Alex Asigno

Fiat Yamaha Team rider Valentino Rossi finished second in the inaugural Grand Prix of the 800cc era today after losing out in a close battle with Casey Stoner (Ducati), who took his first MotoGP win. After starting from pole position for the 46th time in his career, Rossi got a good start but surrendered his lead to the eventual winner as they crossed the line at the end of the first lap with Dani Pedrosa (Honda) and John Hopkins (Suzuki) in close contention. From then on seven-time World Champion Rossi stalked the Australian youngster with both showing their strength in different parts of the track; Rossi's Yamaha was generally faster in the corners whilst the Ducati claimed the advantage on the straights. With four laps to go Rossi made his move and passed but Stoner passed him back over the line and Rossi was unable to stay with him in the final few laps. Stoner eventually took the chequered flag 2.8 seconds clear of Rossi with Pedrosa just holding on for third ahead of Hopkins. After being consistently fast throughout the practice sessions and also starting from the front row in third, today was not to be Colin Edwards' day and a small slide off the start line saw him lose his grid position into turn one before dropping to seventh by the end of the first lap. The Texan had a few problems during the race and was unable to make it back up to the front group, settling into a best position of fifth before Marco Melandri (Honda) eventually relegated him to sixth with three laps to go. Valentino Rossi Position: 2nd Time: +2.838 "It was a great race today and a good battle, although of course we would have preferred to start the season with a win! After the practice this morning we were a little bit scared because we had some problems with the tyre, but we understood what to do and I definitely made the right tyre choice with Michelin, so I am happy for that. I got a great start and my M1 worked very well, I could ride it how I wanted on the limit and keep pushing. I wanted to push Casey and try to take the fight to him more, but in fact he was perfect today. He didn't make a single mistake as far as I could see and he rode very well; he deserved to win so congratulations to him. I could see that he was faster on the straight and so I knew that if I got in front I was going to need to make a gap from him, but in fact he was too strong! In the last few laps we were getting faster and faster and I thought I still had a chance, but then he kept on going and my tyre started to slide a little bit so I wasn't able to stay with him to the finish. Anyway, we only waved the white flag right at the end so I am happy about this! Of course it's not perfect but my team have worked very hard and it's much better to have 20 points like this than two like last year! Now we need to find a little bit more horsepower, but Yamaha is working very hard and I am confident that we will continue to improve." Colin Edwards Position: 6th Time: +18.647 "I spun off the line on the dirty part of the track and so my start wasn't great, which was annoying. I had a bit of a feeling just before we went out that we would be slower in the first few laps as the tyre was going to take time to heat up and unfortunately that was the case; I just couldn't push hard enough in those vital first few laps. Anyway after that I was holding pace okay and thought I could stay with the top group but then I had a near crash on lap seven or eight coming into turn seven, to the extent when I was holding the bike up on my knee and elbow! I somehow figured out how to get it back up after 30 metres but we lost quite a bit of time. From then on my rhythm was okay and honestly the race as a whole wasn't so bad, but the tyre felt a bit greasy and I was lacking some front grip, which was strange after it had been perfect all weekend. We definitely need more power - that was obvious today, so that's priority number one for Yamaha I guess! Anyway, we've learnt a lot this weekend so let's go forward from here." Davide Brivio - Team Director "It could be a better start for us and it's not what we hoped for after starting on the front row with both riders, but anyway it's not so bad! Our bike is good and we can fight for the victory as Valentino showed today, but we have some more work to do. Colin unfortunately wasn't able to match the potential he showed during the practices, but I am sure he will be back at the top in Jerez. In some areas our bike is very strong and in other areas less so; now we will do our best to even this out. We gathered a lot more important information this weekend which will help our engineers over the coming days and I am sure we will be ready to fight again in Jerez." Circuit Length: 5380 Temp: 29 Weather: Dry 2007 MotoGP Qatar - Doha/Losail 10/03/2007 Race 1 - 22 Laps Pos. Rider Manu. Nat. Total Time 1 Casey Stoner Ducati AUS 43'2.788 2 Valentino Rossi Yamaha ITA 0'2.838 3 Daniel Pedrosa Honda ESP 0'8.530 4 John Hopkins Suzuki USA 0'9.071 5 Marco Melandri Honda ITA 0'17.433 6 Colin Edwards Yamaha USA 0'18.647 7 Chris Vermeulen Suzuki AUS 0'22.916 8 Nicky Hayden Honda USA 0'23.057 9 Alex Barros Ducati BRA 0'25.961 10 Shinya Nakano Honda JPN 0'28.456 11 Alex Hofmann Ducati GER 0'35.029 12 Olivier Jacque Kawasaki FRA 0'42.948 13 Kenny Roberts KR212V USA 0'42.977 14 Toni Elias Honda ESP 0'42.989 15 Sylvain Guintoli Yamaha FRA 0'51.639 16 Makoto Tamada Yamaha JPN 0'57.853 Best Lap Rider Manu. Nat. Total Time Casey Stoner Ducati AUS 1'56.528 Rider Standings 10/03/2007 Pos. Rider Manu. Nat. Points 1. Casey Stoner Ducati AUS 25 2. Valentino Rossi Yamaha ITA 20 3. Daniel Pedrosa Honda ESP 16 4. John Hopkins Suzuki USA 13 5. Marco Melandri Honda ITA 11 6. Colin Edwards Yamaha USA 10 7. Chris Vermeulen Suzuki AUS 9 8. Nicky Hayden Honda USA 8 9. Alex Barros Ducati BRA 7 10. Shinya Nakano Honda JPN 6 11. Alex Hofmann Ducati GER 5 12. Olivier Jacque Kawasaki FRA 4 13. Kenny Roberts KR212V USA 3 14. Toni Elias Honda ESP 2 15. Sylvain Guintoli Yamaha FRA 1 Team Standings 10/03/2007 Pos. Team Points 1. FIAT Yamaha Team 30 2. Ducati Marlboro Team 25 3. Repsol Honda Team 24 4. Rizla Suzuki 22 5. Honda Gresini 13 6. Pramac D'Antin 12 7. Konica Minolta Honda 6 8. Kawasaki Racing Team 4 9. Team Roberts 3 10. Tech3 Yamaha 1 Manufacturer Standings 10/03/2007 Pos. Manufacturer Points 1. Ducati 25 2. Yamaha 20 3. Honda 16 4. Suzuki 13 5. Kawasaki 4 6. KR212V 3

Fiat Yamaha Team riders Valentino Rossi and Colin Edwards got the first ever Grand Prix of the new 800cc era off to a flying start in Qatar today, both lapping comfortably under the 990cc circuit record and finishing the day in first and second places after two free practice sessions. Following a long winter of testing it was a relief for the team to finally get the season underway, with this the first time the championship has begun outside Europe since Rossi's historic first win with Yamaha in South Africa in 2004. After an excellent performance at the test here just a few weeks ago, Rossi and Edwards were both confident of a strong start today and there were no surprises from their 800cc M1s, running in their new Fiat Yamaha Team livery for the first time. Edwards finished the morning session on top with his team-mate close behind in third whilst Rossi dominated the second free practice this afternoon, sitting at the top of the time sheets for the majority of the hour-long session. Edwards, despite not bettering his time from this morning, was second, just over three-tenths of a second behind his Italian team-mate. Today was also the first day of the new MotoGP tyre regulations, which stipulate a maximum of 31 tyres (14 fronts and 17 rears) per rider during a Grand Prix weekend. This has forced the teams to alter the way they work throughout the practice sessions but Rossi especially is confident that these new rules will help rather than hinder the riders, bringing increased clarity on set-up decisions and making it easier to plan the weekend's work. Valentino Rossi Position: 1st Time: 1'56.464 Laps: 47 "It was a very good beginning for all of the team; it's a new season and we have a new sponsor and livery so it's good to start with both Colin and I at the top! We were in a good situation at the test here also but really the most important test was Jerez, because there we understood a lot more about our bike and we made some important changes. It seems here that the setting is very good and we were fast from the start this morning. I'm very happy with my Yamaha today, I can ride it well, I have a good rhythm and it's great fun to ride here in Qatar! For me, the new tyre rule is very good. Like this you know just what you have from the start, it's much more logical and there is less confusion for everyone. It means we can make decisions more quickly and I think, especially with a delicate bike like ours, that it's going to be helpful to have such a clear situation with tyres from the start of every weekend. Now let's see how we get on tomorrow and try to keep this rhythm going throughout the weekend." Colin Edwards Position: 2nd Time: 1'56.665 Laps: 45 "Today's gone pretty good, I think we can say we've made a strong start to the weekend. After finding a great setting here at the test we made a few more changes in Jerez and made the bike even better. We started off today with the bike set-up pretty similar to Jerez, with just a few small changes, and it seemed to work well from the off. We had a little bit of an issue this morning with a tyre, but we compared notes with Valentino afterwards and sorted that out pretty quickly between us. It's the first day of the new tyre rules and it's a little bit scary to know that there's no longer an inexhaustible supply, but we just have to slightly adapt the way we work to accommodate it and I think it will work well in the long run. Here it could be more of an issue because the conditions can be quite changeable from day to day, but we'll keep our fingers crossed that we stay in the 'range' and save one of each of our best tyres for race day." Davide Brivio - Team Director "This is a very good start to the season because both riders are feeling comfortable and finding it easy to keep a good pace. Now the most important matter is to make a good tyre choice, especially considering the new rules. It's definitely helped that we've tested here not long ago but we also made a lot of progress in Jerez and this has showed today. It's only Thursday of course and the race is a different matter, but it's nice for the team to be in first and second and we couldn't have hoped for a better start to the weekend." Circuit Length: 5380 Temp: 25 Weather: Sunny 2007 MotoGP Qatar - Doha/Losail 08/03/2007 Free Practice Pos. Rider Manu. Nat. Total Time 1 Valentino Rossi Yamaha ITA 1'56.464 2 Colin Edwards Yamaha USA 0'0.201 3 Casey Stoner Honda AUS 0'0.281 4 John Hopkins Suzuki USA 0'0.508 5 Carlos Checa Honda ESP 0'0.517 6 Daniel Pedrosa Honda ESP 0'0.526 7 Marco Melandri Honda ITA 0'0.648 8 Loris Capirossi Ducati ITA 0'0.783 9 Toni Elias Honda ESP 0'0.918 10 Shinya Nakano Kawasaki JPN 0'1.027 11 Alex Barros Ducati BRA 0'1.156 12 Chris Vermeulen Suzuki AUS 0'1.172 13 Randy De Puniet Kawasaki FRA 0'1.222 14 Kenny Roberts Team Robert KR USA 0'1.274 15 Nicky Hayden Honda USA 0'1.458 18 Sylvain Guintoli Yamaha FRA 0'2.256 21 Makoto Tamada Yamaha JPN 0'3.724

During a presentation in Italy today, Yamaha Motor Co. Ltd announced that it has reached a two-year agreement with Fiat Automobiles S.p.A. to become title sponsor of the Yamaha Factory Racing Team in the MotoGP World Championship. The Team’s Official Launch took place in Milan this afternoon and the Team will be known from now on as the “Fiat Yamaha Team”. Yamaha’s two Factory riders, Italian Valentino Rossi and American Colin Edwards were present at the event today as well as Yamaha Motor Company’s Masao Furusawa, General Manager for Engineering Operations, Lin Jarvis, Managing Director of Yamaha Motor Racing and Davide Brivio, the Fiat Yamaha Team Director. The Yamaha line-up were joined on stage by Luca de Meo, CEO of Fiat Automobiles S.p.A. We’re very excited about our new two-year partnership with Fiat,” said Lin Jarvis, Managing Director of Yamaha Motor Racing. “Fiat, like Yamaha, is a truly global brand and we feel that there is a great match between our two companies. It’s good for our sport to welcome a new sponsor of Fiat’s calibre and we feel sure that they will enjoy their involvement with our team. We look forward to working with them over the coming two seasons and hopefully sharing many victories together.” Fiat Yamaha Team Director Davide Brivio added “It’s nice to be able to finally unveil our new livery and our new sponsorship with Fiat. It’s a new start for us – a new bike, a new sponsor and a new challenge as we try to win back the title! It’s been a long pre-season for us but we’re finally ready for the first race this week; let’s hope we can mark our first outing in Fiat Yamaha Team colours in victorious style!” The Fiat Yamaha Team will contest the opening round of the 18-race 2007 MotoGP championship this Saturday, 10th March in Qatar.

