I went second quicker straight away. Now the bike isn't moving around so much and I'm feeling more comfortable. On race tyres my pace isn't so bad, I'm feeling okay. On the qualifiers I'm three seconds down, and they're not really making much difference to my times. I don't have much experience with them and so it's taking me time to learn. I'm not that worried. It seems that I got rid of the chatter today, going back to my old riding style, so it's just the durability of the tyres that we have to worry about now. I'm looking forward to the race, I love the track, although it's been difficult to get used to with this bike because everything happens faster! It's my first race with the Yamaha and I've got to take things slowly, but I would like top ten or at least top 15. I know I am nowhere near the peak of my capabilities yet and I know I can keep improving as the season goes on. HERVE PONCHERAL - TEAM MANAGER YAMAHA TECH 3 "Unfortunately Carlos had a crash when he went out at the end of the day on a qualifying tyre. He was very fast and it was looking like a top five lap, but then he fell. The most important thing is that he's been checked out by the doctors and he's okay. We've been to four different tracks and for sure here we've had the most problems. However we're still not too unhappy because we've done a lot of laps and the pace hasn't been so bad. James has improved every day - from .44 to .42s consistently, and he's more comfortable and confident. He needs more miles before he can really start to push. I want to thank everyone for their hard work over the winter and Carlos especially for everything he's brought to the team. He's done a great job and he's pushing every step of the way. He's a huge help to the Yamaha/Dunlop project." Lap Times: 1.Loris Capirossi (ITA) Ducati Marlboro Team, 1'39.411 2.Sete Gibernau (SPA) Ducati Marlboro Team, 1'39.663 3.Shinya Nakano (JPN) Kawasaki Racing Team, 1'39.776 4.Dani Pedrosa (SPA) Repsol Honda Team, 1'40.416 5.Randy de Puniet (FRA) Kawasaki Racing Team, 1'40.468 6.Nicky Hayden (USA) Repsol Honda Team, 1'40.570 7.COLIN EDWARDS (USA) Camel Yamaha Team, 1'40.721 8.Toni Elias (SPA) Fortuna Honda, 1'40.732 9.Chris Vermeulen (AUS) Rizla Suzuki MotoGP, 1'40.750 10.VALENTINO ROSSI (ITA) Camel Yamaha Team, 1'40.907 11.Carlos Checa (SPA) Tech 3 Yamaha, 1'41.134 12.Marco Melandri (ITA) Fortuna Honda, 1'41.208 13.John Hopkins (USA) Rizla Suzuki MotoGP, 1'41.208 14.Makoto Tamada (JPN) Konica Minolta Honda, 1'41.380 15.Kenny Roberts (USA) Team Roberts, 1'41.673 16.Jose Luis Cardoso (SPA) D'Antin Pramac, 1'41.761 17.Alex Hofmann (GER) D'Antin Pramac, 1'42.034 18.James Ellison (GBR) Tech 3 Yamaha, 1'42.686 19.Vittoriano Guareschi (ITA) Ducati, 1'42.759 20.Tadayuki Okada (JPN) HRC, 1'43.513 Jerez Lap Record: Valentino Rossi (Yamaha) 2005 - 1'40.596 Jerez Best Lap: Valentino Rossi (Yamaha) 2005 - 1'39.419
Alex Asigno
Alex Asigno

MotoGP IRTA Jerez test day 2

Camel Yamaha Team positive despite problems in Jerez   Camel Yamaha Team riders Valentino Rossi and Colin Edwards both improved considerably on yesterday's lap times in Jerez today, but are still hard working hard with Michelin to find a way to rid the M1 of the vibration problems that they are both experiencing here. A new batch of Michelin tyres and some set-up changes brought some improvements to the package today, but the riders are still not able to use the M1 at its full capacity and are still further down the time sheets than in Barcelona last weekend, when they were both consistently fast. Shinya Nakano showed his 2006 potential on the Kawasaki by topping the time sheets with a lap of 1'40.047, nearly half a second faster than second-placed Loris Capirossi (Ducati). Tomorrow's final day of testing concludes the pre-season MotoGP programme, ahead of the first race here in two weeks time.  