Australian Superbike 2008 - Round One - Eastern Creek

Australian Superbike 2008 - Round Two - Mallala (SA) - Yamaha Report

The Yamaha Racing Team's Superbike and Supersport riders have experienced a rare weekend of mixed results following a tough round at Mallala Motorsport Park in South Australia.

The Supersport outfit fared typically well, with Jeremy Crowe recording his first race and round victory of the year on the YZF-R6, backed up by Jamie Stauffer just a single point behind.

Teammate Bryan Staring was injured in a spectacular crash earlier in the weekend, and was sidelined for a zero-points weekend.

Luck abandoned the Superbike sibling pairing of Jamie and Dan Stauffer despite Jamie laying down the fastest ever lap of Mallala on a motorcycle.

Stauffer recorded a 1.05.895 lap in practice, an effort over six-tenths better than the existing record.

The team will regroup before heading to the series' third outing at Winton Motor Raceway at the end of May.

[ Yamaha Racing Team Superbike ]
Yamaha Racing Team rider Dan Stauffer led the way for the factory outfit at this weekend's round of the Australian Superbike Championship at Mallala Motorsport Park, finishing strongly in 5th overall after leading much of the opening race.

Stauffer enjoyed a strong return to form, securing a spot on the front row of the grid with fourth fastest in qualifying, joining brother Jamie who would start from second.

Dan was quick from the outset, away from the line with the lead pack and muscling his YZF-R1 into the race lead.

Polesitter Glenn Allerton later slipped by Stauffer, who fought gallantly but dropped back to fourth on the closing laps as a number of riders joined the lead pack and made the most of the circuit's limited passing opportunities.

The factory R1 pairing swapped spots in the dying stages, with Jamie lining up for a shot at Allerton on lap 15.

The defending champion's race quickly came undone with a rare mistake a turn three, the bike sliding from beneath him and into the gravel trap, unable to be restarted.

Race two was won again by Allerton, with Jamie troubling him until the very last lap, finishing just half a second shy.

Dan finished in seventh, taking 31 points and fifth for the round.

"It's been an up and down weekend," he said. "I was on for a race win there for a while and to see it slip away was tough."

"We had the pace of the frontrunners and I'm confident I can take the speed over to Winton where I had a really good run last year."

The uncharacteristic crash saw Jamie take just 20 points from the round.

The result moves him from first to third in the points chase, with Allerton leading and Shawn Giles in second.

"It's been a tough weekend, we entered the round with a bit of work to do in terms of set-up, the track had changed quite a bit since our test a fortnight ago," said Stauffer.

"It was disappointing and costly to crash out of the first race, especially with just a few laps remaining. That hurts me in terms of the championship so I'll need to bounce back at Winton to keep in check with Glenn and Shawn."

"The tyres held on quite well and the R1 was good, but it just wasn't to be for me this weekend."

[ Yamaha Racing Team Supersport ]

The Yamaha Racing Team's Jeremy Crowe has won today's second round of the Australian Supersport Championship at Mallala Motorsport Park in South Australia courtesy of two hard-fought performances in which he scored his first race win for the season, backed up by a solid second placing.

Crowe entered the second round brimming with confidence after a test session saw him draw even with teammate Jamie Stauffer on the top rung on the timesheets, and was on song all weekend on the class-leading R6 machine.

Crowe diced with Stauffer for much of the opening 19-lap race where riders were forced to deal with strong winds which buffeted them through the 2.6km circuit's tight series of turns and straight sections.

Stauffer won out by a mere .320 seconds as the chequered flag was waved, but Crowe turned the tables in the second and final race of the day, taking first from Josh Waters with Stauffer home in third.

Jeremy's 45 point haul was just 1 clear of Stauffer on 44, who grabbed an extra point for pole earlier in the weekend.

As well as the round win, Crowe also set the new lap record for the Supersport class, laying down a 1.07.573 in race 1.

"The plan this weekend was to get a good start and get out in front, and hopefully stay there," said Crowe.

"Full credit to the team, they worked hard at the test and we had the best bike and best setup for this race."

"There was no way anyone was going to get me there in race two once I was in that zone."

"Josh (Waters) raced well, I tried hard to shake him but each lap the pit board showed he was still right on my tail so this pushed me to keep finding more pace in the bike."

"It's good to get my first win early in the season and a strong bank of points towards the championship, I can't wait to continue this on at Winton next round."

At the conclusion of two from seven rounds, Stauffer still holds the advantage over Crowe in the standings, leading the charge on 95 points versus his younger teammate's 83.

It was a nightmare outing for Bryan Staring, who had entered the round in third place.

Staring lost control of his R6 through the infamous back straight kink, tumbling from the bike at close to 200km/h during practice.

He was treated for a fractured wrist at the scene and as a result was sidelined from further competition. The unfortunate zero-points result sees him slip to tenth in the standings, though his form suggests he will take little time to rocket back up the ladder if he is fit for the next round.