Yamaha Preview

Two days of successful pre-round testing has the Yamaha Racing Team’s Superbike and Supersport riders well poised for success at the YMF Loan Australian Superbike Championship’s first Tasmanian event in a number of years.

The dual championship-leading team put its riders and bikes through their paces at Symmons Plains, making a number of large adjustments to cater for the bumpy, high-speed circuit.

Low circuit temperatures on the opening day gave a good indication of how the variance in weather conditions can affect the setup of the bikes, and the team quickly came to terms with the changes.

Both YZF-R1 and YZF-R6 machines set a cracking pace early, with riders consistently making improvements in their lap times as the sessions progressed.

Almost two months have passed since the previous round of the championship, and all four riders are extremely enthusiastic and fully-prepared to deliver strong results in front of what is expected to be the largest crowd of the year.

Yamaha Racing Team Superbike
The Yamaha Racing Team's Superbike duo Jamie and Dan Stauffer will look to build upon the knowledge they gained at the recent testing session and share podium placings at this weekend's round of the YMF Loan Australian Superbike Championship at Symmons Plains.

Placed first and third respectively in the national championship, the brothers are well positioned to attack and look certain to bring home another large points haul from the round five clash - the first event in two months.

Jamie has led proceedings in the premier class from the outset of the season, sitting atop the table round after round. A dilapidated, flu-ridden Stauffer still managed to take second place at the Queensland Raceway event, showcasing both his own skill and determination and the performance of his YZF-R1 Superbike.

He is determined to go out this weekend and make some ground back on the second-placed rider Russell Holland, who has crept up to threaten his championship lead.

“We’ve got a pretty good base setting going into the round, the testing days we had allowed us to make some major changes to the bike in terms of setup, the track is quite bumpy also which I don’t mind,” said Stauffer.

“I’d say we were up to speed, it’s hard to measure yourself on a track where no relative times have been done beforehand, it’s a new experience for everyone really and the racing should be fairly evenly matched.”

“We did a few race length tests with the Dunlop tyres and the team is happy with the results, they performed well from start to finish which is vital in the last few laps of a race.”

“Friday’s practice sessions will allow us to work even more on these changes and produce a bike quick in qualifying and equally competitive across the two races, it should be a great round.”

By his own admission, Dan Stauffer had struggled to adapt to his new Yamaha early on in the season, but has come on strong in the latter rounds.

Stauffer's performance is highlighted by his encouraging third place in the championship, an achievement built on fast, consistent finishes at consecutive race meetings.

"We learned quite a lot about Symmons Plains at last week's test sessions, it's a very fast flowing track in some areas but in saying that it has a number of big braking corners as well, it really will be a good test of skill and fitness as to who can lap consistently here in the races," said Stauffer.

"I'm extremely pleased to be up in third in the championship at this stage, and I'll be aiming for a podium this weekend in order to cement my position in the top 3."

"Being much further south than we ever usually race, the track temperature is much cooler which means you need to ask more of your tyres - the Dunlop packages we are using and tested last week are working incredibly well so I'm confident that we'll go the distance."

Yamaha Racing Team Supersport
Very rarely in motorsport could a team boast a win record as comprehensive as that of the Yamaha Racing Team's Supersport division.

As well as securing countless podiums, between the factory team's riders they have not lost a single race in the 2006 YMF Loan Australian Supersport Championship.

At this weekend's Symmons Plains round of the series, the team will look to continue the win streak and have kicked off proceedings in the best possible fashion after a very successful two-day testing session.

Jamie Stauffer's 68 point lead in the class is an amazing achievement, but the results of teammates Jason O'Halloran and Mark Aitchison have also been impressive.

O'Halloran shone at the Queensland Raceway round, taking pole and a race win aboard the YZF-R6, and is confident of recording similar results at the Tasmanian circuit.

“We went testing last Monday and were up to speed fairly quickly, a few changes had to be made to dial the bike in but we were consistently the fastest guys out there which is promising,” said O'Halloran.

“I’m carrying a lot of confidence over from Queensland after the pole and race win, it was unfortunate we couldn’t make it two from two (race wins) and that’s something I’ll be aiming for at Symmons Plains.”

“I’ve never raced here before and the series itself has not visited Tasmania for a very long time, it’s shaping up to be a very big round and is the talk of the town.”

Mark Aitchison will also look to improve on his fourth place championship position this weekend, and has shown on countless occasions why he is a contender for race wins.

He has led teammate Jamie Stauffer on a number of occasions throughout the year, and is confident of a strong Symmons Plains campaign.

“I started off fairly slowly at testing, just easing myself into it and getting a feel for the track – we found much more speed on day two after making some big changes to the bike,” said Aitchison.

“The setup required here is unlike any other track so there was no quick fix, it was a matter of responding to my own feedback and our data in order to create a fast bike.”

“The most difficult thing about this track is the hard braking sections, especially into the hairpin and off the back straight, you really need to have the bike stopping well in order to maintain good drive out of the corners.”

“I’ll be pushing extremely hard for a win this weekend, I’ve come so close on so many occasions so it must be my turn!”

Also looking to maintain his strong championship push this weekend will be Sydney Mesh and Steel entrant and Yamaha-mounted Shaun Geronimi.

Geronimi's consistent performances aboard his YZF-R6 since the start of the year have made him a frontrunner in the category, and he currently sits in second place.

---   DOWNLOAD THE TV COMMERCIAL (5mb Windows Movie)   ---

Click here to review all our coverage from round four in Queensland

Click here for event and ticketing information for Symmons Plains