Challenging start to the season for Yamaha Sterilgarda at Phillip Island

It wasn’t an easy start for Cal Crutchlow and James Toseland today at the season opening race in Phillip Island Australia. Race one saw both riders crash out, Crutchlow losing the front having run wide on onto a dirty section of track on lap two and Toseland highsiding on the fifth lap.

Race two saw a fiercely contested battle for points with both riders fighting off riders including Biaggi, Corser and others to stay within the top ten. Combined with a less than perfect set up on both bikes and struggling for grip the riders put in an incredible ride to bring their bikes home in the points, Crutchlow in ninth and Toseland tenth.

Crutchlow moves on to round two in Portimao in 12th position in the championship on seven points, team-mate Toseland sits just behind in 13th with six points.

Cal Crutchlow, Yamaha Sterilgarda World Superbike Team (DNF, 9th)
“Race one was unfortunate, I felt we had good pace and were running up in the top five quite comfortably, I just made a little mistake. I was a bit better than Rea into the hairpin so had to run wide to avoid him and lost the front on the dirt. The second race was hard, I felt like I had no grip from the start and still some chattering. If we had better grip we could have pulled more out of it. We need to go back to the drawing board and work some stuff out.”

James Toseland, Yamaha Sterilgarda World Superbike Team (DNF, 10th)
“I really needed to finish the second race after the crash in the first. To only finish 14 seconds from the front with the issues we’ve had this weekend is not so bad. I was really disappointed with the first race, with my injury on Friday I wanted to have two good finishes today. Full credit to the team they’ve tried so hard but unfortunately we haven’t had the software here to solve the issue. We know what the problem is and I’ve given enough feedback and input to give the guys a direction to go in. We’ve got a lot of work to do, no doubt, but even with all the problems we’re not actually that far away. The package, the power, the balance and the suspension have come on leaps and bounds. On to Portimao now, it’s a long season so we can do it.”

Massimo Meregalli, Yamaha Sterilgarda World Superbike Team Manager
“It was definitely a really tough weekend for us. We solved some problems, and some we still have to work on. As we spent the two day test and the first day of the race weekend resolving the chatter issue, qualifying and race day was our first opportunity to really test the 2010 bike set up. We’ve seen that we have the potential to do well so we will go home and start working on the solutions to be ready to fight for the Portimao races. The team have worked really hard over the last few days to try and solve the issues and both Cal and James have given 100% to meet the challenges.”

Phillip Island Circuit, Victoria, Australia
Circuit Length: 4.445
Weather: Windy
Lap Record: 1′32.402 (Troy Bayliss, 01/01/2006)
Fastest Lap Ever: 1′31.069 (Ben Spies, 01/03/2009)
Last Year’s Winner: Ben Spies
2010 WSB Australia – Phillip Island 28/02/2010

Crutchlow and Toseland make progress at Phillip Island

Yamaha Sterilgarda World Superbike riders Cal Crutchlow and James Toseland made a purposeful start to the first race weekend of the season today at the Phillip Island circuit. The riders faced a day of serious heat with track temperatures hitting 45°C. Having now solved the chatter issues that dominated the test last week, both Crutchlow and Toseland spent both the practice and qualifying sessions exploring the limits of the 2010 bike. With significant power increases across the rev range through off-season engine development, this was the first real opportunity for the riders to experience the changes and work on the set up of their bikes in advance of race day.

The high track temperatures drastically reduced grip on the track surface, causing Toseland to lose the back end of his R1 in turn 11, becoming one of seven riders to fall in the session. He was unhurt and came back out on his second bike.

One of the developments of the bike for 2010 include a lighter carbon fuel tank, this was changed to the heavier 2009 tank for today’s sessions, seeming to help eliminate the chatter issue.

