YRC News
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WSB : Pitt tops Yamahas in Monza
Round: 4 - Italy - Monza
Circuit: Monza
Date: 8 May 2005
Crowd: 93000
Temp: 39ΊC
Weather: Sunny
Yamaha Motor Italia rider Andrew Pitt put in two strong performances to end the
day as Yamaha's top points scorer at Monza. The Australian recorded a fifth and
sixth place finish. Making two good starts he pushed hard at his team's home
circuit, forming part of an eight rider freight train in race two, only a
fraction of a second behind James Toseland at the culmination of his day's work.
Noriyuki Haga (Yamaha Motor Italia) ground out a ninth place in race two,
following on from 11th in the opening race, with the second race reduced by one
lap after the start was delayed due to a problem for home favourite
Pierfrancesco Chili (Honda).
The opening 18-lap high speed superbike battle saw Troy Corser (Suzuki) take his
sixth win of the year, with Yukio Kagayama (Suzuki) second and James Toseland
(Ducati) third. Norick Abe (Yamaha Motor France IPONE) earned a top ten finish
in his inaugural Monza meeting, following up with 12th, after set-up changes
between races did not work out as planned. His team-mate Sebastien Gimbert had a
tough superbike baptism at Monza, 17th in race one, while a damaged radiator in
race two put him out of the follow-up. Chris Vermeulen (Honda) won race two,
from long time leader Regis Laconi (Ducati), with Corser third.
Corser nonetheless improved his championship lead, with the top Yamaha that of
Pitt, in fifth place with 60 points. Abe narrowly leads Haga, 54 points to 52 in
the battle for eighth, with Gimbert 14th, on 26.
Andrew Pitt (Yamaha Motor Italia)
"We are chipping away at it every weekend and improving every time out. I just
couldn't get right with Toseland in race two, because I didn't have the drive
out of the corner that he had. I could make it up in the entries but he would
get it back on the exits. The main thing is that we're getting the front tyres
to last now and that has given me confidence in the front for the whole race."
Noriyuki Haga (Yamaha Motor Italia)
"I changed to a medium tyre on the rear and I think it worked well but we still
don't have a perfect balance on the bike. So it was not enough to let me
challenge. The engine was better in the first race but in race two I changed the
bike and it was not quite so quick as the first one."
Massimo Meregalli (Team Coordinator - Yamaha Motor Italia)
"Like Andrew says, every time we are making improvements and when I saw how
difficult it was for the Ducatis to pass Andrew on the straights I could see
that we are working in the right direction. If we continue like this then I
think the podium is a possibility."
Norick Abe (Yamaha Motor France)
"It was the first time for me at Monza but every day I improved. In the first
race things were not so bad but I did not have a good feeling from the front
end. If this was fixed I think I could have gone five tenths faster each lap. So
we modified the settings for race two - but it was even worse than race one."
Sebastien Gimbert (Yamaha Motor France)
"A grim weekend for me I'm afraid, and the stone holing the radiator summed it
up. In race one I cut the Ascari chicane with Bussei and that made it a problem
for me. I'm disappointed with the weekend."
Martial Garcia (Team Manager - Yamaha Motor France)
"For the first time we were happy about qualifying at the right time because at
the end the riders both made superpole. But for the race we expected more. It
was a real shame for Sebastien because a stone went through his radiator and all
the water leaked out. After the first lap the temperature went almost to
maximum. We have to forget about this one and move on to Silverstone."
