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Friday, 03 March 2006 19:13 |
WSB : Haga seventh in first qualifying
Round: 2 - Australia
Circuit: Phillip Island
Date: 3 March 2006
Temp: 36ºC
Weather: Sunny
Noriyuki Haga was the fastest of the Yamaha men in today's opening qualifying session for round two of the Superbike World Championship, held at the Phillip Island circuit in Australia.
Haga, who yesterday celebrated his 31st birthday, ended the day seventh fastest, just over a second behind provisional pole sitter Troy Bayliss (Ducati).
Having chosen to test in Qatar rather than Australia in the winter break, both Haga and his Yamaha Motor Italia team-mate Andrew Pitt struggled to find ideal settings for their YZF-R1s. Haga complained of a lack of rear traction, while Pitt started off using the same settings that took him to a podium finish in Qatar six days ago. The local rider, who this weekend is wearing a new helmet design based on that of 1987 500cc Grand Prix world champion Wayne Gardner, also had the added disadvantage of carrying a 'flu virus. Despite this he still managed to make the top 16 in a time less than one and a half seconds from pole.
Sandwiching Pitt on the provisional grid are Yamaha Motor France duo Sebastien Gimbert and Norick Abe. Having tested at the circuit in January, the squad came to Phillip Island with a good base setting for their machines - although they were unable to match their testing times in the scorching weather. Yamaha Motor France's third rider, Japanese newcomer Shinichi Nakatomi was able to set a personal best time around the circuit to end the day 24th, despite an off-track excursion. All three suffered chatter problems but are confident of finding an improvement for tomorrow morning's final qualifying session.
Noriyuki Haga (Yamaha Motor Italia)
"We need to try and find more rear traction tomorrow. We tried many things today but couldn't quite find the correct setting. I think that it will be better tomorrow. We have a good idea of what we must do and the team will change many settings overnight. It is not so bad though. We did not test here, so we are starting from zero with the settings. Considering this we are quite close to the fastest times." |
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Tuesday, 28 February 2006 14:34 |
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With exactly one month to go before the first race of the new MotoGP season, the Camel Yamaha Team today celebrated the start of its 2006 campaign with a Team Presentation in Milan, in front of 300 guests and international media. World Champion Valentino Rossi and his American team-mate Colin Edwards, who was celebrating his 32nd birthday today, were joined on stage by VIP guests from Yamaha and Japan Tobacco International, as well as Italian TV presenter Marco Mazzocchi, who compered the presentation.
The bikes were uncovered by the Festi group of acrobats, who descended from the roof to reveal the M1s of Rossi and Edwards in their final 2006 livery. Mazzocchi then welcomed Masao Furusawa, Executive Officer for Engineering Operations at Yamaha Motor Company and Lin Jarvis, Managing Director of Yamaha Motor Racing Srl, onto the stage.
"Even though the basic M1 concept for 2006 is the same", commented Furusawa, "this is a more sophisticated bike, especially with the increasing RPM of the engine. It is very important for the progression of the bike to keep Valentino and Colin together, as they are not just riders for us, but a key part of the development of the M1."
"Last year we got everything right with this team," added Jarvis. "The rider combination, the bike and every other element. Now our goal with our new title sponsor Camel is to achieve all this once again and win the championship."
Roberto Zanni, European Regional President for Japan Tobacco International, spoke about the exciting new partnership between Camel and Yamaha. "The feeling has been very good with Yamaha right from the beginning. Everything is very professional but also very friendly, it's a good atmosphere. I expect that the passion this year within this team will be very great and with two riders as successful as Valentino and Colin, we can expect great things." |
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Monday, 27 February 2006 15:17 |
Rinaldi Yamaha rider Stefan Everts clinched his second victory of the 2006 pre-season motocross period last weekend with a comprehensive display at the Pernes Les Fontaines International meeting in France.
