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Alex Asigno
Due to the recent volcano eruptions in Iceland and international air traffic from Europe coming to a standstill as a result, the ruling parties in MotoGP have agreed to postpone the Grand Prix of Japan due to be held on April 25th. The proposed date for the Grand Prix of Japan is set on October 3th 2010. The next race for all MotoGP fans on the calendar will be the Grand Prix of Jerez, Spain on May 2nd.
Alex Asigno
Valentino Rossi The 2010 MotoGP season got off to a flying start under the floodlights tonight with a gripping Qatar Grand Prix and a perfect opening result for the Fiat Yamaha Team. The indomitable Valentino Rossi took his 104th career victory, his first in the opening round since 2005, whilst Jorge Lorenzo rode a clever race to finish a strong second. The World Champion got a brilliant start from second on the grid and led after the first lap but both Dani Pedrosa and Casey Stoner were faster on the straight and he was soon relegated to third. On lap five he battled back to pass the Spaniard but Stoner was two seconds in front by then and the Italian looked to be facing a hard task to catch him. On the next lap however Stoner slid out of the race, leaving Rossi in the lead pursued by Nicky Hayden and Andrea Dovizioso. His work was far from over however as Dovizioso proved impossible to shake off and mounted a challenge on the straight on lap 16, momentarily getting his nose in front before his more experienced compatriot passed him back on the brakes into turn one. A couple of quick laps from Rossi gave him some breathing space and he was eventually able to pull clear, leaving Dovizioso and Hayden to dice with Lorenzo while he charged over the line to finish 1.022 seconds clear. His win today makes him only the third rider in history to have scored points in 200 Grands Prix. Lorenzo meanwhile had slipped several places at the start, dropping back to sixth before he started to find his rhythm on lap six. The 21-year-old had to contend with some pain in his recovering hand as well as a lap of grip in the rear but he played the waiting game until his fuel load lessened and he was able to push a bit harder. He then put up a gutsy display to gradually reel in the leaders and come within striking distance with two laps to go. A masterful overtaking display on the penultimate lap despatched first Hayden and then Dovizioso and he crossed the line behind his team-mate to the delight of the Yamaha garage. The team now has a short break before heading in high spirits to Yamaha's home race in Japan, with the second round of the MotoGP World Championship coming at Motegi in two week's time. Valentino Rossi - Position: 1stTime: 42'50.099 "I got a fantastic start but I wasn't quite fast enough and was suffering on the straight. I lost some time passing Pedrosa and by then Stoner was quite far from me, I thought then that it was going to be hard to catch him! Then he made a mistake and crashed, which was bad luck for him but crucial for us. After that I expected it would be easier but in fact it was very hard to stay in front of Dovizioso, who was very strong. We had a good battle and then I did three or four laps at the maximum and was able to stay in front, but it wasn't easy! I haven't won at the first race since 2005 and these 25 points at this stage are like gold dust, it's a fantastic result for the team to make a one-two at race one. It's especially good to win here because it doesn't suit our bike, we worked very cleverly throughout the practices and this is the reward, so thanks to all my guys. We definitely have some work to do but this is a good base to start from. I ran out of fuel on the slow down lap, I think I used more than expected early on because I was sliding quite a lot, but it was very funny to come to Parc Ferme riding a scooter!" Jorge Lorenzo Jorge Lorenzo - Position: 2ndTime: +1.022 "Today I had to disconnect my brain and just ride with my heart, and I am so happy about this second place. My hand was a bit sore but the bigger problem was the rear sliding, and early on with a full fuel tank I found it quite hard. My plan was to take it quietly and not risk too much, but after a while the adrenalin built up and I couldn't do that, I had to ride at the maximum! Once I had less fuel it was easier and I started to get closer, but I was on the limit physically and with the bike, so it was quite risky! I made some good overtakes at the end and this is a fantastic result for our team, with Valentino winning as well. Now we go to Motegi, where I won last year, and I will be in better physical condition by then and ready to be even stronger." Davide Brivio - Team Manager "It's been a very positive weekend for us not only because we won, but because we've worked through our issues very well and been able to confirm that our bike is good. This isn't a good track for us and we know we're suffering a bit in terms of top speed, this is something we need to work on, but to win here shows that we've got a good overall package. Now we will work to lessen the gap to our rivals. It's been a great night for Yamaha; three bikes in the top five and a brilliant start to the season. Now we got to Yamaha's home race in Japan and we're looking forward to maintaining our lead." Wilco Zeelenberg - Team Manager "This is a very good start to the season and Jorge rode a very clever race. He kept his patience when the bike was heavy, realised it wasn't the right time to push and little-by-little he was able to improve his pace and close the gap. With a couple of laps to go he saw his advantage and was able to grab second position. To finish just one second behind Valentino after his interrupted pre-season is very impressive and a great result for our team." Spies lights up 2010 MotoGP opener Ben Spies produced a dazzling performance in Qatar tonight to end a stunning Monster Yamaha Tech 3 debut in fifth position. In an enthralling 22-lap race under the Losail International Circuit floodlights, Spies produced one of the performances of the evening to storm through from 11th on the grid to a career best top five in only his fifth MotoGP start. Spies produced a thrilling first lap to gain four places and claim seventh before he was elevated into the top six by a surprise mistake from race leader Casey Stoner on lap six. Pursuing fellow Yamaha YZR-M1 rider Jorge Lorenzo, Spies once again demonstrated his devastating speed on worn tyres as he threatened to haul himself into contention for the podium battle involving Nicky Hayden and Andrea Dovizioso. For several laps, Spies was the fastest man on track and he ended with the fourth best time of 1.56.087 clocked on lap 17. Opting to settle for fifth as a dramatic battle for the podium unfolded in front of him, Spies finished just over two seconds off third position. And impressively on only his second race for Yamaha, the reigning World Superbike champion was less than four seconds away from race winner and reigning world champion Valentino Rossi. Fellow Texan Colin Edwards had a tough start to his eighth MotoGP campaign but rode a determined race despite some minor rear grip issues. Edwards guided his Monster Yamaha Tech 3 YZR-M1 to eighth position having brilliantly kept the hard-charging duo of Loris Capirossi and Hiroshi Aoyama at bay. Ben Spies Ben Spies - Position: 5thTime: +3.903 "I'm happy because I knew we had the bike and I knew I was riding decent. Some things didn't go my way in qualifying and while it wasn't really a smooth weekend, it came together in the race. I gave 110 per cent every lap and that's all I can do and at the end I came out with a decent result. They key was that I knew we had a good pace on race tyres. I got a good start and I was quite aggressive in the first couple of laps to try and make up some places and keep contact with the front group. My confidence was growing in the middle of the race and I could see Jorge and Valentino and those guys not a million miles in front of me. I wasn't catching them a lot, but I knew for a few laps in the middle of the race I was definitely the quickest out of the top five. Maybe if I'd have qualified higher I might have been in that fight for the podium at the end. But I can't be too greedy and this is a good start for me and gives me a platform to build on for the rest of the season." Colin Edwards Colin Edwards - Position: 8thTime: +19.867 "Tonight wasn't really any surprise because I struggled all weekend and I never seemed to get on top of the problems we had. We made the bike a little better for the race and it was certainly more comfortable to ride and that showed in the improved lap times, but it obviously wasn't enough to get close to that top five. I rode my hardest but tonight was one of the times when you're just riding around problems. The front grip was great but I was lacking a bit on the rear and I couldn't get a set-up that pushed the tyre on the ground. As soon I accelerated the rear tyre wou ld spin, but we actually found out some things for the future that will help me. The Yamaha is obviously working good when you look at the result and I want to congratulate Ben because he did a great job. Hopefully next time out I'll be a bit closer to the fight." Herve Poncharal - Team Manager "Everybody was expecting great things from Ben this year and we have to say already that he has shown what he is capable of tonight. We were a bit disappointed when he was only 11th in qualifying but we knew it would be better for the race because he was so strong on hard tyres and we know this is a major strength of Ben's. And he is a racer who is very aggressive and he made up a few places early on, which is always crucial in MotoGP. His lap times were incredibly fast and was he closing on the leading group for the whole race and this is a fantastic start for Ben with the Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Team. It was a tough weekend for Colin but he scored some valuable points and found out some interesting information on the set-up of the bike that will help him for the future. Overall it is a great team performance and we move to Japan now full of confidence in what is a very important race for Yamaha." Circuit Length: 5380 Temp: 24 Weather: Dry
Lap Record: 1'57.305 (Valentino Rossi, 01/01/2006) Fastest Lap Ever: 1'53.927 (Jorge Lorenzo, 09/03/2008) Last Years Winner: Casey Stoner 2010 MotoGP Qatar - Doha/Losail 12/04/2010 Race 1 Pos. Rider Manu. Nat. Total Time 1 Valentino Rossi Yamaha ITA 42'50.099 2 Jorge Lorenzo Yamaha ESP 0'01.022 3 Andrea Dovizioso Honda ITA 0'01.865 4 Nicky Hayden Ducati USA 0'01.876 5 Ben Spies Yamaha USA 0'03.903 6 Randy De Puniet Honda FRA 0'09.322 7 Daniel Pedrosa Honda ESP 0'16.508 8 Colin Edwards Yamaha USA 0'19.867 9 Loris Capirossi Suzuki ITA 0'20.893 10 Hiroshi Aoyama Honda JPN 0'21.100 11 Marco Simoncelli Honda ITA 0'31.638 12 Hector Barbera Ducati ESP 0'32.573 13 Marco Melandri Honda ITA 0'40.780 Rider Standings 11/04/2010 Pos. Rider Manu. Nat. Points 1. Valentino Rossi Yamaha ITA 25 2. Jorge Lorenzo Yamaha ESP 20 3. Andrea Dovizioso Honda ITA 16 4. Nicky Hayden Ducati USA 13 5. Ben Spies Yamaha USA 11 6. Randy De Puniet Honda FRA 10 7. Daniel Pedrosa Honda ESP 9 8. Colin Edwards Yamaha USA 8 9. Loris Capirossi Suzuki ITA 7 10. Hiroshi Aoyama Honda JPN 6 11. Marco Simoncelli Honda ITA 5 12. Hector Barbera Ducati ESP 4 13. Marco Melandri Honda ITA 3 Manufacturer Standings 11/04/2010 Pos. Manufacturer Points 1. Yamaha 25 2. Honda 16 3. Ducati 13 4. Suzuki 7
Alex Asigno
P19 Yamaha Monster Energy Motocross Team's David Philippaerts can consider himself unfortunate to end his home Grand Prix with only 8th position after an eventful afternoon at Mantova for the second round of fifteen in the 2010 FIM MX-GP World Championship. The Italian was leading the first moto at the Grand Prix of Lombardia until a crash, which was then followed by an excellent recovery and finally thwarted by a damaged exhaust. He took 2nd place in the following outing. Yamaha Monster Energy Ricci Motocross Team's Ken De Dycker had a consistent day for 4th overall and his best finish yet on the YZ450FM. The weekend began positively with Philippaerts among the fastest riders as the track rapidly began to change, chop and cut-up due to the intense period of activity thanks to the presence of two support classes; the opening rounds of the 125cc European Championship and Veteran's World Cup (won by champion and Yamaha rider Mats Nilsson). The 25 year old enjoyed an entertaining battle with Tony Cairoli and Max Nagl in the Heat race to earn the first Pole Position for the rear-slanting innovative 2010 YZ450FM and put the distinctive black and green motorcycle into the Grand Prix gate first. Philippaerts comfortably fronted the pack in Moto1 for two laps across the rippled and treacherous terrain until catching a bump awkwardly at speed that pitched him onto the floor. Dazed, he remounted in 12th and began an emphatic charge to fly to 5th. With several laps to go the silencer on his exhaust broke free and robbed his machine of power. The 2008 world champion coasted across the finish but was penalised by a minute for failing noise control and classified 19th. Philippaerts again started well in Moto2 and rode a lonely 35 minutes and 2 laps behind winner Tony Cairoli and ahead of Max Nagl. De Dycker In contrast to the fine race had by Philippaerts on Saturday De Dycker suffered two falls in the Qualification Heat that left him ruing 19th place in the gate for the motos. The Belgian shook off the limitation from the line to slot into top ten contention and rise steadily to 4th and 5th positions for his best showing yet in Monster Energy colours. De Dycker is 4th in the world championship standings and Philippaerts is five points behind in 5th. The MX-GP FIM World Championship will now pause for a break after two events in succession. The Grand Prix of the Netherlands will run on April 25th at Valkenswaard. In other news Spaniard Carlos Campano leads the MX3 World Championship on his YZ450F after winning the opening round in Portugal last week and finishing fourth in France today. David Philippaerts, Yamaha Monster Energy MX Team, 8th: "The first moto was terrible. I had a big crash when I caught a bump at speed and the bike pushed me off. I hit my head on the ground and was dazed for a few moments. The bike was damaged and got worse as I went on. I made some good positions but five laps from the end the silencer broke; I did not feel safe even making the jumps. The second moto was good. I was in second and Nagl was quick at the beginning. I watched my lap-times on the board. Cairoli was too far to catch but I was pleased overall because I know I am fit and the bike is working very well. The track had a lot of ruts and bumps and was dangerous so I am pleased to come away feeling healthy. I will go to Belgium now for some training. Valkenswaard is next and I am fast there. Last year I should have done well but physically I was not 100%. This time I want better than a top five." Ken De Dycker, Yamaha Monster Energy Ricci MX Team, 4th: "I am pretty happy because yesterday was a nightmare. I felt better in the morning but I still had to work so hard on the bike and I really pushed to get those results. I feel that we can work from what we have achieved here and get better for Valkenswaard. The track got much drier and was a real mix of hard and soft bumps; it had everything." Crowd: 19,000 Weather: Changeable