Valentino Rossi and Colin Edwards carried on from where they left off yesterday on day two of the seasonopening Grand Prix of Qatar, topping the time sheets again in this morning's free practice before taking first and third in a gripping Qualifying session this afternoon. Rossi will start from pole for the 46th time in his Grand Prix career with his team mate two places away from him, the pair separated only by the Ducati of Casey Stoner who was just five-thousandths of a second slower than the Italian. With the new tyre restrictions meaning the Yamaha duo had only two qualifying tyres to work with in the session, the first forty minutes were focused on perfecting the set-ups of their 800cc M1s and both continued to show a consistently strong pace on race tyres. Already holding the top spot after a string of fast laps inside the last twenty minutes, Edwards' first qualifying tyre saw him consolidate first place with ten minutes to go, his team-mate moving into second place behind him a few minutes later. The last five minutes saw a flurry of activity with Rossi, Edwards, Stoner, Toni Elias and Dani Pedrosa (both Honda) all putting in quick flying laps in a tense finale. All five riders lapped under last year's pole time but it was Rossi who took the honours with a lap of 1'55.002, over half a second faster than the existing record. Valentino Rossi Position: 1st Time: 1'55.002 Laps: 26 Laps "It's great to have my first pole of the season at the very first race and it's extra special for me because it's pole number 46 of my career! I hope this is a good omen for tomorrow. I'm really happy for this pole position because everyone has worked so hard; all my mechanics, engineers, Michelin…everyone involved. Yamaha has built us a great bike. Anyway tomorrow is another day and the real race, but we're starting from first and Colin is on the front row too so I hope we can put in a good Yamaha show! We have a couple of things to check in morning practice but we're more or less ready. I really like this track, the grip is great, it's fast and technical and it's possible to have a lot of fun with the new Yamaha. It's also quite quiet here, with not too many people and this is a nice atmosphere in which to start the season as I can focus completely on racing without too many other distractions! I think tomorrow there are three or four riders who can fight at the top with Colin and me, but we're feeling confident in our garage." Colin Edwards Position: 3rd Time: 1'55.223 Laps: 24 Laps "Yamaha, Michelin, Valentino and I have all worked so hard and it's really exciting to be up there together on the front row...although of course I would like to try to reverse the order tomorrow! Our bike is going so well so far this year, everywhere we go we've got a plan and it seems to work and the lap times are just amazing. It's a great feeling. I love this track and the set-up we have seems to be spot-on, really we don't have anything left to do tomorrow morning except double-check everything and make our final tyre choice. I've got a choice of two but honestly I'm not too worried, they both work well and I don't think either will be the difference between winning and losing - Michelin seem to have it all under control for us! It's going to be a matter of getting a good start and seeing how it goes. I think there's a few that can run with us but our race pace is pretty good so I am confident I can be up there fighting!" Davide Brivio - Team Director "It's a very good start for us and we're very happy! The weekend so far has been very good for us and both riders are working in a very smooth, confident way. Tomorrow is the important test and it will be the final proof of where we are, but we feel that we're ready to race and I hope we'll be able to enjoy a great result together with both Colin and Valentino." Circuit Length: 5380 Temp: 27 Weather: Dry 2007 MotoGP Qatar - Doha/Losail 09/03/2007 Qualifying 1 Pos. Rider Manu. Nat. Total Time 1 Valentino Rossi Yamaha ITA 1'55.002 2 Casey Stoner Ducati AUS 1'55.007 3 Colin Edwards Yamaha USA 1'55.233 4 Toni Elias Honda ESP 1'55.358 5 Daniel Pedrosa Honda ESP 1'55.361 6 John Hopkins Suzuki USA 1'55.833 7 Loris Capirossi Ducati ITA 1'55.851 8 Randy De Puniet Kawasaki FRA 1'55.933 9 Nicky Hayden Honda USA 1'56.041 10 Marco Melandri Honda ITA 1'56.222 11 Shinya Nakano Honda JPN 1'56.306 12 Carlos Checa Honda ESP 1'56.609 13 Chris Vermeulen Suzuki AUS 1'56.639 14 Olivier Jacque Kawasaki FRA 1'56.754 15 Alex Barros Ducati BRA 1'56.814 16 Sylvain Guintoli Yamaha FRA 1'57.257 19 Makoto Tamada Yamaha JPN 1'58.024

Yamaha Motocross Team rider Joshua Coppins cut through driving rain in Great Britain yesterday to claim third position overall in the MX1 class at the Hawkstone Park International. Team-mate Marc de Reuver also grabbed a top five position withfourth. Only two motos from three were completed after a heavy shower washed out the surprisingly well-attended meeting. The ‘reliable’ English rain coated the Shropshire venue throughout the day and transformed the dark, deep and rough Hawkstone sand into a thick and very demanding terrain. After riding on dry, hard surfaces in Italy and through wet mud in France last week this was another set of conditions for the two new riders in the Rinaldi line-up to cope with on their 2007 YZ450FMs. Coppins fronted the first moto from Kevin Strijbos and Ken de Dycker but in the end was powerless to defend his lead from the sand-schooled Belgians. Strijbos took the win and would also scoop the overall from his countryman while the New Zealander was third. De Reuver, who had registered pole position in morning qualification, was as high as third behind Coppins and De Dycker in the formative stages of the race. The Dutchman was feeling comfortable but lost control momentarily on a jump around the ten minute mark causing a crash. He remounted and confirmed fifth. The second moto saw the MX1 field even more spread out with the sand proving tough to consistently conquer without mistakes. On this occasion the Yamahas flew in formation with De Reuver sealing third spot by over ten seconds from a more conservative outing from Coppins. The Superfinal, which traditionally sees the top 20 MX2 finishers go against the best 20 placed MX1 riders, was cancelled after being red flagged two laps into the 25 minute and 2 lap distance. A rain flood then closed the meeting with spectators already sparse around the soaked inclines. The moto was halted after a heavy crash by Bike it Yamaha UK Dixon Racing’s Carl Nunn. The MX2 British Champion had earned seventh overall in the smaller category but had to be taken to hospital after needing medical attention on the circuit. Initial fears concerned the 27 year old’s back but so far the indication is that Nunn is OK. “Qualifying went better than in the last few races, which I was happy about,” remarked Coppins. “I was pretty happy with my starts, apart from the second race, but this is something I wanted to improve and it worked out well. I had some arm-pump in the first moto and did not ride that well. In the second I went down once and found it difficult out there. I was right behind Strijbos in the last heat until Nunn unfortunately went down; I hope he is OK. We were starting to look better in that last race; I was smoother and carrying mote corner speed.” ”It seems like at the moment when we go to different tracks it takes me a little while to adjust well in a variety of conditions,” he evaluated. “Today there was a lot of mud and in Valence it was also wet but the track was hard, and then in Italy the weather has been ideal. It takes me a little bit of race day to find the strong parts of the bike but that is good because we are finding different kinds of races and getting a broader idea. I feel that I still need to improve in conditions like today and in France last week but all-in-all I can’t complain with another podium result; that’s four Internationals in a row with two wins. I am now looking forward to having a little break and then working on my physical training. I am also pleased because this is the first time that I am leaving the Hawkstone International healthy. Last year I hurt my back, the year before it was my shoulder and then before that I couldn’t even race here so I am happy to come away in good shape!” “Pole position in the morning felt very good, I was riding quite smooth and feeling confident for the race,“ said De Reuver. “In the first heat I was behind De Dycker and Coppins and I made a mistake on the first lap but I caught up so easily that I was sure that it was going to be my race. I was too nonchalant because I lost the bike just once and it made me crash. I fell on my head and it took me a lap or two to realise where I was but then I could make some good times again.” ”I had the holeshot in the second heat but over-ran the corner and Strijbos and De Dycker got past me,“ he continued. ”I stayed in third the whole race and did my laps ahead of Josh and with the same speed as De Dycker but Strijbos was faster today. I was third at the start in the Superfinal and I pushed my way past a lot of riders to reach sixth inside half a lap! Then Nunn crashed; I hope he is OK. I was pleased with today and hope I can keep things going like this a little bit.” De Carli Yamaha rider Antonio Cairoli meanwhile took second place overall at Castiglione del Lago for the second round of the MX2 Internazionali d'Italia series and leads the competition overall by 12 points from Manuel Monni. The Yamaha Motocross Team now have a break before heading to Gemert for the first race in the 2007 Dutch Championship. After this final pre-season test the team head for Valkenswaard in the Netherlands for the inaugural meeting of 15 Grand Prix in the FIM World Championship on April 1st. Moto One MX1: 1. Kevin Strijbos 2. Ken de Dycker 3. Joshua Coppins 4. Max Nagl 5. Marc de Reuver 6. Gordon Crockard 7. Steve Ramon 8. Bas Verhoeven 9. Marvin van Daele 10. Jussi Vehvelainen 11. Marco Kovalainen 12. Mike Brown 13. Sven Breugelmans 14. Patrick Roos 15. Brad Anderson Moto two MX1: 1. Kevin Strijbos 2. Ken de Dycker 3. Marc de Reuver 4. Josh Coppins 5. Max Nagl 6. Tanel Leok 7. Steve Ramon 8. Billy MacKenzie 9. James Noble 10. Marvin Van Daele 11. Gorden Crockard 12. Mike Brown 13. Lauris Freibergs 14. Patrick Roos 15. Jussi Vehvilainen

