RACING NEWS FROM YAMAHA
24 July 2006 - Yamaha Racing

Yamaha Motor Italia''s Noriyuki Haga grabbed a podium finish at today''s Czech round of the Superbike World Championship to close the gap on series leader Troy Bayliss by 21 points.

After winning yesterday''s superpole qualifying session, Haga went into the race confident of scoring good results at the circuit where he gained the Yamaha YZF-R1''s first world superbike win 12 months earlier.

The Japanese star had been in the thick of a five-rider battle for the lead in race one but a lack of front grip meant that he was unable to respond to a late breakaway by fellow countryman Yukio Kagayama (Suzuki) and Britain''s James Toseland (Honda), with hard charging Italian Michel Fabrizio (Honda) pipping the Yamaha man for the final podium slot at the last corner.

Norick Abe

For race two Haga made a few small set-up changes to his machine and raced away to lead by over three seconds, only to slip back to the pack as his grip diminished again. Kagayama took the lead with four laps remaining, with Fabrizio making another forceful move to take second on the final corner. Haga''s third place sees him stay second in the championship, but with a reduced gap to leader Troy Bayliss (Ducati). Bayliss leads the Yamaha rider by 73 points with 10 races and 250 points up for grabs.

After winning his first world superbike race last time out in Misano, Andrew Pitt had a miserable experience in Brno, failing to finish both races. The Australian former world supersport champion had been at the sharp end in each outing, only to retire with fuelling problems a few laps from home. Despite his failure to score he retains his sixth place in the championship.

Yamaha Motor France''s Shinichi Nakatomi had his best result as a world superbike rider, catching and passing his vastly more experienced team-mate Norick Abe for eighth in the opener. Thirteenth in the second race gave him an 11 point haul for the weekend. Abe battled with traction problems all weekend to take ninth and 12th places. The team''s Sebastien Gimbert took 13th and 15th to secure the squad a little piece of superbike history as the first team to score six point-scoring finishes in one weekend.

Andrew Pitt

Noriyuki Haga (Yamaha Motor Italia)
''I was sure that I could win today but unfortunately I was not able to get good enough tyre life. They were two hard races, as we expected them to be, but I am not very happy with Fabrizio. Racing is racing but he should not hit other riders when he makes a pass. I''m disappointed today but we have a busy schedule. Tonight we go to Japan for next weekend''s Suzuka eight-hour race, and then it is Brands Hatch which is a track I enjoy riding at.''

Shinichi Nakatomi (Yamaha Motor France)
''I am happy this weekend and I had a nice fight with Abe-san to get my best result so far, in race one. In race two we had an even better one. Next weekend at the 8-hour I want a podium finish!''

Norick Abe (Yamaha Motor France)
''My problem, as always, is lack of rear traction. From Friday to today I had no grip from the rear. Normally it is only me with this problem, but here everyone says the same thing. I think mine is even worse than anybody''s and there was too much sliding everywhere. We tried so many settings in practice but it just kept doing the same thing. In both races I did my best. I could do no more.''

Andrew Pitt (Yamaha Motor Italia)
''A very disappointing day. In the first race I felt quite comfortable running with Haga and the group for third when the bike started to misfire and lose maximum rpm. I tried to bring it home to get some points but it died on the second last lap. It was the same again in the second race. We were right up there only for it to stop right at the end.''

Massimo Meregalli (Team Coordinator - Yamaha Motor Italia)
''A difficult day for us. We had high expectations from this race and things looked promising in qualifying. I think that Noriyuki could have won if the tyre life had been better and Andrew would have scored good points had it not been for his problems. We are looking into exactly what happened but it seems that his bike developed a fuelling problem. The only positive from today is that Nori has still taken points off Bayliss. Twenty one points in one weekend is a good result and we have also shown all weekend that we are able to run at the very front.''

Martial Garcia (Team Manager - Yamaha Motor France)
''This year compared to last year our grip was 100 percent gone. This is the worst situation imaginable for Norick and I think he was a little depressed with the results. But in one way this is a good weekend for us, as we have points from each rider, in each race, and Shinichi is OK for the Suzuka 8-Hour. Sebastien Gimbert is happy because he made two good races in the points.''

