FIRST WIN FOR R1 AS NITRO NORI BURNS UP BRNO
17 July 2005 - Yamaha Racing

Noriyuki Haga rode a sensational race two at Brno today to give Yamaha''s YZF-R1 its first victory in the Superbike World Championship, the brand''s first since officially returning to the series this season.

The Japanese Yamaha Motor Italia star gave a magical display to charge through from 16th place on the grid to take a lead he would never lose on lap seven, overtaking series leader Troy Corser (Suzuki) and establishing more than a three second lead at the chequered flag.

Haga''s win, Yamaha''s first in the class since the same rider won race two at Assen in September 2000 on the YZF-R7, came after a troubled weekend in qualifying that saw him starting way down the grid. However, even despite missing out on superpole the 29-year-old maintained that the settings of his R1 were ideal for race conditions. A lack of grip held him back as he raced to a still impressive seventh in the opening race, before using exactly the same set-up and tyre combination to blast to victory in the second.

Yamaha Motor Italia team-mate Andrew Pitt had a troubled weekend. Struggling for front end grip he came home 10th in race one, before a clutch problem forced him out of a points scoring position in the second, which had been restarted due to an oil spill in the opening laps of the initial running.

Yamaha Motor France''s Norick Abe almost made it two R1s on the podium in race two, narrowly missing out on third when passed by Chris Vermeulen (Honda) with two laps remaining. It was the Japanese rider''s best finish of his short superbike career and equaled his best result at the Czech circuit, matching his fourth place finish in the 2001 500cc Czech Grand Prix. Earlier in the day Abe finished ninth while team-mate Sebastien Gimbert, still struggling with an injured leg from a crash at Silverstone, was 19th and 17th.

Despite his win, Haga remains sixth in the championship - albeit with a reduced gap to defending world champion James Toseland (Ducati) in fifth place. Abe moved up to ninth, one place ahead of Pitt. Corser continues to lead the championship with an extended advantage over second placed Vermeulen.

Noriyuki Haga (Yamaha Motor Italia)
''I am very happy for this win. I had some problem in the first laps when I touched Chris (Vermeulen) and this made my brake lever go up in the air. I had to hit it to put it back in place and this cost me some time but I was able to make some very good lap times. All season I have been asking for more engine power and I think that we will have a new engine with more power for Brands Hatch. I won twice there last year so now I am very much looking forward to going there.''

Andrew Pitt (Yamaha Motor Italia)
''We had the same problem in race two as we did at Misano. The clutch was slipping so I was losing drive and although I was able to make some time going into the corners the acceleration was not strong enough and eventually I had to retire. I also didn''t have enough grip from the front in either race which made for a tough weekend.''

Norick Abe (Yamaha Motor France) ''It certainly helped that I have been here before but the main difference between race one and race two was not even the start but the fact that we put more weight on the back of the bike to improve traction and a harder front tyre. The changes almost allowed us to take a podium, but in the last five laps the performance of my front tyre went down, and I could not push it any harder. I still had a lot of spinning from the rear but we made the bike much better in race two.''

Sebastien Gimbert (Yamaha Motor France)
''In race two my brakes were not working properly and I discovered that it was the adjuster on the left handlebar which was reducing our braking power. I stopped, adjusted it back then jammed the adjuster by hitting it, so that the brake would work. After that I was a second a lap faster.''

Massimo Meregalli (Team Coordinator - Yamaha Motor Italia)
''You have to ask Noriyuki about this race because I have no idea how he did it! Maybe the temperature change had something to do with it because he had the same set up on the machine from race one to race two. Obviously this is a huge morale boost for the whole team and we will go back to Italy tonight very happy and motivated for the next race.''

Martial Garcia (Team Manager - Yamaha Motor France)
''The secret with our bike is to manage the lap times of the bike even when the tyre is not brand new. Abe did this better in the second race and we almost got a podium. This shows our level of potential performance.''