2010 GP of Lombardia 11/04/2010 Race 1 - 19 Laps Pos. Rider Manu. Nat. Total Time 1 Clement Desalle Suzuki BEL 40'13.247 2 Antonio Cairoli KTM ITA 0'04.718 3 Maximilian Nagl KTM GER 0'14.321 4 Ken De Dycker Yamaha BEL 0'13.063 5 Sébastien Pourcel Kawasaki FRA 0'29.853 6 Jimmy Albertson Honda USA 0'33.123 7 Xavier Boog Kawasaki FRA 0'35.055 8 Jonathan Barragan Kawasaki ESP 0'37.764 9 Tanel Leok Honda EST 0'43.058 10 Steve Ramon Suzuki BEL 0'54.348 11 Manuel Monni Yamaha ITA 1'11.842 12 Marc De Reuver Suzuki NED 1'19.344 13 Davide Guarneri Honda ITA 1'23.471 14 Evgeny Bobryshev Honda RUS 1'24.100 15 Gareth Swanepoel Honda RSA 1'47.012 16 Tom Soderstrom Yamaha SWE 1'51.102 19 David Philippaerts Yamaha ITA 2'39.451 Race 2 - 19 Laps Pos. Rider Manu. Nat. Total Time 1 Antonio Cairoli KTM ITA 39'50.854 2 David Philippaerts Yamaha ITA 0'08.843 3 Maximilian Nagl KTM GER 0'17.627 4 Clement Desalle Suzuki BEL 0'32.466 5 Ken De Dycker Yamaha BEL 0'39.633 6 Xavier Boog Kawasaki FRA 0'41.226 7 Steve Ramon Suzuki BEL 0'48.453 8 Jonathan Barragan Kawasaki ESP 0'55.507 9 Evgeny Bobryshev Honda RUS 0'58.109 10 Anthony Boissière TM FRA 1'00.706 11 Joshua Coppins Aprilia NZL 1'01.396 12 Kevin Strijbos Suzuki BEL 1'02.494 13 Jimmy Albertson Honda USA 1'03.223 14 Gareth Swanepoel Honda RSA 1'10.054 15 Manuel Monni Yamaha ITA 1'13.328 Rider Standings 11/04/2010 Pos. Rider Manu. Nat. Points 1. Antonio Cairoli KTM ITA 88 2. Maximilian Nagl KTM GER 87 3. Clement Desalle Suzuki BEL 79 4. Ken De Dycker Yamaha BEL 65 5. David Philippaerts Yamaha ITA 60 6. Steve Ramon Suzuki BEL 59 7. Jonathan Barragan Kawasaki ESP 56 8. Xavier Boog Kawasaki FRA 54 9. Sébastien Pourcel Kawasaki FRA 37 10. Joshua Coppins Aprilia NZL 37 11. Davide Guarneri Honda ITA 32 12. Manuel Monni Yamaha ITA 31 13. Gareth Swanepoel Honda RSA 31 14. Tanel Leok Honda EST 30 15. Jimmy Albertson Honda USA 29 20. Tom Soderstrom Yamaha SWE 8 Manufacturer Standings 11/04/2010 Pos. Manufacturer Points 1. KTM 97 2. Suzuki 83 3. Yamaha 76 4. Kawasaki 64 5. Honda 47 6. Aprilia 37 7. TM 21 8. CCM 7 RACE REPORT 11/04/2010 Osborne close to podium with 4th in Italy Osborne in Mantova The MX2-GP category at the Grand Prix of Lombardia, the second round of fifteen in the FIM Motocross World Championship, saw Bike it Cosworth Yamaha's Zach Osborne defy a ruthless set of ruts, waves and loose bumps at the Mantova circuit in Italy to finish 4th overall. 19,000 spectators (weekend total) travelled to the second race meeting in the space of a week after the season-opener at Sevlievo, Bulgaria seven days ago. Sadly the sunshine and warm temperatures from Saturday could not extend to race day as wind, clouds and cooler climes altered, but did not lessen, the demands on the MX2-GP athletes. Osborne, on the new 2010 agile and manoeuvrable YZ250F, fought in the higher echelons of top ten during both motos and profited from a mistake by Jeffrey Herlings to register a decent 5th place. He fought with Shaun Simpson and British Championship rival Jake Nicholls to again mark 16 points in the second race. It was only the American's second GP of points in both sprints since he broke his wrist almost one year ago. Harri Kullas Yamaha Gariboldi Monster Energy's Harri Kullas and Christophe Charlier were the next highest-ranked Yamaha representatives in the first ever home GP for the team. The teenagers were 10th and 12th overall. Kullas was consistent and competitive to 9th in Moto1 but suffered some stomach cramps in Moto2 to 13th. Charlier was impressive in Qualification but his overall score was blighted barely seconds into the first race when he was hit from behind out of timing section and damaged his front brake as a result. Needing to visit the pits he was out of contention for points by the time the problem could be repaired. The European Champion's speed was evident in Moto2 as he arrived to 7th place by the chequered flag. Yamaha Monster Energy Ricci MX Team's Alessandro Lupino was 12th and 17th for 14th. Osborne is 6th in the world championship standings and only 3 points from the top five. Kullas is 10th and Charlier 11th. Yamaha Monster Energy MX Team's Gautier Paulin has seen some excellent progress on his recovery from a broken left fibula two weeks ago. After continual treatment the 20 year old was able to walk without crutches and was contemplating a return in Italy until wisely deciding to allow another two weeks for the bone to heal before looking at the Grand Prix of the Netherlands as a possible date for his Yamaha world championship debut. The sand of Valkenswaard is next up for Yamaha's MX2-GP world championship collective in two weeks time. Zach Osborne, Bike it Cosworth Yamaha, 4th: "I got two really good starts today but spun slightly coming out of the first turn in both motos. I worked as hard as I could in the first moto and got up to fifth after Herlings made a mistake on the last two laps. I felt really good after that race and with plenty of energy. We had a rougher track in the second moto and maybe I was not as strong as I should have been but to secure two fifth positions and go fourth overall is positive this early in the season. We are not far from the top five in the championship and have to keep building up. Mantova was a more physical track than Sevlievo. In Bulgaria you have to set the layout in your mind, mentally it is technical because you have to be flowing the whole time. Mantova is good; I hated it in practice but once it got rougher I enjoyed it more and more." Harri Kullas, Yamaha Gariboldi Monster Energy, 10th: "The first race was good; I had a decent start and was in 7th. I just tried to keep the same speed and was pretty happy to take 9th. I had contact with another rider in the next start and tensed up at the beginning. I managed to recover but I can be better than that. I felt a bit of a stomach ache and this meant I could not push so much. So, one good moto and one not so good, but I will train now and hope for better in Valkenswaard." Christophe Charlier, Yamaha Gariboldi Monster Energy, 12th: "A rider hit me from behind through the waves and I had to finish the first lap with a broken brake that was stuck. I came into the pits to get it fixed but in the end I was so far behind when I went back out that it was not worth continuing. My start was better in the second moto but I lost too much time stuck behind Simpson. The track was mainly one line and difficult. Once I had overtaken, my lap-times were near those of the leaders. I think I can get near the top five. I just need a bit of luck at the start." Gautier Paulin, Yamaha Monster Energy MX Team: "It was hard to watch the race in Bulgaria because I had worked all winter for this championship but now I am only looking forward to getting back on the bike. I knew that if I wanted to fight for the title then I would have needed to race here but that was crazy because I am still struggling to walk normally. Looking at all the ruts and bumps I am glad I did not take the risk! I want to be near 100% before I can come back to the track so I can do something good. I hope that will be at Valkenswaard in two weeks." Crowd: 19,000 Weather: Changeable
2010 GP of Lombardia 11/04/2010 Race 1 - 19 Laps Pos. Rider Manu. Nat. Total Time 1 Marvin Musquin KTM FRA 39'58.049 2 Ken Roczen Suzuki GER 0'00.370 3 Steven Frossard Kawasaki FRA 0'50.697 4 Jeremy Van Horebeek Kawasaki BEL 0'54.481 5 Zach Osborne Yamaha USA 0'56.927 6 Jeffrey Herlings KTM NED 0'57.314 7 Shaun Simpson KTM GBR 1'19.818 8 Joel Roelants KTM BEL 1'21.141 9 Harri Kullas Yamaha FIN 1'24.840 10 Marcus Schiffer KTM GER 1'27.785 11 Arnaud Tonus Suzuki CHE 1'28.759 12 Alessandro Lupino Yamaha ITA 1'29.087 13 Jake Nicholls KTM GBR 1'46.732 14 Dennis Verbruggen KTM BEL 1'51.133 15 Valentin Teillet KTM FRA -1Laps 17 Mel Pocock Yamaha GBR -1Laps Race 2 - 19 Laps Pos. Rider Manu. Nat. Total Time 1 Marvin Musquin KTM FRA 39'35.506 2 Jeffrey Herlings KTM NED 0'04.177 3 Ken Roczen Suzuki GER 0'23.515 4 Arnaud Tonus Suzuki CHE 0'45.327 5 Zach Osborne Yamaha USA 0'58.516 6 Jake Nicholls KTM GBR 1'03.613 7 Christophe Charlier Yamaha FRA 1'14.406 8 Shaun Simpson KTM GBR 1'30.422 9 Dennis Verbruggen KTM BEL 1'31.289 10 Steven Frossard Kawasaki FRA 1'37.646 11 Jose Antonio Butron Suzuki ESP 1'44.641 12 Matiss Karro Suzuki LVA 1'47.668 13 Harri Kullas Yamaha FIN 1'51.392 14 Petr Smitka KTM CZE 2'12.138 15 Gianluca Martini Honda ITA -1Laps 17 Alessandro Lupino Yamaha ITA -1Laps 19 Ed Allingham Yamaha GBR -1Laps Rider Standings 11/04/2010 Pos. Rider Manu. Nat. Points 1. Marvin Musquin KTM FRA 100 2. Ken Roczen Suzuki GER 86 3. Jeffrey Herlings KTM NED 72 4. Steven Frossard Kawasaki FRA 69 5. Arnaud Tonus Suzuki CHE 62 6. Zach Osborne Yamaha USA 59 7. Shaun Simpson KTM GBR 53 8. Jeremy Van Horebeek Kawasaki BEL 52 9. Jake Nicholls KTM GBR 47 10. Harri Kullas Yamaha FIN 39 11. Christophe Charlier Yamaha FRA 32 12. Dennis Verbruggen KTM BEL 30 13. Joel Roelants KTM BEL 25 14. Alessandro Lupino Yamaha ITA 24 15. Nick Triest KTM BEL 18 17. Mel Pocock Yamaha GBR 13 26. Rudi Moroni Yamaha ITA 5 27. Ceriel Klein Kromhof Yamaha NED 4 28. Glenn Coldenhoff Yamaha NED 2 29. Ed Allingham Yamaha GBR 2 Manufacturer Standings 11/04/2010 Pos. Manufacturer Points 1. KTM 100 2. Suzuki 86 3. Kawasaki 69 4. Yamaha 59 5. Honda 19
Alex Asigno
Both the Superstock 1000 and Superstock 600 European Championships saw Yamaha take more valuable points this weekend at the Ricardo Tormo circuit in Valencia. In the Superstock 1000 class French MRS Racing rider Loris Baz put in a solid ride on his Yamaha YZF-R1 to take fourth at the line. He heads to Assen for the third round in fourth on 27 points, trailing the lead by 23. In the 600 class Jeremy Guarnoni rode the MRS Racing Yamaha YZF-R6 in an action packed race, taking a well deserved podium with a second placed finish. His race win at Portimao in the first round means he remains leading the championship and heads to Assen with 45 points and a 20 point advantage at the top of the table.
Alex Asigno
James Toseland put in a solid performance in race one today on his Yamaha Sterilgarda R1, starting from ninth on the grid the British rider made short work of the field to take second by the ninth lap. He was hotly pursued by Aprilia rider Max Biaggi for the entire race duration and fought off a number of attacks, holding on to second until just two laps from the end. He finished the race in third, claiming his well deserved first podium of the year, just 3.6 seconds off the race leader. Team mate Cal Crutchlow had a tougher first race. A less than perfect start saw him drop from pole to seventh going into the first corner of the race. He fought hard for the duration despite suffering from a lack of grip, riding as high as fifth before dropping back to claim seventh at the line. Race two was marred with incident, three laps in a high speed crash into the pit wall caused the race to be red flagged. After a delay it was restarted under aggregate timing with Crutchlow and Toseland in ninth and 12th respectively. The hot track temperature proved challenging for grip levels, with both riders fighting hard for position. Toseland crossed the line in seventh having challenged for several positions, whilst team mate Crutchlow hung on to take ninth at the chequered flag. Toseland goes to the next round in Assen with 50 championship points having jumped up the table from 11th to sixth. Team-mate Crutchlow remains in tenth as he heads to the Dutch round with 41 championship points. James Toseland James Toseland, Yamaha Sterilgarda World Superbike Team, (3rd, 7th) "Race one was great, it's always nice when the team work so hard to be able to repay them with a result. I was probably the widest man out there because I certainly wasn't the quickest after half race distance, I was finding a few things a bit difficult with the bike. It was great though to dig deep and get a podium, my first podium this year and my first since Brands 2007 I think. It's been a while since I took a trophy home so I was very happy. The team are working unbelievably hard, we've got some issues but we're making up a lot of ground in a short space of time. In the second race I got an average start when the clutch grabbed early on the line. I don't know where the front guys got their pace from on the re-start, mid 34's was a second faster than it was in the first race. Assen is next which is fast and flowing which will suit the bike better. We need to keep improving until we're strong at every track." Cal Crutchlow Cal Crutchlow, Yamaha Sterilgarda World Superbike Team, (7th, 9th) "Race one was ok, I was just disappointed I lost the tow to the leaders at the start. We've got bad rear tyre problems again, seem to be spinning a lot more than the other competitors from the go. The higher grip levels in Portugal suited us better. We're looking forward to hopefully improving it at the next race in Assen. A difficult weekend, the second race was much the same, no grip from the start." Massimo Meregalli, Yamaha Sterilgarda World Superbike Team Manager "We've had an up and down weekend. We had some issues on Friday then came back with the Superpole yesterday. It was great to see James achieve a podium in the first race, he really worked hard and deserved it. The second race was not so good for us, it proved to be more challenging for the riders with less grip levels on the circuit. For sure this weekend we've learnt some more about the bike and we've definitely improved since Phillip Island. We'll study the data from this weekend and we'll come to The Netherlands with something new."