Valentino Rossi (6th, 1'40.915, 67 laps) "We still have quite a few problems with the vibration and this means that we can't use the bike to its full potential and make fast lap times. We've tried lots of changes to the set-up today - balance, suspension, but the problem remains. In some of the fast corners my speed is down by as much as 15 or 20kms. The good thing is that we're much better than yesterday and we've done some really good work within the team to make these improvements, but it's still not enough and some other riders are looking very strong. Luckily we still have tomorrow to try to find the solution and I am not so worried. If we still have this situation on the Saturday afternoon of the first race, then maybe we can worry but for now I have 100% confidence in Yamaha and Michelin. For tomorrow we will have some new tyres to try and then for sure Michelin will work very hard between now and the first race so that we're in a better position when we come back here."  Colin Edwards (9th, 1'41.105, 62 laps) "Yesterday we thought that the new tyres today would make all the difference. The situation is a bit better and I'm faster today, but the improvements really aren't as big as we had hoped. Basically the chatter that both Valentino and I are experiencing is acting as a speed limit to our bike - we can push so far but no more. We didn't want to turn the bike upside-down yesterday before we'd tried the new stuff from Michelin, but after today it's pretty clear that's just what we're going to need to do tomorrow. It's frustrating after last weekend to have spent two days here without making any real steps forward, so we need to make the most of tomorrow! I am sure that Michelin are going to bring some more new stuff, we'll fiddle with the settings and hopefully together we can figure it all out."  Davide Brivio - Camel Yamaha Team Director "We still have tomorrow left to try to find some new solutions for our problem and we're analysing all the information that we have to find a way forward. Our engineers will make some new plans for tomorrow and we will see how the situation is. Hopefully we can leave here having made some more improvements."  Lap Times: 1. Shinya Nakano (JPN) Kawasaki Racing Team, 1'40.047 2. Loris Capirossi (ITA) Ducati Marlboro Team, 1'40.544 3. John Hopkins (USA) Rizla Suzuki MotoGP, 1'40.791 4. Randy de Puniet (FRA) Kawasaki Racing Team, 1'40.839 5. Dani Pedrosa (SPA) Repsol Honda Team, 1'40.859 6. Valentino Rossi (ITA) Camel Yamaha Team, 1'40.915 7. Carlos Checa (SPA) Tech 3 Yamaha, 1'40.943 8. Sete Gibernau (SPA) Ducati Marlboro Team, 1'40.954 9. Colin Edwards (USA) Camel Yamaha Team, 1'41.105 10. Chris Vermeulen (AUS) Rizla Suzuki MotoGP, 1'41.110 11. Toni Elias (SPA) Fortuna Honda, 1'41.254 12. Makoto Tamada (JPN) Konica Minolta Honda, 1'41.561 13. Nicky Hayden (USA) Repsol Honda Team, 1'41.745 14. Kenny Roberts (USA) Team Roberts, 1'42.127 15. Jose Luis Cardoso (SPA) D'Antin Pramac, 1'42.593 16. Marco Melandri (ITA) Fortuna Honda, 1'42.636 17. Alex Hofmann (GER) D'Antin Pramac, 1'42.647 18. James Ellison (GBR) Tech 3 Yamaha, 1'43.797 19. Vittoriano Guareschi (ITA) Ducati, 1'43.846 20. Tadayuki Okada (JPN) HRC, 1'45.622 Jerez Lap Record: Valentino Rossi (Yamaha) 2005 - 1'40.596 Jerez Best Lap: Valentino Rossi (Yamaha) 2005 - 1'39.419
Alex Asigno
Alex Asigno

MotoGP IRTA Jerez test day 1

