Alex Asigno

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

Yamaha Motocross Team’s Josh Coppins is more determined than ever to see his FIM World Championship dreams come to fruition in 2008 after coming so desperately close last year. The 30 year old will shortly return from an active winter of training in his native New Zealand to embark on a busy pre-season spell of international races and tests before the first Grand Prix of fifteen in Holland on April 6th. “At the moment I am starting to work more on my riding and getting the hours on the bike but also keep up my physical training,” he said. “I leave New Zealand on the 28th of January and go straight to Italy where I will test my race bike. Then we have races at Mantova, Montevarchi , Valance and Hawkstone, all in a row. This year I will also work with Jacky Vimond (former 250cc World Champion). After this I will have three weeks off from racing and I will see what areas I need to work on; they may be speed, or the bike or fitness. I will do the first round of the Belgium championship the week before Valkenswaard and then we hit Grand Prix 1.” Coppins has been honing his physical condition since December in his town of Motueka, with some local race appearances – including domination of Supercross outings in Australia and New Zealand - thrown in for good measure. His gym and cardiovascular itineraries have seen an intense timetable of activities from cycling and riding to rock-climbing. “To be honest every year it gets better,” he said of his programme. “Every year we step-up the training and try to prepare better, but then so do my competitors! I did pretty much the same as the previous two years except I rode the motorbike a bit more and basically did more training than in the past. Last year we were struggling to do twenty hours a week, this year almost every week was well over that.” The winner of five Grand Prix in his maiden season with the YZ450FM first had to let his broken shoulder heal. The injury meant that the Yamaha Motocross Team surrendered the MX1 crown they had owned since in 2004 and halted their phenomenal run of six titles. Coppins lead fourteen of fifteen rounds in 2007 until being forced to withdraw from the final race of the year. He insists that the ‘downtime’ he needed to recover from the break was a positive experience for his mental state approaching 2008. “I spent some time doing nothing at home waiting for my shoulder to heal,” he revealed. “In that time I thought about the highs and the lows of 2007, the good and the bad parts of my season and most of all how I could improve for ‘08. I have a bit of a different approach now, mostly mentally, I think I am a stronger person now.” In terms of his work with the Italian crew of YMT, Coppins also stresses that the 2008 version of his race motorcycle means he will be even more of a potent force come April. “The new 2008 bike is a really good and I am happy because Yamaha addressed the few little issues we have from last year,” he remarked. “I tested the new bike for two weeks before I left Europe at the end of ‘07. There are only small changes but mostly to the chassis. They have made a big difference and it is a nicer bike to race.” “There is not too much testing to do now as I am happy with how things are,” he continued. “We will try a few modifications that I have asked the team to try over the winter, but mostly it will just be getting time on the bike and getting comfortable again in Europe.” Click here to view the news

Yamaha Motocross team rider Josh Coppins showed why he is seen as one of the favourites for the FIM MX1 Word Championship this year as he scored his first International win in blue colours and scored his second success inside a week after proving his great shape in the opening round of the Italian Championship at Montevarchi last Sunday. The New Zealander posted results of third, third and first with the YZ450FM over three motos at a dark, cold and rainy Valence circuit in Southern France yesterday. Excessive rain through Saturday evening meant that the hillside setting 100km south of Lyon was a mushy and puddle-strewn terrain for Sunday’s racing timetable. Further predicted showers thankfully remained absent though and the slippery course dried as the afternoon drew on. The small venue was crowded by a decent spectator turn-out and the high-profile entry list that included works teams from four manufacturers provided worthy entertainment. The best race of the day was the second of the three. Overall victory was disputed between David Philippaerts, Kevin Strijbos and Coppins and the trio pulled away from the pack in Motos two and three. The first coming together of the three protagonists in heat one witnessed a close chase with the triplet separated by no more than two seconds for the latter half of the 20 minute and two lap distance. Coppins built his momentum to be crawling all over the back of stubborn leader Philippaerts approaching the last circulation, but was then mugged by Strijbos and had to accept third spot. He gained suitable revenge in the final act however and left his junior rivals unable to match his speed at the front even though the French spectators were treated to another tight finish with little over a second dividing the first two past the chequered flag. ‘I am happy with today. It is my first time on the bike in these conditions and I am learning each time I ride,’ said Coppins. ‘I had three good starts and was on the podium three times which is what I was looking for. I knew that if I won the last race I would get the ‘overall’ so I pushed harder. In the first two heats I took it easy and concentrated on being smooth. I wanted to pass Philippaerts in that second race but I got stuck in a rut behind him and Kevin came up fast with some really good lines. He had obviously been passing others with those lines and got by me. I wasn’t going to enter a big fight at that stage and I completed my own race.’ Marc de Reuver was not befriended by lady luck. The Dutchman did not have the best pick of gates after timed practice although was able to take an eight place in the first race. He was then hit by Tanel Leok and crashed in the second moto and had a decent start thwarted in heat three when Billy Mackenzie fell in front of him on the third corner. He grabbed 15th overall with final positions of eight, 15th and a non-score. ‘I did not have such a good time from qualification and this did not help,’ he lamented. ‘I did not get a bad start in the first heat but there was so much mud that there was only one line. I had eight and thought I could do better in the next one. I had another decent start in the second heat from my position but on the jump after the finish line I collided with Leok in the air and was completely last by the time I restarted. In the third race I had a good line around the corner before the finish because everybody was struggling around the inside and Mackenzie thought the same thing but he crashed. I was half a metre behind him which brought me to a stop. I fell again later on and it seemed to sum up my day.’ Ricci Racing’s Kenneth Gundersen was struggling to make an impact on the YZ250F in a format that placed MX2, MX1 and MX Open machines into the same category. The Norwegian had a forgettable day, but insisted the results of 18th, 17th and DNS in no way indicate the progress of his preparation for a World Championship bid. ‘It was a really bad day because I had bad starts and crashed in the first corner of both motos,’ he said. ‘It was good training and that’s it. It is difficult to race in the open class with a 250. If you are at the front from the start then it is OK but if you have to pass then it is very hard. Everything is going really well though. We had a great week in Italy and I feel very prepared for this year.’ The Yamaha Motocross Team have little time for rest as they head north through Europe this week to Great Britain and the sand of Hawkstone Park for their fourth meeting inside four weeks. Overall result 1. J. Coppins (NZL) Yamaha 2. D. Philippaerts (ITA) KTM 3. M. Nagl (RFA) KTM 4. K. Strijbos (BEL) Suzuki 5. T. Rattray (AFS) KTM 6. B. Mackenzie (GBR) Kawasaki 7. S. Pourcel (FRA) Kawasaki 8. J. Bill (CH) Kawasaki 9. N. Aubin (FRA) Yamaha 10. F. Renet (FRA) Honda 11. A. Boissière (FRA) Kawasaki 12. M. Vanni (FRA) Honda 13. S. Frossard (FRA) Kawasaki 14. D. Allier (FRA) Kawasaki 15. M. De Reuver (NL) Yamaha Click here to view the news

Yamaha Monster Motocross Team’s Joshua Coppins is facing a rush to be fully fit for the opening round of the 2008 FIM MX1-GP World Championship in two weeks after an incident while training Saturday morning (22nd March) caused the New Zealander to break two toes on his right foot and undergo immediate surgery. The 31 year old travelled to the Dunkirk circuit in France to begin his motos in the early stages of Saturday morning to avoid a crowded venue later in the day. However his intentions were curtailed after he crested a hill only to find a local rider picking up his machine. Coppins’ right foot bore the brunt of the subsequent collision as he caught the other bike’s footpeg. With counsel from renowned motocross surgeon Dr Claes, Coppins went under the knife successfully the same afternoon and did not require the insertion of any metalwork into the two smallest toes on his foot. The natural healing process means that one of the strongest favourites for the MX1-GP title is now staring at the possibility of missing the first meeting of the GP series at Valkenswaard in the Netherlands on April 6th. “I cannot believe my luck, this is the third injury in a row that I have had that was not my fault,” he said. “Valkenswaard is 50-50 at the moment. My foot has to heal naturally and we might run out of time; I’m not too sure how things will go at the moment. We will have to assess things over the next few days. I am trying to stay positive but clearly this was not what I wanted. It is a long season though and we have to keep looking ahead.” Coppins had won races in Italy and France over the last six weeks in a promising pre-season period on the works YZ450FM. He claimed five grand prix victories in 2007 and was leading the world championship by 107 points until a freak accident at the Grand Prix of Czech Republic, four rounds before the end of the campaign, caused him to surrender what would have been his first crown. Click here to view the news

Yamaha Motocross Team's Joshua Coppins continued his 100% podium record with third place overall at a cloudy and windy Sugo circuit - crowded by 24,000 spectators -for the Japanese Grand Prix and the sixth round of fifteen in the FIM MX1 Motocross World Championship today. The New Zealander rode to a brace of third positions on the works YZ450F-FM in front of the attending Yamaha president Mr Kajikawa and company employees, and thanks to a poor day for his most direct title rival, Kevin Strijbos, he extended his lead in the championship standings to more than one Grand Prix with 63 points in total. The immaculate Sugo track was again a technical and difficult prospect for the MX1 and MX2 classes. A long period of rainfall on Friday afternoon softened the terrain that was already well prepared and mixed deeply with wood chippings. The result was a mud that swiftly became rough and rutted with several lines providing ample choice and strategy for the riders. It was the third year in succession that the World Championship had visited the venue close to the city of Sendai and the third time this century for the Japanese round. Sugo, in Yamaha ownership, lies a few kilometres from the road racing complex and was established 32 years previously. After hot and bright conditions on Saturday, in which Coppins sealed his second consecutive pole position by two tenths of a second, race day was windy and cloudy with frequent sunny spells. The first moto saw a battle for second as Billy Mackenzie ran away for the first ever British win in MX1. Coppins held a position as runner-up for almost the entire moto under pressure from David Philippaerts and then Jonathan Barragan. The Spaniard was eventually able to push through with two laps to go as Coppins admitted that his riding was not the best as he sought the quicker lines. In the second sprint he again rode a lonely race to third after Ken de Dycker experienced brake trouble ahead and retired. He was close to Mackenzie and the chance of taking second place approaching the final two laps but could not get level with the eventual overall winner to overtake. Marc de Reuver had a difficult day. The Dutchman started poorly in the opening moto and then slipped off in the deeply rutted corner after the pit lane. He circulated outside of the top twenty just behind leader Mackenzie and set similar lap-times but then fell again in the final laps, this time heavily off the biggest jump on the course, and suffered a concussion with nasty black eye. Feeling dazed and dizzy De Reuver did not take to the waiting zone for the second moto. Team Jubilo Yamaha - the squad that competes in the Japanese National Championship - boasted the talents of former AMA competitor Akira Narita. The three times Japanese Champion failed to finish the first moto and picked up four points for seventeenth in the second. The Yamaha Motocross Team now travel directly back to Europe and both Coppins and de Reuver will have a free weekend before making preparations for the comparatively short trip to St Jean d'Angely in western France. The French round will constitute the seventh round of the championship and precedes the Bulgarian Grand Prix two weeks afterwards. Joshua Coppins - Yamaha Motocross Team: "I did not have a good feeling on this track, even on Saturday but I was able to push for a fast lap. I was surprised with pole position because I was struggling a little bit. I could not find the lines I wanted and couldn't get a rhythm going in the first moto. I was fighting the bike and not enjoying the race so for the second moto I tried riding a gear higher and making the bike work more for me instead of the other way around. It did not go as well as I hoped but I tried my best. I knew there would be many winners and many different guys on the podium this year but I am the only one to be here every week so far. I want to continue to do what I am doing. If 3-3 is a bad day then I am pleased with that. For sure this season is more stressful for me and the championship is always in the back of my mind but I want to win more GPs. Sometimes you have to lose the battle to win the war and that was the case today for me." Marc de Reuver - Yamaha Motocross Team: "I was fifth at the start of the first heat but made a small mistake just before the finish line. I lost some time because I had to bash the bars and levers back into position. Billy Mackenzie lapped me and I ran behind him without any problem until the big crash over the table-top. The front wheel just washed out on the landing and I hit my head hard. I don't even remember how I got back to the paddock and Michele and Carlo thought it was better that I don't ride. It is a disappointing weekend but I am lucky that I only have a black eye." Carlo Rinaldi, Team Manager, Yamaha Motocross Team: "Overall it was a positive day but I cannot say that I am satisfied. In both motos Josh did not ride as well as he can and it is important to flow on this track because it is very rough. He showed his strength however to take third place both times and that was good in the circumstances. It was a very bad day for Marc. He looked very fast but made a mistake and crashed. He then fell again in a big way and luckily was not seriously injured; it was not convenient for him to race the second moto." Circuit Length: 3737 Weather: Dry 2007 GP of Sugo, Japan 27/05/2007 Race 1 Pos. Rider Manu. Nat. Total Time 1 Billy MacKenzie Kawasaki GBR 39'31.947 2 Jonathan Barragan KTM ESP 0'8.939 3 Joshua Coppins Yamaha NZL 0'13.608 4 David Philippaerts KTM ITA 0'27.369 5 Mike Brown Honda USA 0'31.616 6 Ken De Dycker Honda BEL 0'40.288 7 Sébastien Pourcel Kawasaki FRA 0'42.846 8 Yoshitaka Atsuta Honda JPN 0'43.191 9 Steve Ramon Suzuki BEL 0'46.266 10 James Noble Honda GBR 1'1.475 11 Manuel Priem TM BEL 1'5.560 12 Kevin Strijbos Suzuki BEL 1'9.411 13 Kazamusa Masuda Honda JPN 1'48.276 14 Kornel Nemeth Suzuki HUN 1'49.305 15 Maximilian Nagl KTM GER 1'51.752 16 Danny Theybers Suzuki BEL 2'5.433 17 Scott Columb Suzuki NZL -1 Laps 18 Gordon Crockard Honda IRL -1 Laps 19 Kohij Ohkawara Yamaha JPN -1 Laps Race 2 Pos. Rider Manu. Nat. Total Time 1 Mike Brown Honda USA 40'20.363 2 Billy MacKenzie Kawasaki GBR 0'3.066 3 Joshua Coppins Yamaha NZL 0'7.996 4 Steve Ramon Suzuki BEL 0'27.232 5 Yoshitaka Atsuta Honda JPN 0'9.033 6 David Philippaerts KTM ITA 0'40.274 7 Tanel Leok Kawasaki EST 0'48.099 8 James Noble Honda GBR 0'53.372 9 Manuel Priem TM BEL 1'6.877 10 Kevin Strijbos Suzuki BEL 1'8.637 11 Sébastien Pourcel Kawasaki FRA 1'45.054 12 Maximilian Nagl KTM GER 1'54.087 13 Danny Theybers Suzuki BEL 2'3.623 14 Kornel Nemeth Suzuki HUN -1 Laps 15 Kuraudo Toda Suzuki JPN -1 Laps 16 Gordon Crockard Honda IRL -1 Laps 17 Akira Narita Yamaha JPN -1 Laps 18 Kohij Ohkawara Yamaha JPN -1 Laps 19 Thomas Allier Kawasaki FRA -1 Laps 20 Scott Columb Suzuki NZL -1 Laps RACE REPORT 27/05/2007 Cairoli stays on podium after tricky Japanese GP Yamaha De Carli's Antonio Cairoli saw his winning streak of five Grand Prix come to an end in Japan but the Sicilian - who announced a new three year agreement with Yamaha the same day - took a second moto win and second position overall behind arch-rival Christophe Pourcel in the sixth meeting of the MX2 campaign. Sugo was another capable circuit on which Cairoli could show off his speed and skills. The mud was hugely technical by virtue of the holes, dips and bumps that carved very quickly into the surface. The course demanded concentration but also allowed for individual expression thanks to the choice in racing lines and vast jumps. On a warm but overcast Saturday Cairoli dominated the second qualification heat for his fifth Saturday win of the season and one that he claimed was the easiest so far. His speed ensured selection of second place in the start gate for Sunday. After an unfamiliar bad start and then a small (and rare) race crash by Cairoli in the first moto, while closing fast on Tyla Rattray for second position, the Italian lost the chance to fight for the win and he had to accept a distant third place. The 21 year old, who had won the last seven motos in succession and whose previous lowest result had been a second position in Spain, re-evaluated his approach for the next race of 35 minutes and 2 laps. He rounded the first corner at the front of the pack and unveiled a more familiar sight that motocross fans are quickly becoming accustomed to in 2007 by setting the pace ahead of Rattray and Pourcel. Both of his pursuers would crash deep into the moto giving the YZ250F pilot a clear run to the finish line for his tenth win from twelve. Pourcel was able to recover to overtake a lagging Tommy Searle for second spot in the final stages and post a better overall score for the win. Yamaha Team Ricci's Kenneth Gundersen was again unfortunate to only place eighth overall. The Norwegian was slow out of the gate in each moto and then had to ditch his goggles twice as sand and dirt had entered the eyewear. With the roost kicked up by the rear wheels of the machines ahead he was limited in whatever progress he could make, posting twelfth and ninth by the end of the afternoon. Nicolas Aubin suffered the effects of a long trip during the week, and was not able to operate at the level normally shown by the French youngster who has arguably been one of the breakthrough performers this season. He was thirteenth and sixteenth for thirteenth overall. His team-mate David Guarneri could not score in Moto1 due to a third lap crash in which he broke his clutch. He was stronger in the second race and took ten points for eleventh in only his third Grand Prix this year. Bike It Yamaha Dixon Racing's Carl Nunn was tenth overall. The British Champion simply could not gel with the track in the first race and was disappointingly dragged down to eighteenth. The Briton gave a better account of himself in the second moto and took part in an entertaining tussle with team-mate Martin Barr (who grabbed a career best twelfth) and Guarneri. Nunn eventually moved past Gundersen for eighth place by the end of the distance. Cairoli conceded two points to Pourcel in the World Championship standings but his margin still rests at a hefty 66. Gundersen and Aubin are seventh and eighth respectively. The Grand Prix of France at St Jean d'Angely will form the seventh round of the World Championship and will take place in two weeks time. Antonio Cairoli - Yamaha De Carli: "I was a bit unlucky at this GP because I felt very good in the second moto. I did not start so well in the first race and Christophe took a lead of many seconds. I lost a lot of time stuck behind a Kawasaki rider and the track was so wet; I did not want to make a mistake. My lines were not great either. After I got through I chased Christophe and Tyla. The gap was around twenty seconds and I got it down to five but I made a small error and crashed. Before the second race I watched the MX1 moto for some lines. When I got the holeshot I found my speed right away and leading the race was easy, especially after the first twenty minutes. Christophe and Tyla made some mistakes and Searle was a long way away. I want to win again in France for sure and start to take more points away from the other guys in the championship. I don't want to repeat my mistakes from last year so when the win is there I will go for it but otherwise the top three is acceptable." Kenneth Gundersen, Yamaha Team Ricci: "I don't know why but in both motos I got sand inside my goggles and had to take them off, after that it was very difficult to ride. I had two bad starts but I gave everything I had today and I could not do any better, so in one way I am happy." Nicolas Aubin - Yamaha Team Ricci: "I had a very long journey here and as a result only slept two hours last night. I felt like I was asleep on the bike; I could not react and was making stupid mistakes. My crash in the first moto was like the mistake of a junior. Anyway, I have learned a lot for the future and I have to work hard in the next few GPs now to regain the points that I lost today." Carl Nunn - Bike it Dixon Yamaha Racing: "The first moto was really bad. Things were OK at the beginning but I then just went backwards; I did not even have any rhythm to lose. The bike wasn't working because I was not riding it correctly. I felt terrible and made everything hard work. I went down and then after that I lost all momentum. The second race was a lot better and had some good battles. I finished eighth and was happy with that because I was able to raise my game significantly. It was the first time all weekend I enjoyed the track and was able to put the bike where I wanted it to go." Circuit Length: 3737 Weather: Dry 2007 GP of Sugo, Japan 27/05/2007 Race 1 Pos. Rider Manu. Nat. Total Time 1 Christophe Pourcel Kawasaki FRA 39'45.553 2 Tyla Rattray KTM RSA 0'5.524 3 Antonio Cairoli Yamaha ITA 0'38.981 4 Tommy Searle KTM GBR 0'50.085 5 Gareth Swanepoel Kawasaki RSA 1'8.766 6 Pascal Leuret Honda FRA 1'20.922 7 Anthony Boissière Kawasaki FRA 1'29.208 8 Sean Hamblin Suzuki USA 1'32.731 9 Tom Church Kawasaki GBR 1'33.926 10 Matti Seistola Honda FIN 1'52.268 11 Jason Dougan Suzuki GBR 2'2.674 12 Kenneth Gundersen Yamaha NOR -1 Laps 13 Nicolas Aubin Yamaha FRA -1 Laps 14 Dennis Verbruggen Yamaha BEL -1 Laps 15 Youhei Kojima Suzuki JPN -1 Laps 16 Yu Hirata Honda JPN -1 Laps 17 Shaun Simpson Kawasaki GBR -1 Laps 18 Carl Nunn Yamaha GBR -1 Laps 19 Yuya Ozaki Yamaha JPN -1 Laps 20 Elliott Banks-Browne Suzuki GBR -1 Laps Race 2 Pos. Rider Manu. Nat. Total Time 1 Antonio Cairoli Yamaha ITA 40'44.387 2 Christophe Pourcel Kawasaki FRA 0'5.667 3 Tommy Searle KTM GBR 0'9.007 4 Gareth Swanepoel Kawasaki RSA 0'30.867 5 Tyla Rattray KTM RSA 0'44.728 6 Pascal Leuret Honda FRA 0'47.756 7 Anthony Boissière Kawasaki FRA 1'3.866 8 Carl Nunn Yamaha GBR 1'7.021 9 Kenneth Gundersen Yamaha NOR 1'12.036 10 Youhei Kojima Suzuki JPN 1'17.201 11 Davide Guarneri Yamaha ITA 1'19.994 12 Martin Barr Yamaha GBR 1'26.537 13 Dennis Verbruggen Yamaha BEL 1'32.576 14 Shaun Simpson Kawasaki GBR 1'34.426 15 Jason Dougan Suzuki GBR 1'35.437 16 Nicolas Aubin Yamaha FRA 1'36.083 17 Marcus Schiffer KTM GER 1'43.889 18 Tadashi Kugimura Yamaha JPN 1'56.363 19 Jake Nicholls Suzuki GBR 2'5.405 20 Yu Hirata Honda JPN -1 Laps Click here to view the news