Circuit Length: 4.005 Weather: Hot and Sunny
Lap Record: 1'34.618 (Noriyuki Haga, 23/04/2009) Fastest Lap Ever: 1'33.270 (Ben Spies, 05/04/2009) Last Years Winner: Noriyuki Haga
2010 WSB Spain - Valencia 11/04/2010 Race 1 - 23 Laps Pos. Rider Manu. Nat. Total Time 1 Leon Haslam Suzuki GBR 36'47.723 2 Max Biaggi Aprilia ITA 0'01.757 3 James Toseland Yamaha GBR 0'03.621 4 Troy Corser BMW AUS 0'04.209 5 Noriyuki Haga Ducati JPN 0'04.378 6 Jonathan Rea Honda GBR 0'09.834 7 Cal Crutchlow Yamaha GBR 0'10.466 8 Lorenzo Lanzi Ducati ITA 0'16.080 9 Sylvain Guintoli Suzuki FRA 0'18.382 10 Jakub Smrz Ducati CZE 0'18.589 11 Tom Sykes Kawasaki GBR 0'22.903 12 Ruben Xaus BMW ESP 0'25.203 13 Max Neukirchner Honda GER 0'25.676 14 Luca Scassa Ducati ITA 0'26.606 15 Andrew Pitt BMW AUS 0'43.797
Race 2 - 23 Laps Pos. Rider Manu. Nat. Total Time 1 Noriyuki Haga Ducati JPN 36'51.500 2 Carlos Checa Ducati ESP 0'00.025 3 Max Biaggi Aprilia ITA 0'00.299 4 Leon Haslam Suzuki GBR 0'10.100 5 Jonathan Rea Honda GBR 0'12.811 6 Sylvain Guintoli Suzuki FRA 0'13.459 7 James Toseland Yamaha GBR 0'14.845 8 Shane Byrne Ducati GBR 0'14.861 9 Cal Crutchlow Yamaha GBR 0'15.202 10 Jakub Smrz Ducati CZE 0'18.071 11 Ruben Xaus BMW ESP 0'25.179 12 Troy Corser BMW AUS 0'26.116 13 Lorenzo Lanzi Ducati ITA 0'30.189 14 Luca Scassa Ducati ITA 0'30.387 15 Tom Sykes Kawasaki GBR 0'35.741
Best Lap Rider Manu. Nat. Total Time Carlos Checa Ducati ESP 1'34.750  
Rider Standings 11/04/2010 Pos. Rider Manu. Nat. Points 1. Leon Haslam Suzuki GBR 123 2. Max Biaggi Aprilia ITA 105 3. Carlos Checa Ducati ESP 80 4. Noriyuki Haga Ducati JPN 79 5. Jonathan Rea Honda GBR 60 6. James Toseland Yamaha GBR 50 7. Sylvain Guintoli Suzuki FRA 50 8. Troy Corser BMW AUS 46 9. Michel Fabrizio Ducati ITA 46 10. Cal Crutchlow Yamaha GBR 41 11. Shane Byrne Ducati GBR 33 12. Leon Camier Aprilia GBR 32 13. Lorenzo Lanzi Ducati ITA 26 14. Jakub Smrz Ducati CZE 20 15. Ruben Xaus BMW ESP 19  
Manufacturer Standings 11/04/2010 Pos. Manufacturer Points 1. Suzuki 123 2. Ducati 107 3. Aprilia 105 4. Honda 61 5. Yamaha 57 6. BMW 47 7. Kawasaki 13
Alex Asigno
Yamaha Sterilgarda World Superbike rider Cal Crutchlow put the challenges of yesterday's qualifying behind him today, calmly working through the Superpole sessions to lay down the fastest lap of the third heat and claim his second consecutive Superpole of the 2010 season. Unlike many of his rivals Crutchlow saved his Qualifier tyres for the second and third sessions, delivering fast enough laps on a race tyre to make it through the first heat. Team mate James Toseland was on equally impressive form, making it calmly through the first session without using a qualifying tyre. The second heat saw him switch to his first of the sticky tyres, putting in a solid 1'33.988 to claim third with five minutes to go. Unfortunately a flurry of competitive laps as the session closed saw him drop to ninth, a mere one thousandth of a second off eighth and a chance to compete in the third session. A breakdown of the timing screens at the end of the session added to the confusion, making it unclear for some time whether he was through or not. Cal Crutchlow Cal Crutchlow, Yamaha Sterilgarda World Superbike Team (1st, 1'33.615) "It was good last year in Supersport, we had ten poles in total and we've now started the tally with two for this season which is great. The team have worked really hard this weekend as it's been difficult for us, quite like Australia, the grip level is not so good which is where we struggle. We went to Portugal and we had a lot of grip and the bike was fantastic, we've come here and it's hard work again but we're getting there. We'll have another late night tonight and then I'll look forward to the race tomorrow, it's alright doing one fast lap but 23 is a different story. I think we surprised a few people today, I used the same tyres in the first qualification session today as I used yesterday, finishing in 15th but I wasn't so worried. I knew if we could work through the stages we would be ok for the pole." James Toseland James Toseland, Yamaha Sterilgarda World Superbike Team (9th, 1'33.988) "Lady luck doesn't seem to be shining on me at the start of this season! To lose out by one thousandth is a frustrating blow, especially as I knew the time was there. I wanted to save my second qualifier for the last Superpole session, for sure we could have done a similar time to Cal. It was definitely possible. Congratulations to Cal for another pole position, putting the bike where it should be. I'm disappointed for the team because we've worked really well this weekend and improved the bike again. To lose out on the top eight by such a small time and then the confusion when the screens went down is very frustrating. We've come a long way with the package so we just need to get a good start tomorrow because we know we have the race pace." Massimo Meregalli, Yamaha Sterilgarda World Superbike Team Manager "We made a really good improvement from yesterday to this afternoon with both bikes. I'm so sorry for James, to lose the last Superpole by only one thousandth is something we were not expecting. By the time we realised, it was too late to do anything and go out again. I'm also really impressed with Cal, he made a very good last lap. Tomorrow I think it will be different but we're starting from pole so we will see!"

Circuit Length: 4005 Weather: Hot and Sunny
Lap Record: 1'35.007 (Neil Hodgson, 23/04/2003) Fastest Lap Ever: 1'33.270 (Ben Spies, 05/04/2009) Last Years Winner: Noriyuki Haga
2010 WSB Spain - Valencia 10/04/2010 Superpole Pos. Rider Manu. Nat. Total Time 1 Cal Crutchlow Yamaha GBR 1'33.615 2 Carlos Checa Ducati ESP 1'33.840 3 Max Biaggi Aprilia ITA 1'33.860 4 Leon Haslam Suzuki GBR 1'33.961 5 Troy Corser BMW AUS 1'34.059 6 Sylvain Guintoli Suzuki FRA 1'34.073 7 Jonathan Rea Honda GBR 1'34.235 8 Lorenzo Lanzi Ducati ITA 1'34.261 9 James Toseland Yamaha GBR 1'33.988 10 Michel Fabrizio Ducati ITA 1'34.021 11 Noriyuki Haga Ducati JPN 1'34.100 12 Shane Byrne Ducati GBR 1'34.246 13 Leon Camier Aprilia GBR 1'34.273 14 Jakub Smrz Ducati CZE 1'34.280 15 Luca Scassa Ducati ITA 1'34.730
Qualifying 2 Pos. Rider Nat. QUAL I QUAL II 1 Max Biaggi ITA 1'34.771 1'34.218 2 Carlos Checa ESP 1'34.220 1'34.433 3 Jakub Smrz CZE 1'34.502 1'34.239 4 Shane Byrne GBR 1'34.690 1'34.265 5 Leon Haslam GBR 1'34.780 1'34.286 6 Michel Fabrizio ITA 1'34.886 1'34.356 7 Noriyuki Haga JPN 1'34.935 1'34.427 8 Lorenzo Lanzi ITA 1'35.049 1'34.441 9 Sylvain Guintoli FRA 1'35.189 1'34.442 10 Jonathan Rea GBR 1'35.232 1'34.458 11 Troy Corser AUS 1'35.279 1'34.476 12 Max Neukirchner GER 1'35.555 1'34.836 13 James Toseland GBR 1'35.203 1'34.894 14 Luca Scassa ITA 1'35.467 1'34.933 15 Cal Crutchlow GBR 1'35.052 1'34.938
Alex Asigno
It wasn't the easiest start to the Spanish race weekend for Yamaha Sterilgarda riders Cal Crutchlow and James Toseland today. The unforgiving Ricardo Tormo circuit proved challenging for both British riders with low grip on the track surface. Crutchlow made several changes to the bike during the qualifying session, leaving little time for an unbroken run to fully test the changes, ending the heat in ninth. Team-mate James Toseland had found a set-up to test, but then suffered a small crash as he settled in for some quick laps at the end of the session. Although uninjured and able to continue, it left not enough time to improve on his 12th place time. Cal Crutchlow Cal Crutchlow, Yamaha Sterilgarda World Superbike Team (9th, 1'35.052) "Today wasn't easy. We made good progress up to Portimao, unfortunately we are now at a track with much less grip which makes it again more difficult for us. Hopefully we can make improvements over the evening and into tomorrow. I look forward to getting started again in the morning and seeing how it goes." James Toseland James Toseland, Yamaha Sterilgarda World Superbike Team (12th, 1'35.203) "A frustrating session for me today. I'd just put the softer tyre in at the end of the session, I came out of turn one really well but unfortunately I got my finger stuck under the brake lever and couldn't stop in time. I only just got the bike stopped right up by the barrier and then tipped it over. Luckily no damage to me or the bike so I got back on but by the time I'd cleaned all the dirt off them the performance of them had just dropped slightly. I was three tenths quicker than this morning and the time was there to be had but I ran out of time, frustrating as it was my error. We've got a lot of information from today so I'm looking forward to tomorrow." Massimo Meregalli, Yamaha Sterilgarda World Superbike Team Manager "A difficult day, but it seems for many of the 4 cylinder machines it wasn't easy to get good grip here. With chassis set up changes and adjustments in the electronics area we hope to improve this for tomorrow and also help to reduce tyre wear. I'm confident we will be more competitive tomorrow in the next session."

Circuit Length: 4005 Weather: Hot and Sunny
Lap Record: 1'35.007 (Neil Hodgson, 23/04/2003) Fastest Lap Ever: 1'33.270 (Ben Spies, 05/04/2009) Last Years Winner: Noriyuki Haga
2010 WSB Spain - Valencia 09/04/2010 Qualifying 1 Pos. Rider Manu. Nat. Total Time 1 Carlos Checa Ducati ESP 1'34.220 2 Jakub Smrz Ducati CZE 1'34.502 3 Shane Byrne Ducati GBR 1'34.690 4 Max Biaggi Aprilia ITA 1'34.771 5 Leon Haslam Suzuki GBR 1'34.780 6 Michel Fabrizio Ducati ITA 1'34.886 7 Noriyuki Haga Ducati JPN 1'34.935 8 Lorenzo Lanzi Ducati ITA 1'35.049 9 Cal Crutchlow Yamaha GBR 1'35.052 10 Leon Camier Aprilia GBR 1'35.132 11 Sylvain Guintoli Suzuki FRA 1'35.189 12 James Toseland Yamaha GBR 1'35.203 13 Jonathan Rea Honda GBR 1'35.232 14 Troy Corser BMW AUS 1'35.279 15 Luca Scassa Ducati ITA 1'35.467
Alex Asigno
Valencia circuit After an exciting second round in Portimao which saw both Yamaha Sterilgarda WSB riders make good progress on their bike set up and development, the team are now gearing up for round three in Valencia this weekend. Moving forward from a difficult first round in Australia, round two saw big improvements in the 2010 bike with both riders making good use of the increased power available. Crutchlow caught the attention of the paddock, impressing with a new Best Lap record in Superpole, knocking nearly half a second off last year's time set by Ben Spies. The 25yr old British rider also took the first podium finish of the year for the team in the second race. Team-mate James Toseland made up for a less than perfect grid start position in both races, starting from 15th he pushed hard to break the top ten, delivering a 7th and then a 6th place finish. The Ricardo Tormo circuit in Valencia is known to both riders, and with Toseland getting back to full fitness as his hand recovers, the weekend has the potential to deliver great results for the team. "After my podium at Portimao I'm keen to get to Valencia," said Cal Crutchlow. I think we can continue our good streak. I don't know how the bike will be there as we used the 2009 bike in our winter test but I'm optimistic. Lots of the teams have tested there recently so we've got some work to do, but hopefully we'll be up there and have a good result." "We've made massive improvements from Australia to Portugal," said James Toseland, "which obviously the podium from Cal proved. The second race in Portimao was particularly good for me, I had a really good race pace but couldn't get to front which was disappointing as I started from too far back. The Valencia test went well in the winter and I've done a lot on the Spanish track compared to Portugal so I'm looking forward to getting out there and getting stuck in, being able to concentrate on the bike set up without having the added focus of learning the circuit." Valencia technically speaking according to Marcus Eschenbacher, Cal Crutchlow's Crew Chief "Valencia is one of the WSB circuits with the most stadium character, the track is flat and has some banked corners. The track conditions vary a lot so it is never certain what it will be. The infield is technical and physical for the riders, the last corner is particularly hard for the tyres over race distance so the track is more difficult than it appears. We made some adjustments to the bike in Portimao which Cal really liked, adding weight to the rear to improve the balance for him. We hope that we can find some new improvements again for the coming round." Valencia technically speaking according to Frankie Carchedi, James Toseland's Crew Chief "We had a successful test over the winter. We have continued to work extremely hard since Portimao to continue improving the electronics on the bike. Valencia is a very challenging circuit, a good front fork setting is important, and a good handling bike, as a lot of corners link together. We will start on a very similar setting to race two in Portimao, with the biggest change coming from a new electronic strategy for corner exit. James will be one step closer to full fitness, and hopefully with another step of improvement from the bike, we can be challenging at the front!" Massimo Meregalli, Yamaha Sterilgarda World Superbike Team Manager "Our test at Valencia over the winter went well. Following Portimao we will bring some more electronic updates for the bikes to the Spanish circuit in order to continue the progress we made from the first two rounds and be as competitive as possible. The electronics are our focus for development at the moment so these updates will include new maps for both James and Cal. Unfortunately the time is very short between these races but I am confident that we will get more improvements this weekend again."
