Motourage

Tom Sykes

Tom Sykes and Joan Lascorz will be joined in the official Kawasaki Racing Team this weekend by Chris Vermeulen, as the regular KRT trio gets set to meet the challenge of Donington Park in England.

Sykes feels that Donington is an ideal circuit to make the next development steps at, as he and his former British Superbike team have an intimate knowledge of the circuit in a variety of weather and track conditions. That may well be an important part of race weekend, as this early in the English springtime weather conditions can be variable but almost certainly on the cool side compared to most other races through the season.

Chris Vermeulen undertook some track tests recently, in Spain on Monday and then yesterday at Cadwell Park in England, to determine whether or not he could ride at Donington. The intention now is that Chris will ride as much as he is able to this weekend, including race day if his knee injury allows. He will then take part in the full weekend of racing at the next round at Assen on April 17, and should be back to his competitive best at the Monza round, on 8 May.

In his debut WSBK season Joan Lascorz has had some highs and lows but his long recovery from injury to his arm continues and he expects to be even more competitive than he was at round one in Australia. He is a big fan of Donington, and like his fellow competitors he will find some changes to the circuit when he takes part in first practice on Friday. Increased runoff, a remodeled Foggy Esses and other detail changes will appear at a circuit that WSBK last visited in 2009.

The Kawasaki Racing Team effort in Europe is based at the premises of Paul Bird Motorsports (PBM) in Cumbria, England, meaning that most team members – including Sykes – arrive at Donington for the first of two home rounds in the 2011 season.

Tom Sykes: “I’m obviously looking forward to Donington, not just because it is my home round but it is a circuit I really enjoy. We still need to keep working on the development of the bike so going to Donington is probably a good thing. Both the team and myself know what we need to make the bike work well round this track, so that will help us in our development stage. I am more confident this year that we can put on a better show for the British fans. I am very lucky in that I have a good fan base and hopefully I can repay them with something good this weekend. Everybody on the grid is in the same boat and at this time of year it will be cold around Donington. The team and I also have good experience there in a variety of conditions so I am looking forward to it. It is a good track for us at this stage of the new Ninja ZX-10R’s race development.”

Chris Vermeulen: “I will ride to use this weekend but almost as a test at first. From my doctor’s point of view I am improving well, but I should just be increasing my riding step-by-step. I rode yesterday at Cadwell Park in England, did about 30 laps in total on the Ninja ZX-10R, and it felt really good. My speed was OK but I was not going to break any lap records. My knee started to swell up afterwards so we rested it up. We have decided to ride this weekend but to look at it as a test; not only for my knee but to get some information on the bike, to ride the new generation Pirellis and just get out there on track and see how it goes. If it goes well we will race, but at this stage races may be quite difficult.”

Joan Lascorz: “I like Donington and I have good memories of racing there last time when I finished second in the WSS race. It is quite a hard track in terms of the muscle power you have to use to move the bike around, particularly down Craner Curves, and there are also places where you have to use the brakes very hard from high speed. I have been working out a lot physically and my arm is improving every day. The bike is still quite new for me because it was only my third time on the new bike in Australia. So I am looking to Donington to improve settings and feelings on the bike. I have been working hard with my personal trainer and I’m more fit and strong than in Australia. I hope to make another step and be nearer the top riders for the second round. For sure Sykes will be a good reference on this track because is his home and he should go well.”

At the start of four days of testing for World Superbike’s factory Kawasaki Racing Team at Sepang in Malaysia, Chris Vermeulen had his first taste of the 2011 Ninja ZX-10R as he made his comeback ride after recuperating from knee surgery.

Unlike his teammates, Tom Sykes and Joan Lascorz, Vermeulen had never ridden the new bike before today and was instantly impressed with it, despite setting a limited number of laps. This was a first ride in Malaysia for Sykes and Lascorz, although Vermeulen has ridden at Sepang on many previous occasions.

Sykes and Lascorz used the first day to familiarize themselves with the wide and comparatively long circuit in the outskirts of Kuala Lumpur and find base settings to work with for the rest of the tests.

