WSB : First win for R1 as Nitro Nori burns up Brno
Round: 7 - Czech Republic
Circuit: Brno
Date: 17 July 2005
Crowd: 31000
Temp: 30ºC
Weather: Sunny

Noriyuki Haga rode a sensational race two at Brno today to give Yamaha's YZF-R1 its first victory in the Superbike World Championship, the brand's first since officially returning to the series this season.

The Japanese Yamaha Motor Italia star gave a magical display to charge through from 16th place on the grid to take a lead he would never lose on lap seven, overtaking series leader Troy Corser (Suzuki) and establishing more than a three second lead at the chequered flag.

Haga's win, Yamaha's first in the class since the same rider won race two at Assen in September 2000 on the YZF-R7, came after a troubled weekend in qualifying that saw him starting way down the grid. However, even despite missing out on superpole the 29-year-old maintained that the settings of his R1 were ideal for race conditions. A lack of grip held him back as he raced to a still impressive seventh in the opening race, before using exactly the same set-up and tyre combination to blast to victory in the second.

Yamaha Motor Italia team-mate Andrew Pitt had a troubled weekend. Struggling for front end grip he came home 10th in race one, before a clutch problem forced him out of a points scoring position in the second, which had been restarted due to an oil spill in the opening laps of the initial running.

Yamaha Motor France's Norick Abe almost made it two R1s on the podium in race two, narrowly missing out on third when passed by Chris Vermeulen (Honda) with two laps remaining. It was the Japanese rider's best finish of his short superbike career and equaled his best result at the Czech circuit, matching his fourth place finish in the 2001 500cc Czech Grand Prix. Earlier in the day Abe finished ninth while team-mate Sebastien Gimbert, still struggling with an injured leg from a crash at Silverstone, was 19th and 17th.

Despite his win, Haga remains sixth in the championship - albeit with a reduced gap to defending world champion James Toseland (Ducati) in fifth place. Abe moved up to ninth, one place ahead of Pitt. Corser continues to lead the championship with an extended advantage over second placed Vermeulen.

Noriyuki Haga (Yamaha Motor Italia)
"I am very happy for this win. I had some problem in the first laps when I touched Chris (Vermeulen) and this made my brake lever go up in the air. I had to hit it to put it back in place and this cost me some time but I was able to make some very good lap times. All season I have been asking for more engine power and I think that we will have a new engine with more power for Brands Hatch. I won twice there last year so now I am very much looking forward to going there."

Andrew Pitt (Yamaha Motor Italia)
"We had the same problem in race two as we did at Misano. The clutch was slipping so I was losing drive and although I was able to make some time going into the corners the acceleration was not strong enough and eventually I had to retire. I also didn't have enough grip from the front in either race which made for a tough weekend."

Norick Abe (Yamaha Motor France) "It certainly helped that I have been here before but the main difference between race one and race two was not even the start but the fact that we put more weight on the back of the bike to improve traction and a harder front tyre. The changes almost allowed us to take a podium, but in the last five laps the performance of my front tyre went down, and I could not push it any harder. I still had a lot of spinning from the rear but we made the bike much better in race two."

Sebastien Gimbert (Yamaha Motor France)
"In race two my brakes were not working properly and I discovered that it was the adjuster on the left handlebar which was reducing our braking power. I stopped, adjusted it back then jammed the adjuster by hitting it, so that the brake would work. After that I was a second a lap faster."

Massimo Meregalli (Team Coordinator - Yamaha Motor Italia) "You have to ask Noriyuki about this race because I have no idea how he did it! Maybe the temperature change had something to do with it because he had the same set up on the machine from race one to race two. Obviously this is a huge morale boost for the whole team and we will go back to Italy tonight very happy and motivated for the next race."

Martial Garcia (Team Manager - Yamaha Motor France) "The secret with our bike is to manage the lap times of the bike even when the tyre is not brand new. Abe did this better in the second race and we almost got a podium. This shows our level of potential performance."

