HAGA TENTH DESPITE TRACTION PROBLEMS
15 July 2005 - Yamaha Racing

Noriyuki Haga ended first qualifying at Brno in 10th place after an action packed session that saw the leader board change dramatically in the dying moments.

With most teams and many riders making their first visit to the Czech circuit, Haga and his Yamaha Motor Italia team-mate Andrew Pitt were able to take advantage of their recent test at the venue. Arriving at the circuit with proven machine settings from the test, both men were able to lap consistently at the expected race pace, however both found themselves shuffled down the order when their rivals fitted super-sticky qualifying tyres. Haga too fitted a qualifier for his final run, but felt that the settings of his machine were unable to take full advantage of tyre''s characteristics in the warm conditions.

Pitt ended the day in 15th place, vitally within the cut-off zone for tomorrow''s grid deciding superpole session. Despite his the relatively lowly grid position, the Australian remained upbeat after the session - declaring that an improvement in his own riding can find big improvements tomorrow. The 2001 Supersport World Champion said that he felt tense on the bike and needs to ''slow down to go faster''.

Yamaha Motor France rider Norick Abe was happy after setting the 12th fastest time of the day. Having found himself on unfamiliar territory in his last three outings, the Japanese ace was happy to be back on a circuit he knows well from his Grand Prix days. Like countryman Haga, Abe was able to post a succession of competitive times on race rubber. His 2''06.137 saw him in the top five until the final minutes. Team-mate Sebastien Gimbert made a return from injury in Brno and ended the day 22nd.

British rider Chris Walker (Kawasaki) took provisional pole position, ahead of Troy Corser (Suzuki) and Max Neukirchner (Honda). Yamaha privateer Jose-Luis Cardoso completed the provisional front row, with Regis Laconi (Ducati) ensuring that the top five places were occupied by five brands. Tomorrow morning sees the final qualifying session ahead of the afternoon superpole session, but with thunderstorms forecast qualification for the one-lap shootout could be determined by today''s times.

Noriyuki Haga (Yamaha Motor Italia)
''On race tyres our times are good and I am quite happy because we are competitive with the race settings. I set my best time on the race tyre. At the end I used a soft qualifier but I could not go faster and did not feel that it offered more grip. If we can improve traction then I think we can make some better times tomorrow.''

Andrew Pitt (Yamaha Motor Italia)
''I need to relax a little and if I do that I know that I can improve the lap times. The bike''s alright, I''m quite happy with it actually, but there are places where I''m braking too hard and going into some of the corners too fast. If I work on that tomorrow then my lines should improve and the lap times will get much better.''

Norick Abe (Yamaha Motor France)
''It''s good to be back on a circuit I know well from my MotoGP days and things were not so bad today. I''m quite happy with my qualifying lap but our biggest problem is the same as in Misano: we need more rear grip. Even with a qualifying tyre on the bike was sliding and we must work hard to improve this.''

Sebastien Gimbert (Yamaha Motor France)
''I am happy to be back after missing Misano with a broken leg. Today I had to work at improving my feeling and in this way I am quite happy with how it went.''

Round: 7 - Czech Republic
Circuit: Brno
Circuit Length: 5403
Date: 15 July 2005
Temp: 30ºC

Session 1 :
Pos. Rider Manufacturer Nat. 1st Qualifying
1 C. Walker Kawasaki GBR 2'' 3.064
2 T. Corser Suzuki AUS 2'' 3.487
3 M. Neukirchner Honda GER 2'' 3.912
4 J. Cardoso Yamaha ESP 2'' 3.917
5 R. Laconi Ducati FRA 2'' 4.184
6 M. Sanchini Kawasaki ITA 2'' 4.330
7 I. Clementi Ducati ITA 2'' 4.336
8 C. Vermeulen Honda AUS 2'' 4.436
9 J. Toseland Ducati GBR 2'' 4.613
10 N. Haga Yamaha JPN 2'' 4.729
11 Y. Kagayama Suzuki JPN 2'' 4.782
12 N. Abe Yamaha JPN 2'' 4.824
13 P. Chili Honda ITA 2'' 4.834
14 K. Muggeridge Honda AUS 2'' 4.862
15 A. Pitt Yamaha AUS 2'' 4.882
16 L. Lanzi Ducati ITA 2'' 4.912
18 D. Checa Yamaha ESP 2'' 5.399
22 S. Gimbert Yamaha FRA 2'' 5.882
23 G. Vizziello Yamaha ITA 2'' 5.943
27 L. Alfonsi Yamaha ITA 2'' 7.240
28 M. Praia Yamaha POR 2'' 9.108

Front row for Yamaha Germany riders

15/7/2005

Yamaha Motor Germany riders Kevin Curtain and Broc Parkes enjoyed their best qualifying day of the 2005 season, setting the second and third fastest times in today''s first qualifying session for Sunday''s seventh round of the Supersport World Championship in Brno.

Taking advantage of two days testing at the Czech circuit in June, the Australian YZF-R6 riders found themselves consistently at the top of the timesheets in both timed and untimed practice. With weather forecasters predicting a chance of storms during tomorrow''s final qualifying session, the both riders were delighted to qualify on the provisional front row in today''s warm and sunny conditions.

After setting the fastest time in the morning''s free practice, Curtain''s day was interrupted by a crash half way through the afternoon qualifying session. The 39-year-old was at the top of the leader board when he pushed too hard into the penultimate corner and lost the front end. Uninjured, he was able to return to rejoin with his spare machine, although he found himself pipped to the provisional pole position late in the session by championship leader Sebastien Charpentier (Honda), Charpentier''s best being under a tenth-of-a-second quicker than Curtain''s 2''07.550.

Team-mate Parkes'' improving performances on the R6 continued in Brno. Full of confidence after winning an Italian national supersport race at Misano two weeks ago, the 23-year-old looked comfortable on the Yamaha, setting the second fastest time in morning practice before improving to a 2''07.933 lap time and third place in the afternoon.

Yamaha Motor Germany''s superstock riders also had a good day at Brno, with Didier van Keymeulen taking provisional pole position for Sunday''s FIM Superstock 1000 race, ahead of team-mate Kenan Sofuoglu.

Kevin Curtain
''We''ve come with a good set-up and that''s shown with the lap times Broc and I have been able to do from the very beginning, I just hope that we''re still up there when it matters on Sunday. I reckon that there must have been something on the track where I crashed. I wasn''t going fast and when we checked the data it showed I was going 7kph slower than normal into the corner. Still, I''m ok and as we worked in race settings and didn''t go out to set a ''pole'' lap I know we can go faster tomorrow.''

Broc Parkes
''It feels good to be back up the top again. We''ve found a good front tyre that''s giving good feel from the front end and we''re happy with how it''s going but we know that as the other riders get more experience of the circuit they will get stronger as the weekend progresses. I really went for it at the end but I missed a gear and that cost us some time. How much time it cost us I''m not sure, but I know that we can go quicker if it stays dry tomorrow.''

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