Chris Vermeulen said of his first day back in the saddle: “I eased into it today and only did a limited number of laps, over three separate runs. I stopped before lunch today and then the rains came later in the afternoon, but we will go out again tomorrow. The new bike feels really good. The last bike I rode around Sepang was a GP machine, so to be impressed with this motorbike already shows it is a very good start. All the guys have done a great job in developing it. I was happy to come away with that positive impression, even after a relatively short number of laps so far. Right now I cannot quite bend my knee enough when going round right hand corners, but my knee has improved a lot over the last couple of weeks. Everything in the recovery of my knee is going to plan, and in fact I am quite a bit ahead of what the doctors expected. My muscle growth is good, particularly considering I have only been walking for three weeks.”

Also joining the three works KRT riders in Sepang is the Pedercini Kawasaki Team, which will be using the opportunity to learn more from the factory team’s experience with the new Ninja ZX-10R (and seriously needs to update its website). The crews will continue on track tomorrow, take a break for a day on January 12 and then complete their final tests on Thursday and Friday.

The Paul Bird Kawasaki Racing Team heads to Portimao in Portugal for round two of the World Superbike Championship determined to post strong results after experiencing mixed fortunes in the opening round in Australia.

Tom Sykes hopes a new bike setup will help him at Portimao

Tom Sykes scored points last time out but Chris Vermeulen fell at high speed in race two, injuring his right knee, and now approaches this weekend with characteristic determination to be fit to race on Sunday.

Until misfortune struck, both Vermeulen and Sykes looked to be heading towards good results in each Australian race, a factor that gives the whole team confidence that Portimao will be a good weekend and more of a reward for everyone’s hard work in the winter.

Part of those winter preparations was an official test at Portimao in January, although poor weather was a frequent visitor at that time. Those January track sessions were particularly valuable for Chris, who had not ridden at Portimao prior to then.

Weather conditions are expected to be largely dry for all concerned on race weekend on the Algarve coast, which would allow Tom and Chris consistent track conditions to find an optimal raceday set-up.

Tom Sykes:
“I’m really looking forward to the race in Portugal. We’ve learned a lot with the bike since Phillip Island and to be honest I’m really happy with the team set-up and how we are working together. I’m feeling positive about the bike as we have a completely different machine set-up and made valuable progress since we last tested in Portimao in January, which adds to my confidence for a decent result here. I have high expectations for myself and the team and I hope we can deliver a good result.”

Chris Vermeulen:
“The doctors at the Clinica Mobile have already said it is OK for me to race. On Sunday it is going to be four weeks since the accident and really I need two months for everything to heal properly. I sat on the bike today for the first time and it is a little difficult to get my knee into position, but we can lower the footpeg and raise the seat, do whatever we can to help that. The Clinica Mobile will tape up my knee and give me some injections for the pain. I am going out for practice on Friday morning to see what I can do. I am sure it is going to be possible to ride.”

Spies takes another race victory in drama-filled Magny Cours

It was yet another tough race weekend for Yamaha World Superbike rider Ben Spies at Magny Cours. The penultimate round of the 2009 championship saw Spies take one race victory, and then hang on desperately for points with a front tire that struggled to perform in race two.

The American rider took the lead from the start of the first race, hotly pursued by championship rival Noriyuki Haga. Spies held onto the lead until the last lap, where Haga managed to pass. His lead was short lived however as Spies retook the front position a few seconds later to cross the line and claim his 13th win of the season. Race two saw him off the line into third chasing Biaggi and Haga into the first corner. It soon became apparent that Spies was finding it hard to lay down power in the corners, as his front tire hampered his attack. Rea made a pass at the end of the first lap dropping Ben to fourth, a position he managed to hold until the line, despite dropping nearly a second a lap from the front group over the last few laps of the race.

Tom Sykes endured a disastrous race day; the second lap of the first race saw the rider over brake slightly, causing a huge crash sending his bike catapulting down the track, narrowly missing him. Sykes was uninjured barring a small break to his right little finger, so rejoined for race two. Unfortunately on the second lap of the second race, a yellow flag caused rider Carlos Checa a moment of indecision, resulting in him running too hot into Sykes at the hairpin and taking him out. Fortunately he has just a bruised shoulder but will be fit for the Portimao races.