Yamaha Motocross Team's Josh Coppins continued his triumphant ways by winning the first moto for round three of the MX1 World Championship. He however finished runner up in the second moto and thus handing the win of Grand Prix of Portugal held at Agueda to Kevin Strijbos who finished behind Coppins in the first moto. A crowd of 18,000 gathered around the slopes of the popular layout to see Antonio Cairoli amass a healthy 44 point lead in the MX2 class standings with his third straight win and second double moto haul of the year. Brilliant and hot sunshine created a splendid but physically demanding terrain at the venue, around 100km south of Porto. The track was quick and with various lines but became rougher and even more testing towards the end of the day. Despite a painful groin after his exertions in Spain last week Coppins qualified fourth fastest in a very close timed practice session on Saturday that saw the top eight riders divided by less than one second. Marc de Reuver was four positions behind and the last of the quickest group. 30 year old Coppins however had a small spill that left him with a sore left foot. Series leader Coppins moved into second spot behind Kevin Strijbos in the first moto and stalked the Belgian for half of the race until picking his moment to move through. Strijbos remained with two-to-three seconds but Coppins was able to control the margin to take his third chequered flag in succession. The second heat saw a re-match as the pair clashed again. The New Zealander pushed his way past Strijbos again, but his rival was able to answer and broke away as Coppins started to feel the effects of his Saturday mishap. De Reuver struggled with a mediocre launch from the start gate in Moto one and then was working his way through the pack until reaching a limit to his stamina and losing the edge to his lap-times. He dropped back to fourteenth. The second outing saw a more positive performance from the Dutchman as he was attacking David Philippaerts for a possible fifth position when he caught his left foot in the ground and twisted his ankle, causing him to retire. Although not able to complete his hat-trick of Grand Prix wins, Coppins has nevertheless protected his lead in the World Championship standings which still stands at nineteen points ahead of Strijbos. De Reuver is currently thirteenth. Josh Coppins, Yamaha Motocross Team: "After Spain I had a small groin injury. I did not think it was anything special but after the first session I had a lot of pain. We worked on it and got it better but I could not ride how I wanted yesterday and because of this I had a crash and hurt my foot. I struggled on the track. No excuses though, Kevin was very strong in the second heat and deserved to win. We have started the season very well, better than I expected, with the new team, new bike and everything is going smoothly. I haven't lost points to anyone in any of the moto's so far and I know we need to keep on working like this. I know that I cannot win every GP but if I can minimise any points damage then this is also good. Marc de Reuver, Yamaha Motocross Team: "In the first heat I had a good start but the first few corners didn't go so well and a few guys passed me. I came back quite strong to eighth but then I just seemed to hit a wall and went backwards. I got away good in the second heat but it was tight in the first corner and I had to change my line. I was twelfth and made some good passes on the first laps and a few guys were making mistakes. I got behind Philippaerts and was feeling very strong. I was faster than him and attacked. I did not make it and then tried again but I put my foot down and twisted my ankle. That was it. It is very painful but luckily it is not broken." Carlo Rinaldo, Team Manager, Yamaha Motocross Team: "We cannot win every time! Kevin was very good today and Josh was not 100%, no excuses, but his crash yesterday left him in some pain. Anyway he rode well and was just a little tired in the second moto because he had to comeback from a backward position a mediocre start. He has been smart to accept the second. Regarding Marc he is going through a bit of a difficult period because he is not fully fit. He faded a lot in the first moto but was riding better in the second until his twisted his left ankle. He was fighting hard until that point though and that is all we can ask of him." Circuit Length: 1600 Temp: 26 Crowd: 18000 Weather: Sunny 2007 GP of Agueda, Portugal 22/04/2007 Race 1 - 20 Laps Pos. Rider Manu. Nat. Total Time 1 Joshua Coppins Yamaha NZL 39'18.003 2 Kevin Strijbos Suzuki BEL 0'11.015 3 David Philippaerts KTM ITA 0'14.133 4 Tanel Leok Kawasaki EST 0'17.340 5 James Noble Honda GBR 0'40.774 6 Manuel Priem TM BEL 0'47.158 7 Ken De Dycker Honda BEL 0'55.077 8 Kornel Nemeth Suzuki HUN 1'0.740 9 Mike Brown Honda USA 1'5.022 10 Sébastien Pourcel Kawasaki FRA 1'10.096 11 Steve Ramon Suzuki BEL 1'13.650 12 Marvin Van Daele Honda BEL 1'15.311 13 Jonathan Barragan KTM ESP 1'43.072 14 Marc De Reuver Yamaha NED 1'52.308 15 Clement Desalle Suzuki BEL 1'58.513 16 Billy MacKenzie Kawasaki GBR -1 Laps 17 Julien Bill Kawasaki CHE -1 Laps 18 Julien Vanni Honda FRA -1 Laps 19 Cyrille Coulon Honda FRA -1 Laps 20 Paulo Goncalves Honda POR -1 Laps Race 2 - 20 Laps Pos. Rider Manu. Nat. Total Time 1 Kevin Strijbos Suzuki BEL 39'43.882 2 Joshua Coppins Yamaha NZL 0'20.114 3 Sébastien Pourcel Kawasaki FRA 0'32.151 4 Manuel Priem TM BEL 0'38.825 5 David Philippaerts KTM ITA 0'45.242 6 Thomas Allier Kawasaki FRA 0'48.725 7 Mike Brown Honda USA 0'52.165 8 Steve Ramon Suzuki BEL 0'56.399 9 Billy MacKenzie Kawasaki GBR 0'57.586 10 Kornel Nemeth Suzuki HUN 0'58.844 11 Marvin Van Daele Honda BEL 1'3.520 12 Ken De Dycker Honda BEL 1'24.369 13 Aigar Leok Yamaha EST 1'29.884 14 Jonathan Barragan KTM ESP 1'36.430 15 Pierre A. Renet Honda FRA 1'39.077 16 James Noble Honda GBR 1'52.062 17 Antoine Meo Honda FRA 2'4.903 18 Cyrille Coulon Honda FRA -1 Laps 19 Clement Desalle Suzuki BEL -1 Laps 20 Paulo Goncalves Honda POR -1 Laps Rider Standings 22/04/2007 Pos. Rider Manu. Nat. Points 1. Joshua Coppins Yamaha NZL 144 2. Kevin Strijbos Suzuki BEL 125 3. Jonathan Barragan KTM ESP 89 4. Steve Ramon Suzuki BEL 86 5. Ken De Dycker Honda BEL 84 6. Sébastien Pourcel Kawasaki FRA 67 7. Maximilian Nagl KTM GER 63 8. Mike Brown Honda USA 62 9. David Philippaerts KTM ITA 62 10. Manuel Priem TM BEL 61 11. James Noble Honda GBR 61 12. Tanel Leok Kawasaki EST 61 13. Marc De Reuver Yamaha NED 60 14. Kornel Nemeth Suzuki HUN 51 15. Billy MacKenzie Kawasaki GBR 46 16. Marvin Van Daele Honda BEL 35 17. Thomas Allier Kawasaki FRA 31 18. Aigar Leok Yamaha EST 29 19. Pierre A. Renet Honda FRA 19 20. Clement Desalle Suzuki BEL 17 Manufacturer Standings 22/04/2007 Pos. Manufacturer Points 1. Yamaha 144 2. Suzuki 129 3. KTM 117 4. Honda 91 5. Kawasaki 87 6. TM 61 7. Aprilia 2 RACE REPORT 22/04/2007 Cairoli achieves maximum score for the third time running MX2 series leader Antonio Cairoli overcame a heavy crash in the second moto to convincingly win his third successive Grand Prix on the YZ250F. The Sicilian started the weekend in comfortable form by dominating the first qualification heat for pole position and first entry into the start gate. As in Spain he had to recover from a start that left him just inside the top five and then faced a six second gap to MX2 world champion Pourcel. The 21 year old chased down the Frenchman and incredibly pulled through to seize the lead with five laps remaining. He made a mistake - by running wide into softer dirt - allowing Pourcel a second chance to attack, but Cairoli quickly made another rapid lap that pulled him clear for a second moto win in a row It was followed by a third win in Moto two. Pourcel again was leading but had a hefty fall only a few laps after Cairoli had also hit the ground. De Carli Team star rider lost control due to slight arm-pump affecting his riding. Pourcel hurt his right ankle and retired but 'Tony' remounted and quickly passed Pascal Leuret for another '25 points'. Cairoli's team-mate Matteo Bonini posted his best set of Grand Prix results to-date. The Italian was sixth and tenth for sixth overall. In the first moto he held third position for most of the 35 minutes and 2 laps distance but was relegated in the last three laps as he tired; unaccustomed to the speed of the GP leaders. With Cairoli's double win it was still a very positive weekend for Yamaha Team De Carli. Yamaha Team Ricci's Nicolas Aubin was seventh overall behind Bonini but claimed his best ever moto finish with second position trailing Cairoli in Moto two. The Frenchman might have made the podium but a self-imposed clutch problem (an error while trying to adjust the tension) while leading the opening race in the formative stages meant that he had to enter the pits to reverse the setting. He returned to the track but could only capture three points for eighteenth spot. His team-mate Kenneth Gundersen was dogged by two bad starts but rode hard to finish fifth overall with twelfth and fifth positions, making him the fourth and final Yamaha rider in the top ten. Davide Guarneri's injured ankle prevented him from competing in Portugal but the Italian is recuperating and undergoing rehab in a hope to be fit for his home Grand Prix in two weeks. Cairoli now heads the MX2 standings by a hefty forty-four points (six shy of a full Grand Prix) from Pourcel. Gundersen is currently sixth and Aubin seventh. Antonio Cairoli, Team Yamaha De Carli: "I am really happy to win this race; in 2005 I won both motos here and went on to take the championship. I have a big points lead now. My strategy today was good. I waited in the first part of the race and I knew that I had more speed than the other guys and pushed hard to win in the second half of the moto. I have been training on hard ground to get my starts better and the work helped today. I had a little problem with my arms in the second moto and I crashed because of this. Pourcel was a long way ahead but I believed that I could still catch him until I crashed, and then I was just looking at second. The bike had some damage and the handlebar was a little bit bent, but when I saw Pourcel crash I pushed again for the win and got rewarded." Kenneth Gundersen, Yamaha Team Ricci: "I was 26th through the first corner of the first moto. It was a terrible start. I came through to 12th and was working hard but could not get any higher. In the second race I also had a bad start and was in between 15th and 20th but I was strong right until the end and passed many riders in the last ten minutes. I was happy with that. I know that I am fit and when I can manage proper starts I will be right there." Nicolas Aubin, Yamaha Team Ricci "I am a bit disappointed because I made a mistake with the clutch and if it hadn't have been for this then I might have had a podium. I tried to make the setting softer during the race but turned it the other way by mistake and had to come into the pits. I then pushed really hard to get back in the points. I think I must have used a lot of energy because I was right at the front in the second moto but had to slow down to find my pace and then push on again. I am pleased with the second position, it is my best yet, but I think I will fixate the clutch adjustment so that I can't fiddle with it for the next Grand Prix!" Matteo Bonini, Team Yamaha De Carli: "In the first moto I made a good start and I tried to follow the lines and speed of Pourcel but three laps before the end I felt the pace and got tired. My season preparation has not been the best because of some problems, but today was a good moto for me which helps me to improve my championship position. In the second moto the bike wheelied off the start and I felt tired as the laps went on. Tenth was not so bad, this is the best result so far for me and I hope now it will only get better." Yamaha's motocross stars will now have a free weekend before venturing to southern Europe and the Grand Prix of Italy at the Mantova circuit; naturally the meeting will be an important one for the Rinaldi, De Carli and Ricci crews. Circuit Length: 1700 Temp: 27 Crowd: 18000 Weather: Sunny 2007 GP of Agueda, Portugal 22/04/2007 Race 1 - 20 Laps Pos. Rider Manu. Nat. Total Time 1 Antonio Cairoli Yamaha ITA 39'42.522 2 Christophe Pourcel Kawasaki FRA 0'3.906 3 Tommy Searle KTM GBR 0'34.945 4 Gareth Swanepoel Kawasaki RSA 0'36.231 5 Tyla Rattray KTM RSA 0'37.315 6 Matteo Bonini Yamaha ITA 0'38.439 7 Pascal Leuret Honda FRA 0'42.175 8 Anthony Boissière Kawasaki FRA 0'44.298 9 Matti Seistola Honda FIN 0'55.593 10 Manuel Monni Yamaha ITA 1'5.788 11 Steven Frossard Kawasaki FRA 1'11.558 12 Kenneth Gundersen Yamaha NOR 1'15.496 13 Carl Nunn Yamaha GBR 1'17.724 14 Xavier Boog Yamaha FRA 1'19.864 15 Tom Church Kawasaki GBR 1'21.090 16 Jeremy Tarroux Yamaha FRA 1'35.178 17 Xavier Hernandez Yamaha ESP 1'39.655 18 Nicolas Aubin Yamaha FRA 1'46.044 19 Gregory Aranda Kawasaki FRA 1'47.928 20 Sean Hamblin Suzuki USA 1'48.989 Race 2 - 20 Laps Pos. Rider Manu. Nat. Total Time 1 Antonio Cairoli Yamaha ITA 40'28.619 2 Nicolas Aubin Yamaha FRA 0'5.177 3 Pascal Leuret Honda FRA 1'11.104 4 Anthony Boissière Kawasaki FRA 0'15.720 5 Kenneth Gundersen Yamaha NOR 0'21.245 6 Tommy Searle KTM GBR 0'29.073 7 Shaun Simpson Kawasaki GBR 0'32.641 8 Gareth Swanepoel Kawasaki RSA 0'42.419 9 Steven Frossard Kawasaki FRA 0'45.907 10 Matteo Bonini Yamaha ITA 0'52.424 11 Matti Seistola Honda FIN 0'57.183 12 Xavier Boog Yamaha FRA 0'59.482 13 Tom Church Kawasaki GBR 1'6.100 14 Carl Nunn Yamaha GBR 1'11.044 15 Avis Wyatt KTM RSA 1'18.428 16 Jeremy Tarroux Yamaha FRA 1'39.575 17 Gregory Aranda Kawasaki FRA 1'41.297 18 Rui Goncalves KTM POR 1'44.148 19 Jeremy Van Horebeek KTM BEL -1 Laps 20 Dennis Verbruggen Yamaha BEL -2 Laps Rider Standings 22/04/2007 Pos. Rider Manu. Nat. Points 1. Antonio Cairoli Yamaha ITA 147 2. Christophe Pourcel Kawasaki FRA 103 3. Tyla Rattray KTM RSA 98 4. Pascal Leuret Honda FRA 87 5. Tommy Searle KTM GBR 79 6. Kenneth Gundersen Yamaha NOR 75 7. Gareth Swanepoel Kawasaki RSA 72 8. Nicolas Aubin Yamaha FRA 69 9. Matti Seistola Honda FIN 61 10. Anthony Boissière Kawasaki FRA 57 11. Erik Eggens Suzuki NED 54 12. Marcus Schiffer KTM GER 48 13. Steven Frossard Kawasaki FRA 47 14. Manuel Monni Yamaha ITA 45 15. Xavier Boog Yamaha FRA 41 16. Matteo Bonini Yamaha ITA 40 17. Tom Church Kawasaki GBR 33 18. Carl Nunn Yamaha GBR 27 19. Shaun Simpson Kawasaki GBR 23 20. Jeremy Van Horebeek KTM BEL 23 21. Dennis Verbruggen Yamaha BEL 23 Manufacturer Standings 22/04/2007 Pos. Manufacturer Points 1. Yamaha 147 2. Kawasaki 127 3. KTM 117 4. Honda 87 5. Suzuki 57 Click here to view the news