Yamaha Factory Team riders Valentino Rossi and Colin Edwards begin their assault on the 2007 MotoGP World Championship next weekend as the most eagerly anticipated season in recent history finally fires up in Qatar. Saturday's race is the first of eighteen mouth-watering events across thirteen countries and four continents that will decide the destiny of the most coveted prize in motorcycle racing. For the first time since the turn of the millennium, Rossi starts out as a challenger to the throne. After finally conceding his title to Nicky Hayden (Honda) in a dramatic last chapter to the 2006 campaign at Valencia in November, the ever-popular Italian has worked tirelessly alongside his engineers on development of Yamaha's all-new YZR-M1, which features an 800cc capacity engine in accordance with new technical regulations. The revised rulebook also stipulates a reduced fuel capacity of 21 litres and a maximum of 31 tyres (14 front and 17 rear) per rider during a race weekend, piling extra pressure on the teams and adding even more intrigue for the fans as the season gets underway. Rossi's hopes of a winning start are substantiated by two victories from three previous visits to the Losail International Circuit since its inauguration in 2004. His confidence has been further boosted by an outstanding performance in the final pre-season test at Jerez, where he set the fastest lap in a televised 40-minute 'qualifying' session and capped an excellent winter of development work that has taken in seventeen days of hard graft at circuits in Spain, Malaysia and Qatar. The equally diligent work of Rossi's dependable team-mate Colin Edwards, who was close behind Rossi in third during last week's 'qualifying' session, has contributed greatly to the swift evolution of the 800cc version YZR-M1 and the pair are now bursting to go racing. The 'Texan Tornado' is promising to whip up a storm in the desert and maintain a strong front throughout the year, as he looks to capitalise on a pre-season that has seen him side-by-side with Rossi at the top end of the time sheets at virtually every circuit they have visited. Bike set-up at the Losail International Circuit is complicated by a host of slow corners that are preceded by fast changes of direction. The tight hairpin at turn six, for example, comes with a quick right-left change under braking, calling for a delicate balance between stability and agility. The most important section is the three fast rights at the end of the lap because this is where the rider can make up the most time, making stability at maximum lean angle an absolute must so that he has confidence to open the throttle with the bike still on its side. Valentino Rossi - "Fast and fun" The sight of Rossi and his new M1 in high-speed harmony during that final pre-season test at Jerez will have mesmerised his fans and demoralised his rivals, sending out a clear warning that the most successful motorcycle racer in recent history wants his title back. The 28-year-old has had just one thought in his mind since shaking hands with Nicky Hayden on the warm-down lap at Valencia and he is convinced that this season's ambitions will not be hampered by the misfortunes that ultimately denied him tenure of the number 1 plate for a sixth straight year. "After the great test in Jerez we're going to the first race feeling confident and happy," says Rossi. "Last year we had some problems at the final test that left us feeling worried going to the first race but more than anything Jerez proved that we're in a very different situation to last year and confirmed the great job we've done with the new M1 over the winter. Now it's finally time for the first race and it's time to see if all our hard work pays off. Everyone is very excited and very motivated after what happened last year and our aim is very simple - to win!" "I like Qatar a lot, it's fast and fun to ride and I have won there twice. Of course it's quite hot and dusty so tyre choice will be very important, especially with the new rules. The other key factor is going to be the fuel consumption - I think it is something everybody is worried about this season but we are all in the same boat. We know the bike should work well at the first two races but the championship is very long. Dani Pedrosa has looked the most consistent in testing but I think Nicky Hayden, Loris Capirossi and my own team-mate Colin Edwards will be in the fight for the title." Colin Edwards - "A level playing field" After stating earlier in the pre-season that the YZR-M1 is the best 800cc bike in the field, Colin Edwards has seen nothing to change his mind over the past two tests and the 33-year-old is now on the brink of what he hopes can be his best season since joining MotoGP in 2003. The former double World Superbike Champion has scored six podiums in that time, one of them coming at Losail in 2004, and he is confident of adding significantly to that tally this year - starting on Saturday at a circuit he feels provides a level playing field between him and more seasoned Grand Prix riders. "Qatar is a great track, I love it and I always feel that it's a level playing field because we've only been there a few times as opposed to some of the European circuits where other riders have basically grown up," observes Edwards. "I'm feeling really confident going back there for the first race, especially after our last test there when I was pretty fast every day, and the progress we made at Jerez last week. The track suits my style and I felt really comfortable there during the test, so hopefully we can translate that to the race conditions." "We had some problems in the race last year but I am feeling completely different now because this bike is a whole new ballgame. After working really well on smooth tracks like Sepang and Qatar we managed to adopt it to the bumps at Jerez with a completely different setting so I'm really confident that we have a great package for the whole season. I've said throughout pre-season that the target this season is to win races, so I'm looking forward to getting started." Davide Brivio - "Let's go racing!" Yamaha Factory Racing Team Director Davide Brivio echoes the confidence of his riders after watching them lap in record pace at all three of the circuits the team have visited during their exhaustive winter testing programme. Last Sunday's success in the competitive timed session provided an extra injection of excitement and motivation to the team's mood, as the Italian reports, the riders are not the only members of staff who are counting down the days to the new season's opening showdown. "Finally we're going racing!" smiles Brivio. "I think this season will be very interesting because it is the first time in several years that Valentino isn't starting as the defending champion and there are many young riders who are now ready to fight for the title. We have had a good winter of testing and we feel that we have made a good job of preparing for the new season. Now we're excited to go racing and see exactly how prepared we really are." "Qatar will be the first time everybody shows their cards for real and we are all very curious to see what level we are at compared to our rivals. The mood in the team is optimistic because both Colin and Valentino have been amongst the top riders all through the winter so providing everything goes OK then we can expect to be competitive. Let's go racing!" Valentino Rossi : Information Age: 28 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: 174 (114 x MotoGP/500cc, 30 x 250cc, 30 x 125cc) Pole positions: 45 World Championships: 7 Grand Prix (1 x 125cc, 1 x 250cc, 1 x 500cc, 4 x MotoGP) Colin Edwards: Information Age: 33 Lives: Conroe, Texas Bike: Yamaha YZR-M1 First GP: Japan, 2003 (MotoGP) GP starts: 66 x MotoGP World Championships: 2 World Superbike Qatar Lap Record (990cc) Valentino Rossi (Yamaha) 2006, 1'57.305 Qatar Best Lap (800cc) Casey Stoner (Honda) 2006, 1'55.683 2006 Qatar Grand Prix Results 1. Valentino Rossi (ITA) Yamaha 43'22.229 2. Nicky Hayden (USA) Honda +0.900 3. Loris Capirossi (ITA) Ducati +1.494 9. Colin Edwards (USA) Yamaha +22.920

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

Yamaha Motor Italy WSB Team riders Troy Corser and Noriyuki Haga will start tomorrow's second round of the Superbike World Championship from the front row of the grid after impressive superpole performances at Phillip Island today. High winds made life difficult for the riders at the coastal circuit today. Haga was the first of the R1 riders to head out on his grid-deciding qualifying lap after finishing regular qualifying in eighth place. The Japanese star put together a smooth lap of 1:32.879 to head the time sheets with seven riders remaining. Four men came and went without besting the Yamaha rider until Corser, third in regular practice blasted to a 1:32.605 lap. World champion Troy Bayliss (Ducati) was the last man to go out on his superpole lap and grabbed the pole position with James Toseland (Honda) second. With no new parts available since last weekend's race in Qatar, today's testing programme focused mainly on fine tuning the R1's chassis and suspension to make maximum use of the front tyre in tomorrow's 22-lap races. Both Corser and Haga were able to make considerable headway in their preparations, completing race simulations in both the morning and afternoon practice sessions. Shinichi Nakatomi of Team YZF Yamaha will start from 17th on the grid after improving his Friday time by half-a-second. The Japanese rider was denied an opportunity to make the afternoon superpole when rain started to fall 15 minutes from the end of the morning's second qualifying session. Troy Corser (Yamaha Motor Italy WSB Team) "I almost got blown off the bike as I rolled out on my warm-up lap and that prepared me for the big gust of wind that hit me as I went into turn one on my superpole lap. That caused me to lose the front end and I ended up running wide through the Southern Loop as I tried to make up time. That's not normally the way I would attack superpole but it worked out fine in the end. I hope it (the weather) is a bit more calm because it can get a bit hectic when you go into a corner three abreast and get hit by a gust of wind. The bike's going real well here and I'm pleased to be on the front row. We just need to see how it goes tomorrow." Noriyuki Haga (Yamaha Motor Italy WSB Team) "The wind made the superpole lap very difficult and I am very surprised, but of course happy, with the result. Because of the wind it was easy to make a mistake, especially coming into the corners. I took some tight lines and did not really make mistakes. It's my best lap time of the weekend so I am pleased. I expect a difficult race tomorrow. We know that the tyre can work very well for around 10 laps but we still need to try and make it work longer. We have already decided which tyre we will use but I still have to think about the suspension settings, so maybe I will not sleep so well tonight!" Shinichi Nakatomi (Team YZF Yamaha) "Yesterday we had many problems with chatter but today we were able to get a better feeling with the bike. Unfortunately it started to rain 15 minutes before the end of the morning qualifying session and I was unable to make a time to qualifying for superpole. We are still working to improve the set-up but I am hopeful we can make up some positions in the races tomorrow." Massimo Meregalli (Team Coordinator - Yamaha Motor Italy WSB Team) "It's always good to have both riders on the front row so of course it has been a good day today. We have been lacking a little bit in the final section of the track but our lap times are good and I think that we can challenge for the podium tomorrow." Circuit Length: 4445 Temp: 22 Weather: Windy 2007 WSB Phillip Island 03/03/2007 Superpole Pos. Rider Manu. Nat. Total Time 1 Troy Bayliss Ducati AUS 1'32.145 2 James Toseland Honda GBR 1'32.198 3 Troy Corser Yamaha AUS 1'32.605 4 Noriyuki Haga Yamaha JPN 1'32.879 5 Max Biaggi Suzuki ITA 1'32.928 6 Fonsi Nieto Kawasaki ESP 1'33.132 7 Max Neukirchner Suzuki GER 1'33.188 8 Ruben Xaus Ducati ESP 1'33.367 9 Regis Laconi Kawasaki FRA 1'33.368 10 Lorenzo Lanzi Ducati ITA 1'33.969 11 Steve Martin Honda AUS 1'33.994 12 Joshua Brookes Honda AUS 1'34.731 13 Michel Fabrizio Honda ITA 1'35.215 14 Jakub Smrz Ducati CZE 1'35.327 15 Roberto Rolfo Honda ITA 1'36.295 Qualifying 2 Pos. Rider Manu. Nat. Total Time 1 Troy Bayliss Ducati AUS 1'31.887 2 James Toseland Honda GBR 1'32.040 3 Troy Corser Yamaha AUS 1'32.666 4 Fonsi Nieto Kawasaki ESP 1'32.769 5 Lorenzo Lanzi Ducati ITA 1'32.774 6 Max Biaggi Suzuki ITA 1'32.795 7 Max Neukirchner Suzuki GER 1'32.799 8 Noriyuki Haga Yamaha JPN 1'32.961 9 Yukio Kagayama Suzuki JPN 1'33.154 10 Ruben Xaus Ducati ESP 1'33.260 11 Regis Laconi Kawasaki FRA 1'33.453 12 Steve Martin Honda AUS 1'33.678 13 Roberto Rolfo Honda ITA 1'33.683 14 Michel Fabrizio Honda ITA 1'33.690 15 Karl Muggeridge Honda AUS 1'33.783 18 Shinichi Nakatomi Yamaha JPN 1'35.088 QUALIFYING 2 REPORT 03/03/2007 Curtain so close to home pole Yamaha World Supersport team rider Kevin Curtain missed out on pole position for tomorrow's Australian round of the Supersport World Championship by the narrowest of margins today. The local fans' favourite got to within three-hundredths of a second of pole sitter Fabien Foret (Kawasaki) but crashed out when he pushed too hard and lost the front end of his YZF-R6 in the closing minutes of the 45-minute qualifying session. Curtain and his R6, pole sitters in Qatar eight days ago, have been fastest in three of the weekend's four sessions but Foret's time from yesterday's first qualifying session proved untouchable in today's final session. Curtain and team-mate Broc Parkes were both able to fractionally improve upon their Friday times in today's session, although the circuit generally seemed 'slower' - most likely due to high winds and a mid-morning rain shower. Curtain today posted a 1:35.199 lap time while Parkes' Saturday time was just seven-thousandths of a second quicker than his best from Friday, a 1:35.830. As a result of today's action, the Yamaha men retain their overnight grid positions with Curtain second and Parkes sixth. Of the other Yamaha riders, David Checa was one of the big improvers - taking almost a second from his Friday time to qualify in tenth. His Yamaha GMT94 team-mate Sebastien Gimbert joins him on the third row, in 12th, although Yamaha Team Italia Lorenzini by Leoni rider Massimo Roccoli failed to improve and will start 17th. Kevin Curtain (Yamaha World Supersport team) "It would have been nice to have gotten the pole but front row is the main thing. The wind made things difficult this afternoon but I pushed hard and got close but unfortunately I got caught out going into Honda corner and lost the front. It's all good though and I'm happy with what we've got for the race. That's when we get the points, not today." Broc Parkes (Yamaha World Supersport team) "I'm happy with my set-up and am confident we can have a good race. I'd have liked the front row but I couldn't quite find that last little bit this afternoon. Generally I'm stronger in the race than in qualifying and I'm able to run strong lap times over the distance. If I can make a good start and get away with the leaders I'm confident that we can be right up there tomorrow." Circuit Length: 4445 Temp: 24 Weather: Sunny 2007 WSS Phillip Island 03/03/2007 Qualifying 2 Pos. Rider Manu. Nat. Total Time 1 Fabien Foret Kawasaki FRA 1'35.166 2 Kevin Curtain Yamaha AUS 1'35.199 3 Sebastien Charpentier Honda FRA 1'35.346 4 Kenan Sofuoglu Honda TUR 1'35.480 5 Gianluca Nannelli Ducati ITA 1'35.814 6 Broc Parkes Yamaha AUS 1'35.830 7 Barry Veneman Suzuki NED 1'35.867 8 Katsuaki Fujiwara Honda JPN 1'36.230 9 Yoann Tiberio Honda FRA 1'36.248 10 David Checa Yamaha ESP 1'36.372 11 Pere Riba Kawasaki ESP 1'36.398 12 Sebastien Gimbert Yamaha FRA 1'36.403 13 Robbin Harms Honda DNK 1'36.404 14 Vesa Kallio Suzuki FIN 1'36.522 15 Vladimir Ivanov Yamaha RUS 1'36.656 17 Massimo Roccoli Yamaha ITA 1'36.922