Alex Asigno
DP19 David Philippaerts tied on points for 3rd position and had to accept 4th overall on the 2010 YZ450FM at the Grand Prix of Bulgaria at Sevlievo for the first round of fifteen in the FIM MX1-GP World Championship. The Yamaha Monster Energy MX Team rider was 2nd and 7th across a difficult circuit in two hot motos. Rain early on Saturday caused the soft track to become even rougher and the ruts to carve deeper. The terrain mixed slippery hard-pack sections with heavy bumps and was a real test of concentration and physical endurance. 2008 world champion Philippaerts made two impressive launches from the start gate on the new rear-slanting fuel-injected YZ450F and held second position from start-to-finish of the first moto. In the second race the Italian was again maintaining a consistent pace in 3rd place until he lost traction on a downhill section and briefly hit the floor. Remounting he had lost ground but embarked on a brave charge and was crawling over the rear wheel of Clement Desalle for 5th on the final lap. The Belgian held firm and Spaniard Jonathan Barragan caught Philippaerts unaware on the last charge down to the finish line, relegating the 25 year old to 7th mere metres from the flag. Despite the late surprise and misfortune of missing the podium, Philippaerts could gather 36 points and is just 11 behind winner and series leader Max Nagl. De Dycker Yamaha Monster Energy Ricci MX Team's Ken De Dycker made his world championship debut for the Italian team and although the Belgian made mistakes and could not find his desired rhythm across the course was able to take 6th overall, with his finish of 4th in Moto1 beating his run to 8th in Moto2. Round two will take place next weekend for the Grand Prix of Lombardia at Mantova, Italy. The event will be the home meeting for the team and the scene of victory for them in 2007. David Philippaerts, 4th Yamaha Monster Energy MX Team: "It was not a bad weekend and we have a lot of points but I am disappointed with how it finished. I just misjudged the last lap and did not know Barragan was so close. This is only the first race and we have fourteen more to go. It was a hard weekend; the track was fast with a lot of bumps but I liked it. In the first moto my riding was good but I made a stupid crash in the second. Without that mistake for sure I would have had the podium. The bike was great and the Ohlins suspension worked so well; I really like what they have given us. The difference in the points with the leaders is small so we will look ahead to the next GP and we only have a few days before Mantova." Ken De Dycker, 6th Yamaha Monster Energy Ricci MX Team: "It was a difficult day. The first moto was OK. I had a pretty decent start but was caught in the backmarkers and made mistakes. The track was very different to past years. It was good but demanding. I had a bad start in the second moto. I could not find good lines and was making a lot of mistakes. I don't have any excuses, I train really hard but I could not get going for the second moto." Circuit Length: 1530 Crowd: 20,000 Weather: Sunny
Last Years Winner: Jonathan Barragan 2010 GP of Bulgaria 04/04/2010 Race 1 - 20 Laps Pos. Rider Manu. Nat. Total Time 1 Maximilian Nagl KTM GER 40'45.442 2 David Philippaerts Yamaha ITA 0'08.599 3 Clement Desalle Suzuki BEL 0'14.666 4 Ken De Dycker Yamaha BEL 0'18.117 5 Antonio Cairoli KTM ITA 0'22.864 6 Jonathan Barragan Kawasaki ESP 0'38.625 7 Steve Ramon Suzuki BEL 0'45.541 8 Xavier Boog Kawasaki FRA 0'52.209 9 Joshua Coppins Aprilia NZL 0'58.900 10 Davide Guarneri Honda ITA 1'05.657 11 Gareth Swanepoel Honda RSA 1'09.725 12 Tanel Leok Honda EST 1'18.168 13 Manuel Monni Yamaha ITA 1'27.741 14 Marc De Reuver Suzuki NED 1'39.375 15 Kevin Strijbos Suzuki BEL 1'42.729 18 Tom Soderstrom Yamaha SWE -1Laps Race 2 - 20 Laps Pos. Rider Manu. Nat. Total Time 1 Antonio Cairoli KTM ITA 41'06.743 2 Maximilian Nagl KTM GER 0'03.685 3 Steve Ramon Suzuki BEL 0'07.060 4 Sébastien Pourcel Kawasaki FRA 0'12.869 5 Clement Desalle Suzuki BEL 0'15.479 6 Jonathan Barragan Kawasaki ESP 0'16.441 7 David Philippaerts Yamaha ITA 0'16.619 8 Ken De Dycker Yamaha BEL 0'48.535 9 Xavier Boog Kawasaki FRA 0'51.452 10 Joshua Coppins Aprilia NZL 0'58.843 11 Anthony Boissière TM FRA 1'09.907 12 Davide Guarneri Honda ITA 1'17.109 13 Gareth Swanepoel Honda RSA 1'22.731 14 Manuel Monni Yamaha ITA 1'32.458 15 Evgeny Bobryshev Honda RUS 1'36.296 Rider Standings 04/04/2010 Pos. Rider Manu. Nat. Points 1. Maximilian Nagl KTM GER 47 2. Antonio Cairoli KTM ITA 41 3. Clement Desalle Suzuki BEL 36 4. David Philippaerts Yamaha ITA 36 5. Steve Ramon Suzuki BEL 34 6. Ken De Dycker Yamaha BEL 31 7. Jonathan Barragan Kawasaki ESP 30 8. Xavier Boog Kawasaki FRA 25 9. Joshua Coppins Aprilia NZL 23 10. Davide Guarneri Honda ITA 20 11. Sébastien Pourcel Kawasaki FRA 18 12. Gareth Swanepoel Honda RSA 18 13. Manuel Monni Yamaha ITA 15 14. Tanel Leok Honda EST 13 15. Anthony Boissière TM FRA 10 23. Tom Soderstrom Yamaha SWE 3 Manufacturer Standings 04/04/2010 Pos. Manufacturer Points 1. KTM 50 2. Suzuki 40 3. Yamaha 36 4. Kawasaki 33 5. Aprilia 23 6. Honda 20 7. TM 10 8. CCM 4 RACE REPORT 04/04/2010 Osborne rides to 7th in Bulgarian sun Zach Osborne The wide, fast, rippled and bumpy circuit of Sevlievo was surrounded by 20,000 spectators for the Grand Prix of Bulgaria and the first round of fifteen in the FIM MX2-GP World Championship. Bike it Cosworth Yamaha's Zach Osborne gave the new YZ250F, with its agile new handling courtesy of the revised frame, a decent run to 7th position overall in some demanding weather and track conditions. The American, riding after recent recovery from bronchitis, was part of a four way fight for 7th in the first race and ended the 35 minute and 2 lap foray with 8th. The 20 year old found a more effective rhythm in the second outing across a testing terrain and under the warmest sunshine of the day to reach 7th. Osborne - already a Grand Prix winner after just one season with the British team - was Yamaha's best MX2-GP representative and the first of three in the top eleven. Chiara Fontanesi Yamaha Gariboldi Monster Energy's Harri Kullas was 10th on his Grand Prix debut with the squad. The Finnish teenager was 11th and 12th and pushed up to decent speed after sluggish starts. Team-mate Christophe Charlier finished 11th in the final classification. The 18 year old opened his maiden world championship campaign in fine fashion with a solid run to 7th position in the qualification heat on the 2010 YZ250F. The Frenchman then suffered a crash on the second lap of Moto1 which dropped him far down the field but he rode with aplomb to grab 14th. In the second race a more conventional opening phase delivered a 10th position result. Yamaha Monster Energy Ricci MX Team's Alessandro Lupino took his time to find his way around the layout and was hindered by a lowly gate position after a DNF in Saturday's qualification heat. The Italian rode to 16th and 15th for 14th at the end of the day. Gautier Paulin is undergoing daily treatment on his broken left leg in a race to be fit for round three at Valkenswaard for the Grand Prix of the Netherlands. Loic Larrieu was unable to compete due to a broken toe and fractured collarbone but the team are hopeful he will also be able to return in Holland. The first round of seven in the FIM Women's World Championship saw Yamaha 3C Racing's Chiara Fontanesi grabbed a pair of 2nd positions to be runner-up on her first Grand Prix flight with the YZ250F. The Italian teenager superbly followed her maiden podium secured on a YZ125 in the sand of Lierop for the final round of 2009. Round two of the MX2-GP calendar will take place next weekend at Mantova, Italy for the Grand Prix of Lombardia. The ladies competition is reactivated at the GP of Portugal on May 9th. Zach Osborne, Bike it Cosworth Yamaha, 7th: "The first race did not go so well. I did not get the best start and had a bad spell in the middle of the moto where I dropped back to 12th from 6th or 7th. I fought back to 8th and put what I had learned from the first race into the second. I got a decent start but it seemed like wherever I went someone was stopped on the track or had a problem. I was 15th but pushed on for a strong race. Overall this was a much better start than last year at Faenza. To take two solid finishes and improve through the weekend is a good way to start the season." Harri Kullas, Yamaha Gariboldi Monster Energy, 10th: "First Grand Prix of the year and I am pretty happy with the result. I started well in the first moto but I have this problem at the moment where I don't wake-up at the beginning! This was pretty bad in the second race as well. When I found my rhythm I could make some good speed. I tried to pass as many riders as possible. I am pretty satisfied with 11th and 12th and I'd like to thank the team." Chiara Fontanesi, Yamaha 3C Racing, 2nd: "I am very happy and very satisfied. I worked hard over the winter and it is great to see that the effort is all worth it. I hope the season can continue in this way. Some of the other girls are very fast but I am learning what I can to try and win a round soon. The YZ250F worked very well. It was better for me to start with the YZ125 to learn my way around but the YZ250F is what I needed to be competitive." Circuit Length: 1530 Crowd: 20,000 Weather: Sunny
Last Years Winner: Steven Frossard 2010 GP of Bulgaria 04/04/2010 Race 1 - 20 Laps Pos. Rider Manu. Nat. Total Time 1 Marvin Musquin KTM FRA 40'41.977 2 Ken Roczen Suzuki GER 0'12.318 3 Steven Frossard Kawasaki FRA 0'51.161 4 Arnaud Tonus Suzuki CHE 0'57.920 5 Jeremy Van Horebeek Kawasaki BEL 1'07.267 6 Jeffrey Herlings KTM NED 1'35.476 7 Shaun Simpson KTM GBR 1'44.309 8 Zach Osborne Yamaha USA 1'45.037 9 Joel Roelants KTM BEL 1'49.656 10 Jake Nicholls KTM GBR 1'51.883 11 Harri Kullas Yamaha FIN 2'01.491 12 Dennis Verbruggen KTM BEL -1Laps 13 Nick Triest KTM BEL -1Laps 14 Christophe Charlier Yamaha FRA -1Laps 15 Mel Pocock Yamaha GBR -1Laps 16 Alessandro Lupino Yamaha ITA -1Laps 17 Ceriel Klein Kromhof Yamaha NED -1Laps 19 Glenn Coldenhoff Yamaha NED -1Laps Race 2 - 20 Laps Pos. Rider Manu. Nat. Total Time 1 Marvin Musquin KTM FRA 39'22.409 2 Ken Roczen Suzuki GER 0'07.389 3 Jeffrey Herlings KTM NED 0'19.178 4 Steven Frossard Kawasaki FRA 0'26.325 5 Arnaud Tonus Suzuki CHE 0'31.223 6 Jeremy Van Horebeek Kawasaki BEL 0'48.410 7 Zach Osborne Yamaha USA 1'05.621 8 Jake Nicholls KTM GBR 1'16.934 9 Shaun Simpson KTM GBR 1'32.164 10 Christophe Charlier Yamaha FRA 1'34.215 11 Nick Triest KTM BEL 1'38.380 12 Harri Kullas Yamaha FIN 1'43.373 13 Nicolas Aubin Kawasaki FRA 1'48.212 14 Nikolai Larsen Honda DNK 1'59.987 15 Alessandro Lupino Yamaha ITA -1Laps 16 Rudi Moroni Yamaha ITA -1Laps 18 Mel Pocock Yamaha GBR -1Laps Rider Standings 04/04/2010 Pos. Rider Manu. Nat. Points 1. Marvin Musquin KTM FRA 50 2. Ken Roczen Suzuki GER 44 3. Steven Frossard Kawasaki FRA 38 4. Jeffrey Herlings KTM NED 35 5. Arnaud Tonus Suzuki CHE 34 6. Jeremy Van Horebeek Kawasaki BEL 31 7. Zach Osborne Yamaha USA 27 8. Shaun Simpson KTM GBR 26 9. Jake Nicholls KTM GBR 24 10. Harri Kullas Yamaha FIN 19 11. Nick Triest KTM BEL 18 12. Christophe Charlier Yamaha FRA 18 13. Joel Roelants KTM BEL 12 14. Alessandro Lupino Yamaha ITA 11 15. Dennis Verbruggen KTM BEL 11 17. Mel Pocock Yamaha GBR 9 19. Rudi Moroni Yamaha ITA 5 21. Ceriel Klein Kromhof Yamaha NED 4 23. Glenn Coldenhoff Yamaha NED 2 Manufacturer Standings 04/04/2010 Pos. Manufacturer Points 1. KTM 50 2. Suzuki 44 3. Kawasaki 38 4. Yamaha 27 5. Honda 10
Alex Asigno
Gautier Paulin Yamaha Monster Energy MX Team’s Gautier Paulin will miss the opening rounds of the 2010 FIM MX2-GP World Championship after breaking his left fibula in a training accident today. The recently turned 20 year old, who finished 3rd in the ’09 series, was just days away from making his Grand Prix bow for the factory team on the 2010 YZ250FM when he twisted his ankle traversing a rut at La Fare-les-Oliviers circuit, near Aix-en-Provence in his native France. Paulin swiftly halted his training moto and an x-ray revealed a clean break that will require an estimated four weeks of convalescence, signifying his absence from at least the first two Grands Prix. It is a disappointing blow for the former European champion who had negotiated the off-season in fine form with two victories in the Italian MX2 Championship and round one of the Dutch national competition. The 2010 FIM MX-GP World Championship will kick off at the Sevlievo circuit for the Grand Prix of Bulgaria this coming weekend. “I feel pretty devastated by this but now that it has happened I am totally focussed on healing as quickly as I can and making my Grand Prix debut for Yamaha,” Paulin said. “I didn’t do anything wrong on the bike and didn’t even crash but when I caught my ankle I knew something was wrong. I was, and still am, completely dedicated to this MX2-GP championship for the Yamaha Monster Energy MX team and now I will set myself a new goal of getting back on the bike as soon as possible.”