The World Supersport race report of last Sunday included a mistake in the announcement of the Yamaha Motor Germany Team riders for next season. The release mentioned that both Kevin Curtain and Broc Parkes re-signed with the team for 2006, this must be for 2007. Click here to view the news

The all-new YZF-R1 was put through its final pre-season testing paces on 11 and 12 February by Yamaha Motor Italia riders Troy Corser and Noriyuki Haga. The test at the Losail circuit in Qatar, venue of the first World Superbike race of the 2007 season on 24 February, was a useful exercise for both riders, as they worked through various machine set-up options and the latest suspension developments. Corser was the fastest rider on show (1'59.1) in a test where the Yamaha Motor Italia team shared track time with the official Suzuki team. Haga fell on the first day of the tests, but recovered to go third fastest, with a 1’59.9 best lap. The Japanese star set a total of 61 laps, with Corser completing 49 laps. With a limited tyre supply on hand, long runs to test tyre duration were not a priority at this test. Corser in particular worked through a list of optional settings and components to ensure ultimate competitiveness come race weekend. Troy Corser "We did enough laps to let us try everything we needed to try and we got all the parts we asked for after the last test. It was a definite improvement. We were not so concerned with doing long runs as the tyres Pirelli sent here are not the tyres we will use for the race anyway. So there was not a lot of point doing very long runs on tyres. I was more interested in getting a feel for what we have been changing on the bikes. We just tried different things and weren’t worried about lap times. I’d say the bike feels even better than it did in our last test in Doha. The track surface can change here day to day but the track wasn’t too bad; we just needed a few more bikes going round to put more rubber down." Noriyuki Haga "We have already found a lot of improvements here from the last test and the new suspension is working very well. It was difficult in some ways because the tyre possibilities were limited, so we need to wait for the tyres we will get for the race weekend. But so far, so good. We are pleased to have done this test." Massimo Meregalli (Team Coordinator - Yamaha Motor Italia) "We started this test with four completely new bikes and we had to spend some time to adjust everything on them. Noriyuki had a small crash yesterday morning so he lost a small amount of time. It went well from then on and today everything went pretty good. We didn’t do so many long runs, but Noriyuki did 12 laps on one set of tyres at the end. All in all a good test." Circuit: Losail, Doha Circuit Length: 5.380km Race Lap Record: 2'00.061 (Noriyuki Haga, 2006) Fastest Lap Ever: 1' 58.1 (Troy Bayliss, 2006) Temp: 23ºC Unofficial laptimes: 1. Corser Yamaha Motor Italia 1’59.1 2. Biaggi Suzuki Alstare 1’59.3 3. Haga Yamaha Motor Italia 1’59.9 4. Kagayama Suzuki Alstare 2’00.3 Click here to view the news

Troy Corser Circuit Length: 4005m Temp: 23 Weather: Sunny, windy on day two Yamaha Motor Italy WSB riders Troy Corser and Noriyuki Haga each worked hard to find good base settings at a very windy but dry Valencia circuit, with Corser taking fifth fastest lap of the tests on his YZF-R1, with Haga just one place behind in the final ranking. With the YZF-R1 an all-new machine this season, Haga and Corser still have many development parts to try out and after the experiences of the first two races of the year, each concentrated great efforts in matching machine set-up to tyre choice, to make rear traction last over full race distance. In contention for fast times throughout, Corser also worked through new brake components and rated them an improvement, an important factor at a circuit with many turns and frequent braking points. Haga survived two crashes unharmed, but left knowing he still has to find an optimal set-up for Valencia’s race weekend itself, in one month’s time. Team YZF Yamaha's Shinichi Nakatomi continued his never-ending cycle of development on his R1, testing new suspension parts and settings from Kayaba, and finding improvements through the test. He was 15th fastest overall. Troy Corser (Yamaha Motor Italy WSB Team) "We tried a few new links on the back of the bike and it has definitely made the bike better and easier to ride. It doesn’t seem to matter which tyres we got today because none of them seemed to work over race distance any better than the others. We found an improvement in the mapping to improve the response in the midrange, even if it is still a bit too flat in that area. Overall the test was not so bad and we tried some different brakes and callipers as well - and they were better. We have a pretty good bike set-up around here, we just need to get the tyres matched up in terms of compound. I think everyone else is in the same boat." Noriyuki Haga Noriyuki Haga (Yamaha Motor Italy WSB Team) "I found a good front tyre here, but I cannot take too much satisfaction away from these two days. I tried a lot of different settings but this morning I had two crashes, one on the left side and one on the right side. We continued to work a lot on the suspension and the linkage but I could not find a really good feeling. The wind really did not help me as well. But I had good confidence with my qualifying tyres, better than in Phillip Island and Qatar races. But we still have a lot of work to do on the suspension when we get here for the race.” Massimo Meregalli (Team Coordinator - Yamaha Motor Italy WSB Team) "We worked our way through a lot of different settings and links for the rear suspension at this test. Our main job was just trying to find a way to make things easier for the rear tyre, to make it last better over full race distance. We also had new exhausts on one of Troy’s bikes for comparison with the previous system, as part of our development programme." Shinichi Nakatomi Shinichi Nakatomi (Team YZF Yamaha) "I tried many new suspension settings on the machine in this test and some new parts. We worked a lot on suspension. We were looking for a base setting for the Valencia race and the feeling with the bike got better and better. We set the best lap time in the last session, even in the strong wind, so that proves that we made improvements." 1 Bayliss T. Ducati 1'34.102 2 Xaus R. Ducati 1'34.565 3 Lanzi L. Ducati 1'34.584 4 Biaggi M. Suzuki 1'34.708 5 Corser T. Yamaha 1'34.851 6 Haga N. Yamaha 1'35.029 7 Nieto F. Kawasaki 1'35.410 8 Muggeridge K. Honda 1'35.470 9 Neukirchner M. Suzuki 1'35.532 10 Laconi R. Kawasaki 1'35.639 15 Nakatomi S. Yamaha 1'36.832 Curtain fastest after strong test results for Yamaha riders Yamaha World Supersport Team rider Kevin Curtain secured the quickest supersport lap time after two days of official testing at Valencia, and in a highly positive shakedown for all Yamaha riders, four of the top six riders were YZR-R6 mounted. Curtain, concentrating his efforts on race distance testing and preparations for the Valencia race in mid April, was still clearly the fastest rider on show, with second quickest time overall going to Massimo Roccoli (Yamaha Team Italia Lorenzini by Leoni). Broc Parkes, Curtain’s team-mate, was fifth fastest, and like Curtain, expended his energies on tyre endurance and race set-up. The tests were blessed by warm conditions and a dry track on each of the two days, but on day two the ever-present wind peaked in its intensity, making conditions tricky for all in the last afternoon session. Kevin Curtain (Yamaha World Supersport Team) "We accomplished a little bit at this test. We spent a bit of time working on suspension settings to get more life out of the rear tyre and I guess we doubled the life we could expect to get. That was pretty good. There was a lot of wind across the track today but the times I did this morning were a little bit better. It would have been good to get into the 1’36s but we were not really here to do fast single lap times; but you have to ride at race pace to test properly. So all we did were long runs and long runs. I think we did about 60 laps each day. We’re pretty happy, and this was a step in the right direction." Broc Parkes (Yamaha World Supersport Team) "We did a lot of race testing here, concentrating on tyre endurance after the last couple of rounds, and we went in a good direction. We worked through a few new springs and settings and we did more work on the new rear suspension units that we started the year with. I think they are really ready now. I didn’t put in a tyre in to try and do a single fast lap, but even my times on a race set-up, with a full tank of fuel, were still pretty fast. It all looks good." Massimo Roccoli (Yamaha Team Italia Lorenzini by Leoni) "This proved to be a good test for us because I have sometimes had problems at this track in the past, so to set the second fastest time was a good result. Also we found a good set-up for the race here, and worked a lot with the suspension and tyres, so I think we will be ready for the race." 1 Curtain K. Yamaha 1'37.126 2 Roccoli M. Yamaha 1'37.498 3 Foret F. Kawasaki 1'37.556 4 Fujiwara K. Honda 1'37.590 5 Parkes B. Yamaha 1'37.635 6 Salom D. Yamaha 1'37.984 7 Alfonsi L. Honda 1'38.104 8 Riba P. Kawasaki 1'38.145 9 Kallio V. Suzuki 1'38.333 10 Peris C. Yamaha 1'38.724 11 Ivanov V. Yamaha 1'38.575 14 Peris C. Yamaha 1'38.724 19 Talmacsi G. Yamaha 1'39.966 20 Forner D. Yamaha 1'40.174 24 Vincent A. Yamaha 1'40.622 25 Enjolras J. Yamaha 1'40.883 Claudio Corti Corti fastest after positive test at Valencia One day before the Supersport and Superbike classes had their chance to start testing at Valencia the Superstock riders made their last test before the start of the season at Donington Park on April 1. Claudio Corti showed the potential of the new 2007 YZF-R1, scoring the fastest lap of all and setting himself up well for the first round, while his team-mate Michele Pirro was an impressive fourth quickest, despite feeling that he still has a lot of learning to do in the Superstock class. Claudio Corti (Yamaha Team Italia Lorenzini by Leoni) “I am very pleased with the performance of the new rear suspension and it makes all the difference to the steering. The front forks are also very good with the latest settings, and the new tyres we use in this class this year are going to make a big difference. I am confident for the new season.” Michel Pirro (Yamaha Team Italia Lorenzini by Leoni) “I think I am riding the bike too much like a 250 and not enough like a big four-stroke Superstock bike. I need to learn how to brake properly on this bike but I am sure as time goes on I can be competitive on the machine.” 1 Corti C. Yamaha 1'37.420 2 Badovini A. MV Agusta 1'37.582 3 Canepa N. Ducati 1'38.211 4 Pirro M. Yamaha 1'38.320 5 Sacchetti D. MV Agusta 1'38.616 6 Van Keymeulen D. Yamaha 1'38.685 7 Baiocco M. Yamaha 1'38.686 8 Aitchison M. Suzuki 1'38.769 9 Simeon X. Suzuki 1'39.027 10 Dell'Omo D. MV Agusta 1'39.085 13 Mahr R. Yamaha 1'39.400 18 Tangre C. Yamaha 1'39.906 19 Gieseler T. Yamaha 1'40.103 21 Giuseppetti D. Yamaha 1'40.361 25 Depoorter O. Yamaha 1'41.324 27 Schouten R. Yamaha 1'42.003 29 Van Den Broeck W. Yamaha 1'43.192 Click here to view the news

Yamaha Motor Italia has signed Australian Troy Corser to ride alongside Noriyuki Haga in the 2007 Superbike World Championship. The spectacular line-up demonstrates Yamaha’s commitment to a series they returned to in 2005. Haga has won races on the R1 in each season – ending the 2005 and 2006 campaigns third in the standings. Corser is a two-time world champion with 33 race wins to his credit. He won the series with Ducati in 1996 and became the first rider to win the world superbike championship on a 1000cc four-cylinder machine last year. The Australian has competed in 250 world superbike races, more than any other active rider, and alongside Haga will provide Yamaha with an experienced and formidable squad as they look to win their first title in the class. The first appearance of Troy Corser with the Yamaha Motor Italia squad is planned to take place in Mugello on 25th October. Troy Corser “I am extremely happy to have the chance to work with Yamaha. The team has lots of experience and is very professional. Nori and I get along well and I think together we will be strong in development and bike set up. I’m looking forward to riding the bike and I will be aiming to score my third world title on the R1.” Noriyuki Haga Noriyuki Haga “I’m very happy to be staying with Yamaha Motor Italia. After two seasons together we have a very good working relationship and it was always my first choice to stay with Yamaha and continue our good work. My aim, as always, is to win the championship and I think Yamaha gives me the best chance to do it. I am looking forward to working with Troy as he has a lot of experience. We can learn a great deal from him, which will help make the bike even more competitive. We have had many great battles over the years and he is a rider for whom I have a massive amount of respect. I am sure that he will be a good team-mate - as well as one of my biggest rivals.” Massimo Meregalli (Team Coordinator – Yamaha Motor Italia) ”I believe this rider pairing is a dream come true for any team manager. With Noriyuki we feel that we are ready to reap the rewards of the past two years. We have learned his specific bike preparation preferences, his way of communication and his approach to races. We both share the same strong feelings and it is now time to cash in on our investments.” “Troy is a proven championship winner and known as a highly qualified developer who is obviously very experienced. We expect him to be up front from the start. It's important for me to thank Andrew (Pitt) for all his efforts over the past two years. He did a great job, nevertheless we have chosen to go for the extra experience of Troy as a two times world champion. Particularly for his ability to set up a bike and tyre selection during the race weekend, we expect this to be a mutual benefit for both riders. We expect that Troy and Noriyuki will work together closely in the development of the 2007 bike. It’s essential to be ready from race one to go for the title with both riders”. Laurens Klein Koerkamp (Racing Manager - Yamaha Motor Europe) ”To have Noriyuki and Troy as team-mates gives Yamaha a very strong base for our 2007 world title challenge. Both riders are big characters in the world of superbike, who combine experience, consistency and success with flamboyance and aggression. Noriyuki is a true Yamaha man and part of the family, having already ridden three different Yamaha models in world superbike. In the third year with R1 the only objective is to be champion. Troy brings a wealth of development and bike setting up experience, that we believe will be beneficial to the whole team. He is extremely motivated to win a third title with as many different manufacturers. All in all, I believe we will have two serious title candidates who will provide an interesting rider cocktail on track and off track.” Click here to view the news