Camel Yamaha Team begin final race preparations at Jerez test   Camel Yamaha Team riders Valentino Rossi and Colin Edwards began their final three days of pre-season testing at Jerez de la Frontera in Southern Spain today. The 4.423 km Jerez circuit, which will play host to the season-opening Grand Prix in two weeks time, provides the last chance for the World Champion and his team-mate to perfect the set-up of their YZR-M1s before the curtain goes up on the new MotoGP season. Following last weekend's test in Barcelona, where Rossi consistently topped the time sheets and Edwards drove away with a new car after winning Sunday's wet 'qualifying' shoot-out, both riders were faced with some traction problems today and are now focused on finding a solution with tyre manufacture Michelin and the Yamaha engineers over the next two days. Loris Capirossi (Ducati) was the only rider to lap under the circuit record, setting a time of 1'40.910. Edwards (1'41.730) and Rossi (1'41.861) set the sixth and ninth best times respectively. Colin Edwards (6th, 1'41.730, 68 laps) "After the highs of last weekend, today has shown us that we still have a bit of work to do before the first race. We started with 99% of the same settings that we had in Barcelona and we've only made some small changes; the bike is still working great. However we're missing traction with the tyres and now we need to get that sorted out with Michelin. We need to find the right tyre for our bike at this track, but they're working hard to do just that and tomorrow we should have something new to try. I think everyone's a bit 'tested-out' now so it's just a case of making one last big effort here, then we can all finally concentrate on the first race!" Valentino Rossi (9th, 1'41.861, 73 laps) "It's quite a big change coming here after last weekend as we have some problems and the vibration that we had in Malaysia and Qatar has returned. The problem is that the tyres that we have available to us here are not working correctly with our bike, so now we're waiting for some new race tyres for tomorrow and Sunday. We hope that with this we can fix the problem. We've worked a lot on settings and other things today in order to find a way to improve the traction, but in reality we can't do anything until we have a different tyre. We're ninth so we're not very fast! Now we have just two days to prepare before we come back here for the first race so we're going to work very hard with Yamaha and Michelin to solve the problem." Davide Brivio - Camel Yamaha Team Director "We had some problems today to make our package work like it did last week in Barcelona, but both riders have the same problem so this make it's easier to work on the situation. We exchanged a lot of information between Yamaha and Michelin and in the next two days we will work together to find the right solution. I am confident that with the full cooperation of everyone involved, we can overcome the problem." Official lap times: 1. Loris Capirossi (ITA) Ducati Marlboro Team, 1'40.910 2. Sete Gibernau (SPA) Ducati Marlboro Team, 1'41.176 3. Shinya Nakano (JPN) Kawasaki Racing Team, 1'41.477 4. Dani Pedrosa (SPA) Repsol Honda Team, 1'41.499 5. Toni Elias (SPA) Fortuna Honda, 1'41.680 6. Colin Edwards (USA) Camel Yamaha Team, 1'41.730 7. Carlos Checa (SPA) Tech 3 Yamaha, 1'41.732 8. John Hopkins (USA) Rizla Suzuki MotoGP, 1'41.740 9. Valentino Rossi (ITA) Camel Yamaha Team, 1'41.861 10. Randy de Puniet (FRA) Kawasaki Racing Team, 1'41.915 11. Nicky Hayden (USA) Repsol Honda Team, 1'41.984 12. Marco Melandri (ITA) Fortuna Honda, 1'42.106 13. Kenny Roberts (USA) Team Roberts, 1'42.328 14. Makoto Tamada (JPN) Konica Minolta Honda, 1'42.558 15. Chris Vermeulen (AUS) Rizla Suzuki MotoGP, 1'42.938 16. Alex Hofmann (GER) D'Antin Pramac, 1'43.274 17. Vittoriano Guareschi (ITA) Ducati, 1'43.417 18. Jose Luis Cardoso (SPA) D'Antin Pramac, 1'44.501 19. James Ellison (GBR) Tech 3 Yamaha, 1'44.953 20. Tadayuki Okada (JPN) HRC, 1'45.930 Jerez Lap Record: Valentino Rossi (Yamaha) 2005 - 1'40.596 Jerez Best Lap: Valentino Rossi (Yamaha) 2005 - 1'39.419
Alex Asigno
Alex Asigno