Spies now heads into the final two races at the Portimao circuit with 426 points, trailing championship leader Haga on 436 by ten points. A double win in Portugal will secure the title for the all-time greatest rookie in the series. Teammate Tom Sykes remains in eighth position heading to the last round, on 176 points and trailing seventh placed rider Checa by 24 points.

Ben Spies, Yamaha World Superbike Team, (1st, 4th)
“The whole first race had some good parts and bad ones. We made some small mistakes, costing us a tenth here and a tenth there letting the riders come back and not really taking advantage of the lead. I made a mistake on the last lap and let Nori through, so I had to get on the outside and get back past. Honestly I’m just super disappointed with the second race. We made a rear tire choice which was neither better nor worse, but the front tyre we had on in the second race was hard to go at a pace with. I was consistently half a second off what we were doing in practice. I’m honestly surprised we didn’t finish in tenth with the way the bike felt. Even if we had won today we would still go to Portimao having to win both races so it doesn’t really change too much.”

Tom Sykes, Yamaha World Superbike Team, (DNF, DNF)
“Race one I made a bit of a mistake, I went for the brake lever and it was just a touch further out than I normally have it so my initial brake pressure was really strong and I knew that, but I had a split second and I lost the front and couldn’t save it. It was a massive crash and I was lucky to get away with it. For race two we changed the rear tire, which I wasn’t convinced was the right one but we went with anyway, unfortunately I was proved right and was struggling with it. Before I could do anything, going into the hairpin Carlos Checa made a big mistake and I got caught up in that and landed badly, pulling the muscles in my shoulder. Luckily nothing broken – so a weekend to forget, and I’m looking forward to something better in Portimao.”

Massimo Meregalli, Yamaha World Superbike Team Manager
“We won the first race, and we were thinking we would catch up some more points to Nori in the second. Something went wrong, unfortunately outside of our control, and there was nothing Ben could do to ride round it. We are going to Portimao with just one target, to win both races, which I think is possible. Tom had a really bad weekend with three crashes, I’m sorry for him as he was trying really hard to get results and unfortunately for him everything went wrong. We will see what happens in Portugal.”

Circuit Length: 4411
Temp: 19
Crowd: 81000
Weather: Cloudy
Lap Record: 1’40.601 (Lorenzo Lanzi, 01/01/2005)
Fastest Lap Ever: 1’37.709 (Ben Spies, 04/10/2009)
Last Year’s Winner: Troy Bayliss

Yamaha Race Report, Supersport – Magny Cours

Crutchlow takes a big step towards the championship title at Magny Cours

Yamaha World Supersport rider Cal Crutchlow stepped closer to taking the 2009 World Supersport championship title today, increasing his lead over rival Eugene Laverty in another Supersport race marred by incident. Crutchlow started well from his pole position on the grid, momentarily taking first going into the second lap before dropping to second again behind Lascorz with a comfortable pace below his proven race pace. Rival Laverty came past on the second lap before going wide a lap later allowing Crutchlow back through along with his team mate Foret. Laverty then came back through, but low sided on lap 12, rejoining in 15th position. Crutchlow then began to close in on Lascorz, and was gaining ground for a pass when the race was red flagged with another rider dropping oil, giving the win to Lascorz. Crutchlow’s team mate Fabien Foret had a frustrating race day. Having shown excellent race pace all weekend Foret started well in the race, moving up from his sixth position start he quickly moved through the field, capitalizing on a mistake from Laverty to reach as high as third before crashing out on lap five after losing the front end going into a tight right hander.

Crutchlow goes to Portimao for the final race on 230 points, leading rival Laverty by 19. Team mate Foret heads to the final round in sixth place on 115 points, just two points behind fifth placed rider Anthony West with 117.

Cal Crutchlow, Yamaha World Supersport Team (2nd)
“It was a good enough race in the end, I felt like I could have won it, and it was about time we had some more luck. Eugene crashed but he was no real problem during the race, the pace was really slow and I knew I could go to low 1:41s towards the end of the race if I needed to. We did what we needed to do, and we got a good second place which was nice. The team has worked really hard, so we’re all looking to keep it going for the next one at Portimao.”