Noriyuki Haga scored his first podium finish of the season as the Yamaha Motor Italy WSB Team served up some terrific entertainment at Phillip Island today. Having secured front row starts on their still-developing YZF-R1s, Haga and team-mate Troy Corser were able to run with the leading group in both races. Corser was straight into the thick of things in the day's opener and the Australian lowered the lap record as he bridged a small gap to leading pair James Toseland (Honda) and Troy Bayliss (Ducati). With lap times under qualifying pace, Corser ran with the leading group for the first half of the race but was unable to maintain the pace of the leading duo. With his lap times dropping by two seconds on worn tyres, Troy was passed on lap 20 by Max Biaggi (Suzuki) with Haga relegating him to fifth on the final lap. In the day's second race the Yamaha riders were able to take advantage of the slightly slower pace in the opening laps to preserve tyre life. That allowed both men to stay part of the five rider battle for the lead until the closing stages, when Toseland upped his pace to take the win from Bayliss. Haga rode brilliantly to take the final position on the podium, holding an off a determined late charge from his rivals, while Corser was unlucky to miss out on fourth after being slipstreamed by Biaggi across the line. Team YZF Yamaha's Shinichi Nakatomi scored points in both races today, taking 13th place each time. The Japanese rider improved his performances as the weekend progressed to score six championship points. Today's results see Toseland extend his championship lead to 16 points over Biaggi. Haga lies fourth in the standings, on 50 points, with Corser a further five points adrift in fifth place. The series takes close to a one-month race before moving to Donington Park for the championship's 20th anniversary meeting on 1 April. The English circuit played host to the very first world superbike race on 3 April 1988 and returns to the calendar for the first time since 2001. Before then the teams will have a test at the Valencia circuit in Spain, when the Yamaha teams hope to try out a range of new settings and parts on their YZF-R1s. Noriyuki Haga (Yamaha Motor Italy WSB Team) "I have had a cold this weekend and I did not feel very good throughout practice. The second race was tough because of the higher temperature but it was also good fun. After the start I was fighting with four other riders but I tried to save the rear tyre as much as possible for the last few laps. The grip was definitely better than in the first and I was thinking that I could push in the last five laps. But when the front guys went I realized that I could not push hard enough and decided to try and go for the third. I'm happy with a third place. The team has done a very good job this weekend and I hope that we will have some new parts to make us more competitive in the next race." Troy Corser (Yamaha Motor Italy WSB Team) "I'm disappointed because when I come to Phillip Island I expect a minimum of two podiums, and I thought I rode well enough to achieve that. But that's racing. We changed the bike for the second race and it was definitely better for the tyre, although I also rode a little differently because I knew what to expect from the tyre. At the end of the day we weren't fast enough. The rest of the bike was really good but we just needed some more legs down the straight. We'll go to Valencia and try and improve the bike before going to Donington Park. That's another track I really like so we'll just need to see what happens there." Shinichi Nakatomi (Team YZF Yamaha) "I am quite happy with my performance today. In the first race I was riding in a group for a few laps but made a mistake and lost some time. I was able to improve my lap times for the rest of the race and I was pleased that my overall race time was 10 seconds faster in the second race. I was able to have a good fight with Josh Brookes and tried a last lap attack, although I was not able to get past. I now have a better feeling with the bike and the team is working hard to give me more performance for the next race." Massimo Meregalli (Team Coordinator - Yamaha Motor Italy WSB Team) "We made a big improvement between the races. We made some suspension changes and the hotter temperatures also made a big difference. In past years we have not had such great results here so for me getting a podium is a good result. We still have a small gap to make up but if we continue like this then I am sure we will be able to close it." Circuit Length: 4445 Temp: 21 Crowd: 63250 Weather: Sunny 2007 WSB Phillip Island 04/03/2007 Race 1 - 22 Laps Pos. Rider Manu. Nat. Total Time 1 Troy Bayliss Ducati AUS 34'11.276 2 James Toseland Honda GBR 0'2.096 3 Max Biaggi Suzuki ITA 0'10.143 4 Noriyuki Haga Yamaha JPN 0'18.923 5 Troy Corser Yamaha AUS 0'19.742 6 Lorenzo Lanzi Ducati ITA 0'24.765 7 Ruben Xaus Ducati ESP 0'27.404 8 Max Neukirchner Suzuki GER 0'34.614 9 Fonsi Nieto Kawasaki ESP 0'35.339 10 Steve Martin Honda AUS 0'36.238 11 Roberto Rolfo Honda ITA 0'38.067 12 Joshua Brookes Honda AUS 0'47.078 13 Shinichi Nakatomi Yamaha JPN 0'58.571 14 Jakub Smrz Ducati CZE 1'8.000 15 Alessandro Polita Suzuki ITA 1'22.584 Race 2 - 22 Laps Pos. Rider Manu. Nat. Total Time 1 James Toseland Honda GBR 34'16.990 2 Troy Bayliss Ducati AUS 0'0.274 3 Noriyuki Haga Yamaha JPN 0'6.916 4 Max Biaggi Suzuki ITA 0'7.013 5 Troy Corser Yamaha AUS 0'7.052 6 Ruben Xaus Ducati ESP 0'23.176 7 Lorenzo Lanzi Ducati ITA 0'26.471 8 Michel Fabrizio Honda ITA 0'26.486 9 Max Neukirchner Suzuki GER 0'26.486 10 Roberto Rolfo Honda ITA 0'37.936 11 Jakub Smrz Ducati CZE 0'41.308 12 Joshua Brookes Honda AUS 0'48.672 13 Shinichi Nakatomi Yamaha JPN 0'48.717 14 Fonsi Nieto Kawasaki ESP 1'13.095 15 Alessandro Polita Suzuki ITA 1'13.882 Best Lap Rider Manu. Nat. Total Time Troy Corser Yamaha AUS 1'31.826 Rider Standings 04/03/2007 Pos. Rider Manu. Nat. Points 1. James Toseland Honda GBR 90 2. Max Biaggi Suzuki ITA 74 3. Troy Bayliss Ducati AUS 64 4. Noriyuki Haga Yamaha JPN 50 5. Troy Corser Yamaha AUS 45 6. Lorenzo Lanzi Ducati ITA 44 7. Ruben Xaus Ducati ESP 32 8. Max Neukirchner Suzuki GER 31 9. Yukio Kagayama Suzuki JPN 23 10. Roberto Rolfo Honda ITA 20 11. Fonsi Nieto Kawasaki ESP 20 12. Michel Fabrizio Honda ITA 12 13. Joshua Brookes Honda AUS 11 14. Steve Martin Honda AUS 11 15. Shinichi Nakatomi Yamaha JPN 10 Manufacturer Standings 04/03/2007 Pos. Manufacturer Points 1. Honda 90 2. Suzuki 74 3. Ducati 70 4. Yamaha 53 5. Kawasaki 20 RACE REPORT 04/03/2007 Parkes takes podium in tough supersport race Yamaha World Supersport team's Broc Parkes took a hard fought third place in the world supersport round at Phillip Island today, although there was a touch of disappointment for the Australian as he led for all but the final three laps of the race. Starting from the second row, Parkes quickly took the lead and pulled away from the chasing pack - heading the four-way battle for second by almost two seconds at one stage. The 25-year-old looked set for a third career win, only for his lap times to drop off in the closing stages of the 21-lap race. Frenchman Fabien Foret (Kawasaki) overtook the Yamaha to take the win with round one winner Kenan Sofuoglu (Honda) also getting past Parkes. Despite his problems Broc was able to bring his R6 home in third place. Team-mate Kevin Curtain had been one of the favourites for the win at Phillip Island and he was the early leader as the front group sped off at under qualifying pace. The 40-year-old Australian looked comfortable in the four-rider battle for second when his lap times faded dramatically at around half distance. As in Qatar eight days ago Curtain experienced rear traction problems and was forced to ride on and secure as many points as possible. Despite posting lap times over five seconds from the leaders, Curtain refused to give up and was rewarded with five championship points for his 11th placed finish. It was also a tough day for Yamaha Team Italia Lorenzini by Leoni rider Massimo Roccoli. Despite qualifying back on the fifth row the Italian had been riding impressively in the top ten for much of the race. However, he was forced to stop when his bike cut out and, despite rejoining, was unable to score any points. Sofuoglu's second place sees him extend his championship lead. The Turkish rider lies on 45 points with second placed Foret on 38. Yamaha's Curtain is fourth in the standings, on 25 points, with Parkes' 16 points moving him up to seventh in the championship with two of the 13 rounds gone. Broc Parkes (Yamaha World Supersport team) "I got a good start from the second row and felt that I was a bit quicker than a couple of guys in front so I decided to try and go. I was able to open up a gap of a little more than a second and I tried to keep that pace. I felt the rear go pretty quickly at about nine laps to go so I just got my head down and tried to keep it going. The grip really went off though and I made a mistake out the back of the circuit. Once Fabien and Kenan came past they had much better rear grip than me and I didn't have any answer to them. I had done a lot of testing on that tyre (specification) and I knew it was good for the race. Unfortunately we didn't run the full race last weekend so maybe we still have a little more work to do on our chassis settings. It's a little disappointing to be just a couple of laps away from the win but we've come away with some good points and it's a good result compared to last week." Kevin Curtain (Yamaha World Supersport team) "I don't know what to say, I'm just feeling really fed up just now. We've got no luck at the moment and I'm really disappointed. It'd been a good weekend and I was confident that I could have a good result today, but the tyre went off and, to be honest, I'm surprised that I was even able to stay on the bike let alone score some points." Massimo Roccoli (Yamaha Team Italia Lorenzini by Leoni) "I made a good start and thought I could make a top ten finish when the bike just stopped out on the circuit. I pressed the starter and it fired again after about 30 seconds. I was able to rejoin the race but it was too late and I could not score any points." Circuit Length: 4445 Temp: 20 Crowd: 63250 Weather: Sunny 2007 WSS Phillip Island 04/03/2007 Race 1 - 21 Laps Pos. Rider Manu. Nat. Total Time 1 Fabien Foret Kawasaki FRA 33'46.218 2 Kenan Sofuoglu Honda TUR 0'0.704 3 Broc Parkes Yamaha AUS 0'2.243 4 Sebastien Charpentier Honda FRA 0'6.415 5 Katsuaki Fujiwara Honda JPN 0'15.085 6 Pere Riba Kawasaki ESP 0'15.192 7 Robbin Harms Honda DNK 0'22.846 8 Barry Veneman Suzuki NED 0'24.509 9 Lorenzo Alfonsi Honda ITA 0'24.509 10 Yoann Tiberio Honda FRA 0'29.413 11 Kevin Curtain Yamaha AUS 0'29.706 12 Gregory Leblanc Honda FRA 0'29.759 13 Sebastien Gimbert Yamaha FRA 0'35.318 14 Craig Jones Honda GBR 0'43.153 15 David Salom Fuentes Yamaha ESP 0'43.410 Best Lap Rider Manu. Nat. Total Time Sebastien Charpentier Honda FRA 1'34.976 Rider Standings 04/03/2007 Pos. Rider Manu. Nat. Points 1. Kenan Sofuoglu Honda TUR 45 2. Fabien Foret Kawasaki FRA 38 3. Katsuaki Fujiwara Honda JPN 27 4. Kevin Curtain Yamaha AUS 25 5. Pere Riba Kawasaki ESP 21 6. Robbin Harms Honda DNK 19 7. Broc Parkes Yamaha AUS 16 8. Barry Veneman Suzuki NED 15 9. Sebastien Charpentier Honda FRA 13 10. Lorenzo Alfonsi Honda ITA 10 11. Massimo Roccoli Yamaha ITA 9 12. Gianluca Nannelli Ducati ITA 8 13. Vesa Kallio Suzuki FIN 6 14. Craig Jones Honda GBR 6 15. Yoann Tiberio Honda FRA 6 18. Sebastien Gimbert Yamaha FRA 3 Manufacturer Standings 04/03/2007 Pos. Manufacturer Points 1. Honda 45 2. Kawasaki 38 3. Yamaha 36 4. Suzuki 15 5. Ducati 8 Click here to view the news

Today two-time former world superbike champion Troy Corser had his first outing with the Yamaha Motor Italia team with whom he will compete in the 2007 Superbike World Championship. The Australian completed 74 laps on the Mugello circuit in Italy riding a 2006-spec YZF-R1. The main objectives of the test were to help the team understand the rider’s preferences with regards to machine settings and to give Corser a first impression of his new team and of the R1 he has competed against for the past two seasons. Corser and team-mate Noriyuki Haga will get their first taste of the 2007-spec YZF-R1 at the official FG Sport test on 14th and 15th of November at Valencia. Troy Corser “I am very happy with today’s results. After altering the settings of foot pegs, handlebars and the thumb operated rear brake in the morning session, I already felt quite comfortable on the bike. The Yamaha R1 has impressed me on several points, especially the mid range power is strong and the chassis is very stable under braking. We worked on different bike settings during the day and the cooperation with the team worked out very well. At the end of the day I was already doing lap times equal to Noriyuki’s times here at Mugello so that gives good expectations for the next test at Valencia. There we will be able to make a realistic comparison. All in all I am very pleased with my first day working with the team and looking forward to next season.” Massimo Meregalli “Today we have completed a quite significant amount of laps in order to have Troy getting used to the bike and the team. The result of the test was initially not to set competitive lap times but in the end Troy has shown us some impressive results. It was an important shakedown for the team and now that Troy has already proven he is able to work with the 2006 bike, we can now fully focus on 2007 season preparations. Today’s test was very positive so now we can work towards the Valencia test with full confidence.” Click here to view the news