What looked like being the Yamaha Motor Germany world supersport team's best weekend of the season quickly turned to disaster as both Kevin Curtain and Broc Parkes failed to finish today's seventh round at Brno.

Curtain led the early laps and was shaping up for a head-to-head dual for the victory with championship leader Sebastien Charpentier (Honda) when he crashed out uninjured on lap 15 of 18, a bitterly disappointing end to a weekend where he looked likely to overhaul the absent Katsuaki Fujiwara for second in the championship.

Curtain's retirement came just three laps after the end of Parkes' race. The 23-year-old had been closing in on Michel Fabrizio (Honda) for the final podium position when he was forced to retire after his rear shock absorber started leaking oil on lap 12.

The race was won by Charpentier with Fabrizio second and Gianluca Nannelli (Ducati) third. Charpentier's championship lead extends to 59 points over Fujiwara, with Curtain 72 adrift in third and Parkes slipping back one place to sixth in the championship.

Kevin Curtain
"I felt that I was faster than Charpentier through all of the fast corners at the back of the circuit and although I'd lost the front end a few times in the laps before I went down, I had never had any problems at the corner where I crashed. The bike was absolutely perfect this weekend, we couldn't have made it better, but in the end I pushed the front tyre too hard and paid the penalty."

Broc Parkes
"I really believe that I could've won here this weekend. The race was going good, I was saving my tyres and catching the front guys when the oil from the shock started going on my back wheel. It's really disappointing but I can only look ahead to the next race with a positive attitude. The lowest I was all weekend was fourth in qualifying and in the race I was sure I'd at least make the podium, so other than the result it has been a good weekend for us."


Yamaha Motor Germany rider Kenan Sofuoglu made a heroic return from injury to finish second and keep his hopes of lifting the FIM Superstock 1000 Cup alive at Brno.

Still suffering the effects of the broken left hand he sustained a month ago, the 21-year-old Turk was not confident he could complete race distance, let alone finish on the podium.

Typically, the young superstock riders put on a great show for the Czech fans with Sofuoglu and fellow Yamaha riders Massimo Roccoli (Team Lorenzini by Leoni) and Belgian rider Didier van Keymeulen (Yamaha Motor Germany) pulling away from the pack at over a second a lap, leaving only Australian Craig Coxhell (Suzuki) able to maintain the pace of the R1s.

Pole sitter Van Keymeulen led for most of the race but the result was decided by a frantic last two laps what saw Coxhell intelligently pick his way through to take the win, with the unfortunate Belgian shuffled back to fourth.

With half of the ten rounds completed Roccoli leads the series with 90 points, ahead of Sofuoglu on 86 and Coxhell a further four behind in third. Van Keymeulen remains in contention for the title with 77 points.

Kenan Sofuoglu (Yamaha Motor Germany)
"Those last three laps were very hard work. I've not been able to train since my injury and it was not just my hand that hurt, my whole body was aching at the end. I did feel that I could pass Coxhell on the last lap, but I got involved in a fight with Roccoli and Didier which made the gap too big. But I am very happy to finish on the podium because I was not sure I could last the race distance. Now I am just four points behind Roccoli and I know that if I win the next race then I will move back into the championship lead."

Massimo Roccoli (Team Lorenzini by Leoni) "I knew that here would be difficult as Brno is a local race for Yamaha Germany. Again I slid around a lot under acceleration; this is the usual problem as I am too light for the power of the R1! I gave it my best and I wanted to win, or at least be in front of the other Yamahas, but I cannot complain because I am still leading the championship and will be ready to attack in Brands Hatch!"

Didier van Keymeulen (Yamaha Motor Germany) "Having been fastest all weekend I'm disappointed to finish fourth. The other guys seemed happy to follow me for most of the race and then make their move on the last lap. In the end I got tripped up by Kenan and Roccoli and that gave Coxhell some space. But I'm not disappointed like I was in Silverstone. There I had a gap between me and the leaders but here I have proved to myself I have the speed. I won't be changing my style or my tactics because I know that if I keep riding like this I can win races."