Cal Crutchlow, Yamaha Sterilgarda World Superbike Team (10th 1′33.038)
“I think we’ve worked hard and got rid of the chatter problem. The 2009 parts that we’ve used seem to have helped us in that way. The tank and the seat unit seemed to have stopped the chatter now. If you look at our times, although we’re not initially fastest straight away we’ve got consistency across the sessions. We’ve got some more areas to work on and I’m looking forward to making the bike even better tomorrow. We’ve got a good direction to work in, it was just a little unfortunate that the track temperature was so hot today. Even so we were still doing the same times as Ben’s race pace from last year. Hopefully it will cool off over the next couple of days and work better for us.”

James Toseland, Yamaha Sterilgarda World Superbike Team (13th 1′33.422)
“Unfortunately had a big crash today coming out of the penultimate corner which didn’t help things. I did go back out on the other bike but had a pain in my hand so came in as I wanted to make sure it was ok. We’re definitely making improvements, we’ve just had a lot to do in one day to work through the package. We’re only a bit over a second off pole now so we’ll focus down and keep moving forward tomorrow.”

Massimo Meregalli, Yamaha Sterilgarda World Superbike Team Manager
“Today we rode two practice sessions without chattering which is a very good improvement, so now the riders have to find the limits of the 2010 bike. Last weekend they couldn’t as the chatter held them back. Looking at this as the first day I think we’ve improved quite a lot. Unfortunately James crashed but he is fine, so we will see what they can both do tomorrow.”

Circuit Length: 4445
Weather: Hot
Lap Record: 1′32.402 (Troy Bayliss, 01/01/2006)
Fastest Lap Ever: 1′31.069 (Ben Spies, 01/03/2009)
Last Year’s Winner: Ben Spies

2010 WSB Australia – Phillip Island 26/02/2010
Qualifying 1

Sterilgarda Yamaha's World Superbike riders James Toseland & Cal Crutchlow

The Yamaha Sterilgarda World Superbike Team today unveiled their new livery for the 2010 racing season. The team launched the new design on location at the Sterilgarda headquarters in Castiglione delle Stiviere to an audience of international journalists and sponsors.

Riders James Toseland and Cal Crutchlow revealed their 2010 YZF-R1 racebikes then took time to answer questions about their upcoming season. Both two-time World Superbike champion Toseland and reigning World Supersport champion Crutchlow have the potential to fight for the championship title this year.

New racing developments to the 2010 bike based upon the production crossplane crankshaft R1 include:

• Increased engine power – Maximum engine power increased by 8hp, considerable power benefits over the full rev range.

• Weight reduction – Overall bike weight reduced by 3kg without losing the electric starter.

• Different radiator shape – For increased cooling capacity and also to reduce drag.

• Different fuel tank – Now made entirely from carbon fiber with greater capability and lighter.

• Re-designed bottom fairing – Narrower design for less drag, design allows for easier heat dispersal

• New exhaust system – For increased power in the middle of the rev range.

James Toseland, Yamaha Sterilgarda World Superbike Team
“The first race is coming up in two weeks and testing has been really promising after riding a GP bike for two years. After the test in Phillip island personally and machinery wise everything should be set to compete at the front from the first race.”

Cal Crutchlow, Yamaha Sterilgarda World Superbike Team
“I’m looking forward to the year ahead, it’s going to be a good challenge, but tough! Testing has gone well, hopefully we can turn that into good results from the first few races and build from there. I know we can do a good job.”

Laurens Klein Koerkamp, Yamaha Motor Europe Racing Manager
“After an incredibly successful season last year it’s back to business. We have two new riders and we’ve taken the bike to the next level over the winter, we want to keep the world title at Yamaha. The grid is looking really tough this year but we have two of the toughest guys at the front.”

Nando Sarzi, Sterilgarda Alimenti Spa CEO
“We were delighted to be able to join up with Yamaha in Monza in 2009, it was amazing to be able to share the year of successful racing together. We are very excited about 2010 and are looking forward to more success and our relationship continuing to develop.”