Race classification WSB
Round: 4 - Italy - Monza
Circuit: Monza
Circuit Length: 5792m
Lap Record: 1' 47.434 (Troy Bayliss, 2002)
Fastest Lap Ever: 1' 47.434 (Troy Bayliss, 2002)
Race 1: 18 Laps
Pos.Rider Manufacturer Nat. Total Time
1 T. Corser Suzuki AUS 32'40.906
2 Y. Kagayama Suzuki JPN +0.985
3 J. Toseland Ducati GBR +1.040
4 R. Laconi Ducati FRA +1.757
5 A. Pitt Yamaha AUS +8.609
6 K. Muggeridge Honda AUS +12.435
7 P. Chili Honda ITA +12.628
8 C. Walker Kawasaki GBR +16.656
9 G. Nannelli Ducati ITA +20.481
10 N. Abe Yamaha JPN +21.119
11 N. Haga Yamaha JPN +23.169
12 M. Borciani Ducati ITA +39.874
13 G. Bussei Kawasaki ITA +40.080
14 M. Sanchini Kawasaki ITA +41.484
15 I. Clementi Kawasaki ITA +41.955
17 S. Gimbert Yamaha FRA +45.063
19 J. Cardoso Yamaha ESP +47.225
19 M. Praia Yamaha POR +1'16.849
21 G. Vizziello Yamaha ITA +1' 5.562
Race 2: 17 Laps
Pos.Rider Manufacturer Nat. Total Time
1 C. Vermeulen Honda AUS 30'49,758
2 R. Laconi Ducati FRA +0.582
3 T. Corser Suzuki AUS +2.458
4 K. Muggeridge Honda AUS +3.379
5 J. Toseland Ducati GBR +9.901
6 A. Pitt Yamaha AUS +10.076
7 P. Chili Honda ITA +11.116
8 C. Walker Kawasaki GBR +11.587
9 N. Haga Yamaha JPN +26.936
10 G. Nannelli Ducati ITA +33.459
11 G. Bussei Kawasaki ITA +35.184
12 N. Abe Yamaha JPN +35.612
13 M. Sanchini Kawasaki ITA +36.817
14 L. Conforti Ducati ITA +45.473
15 I. Clementi Kawasaki ITA +47.350
16 L. Alfonsi Yamaha ITA +47.685
Fastest Race Lap:
Pos.Rider Manufacturer Nat. Total Time
1 Y. Kagayama Suzuki JPN 1'48.082
Championship standings WSB
Pos.Rider Manufacturer Nat. Points
1 Troy Corser Suzuki AUS 182
2 Yukio Kagayama Suzuki JPN 130
3 Chris Vermeulen Honda AUS 115
4 Regis Laconi Ducati FRA 87
5 Andrew Pitt Yamaha AUS 60
6 James Toseland Ducati GBR 57
7 Norifumi Abe Yamaha JPN 54
8 Chris Walker Kawasaki GBR 54
9 Noriyuki Haga Yamaha JPN 52
10 Pierfrancesco Chili Honda ITA 44
11 Max Neukirchner Honda GER 41
12 Karl Muggeridge Honda AUS 38
13 Giovanni Bussei Kawasaki ITA 31
14 Sebastien Gimbert Yamaha FRA 26
15 Ben Bostrom Honda USA 19
19 David Checa Yamaha ESP 13
22 Ivan Silva Yamaha ESP 10
27 Lorenzo Alfonsi Yamaha ITA 3
29 Gianluca Vizziello Yamaha ITA 2
30 Miguel Praia Yamaha POR 2
Manufacturers standings WSB
Pos.Manufacturer Points
1 Suzuki 191
2 Honda 128
3 Ducati 100
4 Yamaha 86
5 Kawasaki 66
6 Petronas 1
WSS : Curtain satisfied in Monza
Round: 4 - Italy - Monza
Circuit: Monza
Date: 8 May 2005
Crowd: 93000
Temp: 40ΊC
Weather: Sunny
Yamaha Motor Germany riders Kevin Curtain and Broc Parkes scored valuable points
after a tough round four of the Supersport World Championship at Monza today.
The Australians failed to find the optimum settings for their YZF-R6s but fought
hard to the line to secure valuable championship points, in fifth and eighth
places respectively. Curtain stays third in the championship with Parkes tying
with Fabien Foret (Honda) for fifth.
Curtain had been running with the leading pack of Sθbastien Charpentier (Honda),
Katsuaki Fujiwara (Honda) and Gianluca Nannelli (Ducati) in the opening stages,
but slowly slipped back and into the clutches of Michel Fabrizio (Honda) as the
tyres wore. Fabrizio moved into fourth place on lap 10 of 16 and although
Curtain was able to stay in the Italian's slipstream he was unable to make a
pass, finishing the race just a tenth of a second behind his rival.
Fujiwara's victory takes him to within seven points of Charpentier at the top of
the championship, with Curtain a further 23 behind in third. Round five takes
place at the Silverstone circuit in the United Kingdom in three weeks time.
Kevin Curtain
"I did the best I could today and I'm happy to get the points for fifth place at
a track that hasn't really suited us. Our bike is a match for anyone in terms of
top end power but I felt that some of the other guys just had the edge on us
jumping out of the corners. It was ok when the tyres were new, but when the rear
started to wear they were just able to edge away out of the corners. There were
a few places where I could make up time on the brakes but as I said, this is the
best we could do today and we can take a lot of positives away with us. The
front tyre was good right to the end and we've made progress with the
suspension. We've got 11 points from here so I'm satisfied with that."