Circuit Length: 5403
Temp: 31
Crowd: 31000
Weather: Sunny


2006 WSB Brno 23/07/2006
Race 1 - 20 Laps
Pos. Rider Manu. Nat. Total Time
1 Yukio Kagayama Suzuki JPN 41''27.271
2 James Toseland Honda GBR 0''3.900
3 Michel Fabrizio Honda ITA 0''6.255
4 Noriyuki Haga Yamaha JPN 0''6.432
5 Troy Corser Suzuki AUS 0''7.463
6 Fonsi Nieto Kawasaki ESP 0''21.967
7 Chris Walker Kawasaki GBR 0''21.989
8 Shinichi Nakatomi Yamaha JPN 0''26.882
9 Norick Abe Yamaha JPN 0''27.174
10 Pierfrancesco Chili Honda ITA 0''27.441
11 Karl Muggeridge Honda AUS 0''28.299
12 Roberto Rolfo Ducati ITA 0''32.112
13 Sebastien Gimbert Yamaha FRA 0''36.427
14 Vittorio Iannuzzo Suzuki ITA 0''44.249
15 Ivan Clementi Ducati ITA 1''0.978

Race 2 - 20 Laps
Pos. Rider Manu. Nat. Total Time
1 Yukio Kagayama Suzuki JPN 41''31.118
2 Michel Fabrizio Honda ITA 0''2.431
3 Noriyuki Haga Yamaha JPN 0''2.479
4 Troy Corser Suzuki AUS 0''2.514
5 James Toseland Honda GBR 0''4.939
6 Fonsi Nieto Kawasaki ESP 0''5.070
7 Karl Muggeridge Honda AUS 0''7.932
8 Troy Bayliss Ducati AUS 0''15.441
9 Lorenzo Lanzi Ducati ITA 0''15.755
10 Chris Walker Kawasaki GBR 0''17.461
11 Alex Barros Honda BRA 0''21.547
12 Norick Abe Yamaha JPN 0''22.052
13 Shinichi Nakatomi Yamaha JPN 0''22.102
14 Ruben Xaus Ducati ESP 0''26.983
15 Sebastien Gimbert Yamaha FRA 0''29.549

Best Lap
Rider Manu. Nat. Total Time
Noriyuki Haga Yamaha JPN 2''0.457

Rider Standings 23/07/2006

Pos. Rider Manu. Nat. Points
1. Troy Bayliss Ducati AUS 262
2. Noriyuki Haga Yamaha JPN 189
3. James Toseland Honda GBR 188
4. Troy Corser Suzuki AUS 173
5. Alex Barros Honda BRA 151
6. Andrew Pitt Yamaha AUS 128
7. Yukio Kagayama Suzuki JPN 106
8. Lorenzo Lanzi Ducati ITA 87
9. Michel Fabrizio Honda ITA 83
10. Fonsi Nieto Kawasaki ESP 81
11. Chris Walker Kawasaki GBR 79
12. Ruben Xaus Ducati ESP 72
13. Norick Abe Yamaha JPN 71
14. Karl Muggeridge Honda AUS 66
15. Roberto Rolfo Ducati ITA 52
17. Shinichi Nakatomi Yamaha JPN 29
20. Sebastien Gimbert Yamaha FRA 15

Manufacturer Standings 23/07/2006

Pos. Manufacturer Points
1. Ducati 272
2. Suzuki 238
3. Honda 236
4. Yamaha 218
5. Kawasaki 118
6. Petronas 4

RACE REPORT 23/07/2006
Yamaha Germany dominates in Brno

Kevin Curtain leads Broc Parkes

Yamaha Motor Germany riders Kevin Curtain and Broc Parkes dominated today''s seventh round of the Supersport World Championship in Brno, taking their Yamaha YZF-R6s to the top two places on the podium and closing in on the lead of the championship.

Between them, the two Australians led every one of the 18 laps around the fast and flowing Czech circuit - pressurised only by Turkish rider Kenan Sofuoglu (Honda).

Parkes had been the fastest rider off the line, but by lap seven pole sitter Curtain was in the lead and on his way to his first win of the season. In blazing hot temperatures the leading trio pushed hard throughout the race to build up a gap of almost 20 seconds over fourth placed Yoann Tibero (Honda) by the flag.