Sterilgarda joined up with Yamaha as a key Sponsor midway through the 2009 race season at the Monza round in Italy. The relationship has continued to grow successfully with Sterilgarda sharing in the championship success of 2009. For 2010 Yamaha and Sterilgarda have remained committed to strengthening their partnership further and continuing to work closely together, sharing a common passion for racing and the desire to be the best.

Sterilgarda Alimenti Spa is the second largest UHT dairy manufacturer in Italy, operating from their headquarters in Castiglione delle Stiviere (Mantova, Italy) with a turnover of 258 million € (2009), main products include UHT milk and cream, béchamel sauce, pudding, yogurt, mascarpone, fruit juices and soft drinks.

The all-British line up of Cal Crutchlow and James Toseland wrapped up a successful final day of testing in Valencia this afternoon. Both Crutchlow and Toseland had spent the two day test at the Ricardo Tormo circuit working through electronic and chassis settings on their R1 superbikes ahead of the 2010 season next year.

Day two saw big improvements from both riders as the times came down, covering some 60 laps each, despite neither of them getting the opportunity to take advantage of the faster tires towards the end of the day. They will now head home for Christmas before joining up with their new team again in Portugal in January for the first test of 2010 at the Portimao circuit in the Algarve.

Cal Crutchlow, Yamaha Sterilgarda World Superbike Team (1’34.1)
“Today was even better than the first day, we worked through a lot more settings in the sessions. I’m disappointed with my final time though as I think I could have been fastest at the end of the day but I didn’t get a chance to use the fastest tire. I’m happy enough with my overall pace and consistency. We’ve still more to do so I’m looking forward to getting back on the bike in January and keeping up the development.”

James Toseland, Yamaha Sterilgarda World Superbike Team (1’34.3)
“A really encouraging test for me, again I’m happy being on a track I know so I can concentrate on the bike set up. I feel we’ve come on quite a bit with the bike over the last two days. I didn’t utilize the quick tire to its full potential as I got held up which is a shame as I was quite confident of getting into the 33s. I ended up on 34.3, which was a good pace. I’m getting used to the way of riding the bike and getting confident with the team as well. I think if we had a race tomorrow we’d be in with a shout!”

Massimo Meregalli, Yamaha Sterilgarda World Superbike Team Manager
“For the second test for both riders and last test of the season I’m very satisfied. We’ve made some good improvements to the feel of the electronics and suspension, with some very useful feedback from the riders. We’ll take a break now and come back to it in January in Portimao and I think we will achieve even more.”

Sterilgarda Yamaha world Superbike riders Cal Crutchlow and James Toseland settled in for their second test with their new 2010 team today at the Ricardo Tormo circuit in Valencia. The British pairing spent the day working through various electronic settings on the bike, including the anti wheelie control and the traction control to find a smoother feeling on the throttle of the championship winning R1. Crutchlow also spent some time working with the team to perfect his positioning on the R1, a larger bike than his championship winning R6.

James Toseland, Sterilgarda Yamaha
World Superbike Team (1’34.8)
“It’s nice being on a track I know so I could really concentrate on the bike, unlike Portimao in the last test where I was learning the circuit as well. I think we’ve been really competitive today, the times I’ve been doing have been really comfortable, so a sign for me that the bike and team is working well. We’ve been mainly working on the electronic side of things today. It’s such a new bike, there were a lot of things the team wanted to try out during the 2009 season but didn’t have time to do, so the team are taking the opportunity to try some new things with a new rider to see if there’s an improvement.”

Cal Crutchlow, Sterilgarda Yamaha
World Superbike Team (1’35.0)
“We worked through some stuff today, mostly positioning on the bike, it felt a bit different from Portugal so it’s been harder to get comfy today. I didn’t use any good tires in today’s sessions so I think I got some decent times which I’m pleased with, the times were consistent 35’s over the day. We’ve got some more stuff to try tomorrow and we’ll keep working hard methodically through everything.”