Troy Corser gave his Yamaha Motor Italy WSB Team something to cheer with a hard fought podium finish in the second race at today's opening round of the 2007 Superbike World Championship in Qatar. With team-mate Noriyuki Haga digging deep to finish fourth, it was a promising start for the 2007-model YZF-R1, which was making its world championship debut at the Losail circuit. Having proved its pace by taking Corser to pole in qualifying, the new R1 wasn't quite able to repeat its performance over the race distance - although things started promisingly as the red Yamahas hit the front on the opening laps of the first race. The R1s fought a four-way battle for the lead with Max Biaggi (Suzuki) and James Toseland (Honda) but it soon became obvious that the Corser and Haga were suffering more than their rivals in the warm conditions when they started to fall off the pace after six laps. Haga struggled for front end grip as his tyre wore while Corser's machine vibrated heavily due to his rear tyre spinning on the rim. In the circumstances both men rode well to bring their machines home in the top 10, Haga eighth and Corser ninth. In the second race the Yamaha men were able to battle with Biaggi and Toseland for around 11 laps before dropping off the pace. Corser and Haga were able to stay closer to the leading duo and maintained their third and fourth places to the flag, the Japanese rider only just fending off Fonsi Nieto (Kawasaki) as he crossed the line. Team YZF Yamaha's Shinichi Nakatomi scored points for 12th place in the opening race, although the Japanese rider finished just outside the points, in 17th, in the second. Biaggi and Toseland each took a win and a second place to jointly lead the championship. The Italian won the day's opener, his first ever superbike race, while British rider Toseland held the advantage in the second. Corser's podium sees him leave Qatar fourth in the championship while Haga heads to next weekend's second round, held at Australia's Phillip Island circuit, sixth in the standings. Troy Corser (Yamaha Motor Italy WSB Team) "The first race was really tough because but the tyre was more consistent in the second and that meant that I could stay with James and Max for longer. I decided to stick with the same tyre choice and tried to put the problems we had in the first race out of my mind. I was ok when I was with them as the slipstream helped me make up a little bit down the straight, but when they made a break I didn't have an answer to them. Overall though it's been a positive start. It's my first weekend with Yamaha, on a new bike, and we've finished on the podium. We've got a very good chassis and I feel really comfortable riding the bike, so if we can make the tyres last then there's no reason why we can't get a good result at Phillip Island next weekend." Noriyuki Haga (Yamaha Motor Italy WSB Team) "It has been a difficult day because after about six laps my front tyre is gone! For race two we made some changes and used the softer rear tyre, but already we used the hardest option on the front. I did the best possible today and I am looking forward to next weekend." Shinichi Nakatomi (Team YZF Yamaha) "It was good to score some points in the first race. We are learning about this new bike all the time so we will be stronger as the year goes on. The second race was more difficult as more riders finished but I am hoping to get more points next weekend." Massimo Meregalli (Team Coordinator - Yamaha Motor Italy WSB Team) "While we were all very happy with our performance in qualifying yesterday we also knew that it would be difficult in the races today. We have a new motorcycle this year and tyre wear was a problem at this race especially with Noriyuki, maybe because of his riding style. But we were not the only team to experience problems and thankfully we understand what has happened and how we can work to improve the bike. There are many positives to take from this weekend and if Troy hadn't have had his problems in the first race I am sure he would have been on the podium twice." Circuit Length: 5380 Temp: 26 Weather: Sunny 2007 WSB Qatar 24/02/2007 Race 1 - 18 Laps Pos. Rider Manu. Nat. Total Time 1 Max Biaggi Suzuki ITA 36'10.115 2 James Toseland Honda GBR 0'1.483 3 Lorenzo Lanzi Ducati ITA 0'13.906 4 Yukio Kagayama Suzuki JPN 0'14.819 5 Troy Bayliss Ducati AUS 0'17.305 6 Max Neukirchner Suzuki GER 0'24.931 7 Roberto Rolfo Honda ITA 0'25.165 8 Noriyuki Haga Yamaha JPN 0'27.320 9 Troy Corser Yamaha AUS 0'31.237 10 Ruben Xaus Ducati ESP 0'31.669 11 Steve Martin Honda AUS 0'42.355 12 Shinichi Nakatomi Yamaha JPN 0'46.845 13 Alessandro Polita Suzuki ITA 0'59.207 14 Jakub Smrz Ducati CZE 1'0.296 15 Dean Ellison Ducati GBR 1'21.043 Race 2 - 18 Laps Pos. Rider Manu. Nat. Total Time 1 James Toseland Honda GBR 36'9.433 2 Max Biaggi Suzuki ITA 0'0.738 3 Troy Corser Yamaha AUS 0'7.386 4 Noriyuki Haga Yamaha JPN 0'14.984 5 Fonsi Nieto Kawasaki ESP 0'15.033 6 Yukio Kagayama Suzuki JPN 0'15.911 7 Lorenzo Lanzi Ducati ITA 0'16.664 8 Troy Bayliss Ducati AUS 0'23.249 9 Ruben Xaus Ducati ESP 0'24.282 10 Max Neukirchner Suzuki GER 0'33.480 11 Regis Laconi Kawasaki FRA 0'34.004 12 Michel Fabrizio Honda ITA 0'37.297 13 Joshua Brookes Honda AUS 0'42.064 14 Karl Muggeridge Honda AUS 0'42.359 15 Alessandro Polita Suzuki ITA 0'46.206 17 Shinichi Nakatomi Yamaha JPN 0'51.300 Best Lap Rider Manu. Nat. Total Time Max Biaggi Suzuki ITA 1'59.194 Rider Standings 24/02/2007 Pos. Rider Manu. Nat. Points 1. Max Biaggi Suzuki ITA 45 2. James Toseland Honda GBR 45 3. Lorenzo Lanzi Ducati ITA 25 4. Troy Corser Yamaha AUS 23 5. Yukio Kagayama Suzuki JPN 23 6. Noriyuki Haga Yamaha JPN 21 7. Troy Bayliss Ducati AUS 19 8. Max Neukirchner Suzuki GER 16 9. Ruben Xaus Ducati ESP 13 10. Fonsi Nieto Kawasaki ESP 11 11. Roberto Rolfo Honda ITA 9 12. Steve Martin Honda AUS 5 13. Regis Laconi Kawasaki FRA 5 14. Shinichi Nakatomi Yamaha JPN 4 15. Michel Fabrizio Honda ITA 4 Manufacturer Standings 24/02/2007 Pos. Manufacturer Points 1. Honda 45 2. Suzuki 45 3. Ducati 25 4. Yamaha 24 5. Kawasaki 11 RACE REPORT 24/02/2007 Podium for Curtain in tough Qatar opener It was a day of mixed emotions, and results, for the Yamaha World Supersport team in Qatar but overall it was a good day for Kevin Curtain, grabbing 20 important points after finishing second in today's opening round of the 2007 Supersport World Championship. Starting from pole position, Curtain was able to quickly build up a lead. However the Australian was unable to shake off the attentions of Sebastien Charpentier and Kenan Sofuoglu (both Honda) and was involved in a three-way battle for the lead in the opening half of the race. The Yamaha man pushed his rivals hard but was unable to quite keep his rivals in touch as an incorrect rear tyre selection caused his machine to spin up and lose fractions of a second. Curtain rode a lonely but sensible race to maintain a podium finish and was rewarded when world champion Charpentier crashed out of the lead two laps from the end, moving the Yamaha man up to second place at the flag. Similar tyre selection problems meant that team-mate Broc Parkes' bad luck at the Losail circuit continued when he was forced to retire after five laps, his second retirement at this venue in as many years. The Australian had seemingly solved the chatter problems that plagued him during qualifying as he moved up from seventh on the grid to fourth place at the end of the first lap. However he suffered severe tyre degradation and, unable to maintain race pace, he was forced to retire for safety reasons. Yamaha Motor Italy Lorenzini by Leoni racer Massimo Roccoli had a good day in Qatar. Coming from the third row, the 22-year-old from Rimini made a rocket propelled start and was as high as fourth on the opening lap. He settled into a race-long battle with Gianluca Nannelli (Ducati) in the lower half of the top 10, holding off his fellow Italian to take seventh place by one tenth of a second. Katsuaki Fujiwara (Honda) took third place to join Curtain and Sofuoglu on the podium. With just one race gone, the championship standings are as per today's results: Sofuoglu leading the way on 25 points with Curtain five behind in second place. Kevin Curtain (Yamaha World Supersport team) "Second place is a good start in terms of the championship, although I'm disappointed I didn't have a chance to fight for the lead. In the end we used the wrong tyre and the bike was spinning up everywhere, so in the circumstances it's a good result. We've made some good progress with the bike over the winter and I'm looking forward to racing at my home circuit next week. Phillip Island is a place I know like the back of my hand and I'll be giving it 200 percent to try and go one better than we have today." Massimo Roccoli (Yamaha Motor Italy Lorenzini by Leoni) "Not such a bad start to the season. I made a very good start and was able to have a good battle with Nannelli and a few others. I said yesterday that top 10 would be a good result so seventh is a pleasing start to the season for me." Broc Parkes (Yamaha World Supersport team) "I'm really disappointed but when the tyre went off my lap time dropped by around three seconds and I just couldn't continue. We've had a tough weekend as we couldn't seem to get as good a set-up or lap time as we did in testing, although I was confident we could get some decent points today. I made a good start but after a few laps the tyre was gone and I had to pull in because it was too dangerous to stay out." Circuit Length: 5380 Temp: 26 Weather: Sunny 2007 WSS Qatar 24/02/2007 Race 1 - 18 Laps Pos. Rider Manu. Nat. Total Time 1 Kenan Sofuoglu Honda TUR 37'22.452 2 Kevin Curtain Yamaha AUS 0'3.413 3 Katsuaki Fujiwara Honda JPN 0'6.228 4 Fabien Foret Kawasaki FRA 0'13.759 5 Pere Riba Kawasaki ESP 0'13.857 6 Robbin Harms Honda DNK 0'14.534 7 Massimo Roccoli Yamaha ITA 0'18.650 8 Gianluca Nannelli Ducati ITA 0'18.775 9 Barry Veneman Suzuki NED 0'19.291 10 Vesa Kallio Suzuki FIN 0'20.595 11 Javier Fores Honda ESP 0'20.817 12 Craig Jones Honda GBR 0'22.398 13 Lorenzo Alfonsi Honda ITA 0'26.903 14 David Salom Fuentes Yamaha ESP 0'28.568 15 Gianluca Vizziello Yamaha ITA 0'34.516 Best Lap Rider Manu. Nat. Total Time Sebastien Charpentier Honda FRA 2'3.921 Rider Standings 24/02/2007 Pos. Rider Manu. Nat. Points 1. Kenan Sofuoglu Honda TUR 25 2. Kevin Curtain Yamaha AUS 20 3. Katsuaki Fujiwara Honda JPN 16 4. Fabien Foret Kawasaki FRA 13 5. Pere Riba Kawasaki ESP 11 6. Robbin Harms Honda DNK 10 7. Massimo Roccoli Yamaha ITA 9 8. Gianluca Nannelli Ducati ITA 8 9. Barry Veneman Suzuki NED 7 10. Vesa Kallio Suzuki FIN 6 11. Javier Fores Honda ESP 5 12. Craig Jones Honda GBR 4 13. Lorenzo Alfonsi Honda ITA 3 14. David Salom Fuentes Yamaha ESP 2 15. Gianluca Vizziello Yamaha ITA 1 Manufacturer Standings 24/02/2007 Pos. Manufacturer Points 1. Honda 25 2. Yamaha 20 3. Kawasaki 13 4. Ducati 8 5. Suzuki 7 Click here to view the news

Troy Corser lived up to his reputation as the king of superpole in Qatar today, setting a blistering lap time to grab pole position for his first races with the Yamaha Motor Italy WSB Team. The new-for-2007 YZF-R1 has made an immediate impact in its first world championship outing with Noriyuki Haga setting the pace yesterday and Corser taking pole today. Haga continued his great form in superpole and will join his team-mate on the front row for tomorrow's races. Corser, who will sit on pole for the 39th time tomorrow, didn't have the ideal preparation for his superpole lap after crashing at the end of the preceding free practice session. The Australian rider had gone out to test the soft qualifying tyre used for superpole but slid off as he entered the second turn. His job looked doubly difficult when superbike newcomer Max Biaggi (Suzuki) became the first man to record a sub 1:59 lap time in superpole. Corser, who elected to run a tried and tested race tyre rather than the super-sticky qualifier, simply put the crash behind him and stormed to a 1:58.402 lap - one-third of a second quicker than the Italian and the fastest ever superbike time around the Losail circuit. Team-mate Haga was delighted to secure an all-important front row start for tomorrow's 18-lap races. The Japanese star also opted not to use the softer qualifying tyre, preferring to use the softest race option instead. Haga's lap was, by his own admission, less than perfect but the combination of the R1's power and Haga's own skill and determination helped him stop the clock in 1:59.294, good enough for fourth place on tomorrow's grid. Team YZF Yamaha rider Shinichi Nakatomi was the first rider to set off on his superpole lap after ending the two hours of qualifying in 16th position. The Japanese rider was unable to improve his time or qualifying position and will start the races from the fourth row after recording a time of 2:02.301. Despite failing to go faster on the soft superpole tyre, Nakatomi feels he has a good set up for the races and can make up positions as he regularly did last season. Troy Corser (Yamaha Motor Italy WSB Team) "I'm delighted to get the pole, although I think that Yamaha and the team are even more excited! You always just go out to have a clean lap and not make any mistakes. The front row is what you want but pole is always a nice bonus. "I had a little crash just before the superpole. I went out on the qualifier and I don't really know what happened. I guess that I was probably taking it too easy because the back end just slid away as I turned in for the second corner. It was unfortunate. I got caught out yesterday as well, when went down on some oil, but I'm thankful that I slid down the way I did, because it could have been a nasty highside. "It's a new bike and Nori and I are working really well together in the box. We're both doing our own things but we're also sharing a lot of information, especially on the suspension settings and tyre selections, to get the best out of the bike. I've got a really good feeling with the team and even though we've only been working together a short time we're working together well and it can only get better. The track is getting better the more we ride on it and I thought the tyres worked pretty well today. I did a lot of laps with James (Toseland) in practice and our lap times were pretty good. If we can make a good tyre choice then I think we should be up the front tomorrow." Noriyuki Haga (Yamaha Motor Italy WSB Team) "I'm very happy to be on the front row. During the superpole I made a mistake with my braking early in the lap, so I pushed hard and made another small mistake. But the lap time was good and the front row is always the target. We did a lot of work on the suspension today as we are trying to get the maximum from the tyre in race condition and I think that we can feel the benefit of this tomorrow." Shinichi Nakatomi (Team YZF Yamaha) "I think we are ready for the races. This is what we concentrate on during the practice and I have been able to make lots of consistent laps. We are learning more about this new bike all the time and I think we can improve more tomorrow." Massimo Meregalli (Team Coordinator - Yamaha Motor Italy WSB Team) "We did not really expect to make the pole after Troy's crash but he was very focused and did a great job. Noriyuki's superpole lap was also done on the soft race tyre, rather than the qualifier, because he prefers to use this. So Troy on pole and Nori on the front row is a great result for the team and I hope we can continue the good results in the races tomorrow." Circuit Length: 5380 Temp: 26 Weather: Sunny 2007 WSB Qatar 23/02/2007 Superpole Pos. Rider Manu. Nat. Total Time 1 Troy Corser Yamaha AUS 1'58.402 2 Max Biaggi Suzuki ITA 1'58.724 3 James Toseland Honda GBR 1'59.005 4 Noriyuki Haga Yamaha JPN 1'59.294 5 Lorenzo Lanzi Ducati ITA 1'59.537 6 Troy Bayliss Ducati AUS 1'59.668 7 Yukio Kagayama Suzuki JPN 1'59.964 8 Max Neukirchner Suzuki GER 2'0.098 9 Fonsi Nieto Kawasaki ESP 2'0.240 10 Roberto Rolfo Honda ITA 2'0.414 11 Ruben Xaus Ducati ESP 2'0.429 12 Michel Fabrizio Honda ITA 2'1.085 13 Regis Laconi Kawasaki FRA 2'1.176 14 Karl Muggeridge Honda AUS 2'1.411 15 Joshua Brookes Honda AUS 2'1.581 16 Shinichi Nakatomi Yamaha JPN 2'2.301 Qualifying 2 Pos. Rider Manu. Nat. Total Time 1 James Toseland Honda GBR 1'58.681 2 Troy Corser Yamaha AUS 1'58.922 3 Noriyuki Haga Yamaha JPN 1'58.955 4 Lorenzo Lanzi Ducati ITA 1'59.286 5 Max Biaggi Suzuki ITA 1'59.369 6 Yukio Kagayama Suzuki JPN 1'59.457 7 Troy Bayliss Ducati AUS 1'59.507 8 Max Neukirchner Suzuki GER 1'59.830 9 Fonsi Nieto Kawasaki ESP 1'59.919 10 Roberto Rolfo Honda ITA 2'0.077 11 Ruben Xaus Ducati ESP 2'0.244 12 Regis Laconi Kawasaki FRA 2'0.329 13 Michel Fabrizio Honda ITA 2'0.350 14 Karl Muggeridge Honda AUS 2'0.839 15 Joshua Brookes Honda AUS 2'0.936 16 Shinichi Nakatomi Yamaha JPN 2'1.076 QUALIFYING 2 REPORT 23/02/2007 Yamaha's Curtain storms to Qatari pole Kevin Curtain made his intentions for the 2007 Supersport World Championship clear by blasting his Yamaha YZF-R6 to pole position for tomorrow's opening race at the Losail circuit in Qatar. The Australian had endured a tough day in yesterday's practice, destroying his preferred machine when he was an innocent victim of a pile-up during the first practice session, but the Yamaha World Supersport team rider gave a virtuoso performance in today's second session, improving his time by almost two seconds. Curtain instantly improved his Thursday time and topped the timesheets for most of the session, although it was his perfectly timed run right at the end of the session that finally grabbed the pole and gave his rivals no time to respond. The Yamaha man's 2:02.081 lap was a whole second quicker than last year's pole position and gives the 2006 championship runner up the third world championship pole of his career. Curtain's team-mate Broc Parkes battled set-up problems throughout the qualifying sessions and will start tomorrow's 18 lap, 97km, race from the second row after improving his time and one place from yesterday's opening session. Parkes stopped the clock at 2:03.396 on the second of his three qualifying runs and although he went out to try and move up the grid at the end of the session, he was unable to improve his time. Italian youngster Massimo Roccoli improved his opening day time by over a second to make round out the top ten and make it three YZF-R6s in the first three rows. Joining Curtain on the front row for what is expected to be a closely fought race will be Sebastien Charpentier, Katsuaki Fujiwara and Kenan Sofuoglu (all Honda). Last season's race saw Curtain finish second to eventual champion Charpentier on the still-developing R6's race debut. Kevin Curtain (Yamaha World Supersport team) "Today's been a great start for us and, to be honest, a little unexpected after what happened yesterday. I was a big victim of the oil on the track yesterday and I have to thank my mechanics for building me a brand new bike overnight, because the other one was destroyed. Thanks to them we were able to get on and concentrate on the work we wanted to concentrate on yesterday. The bike is working very good here and we've been able to do a lot of work on the chassis and suspension over the winter, so hopefully we can take advantage of that here this weekend." Broc Parkes (Yamaha World Supersport team) "It's been a frustrating few days so far because when we came testing here I was able to do 2:02 laps all day long but so far this we've had a lot of problems with chattering and we can't quite put our finger on why that is. We've virtually turned the bike upside down but we've not been able to make much progress. We know that the bike's quick because Kevin's right on it, which is great for the team but frustrating for me. I know we'll try a few things for tomorrow and hopefully that will help us solve the chatter problem and put in a good race." Circuit Length: 5380 Temp: 30 Weather: Sunny 2007 WSS Qatar 23/02/2007 Qualifying 2 Pos. Rider Manu. Nat. Total Time 1 Kevin Curtain Yamaha AUS 2'2.081 2 Sebastien Charpentier Honda FRA 2'2.183 3 Katsuaki Fujiwara Honda JPN 2'2.376 4 Kenan Sofuoglu Honda TUR 2'2.752 5 Fabien Foret Kawasaki FRA 2'3.266 6 Pere Riba Kawasaki ESP 2'3.342 7 Broc Parkes Yamaha AUS 2'3.396 8 Gianluca Nannelli Ducati ITA 2'3.477 9 Yoann Tiberio Honda FRA 2'3.806 10 Massimo Roccoli Yamaha ITA 2'3.921 11 Barry Veneman Suzuki NED 2'4.142 12 Vesa Kallio Suzuki FIN 2'4.142 13 Robbin Harms Honda DNK 2'4.308 14 Javier Fores Honda ESP 2'4.489 15 Davide Giugliano Kawasaki ITA 2'4.687 24 David Checa Yamaha ESP 2'5.334 25 Sebastien Gimbert Yamaha FRA 2'5.414 Click here to view the news