Fabien Foret, Yamaha World Supersport Team, (DNF)
“I’m obviously very disappointed because I think I had a good pace to do a good race, unfortunately I had an issue going into the corner and unfortunately crashed out. I think I could definitely have got to a good podium finish so it’s a real shame. I’m going to look forward to the final round in Portimao and see if I can get up to fifth in the championship.”

Wilco Zeelenberg, Yamaha World Supersport Team Manager
“What a race, it was unbelievable. A really exciting one to watch, the guys were really riding for the championship the first few laps. Cal was very tight and relaxed, and we saw Eugene crashed after losing the front when pushing on. I think Cal was quite relieved after that as he immediately went half a second faster and continued to be consistent. Lascorz was very fast, and although Cal was catching him I was really happy when the red flag came out and the race was stopped, two or three guys crashed out which brought Eugene up to 12th from 15th. We have to stay very sharp, a 19-point lead is great but it’s not done yet. I feel really sorry for Fabien, he did a really good job in the first couple of laps, he’s definitely back in his old shape, unfortunately as he shifted to second going into the corner the gearbox jumped out of second and he lost the front. It wasn’t his fault so we have to see if he touched the lever or something. He deserved to get a better result today but I think he can be proud of what he did.”

Circuit Length: 4411
Crowd: 81000
Weather: Cloudy
Lap Record: 1’44.071 (Michel Fabrizio, 01/01/2005)
Fastest Lap Ever: 1’40.980 (Cal Crutchlow, 04/10/2009)
Last Year’s Winner: Andrew Pitt

Yamaha World Superbike rider Ben Spies was back on form today, working up speed through the Superpole sessions to end the final heat with an incredible lap, smashing last year’s record by nearly seven tenths and leaving the other qualifying riders nearly five tenths of a second behind. The ten poles by Spies mean he has now equaled Doug Polen’s 1991 record for the number of pole position starts in a season. Spies also enjoyed a productive earlier qualifying session, continuing to fine tune the set up for tomorrow’s two races, he ended in second behind Michel Fabrizio.

Tom Sykes had worked solidly through qualifying, hitting ninth position by midway. As the session drew to a close he ended with a provisional 13th on the grid in advance of qualifying. An unfortunate crash in free practice in the afternoon session deprived him of his number one bike, throwing the British rider off balance for the Superpole heats. Despite the setback Sykes still made it through to the second Superpole session and will start tomorrow’s two races from 14th position on the grid.

Ben Spies

Ben Spies, Yamaha World Superbike Team, (1st, 1’37.709)
“The Superpole lap was a great lap, we’ve spent the weekend and the qualifying sessions working more on race tyres and fuel loads and really looking to make sure the bike is ready come Sunday. Superpole was the first time we really got down to banging out a lap and it was a good one. It’s good to see Johnny is up there again, it’s pretty much the same four guys as last time so it should be a good race. I don’t think anybody is going to be getting away and I think it will be settled in the last few laps. I’m pretty confident with the bike so I’m happy going into Sunday.”

Tom Sykes

Tom Sykes, Yamaha World Superbike Team (14th, 1’39.361)
“It was a tough day today. We were making good progress in the qualifying session, and were finding improvements to the bike. Unfortunately in the free practice I had a very strange crash, I’m not sure why it happened at all. When we came out on the second bike the set up was completely different and so it was a struggle to get back on the pace. We don’t have an ideal start position from the grid but if we can get off the line well, we can get in there and fight for the front.”

Massimo Meregalli, Yamaha World Superbike Team Manager
“After yesterday we found some good improvements with the bike and Ben managed a really incredible lap, but most importantly we’ve found a really good set up for the race and our tyre choices are ready as well. Tomorrow will be a really tough race but we will be part of the front group and fighting for the win. Unfortunately Tom crashed during the free practice session and his second bike had a very different set up, so he didn’t have as much confidence as with the first bike. He did his best and did manage to achieve the second qualifying session. It will be a tough race for him tomorrow but we know he will give it 100%.”

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Yamaha Qualifying Report     02/10/2009

Yamaha riders Spies and Sykes settle in for the penultimate round at Magny Cours

Yamaha World Superbike rider Ben Spies enjoyed a good start to the French Superbike weekend, ending his first qualifying session less than two tenths of a second off fastest rider Michel Fabrizio. It was the American rider’s first experience of the Magny Cours circuit, however as normal it took very little time for him to get up to a decent race pace.

