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2006 Australian Superbike
Championship (YMF Loan) - Round Four - Queensland Raceway July 9th, 2006 |
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2006 Australian Superbike
Championship (YMF Loan) - Round Four - Queensland Raceway July 9th, 2006 |
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Team Report - Shaun Geronimi (Sydney Mess Yamaha)
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| Team Sydney Mesh Yamaha
Racing’s Shaun Geronimi has consolidated second overall in
the YMF Loan Australian Supersport Championship after
another fast and consistent performance at a sunny
Queensland Raceway during round four last weekend July 7 -
9. Shaun recorded two scintillating fourth place finishes in the Supersport legs also cementing his position as the number one Supersport privateer in the championship, increasing his lead over Sydney Mesh & Steel Team mate Jeremy Crowe to 37 points. Fast as soon as they arrived in Queensland the team immediately found a solution for the notoriously bumpy Queensland track - commonly known as the paperclip due to its appearance from the air – giving Shaun the confidence to dice with the Yamaha Factory Team riders in some of the best races this season. One again the meeting was dominated by Yamaha’s YZF – R6 with Shaun third for the weekend behind Yamaha Racing Team’s Jamie Stauffer & Mark Aitchison (Yamaha Racing Team – YZF R6). Needing minimal adjustments Shaun was up with the front runners in practice and feeling confident with the team’s setup posted fast laps equal with the leaders during the first qualifying before finishing fifth, 0.28 of a second from provisional pole position. Shaun continued to post lap times comparable to the leading factory riders during second qualifying and remained fifth on the grid, 0.5 of a second from pole despite not being able to better his time from first qualifying on the warmer track. An outside position on the second row of the grid was a great result for the team and left Shaun confident for Sunday’s two 16-lap races. “I only did four fast laps in the first qualifying session and I could have gone faster – but the track was a lot hotter in the afternoon and we didn’t go any quicker” “Were organized for tomorrow, Radar has made a few changes with the suspension, he’s really got it sorted, I can only really feel two bumps on the whole track” For the Fourth round in a row Yamaha’s new YZF-R6 filled five positions on the first two rows of the Supersport grid, led by Yamaha Racing Team’s Jason O’Halloran who scored his first pole position. Once again careful use of the allocated Dunlop tyres during practice and qualifying left Shaun confident of performing well late in each of the races on the demanding Queensland Raceway. “We’ve done a test here and I’m confident the tyres will go the full distance - I can’t wait” said Shaun prior to the start of race one. Once again the first race of the day was red flagged, this time after less than one lap resulting in a full restart. Prior to the red flag, Shaun had been sitting in third place but was pushed off the track in the red flag causing incident. “Sometimes red flags are a bad thing but this one worked in my favour”. Shaun got another blinding start and slotted into third position, the race was a 16 lap battle against the best Supersport riders in the country with Shaun eventually finishing fourth, four seconds behind series leader and race winner Jamie Stauffer. “I was stuck behind Adam “Krusty” Ferguson, I got past him and then made a little mistake, both he Bryan Staring came past and by the time I got back past Bryan, Krusty had gone”. After making another blinding start in the second race Shaun was involved in the race of the season with Yamaha Racing Teams Jamie Stauffer, Mark Atchison and Jason O’Halloran. The Sydney Mesh R6 not giving away any speed on the long straights allowed Shaun to out brake the professional factory machines and lead the race on several occasions. Fourth place, 0.5 of a second behind race winner O’Halloran and the fastest lap of the race on the 14th of 16 tours was testament to Shaun along with the suspension and engine work of the team. “I should have tried to go ahead of Mark (Aitchison) earlier but both Jamie and Jason came past then I just had to get past them all again” “It was a great race but I’ve really got to thank Radar and his Dyno and Shock Services, he’s the man on suspension by far and the Dunlop tyres were just brilliant” Shaun has now increased the gap back to third placed Glenn Allerton in the 2006 YMF Loan Australian Supersport Championship to 8 points, and leads the Privateers’ Championship heading into the next round. Shaun would like to thank all his sponsors that have made this weekend possible; Yamaha, Dunlop, Sydney Mesh and Steel, Radar’s shock service & Dyno, Penske, Sportsbike tyre warmers, Elaine’s world of lights, Procycles, Motul, RK Chains and Racers Edge. |
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2006 Australian Superbike Championship (YMF Loan) - Round Four - Queensland Raceway |