Massimo Meregalli, Sterilgarda Yamaha
World Superbike Team Manager
“I think the first day of the test went well, we got some good information from both riders. On Cal’s side we tried to fit him better on the bike as he’s very small. So we’ve made some changes to suit him. We’ve also bought along some new parts which we will continue to test. James is getting more confident with the bike and performing well so we’re looking forward to continuing tomorrow.”

2010 Yamaha World Superbike riders James Toseland and Cal Crutchlow wasted no time today, getting straight down to business with their first ride on the championship winning R1. Both riders were working with their new teams for the first time, but gelled quickly and had got down to under the race pace of Sunday’s championship final before the end of the first sessions.

Today’s session was the first step in adapting the bikes to their new riders, both Toseland and Crutchlow will start again tomorrow morning to make further changes and close in on the perfect set up for their 2010 race season. Despite a high speed high side in the morning session, Cal Crutchlow showed no signs of slowing down and continued to make significant time improvements over the afternoon’s practice time. New team mate and fellow British rider James Toseland also showed solid improvement over the day, despite being new to the bike and track he quickly got down to business and continued to shave time off his laps over the course of the sessions.

Having achieved an incredible victory on Sunday and lifted the World Superbike title for the first time, the Yamaha team were straight to business today, working hard to develop championship winning riders for the next season.

Cal Crutchlow earned the SuperSport world championship for Yamaha and has been rewarded with a move to the premier liter bike class

Cal Crutchlow, Yamaha World Superbike Team (1′42.7)
“It was a good enough day apart from a stupid crash this morning after about 30 laps, there seemed to be something wrong with my rear tire which caused me to high side. I hit my head and have had a few headaches today but ok apart from that. The testing has gone well, we’ve done quite reasonable times, all credit to the guys who’ve worked really hard. We haven’t changed much on the bike today, just tried to make it my bike a bit, tomorrow we’ll do some more and see how we go.”

Former World Superbike champion James Toseland hopes to achieve equal success for Yamaha in 2010

James Toseland, Yamaha World Superbike Team (1′43.7)
“I’m feeling really positive, it’s obviously my first time on the bike, it felt a bit alien after two years on a GP bike but the balance of the bike felt good and I’m really impressed with how the team’s working, I’ve got an old friend of mine as a chief engineer. I’ve been really impressed to work with him today and Silvano Galbusera (Yamaha World Superbike Team Technical coordinator) looking over him with his experience has been great. What’s been nice is the changes we’ve been making have always been in a positive direction, so to say we’ve got down to more or less race pace on a brand new track and a brand new bike is good, I’m pretty pleased with it.”

Massimo Meregalli, Yamaha World Superbike Team
“Cal’s first day went pretty well, it was easier for him compared to James as he already knew the track, but it was still a really good first test session for him. For James everything was new today, the bike, the track, tires, many things! I think tomorrow he will make another step. For the first day we are very satisfied with both riders.”

History repeats for rocketman Lorenzo in Estoril; Rossi fourth

Jorge Lorenzo was untouchable once again in Portugal this afternoon and took a stunning fourth win of the season, 16 months on from his maiden MotoGP victory at this same track. His Fiat Yamaha team-mate Valentino Rossi had a disappointing day and came home a distant fourth, although the Fiat Yamaha Team secured the Teams’ Championship title, the first leg of the ‘triple crown’.

Jorge Lorenzo is closing the gap on his teammate, Rossi.

22-year-old Lorenzo had looked invincible all weekend and today was no different as he blasted off from pole for the 35th time in his career, reaching turn one in second place but regaining the lead a couple of corners later. Wearing special ‘astronaut’ leathers and helmet to commemorate the Moon Landing and match the one-off white ‘Fiat Punto Evo’ livery on his YZR-M1, the Mallorcan was unchallenged from then on and stretched his lead until the end, finishing a commanding 6.294 seconds clear of Casey Stoner to take his 26th career win.