Team mate Tom Sykes finished the qualifying session in 15th position, just over a second off provisional pole. Sykes made improvements to his set up and speed over the session and with more to come tomorrow was confident of moving up the standings in advance of Sunday’s race.

Ben Spies, Yamaha World Superbike Team, (4th, 1’38.939)
“It was a good first session, I’ve worked out where the track is going and we’ve been making improvements to the settings over the day. I think we’ve found a good pace for race distance, but there are still a couple of things we can improve on for tomorrow. The track is still a bit slippery in parts, but I still think we can find some more speed for the next session and get up there. For the first day I’m happy.”

Tom Sykes, Yamaha World Superbike Team, (15th, 1’40.048)
“I think we made some improvements in qualifying today, obviously we need more but we’re heading in the right direction. I definitely think there’s a bit more to come from myself and from the bike as well. We’re struggling in a couple of corners, I think if we can sort that problem we will make a big difference. We’ve played with some tyres in that session as well so I think we know what race rubber we’re going to need for Sunday. Tomorrow morning we’ll continue to work on the settings, I certainly feel we can do more tomorrow.”

Massimo Meregalli, Yamaha World Superbike Team Manager
“It has been a good day for both riders today. Ben has never raced here so it’s good to see he is still picking up circuits very quickly. To end the day less than two tenths of the fastest rider is not bad. Tom was improving his pace well during the session and I think there is more to come for both riders tomorrow.”

Circuit Length: 4411
Lap Record: 1’40.601 (Lorenzo Lanzi, 01/01/2005)
Fastest Lap Ever: 1’38.444 (Noriyuki Haga, 05/10/2008
Last Year’s Winner: Troy Bayliss

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Imola, Bologna, Italy

Yamaha Race Report – Superbikes

Spies fights hard in Imola to keep championship title in sight

It was never going to be easy for Yamaha World Superbike rider Ben Spies at Imola. Race one saw Spies in fifth off the start line, chasing Haga, Fabrizio, Rea and Biaggi. As the second lap drew to a close Rea over shot the corner, narrowly missing Haga as he headed off into the gravel. As the Italian bikes continued to fight for the lead, Spies was left with a two second gap to close. He managed to close down to 1.4 seconds, but was unable to stay with the front runners, holding on to fourth for the checkered flag. Changes in the set up to the bike saw Spies hit race two with a faster pace and a consistent speed to challenge the leaders. Rea again ran wide on a couple of occasions, causing Spies to pull up for safety, however he was soon back on the pace. He caught and took Byrne on lap 10 for fifth and started closing down on Simoncelli and Biaggi. Unfortunately as he caught them on the last chicane before the start line, Simoncelli took Biaggi, forcing him wide and into the path of Spies, taking him off track. He rejoined but was again forced wide to avoid an early braking Byrne and had to settle for fifth at the flag.

Race one was a mixed one for Sykes, having had a good start he continued to struggle for grip, but still managed to fight through the pack from his 16th position grid start to take ninth at the checkered flag, holding off Australian riders Parkes and Corser for his top ten finish. Race two saw some changes to the bike which provided more grip and consistency however as a number of riders cut the chicane at the end of the lap, they pushed Sykes wide, losing him valuable time. By the end of the race he had made up four places to take 12th at the flag.

Spies now heads to Magny Cours next weekend again in second place chasing the championship lead, separated from Haga at the top by a mere three points, with four races and hundred possible points still on the table. Team mate Tom Sykes remains in eighth position with two rounds to go, sitting just behind Checa with a seven point difference.

