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Wednesday, 27 February 2008 |
2008 will be a big season in the short but spectacular career of double Women’s World Cup winner Katherine Prumm. The new Yamaha recruit is busy getting to grips with her new YZ250F in her native New Zealand and will shortly travel over to Europe to begin tests with the Van Beers team in preparation for the first ever FIM Women’s World championship, beginning at the MX1/MX2-GP Bulgarian Grand Prix on May 11th.
Articulate and friendly Prumm is a very worthy ambassador for her discipline and a fine figurehead for the rapidly increasing popularity of women’s motocross. The 19 year old speaks here about her transfer to the ‘Blue Army’, her victories in 2007 and the perception of women’s motocross four years after the competition entered the international stage.
2006 was going so well with wins on both sides of the Atlantic but 2007 was probably the harder world cup win. How do you rank your results of last season?
2007 was definitely a harder year for me because I had had six months off the bike with a knee reconstruction to fix my cartilage and snapped ACL ligament. Then my first race back at the end of January at the NZ International Grand Prix I crashed on a big double jump that was wet and compressed the T9 in my back by 60%. This left me with a further 6 weeks off the bike and by the time I got riding again it was only a month out from the first round of the World Cup. |
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Monday, 25 February 2008 |
Yamaha's Chad Reed finished off the AMA Supercross podium for the first time this year after a crash during the main event of round eight of the series at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta meant that the Australian crossed the finish line in sixth position.
The 30th SX event in Atlanta (the first was won by Bob Hannah with a Yamaha) would not see Reed extend his career tally of podium results to 81. The YZ450F rider won his Heat, and also grabbed the holeshot, but slipped off his San Manuel machine while holding the lead after five laps and need the rest of the 17 minute sprint to clamber back to sixth spot. The 25 year old left the Georgia Dome promptly, after gingerly picking up 15 points.
Reed saw his lead in the series, also an FIM World championship, cut to 25 points with nine rounds remaining.
It was left to team-mate Nathan Ramsey to hold centre stage on the YZ as the veteran posted his best finish of 2008 with fifth position.
"It's been like baby-steps since I started riding again, and I haven't quite gotten there yet, but tonight was a good start," said the American, who is sixth in the standings. "I feel my pace is starting to pick up and if I can get up there and race with them, that stuff will all come back to me. I think tonight was another good step in that direction, and it was fun to be racing with those guys."
In the East Coast Lites division top the YZ250F finisher was another Australian, Jake Moss, with fourth position. Five riders from the final top ten were making their SX debuts at the Georgia Dome. Sixteen year old rookie Tyler Bowers was among them - representing the Yamaha of Troy squad - and took a very decent fifth spot on his maiden outing.
"My race was good," he commented. "Unfortunately, I made the rookie mistake of not breathing for the first three laps and by about the third or fourth lap, I was out of breath. By the time I actually started breathing and was trying to get loose, it was too late. I was tired and a couple guys got around me. My mechanic threw-out the pitboard and told me I was in fifth, and it said, 'Lap 10'. I was like, 'Cool, I've got five more laps in me.' I found that extra little bit of energy and made it around to the finish and pulled it off. I was happy with that." |
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Monday, 25 February 2008 |
Yamaha Motocross Team riders again picked up more silverware in the 2008 pre-season period with David Philippaerts winning both motos at a bright Castiglione Del Lago for the second round of the Italian championship while Josh Coppins swept all three races at the Valence International meeting in southern France; beating a host of world championship peers including 2007 number one Steve Ramon.
The New Zealander won the popular French event for the second year in succession and took holeshots in two of the three motos, enjoying small battles with Sebastien Pourcel, Julian Bill and Ramon across the race programme to mark his perfect score-card. It was the second time that the 30 year old (31 next month) walked the top step of the rostrum after his proficiency last Sunday at Montevarchi in Italy and in spite of discomfort in his left shoulder than he aggravated at Mantova.
