WSB : Haga gives Yamaha Motor Italia plenty to cheer in Monza
Round: 4 - Italy
Circuit: Monza
Date: 7 May 2006
Crowd: 90000
Temp: 22ºC
Weather: Sunny

Noriyuki Haga gave the Tifosi plenty to cheer about with a fine podium finish at Monza today. The ever-popular Yamaha Motor Italia star equaled his best ever result around the historic circuit with third place in race two to the delight of his locally based team and a large and passionate crowd.

Race one saw Haga involved in a three-way battle for second place with Troy Corser (Suzuki) and Alex Barros (Honda), which ultimately saw him finish fourth at the end of 18 grueling laps. For race two the Japanese star made some small changes to the suspension of his YZF-R1, allowing him to lead the way with Corser and Troy Bayliss (Ducati) until a lack of grip in the closing stages forced him to consolidate his podium finish.

Team-mate Andrew Pitt also gave two stirring performances despite failing to get off the line cleanly. The Australian found himself boxed in at Monza's notoriously slow first chicane, which meant that he was unable get away with the leading group. In both races Pitt was able to run similar lap times to the leaders, allowing him to work his way up to the second group. In both instances he was able to finish at the head of the pack, for fifth place in race one and sixth in race two.

Bayliss won both races to extend his lead in the championship to 36 points over Corser, who was third and second in today's races. Haga lies fifth in the championship but with a reduced gap to third. The Yamaha rider is just four points behind James Toseland (Honda) and two adrift of fourth placed Barros.

Yamaha Motor France's riders had mixed fortunes in Monza. World superbike rookie Shinichi Nakatomi continued to impress with a season best tenth in race one and 12th in race two. The Japanese rider came from 20th on the grid and was dicing with illustrious company throughout the races, one of whom was team-mate Sebastien Gimbert, who finished 12th in race one before retiring with clutch problems in the second.

But Norick Abe suffered a nightmare in Monza and received no reward for a gritty performance. After missing the Saturday practice sessions through injury, Abe must have wished he had stayed in his motorhome after becoming one of seven riders to go down in a first corner pile-up in race one. For race two he came from 27th on the grid to finish the race 16th, a fine performance for a rider suffering neck and wrist injuries but unfortunately not one which brought any championship points. Despite his failure to score, Abe remains in the championship's top ten, dropping just one place to ninth. Nakatomi moves up to 17th and Gimbert 22nd. The next race takes place at the Silverstone circuit in three weekend's time.

Noriyuki Haga (Yamaha Motor Italia)
"I'm very happy to finally get on the podium in Monza. We had two hard races and in the second I thought that I could stay with Bayliss and Corser but I had a small problem with rear grip. Our bike has worked very well this weekend and I am pleased for that I can make this good result at the home race of my team. I am now looking to get another good result in Silverstone as this is a track I like very much and where we had the first podium for the R1 last year."

Andrew Pitt (Yamaha Motor Italia)
"It was all about making a good start and unfortunately in both races I couldn't get cleanly through the first chicane. I thought that I rode well and my lap times were the same as the guys in the front group but they had already made a break and it was impossible to catch them. I'm disappointed as I expected more and thought we could be on the podium today but in both races I beat the guys I was racing with and that's about as much as I could do."

Shinichi Nakatomi (Yamaha Motor France)
"I was too far behind on the start but on the track I could catch people. After ten or 11 laps I was catching again but l missed a gear and lost about five positions. After that, I had to work very hard but we got some points in both races. It was a positive for us."

Sebastien Gimbert (Yamaha Motor France)
"It was a difficult weekend, for the team and for me. We had big problems with the clutch. In the first race it was not so bad but the second race was no good for me."

Norick Abe (Yamaha Motor France)
"We had very bad luck this weekend. My big crash on Friday was my mistake but also caused by the rainy conditions. So in first race I made a good start but somebody made a big mistake and many riders went out. That one was not my fault. In race two my right hand was in more pain than the first race and we didn't not have ideal settings because we had to miss practice sessions."

