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Monday, 14 April 2008 |
Yamaha's Chad Reed defied chest and back pain to score 12th position in Detroit for the fourteenth round of the 2008 Monster Energy AMA Supercross championship last weekend. The Australian crashed heavily in practice and had to visit hospital prior to being released to take his slot in the gate for the main event at Ford Field.
Reed used his AMA provisional 'joker' (that enables riders in the top ten of the standings to miss one qualification and still be eligible to compete) after his accident that saw a diagnosis of a fractured scapula (shoulder blade), and likely some lung bruising among other small ailments. The 25 year old was coughing up blood at one point but was determined not to miss the race.
Gingerly placing his YZ450F - on which he has taken eight victories this season - into the gate, further misfortune struck the series leader when he went down with a gaggle of other riders on the first corner. From that moment Reed looked to salvage what he could by working his way through the pack to claim 12th and lose just 11 points to main title rival Kevin Windham.
"I just put my head down and went for it; I tried to be the best lapper out there," Reed commented. "I can't believe I crashed in the first turn. That's unbelievable. To feel the way I do, crash in the first turn and come back to 12th, this is a win right here. If we're standing in Vegas and we're the champions, this is the one that got it done."
"I've been here before," he added. "With a 27-point lead, I'm not going to just stand and watch it go. I've always been able to go out there and grit my teeth, but this was possibly the worst race of my life. I spent four hours in the hospital, and I was scared for my life, to be honest. I've never coughed up so much blood in all my life. I'm happy to be here." |
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Sunday, 13 April 2008 |
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Jorge Lorenzo topped off an incredible opening month in MotoGP with his maiden premier class victory today, his first ever career win at Estoril. After three pole positions and two podiums, the Fiat Yamaha Team rookie went one step further to win the Portuguese Grand Prix in fine style, taking joint first in the championship standings in the process. It was also the second double podium of the season for the team, with Valentino Rossi finishing third.
The first lap was a close battle between Lorenzo, Rossi and Dani Pedrosa with Lorenzo just prevailing over the line. Rossi however then passed him into turn one and pushed on ahead, leaving his team-mate to defend second position from Pedrosa, who was right on his tail. It began to spot with rain but Lorenzo kept his head and kept in touch with Rossi, despite pressure from Pedrosa behind him. On lap 11 Pedrosa made it past Lorenzo and stayed in front of him for two laps, but the Mallorcan was clearly cruising and, after setting the fastest lap of the race so far on lap 12, the Michelin-shod rider passed Pedrosa into turn one and set off after Rossi. He made his move later that lap in typically flamboyant fashion with a bold pass at the chicane and from then on it was a one-man-show as he extended his lead and eventually crossed the line 1.817 seconds in front of Pedrosa, who had passed Rossi on lap 15.
At just 20 years of age, Lorenzo's victory today makes him the youngest rider in premier-class history to take three successive podiums and he now shares the championship lead with Dani Pedrosa on 61 points. Rossi consolidates third with 47 points whilst Fiat Yamaha top the Team's table and Yamaha the Constructor's.
Jorge Lorenzo 1st - 45'53.089
"I feel like I'm in heaven! First of all I have to say thank you to Yamaha and to Fiat because without their confidence in me I wouldn't be here now. I can't believe it and it's really impossible for me to describe my feelings, I'm so happy for everyone! My team did a fantastic job and my Yamaha and my Michelin tyres worked very, very well today. The start of the race was quite crazy because there were some drops of rain and it looked like it might get worse. Anyway I just carried on and really I can't remember the details of exactly what happened…I remember making my pass on Valentino; I know it was quite a risk so I'm sorry to him but at that point I felt that I could make it and get away from him, so I took the chance and it worked. I'm so proud of everyone, to be here after just three races and at the top of the championship as well is something that I could never have even dreamed of. We can't afford to relax now however because Pedrosa and Rossi are here as well and they are two very fast and clever riders. I had some pain again in my arms today so tonight we will make a decision about whether or not I will have the operation before China, but for now I'm just going to enjoy this moment!" |
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Friday, 11 April 2008 |
Last week at a sunny Ricardo Tormo circuit in Valencia on Spain’s east coast, a gathering of Yamaha racing teams and riders from thirteen countries occupied thirty-one pit-boxes at the MotoGP venue to take part in the sixth edition of the distinguished YRT (Yamaha Race Training) programme.
Fifty teams and one hundred and one riders from national Supersport standard to FIM Superstock 1000 level meant that over three hundred personnel filled the site. The objective was to improve the participant’s understanding in terms of the technical set-up and tuning of the 2008 YZF-R6 or the 2007/2008 YZF-R1 for Supersport, Superbike and FIM Superstock competition.
The tuition was geared to helping racers and their teams learn about their machinery and how to optimise set-up with the use of the latest range of Yamaha’s YEC racing parts. Racing engineers from Yamaha Motor Corporation and Yamaha Motor Europe and specialists from Ohlins and 2D were on-hand to lend their expertise and advice.
At the flat and twisty Spanish track every rider was able to count on at least seven hours of testing over the three day period to apply the theory to practice. For the practical elements of the course a full tyre service was available and the only time that the action ground to a halt over the three days was when the group paused to take-in the second round of the 2008 MotoGP championship occurring that same weekend further south at Jerez (in which Fiat Yamaha M1 riders Valentino Rossi and Jorge Lorenzo obtained podium positions). |
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Friday, 11 April 2008 |
A two day test for the Yamaha Motor Italia WSB Team at their home circuit of Monza was expected to be an opportunity to run the latest Pirelli development tyres in readiness for the Monza round on 11 May. With the high-speed 5.793km track drenched with rain on both days, however, the team had to adapt their plans.
Noriyuki Haga and Troy Corser went to these tests, held at a circuit only a short distance from their Gerno di Lesmo team headquarters, with the natural confidence that a race win (for Nori) and a podium finish (for Troy) at the most recent Valencia round gave them. However, each was to leave disappointed with their complete lack of dry track time, albeit glad to not have fallen on such a treacherous surface.
Claudio Corti, a Yamaha Superstock 1000 FIM Cup regular and the team’s new test rider, continued on track on day two, but neither Haga nor Corser added to their respective 25 and 29 first day lap totals, such was the ferocity of the rain and the amount of standing water on the Monza asphalt.
Next stop for the team is the fourth round of the World Superbike Championship, at Assen on April 27.
Troy Corser (29 laps - Yamaha Italy WSB Team)
“The whole track is like swimming pool, too much water sitting around the place to be safe. We did some tests on the electronics and the traction control yesterday, got a feel for how the chassis is, but you can’t get too much out of a test like that when it is that wet. You simply can’t push hard enough to get any bike to do what you want to do, and it was easy to have a small crash - or a big one. We did no laps at all on day two. Yesterday was bad enough and it really wasn’t worth the risk today.”
Noriyuki Haga (25 laps - Yamaha Italy WSB Team)
“We hoped and expected to have good weather here, but it wasn’t to be! Rain and more rain, you could easily have a shower it is so heavy. Monza is a very high-speed track so we were careful and only rode some laps yesterday to do some running-in of parts and checks on a few other things. The track surface was like a river on day two so we decided not to run.”
Massimo Meregalli (Team Manager, Yamaha Motor Italia WSB Team)
“What terrible weather! On day one the guys did only a few laps. The main reason to come here was to test some new tyres, but it was just impossible. So we worked on some electronics, but pretty much that was it. Day two was even worse than today and neither Troy nor Nori rode. Just Claudio, but he has been doing two or three laps then into the pits. We’re a bit disappointed but only about the rain.” |
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