Another victory for Everts at Hawkstone

Rinaldi Yamaha rider Stefan Everts claimed his third victory in four weeks after winning both MX1 heats of the Hawkstone Park International in Shropshire, England. The nine times World Champion dominated the first of two heats in bright and sunny but cold conditions. A packed crowd attended one of the more prestigious pre-season events of the winter calendar and the dark Hawkstone sand was in its usual rough and demanding state. The circuit is dwarfed by the large hill section that sees the riders climb a near-vertical 100m slope and the gradient caught out a number of top riders as the International once again boasted an array of Grand Prix stars. For the third time since the motocross schedule began to crank into life during February, Everts beat the likes of the factory backed Honda team and the works Suzuki and KTM efforts, all housing his main rivals for the 2006 MX1 World Championship. Everts escaped the clutches of fellow Belgian Kevin Strijbos in the opening sprint and was just as masterful in the second heat as he glided past Strijbos and his team-mate Steve Ramon. A mistake on the last lap gave Strijbos more impetus to close the gap but the race was already won. A 'hatrick' could not be taken later in the afternoon as a rare fall in the 'Grand Final' (mixing the best finishers from the MX1 and MX2 classes) allowed Yamaha MX2 representative Billy Mackenzie to streak head on the YZ250F. Although he fronted the pack for the majority of the distance Mackenzie was slowed by backmarkers with just two laps to go and was caught by Strijbos and a charging Everts who plagued the Suzuki rider to the flag and was only a second behind over the finish line. Contrary to reports stating that he would miss the pre-season race programme Cédric Melotte took to the line at Hawkstone. The Belgian is still recovering from an injured wrist, but was able to wrestle the YZ450FM over the sandy terrain for eigth and fifth positions. He picked up a DNF in the Final after a collision with another rider robbed him of his rear brake.   Bike it Dixon Yamaha's Billy Mackenzie produced a good performance in his first race meeting of the season. The 21 year old slipped from second place to third in the first heat after suffering some arm-pump but confidently claimed the next heat by over twelve seconds from main British Championship rival Carl Nunn. Only a hold-up with backmarkers prevented the Scot from marking a historic triumph over the 450s in the 'Grand Final'. Stefan Everts: "I will miss this place. It is the sixth year in a row I have come to Hawkstone. I've had some great moments here and unfortunately I never got the chance to ride in the Grand Prix. I think it is a great track with a lot of potential. I enjoyed the races today and it was difficult to make the lap of honour for the last time." Cédric Melotte: "The result is not so bad because I wasn't expecting to finish all three races. In the last heat I hit someone else's wheel and the brake pedal bent under the footpeg so I could not continue. I am quite satisfied. I could not push too hard because my wrist was giving me trouble but I am confident and now need to go step by step to reach my best level. We are still working on the bike because I missed a lot of testing time." Billy Mackenzie: "I feel like I have an overall win because I managed to produce that good last race. That heat was awesome; it was such a buzz to be leading those guys. With two laps to go I was thinking about what celebration I could do over the finish line, but it never comes that easy when you are racing against the best! Just to be in front of them for that length of time felt good. I also set the fastest lap. This meeting will keep me going for a few weeks. The first race was pretty muddy