In a close first qualifying for Sunday's Australian round of the Superbike World Championship, Yamaha Motor Italy WSB Team riders Troy Corser and Noriyuki Haga rode strongly to set the fifth and eighth fastest times respectively. Corser, the 1996 and 2005 world champion, was the quickest of the YZF-R1 riders - setting a best time of 1:32.900 on the first lap of his final run. Haga, celebrating his 32nd birthday today, recorded his daily best of 1:33.244 on just his second flying lap and spent the rest of the session on endurance testing duties. The team was able to take advantage of data gathered during testing at Phillip Island in January, although further development work meant that the settings require further refinement. With that in mind the team continued working on finding a good race set-up for Sunday's race. The development work carried out since that January test has endowed the R1 with greater rear end grip, making the riders' focus on fine-tuning the front suspension of their machines. Shinichi Nakatomi, sole rider in Team YZF Yamaha, ended the day 18th out of 22 entrants. The 28-year-old Japanese rider recorded a best lap of 1:35.572. The superbike riders will have another two hours' of track time tomorrow, before the grid deciding Superpole session. Fastest man in today's timed practice was James Toseland (Honda) with a 1:32.040. World champion Troy Bayliss (Ducati), Fonsi Nieto (Kawasaki) and Lorenzo Lanzi (Ducati) complete the overnight top four. Troy Corser (1.32.900 - Yamaha Motor Italy WSB Team) "We're just trying different stuff. The chassis, or at least the set-up, of the bike is different from when we tested here so I've gone for a whole new setting. The back of the bike is working a lot better (than in testing) so now we're able to work on the front. Friday is important for getting the bike ready but as far as the lap times go it's just about getting into the top 16 and not about being the fastest. I'm pretty pleased with how it's gone today and we've still got a few other things to try that should help us move forward tomorrow. The days of worrying about being fastest on a Friday are long gone for me. As long as we're there or thereabouts let's concentrate on getting the bike set up for the race, because that's what's important." Noriyuki Haga (1.33.244 - Yamaha Motor Italy WSB Team) "The main thing I am looking to do is to make the bike turn more easily. Our lap times are not too bad but I have to work the front tyre too hard to make the bike turn and because of this the tyre is wearing out too quickly. We changed the bike setting between the morning and afternoon but it did not really make much difference. Tonight we will try some new things and tomorrow is another day - so who knows what will happen!" Shinichi Nakatomi (1.35.572 - Team YZF Yamaha) "We made a lot of changes today and it has cost us some time. We can improve tomorrow and hopefully will be able to make a faster time." Massimo Meregalli (Team Coordinator - Yamaha Motor Italy WSB Team) "After our test here in January I was expecting more problems today but it looks like we have solved many things. Also we are looking now to see what changes we can make tonight to improve the rider feeling a little bit more. I have spoken to the riders and they are quite content. Both say that they have no major problems and have a good direction to work in tomorrow." Circuit Length: 4445 Temp: 23 Weather: Dry 2007 WSB Phillip Island 02/03/2007 Qualifying 1 Pos. Rider Manu. Nat. Total Time 1 James Toseland Honda GBR 1'32.040 2 Troy Bayliss Ducati AUS 1'32.641 3 Fonsi Nieto Kawasaki ESP 1'32.769 4 Lorenzo Lanzi Ducati ITA 1'32.774 5 Troy Corser Yamaha AUS 1'32.900 6 Max Biaggi Suzuki ITA 1'32.998 7 Yukio Kagayama Suzuki JPN 1'33.154 8 Noriyuki Haga Yamaha JPN 1'33.244 9 Ruben Xaus Ducati ESP 1'33.315 10 Max Neukirchner Suzuki GER 1'33.523 11 Michel Fabrizio Honda ITA 1'33.690 12 Steve Martin Honda AUS 1'33.748 13 Karl Muggeridge Honda AUS 1'33.783 14 Roberto Rolfo Honda ITA 1'33.865 15 Jakub Smrz Ducati CZE 1'34.092 18 Shinichi Nakatomi Yamaha JPN 1'35.572 QUALIFYING 1 REPORT 02/03/2007 Provisional front row for Yamaha men at Phillip Island Yamaha World Supersport Team riders Kevin Curtain and Broc Parkes made a good start to their home race at Phillip Island today, ending the first qualifying session second and fourth respectively. Having set the fastest lap of the morning practice, Curtain racked up 15 laps in the afternoon qualifying session as he prepares for Sunday's 21-lap race.. The session was stopped 10 minutes before the end due to an accident, but when the action resumed Curtain went out and set a 1:35.425 lap, marginally slower than his best from the morning session but still good enough for second on the overnight grid. Curtain's fellow Australian Parkes was another rider working on getting his R6 ready for race day. The 25-year-old put in 10 straight laps on his first run, testing tyre durability in the warm conditions. Like his team-mate he fitted new tyres for his final run, recording a best lap of 1:35.837 just as the chequered flag came out. Yamaha GMT94's French rider Sebastien Gimbert ended the day 10th in what is only his second meeting on the YZF-R6, one place ahead of Russia's Vladimir Ivanov on his privately-entered Yamaha. Yamaha Team Italia Lorenzini by Leoni's Massimo Roccoli heads up the fourth row of the provisional grid, in 13th, with David Checa 16th on the other Yamaha GMT94 machine. Fastest man in today's session was former world champion Fabien Foret (Kawasaki) with a 1:35.166. Final grid positions will be determined after tomorrow's second 45-minute qualifying session. Kevin Curtain (1.35.425 - Yamaha World Supersport Team) "A good day. The bike is working really well and we were able to get in a lot of laps on the tyres. We've tested here already and now we're working towards the race. Tonight I'm satisfied because there were no dramas or major concerns. Tomorrow we'll work some more on getting the maximum out of the bike over the race distance and hopefully that'll pay dividends for us on Sunday." Broc Parkes (1.35.837 - Yamaha World Supersport Team) "Qatar was a real disaster for us so it was great to have a good opening day here and get all that behind us. After testing here in January we've come with a good set-up so it's more a case of making a good bike better than trying to solve problems. Again we'll try a few things tomorrow and I'm confident we'll be ready to race come Sunday." Circuit Length: 4445 Temp: 24 Weather: Dry 2007 WSS Phillip Island 02/03/2007 Qualifying 1 Pos. Rider Manu. Nat. Total Time 1 Fabien Foret Kawasaki FRA 1'35.166 2 Kevin Curtain Yamaha AUS 1'35.425 3 Gianluca Nannelli Ducati ITA 1'35.814 4 Broc Parkes Yamaha AUS 1'35.837 5 Kenan Sofuoglu Honda TUR 1'35.868 6 Sebastien Charpentier Honda FRA 1'35.902 7 Katsuaki Fujiwara Honda JPN 1'36.230 8 Yoann Tiberio Honda FRA 1'36.248 9 Pere Riba Kawasaki ESP 1'36.398 10 Sebastien Gimbert Yamaha FRA 1'36.627 11 Vladimir Ivanov Yamaha RUS 1'36.656 12 Robbin Harms Honda DNK 1'36.734 13 Massimo Roccoli Yamaha ITA 1'36.922 14 Vesa Kallio Suzuki FIN 1'36.967 15 Barry Veneman Suzuki NED 1'37.050 16 David Checa Yamaha ESP 1'37.114

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

Valentino Rossi ended his pre-season preparations in fine style today after taking top honours in the traditional 40-minute ‘Qualifying’ Practice session at Jerez, smashing last year’s pole time and becoming the fastest man ever round the Spanish circuit in the process. There was double satisfaction for Yamaha as Rossi’s team-mate Colin Edwards, who took this same accolade in treacherously wet conditions at Catalunya last year, finished the session third. After a one-two in this morning’s free practice, Rossi and Edwards were feeling confident for this afternoon’s timed shoot-out and with several qualifying tyres each to try during the session, had plenty of chances to see what their 800cc Yamahas could do under pressure. Loris Capirossi (Ducati) took an early lead before Dani Pedrosa (Honda) took control with just over half the session gone. Rossi soon joined him at the top and an exciting battle ensued between the Italian and the Spaniard as they swapped the lead several times over the last twenty minutes, with Edwards remaining in close contention throughout. In the closing stages of the session Rossi produced a perfect lap to set an outstanding time of 1’38.394, almost seven-tenths of a second faster than Capirossi’s pole time from 2006. Pedrosa was unable to find an answer despite crossing the line seconds before the chequered flag and mounting a last-gasp effort to usurp Rossi from the top spot. Today’s result marks the end of a long but satisfying pre-season testing campaign for the Yamaha Factory Team, who leave Jerez in good shape and high spirits ahead of the first race of the season in Qatar on 10th March. Valentino Rossi (1st, 1’38.394, 17 Laps) “After this morning, when my Yamaha worked very well, I knew that I had a chance to try to win this competition. However I knew it was going to be a hard fight as well and I definitely expected Pedrosa to be as strong as he was. It was a fun battle with him, the first real one of the year! Anyway with every qualifying tyre I tried it felt better and better and I was able to go faster; in the end my time was fantastic and my Yamaha really flew! The most important thing about this is that it shows what great work we’ve done over the winter, everyone has tried so hard and this is a nice way to say thank you to them all. This new bike is working really well with the new tyres, both with race and qualifying tyres, so this is very important too and I would like to say thank you to Michelin. It was fun to see just how far I can push this new bike and it has answered me brilliantly, I felt very confident in my Yamaha today and I was able to ride it on the limit. Colin was also very fast so this once again shows how well our bike is working. Of course this isn’t even the first race and now we have to wait until Qatar, but we’re definitely in good shape and I am excited about the season ahead!” Colin Edwards (3rd, 1’39.300, 16 Laps) “That was good fun today! This morning everything really came together for both Valentino and I and we knew that we were going to be able to push hard this afternoon. The Michelin qualifiers worked great and, after some of the problems we had last year, that’s a massive relief for us. I had a few more issues than Valentino in the timed session, nothing serious but our setting wasn’t quite the same as his and I wasn’t able to match his pace, but we know what we need to work on and anyway we were still in the top three and pretty fast. Honestly both Valentino and I are just so happy with everything, it all seems to work and it seems all the effort over the winter has paid off this time! It’s good to have finally finished testing and to be leaving here on such a high note; it gives everyone that extra kick for the first race. I can’t wait to finally get to Qatar now and start racing!” Davide Brivio - Team Director “This is only an appetiser before the real racing begins, but anyway it’s always nice to win this competition for the third time in four years and it gives everyone real confidence for the first race. The fact that Valentino was on top and Colin third is really great and it’s especially important that it’s happened here at Jerez, where we struggled quite a bit last year. This is very satisfying for everyone and it shows we’ve worked very well in the right direction throughout winter testing. Of course the race is a different story, so now we will focus on Qatar and hope it goes well for us there too.” Lap Times 1. Valentino Rossi (ITA) Yamaha 1'38.394 2. Dani Pedrosa (SPA) Honda 1'38.527 3. Colin Edwards (USA) Yamaha 1'39.300 4. Nicky Hayden (USA) Honda 1'39.556 5. Randy de Puniet (FRA) Kawasaki 1'39.832 6. Casey Stoner (AUS) Ducati 1'39.873 7. Loris Capirossi (ITA) Ducati 1'39.887 8. Chris Vermeulen (AUS) Suzuki 1'40.043 9. Kenny Roberts (USA) Team KR 1'40.083 10. Carlos Checa (SPA) Honda 1'40.100 11. Toni Elias (SPA) Honda 1'40.202 12. Shinya Nakano (JPN) Honda 1'40.242 13. Makoto Tamada (JPN) Yamaha 1'40.307 14. Marco Melandri (ITA) Honda 1'40.396 15. Olivier Jacque (FRA) Kawasaki 1'40.551 16. Alex Hofmann (GER) Ducati 1'40.681 17. Alex Barros (BRA) Ducati 1'41.038 18. Kousuke Akiyoshi (JPN) Suzuki 1'41.805 19. Sylvain Guintoli (FRA) Yamaha 1'42.215 20. Vittoriano Guareschi (ITA) Ducati 1'43.008 21. Andrew Pitt (AUS) Ilmor 1'43.026 22. Shinichi Ito (JPN) Ducati 1'43.073 23. Jeremy McWilliams (IRE) Ilmor 1'43.202 Jerez Lap Record (990cc): Valentino Rossi (Yamaha) 2005 – 1’40.596 Jerez Best Lap (800cc): Valentino Rossi (Yamaha) 2007 – 1’38.394