Jorge celebrated the one year anniversary of his first MotoGP win with another vistory at Estoril

Rossi had struggled to match his team-mate’s pace all weekend and a problem with rear grip plagued him today and compounded his difficulties. He dropped to fourth on the first lap after starting from second and was unable to make any headway into the gap to Stoner and Pedrosa, eventually coming home some 13 seconds behind the Spaniard. It was the Italian’s 100th start for Yamaha, from which he has won an incredible 43 times.

Yamaha are now assured of one of their riders being crowned World Champion but with Rossi’s lead now cut to 18 points from Lorenzo in second, the tension is mounting as to which one it will be. MotoGP now has a week off before the ‘flyaway’ double-header in Australia and Malaysia.

Masahiko Nakajima – Fiat Yamaha Team Director
“Today we have achieved the first objective of our season – the Fiat Yamaha Team becoming 2009 Teams’ Champion. I would like to thank our riders, our team staff and YMC MotoGP Group Engineers for their invaluable support, which has allowed us to achieve this great result. My appreciation also goes to our sponsors and technical partners, because their contribution has been crucial for Yamaha and for our Factory Team. We look forward to working with all of them in the future and to being able to repay their support with many more victories”.

Lorenzo claimed victory at Estoril, but Casey Stoner proved he was back for real

Jorge Lorenzo – Position: 1st, Time: 45′35.522
“What a day! I’m so happy to win here again in the same track where I won my first MotoGP race last year. I worked so hard in the break on my fitness with my father and maybe that’s given me a little bit of extra speed, I certainly felt so strong this weekend and it is great to win like this after being top in every session as well. I got a good start and it took me just a couple of corners to get past Dani and take the lead, but I honestly didn’t expect to be unchallenged from then on or to finish with such a big gap. This is a good track for me but I am fast more or less everywhere now. The championship is closer now; it’s still not easy but we have nothing to lose! I’m proud that we have won the Team Title and I want to say thanks and congratulations to everyone. I liked my leathers and helmet a lot this weekend and I wanted to celebrate Neil Armstong and his landing on the moon so this is why I made this ‘moonwalk show’ after the race!”

Valentino Rossi – Position: 4th, Time: +23.428
“It was a very difficult race for me. I was never able to be fast because I did not have enough grip in the rear and our tyre did not work well, but I think it was more a problem of setting. After a few laps I was in great difficulties and I immediately understood that this was not going to be “our” race. Throughout the practice sessions I had some problems but I thought that today I would be able to at least stay with Stoner and Pedrosa, but they made another step forward for the race and then there was no chance for me. On Friday I was three tenths off the pace and unfortunately this stayed the same all weekend and in the race today. Here in Estoril we struggled last year as well, so it might be that, with our setting, the rear tyre gets very hot and this causes a lack of grip. It is a pity that I am off the podium, but we have three more races and they are three great tracks. We must think race by race and we must work to understand what the problem was today in order to make sure that we fix it in time for Phillip Island”.

Daniele Romagnoli – Fiat Yamaha Team Manager
“We were confident today that we had a strong chance for a good race, but we didn’t expect such domination. We were consistently fast through all the weekend but even so the team made another improvement after qualifying and Jorge rode the best he’s ever ridden. Now the championship is even more interesting and the last few races will bring great attention on us all, but we’re looking forward to the challenge! Finally I want to say well done to everyone in the team for winning the Team title again.”

Davide Brivio – Team Manager
“In reality, we weren’t really racing today. Valentino experienced some problems, which meant that he was never able to make the tyres work well and he was unable to be competitive. We will go into these problems in detail in our technical debrief later this afternoon. Valentino was bravo to finish the race in a very difficult situation, but he knew that taking points was key and we got 13 very important points here. As a consequence of the entire season, which has been dominated by the two Fiat Yamaha Team riders, we have won the Team title today, which is the first step on the road to our main goal”.