Broc Parkes
"It's the same story really: finishing a few places behind Kevin. I think the
Hondas had an advantage on us out of the corners, maybe due to the gearing, and
it made it hard work. I've struggled all weekend and to make it worse I got a
terrible start which gave me too much work to do in the race. On the upside,
we've got a new suspension technician come in directly from WP and he has been
able to bring in some new ideas. Already we saw the benefit this weekend and I'm
sure that with more time he will be able to bring us even more improvements."
Terrell Thien (Team Manager)
"Our mechanics all worked so hard this weekend and were often up to one or two
o'clock in the morning changing the gearbox settings and the like, so it was a
shame that we could not deliver a podium. I was pleased that in the end the gap
between us and the winner was less than eight seconds and there are many good
things that we can take from this weekend. Silverstone is next and this is a
circuit that Kevin likes and where Broc was on the podium last year, so we have
every reason to look forward to this race."
Race classification WSS
Round: 4 - Italy - Monza
Circuit: Monza
Circuit Length: 5792m
Lap Record: 1' 52.635 (Chris Vermeulen, 2003)
Fastest Lap Ever: 1' 51.480 (Karl Muggeridge, 2004)
Race 1: 16 Laps
Pos.Rider Manufacturer Nat. Total Time
1 K. Fujiwara Honda JPN 30'15,930
2 S. Charpentier Honda FRA +0.036
3 G. Nannelli Ducati ITA +2.726
4 M. Fabrizio Honda ITA +8.043
5 K. Curtain Yamaha AUS +8.163
6 A. Corradi Ducati ITA +18.488
7 T. Lauslehto Honda FIN +26.566
8 B. Parkes Yamaha AUS +26.632
9 S. Chambon Honda FRA +26.940
10 I. Goi Yamaha ITA +37.497
11 S. Le Grelle Honda BEL +37.686
12 X. Fores Suzuki ESP +37.943
13 B. Veneman Suzuki NED +44.198
14 J. Stigefelt Honda SWE +47.954
15 T. Miksovsky Honda CZE +57.562
Fastest Race Lap:
Pos.Rider Manufacturer Nat. Total Time
1 S. Charpentier Honda FRA 1'52.726
Championship standings WSS
Pos.Rider Manufacturer Nat. Points
1 Sebastien Charpentier Honda FRA 90
2 Katsuaki Fujiwara Honda JPN 83
3 Kevin Curtain Yamaha AUS 60
4 Michel Fabrizio Honda ITA 42
5 Fabien Foret Honda FRA 38
6 Broc Parkes Yamaha AUS 38
7 Stephane Chambon Honda FRA 32
8 Gianluca Nannelli Ducati ITA 31
9 Tatu Lauslehto Honda FIN 24
10 Xavi Fores Suzuki ESP 23
11 Johan Stigefelt Honda SWE 19
12 Barry Veneman Suzuki NED 13
13 Jurgen van den Goorbergh Ducati NED 11
14 Sebastien Le Grelle Honda BEL 9
15 Tomas Miksovsky Honda CZE 9
Manufacturers standings WSS
Pos.Manufacturer Points
1 Honda 100
2 Yamaha 60
3 Ducati 42
4 Suzuki 27
5 Kawasaki 6
European Superstock : R1 racers serve up Monza thriller
Round: 2 - Italy - Monza
Circuit: Monza
Date: 8 May 2005
Crowd: 93000
Temp: 31ΊC
Weather: Sunny
Yamaha's R6 Cup graduates served up a thrilling appetiser for the Monza tifosi
today, with Yamaha Motor Germany's Kenan Sofuoglu and Team Lorenzini by Leoni's
Massimo Roccoli taking the top two places in a superb head-to-head battle for
round two of the FIM Superstock 1000 Cup.
R1 riders Sofuoglu, the 2002 German R6 Cup champion, and Roccoli, winner of the
2003 Italian series, spent the entire 11-lap race separated by only fractions of
a second as they passed and repassed each other around the high speed Formula
One circuit.
Sofuoglu grabbed the holeshot to take the early lead, while pole sitter Roccoli
broke the lap record on lap two to briefly pass him. From then on the two Yamaha
riders rode in each other's slipstream, although their battle did allow former
Australian superbike champion Craig Coxhell to catch up and indeed briefly lead
going into the chicane on the final lap.