Under sunny skies and good racing conditions the nine times world champion and factory Yamaha star claimed both MX1 motos onboard his 2006 spec YZ450FM, defeating a number of his world championship peers including Honda's Josh Coppins, KTM's Mickael Pichon and Sebastien Tortelli and Suzuki's Steve Ramon.
The 33 year old has won the MX1 World Championship for the last two seasons and will be pushing for a tenth career title in his final Grand Prix campaign this term. Everts hole-shotted the first race and kept a healthy distance over Coppins. The Belgian was forced to hold off Pichon in the second moto and also overtook Coppins who had started very quickly. A battle raged until the flag with Everts able to defeat the 2005 MX1 runner-up by less than three seconds at the finish.
After his triumph at Mantova in Italy two weeks ago Everts will now try for a 'hatrick' by travelling to Hawkstone Park in England for another star-studded meeting. The first Grand Prix of fifteen in the 2006 FIM World Championship is now a month away and is scheduled to take place at Zolder in Belgium on April 1st/2nd. |
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Monday, 27 February 2006 13:51 |
Superbike World Championship: round two - Phillip Island
Phillip Island, Australia
27/2/2006
Track length: 4448 m, Opened: 1956
Fastest Lap Ever: 1' 32.193 (Troy Corser, 2001)
WSB lap record: 1' 33.019 (Troy Corser, 2001)
Last year WSB winner: Troy Corser, Troy Corser
Circuit tel: +61 3 59522710; Circuit web site: http://www.phillipislandcircuit.com.au
After a sensational weekend of racing in Qatar, round two of the Superbike World Championship takes place coming weekend at the Phillip Island circuit, located a little more than an hour's drive south of Melbourne.
The track is a favourite with most of the riders and one that holds good memories for both Yamaha Motor Italia's riders, Noriyuki Haga and Andrew Pitt. They go to the Island on a high after playing a starring role in the Middle Eastern thriller. Each rider ran at the front of the pack and scored a podium finish at the Losail circuit, leaving them in a positive mood ahead of this weekend.Fresh from his first ever podium in the class, Pitt in particular is looking forward to racing at his home circuit.
"As with many riders, Phillip Island is my favourite circuit," says Pitt. "It's a fast and flowing circuit and it's always good to go back home and race. I enjoy the home support and generally I go quite well there. Winning the world supersport race there in 2002 is probably still my best moment in racing and as a rule I go better on fast circuits rather than your slower Valencia type circuits. It can be a bit tricky with the high winds so I hope the weather will be good. Most riders will say it is the best circuit in the world and certainly you can expect great racing there. I was stoked to get on the podium in Qatar at the weekend and that will certainly let me go to Australia feeling much more relaxed."
Pitt's podium at Losail came thanks to the hard work of the Yamaha Motor Italia squad, who have transformed the YZF-R1 over the winter break. "The bike is so much easier to ride," confirms Pitt. "We understand the bike a lot better now and there's still a lot of potential that can be unlocked. In Qatar Nori (Haga) and I were able to run at the front, only to fall back when the tyres went off. That's something we need to work on, transferring the power to the track while being more sympathetic to the tyres is our next big goal".
Haga also has good memories of the circuit having won there in 1998 - his first race win outside of Japan. "I am looking forward to going back to Phillip Island. It is a very challenging circuit and a beautiful country with many excellent golf courses! I am spending a few days back in Japan this week, but I still hope to arrive soon enough to play a round or two!"
The Japanese lies seventh in the championship after scoring a podium in race two, but failing to score in the opening race in Qatar. Challenging for the win, Nori-chan crashed while attempting to pass his friend Yukio Kagayama - taking them both out in the process. Despite this, Haga was still happy with his day in the Middle East. "We were very competitive," he says. "Our bike has improved a lot over the winter and it was good to see that we are much closer to our rivals compared to last year."
