Yamaha riders out to score big in Brno
After a successful two-day test at Vallelunga between 8th
and 9th July both Noriyuki Haga and Troy Corser (Yamaha Motor
Italia WSB Team) are fully prepared to meet the challenge
of a resurfaced Brno circuit on Sunday 20th July.
The 9th round of the 2008 season sees Haga arrive in fourth
place in the overall championship fight, only six points ahead
of his team-mate Corser. Now the most effective team-mates
in the field once again, Haga has won four races so far, while
Corser has been desperately unfortunate not have taken at
least one win among his six podiums.
Each rider has recorded successes at Brno, with Corser having
won three races there and Haga one. Each took a Brno victory
in 2005, Corser the first and Haga the second. The Yamaha
duo traded the fastest lap in the two Czech races last year.
The Automotodrom Brno itself, in the southern regions of
the Czech Republic, is nothing less than a modern classic
and features constant elevation changes along its 5.403km
length, the fastest chicanes in WSB, and a power-sapping 7.5%
gradient uphill straight towards the last chicane, which really
tests who has the strongest engine.
Haga has good and not so good memories of Brno, but being
68 points behind the series lead at present all he is thinking
about this weekend is how many points he will score. "For
Brno I have to work hard to keep the points scores high and
move up. We had a decent test at Vallelunga recently, and
got good results when running a full race set-up, so we are
happy with that, of course. Our goal this weekend is consistency
while staying fast. My physical situation is better but where
I broke my collarbone is kind of 'itchy', I think because
it is healing! For Brno practice has been good in the past
but some of the races have gone a strange way. But for sure
we cannot lose any more points. We need some more consistent
races now."
Corser knows Brno as intimately as any rider in the series,
and wants to get back to winning ways there. "Brno should
be good this year and last year wasn't too bad for us at some
stages. The bike is certainly better this year as well. It
will all come down to the tyres, how many laps we can get
out of them at full pace. We'll see how the track temperature
is because Brno's been resurfaced and it's usually a hot weekend
over there."
Shinichi Nakatomi (Yamaha Team YZF) will arrive in the Czech
republic in overall 19th place after a top ten finish in Misano,
David Checa (Yamaha GMT94) is now 23rd, tied on points with
his team-mate Sebastien Gimbert (Yamaha GMT94).
Technically speaking - Brno according to Massimo Meregalli
(Yamaha Motor Italia WSB Team Manager)
"After speaking to the guys in the team it seems obvious
that we were all pleased with the race pace shown by both
riders in last week's Vallelunga test. The outright best lap
times were not so good but they were not pushing 100%. It
is a test, after all, not a race. Everybody in the team thinks
they will be ready. The track surface at Brno has been changed
and although we have not seen it with our own eyes we know
that it will almost definitely be harder on tyres. Our Junior
Team went there with Claudio Corti and they confirmed that
the tyre life is not so good because of the new surface. Max
Biaggi's team went there to test and to do a race simulation
he had to use the hardest tyres. But we will see. We may have
the new Akrapovic exhausts for Brno that we found improvements
with at Vallelunga, but there has not been very much time
for Akrapovic to make the numbers so it's not confirmed at
this point. They are trying very hard as always. No matter
what, we are ready and we will be out to make up some ground
this weekend.
WSS
The wide corners and testing uphill straight of Brno should
prove a fertile venue for Yamaha World Supersport Team riders
Fabien Foret and Broc Parkes this weekend and after a successful
two day test last week each has a genuine chance of victory
once again.
The top two Yamaha riders have scored one race win apiece
on the new YZF-R6 so far in 2008, Parkes in round one at Losail
and Foret at the speed bowl of Monza in round five. As round
eight approaches, Yamaha's premier Supersport riders have
every reason to think they can add to their winning totals
at this recently resurfaced 5.403km circuit.
In the recent Vallelunga test, the team successfully found
not only a stronger base set-up for the cutting-edge R6 but
a wider spectrum of possible settings to match in with different
track conditions, offering a greater margin of safety at the
very limit.
In the most closely contested WSS series for some years,
Andrew Pitt leads on 113 points right now, with Foret and
Parkes in close company, on 97 and 87 points respectively.
Looking back on previous Brno form shows that each rider
has been classified on the podium once; Parkes in 2006, and
Foret last year.
Massimo Roccoli (Yamaha Team Italia Lorenzini by Leoni) made
progress in the championship standings with his seventh place
in the last round at Misano, the site of his only WSS win
so far, in 2006.
The Yamaha Spain World Supersport Team has David Salom placed
23rd at present as David De Gea continues to recover from
his complicated double leg break.
Foret "I think what we found at the test in Vallelunga
could be a good solution to use at Brno, particularly in hot
conditions. It could be hot there at this time of year, it
usually is, so it is good to get more information on something
that really works in testing, rather than during a busy race
weekend. Our aim is to take more points and get closer to
the lead rider. As always I will be trying to win the race."
Parkes, "Brno will be a little bit new because it has
a fresh track surface and it's said to offer up a bit more
grip. Our bike usually works well there so I'm looking forward
to it. We got a good chance to work with the bike on used
tyres at the test a week or so ago in Italy, and it went pretty
well. That test was to let us find a bit more 'give' on the
bike, to let us play around with lines a bit more during races.
That's what we worked on before this race. Basically, to allow
us more room for error. Brno is usually good for me and I'm
ready for it. In general, bigger tracks are good for us, so
you can use the horsepower at the top end on our Yamaha. Now,
we need to claim some points back."
Wilco Zeelenberg, the Yamaha World Supersport Team Manager,
sees the Brno round as a strong venue for the team's YZF-R6
machine. "We found out some very interesting things during
our tests and we made some progress with both Fabien's and
Broc's set-ups."
SUPERSTOCK
Michele Pirro (Yamaha Team Italia Lorenzini by Leoni) is
the best-placed official Yamaha Superstock 1000 rider at present,
overall fourth on 63 points, with the leader Xavier Simeon
on 84. Pirro has two podium finishes to his credit so far
in 2008, with only his Monza no-score holding back his championship
challenge at the half-way mark.
Claudio Corti (Yamaha Motor Italia Junior Team) is tenth
right now, while Sylvain Barrier (Yamaha YZF Junior Team)
has been struggling this year, down in 25th place.
Loris Baz (Yamaha YZF Junior Team) continues to lead the
600 Superstock division, by 12 points from the other big find
of the 2008 season, Patrick Vostarek.
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