and I got some arm-pump, but it was the first one of the year so that was expected. I got a top three though and I know I need to work on my consistency so I am pleased. We tweaked the bike and got rid of some of the niggly problems we would have had at Lyng for the British Championship next week." MX1 Race 1 1. Stefan Everts 2. Kevin Strijbos 3. Ken de Dycker 4. Mickael Pichon 5. Josh Coppins 6. Tanel Leok 7. Steve Ramon 8. Cédric Melotte 9. James Noble 10. Mark Hucklebridge MX1 Race 2 1. Stefan Everts 2. Kevin Strijbos 3. Steve Ramon 4. Mickael Pichon 5. Cédric Melotte 6. Josh Coppins 7. Tanel Leok 8. James Noble 9. Ken de Dycker 10. Gordon Crockard MX1 Grand final result 1. Kevin Strijbos 2. Stefan Everts 3. Josh Coppins 4. Mickael Pichon 5. Tanel Leok 6. Steve Ramon 7. Sebastien Tortelli 8. Mark Jones 9. Yoshitaka Atsuta 10. Gordon Crockard MX2 Race 1 1. Carl Nunn 2. Tommy Searle 3. Billy Mackenzie 4. Brad Anderson 5. Steven Clarke 6. Lewis Gregory 7. Jason Dougan 8. Wayne Smith 9. Oliver Sandiford Smith 10. Alex Snow MX2 Race 2 1. Billy Mackenzie 2. Carl Nunn 3. Tommy Searle 4. Wayne Smith 5. Brad Anderson 6. Shaun Simpson 7. Jim Murro 8. Jamie Law 9. Ray Rowson 10. Alex Snow MX2 Grand final result 1. Billy Mackenzie 2. Lewis Gregory 3. Tommy Searle 4. Oliver Sandiford Smith 5. David Willet 6. Ben Saunders 7. Alex Snow 8. Carl Nunn 9. Ashley Greedy 10. Dan Johnson
Alex Asigno
Alex Asigno

Two fourths for Haga in Australia

WSB : Two fourths for Haga in Australia Round: 2 - Australia Circuit: Phillip Island Date: 5 March 2006 Crowd: 55000 Temp: 25ºC Weather: Sunny Yamaha Motor Italia rider Noriyuki Haga battled traction problems to grab a brace of fourth places at round two of the Superbike World Championship at the Phillip Island circuit in Australia. The popular Japanese rider rode hard in the day's two 22-lap races to score 26 valuable points over the two races. Haga had run at the front of the day's opening race but faded when his rear traction reduced at around half-distance. Despite running a somewhat lonely fifth for most of the race, the 31-year-old continued to ride hard to pass a fading Troy Bayliss (Ducati) and fend off a late charge from Roberto Rolfo (Ducati). Race two saw Haga make some further suspension changes to lead a thrilling battle at the front with Bayliss, James Toseland (Honda), Alex Barros (Honda), Troy Corser (Suzuki) and Yamaha Motor Italia team-mate Andrew Pitt. A nasty crash for Corser saw the Yamaha riders take avoiding action and let Bayliss and Toseland build a gap. The Yamaha pair was able to stay in touch with Barros in the battle for third but the lack of traction saw them settle for fourth and fifth place at the flag. Pitt was made to pay for an incorrect tyre choice in race one. The Australian chose a harder compound Pirelli tyre, which stopped him running at the same pace as the leaders in the opening laps. Stuck in a thrilling mid-pack battle for most of the race, he ended the race a subdued ninth. For race two he chose the same softer compound tyre as his rivals and was able to run with the leaders, eventually finishing fifth, just behind Haga. The Yamaha Motor France squad had a difficult weekend in Australia. Still running their 2005-specification engines, the team's only points came from former MotoGP rider Norick Abe, who took 12th in race two. Fellow Japanese rider Shinichi Nakatomi crashed out of race one, before continuing his world superbike education with 19th in race two. The team's third rider, Frenchman Sebastien Gimbert, retired from the opener with set-up problems before following home Nakatomi in 20th place in race two. Race one was won by Corser after a race long fight with Barros. Toseland finished third. Bayliss had led the opener by six seconds after obliterating