Alex Asigno
Yamaha made a clean sweep of the podium yesterday, taking all three top spots in the Superstock 600 class at the opening round in Portimao. An action fuelled race saw French riders Jeremy Guarnoni and Romain Lanusse, both of the MRS Racing Team fight it out for the top two spots on their Yamaha Superstock YZF-R6s. Guarnoni eventually won out with his team-mate Lanusse crossing the line 6.1 seconds later. Lanusse took the second spot by just .1 of a second from Norwegian rider Frederik Karlsen also riding an R6 for the MTM Racing Team. Jeremy Guarnoni, MRS Racing Team (1st) “I was second on the grid and I was going to try and have a good start. Last year I struggled with my starts so I’ve been practising for this season. I had a good start, I didn’t lose position in the first and was behind Marino but in the second corner he made a mistake and I got the first position. I pushed hard for the rest of the race but after the fourth lap my mechanics told me to take it easy. I had a good feeling with the bike so I got a good rhythm so ended up with a six second lead at the end.” Adrien Morillas, MRS Racing Team Manager “The weekend was perfect, the results were better than expected. The progression of the team is better and better from pre season to now and we saw that this weekend. We have good materials from Yamaha with great support. We are so happy with the result. There’s still a lot of work to do but we hope everything will continue as we have started.”
Alex Asigno
Tedesco in Jacksonville Valli Motorsports Ivan Tedesco was the top YZ450F runner at the Jacksonville Municipal Stadium in Jacksonville, Florida for the twelfth round of seventeen in the 2010 AMA Supercross series, also and FIM World Championship. The veteran took 5th position after seizing the Holeshot and enduring an intense battle with Davi Millsaps to the flag. Over 38,000 spectators enter the open-roofed stadium and witnessed some exciting action across a challenging circuit that offered grippy terrain. While Tedesco enjoyed a brief run at the front and vied for his second podium result of the season, San Manuel LandM Yamaha's Josh Hill was also trying to gain as many points as possible in his fight back to fitness. The 20 year old was able to take 7th and remains one of just two riders to have taken a top ten classification in all events to-date. 'We've been working on the bike a lot lately, and I think it's starting to pay off,' commented Tedesco, who had recovered from a complaint with his right index finger. 'It's no excuse, but this deal with Valli Motorsports came together pretty late, so I feel like we've been playing catch-up since round one. But with more rides like this, maybe it will show that we've caught up. I want to put this thing back up on the box before we head outdoors.' Hill in Florida 'I haven't been riding that much during the week because I've been trying to heal up,' said Hill 'this coming week off is going to do me a lot of good. I hope I'm feeling a little better for Houston because I want to end this series more like how I started it.' Muscle Milk JGR's Justin Brayton was 9th in Jacksonville and Michael Byrne was another Yamaha rider in 10th place. Reigning champion James Stewart - still out of action with an injured wrist - won the first ever SX main event at Jacksonville on a YZ450F last year. Stewart was however present at the meeting in his home state to publicise his new reality TV show 'Bubba's World' that aired for the first time on the channel Fuel TV Sunday evening. In the championship standings Hill keeps third place and is 34 points away from Ryan Villopoto in second spot. Hill had earlier taken five consecutive rostrum finishes on the 2010 YZ450F but has struggled to break into the leading group since his crash and rib ailment five races ago. After twelve weeks without respite the AMA juggernaut rolls to a stop for Easter weekend and will commence once more with the thirteenth race of the campaign in Houston on April 10th. Circuit Length: NA Crowd: 38, 321 Weather: Dry
Last Years Winner: James Stewart 2010 AMA-SX Jacksonville 29/03/2010 Race 1 - 20 Laps Pos. Rider Manu. Nat. Total Time 1 Ryan Villopoto Kawasaki USA 16'19.516 2 Ryan Dungey Suzuki USA 0'05.978 3 Trey Canard Honda USA 0'07.590 4 Kevin Windham Honda USA 0'07.732 5 Ivan Tedesco Yamaha USA 0'12.603 6 David D Millsaps Honda USA 0'12.942 7 Josh Hill Yamaha USA 0'29.127 8 Thomas Hahn Suzuki USA 0'30.918 9 Justin Brayton Yamaha USA 0'33.192 10 Michael Byrne Yamaha AUS 0'38.134 11 Kyle Chisholm Yamaha USA 0'40.912 12 Nicholas Wey Kawasaki USA -1Laps 13 Matt Boni Honda USA -1Laps 14 Chris Blose Honda USA -1Laps 15 Justin Keeney Kawasaki USA -1Laps 17 Weston Peick Yamaha USA -1Laps 19 Jason Lawrence Yamaha USA -16Laps 20 Kyle Regal Yamaha USA -20Laps Rider Standings 27/03/2010 Pos. Rider Manu. Nat. Points 1. Ryan Dungey Suzuki USA 261 2. Ryan Villopoto Kawasaki USA 240 3. Josh Hill Yamaha USA 206 4. David D Millsaps Honda USA 189 5. Kevin Windham Honda USA 179 6. Justin Brayton Yamaha USA 164 7. Ivan Tedesco Yamaha USA 159 8. Nicholas Wey Kawasaki USA 131 9. Kyle Chisholm Yamaha USA 115 10. Thomas Hahn Suzuki USA 113 11. Michael Byrne Yamaha AUS 110 12. Trey Canard Honda USA 103 13. Chris Blose Honda USA 86 14. Andrew Short Honda USA 69 15. Grant Langston Yamaha RSA 67 17. James Stewart Yamaha USA 51 19. Jason Lawrence Yamaha USA 42 22. Dan Reardon Yamaha USA 25 27. Weston Peick Yamaha USA 17 39. Kyle Regal Yamaha USA 2 40. Josh Grant Yamaha USA 1 Manufacturer Standings 27/03/2010 Pos. Manufacturer Points 1. Suzuki 261 2. Kawasaki 249 3. Honda 243 4. Yamaha 234 5. KTM 3 AMA-SX: Tedesco earns top five finish in Jacksonville
Alex Asigno
Yamaha Sterilgarda World Superbike rider Cal Crutchlow showed solid race craft in the second superbike race today, confidently sticking with race leaders Max Biaggi and Leon Haslam to stand on the World Superbike podium for the first time. After dropping to fourth initially Crutchlow capitalised on his opportunity to move up when Johnny Rea was pushed wide by Haslam going into the first corner on lap three. He was never more than 0.3 seconds from the lead, taking his well earned podium in third at the finish line. Team-mate James Toseland wrapped up the day in race two with style, charging through the pack from 15th, overcoming a number of competitive riders to cross the line in sixth, nearly ten places up from the start. Race one proved to be a display of consistency and determination from British rider Toseland. Starting from a less than perfect 15th on the grid, Toseland gradually worked his way through the pack. The final lap saw him close down a half second gap, taking Haga on the last corner to steal a well deserved seventh place finish at the line. His team-mate Crutchlow spent the majority of the race in third until an unfortunate low-side crash three laps from the end dropped him to 15th. He managed to pass 14th placed rider Tom Sykes on the last lap to stay in the points. Crutchlow heads to Valencia in tenth position with 25 points, Toseland heads to the third round in Spain in 11th, tied on points with his team-mate with 25. Cal Crutchlow Cal Crutchlow, Yamaha Sterilgarda World Superbike Team (14th, 3rd) "It was a tough day today from the first race, I made a stupid mistake, my own fault I was pushing too hard. We've made big steps from Australia, all credit to Yamaha they've done a fantastic job. We came here fighting but unfortunately in the first race I went down and Johnny Rea got through and got the podium. I'm looking forward to the next weekend in Valencia, if we can continue doing a good job and getting the success we're starting to experience it'll be a good season, let's keep the ball rolling. The team have put in a sterling effort this weekend. Well done to Max Biaggi and Leon Camier as well." James Toseland James Toseland, Yamaha Sterilgarda World Superbike Team (7th, 6th) "We've still got a lot of work to do but we've made massive improvements. We really deserved the third and sixth in that last race, After Cal's Superpole he was unlucky to crash in the first race so I'm really pleased with his result in the second. The potential of the bike is very good, once we use the full power of the engine we're right up there. It was only my crash that stopped me being on the front row I think. I was a bit sore today and my head was bit fuzzy after its knock yesterday so I wasn't completely on form. Considering that and starting from 15th on the grid we achieved some good results. It's a shame we started on the back foot this year but we're moving on and we're keeping on pushing." Massimo Meregalli, Yamaha Sterilgarda World Superbike Team Manager "For sure we've made a great improvement after Australia, we got a Superpole and we got our first podium. I think this will be helpful in continuing to improve. I'm optimistic that what Cal achieved today can be what we expect to have for the next races. James is also improving, I'm sure that without the crash in Superpole he would have been starting from the first or second row and would have achieved even more during the races. He showed us that he's finding his rhythm with the bike. A big thanks to all the guys in the team who have done a great job getting us back to being competitive, it's something I really appreciate."

Circuit Length: 4.592 Weather: Sunny
Fastest Lap Ever: 1'42.092 (Cal Crutchlow, 28/03/2010) Last Years Winner: Michel Fabrizio
2010 WSB Portugal - Portimão 28/03/2010 Race 1 - 22 Laps Pos. Rider Manu. Nat. Total Time 1 Max Biaggi Aprilia ITA 37'59.283 2 Leon Haslam Suzuki GBR 0'00.200 3 Jonathan Rea Honda GBR 0'06.901 4 Carlos Checa Ducati ESP 0'07.457 5 Leon Camier Aprilia GBR 0'07.564 6 Shane Byrne Ducati GBR 0'11.420 7 James Toseland Yamaha GBR 0'18.391 8 Noriyuki Haga Ducati JPN 0'18.536 9 Troy Corser BMW AUS 0'24.514 10 Ruben Xaus BMW ESP 0'32.427 11 Michel Fabrizio Ducati ITA 0'35.045 12 Lorenzo Lanzi Ducati ITA 0'36.816 13 Sylvain Guintoli Suzuki FRA 0'36.841 14 Cal Crutchlow Yamaha GBR 0'44.678 15 Tom Sykes Kawasaki GBR 0'44.942
Race 2 - 22 Laps Pos. Rider Manu. Nat. Total Time 1 Max Biaggi Aprilia ITA 38'06.128 2 Leon Haslam Suzuki GBR 0'00.191 3 Cal Crutchlow Yamaha GBR 0'00.658 4 Carlos Checa Ducati ESP 0'01.015 5 Leon Camier Aprilia GBR 0'03.123 6 James Toseland Yamaha GBR 0'09.131 7 Shane Byrne Ducati GBR 0'11.033 8 Noriyuki Haga Ducati JPN 0'13.452 9 Sylvain Guintoli Suzuki FRA 0'13.964 10 Troy Corser BMW AUS 0'16.377 11 Michel Fabrizio Ducati ITA 0'26.351 12 Ruben Xaus BMW ESP 0'27.964 13 Tom Sykes Kawasaki GBR 0'33.566 14 Lorenzo Lanzi Ducati ITA 0'33.823 15 Max Neukirchner Honda GER 0'37.372
Best Lap Rider Manu. Nat. Total Time Max Biaggi Aprilia ITA 1'42.774  
Rider Standings 28/03/2010 Pos. Rider Manu. Nat. Points 1. Leon Haslam Suzuki GBR 85 2. Max Biaggi Aprilia ITA 69 3. Carlos Checa Ducati ESP 60 4. Michel Fabrizio Ducati ITA 46 5. Noriyuki Haga Ducati JPN 43 6. Jonathan Rea Honda GBR 39 7. Sylvain Guintoli Suzuki FRA 33 8. Leon Camier Aprilia GBR 32 9. Troy Corser BMW AUS 29 10. Cal Crutchlow Yamaha GBR 25 11. James Toseland Yamaha GBR 25 12. Shane Byrne Ducati GBR 25 13. Lorenzo Lanzi Ducati ITA 15 14. Ruben Xaus BMW ESP 10 15. Jakub Smrz Ducati CZE 8  
Manufacturer Standings 28/03/2010 Pos. Manufacturer Points 1. Suzuki 85 2. Ducati 71 3. Aprilia 69 4. Honda 40 5. Yamaha 32 6. BMW 29 7. Kawasaki 7
Alex Asigno
Yamaha Sterilgarda World Superbike rider Cal Crutchlow set himself apart from the class this afternoon, storming through the Superpole heats to take pole and breaking the Best Lap record in the process. Crutchlow unleashed the full potential of the Yamaha R1's power in ideal track conditions, leaving a gap of over four tenths of a second to second placed Aprilia rider Max Biaggi. Team-mate James Toseland had also been progressing well through the sessions with fast consistent speed until an unfortunate high-side on the last corner of the circuit in heat two relegated him to 15th on the grid for tomorrow's two Superbike races. Although bruised Toseland was luckily uninjured in the high speed crash. The second qualifying session of the race weekend earlier in the day saw both riders focussing on the set up for race day whilst ensuring they remained within the times for the subsequent Superpole sessions. Incredibly the first 14 riders of the session were within 0.7 of a second of each other. Crutchlow's time, just 0.6 off the front man was particularly impressive considering the entire session was run on just one set of tyres. Cal Crutchlow Cal Crutchlow, Yamaha Sterilgarda World Superbike Team (1st, 1'42.092) "The Superpole lap wasn't really a surprise to me to be honest, we had a good session beforehand and I knew we could go really well in the qualifying session this morning. We left a lot in reserve, so down in 14th place I wasn't panicking. I knew we had a good pace for the pole session, I only used one qualifying tyre and we only needed one lap to do it. Yamaha's done a fantastic job in the last month, it was hard work but we've got there in the end, all working together. I'm quietly confident we'll do a good job tomorrow as well." James Toseland James Toseland, Yamaha Sterilgarda World Superbike Team (15th, 1'49.401) "What a disappointing end to what has been a great qualifying so far this weekend. The Sterilgarda Yamaha Team have been brilliant in how they've transformed the bike from where we were in Phillip Island and I want to thank them for that. The mistake for me was that I was on the second lap on the qualifier tyre and I was trying to make it work hard on the last turn as if it had been the first lap on it. Unfortunately it was a mistake, I suffered a lack of grip and the consequence is I'm now 15th on the grid." Massimo Meregalli, Yamaha Sterilgarda World Superbike Team Manager "first of all I think a big thanks to the guys to have done such a good job since our not so great performance in Australia. I have to say Cal did a fantastic lap, we are confident that we will be in there tomorrow. The pace Cal had in practice was really good so I'm expecting good things. Unfortunately James had a big high-side during the second Superpole session which was unfortunate, but he has a good race pace which will help. For sure it will be harder for him to start from the back but I think he knows how to fight his way through. Let's see what happens tomorrow.