Troy Corser set the early pace at the first round of the 2008 World Superbike season in Qatar, posting a first day qualifying time of 1'59.627 on race tyres and getting to within half a second of the current lap record. Corser's fellow Yamaha rider Noriyuki Haga secured a provisional front row position of fourth, despite falling heavily two-thirds of the way through the hour long qualifying session. Conditions at Losail were problematic for all riders, with a strong and gusting wind blowing down the kilometre-long main straight, holding down top speed potentials and making corner entry a challenge. With both riders inside the top four places, the experienced Yamaha Motor Italia WSB Team made the best use of their recent testing experiences in Qatar, and few changes were made to the machine settings since that test at the 5.380km Losail circuit. Sebastien Gimbert (Yamaha GMT94) was on strong form on day one, setting ninth fastest time, with his team-mate Davide Checa (Yamaha GMT94) 17th. Final qualifying and then Superpole qualifying take place tomorrow, Friday 22nd, before Saturday's pair of 18-lap Superbike races. Troy Corser (1st - 1'59.627 - Yamaha Motor Italia WSB Team) "Having the test so soon before the race was good because we got a really strong engine setting with the bike. The chassis feels quite good but it is difficult to know how well things are working, just because of the wind. That is probably the windiest conditions I have ever ridden in.. It wasn't so bad that we shouldn't have been out there, but today was all down to how much you wanted to push. I didn't really change too many settings from the test, just left it to get today out of the way. We just need the wind to die down for tomorrow. The track grip is comparable to what we had here at the test. I think the wind is blowing as much sand off the track as it is blowing sand back on. The only real problem is that the worst direction for the wind to blow here is down the main straight, like it was today. The bike and the team are working well so it's been a positive start." Noriyuki Haga (4th - 2'00.476 - Yamaha Motor Italia WSB Team) "It was difficult to make the best lap times in these conditions, but the feeling with the bike was very good. Unfortunately I had a big highside at turn one, on water coming from the bike. I landed straight on top of my head. I think before the crash I was half a centimetre taller. I am in a lot of pain but I will rest tonight and be better tomorrow. Top four is a good result for the first day. Our target point for tomorrow is make some changes in suspension, but I think we have the package right now anyway." Massimo Meregalli - Yamaha Motor Italia WSB Team, Team Manager "We are happy with that for a first day. We have to consider that we had a test here recently, so we should expect good results. Troy's time was great given the conditions and we know we have two very strong riders in all circumstances. We feel for Nori after his crash, we can see he is in pain, but we also know him and he is strong. Now we will look that the bike and see if there was a problem." Qualifying 1 Pos., Rider, Manu., Nat., Total Time 1, Troy Corser, Yamaha, AUS, 1'59.627 2, Troy Bayliss, Ducati, AUS, 1'59.853 3, Fonsi Nieto, Suzuki, ESP, 2'0.307 4, Noriyuki Haga, Yamaha, JPN, 2'0.476 5, Yukio Kagayama, Suzuki, JPN, 2'0.599 6, Ruben Xaus, Ducati, ESP, 2'0.695 7, Lorenzo Lanzi, Ducati, ITA, 2'0.724 8, Max Biaggi, Ducati, ITA, 2'0.744 9, Sebastien Gimbert, Yamaha, FRA, 2'0.857 10, Max Neukirchner, Suzuki, GER, 2'0.904 11, Michel Fabrizio, Ducati, ITA, 2'0.937 12, Karl Muggeridge, Honda, AUS, 2'1.086 13, Carlos Checa, Honda, ESP, 2'1.409 14, Ayrton Badovini, Kawasaki, ITA, 2'1.677 15, Gregorio Lavilla, Honda, ESP, 2'1.729 16, Jakub Smrz, Ducati, CZE, 2'1.955 17, David Checa, Yamaha, ESP, 2'1.984 18, Roberto Rolfo, Honda, ITA, 2'2.004 19, Regis Laconi, Kawasaki, FRA, 2'2.100 20, Vittorio Iannuzzo, Kawasaki, ITA, 2'2.256 21, Ryuichi Kiyonari, Honda, JPN, 2'2.494 22, Luca Morelli, Honda, ITA, 2'2.980 23, Russel Holland, Honda, AUS, 2'3.006 24, Shinichi Nakatomi, Yamaha, JPN, 2'3.542 25, Kenan Sofuoglu, Honda, TUR, 2'3.765 26, Shuhei Aoyama, Honda, JPN, 2'3.796 27, Makoto Tamada, Kawasaki, JPN, 2'4.264 28, Loic Napoleone, Yamaha, FRA, 2'6.363 ---------- QUALIFYING 1 REPORT - 21/02/2008 Foret Goes Fastest On Day One Of New Season Fabien Foret (Yamaha World Supersport Team) made a fabulous start to his 2008 race season by posting the fastest lap of the opening qualifying session at the Losail International circuit in Qatar. The former World Supersport Champion had to fight high winds and a dusty track surface to set a best of 2'03.495, some 0.346 seconds faster than the next best rider. Broc Parkes (Yamaha World Supersport Team) has been the fastest rider of all in pre-season testing, including here in Qatar only a few days ago, but found unexpected issues in the Losail circuit's many fast corners today. He was 13th overall in the official practice session. One more qualifying session remains for both Foret and Parkes to improve their times tomorrow, before the 18-lap race on Saturday 23 February. Yamaha Spain World Supersport Team rider David Salom was an impressive seventh fastest from the 36 riders in Qatar, making a good job of dealing with the treacherous winds that have plagued the desert circuit since for the past few days. His stand-in team-mate, Josep Pedro, substituting for the injured David De Gea, was 36th on his Qatar debut. Massimo Roccoli (Yamaha Team Italia Lorenzini by Leoni) worked hard to find the right suspension settings and choose a race tyre in the windy conditions, hoping to improve on his 18th fastest time today on the second day of qualifying. Fabien Foret (1st - 2'03.495 - Yamaha World Supersport Team) "We worked very hard this winter and now we are seeing the benefits. The conditions are very difficult, for me and for everyone. I tried to be safe and yet push at the same time, trying to manage the wind. It difficult for us to set the bike up in these conditions as the wind is not constant, it changes lap-by-lap. I still have a little bit of chatter but we can improve tomorrow. We are there now and it has been a good start today." Broc Parkes (13th - 2'05.301 - Yamaha World Supersport Team) "We are obviously having problems with the bike right now but we couldn't work out what was wrong in this session. I should maybe have hopped on my spare bike and had a go, but we concentrated on my number one bike. We ended up quite a long way out. I think there is something wrong that we will find and tomorrow will be OK." Wilco Zeelenberg - Team Manager, Yamaha World Supersport Team "Fabien was very impressive and as fast as the tests last week, and that was also held in not ideal circumstances. We have different tyres now and everything is reacting a little bit different. Broc is having the opposite experience because all the tests have been great and now he is missing a lot of time compared to his testing pace. He did a 2.02.9 a few days ago here. Both our guys can be fast but everything has to be good, and right now Broc is losing a lot of time in fast corners." David Salom (7th - 2'04.858 - Yamaha Spain World Supersport Team) "We have many years of hard work behind us all and this good result on the first day is down to the whole team. The Team manager has set up a great team and we have good suspension and telemetry people who are doing a good job. They are helping me to take advantage of everything I have. It is a team effort." Qualifying 1 Pos., Rider, Manu., Nat., Total Time 1, Fabien Foret, Yamaha, FRA, 2'3.495 2, Jonathan Rea, Honda, GBR, 2'3.841 3, Matthieu Lagrive, Honda, FRA, 2'4.017 4, Joan Lascorz, Honda, ESP, 2'4.017 5, Gianluca Nannelli, Honda, ITA, 2'4.446 6, Craig Jones, Honda, GBR, 2'4.766 7, David Salom, Yamaha, ESP, 2'4.858 8, Barry Veneman, Suzuki, NED, 2'4.880 9, Andrew Pitt, Honda, AUS, 2'4.996 10, Ivan Clementi, Triumph, ITA, 2'5.211 11, Mark Aitchinson, Triumph, AUS, 2'5.217 12, Gianluca Vizziello, Honda, ITA, 2'5.264 13, Broc Parkes, Yamaha, AUS, 2'5.301 14, Garry McCoy, Triumph, AUS, 2'5.349 15, Vesa Kallio, Honda, FIN, 2'5.445 16, Mirko Giansanti, Honda, ITA, 2'5.495 17, Andrea Antonelli, Honda, ITA, 2'5.586 18, Massimo Roccoli, Yamaha, ITA, 2'5.715 19, Katsuaki Fujiwara, Kawasaki, JPN, 2'5.742 20, Arnaud Vincent, Kawasaki, FRA, 2'5.941 21, Graeme Gowland, Honda, GBR, 2'6.007 22, Gregory Leblanc, Honda, FRA, 2'6.033 23, Robbin Harms, Honda, DNK, 2'6.139 24, Lorenzo Alfonsi, Kawasaki, ITA, 2'6.406 25, Joshua Brookes, Honda, AUS, 2'6.468 26, Miguel Praia, Honda, POR, 2'6.751 27, Chris Walker, Kawasaki, GBR, 2'6.755 28, Ilario Dionisi, Triumph, ITA, 2'7.246 29, William De Angelis, Honda, ITA, 2'7.681 30, Santiago Barragan, Honda, ESP, 1'7.681 31, Didier Van Keymeulen, Suzuki, BEL, 2'7.935 32, Luka Nedog, Honda, SVN, 2'8.761 33, Gergo Talmacsi, Honda, HUN, 2'9.165 35, Attila Magda, Honda, HUN, 2'11.246 Click here to view the news

Mixed weather conditions couldn’t stop Tech 3 Yamaha duo Colin Edwards and James Toseland from making good progress at the Phillip Island circuit today. The second morning was dominated by persistent rain showers, but typical of the fast changing conditions experienced at Phillip Island, the grey and gloomy skies gave way to sunny but blustery conditions by midafternoon. The day’s unpredictable weather gave Toseland his first taste of Yamaha’s YZR-M1 in full rain conditions, with the British rider gaining valuable experience and data in the wet. Toseland completed 21 laps to post a 1.43.719 for the 11th quickest time. Edwards was eighth quickest in the wet with a new Michelin front rain tyre helping him register a best lap of 1.42.547. After spending over two hours waiting for scattered damp patches to dry out, by the time Edwards and Toseland returned to the track, the rain and lower track temperature significantly reduced grip levels. Toseland ended the day with the sixth fastest time, clocking a 1.31.451 in the last hour. Edwards was 10th fastest with a best time of 1.31.593. Forecasts for the final day tomorrow predict sunny conditions throughout, with only a 20 per cent chance of light rain showers. James Toseland 6th 1.31.451 – 55 laps “It was important to try the bike in the wet for the first time and I got to grips with it quickly. Luckily I did a lot of wet tyre testing for Michelin last year at the Suzuka Eight-hour. I had five days of testing and three-and-a-half days were completely wet and I got a bit of time on the Michelin wets so I got a pretty good feeling pretty quickly. The electronics work very well and I had a lot of grip. The track was really dirty once it had dried. I don’t know whether the rain brought some sand with it but the track was really slippery. I went out and couldn’t break a 1.35 and it was completely dry. I got back down to some decent times but the conditions were still not as good as yesterday. There was just no drive grip exiting corners, so it was more difficult to make a lap time. Quite slow corners lead onto the fast straight sections on this track and if you can’t get good grip on the exit, you can’t carry momentum on the straight and that can cost a lot of time. It also got quite windy in the afternoon and that makes it difficult as well. I got some good experience of riding in the rain, and but hopefully it will be dry tomorrow so I can try a full race simulation.” Colin Edwards 10th 1.31.593 “It was a difficult day with the weather but we still managed to take something positive out of it. I tried a new front rain tyre from Michelin that I was asking about and they produced one out of the back of the truck and I was really happy with it. Michelin seem to have really taken steps forward with slick and wet tyres. The tyre was different to what I had in the wet last season and it felt more natural for my style. The electronics in the rain are so much better too. The bike is easier to ride. I came in after the first run and gave my electronics guys a hug because I was so happy with it. I liked the ’08 chassis in the rain too. It gives me a lot of confidence and I can understand more what’s going on with the front tyre. This afternoon the track was slippery as hell. I tried a few tyres from Michelin but it was hard to gauge with the track being so greasy. At the end of the day I think we have learned something for Michelin and Yamaha and that’s the key.” Results: 1. Stoner, Ducati Marlboro - 1'29.938 (45) 2. De Angelis, Honda Gresini - 1'30.449 (54) 3. Dovizioso, JiR Team Scot - 1'31.074 (60) 4. Nakano, Honda Gresini - 1'31.316 (74) 5. Haydon, Repsol Honda Team - 1'31.373 (72) 6. Toseland, Yamaha Tech3 - 1'31.451 (55) 7. Melandri, Ducati Marlboro - 1'31.478 (80) 8. Capirossi, Rizla Suzuki - 1'31.545 (62) 9. De Puniet, LCR Honda - 1'31.575 (72) 10. Edwards, Yamaha Tech3 - 1'31.593 (44) 11. Vermeulen, Rizla Suzuki - 1'31.774 (50) 12. West, Kawasaki Racing - 1'32.242 (75) 13. Elias, Alice Team - 1'32.246 (59) 14. Guintoli, Alice Team - 1'32.431 (64) Click here to view the news

The Tech 3 Team is pleased to announce that the Yamaha-Dunlop project will continue in 2007 with a two-rider line-up. After signing Makoto Tamada last week, Tech 3 Yamaha has completed its 2007 squad with the addition of French 250cc rider and current Tech 3 test rider Sylvain Guintoli. Herve Poncharal, Team Principal of Tech 3 Yamaha, said “I am very grateful to Yamaha for supporting us for one more season and enabling us to have two riders on the new 800cc motorcycle. Furthermore, I am very happy to announce that Sylvain Guintoli will be our second rider alongside Makoto Tamada. The Tech 3 Yamaha Team will be the only team to run Dunlop tyres in MotoGP and we are delighted that we will have such a talented line-up to continue with the great work that we’ve done in 2006.” “It’s a dream come true for me to finally step up to the MotoGP class,” added French star Guintoli. “Herve and I have known each other for years and to be given the chance to ride with a Yamaha factory team is a fantastic opportunity for me. I want to thank Herve Poncharal and Yamaha for this chance and I can’t wait to begin working with them.” Click here to view the news

Fiat Yamaha Team riders Valentino Rossi and Colin Edwards are faced with a difficult challenge for tomorrow's Malaysian Grand Prix in Sepang after struggling during qualifying this afternoon. The team worked hard throughout the day to rectify the lack of grip from which both riders have been suffering, but they were unable to find a competitive package and the pair now face a daunting task for tomorrow's 21-lap race when they start from ninth and thirteenth positions. The rain stayed away today and during this morning's session, with temperatures in the low 30s and conditions of the newly improved track becoming increasingly more consistent as more rubber was laid down, times improved all round. Rossi and Edwards both made some positive steps forward and finished the session in seventh and thirteenth, confident of more improvements this afternoon. However this was not to be and a lack of grip on race tyres this afternoon kept the pair down in the lower orders, before they made their qualifying challenges in the last 15 minutes. Rossi briefly held second after his first qualifying lap but several riders went faster and a small mistake with his second tyre meant he was unable to improve again. Ninth place puts him on the outside of the third row, whilst Edwards will start from the head of the fifth row after failing to find a comfortable rhythm with either of his qualifying tyres. Valentino Rossi - Position: 9th Time: 2'02.466 Laps: 22 "This morning things were feeling better for us and we were a little bit more confident. Unfortunately this afternoon, with the higher temperatures, our tyres didn't work in the same way and we were much slower and sliding quite a lot. With the qualifying tyre I was quite confident and they worked quite well, as they have all season, and I thought there was a chance for the front row. With the second one I thought we could improve again but I had a slide in the third section and lost some time, and so now we are on the third row. I am quite disappointed because our race pace is not good at the moment and we needed to be on the front row to give us the best chance possible for tomorrow. It will be difficult to use the warm-up to our advantage because the conditions are different to those we will probably have during the race, but anyway we will do what we can and try to make the best from the situation." Colin Edwards - Position: 13th Time: 2'03.040 Laps: 19 "There's really very little to say about today and I think it's better if I say "no comment!" We've got some big problems and it hasn't been fun. I want to say thanks to all my guys; they're working so hard to try and make a difference and find a way to improve things and I know they won't give up at any point. It's going to be a very hard race but it's not over till it's over so we'll just have to wait and see what we can improve before 3pm tomorrow and what happens after the lights go out." Davide Brivio - Team Director "We're in quite a difficult position and now we have to try our hardest to find a better package for the race. At the moment we just don't have enough grip and both riders are struggling to contend with this, so we are quite slow. This morning both Valentino and Colin made some good improvements but this afternoon we were unable to continue in the same way. We couldn't find the right combination to challenge with today but we have some ideas and we will be doing our utmost to give both of them a more competitive package for tomorrow's race." Qualifying 1 Pos., Rider, Manu., Nat., Total Time 1, Daniel Pedrosa, Honda, ESP, 2'1.877 2, Casey Stoner, Ducati, AUS, 2'1.918 3, Marco Melandri, Honda, ITA, 2'1.944 4, Randy De Puniet, Kawasaki, FRA, 2'2.107 5, Anthony West, Kawasaki, AUS, 2'2.202 6, Nicky Hayden, Honda, USA, 2'2.225 7, Chris Vermeulen, Suzuki, AUS, 2'2.301 8, Toni Elias, Honda, ESP, 2'2.432 9, Valentino Rossi, Yamaha, ITA, 2'2.466 10, John Hopkins, Suzuki, USA, 2'2.697 11, Loris Capirossi, Ducati, ITA, 2'2.708 12, Alex Barros, Ducati, BRA, 2'3.022 13, Colin Edwards, Yamaha, USA, 2'3.040 14, Shinya Nakano, Honda, JPN, 2'3.233 15, Sylvain Guintoli, Yamaha, FRA, 2'3.408 16, Carlos Checa, Honda, ESP, 2'3.525 17, Chaz Davies, Ducati, GBR, 2'4.197 18, Makoto Tamada, Yamaha, JPN, 2'4.314 19, Nobuatsu Aoki, Suzuki, JPN, 2'4.604 20, Kurtis Roberts, KR212V, USA, 2'5.404 Click here to view the news