With the hot conditions pushing man, machine and tyres to the limit, almost half of the 38 rider field did not make it to the finish line. Among those was Misano winner Massimo Roccoli, who crashed his Yamaha Team Italia YZF-R6 out of fifth place on lap seven. There was good news for his team-mate Gianluca Vizziello however, the Italian gaining a season''s best of fifth. A total of five Yamahas finished in the top 10 at Brno, with Mauro Sanchini seventh on his Moto 1-entered machine and David Checa eighth on the Yamaha GMT94 R6.

Curtain''s win moves him to within ten points of series leader Sebastien Charpentier (Honda), who finished 11th in today''s race. Parkes retains his third place in the standings, 27 points from the lead, with Roccoli retaining fifth despite a failure to score in Brno.

Kevin Curtain

Kevin Curtain (Yamaha Motor Germany)
''I''m really stoked to finally get that win. It was a hard race and I was worried that my front tyre might go off and ruin my race, but as it was the front worked perfectly. The rear grip was gone quite early but I just kept pushing as hard as I could. Kenan had pushed hard early on and I was a little concerned that he might be able to get to the front and break away, because in the past races they have seemed to have more grip than us late in the race. But today''s result is a great credit to my team. We are developing and learning about the bike all the time. We''ve had some bad luck in the last few races but today shows that when it all comes together we are more than a match for anyone. I gave it everything this weekend because I knew that we had a chance to win here and take some points back from Sebastien. Right now I''m just so happy and really looking forward to the next round.''

Broc Parkes (Yamaha Motor Germany)
''It was a tough race and I''m happy with my second place. I made a great start, which wasn''t really expected, and pushed as hard as possible. I had hoped to get away with Kevin and stick with him and save my tyres, but it didn''t really work out like that. I struggled for front grip for most of the race and had a lot of big moments, so it was a case of bringing it home for some good points and a great result for the team.''

Gianluca Vizziello (Yamaha Team Italia)
''I didn''t make such a good start but that''s quite normal. I had a good feel from the front so I had the confidence to pass people and made my way forward. Toward the end it looked like I could maybe catch Tiberio in front of me, but in the last three laps the rear tyre started to lose some performance, so I opted not to gamble too much after all the work I had done to come from 12th.''

Circuit Length: 5403
Temp: 32
Crowd: 41000
Weather: Sunny

2006 WSS Brno 23/07/2006
Race 1 - 18 Laps
Pos. Rider Manu. Nat. Total Time
1 Kevin Curtain Yamaha AUS 38''23.594
2 Broc Parkes Yamaha AUS 0''1.535
3 Kenan Sofuoglu Honda TUR 0''3.940
4 Yoann Tibero Honda FRA 0''19.396
5 Gianluca Vizziello Yamaha ITA 0''21.495
6 Johan Stigefelt Honda SWE 0''22.058
7 Mauro Sanchini Yamaha ITA 0''24.958
8 David Checa Yamaha ESP 0''25.795
9 Simone Sanna Honda ITA 0''26.684
10 Christian Zaiser Ducati AUT 0''32.440
11 Sebastien Charpentier Honda FRA 0''36.106
12 Xavi Fores Yamaha ESP 0''45.429
13 Stephane Chambon Kawasaki FRA 0''51.659
14 Tatu Lauslehto Honda FIN 0''52.437
15 Kai Borre Andersen Suzuki NOR 0''56.566

Best Lap
Rider Manu. Nat. Total Time
Yoann Tibero Honda FRA 2''6.604

Rider Standings 23/07/2006

Pos. Rider Manu. Nat. Points
1. Sebastien Charpentier Honda FRA 121
2. Kevin Curtain Yamaha AUS 111
3. Broc Parkes Yamaha AUS 94
4. Robbin Harms Honda DNK 74
5. Massimo Roccoli Yamaha ITA 71
6. Yoann Tibero Honda FRA 63
7. Johan Stigefelt Honda SWE 52
8. Kenan Sofuoglu Honda TUR 51
9. Xavi Fores Yamaha ESP 49
10. Gianluca Vizziello Yamaha ITA 37
11. David Checa Yamaha ESP 29
12. Simone Sanna Honda ITA 27
13. Katsuaki Fujiwara Honda JPN 22
14. Joshua Brookes Ducati AUS 21
15. Christian Zaiser Ducati AUT 21

