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Sunday, 18 June 2006 00:00 |
Coming into the fourth round of the '06 World Enduro Championship leading the highly competitive Enduro 2 class French UFO Corse Yamaha rider Johnny Aubert started the GP Valli Bergamasche suffering with Influenza. Disappointingly for Aubert things were to get worse rather than better as a crash in the closing stages of day one resulted in him failing to start day two. Unable to perform at his best due to feeling far from 100 per cent Aubert still managed to push reigning Enduro 2 world champion Samuli Aro hard for much of the day one but crashed heavily on the last special test of the day, which dropped him to third. Managing to fit new tyres to his Yamaha in readiness for day two Aubert was advised my event medical staff to go to hospital prior to the start of the second day as he was suffering with pain in his chest, which was feared might be blood clot. Aubert's pain was diagnosed as being a broken rib but having travelled to hospital he was unable to start day two. With Aubert placing in third on day one his UFO Corse Yamaha team-mate Stefan Merriman claimed the runner-up spot with Finn Samuli Aro topping the class.
On day two Aro again claimed the E2 class win with Merriman second and Finn Mika Ahola third. By placing in second on both days in Italy Merriman, who scored poorly at the first round of the series in Sweden, lifted himself to the runner-up spot in the E2 championship standings, just 11 points behind class leader Samuli Aro. Despite being unable to match the pace of Aro, Merriman performed consistently on both days having not wanted to take any risks in the dry and rocky conditions. With four rounds of the WEC series remaining Stefan is now looking forward to the first ever WEC events to take place outside of Europe when the world champion ship travels to Canada and the States for rounds five and six.
Johnny Aubert (UFO Corse Yamaha) Enduro 2 class - Day 1: third, Day 2: DNS
"Day one was going really well for me but it was hard for me because I was suffering with Influenza before the race. I pushed as hard as I could but I wasn't going to beat Samuli. I think that second should have been my place on day one. But I crashed really hard on the last lap and dropped to third, which was disappointing. It was still a good result though but I could have been second. When I crashed I hurt my ribs so I went to the doctor before the start of day two. I wasn't in so much pain but I was blue and there was one place that hurt a lot. They told me to go to the hospital to get checked out properly, which I did, because they were afraid that I might be a blood clot. Thankfully I wasn't but I had broken some ribs. Because I went to the hospital I was not able to make the start of day two."
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Monday, 19 June 2006 00:00 |
The Superbike World Championship makes its second visit of the year to Italy this weekend, when the Misano Adriatico circuit plays host to round six of what is proving to be an exciting championship.
The question on everyone's lips is who can stop Ducati's Troy Bayliss from extending his run of seven consecutive race wins. The man most likely to break that domination looks like being Yamaha Motor Italia's Noriyuki Haga.
Haga has been supremely consistent this season, failing to finish just one race and never coming lower than fifth in the other nine races. He has been Bayliss' main challenger since the start of the European season in April, outscoring all but the Australian over the last three rounds to go to Misano third in the championship.
The Japanese rider returns to Italy on the back of three consecutive podium finishes and a successful test in Brno. His Yamaha Motor Italia squad have worked hard to make the 2006 YZF-R1 easier to ride than last year's model and with every lap bringing a greater knowledge of the complex electronics systems used to manage the power, the team goes to Misano in good spirits.
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Sunday, 18 June 2006 00:00 |
Stefan Everts' assault on the World Championship record books weathered its toughest test in weeks but came through unscathed at the eighth round of the 2006 series.
At a hot and packed Matterley Basin circuit for the British Grand Prix the World Champion won both motos to stretch his unbeaten run to thirteen races and eight perfect rounds so far.
Everts had claimed his second pole position in a row on Saturday on a very dry track that was hard and dusty. The long layout gave the impression of high speed but the riders were struggling to break the two minute barrier as they bobbed and weaved through the course situated in the middle of a natural bowl and among some picturesque scenery.
Everts owned his twelfth consecutive moto in usual untouchable fashion. The 33 year old came close to crashing in a busy first corner but cut through from fourth position in the opening turns to be leading the pack by the end of the first lap. A more unconventional race lay in store later in the afternoon as a spill while leading on the fifth lap required some swift surgery to his standing and nine circulations later he had recouped four positions and passed Steve Ramon to again be the pace-setter. It was another dominant display from the Yamaha Intur Sports rider who also recorded the fastest lap of the sprint.
Cédric Melotte continues to improve both his physical condition and his confidence. The Belgian was part of a tasty dice for second and third positions in the opening moto - at one stage the YZ450FMs were flying tandem - and eventually he defended fifth spot from Tanel Leok. In the second outing he gained another top ten placing with eighth for his best pair of results this year.