After an exciting opening round in Qatar last weekend, the Superbike World Championship makes its only trip to the southern hemisphere when it visits the fast and flowing Phillip Island circuit for the Yamaha-sponsored Australian round. Following a promising debut with the 2007 YZF-R1 in Qatar, Yamaha Motor Italy WSB Team riders Troy Corser and Noriyuki Haga are looking to build on their fine start with a good performance on a track that should suit the R1's sweet-handling chassis. Corser marked his debut with the official Yamaha team by winning the superpole event and finishing on the podium in race two, while both riders demonstrated the speed of the new R1. For Corser, the Australian round is the one chance he will get to race in front of his home fans this season. The world superbike veteran actually made his debut at the same circuit 15 years ago in his first stint as a Yamaha rider. Speaking from last Saturday's race in Qatar, he commented: "We're off to Phillip Island next and I think my Yamaha will work really well there. It's a track I really like and I think we can bag a couple of good results there for sure. It's a pity about the first race today, we had a big vibration at the rear (caused by the tyre not gripping the rim correctly) but that's how it goes sometimes. It was so bad that I thought about pulling in, but we could still score some points. It was good to get on the podium in the second race but I guess that I am still a little disappointed, because I felt we could have been there in both races. But don't worry, we'll make up for it in Phillip Island!" Haga too managed to score a fine result in the day's second race with a fourth position. He's due a good result on 'The Island'. The Japanese rider had his first win outside of Japan there in 1998, although to date that is his only victory Down Under. The official Yamaha squad, along with the nominated Pirelli tyre test teams from the other four manufacturers, tested at Phillip Island just over a month ago, something Haga hopes will help them get the most out of their bikes this weekend. "We tested at Phillip Island in January," he says. "We were able to do a lot of laps and work on a setting for the race, so I hope that this will help us this weekend. Remember, we only had our first shakedown at the end of last year and we are learning more about it with every session. We learned a lot about the bike in Australia and, although we could not get good life from the front tyre, it was working very well in Qatar." In the Supersport World Championship, Yamaha World Supersport team rider Kevin Curtain lies second in the championship following his second place in Qatar. The Australian was in spectacular form all weekend and managed to score pole position on Saturday. The R6 man looked impressive in the race too, leading the opening laps but had to settle for second due to a lack of rear end tyre traction. Now the veteran star has vowed to put on a big show for his legions of fans at Phillip Island. He said: "I don't believe in saying 'I'm going to win this or I'm gonna do that' because I believe that it can bring bad luck or bad karma. What I do know is that I am really fired up for my home race and will be giving it absolutely everything I've got. I've ridden this track so many times that if I'm going to win anywhere then it will be there. Our team has made some big progress with the bike over the winter, not so much in terms of outright power but certainly in terms of making it easier to ride. We've tested at Phillip Island earlier in the year and we were able to run some fast laps, so I'm really hoping for more of the same this weekend." Curtain's team-mate and countryman Broc Parkes was also afflicted by grip problems in Qatar. The 25-year-old had to pull in when his rear tyre wore out but is keen to rack up his first points of 2007. "Qatar was disappointing," he said. "But we have to put that behind us. We had a great test at Phillip Island and it's always exciting to be racing at home."

Following yesterday’s heavy rain, thick fog delayed the start of the second day of testing in Jerez this morning before giving way to sunshine and a dry track, providing the Yamaha Factory Team with the chance to get some important work under their belts. Valentino Rossi and Colin Edwards both focused on general set-up work today and were pleased to see good improvements to the performance of their 800cc Yamahas since their last test here in November. Rossi and Edwards were consistently fast throughout the day, with Rossi topping the time sheets until the last stages of the session before being overtaken by Marco Melandri (Honda), who set the day’s best lap in a time of 1’40.383. Rossi finished just behind him in a time of 1’40.408, under the existing 990cc lap record, which he himself set in 2005. Edwards, having been in the top three for most of the day, also slipped down the order at the end as several riders opted to try qualifying tyres ahead of tomorrow’s 40 minute timed ‘qualifying’ shoot-out, which begins at 1405 CET. Valentino Rossi (2nd, 1’40.408, 65 Laps) “Today was a very good day for us and we’ve done some great work. After today we’re happy because we can understand that we did a great job when we were here in November. We started with the same setting and the bike was fast straight away, then afterwards we tried a new setting from January and February, with the suspension and other things, and it felt even better. I had a great feeling with the front and also with the rear, and I had a lot of confidence with my bike. The balance was good under acceleration and I was able to go fast and in a good rhythm. Tomorrow we’ve got some more things to try and also some more tyres from Michelin, so we hope to make even more improvements. We’ll also get the chance to try a qualifying tyre and to see how we go against our rivals in the ‘qualifying’ session, which will be interesting. So anyway, we’ve got another day and some more work to do, but the situation is already good and I am feeling happy.” Colin Edwards (9th, 1’41.204, 69 Laps) “Today we started where we left off yesterday, trying to work out how to adapt the good setting from Qatar to this track. We figured a few things out in the morning and kept on making progress and actually what we’ve found is quite a long way from the Qatar setting and also from the old setting we used here, but anyway it works great! It felt good all day and I was doing consistently quick times, before we put in our ‘first-choice’ tyre from Qatar near the end and then it felt really fantastic. It really is a great tyre, so hopefully Michelin will have lots of those for me this season! I was right up there on the time sheets until the end when a few people put qualifiers in, but that wasn’t on our agenda today and we’ll have a go at that tomorrow. Of course there’s the competition tomorrow and it’s definitely the day to make a statement, so we’ll see how it goes! Davide Brivio – Team Director “Today we did a great job with Valentino, we found a very good balance and a good setting and he was able to be fast from his first lap and always at the top, until the very end. It was also a good day for Colin and he was also fast throughout. Tomorrow is our last day of testing before the championship starts so it’s very important, then we also have the competition in the afternoon. We’re in good shape with both riders so it should be an interesting day.” Lap Times: 1. Marco Melandri (ITA) Honda 1’40.383 2. Valentino Rossi (ITA) Yamaha 1’40.408 3. Dani Pedrosa (SPA) Honda 1’40.581 4. Alex Hofmann (GER) Ducati 1’40.748 5. Toni Elias (SPA) Honda 1’40.952 6. Casey Stoner (AUS) Ducati 1’41.071 7. Carlos Checa (SPA) Honda 1’41.096 8. Randy de Puniet (FRA) Kawasaki 1’41.151 9. Colin Edwards (USA) Yamaha 1’41.204 10. Makoto Tamada (JPN) Yamaha 1’41.234 11. Nicky Hayden (USA) Honda 1’41.259 12. Shinya Nakano (JPN) Honda 1’41.269 13. Chris Vermeulen (AUS) Suzuki 1’41.363 14. Loris Capirossi (ITA) Ducati 1’41.590 15. Olivier Jacque (FRA) Kawasaki 1’41.777 16. Kenny Roberts (USA) Team KR 1’41.783 17. Alex Barros (BRA) Ducati 1’41.845 18. Sylvain Guintoli (FRA) Yamaha 1’42.364 19. Shinichi Ito (JPN) Ducati 1’43.209 20. Kousuke Akiyoshi (JPN) Suzuki 1’43.610 21. Vittoriano Guareschi (ITA) Ducati 1’44.143 22. Jeremy McWilliams (IRE) Ilmor 1’44.458 23. Andrew Pitt (AUS) Ilmor 1’44.589 Jerez Lap Record (990cc): Valentino Rossi (Yamaha) 2005 – 1’40.596 Jerez Best Lap (990cc): Loris Capirossi (Ducati) 2006 – 1’39.064

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

Yamaha Factory Racing riders Valentino Rossi and Colin Edwards started their final pre-season preparations today as the Official MotoGP Test began in Jerez. The Andalusian circuit, which will play host to the second round of the MotoGP World Championship in March, will provide the teams with the last chance to fine-tune their 800cc MotoGP motorcycles before the season gets started in Qatar. After three consecutive races in warmer climes, it was a wet return to European shores this morning when the MotoGP paddock was subjected to a heavy rainstorm and as a result Rossi and Edwards were not able get out on track until the early afternoon. However even after that the low temperatures meant that track failed to dry properly and it remained quite damp in places, causing the Yamaha pair to take it gently throughout the afternoon as they concentrated on trying to find the right set-up ahead of a hopefully drier day tomorrow. The timesheets were topped today by Honda rider Marco Melandri, who set a time of 1’42.563, a full two seconds off Rossi’s old 990cc lap record, which still stands from 2005. Edwards came in at 11th position with best lap of 1’43.845 with Rossi behind him in 13th after a lap of 1’44.494. Colin Edwards, Position: 11th Time: 1’43.845 Laps: 38 “Actually that was a really useful day for us, despite the weather! Obviously the times don’t really show it, but I’m not worried about those because the conditions really limited what we could do with regards to going fast. It wasn’t nice out there with the patchy conditions and it was really quite dangerous; it was obvious that whoever took the most risks was going to be fastest today! Anyway, we came here with our ‘smooth-track’ setting which worked so well in Qatar and tried it here, which is much bumpier. The good thing about today is that we think we now understand why it doesn’t work so well on bumpy tracks and so tomorrow we’re going to work on changing that and getting it to work everywhere. That’s the aim for tomorrow and hopefully we’ll be successful in that task, which will put us in much better stead as far as adjusting the bike to different tracks goes. We were obviously nowhere near our times from December today but we know the bike is better than it was then so I am sure that once the track dries out properly and it gets a bit warmer, we’ll get a lot faster.” Valentin Rossi Position: 13th Time: 1’44.494 Laps:36 “The most important thing about this test for us is that it gives us the chance to see how our new bike has changed from the test here in December to now. We’ve had three tests in between and the bike has changed quite a bit, plus we’ve had some new parts for the engine and the bike is a bit faster. Today wasn’t great because the conditions were bad, it didn’t really dry out all day so it wasn’t possible to go so fast. Anyway though, I am impressed at some of the times of my rivals in these conditions! I was quite fast at the start when it was quite wet, but really it wasn’t enough to do a real wet-weather test. So after today we still can’t see how much we’ve improved from the last test, but hopefully tomorrow will be better. We’ve found some interesting things though and I think it will be better tomorrow. Of course the objective of this weekend is to be ready for the race when we return here and I hope we will also be able to go faster than we did here in December. The biggest changes since we were here last have been made to the suspension, especially in the front, but today we couldn’t really see the potential of these changes. If it becomes warmer we will also try to find some good tyres for this track, so let’s hope for sunshine!” Davide Brivio, Team Director “Today was a bit disappointing because we obviously have a lot of work to get through here and the weather really delayed us, but anyway both riders found out some interesting things about their bikes in these conditions and gathered some good information. We hope that the weather will be better tomorrow so we will be able to see how much our bike has improved since the last test here. It’s a bit cold at this time of year, but hopefully the sun will come out and we will be able to really get started!” Unofficial Lap Times 1. Marco Melandri (ITA) Honda 1’42.563 2. Casey Stoner (AUS) Ducati 1’42.634 3. Dani Pedrosa (SPA) Honda 1’42.706 4. Carlos Checa (SPA) Honda 1’43.206 5. Alex Barros (BRA) Ducati 1’43.214 6. Randy de Puniet (FRA) Kawasaki 1’43.315 7. Loris Capirossi (ITA) Ducati 1’43.476 8. Alex Hofmann (GER) Ducati 1’43.673 9. Toni Elias (SPA) Honda 1’43.687 10. Shinya Nakano (JPN) Honda 1’43.817 11. Colin Edwards (USA) Yamaha 1’43.845 12. Chris Vermeulen (AUS) Suzuki 1’44.052 13. Valentino Rossi (ITA) Yamaha 1’44.494 14. Olivier Jacque (FRA) Kawasaki 1’44.659 15. Makoto Tamada (JPN) Yamaha 1’45.081 16. Sylvain Guintoli (FRA) Yamaha 1’45.208 17. Vittoriano Guareschi (ITA) Ducati 1’45.603 18. Shinichi Ito (JPN) Ducati 1’45.826 19. Nicky Hayden (USA) Honda 1’45.901 20. Kenny Roberts (USA) Team KR 1’45.937 21. Kousuke Akiyoshi (JPN) Suzuki 1’47.191 22. Jeremy McWilliams (IRE) Ilmor 1’47.696 23. Andrew Pitt (AUS) Ilmor 1’49.365 Jerez Lap Record (990cc) Valentino Rossi (Yamaha) 2005 - 1’40.596 Jerez Best Lap (990cc) Loris Capirossi (Ducati) 2006 - 1’39.064

