SETUP REPORT - 05/09/2007
Yamaha Raring to go after Summer Break
This weekend sees the return of the World Superbike Championship after the
traditional summer break and the Yamaha Motor Italia WSB Team are fired up and
raring to go. With Haga in second place and 66 points behind the current
championship leader, the team has worked hard during the weeks since the last
round at Brands Hatch to ensure that the fight for the title will go right to
the wire this weekend at the German circuit in Lausitz.
The Eurospeedway circuit is Germany's youngest track and was built in Lausitz
to help rejuvenate the old mining area following the closure of many coal pits.
Although the circuit was first conceived in the 1980s building work didn't
start until 1998. Development of the circuit was dogged by financial crises as
well as local petitions both for and against the track but it was finally
opened in August 2000 in front of an 110,000 strong crowd. The circuit is built
on 370 hectares, which is almost twice the size of Monaco and features seven
different track layouts.
Prior to the summer break, the Yamaha Motor Italia WSB Team claimed three
podium positions at Brands Hatch, with Haga taking a second position finish
while Corser took second and third. Yamaha also took their 150th WSB podium
with Corser's race one second place.
Corser's best result at Lausitz to date is third, which he has achieved twice,
but following a few weeks rest he is determined to improve on this result.
"It's been good to have a rest from racing for a few weeks as it's given me
time to get some training in. I now feel a lot more refreshed and am focused
and raring to go for the last three rounds," Corser says.
"Lausitz is quite a different track to many of those on the calendar and I like
it for that reason. It's a bit like an American track with the infield section
and grandstands around the outside. From a riding point of view it's quite
challenging for set-up and you also have quite an unusual turn at the end of
the straight where you join the infield section," Corser says of the track.
"This weekend I'm going all-out to win; I've gone well at Lausitz in the past
and Nori's previous results there show that the Yamaha also goes well so it
should be a good weekend."
Haga has an impressive previous form at the German circuit with a pair of
second places last year and a second and a third in 2005, as well as the
fastest lap of both races that year, which gave him his 25th fastest lap of his
WSB career. "Last year was a difficult race for me at Lausitz because I hurt my
wrist there in the last practice session on the Saturday. I'd been doing some
long runs and was on a final one when I almost high-sided twice which sprained
my wrist. I had to have pain killing injections for the race which, in my
opinion, hampered my results," Haga says looking back to last year's race.
"Even though I got two second places I feel I could've done better under other
circumstances. The bike was good then and it's even better now so this weekend
I'm determined for the race win."
Talking about his riding style, Haga says "During the summer rest period I've
given much thought to how I can improve my riding and I'm going to be trying a
slightly new riding style this weekend to see if it has any effect. Don't
worry; the usual Haga-style will still be there though!"
World Supersport
This weekend also sees the season resume for the Yamaha World Supersport Team
and Parkes is joined once again by Tommy Hill following his good performance
and fifth place finish at Brands last month. The star of the Brands weekend,
though, was Parkes who took his first victory of the season which puts him in
fifth championship place going into the 11th of 13 rounds.
The team actually returned from their summer break last week when they attended
a test at Magny-Cours. Despite wet weather hampering the test, the team gained
some good data and set-up options in addition to brushing away the cobwebs in
anticipation of the start of the final push to the season finale.
Parkes didn't race at Lausitz last year due injury sustained in a crash at
Assen but he took second in 2005, proving his capability on the R6 at this
circuit. This weekend he will be looking for a good result, not least because
the German round is the home round for the Yamaha World Supersport Team.
"Although I didn't race at Lausitz last year because of my Assen crash I've
normally had good results at this circuit, including when I rode in WSB here in
2001 and 2002. The track is good; it's very technical and demanding because the
corners are pretty tight and there aren't a lot of straights. It's also quite a
tough track for hard braking," Parkes says. "Brands was a real boost to my
confidence and, with good results also in the last three races, I'm looking to
get some more wins before the end of the season and I'll be working towards one
this weekend."
This weekend's race comes hot on the heels of Yamaha's announcement of their
WSS rider line up for 2008. Parkes will continue to ride the R6 for the Yamaha
World Supersport team and will be joined by Fabien Foret for next season. "I'm
really excited to be staying with the team for a fourth year," Parkes says.
"I'm getting back to peak fitness following my accident at Donington earlier
this season and I'm getting to the point where I wanted to be originally. I
really like the team and am positive I can do a good job for them next year.
Foret is a strong team mate to have and it'll be good to have two of us in the
team who can push the bike's development even further."
Tommy Hill is reunited with Parkes for this weekend; his second race partnering
the Australian in the Yamaha World Supersport Team. Hill's first appearance
with the team was last month at his home track in the UK where he brought the
bike home in a credible fifth position. Tommy has been drafted in from the
Yamaha Virgin Media Optima Loans British Superbike Team for this weekend's race
following a good test session with the team last week at Magny-Cours.
"I've never been to the Lausitz circuit before so it's not going to be easy
this weekend. I need to get to know the track before I can start to focus on my
times but I learnt the Magny-Cours circuit quite quickly last week and the team
say that circuit is harder than this one so I'm hopeful of being able to put in
some good times by the second practice session," Hill says. "I'm looking
forward to working with the team again - they are so professional and good to
work with. I'm also keen to get back on the R6 again. I want to be on the
podium this weekend and right now I don't see why I shouldn't be."
As a point of note Jason O'Halloran recently took the Australian Supersport
Title. 19-year old Jason was a guest rider for the Yamaha World Supersport Team
in Brno in July, where he finished a credible 12th.
FIM Superstock 1000 Cup
Brands Hatch provided a dramatic race for the Yamaha Superstock riders with
Corti taking third after a race-long battle for all three podium positions
while Van Keymeulen was forced to retire after running wide off the track.
Umbria Bike rider Matteo Baiocco maintained his championship lead despite
finishing fourth and Corti's team mate, Pirro, struggled with some arm pain,
eventually finishing in ninth.
This weekend Baiocco will be looking to increase his 12-point lead but he will
have to watch out for Corti and Van Keymeulen, who won at Lausitz in 2006 and
2005 respectively. Pirro is hoping to have resolved his arm-pump issues in
order to return to this season's previously good form. With only 51 points
between Pirro in seventh and lead-man Baiocco, he is certain to be keen to
finish on the podium in Germany.
Circuit Data
Track length: 4265m
Track opened: 2000
2006 WSB winners: Kagayama (Suzuki), Toseland (Honda)
2006 WSB fastest lap: 1'38.635 (Bayliss, Ducati)
WSB lap record: 1'37.623 (Bayliss, Ducati, 2006)
Circuit tel: +49 (0) 357 543 1110
Circuit website:
www.eurospeedway.de
have to wait until tuesday to see race 2
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