the lap record on lap two. However, the Australian dropped back to eventually finish six, behind Haga and Rolfo. He gained revenge in race two, winning comfortably from Toseland, with Barros taking another podium in third. Bayliss now leads the championship on 75 points, one ahead of Toseland. Pitt leads the Yamaha riders, in fifth place with 45 points, with Haga sixth on 42 points. Noriyuki Haga (Yamaha Motor Italia) "I tried to push hard in both races but unfortunately at the end the tyre is gone and this means I cannot open the throttle and turn the bike properly in both races. The performance of the bike is very good at the beginning of the race but unfortunately after seven or eight laps the performance drops off quite a lot." Andrew Pitt (Yamaha Motor Italia) "In the first race I used a different type of rear tyre to most of the other riders and it did not work all that well in the early stages of the race. We used a different compound rear tyre for the second race and this meant that I was at least able to get away at the start, although the consistency is still not there over the race distance." Norick Abe (Yamaha Motor France) "From race one to race two we got on a little bit better, because we changed a lot of settings. We had no grip at the end of race one, sliding all the time, and lots of chatter as well. My lap times were into the 1:36s; slower than I expect. In the second race it was better but our engine was not fast this weekend so I could only follow other riders and had to catch up in the corner entries. Finally I got a 12th in race two, so we scored some points." Shinichi Nakatomi (Yamaha Motor France) "We did not have the grip from the rear we wanted and that held my lap times back. It was a very difficult weekend. I pushed hard in the first race and lost the front end trying to pass another rider. We finished race two, but to score no points is disappointing." Massimo Meregalli (Team Coordinator - Yamaha Motor Italia) "It has not been an easy weekend for us but in the end we have scored some good points for the championship. There is less grip here than in Qatar and both our riders have struggled for traction all weekend. We did not test at Phillip Island over the winter and although we found a little bit more today, it wasn't quite enough to allow us to run at the very front. There are a few other low grip circuits like this and we must work hard to improve our performances at these kind of tracks." Martial Garcia (Team Manager - Yamaha Motor Italia) "A very bad day. We had many chassis set-up problems, and we did not find the same grip we had in January, when we were very happy with the settings. I think we did not make a good job, because we did not find a good solution. Phillip Island is a special circuit and a lot depends on weather. We have some tests before the next race and we will use our new engine, which is more powerful. Abe is mentally very strong and I know that he can come through this difficult period strongly. The others we must help to build their confidence." Race classification WSB Round: 2 - Australia Circuit: Phillip Island Circuit Length: 4448 Lap Record: 1' 32.402 (Troy Bayliss, 2006) Fastest Lap Ever:  1' 32.081 (Troy Bayliss, 2006) Race: 22 Laps  Pos.  Rider Manufacturer  Nat. Total Time  1   T. Corser Suzuki  AUS  34' 33.545  2   A. Barros Honda  BRA  +0.450  3   J. Toseland Honda  GBR  +7.974  4   N. Haga Yamaha  JPN  +15.121  5   R. Rolfo Ducati  ITA  +16.292  6   T. Bayliss Ducati  AUS  +17.120  7   R. Xaus Ducati  ESP  +17.192  8   F. Nieto Kawasaki  ESP  +22.457  9   A. Pitt Yamaha  AUS  +22.490  10   C. Walker Kawasaki  GBR  +23.176  11   L. Lanzi Ducati  ITA  +28.347  12   Y. Kagayama Suzuki  JPN  +28.413  13   R. Laconi Kawasaki  FRA  +28.833  14   S. Martin Petronas  AUS  +28.977  15   M. Fabrizio Honda  ITA  +29.122  17   N. Abe Yamaha  JPN  +30.955  Race 2: 22 Laps  Pos.  