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

Yamaha's new-for-2007 YZF-R1 demonstrated that it is a weapon to be reckoned with in world superbike competition, with Noriyuki Haga scoring provisional pole on the bike's world championship debut in Qatar today. The Yamaha Motor Italy WSB Team rider topped the timesheets for much of the session onboard the MotoGP-inspired R1, with the Japanese rider particularly happy with his performance because he was concentrating on finding a good set-up to last Saturday's 18-lap race rather than going for an ultimate pole position time. Haga's 1:59.019 provisional pole time was set on race rubber and is the fastest ever superbike lap of the Losail circuit, being over half-a-second faster than Troy Bayliss' qualifying lap last year, and a full second quicker than his own race record. There was double delight for the Yamaha Motor Italia squad as team-mate Troy Corser also ended the day on the provisional front row. The Australian was also under Bayliss' previous best, posting a 1:59.440 to end the day fourth on the timesheets in his debut with the Italian squad. Having tested at the circuit just a few weeks earlier, the team arrived in Qatar with a good base setting for their R1s. Despite this, the squad still had a great deal of work to get through in order to get the best out of their machines for Saturday's races. With track temperatures approaching 45 °C on the tarmac, tyre selection could prove critical this weekend. Corser and Haga have access to newer-specification Pirelli tyres this weekend than they had during testing, giving them a heavy programme of tyre testing in the practice sessions. Shinichi Nakatomi ended the day 15th on the Team YZF Yamaha entry. The new squad, born out of the Yamaha Motor France-entered team of 2005 and 2006, is chiefly responsible for development of Yamaha's YEC range of customer race parts and using the world series to test and improve the range. The Japanese rider, entering his second year in the series, posted a time of 2:01.964 to gain a provisional place in tomorrow afternoon's grid deciding superpole session. In today's tight qualifying session it was British rider James Toseland (Honda) who pushed Haga closest, recording a time of 1:59.056 to take second in the overnight standings. Joining them and Corser on the provisional front row is former 250cc world champion and Yamaha MotoGP rider Max Biaggi (Suzuki), who was third fastest on his superbike debut. Noriyuki Haga (Yamaha Motor Italy WSB Team) "I am surprised to be fastest because when we tested here I did not have a really good feeling with the bike. This morning I tried the set-up we left the test with but the feeling was still the same. For the afternoon we changed a few things and made a big step and I am now happy with the way the bike turns. We worked hard to find a good setting for the race and I still want to get better tyre life. For six or seven laps the tyre is very good but then we find that the rear falls away a lot on the right side. The new bike is working well. We only had our shakedown tests a few weeks ago but luckily we are able to carry forward many of the parts and knowledge from the previous R1 so we already have a very good base to work from." Troy Corser (Yamaha Motor Italy WSB Team) "I'm fairly happy with that. The track feels different from when we tested here and that's had an effect on how the bike is performing. We need to improve the front end tyre feel and there are quite a few little things for us to try out tomorrow. For sure it would have been nice to have had a few more tests before the first race but we've got a good base to work from and fourth is a pretty decent start." Shinichi Nakatomi (Team YZF Yamaha) "No so bad! We made an improvement of two-and-a-half seconds between the morning and afternoon and I hope we can make some more improvement as we learn more about the set-up of the new machine." Massimo Meregalli (Team Coordinator - Yamaha Motor Italy WSB Team) "We tested here a few weeks ago because we understood the importance of being competitive from the very first race. We found a good base setting at the test and, but for a few small changes, only the tyre options are different. We're happy with how it's gone today but it is hard to really judge how competitive we can be on race day at this moment. Both riders have been able to complete around 11 to 12 laps on the tyres but we still have to do some more endurance testing tomorrow." Circuit Length: 5380 Temp: 25 Weather: Dry 2007 WSB Qatar 22/02/2007 Qualifying 1 Pos. Rider Manu. Nat. Total Time 1 Noriyuki Haga Yamaha JPN 1'59.019 2 James Toseland Honda GBR 1'59.056 3 Max Biaggi Suzuki ITA 1'59.369 4 Troy Corser Yamaha AUS 1'59.440 5 Lorenzo Lanzi Ducati ITA 1'59.459 6 Troy Bayliss Ducati AUS 1'59.507 7 Yukio Kagayama Suzuki JPN 1'59.805 8 Ruben Xaus Ducati ESP 2'0.244 9 Roberto Rolfo Honda ITA 2'0.258 10 Fonsi Nieto Kawasaki ESP 2'0.309 11 Michel Fabrizio Honda ITA 2'0.467 12 Max Neukirchner Suzuki GER 2'0.626 13 Regis Laconi Kawasaki FRA 2'0.733 14 Joshua Brookes Honda AUS 2'0.936 15 Shinichi Nakatomi Yamaha JPN 2'1.948 QUALIFYING 1 REPORT 22/02/2007 R6 men show Middle Eastern promise Kevin Curtain The Yamaha World Supersport team made a promising start to Saturday's opening round of the 2007 Supersport World Championship at a hot and sunny Losail circuit in Qatar today, ending first qualifying with both riders on the provisional second row. Last year's championship runner-up Kevin Curtain was the fastest of the YZF-R6 runners, setting a best lap of 2:03.941 around the long and fast desert circuit. Team-mate Broc Parkes was just five hundreds of a second behind his fellow Australian to take eighth place in a tight session that saw the top eight all in the 2:03 bracket. Encouragingly both of the Yamaha Motor Europe entered machines were able to run consistently at race pace, putting in consistent 2:04 lap times during their runs. The season certainly got off to a spectacular start when Curtain's R6 was destroyed in a pile-up just minutes into the morning practice session. The accident claimed four Yamaha riders with Yamaha GMT94's David Checa and Sebastien Gimbert, as well as Italian privateer Gianluca Vizziello, all going down on oil deposited by another rider's machine. Thankfully all riders escaped without injury and were able to return to the circuit when the session was restarted, allowing the protagonists to work on finding a good set-up for Saturday's 18 lap race. Yamaha Motor Italy Lorenzini by Leoni rider Massimo Roccoli ended the day 11th on his YZF-R6, with supersport newcomer Gimbert and team-mate Checa ending the day 17th and 21st places respectively. Fastest man on show was Japanese rider Katsuaki Fujiwara (Honda) who recorded a 2:03.258 lap in the last minute of the session. Italian Gianluca Nannelli (Ducati) and Honda team-mates Kenan Sofuoglu and Sebastien Charpentier complete the provisional front row. Kevin Curtain "Not a bad day but the crash this morning was a real downer. Someone blew up right on the racing line and four of us went down, with Broc and a few others doing real well to stay up. The bike was totally destroyed in the crash and that set me back as the spare bike wasn't set up quite the same. That's a shame but we know we are competitive and can make some improvements for tomorrow." Broc Parkes Broc Parkes "It's been a decent enough start today. I almost crashed on the oil in the morning session and the two big delays were a little strange. The times are all very close and we're on the pace. I think that we are already in decent shape but hopefully we can get further up the grid tomorrow." Circuit Length: 5380 Temp: 25 Weather: Dry 2007 WSS Qatar 22/02/2007 Qualifying 1 Pos. Rider Manu. Nat. Total Time 1 Katsuaki Fujiwara Honda JPN 2'3.258 2 Gianluca Nannelli Ducati ITA 2'3.477 3 Kenan Sofuoglu Honda TUR 2'3.608 4 Sebastien Charpentier Honda FRA 2'3.744 5 Fabien Foret Kawasaki FRA 2'3.862 6 Kevin Curtain Yamaha AUS 2'3.941 7 Pere Riba Kawasaki ESP 2'3.949 8 Broc Parkes Yamaha AUS 2'3.991 9 Robbin Harms Honda DNK 2'4.308 10 Barry Veneman Suzuki NED 2'4.484 11 Massimo Roccoli Yamaha ITA 2'4.953 12 Davide Giugliano Kawasaki ITA 2'5.054 13 Yoann Tiberio Honda FRA 2'5.399 14 Vesa Kallio Suzuki FIN 2'5.450 15 Javier Fores Honda ESP 2'5.456

Yamaha’s Factory MotoGP Team will take part in the Official MotoGP Test in Jerez this weekend sporting a special blue Yamaha livery. The livery reflects the familiar blue colours used in other Yamaha racing disciplines and also makes a direct connection with the blue colours and the famous Yamaha speedblock stripe used on the high-performance Yamaha R1 and R6 machines throughout the world. The one-off livery will be used by Valentino Rossi and Colin Edwards over the three days of the test, including during the traditional televised timed ‘qualifying’ session on Sunday. Davide Brivio, Team Director “We’ve chosen this important pre-season event to run in full Yamaha livery and it’s a nice chance to thank everyone in the company who has worked so hard over the winter. This could be the only opportunity to see Yamaha MotoGP bikes in this special blue livery as the design and colour will change again for the first MotoGP race in Qatar. I hope our fans and the all Yamaha network will appreciate and enjoy this special event!”