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Sunday, 18 June 2006 00:00 |
Camel Yamaha Team rider Valentino Rossi emerged from a crash-strewn race at Catalunya with 25 more points to boost his world title defence, thanks to his third Grand Prix victory of the season at Montmelo today. One of the most dramatic races in recent history began to unfold from the first corner, when Sete Gibernau (Ducati) collided with his team-mate Loris Capirossi under braking and both riders went tumbling into the gravel at high speed, taking Marco Melandri (Honda) with them. All three riders were injured and unable to join the restarted race after the red flags were subsequently raised, although John Hopkins (Suzuki), Randy de Puniet (Kawasaki) and Dani Pedrosa (Honda) did make it back to the grid after also running off track during the first corner melee.
Casey Stoner (Honda) repeated the excellent start he got at the first race start, taking the hole-shot and then leading over the first eight laps before eventually folding under constant pressure from Rossi and sliding into the gravel. With extremely high temperatures and low grip levels several other riders also crashed out, leaving Nicky Hayden (Honda) as the only man capable of chasing the Italian. With less than a second separating the pair for most of the race, Rossi turned on the style with typical flair in the closing stages and had opened out a 4.509 second advantage over the American when he took the chequered flag.
With no fewer than eight riders failing to make it to the end of the race it was a credit to Rossi's team-mate Colin Edwards that he arrived home in fifth place, collecting some valuable championship points and more crucial data with the new version of the YZR-M1 chassis that was available to him on both bikes for the first time this season. The American's compatriots Hayden and Kenny Roberts (Team KR) completed the podium.
Valentino Rossi (1st; 41'31.237)
"The start of the race was hard for everybody because we were all very worried about the riders who crashed - especially Marco Melandri because we could see his accident was a bad one. Just before the start Doctor Costa told me that Marco was more or less ok and I was very relieved. Even then it was tough to concentrate on re-starting the race. I made a mistake at the start and Stoner came past me, but my bike was working so well that I was able to push from the beginning and when the fuel came down it was even better. I knew that some of the other riders were having trouble with their tyres but my team have done a great job with Michelin this weekend and I had lots of grip to the end. Hayden pushed very hard but I kept my pace up and was able to extend the advantage over him. The M1 has been so much fun to ride all weekend and I want to say a big thank you to the whole team for getting it to this stage. To win at two of my favourite tracks like Mugello and Catalunya is a big, big satisfaction for me."
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Saturday, 17 June 2006 00:00 |
Camel Yamaha Team rider Valentino Rossi will line up in pole position for the first time in almost a year when the MotoGP World Championship riders take their place on the grid for the seventh round of the season at Catalunya tomorrow. The Italian has been in excellent form all weekend and after continuing yesterday's job to set his YZR-M1 up for the 25-lap race, he was able to concentrate fully on a burst of quick laps at the end of this afternoon's qualifying session. His fastest lap registered a new pole record of 1'41.855 and put him at the front of the MotoGP grid for the first time since the 2005 British Grand Prix last July.
Colin Edwards also followed up positive work on his two machines yesterday with further progress in the morning free practice, when he set the fourth fastest time on race tyres. However, slight changes to the setting of his bike and the extra grip offered by a softer rear tyre had a detrimental effect as he pushed for a quick lap time at the end of the qualifying session, the American eventually dropping to twelfth place on the grid as a host of riders posted one-off flying laps, despite not matching the consistency demonstrated by Edwards. Rossi will be joined on the front row by two of Edwards' compatriots, John Hopkins (Suzuki) and Kenny Roberts (Honda KR).
Valentino Rossi (1st - 1'41.855; 26 laps)
"I am really, really happy - it is a big satisfaction to be back on pole after such a long time. The bike has been working really well all weekend and I have to say a big 'thank you' to everybody at Yamaha and all my engineers because they have worked so hard to build this new chassis and then make it work so well in such a short space of time. I said yesterday that we have been able to work in a normal way and this meant that today I was able to focus on finding a good setting for the qualifying tyre and putting some fast laps in at the end. It is the first time I have had this pleasure in a long time and to do it at this track is amazing because it is so much fun to ride here. There are some tough riders out there but I have a special feeling in front of these fans. They always treat me so well and I want to put on a good show for them tomorrow."
Colin Edwards (12th - 1'42.655; 26 laps)
"I don't seem to be getting any kind of luck in qualifying lately. We haven't had so much time yet with the new chassis and unfortunately when I put the softer tyre on it kept folding the front end, so I couldn't push harder for a time and get the place on the grid that my pace would otherwise reflect. Also we made a couple of changes to the setting - nothing major, just a millimetre here or there - but it seemed to add to the extra force on the front so we perhaps would have been better sticking to what we found in the morning. Tomorrow we'll have to go backwards a little bit with the setting and no doubt we can go forwards a lot during the race!"
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