”It was an enjoyable race because the weather was good for once and the track offered near Grand Prix conditions which meant that I could really go for it,” said the YZ450FM rider. “I cannot complain with the build-up I’ve had. We have been using the race-bike for three weeks now and I am coming to grips with it. My shoulder is not 100% and I will go for a scan tomorrow. It has become better since Mantova but gave me some trouble on the long and rough down-hills at Valence. I will find out this week what I have to do, whether it be physio or rest, and there is plenty of time before the first Grand Prix to get back to normal. I am in great shape, so my confidence is good.”
Further south Philippaerts was busy stamping his authority over the MX1 class of the Italian Championship and, like Coppins, proved the YZ450FM’s prowess from the start-line by hole-shotting both motos. Yamaha Red Bull De Carli ace Antonio Cairoli took positions of 7th and 4th in the two heats and pushed Philippaerts in the first sprint until a mistake saw him crash and lose places. 24 year old Philippaerts was able to forge ahead of Alex Salvini in the second affair.
“I could not be happier with how things are going,” said the Italian, who also picked up overall victory with his Yamaha debut at the Mantova International two weeks ago. “I took two holeshots, that made things easier, but Tony was chasing me and I had to ride well to keep ahead. I pushed hard for a few laps and made the break. We used the same set-up as Montevarchi and the Yamaha is really working well for me.”
“I was doing well and holding onto the back of leader Philippaerts until I caught the wrong rut on a jump and crashed,” commented MX2-GP World Champion Cairoli. “It was a freak thing because I was not taking any risks. I suffered a bit from this in the second moto because I felt tired. Overall at this stage of my preparation for the season I am not yet ready to push 100% but my sensation with the 450 is improving.”
The MX2 class was once more an all-Yamaha story as 3C Racing’s Manuel Monni claimed the chequered flag in the first moto and Yamaha Team Ricci’s Davide Guarneri guided his YZ250F to victory in the second outing. Red Bull De Carli’s Matteo Bonini was also well-placed with second and fourth positions while highly-rated teenager Alessandro Lupino secured a brace of top six finishes with fifth and sixth places. A close championship tussle looks most certainly on the cards as Monni heads the standings by just five points from Guarneri and nine points from Bonini.
The next round of the Italian series will take place in two weeks at Ponte a Egola, while the Yamaha Motocross Team will travel to the UK for the last major International meeting of the pre-season period at the sandy Hawkstone Park next Sunday.
“We will head to Belgium this week,” said Team Co-ordinator Mino Raspanti “as we have a sandy race for both riders at Hawkstone Park so we will use Tuesday and Wednesday to test some suspension ahead of that meeting.” |
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Saturday, 23 February 2008 |
Troy Corser had mixed fortunes on raceday at Losail, taking a fine third in race one but slipping backwards in race two to finish seventh as his tyres lost grip at half race distance. His team-mate Noriyuki Haga recovered from a crash in race one to secure an eventual 14th, and he was also in a leading position for much of race two, before the same lack of traction experienced by Corser made him drop through the field. He ended up 13th.
Corser, the Superpole winner yesterday, was in sparkling early form in each race, looking set for a double podium finish at least. Haga 's race one crash came after Max Biaggi made a strong pass on the Japanese rider, and forced him wide, off the ideal racing line. Haga had set the best lap of the race in the first 18-lap contest, with a 1'59.217, before the lap record was broken in race two, by race winner Fonsi Nieto. Troy Bayliss won the first race, from Max Biaggi.
Corser now leaves the Losail circuit fifth in the championship chase, on 25 points, with Haga 14th on five points.
Troy Corser (3rd and 7th - Yamaha Italy WSB Team)
"We made a tyre change between race one and race two just to be on the same tyres as everyone else. But it wasn't better it was worse. There was just no grip after a while and you can't race when you can't push hard. I'm really disappointed after getting Superpole yesterday, and it was obvious we had the speed to be competitive. That's about all I can say." |
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