Yamaha owned the top steps of the podiums in both the AMA Supercross and Lites West Coast classes last Saturday in San Diego. Chad Reed clinched his fourth victory in succession on the San Manuel YZ450F, and fifth from the six rounds of seventeen held so far. Jason Law steered the Yamaha of Troy YZ250F to his third win on the trot and of his career. In front of more than 64,000 fans in the Qualcomm stadium Reed edged his lead in the standings of the AMA series (also an FIM World Championship) to 35 points while Lawrence leapt to the top of the Lites table for the first time and has a margin of 2 points over Ryan Dungey. Australian Reed continued Yamaha's splendid record in San Diego, notching the 12th win for Yamaha in a history that stretches back to Mike Bell's first success in 1980. It was Reed's fifth personal triumph in the southern Californian city and forged a landmark 100% ratio for the racer across the state. The 25 year old took part in an entertaining 20 lap main event with Honda's Davi Millsaps. The pair traded the lead in the opening circulations before Reed assumed control for nine laps but then he slipped off the Yamaha and handed the initiative back to Millsaps. Showing calmness and determination Reed reeled off a steady four laps to draw the American back to his front wheel and regained the advantage with only a few minutes of the race remaining. "I was horrible all day, and I'm so happy to get this win," said the rider who now has 31 victories - just one of three riders to have accumulated more than 30 in the history of the sport. "I got out front, and Davi passed me back, and I knew I needed to get in behind him and let the race deepen for a few laps, and then try and make a pass and a break. I got a pretty decent gap, and then I just lost concentration and lost it. But I'm pumped to get another win in San Diego, and to win all of the rounds in California - I don't think anyone else has ever done that before." Millsaps was also passed by Tim Ferry before the chequered flag. Reed's advantage in the championship over Kevin Windham (fifth position in San Diego) means that the 2004 champion can even afford to miss a race and still hold control. Yamaha factory team's Josh Hill was sixth in the main event. AMA Motocross Champion Grant Langston was out of action with an eye complaint while the third member of the crew, Broc Hepler, is expected to be out of the Lites series for six weeks after breaking his hand last weekend in Los Angeles. The growing confidence and form of Jason Lawrence hit a peak in San Diego when the 20 year old hole-shotted and led all fifteen laps of the main event on his YZ250F, seizing control of the series from Ryan Dungey in the process, who had previously headed the championship since the opening race. "I had the 18th gate pick and I was way out here on the outside, but I got to the first turn first, somehow. I don't know how. I was amazed to see a clear track. From there on I was just trying to be smart and not crash," he said. "I was trying to keep tabs on Dungey and he actually crashed again. That's the third race in a row that he's cracked under some pressure, so we have two more races, and I'm up by two points - I'm just trying to win the title." Round seven takes place next weekend in the Reliant stadium as the AMA/FIM competition travels east to Houston. Race 1 - 20 Laps Pos., Rider, Manu., Nat., Total Time 1, Chad Reed, Yamaha, AUS, 17'0.000 2, Tim Ferry, Kawasaki, USA, 0'2.300 3, David D Millsaps, Honda, USA, 0'4.100 4, Andrew Short, Honda, USA, 0'5.800 5, Kevin Windham, Honda, USA, 0'9.600 6, Josh Hill, Yamaha, USA, 0'19.200 7, David Vuillemin, Suzuki, FRA, 0'25.500 8, Nathan Ramsey, Yamaha, USA, 0'30.000 9, Nicholas Wey, KTM, USA, 0'38.500 10, Jason Thomas, Honda, USA, 0'49.000 11, Troy Adams, Honda, USA, 0'52.600 12, Kevin W. Johnson, Yamaha, USA, -1 Laps 13, Paul Carpenter, Honda, USA, -1 Laps 14, Travis Preston, Honda, USA, -1 Laps 15, Jeff Alessi, Honda, USA, -1 Laps 16, Eric Sorby, Honda, USA, -1 Laps 17, Jacob Marsack, Honda, USA, -1 Laps 18, Josh Hansen, Yamaha, USA, -2 Laps 19, Gregory Crater, Honda, USA, -3 Laps 20, Charles Summey, Yamaha, USA, -19 Laps Rider Standings 09/02/2008 Pos., Rider, Manu., Nat., Points 1, Chad Reed, Yamaha, AUS, 147 2, Kevin Windham, Honda, USA, 112 3, Tim Ferry, Kawasaki, USA, 99 4, David D Millsaps, Honda, USA, 85 5, Andrew Short, Honda, USA, 85 6, Nathan Ramsey, Yamaha, USA, 70 7, Mike Alessi, Suzuki, USA, 69 8, Nicholas Wey, KTM, USA, 65 9, Josh Hill, Yamaha, USA, 64 10, Ivan Tedesco, Honda, USA, 53 11, David Vuillemin, Suzuki, FRA, 49 12, James Stewart, Kawasaki, USA, 47 13, Paul Carpenter, Honda, USA, 43 14, Charles Summey, Yamaha, USA, 39 15, Grant Langston, Yamaha, RSA, 38 Manufacturer Standings 09/02/2008 Pos., Manufacturer, Points 1, Yamaha, 147 2, Kawasaki, 122 3, Honda, 120 4, Suzuki, 83 5, KTM, 65 Click here to view the news

Another scorching day in Sepang saw the Yamaha riders putting in some fast laps on the new 2008 YZR-M1 today, on the second day of the opening test of the year. Proving that Edwards, Rossi and Lorenzo were harbouring no ill-effects from yesterday’s falls, three out of four Yamaha riders topped the time sheets. Rossi was a second faster than yesterday and over half a second under lap record pace, setting the third fastest time of the day on a race tyre as his team-mate Jorge Lorenzo was just behind him with a time of 2’01.583. Yamaha Tech 3 rider Colin Edwards was just ahead of both Fiat Yamaha riders in second place in a time of 2.01.327. For the second consecutive day Randy de Puniet topped the time sheets. Rossi once again worked on the pneumatic-valve engine and on the new electronics, as well as concentrating on tyre testing with Bridgestone as he and his crew continue their learning curve with their new tyre manufacturer. Rossi completed 60 laps and his best lap of the day, a time of 2’01.437, was set just before five pm. Valentino Rossi - Position: 3rd Time: 2’01.437 Laps: 60 “Today we continued to work on bike set-up in the same way as yesterday and on the new engine, the electronics and the tyres. We continued with the pneumatic-valve engine as it’s important to get as much mileage as possible behind us with this engine to check the performance, the reliability and just to gain experience with it. With the electronics we worked a lot on the acceleration mapping and I’m quite happy with this. Although it doesn’t make us any faster, it helps me to be more comfortable on the bike. Finally we tested some different rear tyres with Bridgestone and also some qualifying tyres, although we didn’t improve on the time with the soft tyres so we need to work more in this area. We completed a lot of work today and hopefully we can have another good day tomorrow to finish.” Davide Brivio - Team Manager “We were able to get through a lot of work today and we’re finding some good results. We continued to work a lot with different settings, constantly modifying the bike, as we learn more about it, to make it easier and faster to ride. Valentino is getting more used to his new tyres and therefore he is gaining more confidence and going faster. We didn’t complete a long run today but this is on the schedule for tomorrow so we hope for more good weather to allow us to get through all of our testing schedule.” New Fiat Yamaha Team signing Jorge Lorenzo showed how quickly he’s getting to grips with his new YZR-M1 today when he finished the second day of testing in Sepang in fourth position. The 20-year-old improved on his time from day one by a second and was also under the lap record pace. Continuing from where he left off yesterday, Lorenzo had his first chance to try the pneumatic-valve engine and reported some improvement with it. Aside from that, today’s primary focus was tyres and the Spaniard and his crew commenced an extensive programme of rubber testing with Michelin. His best lap, in a time of 2’01.583, was set on the 31st of 54 laps shortly before one pm. Jorge Lorenzo - Position: 4th Time: 2’01.583 Laps: 54 “Today was a good day! We continued in the same way as yesterday, working on our overall performance and we improved by one second, so this is very encouraging. I tested the new pneumatic-valve engine and this was interesting and I found some improvement with it. We’re still working on the hard braking and, although we have improved our performance in these areas a bit, we still need to do more work on this. Likewise I’m still adjusting my riding style to better suit the M1 but this is becoming more natural and comfortable for me day-by-day. Finally we also began testing tyres with Michelin today. We tried quite a lot of new material, especially for the rear, and found some good stuff. I’m happy with the day’s work and hopefully we can have an even better day tomorrow.” Daniele Romagnoli - Team Manager “Today we had even more positive results. We continued with our testing plan and Jorge showed a good overall performance today. We’re still focusing on improving the stability into the hard braking corners and Jorge also had his first chance to try the pneumatic-valve engine, which gave him a good feeling and worked well for him. Today we also began our testing programme with Michelin, trying several new compound tyres, which helped Jorge to improve his performance further. Tomorrow we’ll continue with Michelin and hopefully we will also have the chance to do a race simulation and check our overall performance.” Edwards finds his feet on Sepang second day The second day of action for the Yamaha Tech3 MotoGP team at the Sepang circuit in Malaysia revealed further progress for the French crew and their riders Colin Edwards, who was second quickest, and James Toseland, clocking in with the eleventh best time but shaving a second off his best, with their YZR-M1 machinery. A total of 105 laps were completed at the venue which will host the penultimate round of eighteen in the 2008 MotoGP world championship. Edwards recorded a lap-time that was less than two-tenths of a second away from the fastest effort. The Texan immediately felt at home with a new chassis on the M1 and was also full of praise for the Michelin tyres that enabled him to register his impressive circulation. Colin Edwards – Position: 2nd time: 2.01.327, 46 laps “I am so happy right now,” he said. “Yesterday I was confused after the crash and what the problem could be. We had been struggling with engine braking but after we found the cause we went at it again this morning and the difference was huge. We made a small change to the new chassis and things were much better. I was more comfortable and the bike was working just how I wanted.” “We burned a few laps and I have to say ‘hats-off’ to Michelin and a big thank you! We had problems last year, but without a doubt they have redeemed themselves and more; I am really pleased and we should know better than to doubt Michelin anyway,” he added. “At tests you don’t push, not at 110% anyway,” the 33 year old said (34 next month), who has notched eight MotoGP podiums, “but I felt good out there. I was calming down and putting in less effort but I was still doing 2:01s and that little series of laps we made was great.” Edwards, also running a new swing-arm, is planning on making a longer on-track stint tomorrow to collect further valuable data for the chassis of the M1 and also tyre information. James Toseland, still getting acquainted with the M1 and the rigours of MotoGP testing, continued to cut his lap-times and today’s efforts saw a decent full second sliced from his personal best. James Toseland – Position:11th time: 2:02.276, 59 laps “To make that reduction in the lap-time was good even if I did more or less stay in the same position in the standings,” the 27 year old World Superbike Champion said “but I am not looking at positions at the moment, just the fact that I am getting quicker and quicker.” “We have a problem with chatter at the moment, which is holding us back, but we have a few things to try in terms of engine braking, electronics and traction control and we will be going through that stuff tomorrow,” he remarked after making 59 laps. “The adjustments seemed to work for Colin and if you look at the telemetry data then my setting was three times worse than his. So I am quite pleased that we are still doing pretty good lap-times. I made a 2:03 yesterday and I said to the team last night that I was looking forward to being in the ’02s today. I hardly dropped out of that bracket so I am happy, and will hope to get in the ‘01s tomorrow!” The third and final day of work takes place at Sepang tomorrow before Tech3 box-up and travel to the flowing Phillip Island circuit in Australia. Results 1. Randy De Puniet - Honda Lcr 2:01.139 2. Colin Edwards - Yamaha Tech32:01.327 3. Valentino Rossi - Fiat Yamaha Team 2:01.437 4. Jorge Lorenzo - Fiat Yamaha Team 2:01.583 5. Casey Stoner - Ducati Marlboro 2:01.638 6. John Hopkins - Kawasaki Racing2:01.874 7. Loris Capirossi - Rizla Suzuki 2:01.917 8. Andrea Dovizioso - Jir Team Scot2:02.006 9. Shinya Nakano - Honda Gresini2:02.095 10. Nicky Hayden - Repsol Hrc2:02.102 11. James Toseland - Yamaha Tech32:02.276 12. Chris Vermeulen - Rizla Suzuki 2:02.371 13. Anthony West - Kawasaki Racing 2:02.579 14. Alex De Angelis - Honda Gresini 2:02.914 15. Toni Elias - Alice Team 2:03.311 16. Marco Melandri - Ducati Marlboro 2:03.380 17 Olivier Jacque - Kawasaki Racing2:03.462 18 Sylvain Guintoli - Alice Team2:04.217 19 Tamaki Serizawa - Kawasaki Racing2:04.382 20 Niccolò Canepa - Ducati Test2:04.427 Sepang Lap Record Casey Stoner (Ducati) 2007 - 2'02.108 Sepang Best Lap Valentino Rossi (Yamaha) 2006 - 2'00.605 Click here to view the news

