World Superbike and Supersport squads in rain dance at Valencia

Valencia, Spain
14/12/2004

Despite wet weather and cold ambient air temperatures, Yamaha Motor Italia's
world superbike team and the Yamaha Motor Germany's world supersport squad
tested in Valencia on 13th and 14th December. The test proved a good opportunity
to try out both development and race kit parts on the 2005 YZF-R1 and YZF-R6.
Even allowing for the far from perfect conditions the teams proved to be
satisfied with the performance of their latest spec machinery, which will be
tested in a more complete fashion at Phillip Island in late January.

In superbike Andrew Pitt (Yamaha Motor Italia, YZF-R1) made progress on what was
an updated version of the machine he tested for the first time at Valencia in
mid-November. New suspension components and revised engine mapping, combined
with work on a slipper clutch, were the primary points of interest, even if
testing time was cut short by with the slow-to-dry track surface on day one. A
patchy surface to start and one final return of the rains on day two
foreshortened further meaningful trials of new components.

In the supersport class, for 600cc machines of an even closer relation to a
showroom machine than a production based superbike, the all-Australian pairing
of Kevin Curtain and new Yamaha signing Broc Parkes had their very first taste
of the latest YZF-R6. Even allowing for a shortened combined first day lap
count (20 for Parkes and only six for Curtain) the riders expressed great
confidence in the front end feel and feedback levels of the new middleweight
marvel. Parkes, a new signing for the 2005 season, tried both 2004 and 2005
machines, voting the latest race-kitted model a clear improvement, even at this
early stage of his Yamaha career.

Andrew Pitt: "We continued with the new bike, building on what we had at the
last test here in November. I did about 40 laps today, around 50 yesterday and I
set a best lap in the 1'39s the first time I went out with slicks on front and
rear. The surface was patchy with water in some areas but pretty much dry the
first time I went out on slicks. Just as soon as I came into the pitlane again
the rains came back. We worked on the mapping and injection systems a lot, to
get the best response from the engine. We also tried some rear shocks with new
settings, and so on. With it being so wet it was hard to get some of the info
but we could definitely feel some improvements. I also tried out some different
clutches and I think there are still a lot of progress to be done on that aspect
of the set-up. Our next tests is at Phillip Island in late January, so we should
have much better weather there."

Due to contractual reasons Yamaha's second 2005 season Superbike rider will not
be announced until January, with his first test on the YZF-R1 taking place at
Phillip Island on January 23-25.

Yamaha Motor Germany Team Manager - Terrell Thien: "The new R6 has certainly
impressed the riders already. Even Broc, who is a new signing, could feel the
improvements made between last year's bike and the 2005 one. Kevin has a lot of
experience on the previous bike so he rode the new one, and he was immediately
happy with the front-end feel. Even if it was wet or damp all the time, the
riders put in some good laps."

Kevin Curtain: "Even with the rain these tests have been really good for us
because the new bike feels incredibly different compared to the previous one.
The new front end feels a lot more stiff and planted during turn-in and mid
corner. The engine is still in the relatively early development stage but
already the horsepower is smoother and appears over a wider spread. I only did
about a dozen laps in total on day two. The track was wet again when we got here
this morning and takes an incredible amount of time to dry so there were a lot
of damp patches around the tarmac. I think I did a 1'41.5s lap but the track
surface was dangerous in these conditions. If we had carried on we were going to
get false information and in the early afternoon it started to sprinkle with
rain again. We learned enough to realise, even now, that this bike is an even
better package than the previous R6."

Broc Parkes: "The test's been pretty good and it's nice to be working with
Yamaha. They are clearly putting in a really big effort and the bike is
excellent. I started on the old one and ended up on the new one, but it was a
big step upwards in every aspect. It's a shame the weather meant that we didn't
have a fair test, just because of the limited time we had on the bike.
Conditions have been terrible. I was starting to dry out but two laps after
lunch it started spitting again. Kevin and I flew in on Sunday from Australia
and we're flying out again tonight, Tuesday. My body and mind are still on
Australian time! Kev is a good guy and along with the all-German team we've been
working very well to test as much as we could."