Massimo Meregalli (Team Coordinator - Yamaha Motor Italia) "On Friday we felt that a podium was possible and although it didn't go so well in final qualifying I was confident that both riders could challenge after a good performance in the warm-up this morning. I'm pleased for Noriyuki because on Thursday he said to me that he never finishes on the podium here. Andrew also rode well and has been strong all weekend, so we can go to Silverstone confident of challenging for the podium again."

Martial Garcia (Team Manager - Yamaha Motor France) "Nakatomi confirmed his good result of the first race in the second one, although this time there was no big crash like in race one, so more riders finished. Gimbert had a big problem with the clutch so he could not ride the bike. For Abe the situation was clear and he only rode for the team, only for us, so true thanks to him. He tried his heart out but missed a point by only one position in race two."

Italian youngster Massimo Roccoli had his best result as a world supersport rider, bringing his Yamaha YZF-R6 home fourth at Monza today.

The Yamaha Team Italia rider survived a last lap scare when he touched Kenan Sofuoglu (Honda) as he entered Parabolica corner for the final time. The pair, who had an intense battle in last year's superstock 1000 race at Monza, crossed the line side-by-side with the Yamaha man getting the verdict by just two-tenths of a second.

Roccoli had been running a quiet race just behind the leading group for much of the 16 laps, only to be caught as he succumbed to arm pump in the latter stages of the race. He was unable to fend off the challenge of championship leader Sebastien Charpentier (Honda), who was charging through the field after a ride-through penalty, but successfully defended his place from Sofuoglu and the intense race-long battle between Yamaha Motor Germany's Broc Parkes and Ducati rider Stuart Easton.

After qualifying down in 11th position Parkes had a difficult race. He found himself baulked at the first chicane and after picking off a few places he was unable to find a way past Easton and came home a disappointed seventh.

It was day that promised so much but delivered so little for Yamaha Motor Germany. Kevin Curtain led for much of the way, until a technical problem halted him with four laps remaining. The Australian had been involved in a thrilling battle with eventual winner Yoann Tiberio (Honda) when his engine expired at the end of the home straight. Despite failing to score Curtain retains his second place in the championship standings. Third place for Charpentier sees him extend his lead over Curtain to 31 points with second-placed Monza finisher Robbin Harms (Honda) a further eight points adrift in third. Parkes remains fifth in the championship with Roccoli sixth.

Roccoli's team-mate Gianluca Vizziello was another rider to leave Monza without any points. The Italian had been in sparkling form to qualify second but he spectacularly crashed out of sixth place after being baulked by another rider on lap three.

Massimo Roccoli (Yamaha Team Italia)
"I got a good start and felt that I could fight for the podium today, but in the end I had some problems with my arm. When Charpentier came past me I wanted to try and stay with him but he was just too fast and I had to concentrate on getting the best result possible. The pain in my arm made it hard for me when entering the corners but I was determined to get a good result and when Sofuoglu passed me I fought straight back. I'm happy to get a good result today and finishing so close to the podium has only made me more determined."

Broc Parkes (Yamaha Motor Germany)
"The main problem was qualifying back on the third row. I was able to make some good progress until I came across a Ducati that I had difficulty getting past. Sometimes I was able to get past on the brakes but I was never quite able to make enough of a break to stop him coming back at me down the straights."

Kevin Curtain (Yamaha Motor Germany)
"It's disappointing not to be able to take advantage of Charpentier's penalty and to take some points back but that's life and no one will go through a season without some bad luck, so hopefully this is ours for the season. There are still a lot of positives to take from this weekend and we just have to work hard and focus on Silverstone."

Gianluca Vizziello (Yamaha Team Italia)
"I'm not happy because I knew that I could fight for a good position and possibly the podium today. Someone cut across me going into Ascari so I had to brake hard and this made me crash out with Fujiwara."