Manufacturer Standings 23/07/2006

Pos. Manufacturer Points
1. Honda 161
2. Yamaha 143
3. Ducati 40
4. Kawasaki 35
5. Suzuki 11

RACE REPORT 23/07/2006
Corti progresses to score points in Brno

Claudio Corti

Yamaha Team Italia rider Claudio Corti finished 14th in a rescheduled and shortened FIM Superstock 1000 Cup race in Brno.

The race was scheduled to take place after the supersport race after being moved from its original morning slot due to delays in the superbike warm-up. A crash on the first lap then saw the race moved again, this time until after the second superbike race, and over eight laps instead of the original 12.

This proved bad news for Corti, who qualified his YZF-R1 SP a lowly 24th in the largely wet qualifying and was forced to start from pit lane after discovering his machine''s handlebar was broken on the formation lap. Although he made steady progress through the field and score two championship points, the result was less than expected from the 19-year-old. Some consolation for Corti was that he retained his fourth place in the championship.

Former European supersport champion Matteo Baiocco was the top Yamaha finisher in a race won by Ayrton Badovini (MV Agusta). Baiocco''s fourth is his best finish in the class in moves him to seventh in the standings.

Claudio Corti (Yamaha Team Italia)
''It was always going to be difficult from the sixth row and starting from the pit lane made it even harder. I was 29th at the end of the first lap, so to come through and finish 14th is not so bad, although I am not happy because I expect to finish higher.''

Circuit Length: 5403
Temp: 31
Crowd: 41000
Weather: Sunny


2006 Superstock Brno 23/07/2006
Race 1
Pos. Rider Manu. Nat. Total Time
1 Ayrton Badovini MV Agusta ITA 15''8.344
2 Luca Scassa MV Agusta ITA 0''0.137
3 Richard Cooper Honda GBR 0''6.161
4 Matteo Baiocco Yamaha ITA 0''11.524
5 Leonardo Biliotti MV Agusta GER 0''12.269
6 Riccardo Chiarello Kawasaki ITA 0''14.736
7 Danilo Dell''omo Suzuki ITA 0''14.819
8 Loic Napoleone Suzuki FRA 0''15.935
9 Denis Sacchetti Kawasaki ITA 0''15.975
10 Enrique Rocamora Yamaha ESP 0''16.267
11 Cedric Tangre Suzuki FRA 0''16.578
12 Marko Jerman Suzuki SVK 0''16.698
13 Sheridan Morais Suzuki RSA 0''17.505
14 Claudio Corti Yamaha ITA 0''17.607
15 Alex Martinez Mas Kawasaki ESP 0''21.125

Best Lap
Rider Manu. Nat. Total Time
Ayrton Badovini MV Agusta ITA 2''8.299

Rider Standings 23/07/2006

Pos. Rider Manu. Nat. Points
1. Alessandro Polita Suzuki ITA 95
2. Ayrton Badovini MV Agusta ITA 93
3. Luca Scassa MV Agusta ITA 71
4. Claudio Corti Yamaha ITA 52
5. Enrique Rocamora Yamaha ESP 45
6. Riccardo Chiarello Kawasaki ITA 43
7. Matteo Baiocco Yamaha ITA 36
8. Denis Sacchetti Kawasaki ITA 34
9. Alex Martinez Mas Kawasaki ESP 30
10. Richard Cooper Honda GBR 30
11. Danilo Dell''omo Suzuki ITA 23
12. Sheridan Morais Suzuki RSA 21
13. Ivan Silva Kawasaki ESP 20
14. Ilario Dionisi Yamaha ITA 19
15. Simone Saltarelli Kawasaki ITA 18

Manufacturer Standings 23/07/2006

Pos. Manufacturer Points
1. Suzuki 104
2. MV Agusta 93
3. Yamaha 70
4. Kawasaki 67
5. Honda 31

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