Circuit Length: 4692 Weather: Sunny
Fastest Lap Ever: 1'42.092 (Cal Crutchlow, 28/03/2010) Last Years Winner: Michel Fabrizio
2010 WSB Portugal - Portimão 27/03/2010 Superpole Pos. Rider Manu. Nat. Total Time 1 Cal Crutchlow Yamaha GBR 1'42.092 2 Max Biaggi Aprilia ITA 1'42.513 3 Carlos Checa Ducati ESP 1'42.586 4 Leon Haslam Suzuki GBR 1'42.596 5 Jonathan Rea Honda GBR 1'42.807 6 Jakub Smrz Ducati CZE 1'42.889 7 Shane Byrne Ducati GBR 1'42.960 8 Troy Corser BMW AUS 1'43.152 9 Sylvain Guintoli Suzuki FRA 1'42.984 10 Ruben Xaus BMW ESP 1'42.999 11 Leon Camier Aprilia GBR 1'43.039 12 Tom Sykes Kawasaki GBR 1'43.199 13 Max Neukirchner Honda GER 1'43.380 14 Lorenzo Lanzi Ducati ITA 1'43.568 15 James Toseland Yamaha GBR 1'49.401
Qualifying 2 Pos. Rider Nat. QUAL I QUAL II 1 Jakub Smrz CZE 1'43.932 1'43.003 2 Max Biaggi ITA 1'43.688 1'43.003 3 Michel Fabrizio ITA 1'43.508 1'43.010 4 Leon Haslam GBR 1'43.476 1'43.037 5 Jonathan Rea GBR 1'44.042 1'43.053 6 Carlos Checa ESP 1'43.645 1'43.115 7 James Toseland GBR 1'43.755 1'43.320 8 Noriyuki Haga JPN 1'44.098 1'43.418 9 Tom Sykes GBR 1'44.559 1'43.485 10 Troy Corser AUS 1'44.203 1'43.491 11 Shane Byrne GBR 1'43.881 1'43.588 12 Sylvain Guintoli FRA 1'44.423 1'43.589 13 Ruben Xaus ESP 1'45.406 1'43.589 14 Cal Crutchlow GBR 1'43.769 1'43.616 15 Leon Camier GBR 1'44.041 1'44.037
Alex Asigno
The hard work of the Yamaha Sterilgarda Team following the opening round last month in Phillip Island was clearly seen in today's first Superbike sessions at the Portimao circuit in Portugal. Both James Toseland and Cal Crutchlow made the most of the ongoing set up developments to put in highly competitive times, improving on their Phillip Island performances. The first free practice session of the day gave the riders the opportunity to test out new electronic settings on their R1s. As the session progressed the improvements were clear as Toseland moved steadily up the times, taking the top spot with a 1'44.3 as the clock hit zero. Team mate Crutchlow was just over half a second behind in ninth having tested out some different tyres to Toseland during the session. The first qualifying session of the weekend saw both riders take turns at the top of the time sheet finding ever more speed as the grip levels increased. Intelligent tyre choices and a more effective electronics package saw both delivering consistently fast, competitive laps with the potential for more improvement in tomorrow's second session and subsequent Superpole. The session drew to a close with Toseland in fifth, less than three tenths off provisional pole and team mate Crutchlow less than one tenth of a second behind in sixth. James Toseland James Toseland, Yamaha Sterilgarda World Superbike Team (5th, 1'43.735) "We've made some really good progress with our testing last week in Misano, we've gone in the direction we wanted to with the engine and electronics. We had a lot to try today, and we've gone in a really positive direction for the race set up with tyre life and things like that. We've got a little bit more to do but I'm really pleased with the work Frankie and the team have done since Australia to here so a massive thank you to the team and hopefully we can keep it going in the top five now." Cal Crutchlow Cal Crutchlow, Yamaha Sterilgarda World Superbike Team (6th, 1'43.769) "I'm a lot happier today. We have definitely made improvements from Australia and we've also come back to a track with lots of grip. As the grip levels of the track improved over the sessions so have we. We still need to work on our bike to improve on really slippery track conditions and optimize our settings and performance. Tyre life is looking better, and there was no chatter here so that's that problem cured. We intend to keep working on our electronics and progress even further tomorrow." Massimo Meregalli, Yamaha Sterilgarda World Superbike Team Manager "it seems that the work we've done since Australia is working well. To see where both riders are is very encouraging. This gives us real satisfaction. I think we've worked very well with our tyre choice and we're pretty happy with how they are working. Tomorrow we'll work again on the set up to see which will tyres we'll choose for the distance. For today we are satisfied."

Circuit Length: 4692 Weather: Sunny
Fastest Lap Ever: 1'42.412 (Ben Spies, 25/10/2009) Last Years Winner: Michel Fabrizio
2010 WSB Portugal - Portimão 26/03/2010 Qualifying 1 Pos. Rider Manu. Nat. Total Time 1 Leon Haslam Suzuki GBR 1'43.476 2 Michel Fabrizio Ducati ITA 1'43.508 3 Carlos Checa Ducati ESP 1'43.645 4 Max Biaggi Aprilia ITA 1'43.688 5 James Toseland Yamaha GBR 1'43.755 6 Cal Crutchlow Yamaha GBR 1'43.769 7 Shane Byrne Ducati GBR 1'43.881 8 Jakub Smrz Ducati CZE 1'43.932 9 Leon Camier Aprilia GBR 1'44.041 10 Jonathan Rea Honda GBR 1'44.042 11 Noriyuki Haga Ducati JPN 1'44.098 12 Troy Corser BMW AUS 1'44.203 13 Max Neukirchner Honda GER 1'44.272 14 Sylvain Guintoli Suzuki FRA 1'44.423 15 Tom Sykes Kawasaki GBR 1'44.559
Alex Asigno
Christophe Charlier Yamaha Monster Energy Gariboldi Racing’s Christophe Charlier gathered the first significant honour for the 2010 YZ250F after confirming the ’10 Italian MX2 Championship with a result of 2nd place overall behind team-mate Harri Kullas at San Severino Marche. The final round of the four-event Italian series took place over the weekend at a damp and rutty circuit and Charlier had to stay ahead of main rival Marcus Schiffer to earn his second senior title. The 2009 European champion, who will enter the FIM MX2-GP World Championship for the first time this season, finished 4th in the first moto, less than two seconds behind the German after recovering from an early fall which meant he was at the rear of the pack. Kullas had a similar slender margin over Yamaha Monster Energy Ricci Motocross Team’s Alessandro Lupino as he took the chequered flag. In the second moto Charlier was dominant and led Kullas to the finish by more than thirty seconds. “Of course this is a great championship to win and a good way to start the year,” he said. “Gautier (Paulin) was very strong in the first two races but I stayed with him as best as I could. Overall this is excellent preparation for our first world championship and I have to give a big thanks to the team and the people who helped us like the Rinaldi Group, Kayaba and all the partners that we have. I am really motivated for this season and cannot wait to start the GPs now.” Despite missing one round due to injury Kullas managed to obtain 3rd in the classification of the domestic contest. “I came back after my shoulder injury and took 3rd at Malpensa for the third round which was pretty good,” he commented. “This track here was great for me and I had two good starts with my Yamaha which helped me a lot.” Yamaha Monster Energy Gariboldi Racing are gearing-up for their first FIM world championship campaign after being a major player on the European championship scene for the last few seasons. With the age limit of 23 coming into force for 2010 the efforts and progress of Charlier and Kullas (both 18 years old) and the emphasis on developing young talent has become paramount for Yamaha to continue their fine reputation and status in the MX2-GP division.
Alex Asigno
Justin Brayton in Dallas The 30th AMA Supercross event to be held in Dallas and the first to be hosted by the impressive monolith that is the Cowboys Stadium saw Muscle Milk Joe Gibbs Racing's Justin Brayton finish 5th on his YZ450F. The eleventh round of seventeen in the 2010 series (also a FIM World Championship) took place in front of 49,082 spectators and witnessed San Manuel LandM Yamaha's Josh Hill continue to persevere through injury and claim 6th. Hill started well in the main event but again the rib complaint he has been carrying for the last four meetings affected his speed and saw him circulate just outside the top five, taking sixth place by the end of the twenty laps. Brayton at one stage fought with the winner of the last two races, Ryan Villopoto, and would finish three seconds behind the rider from Seattle. 'I got an okay start but then I was trying to make something happen and nothing much was happening,' said Brayton. 'Before I knew it, I had Villopoto all over me, so it was all I could do just to try and hold my position, and I almost held onto it. I don't feel I rode that well but I still grabbed a top-five, so that's positive I guess.' Valli Motorsports Ivan Tedesco did not complete the full distance after becoming involved in the aftermath of a crash by team-mate Kyle Regal. Kyle Chisholm (eighth) and Jason Lawrence (ninth) were other YZ450F runners in the first ten riders classified. Sipes going for the win A YZ250F made the podium for the first time in the East Coast Lites competition as Ryan Sipes battled for the lead with Blake Bagget and eventually went on to finish runner-up for his first set of silverware this season. Two YZ250Fs claimed top four positions in Dallas as Martin Davalos crossed the finish-line jump in fourth. In the SX standings Hill remains 3rd, 47 points away from Ryan Dungey in first position and 23 from Villopoto in second. Brayton is sixth and Tedesco seventh. Round twelve takes place next Saturday at the Jacksonville Municipal Stadium in Jacksonville, Florida. ircuit Length: n/a Crowd: 49, 082 Weather: Dry 2010 AMA-SX Arlington, TX 21/03/2010 Race 1 - 20 Laps Pos. Rider Manu. Nat. Total Time 1 Ryan Dungey Suzuki USA 16'35.375 2 David D Millsaps Honda USA 0'01.322 3 Trey Canard Honda USA 0'01.647 4 Ryan Villopoto Kawasaki USA 0'11.946 5 Justin Brayton Yamaha USA 0'14.775 6 Josh Hill Yamaha USA 0'21.972 7 Kevin Windham Honda USA 0'24.026 8 Kyle Chisholm Yamaha USA 0'36.399 9 Jason Lawrence Yamaha USA 0'40.108 10 Thomas Hahn Suzuki USA 0'42.982 11 Michael Byrne Yamaha AUS 0'49.012 12 Nicholas Wey Kawasaki USA -1Laps 13 Ivan Tedesco Yamaha USA -1Laps 14 Chris Blose Honda USA -1Laps 15 Heath Voss Honda USA -1Laps 20 Kyle Regal Yamaha USA -16Laps Rider Standings 20/03/2010 Pos. Rider Manu. Nat. Points 1. Ryan Dungey Suzuki USA 239 2. Ryan Villopoto Kawasaki USA 215 3. Josh Hill Yamaha USA 192 4. David D Millsaps Honda USA 174 5. Kevin Windham Honda USA 161 6. Justin Brayton Yamaha USA 152 7. Ivan Tedesco Yamaha USA 143 8. Nicholas Wey Kawasaki USA 122 9. Kyle Chisholm Yamaha USA 105 10. Thomas Hahn Suzuki USA 100 11. Michael Byrne Yamaha AUS 99 12. Trey Canard Honda USA 83 13. Chris Blose Honda USA 79 14. Andrew Short Honda USA 69 15. Grant Langston Yamaha RSA 67 17. James Stewart Yamaha USA 51 18. Jason Lawrence Yamaha USA 40 22. Dan Reardon Yamaha USA 25 29. Weston Peick Yamaha USA 13 39. Kyle Regal Yamaha USA 1 40. Josh Grant Yamaha USA 1 Manufacturer Standings 20/03/2010 Pos. Manufacturer Points 1. Suzuki 239 2. Kawasaki 224 3. Honda 223 4. Yamaha 218 5. KTM 3
Alex Asigno
The World superbike paddock sets down in Portimao this week for the first of the European rounds of the 2010 season. This will be the third outing for Superbikes at the Portuguese circuit, and the first race there for the Yamaha team since they secured the 2009 World Superbike Championship title at the end of last season with rider Ben Spies. The track also has a special significance for Cal Crutchlow as it was here at the end of the season last year that he crossed the line to take the World Supersport Championship title for Yamaha on his R6. The team also enjoyed a very positive test here in January, wrapping up with Cal Crutchlow fourth fastest and James Toseland sixth, both delivering fast, consistent and competitive lap times. After solving unexpected chatter problems in the race weekend during the first round, the team then also found difficulties in the electronics area in combination with the increased power found during the winter and low grip levels at the Phillip Island circuit. The team have continued to work hard to further develop the 2010 R1 including a short test at the Misano circuit in San Marino last week. Riders James Toseland and Cal Crutchlow are now keen to get straight onto the track and close the points deficit to current championship leader Leon Haslam. Round one at Phillip Island saw both riders fall in the first race, regrouping for race two with Crutchlow scoring a ninth place finish and Toseland right behind in tenth. The month break following has given Toseland's hand injury, sustained in Phillip Island, a chance to recover ahead of Friday's first sessions on track. "I'm really keen to get to Portugal and get back on the bike," said Cal Crutchlow. "Last time I raced here I won the world title in Supersport so I have good feelings for the track. I'm going to put 100% into my efforts this weekend as always and we'll see what happens with the progress the guys have made over the last couple of weeks." "I'm really looking forward to it," said James Toseland. "We had a tough time in Australia but I believe the team has been working really hard in the meantime and the test went well in Misano. My hand is nearly back to normal although there's still a bit of pain. I'm basically looking forward to getting out on track and seeing what progress we've made to catch up." Portimao technically speaking according to Frankie Carchedi, James Toseland's Crew Chief "Portimao is a very challenging circuit to set-up for. It requires good handling in the middle section, but also a very good stable and braking bike in the first sector. From a chassis point of view, we are very close to where we need to be. The biggest area the team have been working on is the electronics and smoothening the power delivery to make it more user friendly for James. This will also help the tyre life for the latter part of the race. The team have worked hard since Philip Island to find solutions for the areas that needed improving. Hopefully we can be challenging for the podium positions." Portimao technically speaking according to Marcus Eschenbacher, Cal Crutchlow's Crew Chief "Portimao is a track with three distinct characters, the long straight with hard braking, the mid-part with enormous altitude changes and the last part, especially the last corner with a long sweeping radius. So the key point for us with Cal is to find the right balance of setup to suit major areas of the circuit. We will start with one bike on the setup from the test that worked well and one with some new ideas to match it better with Cal's needs. The main concentration is on the electronic side to improve ride ability and also endurance of the tyres. As with all races it depends on the weekend conditions how much we will be able to do. We will work hard to challenge the podium!" Massimo Meregalli, Yamaha Sterilgarda World Superbike Team Manager "It hasn't been a perfect start to the season for us, but as always with new bike developments it can take some testing to get the best results. During the Portimao circuit test in January we did not have the problems that haunted us in Phlillip Island. The team has worked incredibly hard this month and we have achieved positive results in our Misano test. We go to Portimao confident that we can achieve good results with both riders. I'm happy that James's hand is much better so he can concentrate on riding without pain."