Race classification WSB

Round: 7 - Czech Republic
Circuit: Brno
Circuit Length: 5403
Lap Record: 2'' 3.747 (Noriyuki Haga, 2005)

Race: 20 Laps
Pos. Rider Manufacturer Nat. Total Time
1 T. Corser Suzuki AUS 41'' 42.829
2 J. Toseland Ducati GBR +6.592
3 R. Laconi Ducati FRA +7.477
4 C. Walker Kawasaki GBR +9.060
5 P. Chili Honda ITA +9.183
6 L. Lanzi Ducati ITA +10.778
7 N. Haga Yamaha JPN +13.760
8 C. Vermeulen Honda AUS +15.069
9 N. Abe Yamaha JPN +16.320
10 A. Pitt Yamaha AUS +19.676
11 Y. Kagayama Suzuki JPN +21.822
12 F. Nieto Ducati ESP +24.782
13 K. Muggeridge Honda AUS +25.830
14 M. Neukirchner Honda GER +27.486
15 D. Checa Yamaha ESP +31.003
16 J. Cardoso Yamaha ESP +32.625
19 S. Gimbert Yamaha FRA +50.526
21 G. Vizziello Yamaha ITA +57.136
22 L. Alfonsi Yamaha ITA +57.196
23 M. Praia Yamaha POR +1'' 24.067

Race 2: 20 Laps
Pos. Rider Manufacturer Nat. Total Time
1 N. Haga Yamaha JPN 41'' 43.525
2 T. Corser Suzuki AUS +3.233
3 C. Vermeulen Honda AUS +11.012
4 N. Abe Yamaha JPN +12.268
5 P. Chili Honda ITA +12.361
6 L. Lanzi Ducati ITA +13.511
7 R. Laconi Ducati FRA +14.141
8 J. Toseland Ducati GBR +16.439
9 K. Muggeridge Honda AUS +16.820
10 C. Walker Kawasaki GBR +19.737
11 Y. Kagayama Suzuki JPN +24.777
12 F. Nieto Ducati ESP +25.244
13 I. Clementi Ducati ITA +26.700
14 D. Checa Yamaha ESP +28.119
15 G. Bussei Kawasaki ITA +42.082
17 S. Gimbert Yamaha FRA +48.776
20 L. Alfonsi Yamaha ITA +56.694

Fastest Race Lap:
Pos. Rider Manufacturer Nat. Total Time
1 N. Haga Yamaha JPN 2'' 3.747

Championship standings WSB

Pos. Rider Manufacturer Nat. Points
1 Troy Corser Suzuki AUS 299
2 Chris Vermeulen Honda AUS 205
3 Regis Laconi Ducati FRA 187
4 Yukio Kagayama Suzuki JPN 158
5 James Toseland Ducati GBR 152
6 Noriyuki Haga Yamaha JPN 122
7 Pierfrancesco Chili Honda ITA 108
8 Chris Walker Kawasaki GBR 106
9 Norifumi Abe Yamaha JPN 83
10 Andrew Pitt Yamaha AUS 76
11 Karl Muggeridge Honda AUS 75
12 Max Neukirchner Honda GER 52
13 Lorenzo Lanzi Ducati ITA 50
14 Giovanni Bussei Kawasaki ITA 46
15 Fonsi Nieto Ducati ESP 32
17 Sebastien Gimbert Yamaha FRA 26

Manufacturers standings WSB

Pos. Manufacturer Points
1 Suzuki 308
2 Ducati 230
3 Honda 221
4 Yamaha 163
5 Kawasaki 119
6 Petronas 17

WSS : Brno woe for Yamaha Germany
Round: 7 - Czech Republic
Circuit: Brno
Date: 17 July 2005
Crowd: 31000
Temp: 28ºC
Weather: Sunny

What looked like being the Yamaha Motor Germany world supersport team''s best weekend of the season quickly turned to disaster as both Kevin Curtain and Broc Parkes failed to finish today''s seventh round at Brno.

Curtain led the early laps and was shaping up for a head-to-head dual for the victory with championship leader Sebastien Charpentier (Honda) when he crashed out uninjured on lap 15 of 18, a bitterly disappointing end to a weekend where he looked likely to overhaul the absent Katsuaki Fujiwara for second in the championship.

Curtain''s retirement came just three laps after the end of Parkes'' race. The 23-year-old had been closing in on Michel Fabrizio (Honda) for the final podium position when he was forced to retire after his rear shock absorber started leaking oil on lap 12.