Ben Spies now trails Ducati's Noriyuki Haga by three points heading into round 13

Ben Spies, Yamaha World Superbike Team (4th, 5th)
“In race one, we ruined our chances with the electronic side of the bike, we didn’t have enough power coming out of the bike and we struggled with grip a bit as well, it was a rough race. The second race we had the pace for sure to battle for the lead but a combination of things held us up. Rea got pretty greedy early in the race, passing me in the gravel trap three different times. I felt bad for him as I knew he had the pace to run up front but you’ve got to know when to calm down and when to take it easy for a couple of laps and let the race come in, you can’t push on every corner. I had a couple of laps where I wasn’t riding well at all then I got myself together and caught up to Simoncelli and Biaggi. They bumped and Biaggi ran off the track, when he came back on it was either hit him or go off into the gravel. I got back on and caught up to Byrne and then almost ran into the back of him and had to run off the track again. It was a messy race. There were a lot of mistakes, a couple from me and some from others. If you would have told me after the first race that we would only be losing the championship by three points I’d be happy because there were a lot of guys who could beat me this weekend.”

Tom Sykes is battling Carlos Checa for the seventh spot in the championship

Tom Sykes, Yamaha World Superbike Team, (9th, 12th)
“I had a good start in race one but still struggled for grip as we have been all weekend with the rear of the bike. We improved it a bit for warm up this morning but in the race I still struggled. We made a change for race two but I got a bad start. The bike felt faster and more consistent though but unfortunately I kept getting caught up by a few riders cutting the chicane and I ended up losing a second here and there. Towards the end I had one lap where I was having huge slides so I was looking back at the tyre to see if there was anything on it and lost maybe two and a half seconds.”

Massimo Meregalli, Yamaha World Superbike Team Manager
“it’s been a very tough day for the team. We definitely came here with a different goal, but racing doesn’t always go as you plan it. During the second race, despite a bad start Ben was really pushing, but unfortunately he was in the wrong place at the wrong time which cost him a podium finish. We didn’t give up when the championship gap was 88 points, for sure we will be trying just as hard now to take back the three we lost today. Our bike has always worked well at Magny Cours so we are going there confident that we can have success. After Tom’s big crash on Friday we lost a whole day so the bike set up was not perfect for today’s races. Starting from 16th, especially here where it’s not easy to pass, it was a good achievement to get into the top ten with a ninth place finish.”

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YAMAHA FREE PRACTICE REPORT

Challenging start to Imola for the Yamaha World Superbike Team riders.

The first day of free practice did not go according to plan at Imola today. The first scheduled Superbike free practice session lasted for just two laps, with less than perfect conditions resulting in a huge high side crash for rider Tom Sykes. Luckily he walked away uninjured. Touring Car racing the weekend previously had resulted in a dirty track with minimal grip and spilt oil in places. The track was re-cleaned and practice got underway after several hours delay. Spies was quick from the word go, dropping into second position two tenths behind leader Byrne as soon as he started. He went on to take the lead until the closing moments, dropping to third as the free practice session ended.

Team mate Tom Sykes was working hard lower down the board, starting in 21st, the British rider improved his times to take 18th spot at the end. Sykes was still suffering from his huge high side crash which brought the first session to a premature end.

As a result of the closures and delays there will be just one qualifying session for the Superbike riders this weekend on the Saturday.

Ben Spies

Ben Spies, Yamaha World Superbike Team (3rd, 1’50.213)
“we got straight down to it this afternoon when we could finally get on track. Since we lost a lot of time today we’ve been focusing on the race set-up. There’s a tyre that I think most people where on today which we haven’t tried yet so we’ll throw that in there tomorrow. We’ve got some time still to find, but we’re on it. The cleaning made a big difference to the track, and felt a lot better, although still slower than the test. I think it will get better tomorrow.”

Tom Sykes

Tom Sykes, Yamaha World Superbike Team (18th, 1’51.922)
“It was a very strange day today, the first time I can remember most of the day being cancelled that’s for sure. It was a big crash for me this morning, I thought I was feeling ok from it but in the afternoon session I felt a bit sick so the knock was a bit more than I first thought. I’m going to have a nice sleep tonight and I’ll come out tomorrow swinging. I’m a bit disappointed in my times as I was doing good 1.50s and 1.49s in the test and am a bit off that so far today. We’ve got different settings on the bike to try so we’ll go back to basics and see what we can do tomorrow.”