Valentino Rossi set yet another record in his extraordinary racing career today, becoming the first rider in the history of the sport to take six consecutive wins at his home circuit. The 85,480 adoring fans who had braved the threat of rain and turned the green hillsides of the Mugello valley bright yellow were rewarded in style as the Italian scored an emphatic and emotional victory, his fourth here for Yamaha and eighth in total from twelve years of racing. Under miraculously dry skies, the Fiat Yamaha Team rider got a poor start from third on the grid and found himself down in eighth position at turn one. Once he had built up enough heat in his Michelin tyres however he set out in earnest, picking off riders one-by-one and moving up to second behind Dani Pedrosa by lap seven of 23. Two laps later Rossi made his move on the Spaniard and from then on the pair were racing just a few tenths of a second apart, with Rossi extending the advantage around the twistier parts of the circuit and Pedrosa closing it slightly down the long home straight. Little by little however Rossi began to pull away and he eventually crossed the line 3.074 seconds ahead of Pedrosa. A late pass by Alex Barros on series-leader Casey Stoner for third place helped Rossi's points deficit and he now lies just nine points behind Stoner in the standings, with some of his favourite races coming up in the next few weeks. It was a less successful day for Rossi's team-mate Colin Edwards, who despite showing a strong race pace in the dry today was heavily penalised by starting from the sixth row of the grid. The Texan has yet to enjoy a successful race at this circuit and was only able to make up a few places on his starting position, finishing 12th and slipping one place in the championship standings down to tenth. Valentino Rossi Position: 1stTime: 42'42.385 "To win in Mugello once again is an incredible emotion for me and I am very happy at this moment. Racing in front of the fans here is always something unbelievable and they give me an extra motivation. It's an incredible feeling to see so much yellow around the track, the fans were 'coming crazy' today and it was a wonderful race! As we had hoped it stayed dry, the sun came out and everything went to plan! My team have worked brilliantly, my bike was perfect and I could ride it exactly how I wanted, I need to say a huge thank you to them and also to Michelin. I didn't get a very good start but once my tyres had warmed up my M1 really flew and I was able to fight back to the front. From the very beginning everyone was pushing at 100% and it was great fun in those first few laps! It was really a perfect race for me today and I felt like I had everyone on my side; Mugello is a magical track for me and this victory gives us a lot of power and confidence for the next races. I had a special helmet for this race with a big heart on it and today I think we showed that we really have a lot of heart at Yamaha. This is a great, great moment for me." Colin Edwards Position: 12thTime: +28.001 "Yet again Mugello just hasn't worked out for me and it was a pretty terrible weekend from start to finish. I think that today I had the pace for fifth or sixth place but starting from where I was I lost about six or seven seconds on the first lap alone as there was so much traffic in front of me. We lost a lot of time on Friday morning, one of only two hours of dry practice time, trying some new stuff which didn't work out and things didn't get much better after that. I think this is just my bogey track and I can't wait to leave and get straight back out there in a few days in Barcelona. Let's hope for better things in Spain." Davide Brivio - Team Director What a fantastic day! To win in Mugello is already wonderful but to win strongly with a gap like this is unbelievable. Even in our greatest dreams we couldn't have imagined a better race with Valentino today. This is a result that first of all Valentino deserves for the energy and motivation that he puts into everything, but also all of the team, everyone at Yamaha and Michelin. The entire group has worked very hard recently after some difficult races to bring us back to the top step. This is just one race but it's a very important one. We've reacted very well lately, we came here with some good engine developments, Michelin made some improvements too and this is a great moment for everybody. Unfortunately Colin was penalised by his starting position because his pace wasn't so bad and I think with a better grid position he could have been much higher. It's good now that we leave this track, which he doesn't like so much, and go to Barcelona where he has a much better record. Now the championship is getting very interesting and we just have to keep going like this. Well done everyone!" The Grand Prix of Italy at the picturesque Mugello layout in the Tuscan hills proved to be a difficult weekend with changeable weather conditions over the entire three days. Dunlop Yamaha Tech 3 riders, Sylvain Guintoli and Makoto Tamada finished 14th and 15th respectively. The circumstances of the weekend with limited dry track time made finding an optimum race set up challenging but nonetheless, the weekend provided several steps forward that will surely benefit the team in the remaining 12 rounds of the MotoGP world Championship. Particularly, these included the first use of the new generation of Dunlop's 16" front tyre in a race situation after testing at Istanbul and Le Mans. Also, based on the experience gained in the wet at both the Le Mans race and subsequent test, new wet tyres were brought and tested with positive results during practice. Sylvain Guintoli Position: 14thTime: +45.098 That was another good weekend as I have to keep in mind that we had not so much dry practice and also that we were using the 16" front wheel for the first time in a race plus new rears because of the track temperature so we had to take a bit of a gamble but it was a good gamble. It wasn't the best of starts but I settled into a rhythm and eventually passed Olivier Jacque and my teammate Makoto - that is always the first priority. We had a good battle during the entire race so it was a lot of fun as well but it was very good for me to finish in front of them. I'm looking forward to Barcelona next week as I have had some good races there as I am normally fast there so hopefully we can have a good weekend like Le Mans. Makoto Tamada Position: 15thTime: + 45.145 That was a very difficult weekend for everybody with the conditions as we had everything from full sun to heavy rains so it made it very hard to decide on a final setup. In the end the race was not so bad. For the opening laps I had a very good feeling but then the grip of the tyre dropped off a little but then remained pretty constant. I am very happy with the new 16in front tyre and have a much better feeling than before so I feel that I am progressing and getting faster with the bike and the tyres and it is getting better every race. Now we move on to Barcelona at a track that I like so I am hoping next week will be very good for me and the team. Herve Poncharal - Dunlop Yamaha Tech 3 Team Manager The changeable weather conditions this weekend made it very difficult so we had to make many decisions on what might happen in the race. Unfortunately due to the variable conditions during the qualifying session we ended up not where we wanted to be on the grid. Thank heavens the day remained dry - great for the show, the team and the spectators. Both our riders made bad starts today but they recovered well and picked up the pace to pass Olivier Jacque and Carlos Checa. It is nothing to be too excited about finishing 14th and 15th but we finished with both our riders in the points again. We are still behind the others but with the new 16" front we took another positive step forward. It was a very good performance by Sylvain as he continues to learn and get faster as he battled and beat a MotoGP winner as well as an ex-250cc world champion and he does this in his rookie year. He is pushing everytime he is on the bike which to me is satisfying. Makoto also did pretty well keeping his head down after his start and with our riders results we are now just two points off Kawasaki in the teams' championship. Now we head to Barcelona so we should be able to have stable weather for the weekend. Dunlop is working flat out to improve everytime we ride and we are reaching a critical time in the championship so hopefully we can keep the momentum going and improve our results. Circuit Length: 5245 Temp: 24 Weather: Dry 2007 MotoGP Italy - Mugello 03/06/2007 Race 1 - 23 Laps Pos. Rider Manu. Nat. Total Time 1 Valentino Rossi Yamaha ITA 42'42.385 2 Daniel Pedrosa Honda ESP 0'3.074 3 Alex Barros Ducati BRA 0'5.956 4 Casey Stoner Ducati AUS 0'6.012 5 John Hopkins Suzuki USA 0'13.244 6 Toni Elias Honda ESP 0'19.255 7 Loris Capirossi Ducati ITA 0'19.646 8 Chris Vermeulen Suzuki AUS 0'22.810 9 Marco Melandri Honda ITA 0'22.837 10 Nicky Hayden Honda USA 0'24.413 11 Alex Hofmann Ducati GER 0'24.781 12 Colin Edwards Yamaha USA 0'28.001 13 Shinya Nakano Honda JPN 0'36.733 14 Sylvain Guintoli Yamaha FRA 0'45.098 15 Makoto Tamada Yamaha JPN 0'45.145 Rider Standings 03/06/2007 Pos. Rider Manu. Nat. Points 1. Casey Stoner Ducati AUS 115 2. Valentino Rossi Yamaha ITA 106 3. Daniel Pedrosa Honda ESP 82 4. Marco Melandri Honda ITA 68 5. Chris Vermeulen Suzuki AUS 63 6. John Hopkins Suzuki USA 59 7. Loris Capirossi Ducati ITA 47 8. Toni Elias Honda ESP 45 9. Alex Barros Ducati BRA 43 10. Colin Edwards Yamaha USA 39 11. Nicky Hayden Honda USA 36 12. Alex Hofmann Ducati GER 35 13. Carlos Checa Honda ESP 20 14. Randy De Puniet Kawasaki FRA 19 15. Shinya Nakano Honda JPN 18 16. Sylvain Guintoli Yamaha FRA 14 17. Makoto Tamada Yamaha JPN 12 Team Standings 03/06/2007 Pos. Team Points 1. Ducati Marlboro Team 162 2. FIAT Yamaha Team 145 3. Rizla Suzuki 122 4. Repsol Honda Team 118 5. Honda Gresini 113 6. Pramac D'Antin 78 7. Kawasaki Racing Team 28 8. Tech3 Yamaha 26 9. Honda LCR 20 10. Konica Minolta Honda 18 11. Team Roberts 4 Manufacturer Standings 03/06/2007 Pos. Manufacturer Points 1. Ducati 118 2. Honda 109 3. Yamaha 106 4. Suzuki 82 5. Kawasaki 28 6. KR212V 4 Click here to view the news

Weather and tyre issues brought about an end to Valentino Rossi's slim title chances today, as he finished 13th in Motegi despite a heroic ride which saw him lead the race at one point. His Fiat Yamaha team-mate Colin Edwards suffered similar problems in what was an extraordinary race, finishing one place behind Rossi in 14th. With the asphalt still wet after a morning of light rain, the riders started with wet-weather tyres on a fast-drying track. Rossi got a poor start from second on the grid and crossed the line for the first time in seventh place, with Edwards behind him in eighth. An outstanding ride from the seven-time World Champion then saw him fight his way back to the front, making up five seconds on the leaders and taking the lead on lap 14. The racing line by now was almost completely dry however, and behind him most riders had already opted to pit and change onto their second bikes with slick tyres. When Rossi eventually came in to change one lap later he had built up such a lead that he was able to re-join the race in second place, behind eventual winner Loris Capirossi, but Yamaha's jubilation was short-lived as Rossi immediately ran into serious issues with his front tyre and was forced to pit again. He rejoined the race in 15th but was able to make up only two places to the finish as he struggled with grip. Edwards, who was in third place when Rossi came in for the first time, rejoined in eighth but had similar tyre problems and also dropped back through the field to cross the line two seconds behind his team-mate. Casey Stoner took sixth place, which was enough to secure him the World Championship title. Rossi remains second and 26 points clear of Dani Pedrosa, who failed to finish the race, while Edwards drops two places down the standings to ninth, with three races remaining Click here to view the news

One of the most exciting seasons in the history of the MotoGP World Championship reaches an intense climax next weekend as Valentino Rossi and Nicky Hayden (Honda) go head-to-head for the title in a final-round shootout at Valencia. The amphitheatre-style surroundings of the Ricardo Tormo circuit on the outskirts of the Spanish city provide the perfect stage for the ultimate instalment of a 17-round epic that began on the Iberian peninsular in less than perfect fashion for Camel Yamaha rider Rossi nine months ago. Since being knocked from his bike in the first corner of the first race at Jerez, the Italian has been through virtually every emotion known to a motorcycle racer. A dramatically unpredictable season of twists and turns has seen Rossi visit the gravel traps, the hospital and the top step of the podium in almost equal measures, with technical problems also robbing him of vital points in the first half of the season. However, since finding himself a massive 51 points behind Hayden after round eleven at Laguna Seca, the five-time World Champion has shown his true colours with a string of five consecutive podium finishes. His latest, second place in the Grand Prix of Portugal at Estoril, coupled with a crash for Hayden, finally lifted him above the American to the top of the standings for the first time this season and opened up an eight-point gap between the pair with one round to go. It means that for the first time in fourteen seasons the destiny of the MotoGP World Championship will be decided in the final round, with the drama set to unfold in front of a sell-out crowd in excess of 120,000 people in the firecracker atmosphere of Cheste. Colin Edwards will once again be looking to play the role of good team-mate after his star performance at Estoril just over a week ago. The Texan was back to his best form in Portugal, qualifying second on the grid and providing a crucial helping hand to Rossi in the early stages of the race - only to narrowly miss out on his second rostrum of the season as he took fourth place at the line. This weekend Edwards' clear objective is to go at least one position better and make sure he is celebrating alongside Rossi on Sunday evening. Valentino Rossi: My one chance Valentino Rossi travels to Spain this week knowing that he cannot afford to let this incredible opportunity slip after admitting that a fifth title defence was effectively out of his hands just five rounds ago. Hayden's well-publicised misfortune in Portugal has perhaps overshadowed the fact that it is Rossi's own form - a run of nine top-three finishes from the last eleven races - that has propelled him to the top of the standings and fulfilled his target of arriving at the final round with a sixth consecutive premier-class title in sight. "Things went very well for us in Estoril - we've achieved our goal of coming here still fighting for the championship and for this I have to thank everyone in the team so much," says Rossi. "Each person has worked at 100% to bring us back to this position and now we're all very excited about this final race. Of course it's not going to be like other times, when I have won the championship with some races to spare and less pressure. Now I only have one chance. It's a big pressure for everyone but it's great for the show. "Valencia isn't one of my best tracks and we also know that Hayden is really strong there, so it's definitely not going to be easy. On the other hand we know that the M1 works quite well there and in the race last year it was very good in the second half of the race especially. If we can start from the front then I think we can try for the win, but whatever happens it's going to be a really exciting race. Hopefully Colin and I can be at the front together like in Estoril and we'll just see what we can do!" Colin Edwards: A team player Colin Edwards says his number one aim this weekend is to help out his great friend and team-mate Valentino Rossi in his quest to win the title. The best way to do that, of course, is for the Texan to keep his excellent form going and continue with the recent progress the pair have made with the set-up of their YZR-M1 machines. Edwards' attitude is a reflection of a tight team ethic at Camel Yamaha and it is something he hopes will pay dividends when the chequered flag greets the 2006 MotoGP World Champion on Sunday. "I'm pretty excited about the last race of the season, it's going to be pretty close I reckon," says Edwards. "Estoril worked out well for the team and I was able to help Valentino out, which was the number one aim. Obviously I was disappointed not to be on the podium but my bike worked great and I think that we're in good shape to do it all again at Valencia." "I've raced at Valencia for years so I know it really well and I know I am quite fast there. Like in Estoril, the aim is going to be to get on the front row alongside Valentino and then just to help him out in the race as much as possible. Of course this time out I want to be on the podium too, a Yamaha one-two would be the perfect end to the season!" Davide Brivio: The final push For Camel Yamaha Team Director Davide Brivio the Grand Prix of Portugal epitomised the togetherness and spirit shown by his riders and staff since bouncing back from the brink of failure midway through the season. With just one round remaining the Italian is asking for one final, definitive push before a well-earned break and the start of the new 800cc era in 2007. "Since the summer break we have just taken the races one-by-one, working our hardest and keeping our focus, and the results have been excellent," reflects Brivio. "Our objective from Brno onwards was to keep fighting until the end of the season and try to get to the last round with a mathematical chance of winning the title. After Portugal that mathematical chance is a lot stronger than we expected but it is not over yet and, as we all know from our experience this season, anything can still happen. "It looks like being another dramatic weekend but from our point of view the objective is just the same as it has been for the last five or six races - to keep our heads down, work hard and stay focused on the job of giving our riders the best possible package for Sunday. If we can do that then I'm sure Valentino and Colin will do their part too, and hopefully we can celebrate together on Sunday." Technically speaking: Valencia according to Jeremy Burgess With its unique stadium-style surroundings the Ricardo Tormo circuit in Valencia is a spectacular, if somewhat cramped facility characterised by a never-ending burst of tight corners, connected by short straights. The long penultimate looping left-hander and the fast entry to turn one contrast violently with the otherwise geometric flip-flop chicanes and slow-speed corners of the infield. "Valencia isn't one of Valentino's favourite tracks because it is so tight and twisty, but we won there in 2004 and finished third last year after starting well down the grid, so we know the M1 works well," says Jeremy Burgess, Chief Engineer to Valentino Rossi. "One of the big lessons we have learnt this season is that if you want to win in this class nowadays then you really have to start from the front so we will again be using the free practice sessions to make sure we have the right bike settings for both qualifying and the race. "Technically there is not much to say about Valencia other than the obvious fact that it has a lot of low gear usage and very little throttle - with the back straight and the start-finish straight being the only two high speed sections. The last long left is different to any other corner in the world and it can be crucial to the outcome of the race so for that reason it requires special attention when setting the bike up to make sure you have the speed coming towards the line. The rest is slow and anti-clockwise - there's not much else to say about it really!" Valentino Rossi: Information Age: 27 Lives: London, UK Bike: Yamaha YZR-M1 GP victories: 84 (57 x MotoGP/500cc, 14 x 250cc, 12 x 125cc) First GP victory: Czech Republic, 1996 (125cc) First GP: Malaysia, 1996 (125cc) GP starts: 172 (113 x MotoGP/500cc, 30 x 250cc, 30 x 125cc) Pole positions: 44 World Championships - 7 Grand Prix (1 x 125cc, 1 x 250cc, 1 x 500cc, 4 x MotoGP) Colin Edwards: Information Age: 32 Lives: Conroe, Texas Bike: Yamaha YZR-M1 First GP: Japan, 2003 (MotoGP) GP starts: 65 x MotoGP World Championships - 2 World Superbike Valencia Lap Record: Marco Melandri (Honda) 2004, 1'33.043 Valencia Best Lap: Sete Gibernau (Honda) 2005, 1'31.874 2005 Valencia Grand Prix Results: 1. Marco Melandri (ITA) Honda, 46'58.152 2. Nicky Hayden (USA) Honda, +0.097 3. Valentino Rossi (ITA) Yamaha +2.959 8. Colin Edwards (USA) Yamaha, +25.678 Click here to view the news

The Yamaha Motor Italia World Superbike Team has signed promising young British rider Tom Sykes for the 2009 season with the option to extend for 2010. The 23yr old from Huddersfield in England will ride the all new 2009 Yamaha YZF R1 in next year’s World Superbike Championship. Sykes has proved to be a competitive and talented rider in the 2008 British Superbike Championship, showing an intelligent and mature riding style beyond his years.Two wildcard rides in WSB this year have seen him qualify an impressive sixth at Brands Hatch and seventh on the grid at Donington. At Brands he went on to score a sixth place in race two, whilst at Donington he had a storming race one, finishing up in second place after some close racing with Championship leader Troy Bayliss. Sykes raced in British Supersport for four years from 2003 to 2006, ending second in the championship in the final year. In 2007, his first year in British Superbike, Sykes finished the season a respectable sixth in the standings, and was named Rookie of The Year. He is currently second in the 2008 championship and the first rider on a four-cylinder machine. Massimo Meregalli – “Tom Sykes is an excellent signing for the team, he is the most interesting young rider in circulation in the racing world this year. I’ve had time to appreciate his riding qualities during the season and Brands Hatch was the confirmation of his talent for me. His brilliant result at Donington strengthened our conviction. We know that there will be much work next season because the new YZF-R1 arrives and it will have to learn the tracks. We have a lot of faith in being able to obtain good results quickly and the presence of a young person with a lot of ambition will give new motivation to the team.” “We are delighted to be able to offer Tom the next step in his racing career with Yamaha’s World Superbike Team” said Yamaha Motor Europe Racing Division Manager Laurens Klein Koerkamp. “We are sure he has the qualities needed to be a star rider of the future on the world stage. With the launch of the new R1 just three days ago, we are very excited about the potential for next year. We are looking forward to developing both the rider and the bike for championship success in 2009 and beyond.” Click here to view the news

Antonio Cairoli claimed his second big international prize in his young career by sealing the 2006 SX UEM championship. The 2005 MX2 world champion scored enough points at the 24th Fiat Supercross of Genova event held last weekend to claim the SX title. Earlier in the year Cairoli already won the Italian MX2 championship and finished as vice world champion in the MX2-GP class, making 2006 an almost prefect season. After Cairoli won the SX race in Milan earlier this year he succeeded in beating rival Renet in Geneva for the final race of the three round SX UEM championship. The victory even came a little unexpected as it was never a main goal of the Sicilian to challenge for SX glory; "Honestly I never considered this championship to be one of my main goals, I don’t even do special training for indoor SX races. But after competing at Bercy (Paris) and Milan I discovered that I was able to compete with the top European riders. I won the first round at Milan and prior to this last race I was only five points behind leader Renet, so I thought I’d better go to Genova!” said Cairoli. “It was a good race for me, I was fastest in most of the sessions and won the qualification and semifinal. At SX events the public is always fantastic and they really supported me, they were a real motivator! In the final I was away quickest, but same as in Bercy, Grant passed me soon after the start. I couldn’t really catch him. With Alessi I believe I could have fought until the end for the second place, but I made a small mistake and crashed when I hit a bale with my handlebar. I was able to defend third position and fortunately Degli Espositi passed Renet which handed me the title. To win this title is a real pleasure because I’m a big Supercross fan. I believe I can still improve my style and riding, but to carry the title of European SX Champion is not bad for now. I really want to thank the public for supporting me and of course my team who made a perfect supercross setting to my YZ250F. My team boss Claudio de Carli is now deciding what will be the next race to compete in, but first we take a very welcome break in December.” Results Genova: 1 Grant , 2 Alessi, 3 Cairoli, 4 Mills, 5 Degli Espositi, 6 Renet, 7 Pellegrini, 8 Izoird, 9 Meo, 10 Dami Classification EC: 1 Cairoli 41, 2 Renet 41, 3 Mills 33, 4 Grant 25, 5 Aubin 25 Click here to view the news