The race was won by Charpentier with Fabrizio second and Gianluca Nannelli (Ducati) third. Charpentier''s championship lead extends to 59 points over Fujiwara, with Curtain 72 adrift in third and Parkes slipping back one place to sixth in the championship.

Kevin Curtain
''I felt that I was faster than Charpentier through all of the fast corners at the back of the circuit and although I''d lost the front end a few times in the laps before I went down, I had never had any problems at the corner where I crashed. The bike was absolutely perfect this weekend, we couldn''t have made it better, but in the end I pushed the front tyre too hard and paid the penalty.''

Broc Parkes
''I really believe that I could''ve won here this weekend. The race was going good, I was saving my tyres and catching the front guys when the oil from the shock started going on my back wheel. It''s really disappointing but I can only look ahead to the next race with a positive attitude. The lowest I was all weekend was fourth in qualifying and in the race I was sure I''d at least make the podium, so other than the result it has been a good weekend for us.''

Race classification WSS

Round: 7 - Czech Republic
Circuit: Brno
Circuit Length: 5403
Lap Record: 2'' 7.316 (Sebastien Charpentier, 2005)
Fastest Lap Ever: 2'' 6.283 (Sebastien Charpentier, 2005)

Race: 18 Laps
Pos. Rider Manufacturer Nat. Total Time
1 S. Charpentier Honda FRA 38'' 44.765
2 M. Fabrizio Honda ITA +4.429
3 G. Nannelli Ducati ITA +5.366
4 R. Harms Honda DNK +7.973
5 X. Fores Suzuki ESP +9.589
6 C. Jones Honda GBR +9.782
7 S. Chambon Honda FRA +18.814
8 A. Corradi Ducati ITA +22.238
9 W. Daemen Honda BEL +22.409
10 B. Veneman Suzuki NED +24.494
11 J. Stigefelt Honda SWE +25.446
12 T. Lauslehto Honda FIN +25.762
13 C. Migliorati Kawasaki ITA +36.836
14 M. Lagrive Suzuki FRA +38.506
15 S. Le Grelle Honda BEL +41.909

Fastest Race Lap:
Pos. Rider Manufacturer Nat. Total Time
1 S. Charpentier Honda FRA 2'' 7.316

Championship standings WSS

Pos. Rider Manufacturer Nat. Points
1 Sebastien Charpentier Honda FRA 165
2 Katsuaki Fujiwara Honda JPN 106
3 Kevin Curtain Yamaha AUS 93
4 Fabien Foret Honda FRA 74
5 Michel Fabrizio Honda ITA 62
6 Broc Parkes Yamaha AUS 60
7 Gianluca Nannelli Ducati ITA 56
8 Stephane Chambon Honda FRA 55
9 Xavi Fores Suzuki ESP 47
10 Tatu Lauslehto Honda FIN 40
11 Barry Veneman Suzuki NED 33
12 Johan Stigefelt Honda SWE 27
13 Robbin Harms Honda DNK 18
14 Alessio Corradi Ducati ITA 16
15 Sebastien Le Grelle Honda BEL 15

Manufacturers standings WSS

Pos. Manufacturer Points
1 Honda 175
2 Yamaha 93
3 Ducati 67
4 Suzuki 58
5 Kawasaki 21

European Superstock : Gritty Sofuoglu makes stunning comeback
Round: 5 - Czech Republic
Circuit: Brno
Date: 17 July 2005
Crowd: 31000
Temp: 31ºC
Weather: Sunny

Yamaha Motor Germany rider Kenan Sofuoglu made a heroic return from injury to finish second and keep his hopes of lifting the FIM Superstock 1000 Cup alive at Brno.

Still suffering the effects of the broken left hand he sustained a month ago, the 21-year-old Turk was not confident he could complete race distance, let alone finish on the podium.

Typically, the young superstock riders put on a great show for the Czech fans with Sofuoglu and fellow Yamaha riders Massimo Roccoli (Team Lorenzini by Leoni) and Belgian rider Didier van Keymeulen (Yamaha Motor Germany) pulling away from the pack at over a second a lap, leaving only Australian Craig Coxhell (Suzuki) able to maintain the pace of the R1s.