Massimo Meregalli, Yamaha World Superbike Team
“Today was definitely a strange day, we lost a complete session. Fortunately they found a way to clean the circuit so we had at least one practice today. In the end we are lucky to have already tested here so although we’ll miss the practice, we still have a good set up to work from. Tom had a big crash today but we’re happy that he’s fine and ok. We will have some work to do tomorrow, the bike needs some improvement as the temperature is very different from the test, so we are looking forward to getting started in the morning.”
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Yamaha World Superbike Team rider Ben Spies heads to Imola this weekend looking to build on his championship lead over rival Noriyuki Haga. In a dramatic clash two weeks ago at the Nurburgring in Germany Spies put on a breathtaking race performance after mixed qualifying results to finally take the championship lead he’d been chasing all year with a win and a second placed finish. Although the WSB championship hasn’t raced at Imola since 2006 it has proved to be good for Texans, being the scene of a double win for Colin Edwards in 2002 where he won back to back races against Troy Bayliss to claim the World Championship title.

Ben Spies

Teammate Tom Sykes is heading to the Italian circuit looking to convert his recent qualifying form into race success. Pre race sessions at the Nurburgring offered a glimpse of Sykes’s potential to run at the front with consistent fast race pace however the British rider was unable to convert it to a top race result after struggling with grip issues on race day.

Tom Sykes

Spies has an 18 point lead over Haga now with six races to go and a potential 150 more points up for grabs. Sykes currently sits in eighth position, trailing Carlos Checa in seventh by 12 points and 36 points behind rival Brit Leon Haslam in sixth.

Both riders benefit from having tested at Imola over the summer so will not have to use their first practice sessions to learn the circuit.

“I’m looking forward to riding on a track we’ve tested at again,” said Ben Spies. ” I feel we should have a good weekend coming up as we have a lot of data to go on, we got a lot accomplished at the test. We don’t have as big a lead as we would like but I’ve been in this situation before, it’s not so strange for me. As far as I’m concerned, we’re going to Imola to try and win two races. We know this is Ducati’s back yard and the past has been pretty good for them, so it will be tough. Having said that we have some good stuff worked out with the bike and the team has been continuing to develop so I’m confident we can pull in some good results.”

I’m really looking forward to Imola,” said Tom Sykes. “I had a two day test there and it was a decent one, we came away with a lot of positives. I’m hoping to go back there with what we’ve learnt and start with a good race setting. I’m really ready to get on the rostrum and taste the champagne, I certainly feel like I’m capable of doing it. That’s the plan so hopefully we can go there strong, not having to learn the circuit and get stuck straight in. I really enjoyed riding on the track, there are a few bumps that remind me of home and there’s certainly a lot of history there, it’s strange seeing houses as you come down the fast left on the track.”

Imola Technically speaking according to Tom Houseworth, Ben Spies Crew Chief
“We had a very productive test at Imola, a big factor being Ben knows the track now. This will allow us to work on setup straight away, on both bikes if necessary. Unlike Nurburgring we won’t lose any track learning time if it rains, last race weekend proved that puts us behind quickly. Both Ben’s bikes are a bit different so we’ll try each one and figure out which is more comfortable to go fast on. We’re hoping to be able to test some race rubber and dial in the ‘back in’ control in the second session. If all goes well and the weather holds Saturday should be fine tuning day. By this time we will have picked a bike and will concentrate on tuning the traction and wheelie control. Of course the goal is to make the bike as easy for Ben to ride fast as possible come Sunday. We’ll see how it goes!”

Imola technically speaking according to Sergio Verbena, Tom Sykes Crew Chief
“For Imola we can and will concentrate immediately on getting the best performance and finding the best balance between the tyres, chassis and suspension. We also have a lot of tyre data, even if the conditions turn out to be different compared to the summer tests. We had very hot temperatures in the summer, for the race we are hoping for lower temperatures! We’re going to start with the base setting from the test as Tom produced some really good lap times with it and build into that what we’ve learnt at Brno and the Nurburgring and go from there.”

Massimo Meregalli, Yamaha World uperbike Team Manager
“we are ready for Imola, we know how the bike works there. I think as we’ve done in the last races, we will be going into this weekend with confidence, I’m positive we can continue to achieve great results. We’ve worked and studied the data from the test so we can prepare the bikes for optimum performance, we will we see Friday at noon if that works well. We are positive that both riders can perform here so we’re looking forward to a successful weekend for the team.”

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