Also looking forward to the trip Down Under is the Yamaha Motor Germany world supersport squad. Their Aussie riders had contrasting fortunes in Qatar. Kevin Curtain took a fine second place, while Broc Parkes did not finish. The two riders spent three days testing at the circuit last month and having achieved a good base set-up they are looking forward to returning for what is their home race. |
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Saturday, 25 February 2006 21:03 |
WSB : Podium for Haga and Pitt in Qatar thriller
Round: 1 - Qatar
Circuit: Losail Circuit
Date: 25 February 2006
Crowd: 1000
Temp: 30ºC
Weather: Sunny
Yamaha Motor Italia riders Noriyuki Haga and Andrew Pitt took a podium finish apiece as the 2006 Superbike World Championship fired into life with two sensational races at the Losail circuit in Qatar.
The duo each took a third place finish, although Haga could well have stood on the top step of the podium had he not crashed on the final lap of the opening race. The Japanese star led for most of the race, hotly pursued by fellow countryman Yukio Kagayama (Suzuki). Kagayama took the lead going into the last lap but typically the Yamaha man would not settle for second. Haga tried to repass Kagayama at the left handed turn six but asked too much of the front end of his machine and slid into the gravel. Kagayama was the unfortunate victim of Haga's crash, allowing James Toseland (Honda) to take the win, with Pitt promoted to third behind Troy Bayliss (Ducati).
Race two was similar to the first, with the two red Yamahas racing into the lead. Haga set a new lap record on lap two, but both he and Pitt slipped back when their front tyres wore later in the race. That allowed Australians Troy Corser (Suzuki) and Troy Bayliss (Ducati) to fight out a dramatic last few laps, world champion Corser taking the flag after a slight error from his countryman. Haga held onto third by the narrowest of margins, crossing the line one thousandth of a second ahead of Toseland, with Pitt in fifth.
Yamaha Motor France trio Norick Abe, Sebastien Gimbert and Shinichi Nakatomi had a tough start to the season but were able to record valuable points. Abe was forced to switch bikes for race one after finding a technical fault on the sighting lap. He came from dead last to finish 11th place, a performance he repeated in race two. Frenchman Gimbert scored three points for 14th and 15th places, while Nakatomi took 16th and 17th places in what were his first races outside his native Japan.
After today's two exciting races, Bayliss leads the championship with 40 points to Corser and Toseland's 38. Pitt is fourth on 27 points, with Haga's 16 points in race two putting him seventh in the overall standings. Round two takes place at Australia's Phillip Island circuit next Sunday and if the racing proves half as good as that in Qatar then the fans are in for a treat.
Noriyuki Haga (Yamaha Motor Italia)
"The second race was very close with Toseland. He passed me going into the chicane but I could not close the door as my tyres were gone. I was able to get into his slipstream though and thankfully my bike was quicker than his. The first race crash was 100 percent my fault. On the last lap every rider pushes hard and I just braked harder than before and I lose the front end. I crashed and I am sorry that my bike hit Yukio and made him crash too. I saw the 600 race and our friend Katsuaki Fujiwara also crashed there. Maybe it is special unlucky corner for Japanese riders!"
Andrew Pitt (Yamaha Motor Italia)
"I'm delighted to get that first podium and I can go to Australia a lot more relaxed now that I've reached that target. The overall package is just so much easier to ride this year and there's still a lot more potential in the bike. We've still got a bit of work to do in making our tyres last a bit longer because you could see both Nori and I were sliding around a bit at the end when the others still had a bit left. I went for a different front tyre in the second race, the same as the other guys had, and it definitely allowed me to run a lot more consistent lap times. We used the same rear though and I still lacked some side grip, so we will work on that and hopefully find some improvements in the coming races."
Norick Abe (Yamaha Motor France)
"I had a broken bike in the warm up lap (of race one) so I had to use the spare machine and start form the back of the grid, so I had to work hard to get through. I changed my setting from first to second race, and the lap time was a bit better, better than qualifying. At this point I am happy but it was difficult to pass the top riders." |
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