Pole sitter Van Keymeulen led for most of the race but the result was decided by a frantic last two laps what saw Coxhell intelligently pick his way through to take the win, with the unfortunate Belgian shuffled back to fourth.

With half of the ten rounds completed Roccoli leads the series with 90 points, ahead of Sofuoglu on 86 and Coxhell a further four behind in third. Van Keymeulen remains in contention for the title with 77 points.

Kenan Sofuoglu (Yamaha Motor Germany)
''Those last three laps were very hard work. I''ve not been able to train since my injury and it was not just my hand that hurt, my whole body was aching at the end. I did feel that I could pass Coxhell on the last lap, but I got involved in a fight with Roccoli and Didier which made the gap too big. But I am very happy to finish on the podium because I was not sure I could last the race distance. Now I am just four points behind Roccoli and I know that if I win the next race then I will move back into the championship lead.''

Massimo Roccoli (Team Lorenzini by Leoni)
''I knew that here would be difficult as Brno is a local race for Yamaha Germany. Again I slid around a lot under acceleration; this is the usual problem as I am too light for the power of the R1! I gave it my best and I wanted to win, or at least be in front of the other Yamahas, but I cannot complain because I am still leading the championship and will be ready to attack in Brands Hatch!''

Didier van Keymeulen (Yamaha Motor Germany)
''Having been fastest all weekend I''m disappointed to finish fourth. The other guys seemed happy to follow me for most of the race and then make their move on the last lap. In the end I got tripped up by Kenan and Roccoli and that gave Coxhell some space. But I''m not disappointed like I was in Silverstone. There I had a gap between me and the leaders but here I have proved to myself I have the speed. I won''t be changing my style or my tactics because I know that if I keep riding like this I can win races.''

Race classification FIM Superstock 1000 Cup

Round: 5 - Czech Republic
Circuit: Brno
Circuit Length: 5403
Lap Record: 2'' 6.980 (Didier Van Keymeulen, 2005)
Fastest Lap Ever: 2'' 6.461 (Didier Van Keymeulen, 2005)

Race: 12 Laps
Pos. Rider Manufacturer Nat. Total Time
1 C. Coxhell Suzuki AUS 25'' 42.576
2 K. Sofuoglu Yamaha TUR +0.649
3 M. Roccoli Yamaha ITA +0.830
4 D. Van Keymeulen Yamaha BEL +0.902
5 P. Solli Yamaha NOR +16.085
6 A. Polita Suzuki ITA +16.539
7 R. Chiarello Suzuki ITA +16.857
8 I. Dionsi Suzuki ITA +16.988
9 E. Rocamora Suzuki ESP +18.645
10 R. Cooper Honda GBR +18.709
11 W. De Angelis Yamaha ITA +18.842
12 A. Badovini MV Agusta ITA +23.157
13 A. Martinez Yamaha ESP +25.144
14 V. Iannuzzo MV Agusta ITA +25.626
15 L. Scassa Yamaha ITA +26.464

Fastest Race Lap:
Pos. Rider Manufacturer Nat. Total Time
1 D. Van Keymeulen Yamaha BEL 2'' 6.980

Championship standings FIM Superstock 1000 Cup

Pos. Rider Manufacturer Nat. Points
1 Massimo Roccoli Yamaha ITA 90
2 Kenan Sofuoglu Yamaha TUR 86
3 Craig Coxhell Suzuki AUS 82
4 Didier Van Keymeulen Yamaha BEL 77
5 Riccardo Chiarello Suzuki ITA 47
6 William De Angelis Yamaha ITA 37
7 Alessandro Polita Suzuki ITA 36
8 Vittorio Iannuzzo MV Agusta ITA 30
9 Alex Martinez Yamaha ESP 28
10 Ilario Dionsi Suzuki ITA 27
11 Denis Sacchetti Kawasaki ITA 22
12 Richard Cooper Honda GBR 21
13 Fabrizio De Marco MV Agusta ITA 18
14 Luca Scassa Yamaha ITA 18
15 Enrique Rocamora Suzuki ESP 17

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