Edwards and Toseland claim double top ten in Estoril

Colin Edwards strengthened his bid for a top five MotoGP world championship finish after a strong ride to fifth place at a sun-drenched Estoril circuit today. And helping the Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Team claim another double top ten finish was James Toseland’s determined performance, the British rider shrugging off the affects of a head cold to finish in a thoroughly deserved ninth place. Edwards started and finished the 28-lap race in fifth, the American fighting hard to match the blistering pace set by Jorge Lorenzo, Casey Stoner, Dani Pedrosa and Valentino Rossi in front of him in the early stages. But his consistent pace saw him comfortably pull away from a chasing group that included Andrea Dovizioso, Nicky Hayden and Loris Capirossi. Edwards’ sixth top six finish of the season leaves the American trailing Dovizioso in the overall standings by just eight-points with three races remaining. And the 35-year-old easily maintained his position as leading non-factory rider. Toseland produced a rousing performance in front of 45,539 fans basking in glorious temperatures that hit 27 degrees, the 28-year-old ending ninth after he’d fought superbly in the opening half of the race to get involved in a battle involving Hayden and Capirossi for seventh. Today’s result saw Toseland move to within 12-points of a top seven championship finish.

Colin Edwards – Position: 5th, Time: +32.652
“Like I said yesterday, if you’re the next best rider behind the top four in the world then you’ve done a good job, and I rode the strongest race I could today. I got a good start but we’ve been fighting some front-end movement all weekend and I knew early on I wasn’t going to be able to go with Valentino (Rossi) in front of me. The tyres worked great but we were just missing something on the set-up that meant even though Valentino was struggling a little bit, I couldn’t really put any pressure on him. As much as I couldn’t comfortably stay with the four guys in front, it was pretty easy for me to run a pace that meant I could pull away from the group behind me. Once I’d got a comfortable gap it was just a case of staying consistent to make sure I didn’t give anybody a chance of catching me. I got a few more points back on Dovizioso for fifth in the championship and that is a good reward for the all effort my guys at Monster Yamaha Tech 3 have put in.We’ve got three races to go and I’ll be giving it my all as alw ays because I really want that fifth spot in the championship.”

James Toseland – Position: 9th, Time: +44.093
“I really enjoyed that race and it was good to be in an exciting battle with the second group. I was running pretty much the same lap times as Dovizioso and (Toni) Elias for most of the race and there was a great battle between myself, Hayden and Capirossi. I was having the most fun in that race that I’ve had for a while. The difficulty for me was that I’ve been struggling with a cold all weekend and it is very difficult to take any kind of medication when you’ve got to race. Over the whole race distance I didn’t realise how much the cold had taken out of me but it wasn’t a big problem. The Monster Yamaha Tech 3 team have worked incredibly hard all weekend to give me a really good package to ride today. I’m still only twelve points off seventh in the championship and that is my target now for the remaining three races. I really want that seventh place in the championship and am looking forward to giving the team a good finish to the year.”

Herve Poncharal – Tech 3 Team Manager
“I’m really happy with the effort of the whole Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Team this weekend and a double ten is a good reward for all of us. Colin had a brilliant weekend and though I don’t like to say it, we were the best of the rest again. The top four are pretty much untouchable but to be the first of the rest is a great achievement for us. Colin could open a gap on the group behind him quite comfortably and he made no mistakes, which is always crucial. I’d also like to thank. James again for another determined race and again he proved he is a quality MotoGP rider. His lap times were really close to the top six again and today’s result helps us go on the long trip to Australia and Malaysia in a really positive frame of mind. Finally congratulations to Jorge Lorenzo and Yamaha today. Jorge was incredible and Yamaha has won the Constructor Championship again which is a fantastic achievement.”