Rider Manufacturer  Nat. Total Time  1   T. Bayliss Ducati  AUS  34' 33.803  2   J. Toseland Honda  GBR  +5.528  3   A. Barros Honda  BRA  +14.312  4   N. Haga Yamaha  JPN  +16.208  5   A. Pitt Yamaha  AUS  +17.656  6   Y. Kagayama Suzuki  JPN  +20.832  7   R. Rolfo Ducati  ITA  +21.130  8   R. Xaus Ducati  ESP  +25.224  9   F. Nieto Kawasaki  ESP  +25.638  10   C. Walker Kawasaki  GBR  +26.007  11   M. Fabrizio Honda  ITA  +32.867  12   N. Abe Yamaha  JPN  +33.171  13   M. Neukirchner Ducati  GER  +33.211  14   P. Chili Honda  ITA  +34.314  15   S. Martin Petronas  AUS  +34.467  17   S. Gimbert Yamaha  FRA  +49.214  19   S. Nakatomi Yamaha  JPN  +49.120  Fastest Race Lap:   Pos.  Rider Manufacturer  Nat. Total Time  1   T. Bayliss Ducati  AUS  1' 32.402  Championship standings WSB Pos.  Rider  Manufacturer  Nat. Points  1   Troy Bayliss Ducati  AUS 75  2   James Toseland Honda  GBR 74  3   Troy Corser Suzuki  AUS 63  4   Alex Barros Honda  BRA 55  5   Andrew Pitt Yamaha  AUS 45  6   Noriyuki Haga Yamaha  JPN 42  7   Roberto Rolfo Ducati  ITA 32  8   Michel Fabrizio Honda  ITA 25  9   Ruben Xaus Ducati  ESP 24  10   Fonsi Nieto Kawasaki  ESP 19  11   Lorenzo Lanzi Ducati  ITA 15  12   Norick Abe Yamaha  JPN 14  13   Yukio Kagayama Suzuki  JPN 14  14   Chris Walker Kawasaki  GBR 12  15   Karl Muggeridge Honda  AUS 11  21   Sebastien Gimbert Yamaha  FRA 3  Manufacturers standings WSB Pos. Manufacturer Points  1  Honda 78  2  Ducati 76  3  Suzuki 73  4  Yamaha 58  5  Kawasaki 22  6  Petronas 3  WSS : Double podium for Yamaha Motor Germany Round: 2 - Australia Circuit: Phillip Island Date: 5 March 2006 Crowd: 55000 Temp: 24ºC Weather: Sunny Yamaha Motor Germany riders Kevin Curtain and Broc Parkes took their first double podium finish of the year at round two of the Supersport World Championship in Philip Island. The Australian riders were involved in a race-long battle with world champion Sebastien Charpentier (Honda), with the two R6 riders breaking the lap record in the opening stages as they applied pressure to the Frenchman. Parkes demonstrated the new R6's speed by setting a new lap record on lap three, just minutes after Curtain had lowered Katsuaki Fujiwara's three year old record. Curtain passed Charpentier at MG corner to take the lead on lap five. However the two Yamaha riders succumbed to rear end traction problems in the later stages of the race, allowing Charpentier to take the win, while the Yamaha men rode sensibly to bring their machines home for valuable championship points.  Yamaha Team Italia riders Massimo Roccoli and Gianluca Vizziello brought their R6s home in tenth and 13th places respectively. FIM Superstock 1000 Cup champion Didier van Keymeulen finished 14th, with Javier Fores gaining a point for 15th. Former world superbike race winner Anthony Gobert ran as high as fifth on his GMT94 entered R6 but retired with set-up problems. Charpentier's win extends his championship lead to 10 points over second placed Curtain. Parkes' 16 points for third place moves him to fifth in the standings with two of the 13 races gone. Round three of the race takes place at the Ricardo Tormo circuit close to Valencia in Spain on April 23. Prior to that, the Yamaha Motor Germany squad will undertake tests in Misano and Valencia, where they plan to have new parts to increase the competitiveness of their machines. Kevin Curtain (Yamaha Motor Germany) I got in front of Charpentier a couple of times but every time I thought I could get a break on him, he came past again. It was close racing but always fair, because Sebastien and I trust each other. It's the first stage of race development for our new R6. So after Qatar and