Yamaha trio aim for the top in 2001

Yamaha have combined youth and experience in their endeavor to dominate the major motorcycle road racing titles held in Australia this year.

In a three-rider attack, Radar's Team Yamaha will take on the countries best road racers in both the Australian Superbike Championship and the 2001 Yamaha Xtreme Tri-State, with all three riding 2001 model Yamaha YZF R1's.

Craig Coxhell, Jamie Stauffer and Robbie Baird will spearhead the high profile team, with the first event of the season being the 2001 Yamaha Xtreme Tri-State at Sydney's Eastern Creek International Raceway, this weekend, February 17 - 18.

Queenslander Robbie Baird will provide the experience in the rider line up. The 30-year-old, who finished runner-up in last years Australian Supersport Championship, is one of the toughest competitors in the local racing scene. He will however, have his hands full just to contain the exuberance of his young teammates, 18 year-old Craig Coxhell and 21-year-old Jamie Stauffer.

For Coxhell, his season has already started off in winning style as he took out the coveted Harvey Wiltshire Trophy at the Victorian Broadford circuit last weekend. The Victorian heads to Eastern Creek as one of the early season favourites.

"My goals this year are pretty simple, I want to win the Formula Xtreme and Australian Superbike Championships," said a confident Coxhell. "Last year was my first with Radar's Team Yamaha and I learnt a lot. Consistency is the key to winning championships, so this weekend I will be looking at a podium finish, but if the opportunity comes up to take the win, I'll be challenging for it."

Coxhell's ability was rewarded last season when he took out the RK Chains Samurai award for the best performed up and coming star in Australia.

New South Welshman Jamie Stauffer is also coming off a winning year in 2000. The Newcastle rider won the Aprilia Challenge category as part of the 2000 Formula Xtreme Tri-State. He then went on to take victory at the famous Daytona International Speedway, Florida, USA, in the Aprilia Cup as part of the F-USA series. 

"In the past I've done all of the work on my bikes myself, so it will be great to be involved with a professional team such as Radar's," said Stauffer. "I tested the Yamaha R1 two weeks ago and I was happy with the times that I did. The bike felt very comfortable and somewhat easy to ride, which showed as I was able to set the fastest times I've ever done around Eastern Creek on it."

While Coxhell and Stauffer continue to grow with experience, Baird is bursting to get the season underway.

"I'm not worried about any of the other guys at this moment," said Baird. "All I want to do is win races. Last year I won a lot of races in the Supersport class, but lost the championship. This year I want to win both the races and the title. The R1 fells good at just about every track in the country. This weekend will be hard though, as the young guys will be keen to get out there and show everyone what they can do."

For team manager Dave `Radar' Cullen, the season ahead is more than promising.  "I'm looking forward to the year with the younger riders on board," said Cullen. "It's good to be able to give them the opportunity and I'm sure that they will be able to step up to the mark and do well."

"All three riders have excellent qualities. Coxhell I believe will come of age in 2001. Stauffer has shown in testing that he can do the lap times and should develop into a consistent front-runner and Robbie is just a racer through and through. You know he will do the job come race day."

"The Yamaha R1 is the benchmark at present it, along with the R6, have been very successful for Yamaha and I hope we can continue to build that success."