Yamaha’s main contenders for the MX1 and MX2 world titles proved to be ready for the upcoming challenge by winning both heats in both MX1 and MX2 classes at the first Italian championship race held at Montevarchi in dry, but cloudy conditions. Yamaha Motocross Team MX1 star Joshua Coppins and Antonio Cairoli of Team Yamaha de Carli competing in MX2 had to ride hard for their moto victories, resisting pressure from several world title contenders including their team mates and other fellow Yamaha riders. Particularly in MX2 the dominance of YZ250F riders was striking with the top six in the overall day result being Yamaha mounted. The Yamaha Motocross Team does not intend to compete in all the races of the Italian championship, but saw the race at the Montevarchi track as a good opportunity to work on the setting of their YZ450FM for hard packed tracks. Team manager Carlo Rinaldi was happy with the progress made; “The Montevarchi track is a good place to develop the hard track set up before we start the world championship. We made good progress this weekend and we hope to finalize the hard track set up next week at Valence, after which we will move up north to Belgium to start testing and develop the sand set up”. “I’m happy to see that both riders are competitive and content with the bike as we have it now. The setting between Josh and Marc is not as different as one may expect. Of course the riders have some different requests and Marc may look more aggressive on the bike, but actually there is not much difference in how our riders work the engine and control the throttle.’ “Overall we are very confident and our preparations go smoothly. In moto one Josh had to work hard for the win with Philippaerts and Nemeth, but in race two it was easier for him. It was good to see that Josh had both hole shots. Marc isn’t far behind either, I hope we can have a good test session in Belgium to give Marc a flying start come the first race in sandy Valkenswaard, his home track. The Yamaha Motocross Team joins most of the other top teams coming weekend at the second big international preseason race at Valence, France. MX1 – Overall result 1. Josh Coppins, NZ – Yamaha 50 2. David Philippaerts, ITA – KTM 44 3. Kornel Nemeth, HUN – Suzuki 40 4. Marc De Reuver, HOL – Yamaha 36 5. Cedric Melotte, BEL – Aprilia 31 6. Antoine Meo, FRA – Honda 30 7. Manuel Priem, BEL – TM 26 8. Cristian Beggi, ITA – WRM 26 9. Alex Salvini, ITA – Yamaha 26 10. Andrea Bartolini, ITA – Yamaha 23 MX2 – Overall result 1. Antonio Cairoli, ITA – Yamaha 50 2. Kenneth Gundersen, NOR – Yamaha 44 3. David Guarneri, ITA – Yamaha 38 4. Manuel Monni, ITA – Yamaha 38 5. Nicolas Aubin, FRA – Yamaha 31 6. Jeremy Tarroux, FRA – Yamaha 31 7. Deny Philippaerts, ITA – Honda 26 8. Matteo Bonini, ITA – Yamaha 24 9. Filip Neugebauer, CZ – Kawasaki 24 10. Paulin Gaultier, FRA – Honda 19

The green light comes on for the Superbike World Championship's 20th anniversary this weekend with Yamaha expecting great things in all the classes for 2007. Round one of the 2007 series takes place at the impressive Losail circuit in Qatar, where Yamaha Motor Italia's 'dream team' will look to capitalize on an impressive testing display at the Middle Eastern circuit just over a week ago. The squad goes into the season with a new and much improved YZF-R1 for Troy Corser and Noriyuki Haga. The latest version of the legendary superbike comes loaded with sophisticated engine management electronics as standard, including Yamaha's YCC-T (Yamaha Chip Controlled Throttle) - the so-called 'fly-by-wire' system that should provide a huge help in transferring the 16-valve engine's 200+ bhp to the back tyre as smoothly as possible. The team has tested twice in Qatar over the winter period with Corser, who has won two of the four races held at the Losail circuit, under the lap record in last weekend's test. The two-times world champion feels he is ready to go for the start of his 11th full superbike campaign, saying: "The team has made me feel very welcome and I'm really enjoying working with them. There's always a lot to do when you have a new bike and the new R1 is no exception. Of course, a little more time on the bike would have been good but I think we'll be ready for the first race. It's going to be another tough season - but then the Superbike World Championship is always tough. There are many good riders and many good bikes, so I don't think any rider is going to find it easy. I may be one of the 'senior' members in the series now, but my passion for racing and winning is the same as when I first started. It's hard to explain the feeling you get on a racebike when everything is working well. It's a tremendous buzz and one that I'm going to enjoy as long as I am having fun. I want to repay Yamaha's faith in me and I'd like to go into the record books by becoming the first rider to win on three different bikes. That would be some achievement!" Aiming to stop Corser in his quest for a third world title will be his team-mate and Yamaha stalwart Haga. The Japanese rider has finished third in the series for the past three seasons but sees the arrival of the Australian rider as a positive thing rather than a threat. "I have a big respect for Troy," he says. "Not only is he a very fast rider, he also understands how to get the best from the bike. We have had many great and hard battles over the years but he is a good friend off the track. For me the goal is always the same at the start of the season and this year is no different. We want to win the title and I hope we can work well together in developing the new R1 and challenge for the number one. So far testing has gone quite well and the new bike has a lot of potential. But it's the racing that matters and I think that everybody is looking forward to the start of the season." Yamaha also has high hopes in the world supersport class, where Kevin Curtain came so close to winning the championship last season. For 2007 the structure of the factory's official team has changed, with Yamaha Motor Europe taking over the running of the squad from German distributor Yamaha Motor Germany, although the organization remains largely the same, retaining the team's staff and base in Neuss. With the current model R6 already having a year's development under its belt the squad is confident of being able to challenge for the top step of the podium from the opening race. Curtain and team-mate Broc Parkes have enjoyed a good winter testing programme, working mostly on suspension and fine-tuning the groundbreaking 600cc machine's electronic systems in a bid to improve ride ability and reduce rear tyre wear over race distance. The team also has the advantage of having tested in both Qatar and Australia, venues for the opening two rounds of the 2007 campaign, with Curtain topping the timesheets at both locations. "Testing's gone really well," confirms Curtain. "Our lap times have been good and the team has made lots of small improvements that make the bike easier to ride. This time last year we had a new bike and had to play catch up for the first two races but this year hopefully we'll be able to take advantage of the continuity of having the same basic package. After coming so close last year our team is probably more motivated than ever and I really want to get the best possible results for them in these first two races."

The final day of MotoGP testing in Qatar today saw the times tumble yet again, as several riders opted to try qualifying tyres and three of them, Yamaha rider Valentino Rossi included, dipped under the 1’55 mark. As usual on the final day of a test, both Rossi and team-mate Colin Edwards tried their 800cc Yamaha’s on a long-run, enabling them to gather crucial information about tyre performance and fuel consumption ahead of the first race here in three week’s time. Edwards’ was in fact forced to do two extended sessions after his initial long-run, started towards the end of the morning, was red-flagged when Suzuki rider John Hopkins crashed, breaking a bone in his foot. After topping the time sheets for the last two days, the Yamaha pair slipped down the order a little today, Rossi coming in third behind Dani Pedrosa (Honda, 1’55.471) and Hopkins (1’55.825) with a time of 1’55.954, set in the morning session using a Michelin qualifying tyre. After running into a few small problems with the qualifying tyre, Edwards was unable to better his time from yesterday and finished the day fifth with a best lap of 1’56.371. The Yamaha Factory Racing Team will now head to European shores for the first time since December for the Official MotoGP Test on 23rd, 24th and 25th February, at Jerez de la Frontera in southern Spain. This will be the final pre-season test before the Grand Prix paddock reconvenes in Qatar for the first race of the season on 10th March. Valentino Rossi (3rd, 1’55.954, 62 Laps) “It’s been a good test overall, despite running into a few problems. Like I said yesterday, it’s better to find the problems now so we have the chance to fix them! As I expected, the other riders have improved a lot over these three days and Colin and I weren’t able to stay at the top today. Still, we’re quite fast and our bike is quite good, so we’re happy. The long run was okay, the situation with the rear tyre wasn’t perfect but we knew it wasn’t going to be and nothing happened that we didn’t expect. Anyway, we’re not worried about it and we know how to go from here. I was still able to do 1’56.5s okay, so I think if the race was tomorrow then we would be in a position to fight for the victory, as would Colin. We still have one more test in Jerez so we’ve got the chance to do some more good work and try to make our bike perfect for the first race. We’re still working on the suspension and stability, we’ve talked a lot with our engineers and we’ve got some good ideas to try next week. We’ve been sharing a lot of information in our garage between Colin and I; he’s tried my settings and I’ve tried his which has been very helpful. Now I’m looking forward to seeing how the bike will go in Jerez next week.” Colin Edwards (5th, 1’56.371, 61 Laps) “We were a little bit unlucky today; we wanted to finish up early so we started our long-run in the morning and it was all going well when the red flags came out after about 14 laps. I was doing pretty good times in that and was happy with how things were going, so it was pity I had to stop. Anyway, our engineers needed me to have another go this afternoon as we really needed to get some information about the fuel consumption. Unfortunately we couldn’t have the same tyre again and we had to use something a bit older, so the second long run wasn’t so great, but we got all the information we needed. We tried a qualifier this morning and actually we had a tiny bit of movement with that which was a surprise after how fantastic it was in Sepang. I couldn’t quite better my time from yesterday, when I was on race tyres. Valentino had a go later and I think he fixed the issue, so we’re not panicking about that. It’s been a really good test and I think we’ve got a lot of options with this bike. Now it’s on to something different again in Jerez so we’ll see how things go there, hopefully we can continue the good work.” Davide Brivio - Team Director “It’s been a very interesting and important test for us and both riders have shown that they’re in a position to fight at the top. We’ve got a few areas which we need to work on, but overall we’re happy. It’s nice to see both riders being consistently fast and having fun riding the bike and it’s great to see such good teamwork, with both crews working closely together and sharing all their information. This really helps us in the task of developing the bike. Now we go to Jerez for the final test and it’s going to be another very important three days for us all; our rivals are strong and we need to be in the best possible shape when we come back here for the first race. Unofficial Lap Times: 1. Dani Pedrosa (SPA) Honda 1’55.471 2. John Hopkins (USA) Suzuki 1’55.825 3. Valentino Rossi (ITA) Yamaha 1’55.954 4. Alex Hofmann (GER) Ducati 1’56.315 5. Colin Edwards (USA) Yamaha 1’56.371 6. Randy de Puniet (FRA) Kawasaki 1’56.753 7. Loris Capirossi (ITA) Ducati 1’56.807 8. Casey Stoner (AUS) Ducati 1’56.834 9. Alex Barros (BRA) Ducati 1’56.950 10. Marco Melandri (ITA) Honda 1’56.980 11. Shinya Nakano (JPN) Honda 1’56.980 12. Makoto Tamada (JPN) Yamaha 1’57.232 13. Toni Elias (SPA) Honda 1’57.246 14. Nicky Hayden (USA) Honda 1’57.269 15. Chris Vermeulen (AUS) Suzuki 1’57.365 16. Kenny Roberts (USA) Team KR 1’57.408 17. Carlos Checa (SPA) Honda 1’57.497 18. Sylvain Guintoli (FRA) Yamaha 1’58.379 19. Shinichi Ito (JPN) Bridgestone Test 1’58.974 20. Andrew Pitt (AUS) Ilmor 2’00.455 21. Olivier Jacque (FRA) Kawasaki 2’02.081 22. Jeremy McWilliams (IRE) Ilmor 2’02.612