Alex Asigno
The Fiat Yamaha Team riders concluded their pre-season preparation this evening with another strong performance in the humid Qatar night, Valentino Rossi finishing second and Jorge Lorenzo sixth. This was the last time the riders will be on track before the first race, back at the same circuit in three weeks time. Rossi concentrated largely on finalising his race preparation today, also finding time to try a new tyre compound for Bridgestone. The Italian completed 20 laps in a long run late in the evening with the aim of gathering more information for the race, which will help the team during the practice sessions when they return here. He set his best time of the day earlier in the evening, slightly slower than his time from yesterday, and finally had to settle for second behind Casey Stoner. The Italian has been fastest on five out of six test days this year however and he and his crew are now looking forward with confidence to the first race. Lorenzo continued to make progress and to push as hard as his injured hand would allow, the Spaniard managing to test some new electronic settings amongst other things and improve on his time from yesterday. He still felt some pain in the hard braking areas and needed to take a painkilling pill, but he was happy to finish sixth in the circumstances and is confident that he will be back to full strength in time for the race. The first race of the 2010 MotoGP season takes place at Losail, Qatar on 9th, 10th and 11th April. Valentino Rossi - Position: 2nd Time: 1'55.860 Laps: 57 "This has been another good day. We've concentrated mostly on the race preparation and it feels like we're now ready for the first race. We did a long run at the end of the session and we got some good information, which will help us in the race. Now that testing is over I am very excited about the season. We've been strong throughout the six days of practice and it feels good to have been fast here also, where we have struggled in the past. We have only tested at two tracks so we need to wait for another different one to fully understand the new bike, but we're in good shape. My M1 feels great and I'm looking forward to racing!" Jorge Lorenzo - Position: 6th Time: 1'56.504 Laps: 44 "Today my hand felt okay, maybe a bit worse than yesterday. Of course it's not as good as before the accident but this is to be expected! It's hard for me in the braking areas and I can't push any harder than I have been today at the moment, but I hope it will have improved a lot by the time of the first race. Our bike is great, Yamaha have done a fantastic job and you can see this from the strong performance of all the Yamaha riders. We've done a lot of work and tried many things, so I hope that these will help us when we come back here in three weeks. I will keep working to strengthen my hand and I hope to be in much better condition by then." Davide Brivio - Team Manager We're really happy about this final test. Although we were fast in Sepang we didn't know what to expect here but we found that we were quick here as well - more than a second faster than last year in fact and this is encouraging! We've done some more work on the setting during this test and then today concentrated on race preparation, including doing a long run and trying some different combinations of bike and tyres. The waiting is nearly over now and we're ready!" Wilco Zeelenberg - Team Manager "We have been happy here to see that Jorge feels better than expected, even if his thumb is still not perfect. To be able to finish in the top six when he's not in the best shape is a great achievement. We know there is improvement to make but considering the situation we can be happy with this test. Jorge feels good on the bike and we have made some good steps forward in these two days; he can feel the difference already. At the moment these tiny steps are very important. Now we have almost three weeks until the race and this gives Jorge time to improve further, so hopefully we will be in good shape when we return." Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Team end 2010 preparations in Qatar The Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Team end its pre-season preparations for the 2010 MotoGP world championship in high spirits on a hot and humid night at the Losail International Circuit in Qatar. With humid conditions reducing grip levels from the opening night, both Colin Edwards and Ben Spies were unable to improve their times tonight. The Texan pair were still able to carry out some valuable testing on the set-up of their Yamaha YZR-M1 machines and also assess a range of soft and hard compound front and rear Bridgestone tyres ahead of the first race under Qatar's spectacular floodlights on April 11. Edwards ended tonight's six-h our session with the eighth fastest time, a best lap of 1.56.722 less than 0.5s away from the top five. Spies was just two places further back in 10th with a best lap of 1.56.780. That was less than 0.1s away from Edwards' pace. Spies' best lap of 1.55.954 from the opening night was still good enough to secure him a top five place on the overall timesheets and boost his confidence ahead of his much-anticipated debut for the Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Team next month. Both Edwards and Spies escaped injury in identical crashes at Turn Two tonight. Colin Edwards - Position: 8th Time: 1'56.722 Laps: 48 “It wasn't the ending to testing I was looking for but it wasn't too bad. I just didn't really have a great feeling with the bike tonight and we need to have a think about things before we come back for the race next month. We've got some work to do because I just didn't feel as comfortable on the bike as I did last year, mainly with the front-end. And I know I go good at this track because I had a good race last year and finished fourth. I'm not sure what happened with the crash but I did exactly the same as Ben. I was on the soft front tyre that I'd not really run that much on the first night. But I was on my sixth lap on the tyre, so it should have been ready to push. But I was down before I knew it and it is a fast crash, even if you're only in second gear. I'm just glad I didn't get hurt so close to the first race because that was a fast crash. I'm really excited about going racing now. It seems like a long time since Valencia and I'm sure we can have another great year with the Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Team." Ben Spies - Position: 10th Time: 1'56.780 Laps: 44 “I didn't have a great night really but that can happen. Everything that could go wrong went wrong tonight. But I've have had a great winter and this was the first session where it didn't go the way we wanted it to. I'd had some small issues early on and went into Turn Two again and just lost the front. I wasn't really sure what happened but then four people crashed in the next 30 minutes so it must have got really humid really quick because something wasn't right with that many people going down in the same place. I did a few more laps to clear my head and got down to some decent times and I'm happy I did that. But it was still a successful test and I leave confident that I'll be competitive for the race next month. I want to thank my guys at Monster Yamaha Tech 3 for all their effort in the winter. We've done a good job and I feel we're in a position to have a competitive start to the season.” Test Times 1. Casey Stoner (AUS) Ducati Marlboro Team 1'55.353 2. Valentino Rossi (ITA) Fiat Yamaha Team 1'55.860 3. Andrea Dovizioso (ITA) Repsol Honda Team 1'55.879 4. Nicky Hayden (USA) Ducati Marlboro Team 1'56.115 5. Loris Capirossi (ITA) Rizla Suzuki MotoGP 1'56.195 6. Jorge Lorenzo (SPA) Fiat Yamaha Team 1'56.504 7. Randy de Puniet (FRA) LCR Honda MotoGP 1'56.504 8. Colin Edwards (USA) Monster Yamaha Tech 3 1'56.722 9. Mika Kallio (FIN) Pramac Green Team 1'56.767 10. Ben Spies (USA) Monster Yamaha Tech 3 1'56.779 11. Aleix Espargaro (SPA) Pramac Green Team 1'56.897 12. Alvaro Bautista (SPA) Rizla Suzuki MotoGP 1'56.898 13. Dani Pedrosa (SPA) Repsol Honda Team 1'56.935 14. Marco Melandri (ITA) San Carlo Honda Gresini 1'57.222 15. Hector Barbera (SPA) Aspar Team 1'57.223 16. Hiroshi Aoyama (JAP) Interwetten-Honda MotoGP 1'57.251 17. Marco Simoncelli (ITA) San Carlo Honda Gresini 1'57.379 Losail: Record Lap C. Stoner (Ducati) 2008, 1'55.153 Losail: Best Lap J. Lorenzo (Yamaha) 2008, 1'53.927
Alex Asigno
Gautier Paulin The official 2010 photoshoot for the factory Yamaha Monster Energy Motocross Team, Yamaha Monster Energy Ricci MX Team and the Yamaha Monster Energy Gariboldi Team took place recently at the Mantova circuit in Italy. The host venue for the second round of the 2010 MX-GP FIM World Championship - that starts on April 3rd-4th in Bulgaria - saw David Philippaerts and Ken De Dycker flick the ’10 YZ450F across the sandy jumps while the new YZ250F was handled to dazzling effect by Gautier Paulin while other MX2-GP riders Loic Larrieu, Alessandro Lupino, Christophe Charlier and Harri Kullas also demonstrated their skills. To see a gallery of the Yamaha Monster Energy collective and download some impressive photographs please click on this link: http://www.yamaha-racing.com/Racing/mx1/photo/
Alex Asigno
Valentino Rossi Reigning World Champion Valentino Rossi continued his domination of the pre-season testing programme in Qatar today, finishing the opening day of the final test 0.3 seconds ahead of Casey Stoner. His team-mate Jorge Lorenzo made a welcome return from injury to finish the day a creditable seventh and with Ben Spies third and Colin Edwards fourth, it was four Yamahas in the top seven. Testing began at 6pm under the floodlights at the desert track and Rossi was in command from the word go, finding yet more improvement in the 2010 M1 at what is not generally one of his best tracks. A break for dinner saw both Stoner and Spies better his time but the Italian was determined to finish the day on top and improved again on his last run to regain first place. Lorenzo missed the last test after breaking his hand and he was unsure how much strength he would have today, but the 23-year-old Spaniard was happy to find himself in better shape than expected and he steadily improved all night. He found the hard braking areas the most difficult but he was able to ride well enough to continue with his interrupted testing regime, and he is hopeful of further improvement tomorrow. Valentino Rossi - Position: 1st Time: 1'55.402 Laps: 64 "I am so happy today because this isn't one of our best tracks and to come here and be fastest shows what a great job Yamaha has done with this new M1. To start with the track was quite slippery but anyway we were still fast, and as the track started to improve I felt better and better. We are quite competitive and this gives me a good feeling, and I was happy to make this quick lap right at the end. We still have to decide the right tyre and the best setting for it, and we will keep working on the electronics but the most important thing is that we're faster than last year! Tomorrow we will continue with our work and try to finalise everything before the race." Jorge Lorenzo Jorge Lorenzo - Position: 7th Time: 1'56.838 Laps: 45 "It's really good to be back on my bike and actually when I went out on track the first time today my hand felt better than I had expected. The pain has decreased a lot in the last few days and I've been doing a lot of physio to make sure I'm in the best possible shape for this test. I was able to do quite a lot of laps today and my time is not so bad in the end, it's definitely interesting and important to be here and see our level after missing the last test. Dainese have made me a bigger glove and I have some protection on the hand; changing direction is okay, it's just the hard braking areas where I have some problems. I need more practice but I think we have made a good start." Ben Spies and Colin Edwards light up Qatar night test Monster Yamaha Tech 3 duo Ben Spies and Colin Edwards produced dazzling performances under the Losail International Circuit floodlights in Qatar tonight. Spies was in sparkling form to post a best time of 1.55.954 that secured him a stunning third place on the timesheets. Earlier on a balmy night in Doha, Spies had topped the timesheets for a brief period in the six-hour session that ran from 6pm to midnight. What made the reigning World Superbike champion's performance even more remarkable was he'd never ridden under the floodlights at the Losail International Circuit before. Yet Spies finished just over 0.2s behind circuit specialist and triple Qatar race winner C asey Stoner with Valentino Rossi once again quickest on his factory Yamaha YZR-M1 machine. The 25-year-old was forced to finish early after a crash at the second corner in the final hour while using a hard compound Bridgestone front tyre. But he declared himself delighted with progress in his 44-lap stint. Fellow Texan Colin Edwards was equally impressive in fourth position after he posted a best time of 1.57.541 in a 59-lap stint. Edwards continued to fine-tune the race-set-up of his YZR-M1 machine, working on Yamaha's new swingarm and Bridgestone's new hard compound front tyre. Ben Spies Ben Spies - Position: 3rd Time: 1'55.954 Laps: 44 “I know this track from last year but riding under the floodlights is definitely a bit different and nothing I've experienced before. The perception of speed is much faster with it being at night but I'm having a lot of fun. It's really well lit up but there are a couple of darker spots on the track that you have to get used to but I've not done too bad in adjusting to the lights. I know the track but any track I go to on a MotoGP bike makes it definitely different because of the lines you take. Some of the lines I'd take on the superbike just don't work but I felt like it was coming together good and following a couple of people it felt like I was doing more of the right things than I was in Malaysia. Obviously it is great for me to be high up the timesheets but I'm still taking baby steps to improve and not getting carried away. The crash was nothing too serious. I was running the hard front and I wasn't getting a good feeling from it. We changed the pressure to try and help for my second run but I just lost the front at the second corner. But to be third is fantastic for my guys at Monster Yamaha Tech 3. They have been giving me great support.” Colin Edwards Colin Edwards - Position: 4th Time: 1'56.541 Laps: 59 “It was a good night. It didn't start off too great and it took me a while to get into the groove. We played around with the set-up using some of the new parts I'd liked in Sepang and also running some of last year's pieces to get some good information. The lap time was about the same so around this track the new parts aren't making the difference like they did in Malaysia. I did a long run on the hard front and I like it. I did race distance on it and it felt really good. I ended up doing 27-laps on it, which is five more than race distance, and it still felt really good. I'm getting the feedback I need at full lean angle and it holds the turn much better." Test Times 1. Valentino Rossi (ITA) Fiat Yamaha Team 1'55.402 2. Casey Stoner (AUS) Ducati Marlboro Team 1'55.717 3. Ben Spies (USA) Monster Yamaha Tech 3 1'55.954 4. Colin Edwards (USA) Monster Yamaha Tech 3 1'56.540 5. Randy de Puniet (FRA) LCR Honda MotoGP 1'56.588 6. Andrea Dovizioso (ITA) Repsol Honda Team 1'56.811 7. Jorge Lorenzo (SPA) Fiat Yamaha Team 1'56.838 8. Nicky Hayden (USA) Ducati Marlboro Team 1'56.855 9. Mika Kallio (FIN) Pramac Green Team 1'56.923 10. Dani Pedrosa (SPA) Repsol Honda Team 1'57.047 11. Loris Capirossi (ITA) Rizla Suzuki MotoGP 1'57.099 12. Marco Melandri (ITA) San Carlo Honda Gresini 1'57.605 13. Hector Barbera (SPA) Aspar Team 1'57.822 14. Hiroshi Aoyama (JAP) Interwetten-Honda MotoGP 1'57.888 15. Marco Simoncelli (ITA) San Carlo Honda Gresini 1'57.891 16. Aleix Espargaro (SPA) Pramac Green Team 1'57.898 17. Alvaro Bautista (SPA) Rizla Suzuki MotoGP 1'57.960 Losail: Record Lap C. Stoner (Ducati) 2008, 1'55.153 Losail: Best Lap J. Lorenzo (Yamaha) 2008, 1'53.927
