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YMF Australian Superbike
2005 - Round Five - Winton Motor Raceway Team Report - Yamaha August 23rd, 2005
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YMF Australian Superbike
2005 - Round Five - Winton Motor Raceway Team Report - Yamaha August 23rd, 2005
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| After a 10 week layoff due to
back injuries Daniel Stauffer, has finished third overall at the
fifth round of the 2005 YMF Loan Australian Superbike
Championship held at the tight and demanding Winton Raceway in
north-eastern Victoria on Sunday (August 21) capping a
successful weekend for the Yamaha Racing Team. Dan scored a second and a fourth in the two Superbike races while his teammate Shannon Johnson set the scene for the weekend when he entered the record books as the first rider to rider to crack a 1:22 sec lap, posting his remarkable time during the second qualifying session. He followed that up with a third place behind his teammate in the opening Superbike race. In conditions that were sometime more suitable for duck racing, rain played a huge part in the outcome of the races with the final tyre choice literally not made until seconds before the start. The intermittent showers during Sunday’s race day saw the track being saturated with a sudden burst from the heavens but with a strong westerly and occasional sunshine the track quickly dried making tyre selection a lottery. To compound matters Friday’s free practice was a virtual washout as persistent rain curtailed any chance of finding settings for the weekend with Saturday’s qualifying doubling as sorting out sessions. “That was a pretty weird weekend but I’m really happy with the result," explained Stauffer. "We had so many conditions. Friday was wet, Saturday was dry, then we had both on raceday “The conditions on Sunday meant that if you chose the wrong tyre you weren’t going to be able to last so it was all a bit of a gamble. Sure a win would’ve been good but at least I know now that I’m fit enough for the rest of the championship and I’m sure a win isn’t too far away. I can walk away happy considering all that happened.” In the opening leg Dan and Shannon were battling at the front for the entire race in a three way duel for the lead but the rain came forcing the field to slow with the red flag being shown after 13 of the 17 laps with officials declaring the race. “I thought they would stop the race a few laps earlier as it was raining for awhile. It was getting very slippery and not worth taking the risk,” added Stauffer. “If we had a restart on wets I might’ve won it but as it was cut short we didn’t get a chance to fight to the line.” The second leg was a bigger tyre gamble than the first with riders opting for a combination of tyres that although working well for a time ultimately didn’t suit the changing conditions as the track dried out. Shannon led the field off the line for the opening laps but the race was red-flagged due to an incident curtailing his charge. “It was a blessing in disguise when the race was stopped as I had chosen wet tyres and I don’t think they would have lasted as the track dried,” said Shannon. “In the restart I went for an intermediate front and a slick rear but again that was the wrong choice as we didn’t have time to change the suspension which added to the problem. I had a few nasty moments then ran off and got bogged in the mud for ages. I thought it was better to retire than risk it any further. “I’m pretty disappointed in the weekend but I know we are moving forward and a win isn’t far off for me so hopefully it will all come together in Queensland.” Yamaha Racing Team Manager summed up the weekend saying, “It was an extremely difficult weekend for the entire team and on the whole we have to be happy with coming away with a fairly decent haul of points. Dan is well and truly back and if the cards had fallen our way with the weather we may have scored even better results – it was that sort of weekend. Also we can take plenty out of the weekend to make sure we have a pretty successful end to the season” |
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