Colin Edwards maintained his exemplary pre-season form by topping the unofficial time-sheets once again at the Losail International Circuit in Qatar today, with team-mate Valentino Rossi hot on his heels. The Yamaha pairing continue to forge ahead with the development of their 800cc Yamahas and their hard work is reaping rewards, with both riders feeling confident about the impending season. Edwards best lap of the day, an outstanding time of 1’56.296 set in the morning session, was over a second under the current 990cc lap record. Meanwhile Rossi bettered his time from yesterday with a lap of 1.56.537, despite running into a few set-up problems which he will look to iron-out tomorrow. Both riders will now aim to complete a long-run on the last day before they fly back to Europe for the final ‘dress-rehearsal’ in Jerez ahead of the first race. Colin Edwards Position: 1st Time: 1'56.296 Laps: 56 “Today was impressive! We got our second-choice front tyre from Michelin and it was instantly better than the third-choice one we had yesterday, it gave me a lot more confidence in the front-end. We made some big changes to the setting last night and we’re now in a different realm, close to what Valentino was running yesterday. It’s basically just something that works well on a flat track with no bumps and it felt really good. We made a small change to the rear shock and then we were just testing tyres for the rest of the day. We tested a series of right-side rubbers and then a series of left-side rubbers, searching for the best combination for the race. The times are great but they’re coming quite easily, I really haven’t pushed out of my comfort zone at all yet. This afternoon was slower because of the wind but at the end of the day, with the last rear tyre, I got my head down for a couple of laps and we still did a 56.4! We’ll do a long run tomorrow and see how it all works out then; hopefully we can stay on top and make it a clean sheet for the test!” Valentino Rossi Position: 2nd Time: 1'56.537 Laps: 62 “So, another fast day for Yamaha and I am happy that we’re one and two again. Actually, today we ran into a few problems which we need to work on, but anyway this is expected when you’re getting faster and faster and it’s much better that we find the problems now than in the race! Again we need to work to improve the stability of the bike under braking and this is a very delicate thing because we don’t want to sacrifice the agility of our bike. We need to find the right balance. We tried some more tyres for Michelin and today we didn’t find anything so great in this area, but we made some decisions about what to try for our long run tomorrow. We’re fast and we know we’re at a good level, but we can’t afford to relax because our rivals are getting closer and I think it’s going to be a very great battle this season. Tomorrow we’ll try to fix the problems we found today, we have some ideas and I am sure we can have a good last day.” Unofficial Lap Times 1. Colin Edwards (USA) Yamaha 1'56.296 2. Valentino Rossi (ITA) Yamaha 1'56.537 3. Dani Pedrosa (SPA) Honda 1'56.712 4. Carlos Checa (SPA) Honda 1'56.874 5. Casey Stoner (AUS) Ducati 1'57.040 6. John Hopkins (USA) Suzuki 1'57.065 7. Shinya Nakano (JPN) Honda 1'57.274 8. Randy de Puniet (FRA) Kawasaki 1'57.288 9. Kenny Roberts (USA) Team KR 1'57.504 10. Marco Melandri (ITA) Honda 1'57.591 11. Nicky Hayden (USA) Honda 1'57.629 12. Loris Capirossi (ITA) Ducati 1'57.698 13. Chris Vermeulen (AUS) Suzuki 1'57.770 14. Alex Hoffman (GER) Ducati 1'57.999 15. Alex Barros (BRA) Ducati 1'58.513 16. Makoto Tamada (JPN) Yamaha 1'58.610 17. Toni Elias (SPA) Honda 1'58.990 18. Sylvain Guintoli (FRA) Yamaha 1'59.138 19. Shinichi Ito (JPN) Bridgestone Test 1'59.617 20. Andrew Pitt (AUS) Ilmor 2'02.453 Qatar Lap Record (990cc) Valentino Rossi (Yamaha) 2006 - 1’57.305 Qatar Best Lap (990cc) Casey Stoner (Honda) 2006 - 1’55.683

Yamaha Factory Racing commenced the latest stage of their pre-season testing schedule today, joining the rest of their MotoGP counterparts on track at the Losail International Circuit in Qatar. This third test of the season is arguably the most important so far, as Losail will play host to the first race of the season in just over three week’s time. After two successive tests in Malaysia, the change of venue offers Valentino Rossi and Colin Edwards the chance to gauge the performance of their 800cc Yamahas in different conditions, as well as to measure themselves alongside a full line-up of their rivals. Once again the new 800cc bikes were proven to be just as fast as their 990 predecessors, with five riders lapping under the current lap record, set by Rossi on route to victory here last year. Edwards and Rossi were out in front of the field, with the American posting the fastest lap of the day in a time of 1’56 774. Rossi was just over a tenth of a second behind him with a best time of 1’56.891, followed by Casey Stoner (Ducati) with a time of 1’56.960. Colin Edwards Position: 1st Time: 1’56.774 Laps: 67 “We’re coming here off the back of a fantastic test in Sepang and we’ve started on pretty good form again today. Things aren’t totally perfect; the first-choice front tyre that we found in Malaysia and which I was super-happy with isn’t available here at the moment and I felt I was lacking a bit of feeling in the morning, but we changed a few things on the setting and at the end of the day everything made sense. Despite the good time we’ve definitely got room for improvement, which we hope will come with a couple of different tyres tomorrow and some new things we want to try on the setting. Anyway, the really encouraging thing is that we’ve come to a new track and the bike has worked well straight out of the box; let’s hope that’s the case everywhere this year! We did a lot of work on the braking in Sepang and we don’t have any problems with that here, so it looks like we fixed those problems. It’s been a very productive first day in every aspect.” Valentino Rossi Position: 2nd Time: 1’56.891 Laps: 59 “This is a very important test because the first race is here in just a few weeks, so we’re working really hard in order to have the bike ready for that! Today was quite good and I am happy with the work we’ve done as a team; we were fast straight away and it’s good to see that our bike works well at a different track. We continued to develop some things with the setting and we also worked on tyres with Michelin. This is a hard track for them so it’s important we are ready with the tyres for the first race. The bike felt very good from the start and you can ride it well; we don’t have any chatter, or any particular problems at all, so we’re in a better position than last year. I am also happy because Colin is fast; in fact, he’s a little bit faster than me! This is a good sign though, because it shows how good our bike is. Of course we still have areas to improve and so we will continue to work hard for the next two days.” Davide Brivio - Team Director “It was a good start to the test for us, because both riders are fast and the bike seems to work well here. For sure everybody else will also improve in the coming days, so we can’t afford to be complacent, but we will continue to work as hard as we can and hopefully we can keep going like this.” Unofficial Lap Times 1. Colin Edwards (USA) Yamaha 1'56.774 2. Valentino Rossi (ITA) Yamaha 1'56.891 3. Casey Stoner (AUS) Ducati 1'56.960 4. Kenny Roberts (USA) Team KR 1'57.064 5. Nicky Hayden (USA) Honda 1'57.070 6. John Hopkins (USA) Suzuki 1'57.350 7. Loris Capirossi (ITA) Ducati 1'57.360 8. Carlos Checa (SPA) Honda 1'57.370 9. Alex Barros (BRA) Ducati 1'57.690 10. Dani Pedrosa (SPA) Honda 1'57.700 11. Randy de Puniet (FRA) Kawasaki 1'57.730 12. Marco Melandri (ITA) Honda 1'57.760 13. Alex Hoffman (GER) Ducati 1'57.800 14. Shinya Nakano (JPN) Honda 1'57.850 15. Chris Vermeulen (AUS) Suzuki 1'57.900 16. Makoto Tamada (JPN) Yamaha 1'58.408 17. Olivier Jacque (FRA) Kawasaki 1'58.740 18. Toni Elias (SPA) Honda 1'59.400 19. Sylvain Guintoli (FRA) Yamaha 1'59.700 20. Shinichi Ito (JPN) Bridgestone Test 1'59.966 21. Andrew Pitt (AUS) Ilmor 2'01.667 22. Jeremy McWilliams (IRE) 2'10.341 Qatar Lap Record (990cc) Valentino Rossi (Yamaha) 2006 - 1’57.305 Qatar Best Lap (990cc) Casey Stoner (Honda) 2006 - 1’55.683

The new-look Rinaldi Yamaha Team completed their first competitive outing at the Mantova Starcross International yesterday as Josh Coppins scored second position overall and Marc de Reuver placed seventh in the final MX1 classification. The Mantova sand was divided by a stellar entry list as the cream of the Grand Prix motocross paddock cranked into life after the winter slumber.The race was the first proper introduction into a ‘new era’ with Coppins and De Reuver for the defending MX1 World Champion Team. Coppins was reasonably pleased with his maiden appearance in blue colours with third, seventh and fifth positions in the three motos. The New Zealander pushed his way back into the top ten in the second race despite running into a fallen Steve Ramon deep into the first corner. ‘Second position overall and I’m pretty happy with that,’ the 29 year old commented. ‘The team and I worked a lot and we made a lot of changes. We talked with our suspension supplier Kayaba and each time we made an adjustment there was an improvement so it was encouraging. My starts were good in all three motos, but Steve Ramon crashed in front of me in the second heat and I had to re-start from last but came through to seventh. For my first race with the Yamaha it was not too bad; there is still a long way to go until Valkenswaard.’ The circuit, north of Bologna, will also host the Italian Grand Prix, the fourth round of the World Championship in May. The next five weeks will involve further testing for team as well as more racing in France and Great Britain before the opening meeting of the FIM series in Holland. Dutchman Marc de Reuver collected finishes of 20th, fourth and seventh in his return to representing the manufacturer he last rode for in 2002. The soon-to-be 24 year old made his MX1 debut in Italy and although he suffered with arm-pump in the initial foray he felt positive about the experience. ‘I had a lot of problems with arm-pump in the first heat and I just had to feel my way around,’ he said. ‘Things were better in the next race. I started OK and then followed Pichon for a while before passing him around two laps from the end. It wasn’t a bad heat at all, but most of the top guys had crashed so the classification was pretty different. Everyone stayed up for the third heat however and I felt strong riding with Philippaerts and Strijbos. It was a close one as we finished within two seconds of each other. It was the first race so there is only so much you can read from it, but my speed was good and everything is coming along OK.’ ‘I am quite happy and I never expect anything special from the opening race because it is always strange and there is pressure on the riders,’ said Racing Manager Carlo Rinaldi. ‘The track condition was difficult in Mantova as it was soft in the sand and then hard in other parts. Our riders struggled on Saturday but we talked and worked and Sunday was much better. It was about breaking the ice in terms of the racing and both riders proved to be OK. To be honest I would prefer that they are not 100% fit at this early stage in the season because there is a long year ahead. We will keep working now and I’m positive about the direction in which we are going.’ De Carli Yamaha rider and one of the factory’s main hopes for the 2007 MX2 World Championship on the YZ 250F, Antonio Cairoli, took a decent second position behind countryman David Philippaerts in the opening race and then was third in the second moto. Just when the 2005 World Champ – who only recently recovered from an injured shoulder - was looking at a possible overall success he went down in the first corner of moto three and finished outside of the top ten. A further four points meant third spot in the MX2 class. ‘Obviously I am a bit disappointed for my bad luck in the final moto,’ he said. ‘I could have obtained a big result and the large crowd, that cheered me on so much, would have deserved it. However I am satisfied because this was the first real comparison with our World Championship rivals and although we had a delay in our preparation because of my shoulder things went well. I want to thank the team because the bike is working well’ The next major meeting for Rinaldi Yamaha will be the International at the Valance circuit in France on February 25th. The Italian squad have won twice in the last four years at the venue close to Lyon. MX1 overall result 1 NAGL Maximilian GER, KTM 2 COPPINS Joshua NZL,Yamaha 3 BARRAGAN Jonathan SPA, KTM 4 PHILIPPAERTS David ITA, KTM 5 STRIJBOS Kevin BEL, Suzuki 6 PICHON Mickael FRA, KTM 7 DE REUVER Marc NED, Yamaha 8 BILL Julien SWI, Kawasaki 9 LEOK Tanel EST, Kawasaki 10 RAMON Steve BEL, Suzuki MX2 overall result 1 RATTRAY Tyla RSA, KTM 2 SEARLE Tommy GBR, KTM 3 CAIROLI Antonio ITA, Yamaha 4 MONNI Manuel ITA, Yamaha 5 TARROUX Jeremy FRA, Kawasaki 6 SWANEPOEL Gareth RSA, Kawasaki 7 MARTINI Gianluca ITA, KTM 8 PELLEGRINI Angelo ITA, KTM 9 DE BORTOLI Michele ITA, KTM 10 SIMPSON Shaun IRL, Kawasaki 16 GUNDERSEN Kenneth NOR, Yamaha

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