Alex Asigno
Loic Larrieu Talented French teenager Loic Larrieu will miss the first Grand Prix of the year at Sevlievo in Bulgaria on April 3rd-4th. The 19 year old suffered a fall at Malpensa for the third round of the Italian Championship last weekend that left the Yamaha Monster Energy Ricci MX rider with a fractured left collarbone. Luckless Larrieu was coming back to speed and fitness after his shoulder injury during the winter but his accident, while attempting a downhill double at the steep circuit close to the Italian airport in Milan, means that he now needs further recovery time and will sit out the 2010 FIM MX2-GP World Championship opener on Easter weekend. Larrieu, who scored an impressive podium finish at the 2009 French GP in what was his first world championship campaign, had also been carrying a small fracture to his right big toe after a blameless spill the previous week at Sommières for the first round of the French national series. Before this latest setback Larrieu had been steadily developing the 2010 YZ250F for the Italian team whose MX2-GP efforts he will spearhead this term for his second season as a Yamaha rider.
Alex Asigno
DP19 David Philippaerts and Gautier Paulin offer their thoughts on the off-season and the rapidly-approaching 2010 FIM MX-GP World Championship... David Philippaerts’ record in the premier MX1-GP category is enviable. The 25 year old Italian has won Grand Prix in each of his three seasons and finished 6th, 1st and 4th in that time. A mix of steely determination, acute fitness, a tidy but occasionally explosive riding style and a hint of Latin temperament create a formidable rider and one of the very best competitors in the division. Philippaerts will be aiming to regain his crown in 2010 while also refine the new YZ450F. You are the only MX1-GP rider for the team in 2010. Will this be an inconvenience? No, I don’t think so. Having a team-mate in MX2-GP instead of MX1-GP is not much different for me to be honest. We have different goals. The new bike means we have had more work to do for the set-up but overall I am very happy with how things are and how they look for 2010. How do you feel now that the pressure of being defending champion has gone? The sense of pressure is the same because I will continue to do my best, like I did in 2009, and again there are many riders that can do well in this championship. It was an up-and-down season last year. I pushed a lot in the winter-time and maybe this caused some of the physical problems that begun during the early GPs. I had a virus which meant that my body’s performance was not consistent. This was the big problem and then little things like the broken finger in Portugal did not help. I stayed at home a little bit more this winter, instead of training and working away and in Belgium, and did not go into the mountains for ski training until the New Year. Philippaerts The new 2010 YZ450F has proven a worthy machine so far... Yes, the bike has been kept quite close to the standard bike because it is already a strong machine. We have worked a lot to make the YZ450F personal and special for me and every time I ride or test I feel happy. The fuel injection makes it more responsive and feels very different to the carburettor; I like it. Ohlins suspension was a new feature for all of us but they work very hard and we will get some good data on this and other areas of the bike in the races we have ahead. The real test will be at the first GP. It is a new bike so we still have some things to learn when we compete at the highest level. The second Grand Prix is the first of two home races in 2010, at Mantova then Fermo... The track at Fermo is very natural and I know they have been working on the facility to make it ready for the GP but I think the layout will be different when we arrive. Fermo will be a new track for everyone, even the Italians! With the Starcross and Grand Prix we will have Mantova twice and then onto Fermo for the last round. The last time we ended a season in Italy was in 2008 and if we could have the same situation as we did (he was crowned champion at Faenza) then this is very good for me! What will be the key to another championship? I have to keep taking points and keep getting near the front in the races, cutting down the mistakes by not making small crashes and keeping pressure on the other riders. I will be doing my very best this year. I will have to push more than I did in 2008 because the level of the competition is higher with both the riders and the technology. I know I will have to win heats if I want the title. Gautier Paulin Soon-to-be 20 year old Frenchman and former BMX star Gautier Paulin brings his remarkable talents to the Yamaha Monster Energy MX Team and the 2010 YZ250F for his third attempt at the MX2-GP series. The likeable and professional youngster took a step into exploration of the AMA-SX championship with three appearances at the beginning of the year and a sustained period of training and preparation in the US. Paulin will be the first MX2-GP representative for the team since Cedric Melotte in 2005. Your first outings on a Yamaha were in an AMA SX arena. How was that for you? It was a really good experience and I had some great races. I was a bit tired after the first round in Anaheim because I had been training and recovering from my injury after the Motocross of Nations but I did OK in Phoenix and then again in Anaheim II. I had a good sensation about what I could do there and it was a boost to my confidence. I knew the level of the speed and competition would be very high, the tracks would be difficult and they all want to win, so I wasn’t surprised. I learnt where I was gaining and losing my time. If I can go back then I know what I have to do to be at the front. Supercross benefits from being inside a stadium and that helps with the image presentation but I think it says a lot about the world championship that our sport is very close for the organisation and overall good impression. So you trained and spent most of the winter in America? Yes, I was there more than two months and I felt my fitness improving and it is better than ever now; which is really cool. I have never felt in as good as shape as I currently am. When I got back from America and went running for the first time at home I killed my personal best time; all of this helps mentally. No. 21 How is it working with the Yamaha Monster Energy MX Team? To join a team like this is a great opportunity. I will be in a lot in Italy. I only live about 500km from the workshop, so it is not too far. They really are a ‘Team’; all the people are close, like brothers, and all totally have the same goal which is to provide the best for the rider. I like the image of the team and they have won and achieved so much. Last winter when I was deciding what to do for 2010 I asked to test the new bike and the next day I signed the contract because my mind was made-up. My dream is to go and race in America but with a team like this, when I see the organisation, the motivation and work that is done on the bikes, then I can stay in Europe. I have never had team treating me like this. What are your thoughts on the 2010 YZ250F... I was riding a lot on the Yamaha before I left and then did a lot of Supercross and motocross in California. The chassis on the production bike was the first really good point for me - it is crazy - it feels like a bicycle. The standard engine had a very strong bottom end which was also a big positive. We are now fine-tuning the race-bike. We have been working with Ohlins on the suspension. I don’t think that this team has to prove that they know what they are doing with the preparation of the bikes. It must have been tempting to switch to MX1-GP, especially after your win at the ’09 Nations... For sure I am fast on a 450 and many people like to tell me! They also say I am too big for MX2, but I had one eye on Supercross with the 250 and I knew that a full season on a 450 would very different; we have to be careful with the extra power and 15 GPs is different to just one race. I am young, still 19, and my goal is to get that MX2-GP title this season and think directly about MX1-GP. I had a strict diet over the winter and have made sacrifices to keep my weight down and keep fit and I have never taken these steps before. I really want to be at the front this season and will do whatever it takes. What will be the key to championship success? To be really fit, try not to be nervous and use some experience in the races. I know I am fast and I know I can have the best bike possible. I know I have the physical condition to race two motos at 100% so when I am on the bike I just need to pay attention to my technique and think about my riding.
Alex Asigno
DP Yamaha Monster Energy Motocross Team’s David Philippaerts and Gautier Paulin again sampled victory upon their works YZ450FM and YZ250FM machines, this time in the sand of Holland as the Italian and Frenchman won the MX1 and MX2 classes respectively in the first meeting of the national series at Mill. After triumphant runs in the first two rounds of the Italian Championship both riders transferred their attentions to northern Europe and the sand as they continue to dial-in their new motorcycles ahead of the FIM World Championship on April 3rd/4th. Mill represented the last pre-season outing for the team. Philippaerts was ruthless through the soft and rutted terrain to obtain two race wins and easily claim the overall. He charged from third to first in the opening moto in as many laps, defeating world championship rivals like Marc de Reuver, Kevin Strijbos and Yamaha Monster Energy Ricci MX Team’s Ken De Dycker. In the second moto he was masterful and pulled away to take the flag from sand-specialist De Reuver by more than five seconds. “I am happy with this race and especially to beat riders like De Reuver and De Dycker here,” said Philippaerts. “We made some tests in the sand to find a good set-up during the week and everything worked well, so that is very good. The sand was not too deep and pretty hard underneath but it was still bumpy and rutty. I was pushing quite a bit to win as De Dycker kept close in the first moto and De Reuver was chasing me in the second. Overall this was a good way to end the pre-season and now we will think only about Bulgaria.” After taking 2nd to Philippaerts in the first race, DeDycker did not finish the second as the stomach virus he had been suffering in the days leading up to the event finally took its toll and he pulled out. Paulin Paulin was less than a second behind Joel Roelants on his first competitive race with the YZ250FM in the sand but improved his runner-up slot by one position in the second Heat. The 19 year old set the fastest lap and escaped to win by 24 seconds. “Yes, I am quite pleased although my start was not great in the first moto and I wasn’t so happy by the fact that I could take the lead but Roelants could keep attacking,” said the overall MX2 winner. “I improved my performance for the second race and it was good to end the day in this way.” The first three Grands Prix of the season will take place in Bulgaria (hard-pack), Italy (sand) and Holland (sand) throughout the month of April. Philippaerts and De Dycker will give the 2010 YZ450F its MX1-GP World Championship debut at Sevlievo on Easter weekend. Meanwhile in Italy, Yamaha Monster Energy Gariboldi’s Christophe Charlier won the third round of the MX2 Italian Championship at Gallarate and now leads the contest by 16 points with one race remaining.
Alex Asigno
Fiat Yamaha Team rider Jorge Lorenzo will take part in this week's MotoGP test in Qatar, four weeks after breaking a bone in his right thumb during a training incident. The 22-year-old has spent the time recuperating at home in Barcelona and he has now been given the all-clear by his doctor to get back on his bike. The recovery has gone well and the hand is no longer swollen, but he needs to continue with physiotherapy in order to keep repairing the muscle around the break. His doctor has confirmed that there is no risk to the broken bone from riding, but he will need to wait until testing starts in order to ascertain if he will be able to ride and use the brake at full strength. This week's test takes place on Thursday 18th and Friday 19th of March under the Qatar floodlights, the last test before the season starts in April. Jorge Lorenzo "Today we are leaving for Qatar for the last Winter test. I think that it is important that we are there. The fracture happened less than five weeks ago, but we could not have missed this last test because it would have been negative for our preparation; we are not far from the first race of the season! The doctor has made a special carbon fibre protection and Dainese have modified my glove, in order to further protect the fracture, so we will see how we get on." Wilco Zeelenberg "We are happy that Jorge will be back for this last pre-season test at Qatar! Of course we have had to miss a whole test but we are confident that we can make up for lost time because the 2010 bike has proved to be very competitive from the first time we have used it. We will have to wait to see how Jorge's hand feels when he starts riding, but we do not take anything for granted. The doctors have prepared a special brace for the thumb, Dainese have prepared special gloves and also a modified handlebar grip has been produced. Yamaha will give him all the support and time he needs to return to full strength."