Sofuoglu looked like he would have to settle for third when he outbraked himself
going into the Variante della Roggia chicane for the final time, but the Turkish
rider kept his composure and was able to take Coxhell for second with a
spectacular move into Ascari, before passing Roccoli on the approach to
Parabolica to take his second win of the season.
Yamaha Motor Germany's Didier van Keymeulen held third place for most of the
race but was forced back to fifth at the flag. The Belgian rider did not find a
machine set-up to his liking at Monza, but is still very much in contention for
the title. He lies third in the championship on 31 points, Roccoli is just ahead
of him on 36 with Sofuoglu's win giving him a perfect 50 points after two rounds.
Yamaha Motor Italia supported youngster Claudio Corti took victory in Saturday's
European Superstock 600 championship. With a second placed finish at the opening
round in Valencia, the 17-year-old YZF-R6 rider from Como now ties for the
championship lead with French Honda rider Yoann Tiberio.
Kenan Sofuoglu (Yamaha Motor Germany)
"That was a great race. I had a bit of a problem with chatter throughout the
race but I just got my head down and rode as hard as I could. I made a mistake
on the last lap and that meant I had to change my race tactics. I'm really happy
and very focussed this year. I know that I must show people what I can do this
season, so my aim is not only to win the championship but also to win as many
races as possible."
Massimo Roccoli (Lorenzini by Leoni)
"I took the tight line into the final corner but unfortunately I hit a dip in
the tarmac and I lost traction - which allowed Kenan to carry more speed onto
the straight. It was a tough race, like a war, and Kenan is a very strong rider
who has a little more experience than me, so I can have no complaints."
Didier van Keymeulen (Yamaha Motor Germany)
"I had a lot of fans here from Belgium this weekend so I am disappointed only to
finish fifth. Last year I finished on the podium here but all this weekend I
have struggled to get a good feeling with the bike. I got an ok start but
Chiarello held me up for a bit and that gave Kenan and Roccoli the chance to get
away. The next round is at Silverstone and that is one of my favourite tracks,
so hopefully I can find an improvement there."
Race classification FIM Superstock 1000 Cup
Round: 2 - Italy - Monza
Circuit: Monza
Circuit Length: 5792m
Lap Record: 1' 51.525 (Gianluca Vizziello, 2004)
Fastest Lap Ever: 1' 51.306 (Gianluca Vizziello, 2004)
Race 1: 11 Laps
Pos.Rider Manufacturer Nat. Total Time
1 K. Sofuoglu Yamaha TUR 20'37.642
2 M. Roccoli Yamaha ITA +0.156
3 C. Coxhell Suzuki AUS +0.214
4 R. Chiarello Suzuki ITA +3.054
5 D. Van Keymeulen Yamaha BEL +3.294
6 A. Martinez Yamaha ESP +9.904
7 A. Polita Suzuki ITA +12.831
8 D. Sacchetti Kawasaki ITA +12.872
9 R. Cooper Honda GBR +14.264
10 S. Vermonden Suzuki BEL +15.466
11 V. Iannuzzo MV Agusta ITA +15.470
12 F. De Marco MV Agusta ITA +17.955
13 I. Dionsi Suzuki ITA +22.757
14 M. Jerman Suzuki SVN +29.107
15 G. Romanelli Yamaha ITA +29.530
Fastest Race Lap:
Pos.Rider Manufacturer Nat. Total Time
1 M. Roccoli Yamaha ITA 1'51.619
Championship standings FIM Superstock 1000 Cup
Pos.Rider Manufacturer Nat. Points
1 Kenan Sofuoglu Yamaha TUR 50
2 Massimo Roccoli Yamaha ITA 36
3 Didier Van Keymeulen Yamaha BEL 31
4 Craig Coxhell Suzuki AUS 27
5 Fabrizio De Marco MV Agusta ITA 14
6 Richard Cooper Honda GBR 13
7 Riccardo Chiarello Suzuki ITA 13
8 William De Angelis Yamaha ITA 13
9 Denis Sacchetti Kawasaki ITA 12
10 Ilario Dionsi Suzuki ITA 12
11 Alex Martinez Yamaha ESP 10
12 Alessandro Polita Suzuki ITA 9
13 Herve Gantner Yamaha CHE 8
14 Sepp Vermonden Suzuki BEL 8
15 Ayrton Badovini MV Agusta ITA 7
19 Julian Mazuecos Yamaha ESP 3
21 Petter Solli Yamaha NOR 1
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