here, I think we can say that the first stage is going pretty well. I can't wait for the second stage - can't wait to get to Valencia now." Broc Parkes (Yamaha Motor Germany) "It's not my best result but I'm really happy to be on the podium here, because it's my first one in Australia. Having only done a lap last week this was really my first race of the season. I struggled to get my lines flowing today and I probably geared the bike a bit too low. I was able to run with Kevin and Seb in the opening laps, but when I was in the slipstream the bike was hitting the rev-limiter, which I knew wasn't good. I tried to stay with them but in the end it was better to take the third than try anything silly. I'm looking forward to Valencia as it is a track that suits my style." Massimo Roccoli (Yamaha Team Italia) "I am quite satisfied to finish in the top 10 in my first race at this circuit. I had a small problem with my braking, which meant that I could not brake as hard as I like into the hairpin but we have no problem with the traction and otherwise the bike was very good." Gianluca Vizziello (Yamaha Team Italia) "I am happy to get some points today. The front of the bike was sliding quite a lot and this meant I could not push as hard as I liked in the fast corners. So, some points are definitely better than none!" Anthony Gobert (Yamaha GMT94) "I had excessive chatter in the front, but I felt like I could still get into the top five. It got so bad I had to stop. We looked at the bike and everything seemed OK, but the chatter just continued and I had to retire." Terrell Thien (Team Manager - Yamaha Motor Germany) "The early season results have gone well for us. Always our plan was to get as many points as possible in these opening races so to get three podium finishes is as good as we can expect. We expect to have our next performance step for the Valencia race and as the championship goes to Europe we must now target race wins." Race classification WSS Round: 2 - Australia Circuit: Phillip Island Circuit Length: 4448 Lap Record: 1' 36.399 (Broc Parkes, 2006) Fastest Lap Ever:  1' 35.291 (Chris Vermeulen, 2003) Race: 21 Laps  Pos.  Rider Manufacturer  Nat. Total Time  1   S. Charpentier Honda  FRA  34' 1.822  2   K. Curtain Yamaha  AUS  +1.361  3   B. Parkes Yamaha  AUS  +7.796  4   Y. Tibero Honda  FRA  +16.788  5   R. Harms Honda  DNK  +16.798  6   J. Brookes Ducati  AUS  +21.250  7   J. Stigefelt Honda  SWE  +21.344  8   D. Thomas Kawasaki  AUS  +26.309  9   C. Zaiser Ducati  AUT  +26.515  10   M. Roccoli Yamaha  ITA  +26.515  11   S. Le Grelle Honda  BEL  +29.839  12   M. Sanchini Yamaha  ITA  +34.988  13   G. Vizziello Yamaha  ITA  +36.328  14   D. Van Keymeulen Yamaha  BEL  +37.402  15   X. Fores Yamaha  ESP  +38.574  19   V. Ivanov Yamaha  RUS  +1' 15.849  20   C. Peris Yamaha  CAN  +1' 23.477  21   D. Garcia Yamaha  ITA  +1' 29.998  Fastest Race Lap:   Pos.  Rider Manufacturer  Nat. Total Time  1   B. Parkes Yamaha  AUS  1' 36.399  Championship standings WSS   Pos.  Rider  Manufacturer  Nat. Points  1   Sebastien Charpentier Honda  FRA 50  2   Kevin Curtain Yamaha  AUS 40  3   Robbin Harms Honda  DNK 21  4   Johan Stigefelt Honda  SWE 20  5   Broc Parkes Yamaha  AUS 16  6   Kenan Sofuoglu Honda  TUR 16  7   Joshua Brookes Ducati  AUS 16  8   Massimo Roccoli Yamaha  ITA 15  9   Christian Zaiser Ducati  AUT 15  10   Xavi Fores Yamaha  ESP 14  11   Yoann Tibero Honda  FRA 13  12   Gianluca Vizziello Yamaha  ITA 10  13   Sebastien Le Grelle Honda  BEL 10  14   Dean Thomas Kawasaki  AUS 8  15   Mauro Sanchini Yamaha  ITA 4  20   Didier Van Keymeulen Yamaha  BEL 2  21   Gianluca Nannelli Yamaha  ITA 1  Manufacturers standings WSS   Pos. Manufacturer Points  1  Honda 50  2  Yamaha 40  3  Ducati 18    4  Kawasaki 8
Alex Asigno
Alex Asigno