Circuit Length: 4182
Temp: 27
Weather: Dry
Lap Record: 1′39.189 (Valentino Rossi, 01/01/2003)
Fastest Lap Ever: 1′35.715 (Jorge Lorenzo, 13/04/2008)
Last Years Winner: Jorge Lorenzo
2009 MotoGP Portugal – Estoril 04/10/2009

Lorenzo takes fifth pole of season, and Rossi makes it a one-two for Fiat Yamaha

Jorge Lorenzo took his first pole position since Laguna Seca back in June at Estoril this afternoon, the Mallorcan sealing his fifth pole of the season with a strong performance ahead of tomorrow’s Portuguese Grand Prix. His Fiat Yamaha team-mate Valentino Rossi meanwhile took his eleventh front row of the season and will start tomorrow’s race from second, with Casey Stoner taking the final front-row slot.

Having topped both practice sessions this weekend, Lorenzo was the clear favourite for pole this afternoon and the 22-year-old looked smooth and comfortable out on track as he made a few last-minute setting changes before the fight for grid spots. With twenty minutes remaining he took the lead and didn’t surrender it for the rest of the session, improving his time several times and never looking in much danger from his rivals.

Rossi had a few problems yesterday but was in better shape today, having improved the balance of his M1 in the hard braking zones. His penultimate lap was good enough to put him second although he was unable to quite match his team-mate’s pace on the softer Bridgestone tyre today. The championship leader is planning a few overnight improvements in order to ensure he is at the maximum for the race.

Tomorrow’s 28-lap race gets underway at the slightly earlier time than usual of 1300 local time, which is 1400 CET.

Jorge Lorenzo's last pole was at Laguna Seca in June

Jorge Lorenzo – Position: 1st, Time: 1′36.214, Laps: 29
“It’s been quite a few races since I’ve had a pole! I was getting a bit worried because doing one fast lap has always been one of my strong points but lately we haven’t been able to be quite competitive enough with the soft tyre. This weekend however everything is working really well and the setting with both tyres is great, so I was able to go out and do some very fast laps. Tomorrow is another day and we know that everyone will be strong, so we will just try and push to the limit and see what happens.”

Valentino Rossi leads his teammate, Lorenzo, by 30 points going into this weekend's race

Valentino Rossi – Position: 2nd, Time: 1′36.474, Laps: 28
“We improved the setting a lot this afternoon from yesterday and managed to fix a lot of the problems we had in the braking, so today was not so bad. We still need more traction on the exits from the slow corners however and we are also losing some time in the tight hairpin. We are not so far but we need to study the data and find a way to improve things a bit more for the race. It will be quite a strong fight tomorrow I think and 28 laps in this heat is going to be hard, but we will be ready.”

Read more…

Yamaha Free Practice Report – Estoril              02/10/2009

Lorenzo and Rossi first and third as MotoGP resumes in Estoril

After a month-long break, MotoGP was finally back in action today at Estoril in Portugal for the 14th round of the season. Carrying a special one-off ‘Fiat Punto Evo livery for this race, the Fiat Yamaha pair of Jorge Lorenzo and Valentino Rossi made a strong start to the weekend, finishing Free Practice in first and third respectively.

Temperatures were comfortably in the mid-twenties and both riders were happy to be back on board, using the time to reacquaint themselves with their YZR-M1s after the holidays and work on tyre selection and set-up. Dani Pedrosa was on top for much of the first half of the session but with 20 minutes to go Lorenzo moved into the lead and he finished the session well inside the lap record and an impressive 0.359 seconds ahead of Pedrosa. Rossi was less than a tenth off Pedrosa in third and is confident that a little more time to work on set-up tomorrow will enable him improve the balance of his bike in the hard braking areas and close the disadvantage to his young team-mate.

Jorge Lorenzo – Position: 1^st, Time: 1′37.185, Laps: 27
“It’s good to be back on the bike after one month but also quite hard! I enjoyed today though and we did a good job and made an encouraging start. After a bit of work we were able to do a very good time and I am happy to be in front, it’s important at this stage of the championship to make a strong start this weekend. We have one or two things to improve but we are in good shape. I am happy to see Casey back and also to see that he is already strong. Finally I want to mention the special sticker I have on my bike this weekend for Lukas Sembera, a young Czech rider who had a bad accident two weeks ago – I wish him all the best in his recovery.”

