Report - Yamaha

Noriyuki Haga scored his first podium finish of the season as the Yamaha Motor Italy WSB Team served up some terrific entertainment at Phillip Island today.

Having secured front row starts on their still-developing YZF-R1s, Haga and team-mate Troy Corser were able to run with the leading group in both races. Corser was straight into the thick of things in the day's opener and the Australian lowered the lap record as he bridged a small gap to leading pair James Toseland (Honda) and Troy Bayliss (Ducati). With lap times under qualifying pace, Corser ran with the leading group for the first half of the race but was unable to maintain the pace of the leading duo. With his lap times dropping by two seconds on worn tyres, Troy was passed on lap 20 by Max Biaggi (Suzuki) with Haga relegating him to fifth on the final lap.

In the day's second race the Yamaha riders were able to take advantage of the slightly slower pace in the opening laps to preserve tyre life. That allowed both men to stay part of the five rider battle for the lead until the closing stages, when Toseland upped his pace to take the win from Bayliss. Haga rode brilliantly to take the final position on the podium, holding an off a determined late charge from his rivals, while Corser was unlucky to miss out on fourth after being slipstreamed by Biaggi across the line.

Team YZF Yamaha's Shinichi Nakatomi scored points in both races today, taking 13th place each time. The Japanese rider improved his performances as the weekend progressed to score six championship points.

Today's results see Toseland extend his championship lead to 16 points over Biaggi. Haga lies fourth in the standings, on 50 points, with Corser a further five points adrift in fifth place. The series takes close to a one-month race before moving to Donington Park for the championship's 20th anniversary meeting on 1 April. The English circuit played host to the very first world superbike race on 3 April 1988 and returns to the calendar for the first time since 2001. Before then the teams will have a test at the Valencia circuit in Spain, when the Yamaha teams hope to try out a range of new settings and parts on their YZF-R1s.

Noriyuki Haga (Yamaha Motor Italy WSB Team)
"I have had a cold this weekend and I did not feel very good throughout practice. The second race was tough because of the higher temperature but it was also good fun. After the start I was fighting with four other riders but I tried to save the rear tyre as much as possible for the last few laps. The grip was definitely better than in the first and I was thinking that I could push in the last five laps. But when the front guys went I realized that I could not push hard enough and decided to try and go for the third. I'm happy with a third place. The team has done a very good job this weekend and I hope that we will have some new parts to make us more competitive in the next race."

Troy Corser (Yamaha Motor Italy WSB Team)
"I'm disappointed because when I come to Phillip Island I expect a minimum of two podiums, and I thought I rode well enough to achieve that. But that's racing. We changed the bike for the second race and it was definitely better for the tyre, although I also rode a little differently because I knew what to expect from the tyre. At the end of the day we weren't fast enough. The rest of the bike was really good but we just needed some more legs down the straight. We'll go to Valencia and try and improve the bike before going to Donington Park. That's another track I really like so we'll just need to see what happens there."

Shinichi Nakatomi (Team YZF Yamaha)
"I am quite happy with my performance today. In the first race I was riding in a group for a few laps but made a mistake and lost some time. I was able to improve my lap times for the rest of the race and I was pleased that my overall race time was 10 seconds faster in the second race. I was able to have a good fight with Josh Brookes and tried a last lap attack, although I was not able to get past. I now have a better feeling with the bike and the team is working hard to give me more performance for the next race."

Massimo Meregalli (Team Coordinator - Yamaha Motor Italy WSB Team)
"We made a big improvement between the races. We made some suspension changes and the hotter temperatures also made a big difference. In past years we have not had such great results here so for me getting a podium is a good result. We still have a small gap to make up but if we continue like this then I am sure we will be able to close it."

Parkes takes podium in tough supersport race

Yamaha World Supersport team's Broc Parkes took a hard fought third place in the world supersport round at Phillip Island today, although there was a touch of disappointment for the Australian as he led for all but the final three laps of the race.

Starting from the second row, Parkes quickly took the lead and pulled away from the chasing pack - heading the four-way battle for second by almost two seconds at one stage. The 25-year-old looked set for a third career win, only for his lap times to drop off in the closing stages of the 21-lap race. Frenchman Fabien Foret (Kawasaki) overtook the Yamaha to take the win with round one winner Kenan Sofuoglu (Honda) also getting past Parkes. Despite his problems Broc was able to bring his R6 home in third place.

Team-mate Kevin Curtain had been one of the favourites for the win at Phillip Island and he was the early leader as the front group sped off at under qualifying pace. The 40-year-old Australian looked comfortable in the four-rider battle for second when his lap times faded dramatically at around half distance. As in Qatar eight days ago Curtain experienced rear traction problems and was forced to ride on and secure as many points as possible. Despite posting lap times over five seconds from the leaders, Curtain refused to give up and was rewarded with five championship points for his 11th placed finish.

It was also a tough day for Yamaha Team Italia Lorenzini by Leoni rider Massimo Roccoli. Despite qualifying back on the fifth row the Italian had been riding impressively in the top ten for much of the race. However, he was forced to stop when his bike cut out and, despite rejoining, was unable to score any points.

Sofuoglu's second place sees him extend his championship lead. The Turkish rider lies on 45 points with second placed Foret on 38. Yamaha's Curtain is fourth in the standings, on 25 points, with Parkes' 16 points moving him up to seventh in the championship with two of the 13 rounds gone.

Broc Parkes (Yamaha World Supersport team)
"I got a good start from the second row and felt that I was a bit quicker than a couple of guys in front so I decided to try and go. I was able to open up a gap of a little more than a second and I tried to keep that pace. I felt the rear go pretty quickly at about nine laps to go so I just got my head down and tried to keep it going. The grip really went off though and I made a mistake out the back of the circuit. Once Fabien and Kenan came past they had much better rear grip than me and I didn't have any answer to them. I had done a lot of testing on that tyre (specification) and I knew it was good for the race. Unfortunately we didn't run the full race last weekend so maybe we still have a little more work to do on our chassis settings. It's a little disappointing to be just a couple of laps away from the win but we've come away with some good points and it's a good result compared to last week."

Kevin Curtain (Yamaha World Supersport team)
"I don't know what to say, I'm just feeling really fed up just now. We've got no luck at the moment and I'm really disappointed.It'd been a good weekend and I was confident that I could have a good result today, but the tyre went off and, to be honest, I'm surprised that I was even able to stay on the bike let alone score some points."

Massimo Roccoli (Yamaha Team Italia Lorenzini by Leoni)
"I made a good start and thought I could make a top ten finish when the bike just stopped out on the circuit. I pressed the starter and it fired again after about 30 seconds. I was able to rejoin the race but it was too late and I could not score any points."