Valentino Rossi – Position: 3^rd, Time: 1′37.606, Laps: 26
“This is quite a difficult track to come back to after a long break because the braking is very hard and it’s quite stressful on the arms, but I think it will be better tomorrow. We have a slight problem in the balance of the bike in these hard braking areas which we need to work on tomorrow to find a way to improve; we’re already quite fast but we need to close the gap a bit more so we will make the most of our time tomorrow so that we’re in good shape for qualifying.”

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The Yamaha World Superbike Team are proud to announce an all-British rider team for the 2010 season, with double World Superbike Champion James Toseland making a welcome return to the paddock. The popular 28-year-old recognized world wide as the UK’s number 1 rider has taken the opportunity to stay in the Yamaha family replacing Spies and moving across from the Yamaha Tech 3 MotoGP satellite team. Toseland enjoyed a strong rookie season in MotoGP in 2008 and has been a regular protagonist in the mid pack battles over the two years. His focus and commitment combined with his previous experience and success should prove a winning combination with the Yamaha team.

Partnering Toseland, current Yamaha World Supersport rider Cal Crutchlow moves up to the 1000cc class next year. 24yr old Crutchlow has been enjoying an incredible rookie year in the World Supersport Championship and with two rounds remaining, championship leader Crutchlow can already claim nine pole position starts, five race wins and numerous lap records on unknown circuits in his debut appearance on the world stage. His move from the World Supersport team to World Superbike is a natural progression and reflects Yamaha’s nurturing of young riders, allowing them to grow within the Yamaha Racing family. Crutchlow has already proved talented on a Superbike, ending the 2008 British Superbike season third in the standings alongside two wildcard appearances in World Superbike in 2008 which saw him score an impressive 2nd place finish on the podium at Donington and a ninth place at Portimao for the season finale.

James Toseland will swap his Tech 3 MotoGP leathers for Sterilgarda World Superbike gear

James Toseland
“I’m looking forward to return to World Superbikes,” said James Toseland. “I want to show I’m still the rider that can win world titles. Of course there is some disappointment at losing my opportunity in MotoGP as I believe the challenge was still achievable, but the R1 has proven to be beyond the strongest bikes in Superbike and I know many of the Yamaha World Superbike Team guys, so I’m going to pick up where I left off and give 100% to achieving good results with the team. Within Superbike there were a few options available to me, however the way Yamaha have treated me since I joined them has been outstanding. They gave me a great opportunity in MotoGP, but now I do wish Ben all the best in his campaign and my aim is to continue Yamaha’s success in World Superbike.”

Cal Crutchlow will make the move to the Superbike class next year. He currently leads the Supersport class by two points

Cal Crutchlow
“I’m happy to stay to be staying with Yamaha,” said Cal Crutchlow. “This will be my second year of my two year contract as agreed when I started in Supersport this year. Moving up to World Superbike will be a great challenge, I’m looking forward to it and am under no illusion as to how hard it is but I intend to do a good job. I’m also looking forward to riding with another Brit. Ben is obviously doing really well this year and I wish him luck for the last two WSB rounds and next year in MotoGP. It’s great to be working with Yamaha again in 2010.”

“We are very excited about our 2010 rider line up,” said Laurens Klein Koerkamp, Racing Manager, Yamaha Motor Europe. “The experience of James combined with the fresh talent of Cal should make it a very competitive and successful combination to challenge for the title again in 2010. I have no doubt that James will be as strong in World Superbike as before, or even stronger with the added experience he picked up in MotoGP and we’re all very happy he stays with Yamaha. For Cal it’s a natural progression for both us and him to move up to the Yamaha World Superbike Team. As a successful R6 Cup rider in the past and having proven his talent yet again in World Supersport this year we want to continue developing his career within Yamaha.”

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