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Sunday, 10 May 2009 00:00 |
To the delight of The Yamaha World Superbike Team's home crowd rider Ben Spies effortlessly rode his R1 to take an incredible fifth consecutive Superpole of the year, again breaking the lap record in the process. Having spent the two qualifying sessions fine tuning his set up for race day, Spies took it relatively easy for the first two Superpole heats, ensuring he made it through to the final eight without using a qualifier tyre. As the final heat started, out came the new Pirelli qualifier tyre with its distinctive yellow stripe, and the lap time tumbled as Spies displayed what is now becoming almost expected, a scorching Superpole lap and a new lap record.
Team-mate Tom Spies had a more frustrating Superpole experience, having started well on a qualifier in the first session he made it through safely to the second. The young British rider's flying lap saw him quick enough through the first two splits to go through to the final session, however he came up against another rider on a slow down lap halfway round the infamous Parabolica corner, losing nearly half a second in the process and sealing his fate outside the top ten for the final heat. Sykes will now start tomorrow's races from the third row of the grid.
Ben Spies, Yamaha World Superbike Team (1st, 1'44.073)
"It's been really good here at Monza this weekend. The approach has been a bit different, we've kind of tried to sneak up on everyone and been working really hard on the race setup through the sessions. We've been working quietly away in the garage and I think the bike is going to be really good in the race. I really wanted to get this one for Yamaha on their home track so it was great to be able to take the Superpole for the team. It looks like it could be a bit of a dogfight tomorrow, hopefully we'll have some guys up there to mix it up and shake up the points a little bit."
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Saturday, 09 May 2009 00:00 |
Following a very public display of solidarity by the World Superbike Championship riders on the start grid at Assen in support for the Abruzzo community a charity auction is planned to give further help. Yamaha World Superbike Team riders Ben Spies and Tom Sykes have joined others in donating personal items to help raise money for the cause.
As an Italian based team, it was only natural that Yamaha wanted to give something special. Following the first free session on Friday at the Monza circuit, Yamaha rider Ben Spies decided he wanted to make it personal so signed the HJC helmet he’d used for the session and handed it over for the auction. Team-mate Tom Sykes took time out after the session to sign some items of Yamaha Racing clothing to join the donations.
Both HJC and the Yamaha team were delighted to be able to offer something to help those affected by the tragic earthquake that hit the community of Abruzzo so tragically on April 6th. The items collected from the riders will be up for auction in the World Superbike paddock show at Monza following Superpole on the Saturday afternoon. Racing legend and 2008 World Superbike champion Troy Bayliss will be present to help auction the unique racing items and raise money for the worthy cause. |
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Saturday, 09 May 2009 00:00 |
Yamaha World Superbike rider Tom Sykes gave a tantalizing glimpse of his race pace today in the first qualifying session at the historic Monza circuit. The British rider put in strong consistent fats laps for the duration of the session, ending it in second place, just over 0.3 seconds behind leader Michele Fabrizio. Sykes had been fast all day and had spent the morning and the qualifying session fine tuning the set up for the weekend's racing. He finished the morning 's free practice session in third place, just behind his team-mate.
Ben Spies was in equally reliable form in the Italian sunshine, focusing on tyre wear and race pace he ran consistent laps all day, finishing the afternoon's qualifying session in seventh position, less than 0.3 of a second off Sykes. The American rider spent the entire qualifying session on a single set of tyres to test the wear rate on the warm circuit. The morning's free practice session saw Spies predictably fast on a circuit he's coming to know well through testing, he finished the session second, less than 0.3 seconds behind the leader.
Tom Sykes, Yamaha World Superbike Team (2nd, 1'45.758)
"A fairly decent day to day to be honest, we came here with a big change from the test we had here which has taken a fair bit of balancing but I think we've done it. Overall I'm very happy with my race tyres, we're doing consistent fast laps over race distance so I'm confident in the team's ability and tomorrow I think we'll come out even stronger. I'm going to have a good sleep tonight and come back tomorrow with a fresh head and be even better!"
Ben Spies, Yamaha World Superbike Team (7th, 1'46.013)
"It was a really good session for us. We pretty much found our race tyres , we only ran one set for the whole session and put in some really good lap times. We weren't really worried about fast lap times today, we just wanted to get consistent laps so we should be good for Sunday. It's an 18 lap race and our fastest lap today was the 22nd one so it's looking good. The bike's working really well so we'll step it up tomorrow and see what happens."
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Thursday, 07 May 2009 00:00 |
Italian food brand Sterilgarda has joined up to sponsor the Yamaha World Superbike team for selected races of the 2009 championship season. Starting with the upcoming Monza race, the Sterilgarda brand will feature on the bikes and leathers of both Ben Spies and Tom Sykes.
Sterilgarda is a food production company based in Italy, providing products for over 40 years and today producing over 1200 tons of foodstuffs daily. Core product lines include cheese, milk, yogurt and fruit juices.
Sterilgada are a familiar face in the WSB paddock, having been keen supporters and partners of racing teams and riders for some time. The 2009 Yamaha World Superbike Team has had a strong start to the 2009 season with a new bike and new riders, making it an attractive proposition for sponsors, the team have already won four out of the eight races run so far with rookie Ben Spies who is regularly fighting at the front of the pack for the race win and currently sits second in the championship.
Sterilgarda Sponsorship
Sterilgarda Sponsorship
“We are really happy to be able to link our brand with The Yamaha World Superbike Team,” said Nando Sarzi, the owner of Sterilgarda Alimenti. “We’re really excited to be able share the racing emotions and success with the team, starting with Monza this weekend, the home race for both the team and our company. Professionalism and quality are two common, shared elements that drive both Sterilgarda and Yamaha in the search for great success.”
“It’s fantastic to have Sterilgarda onboard,” said Laurens Klein Koerkamp, Manager, Yamaha Motor Europe Racing Division. “It’s very positive to have such a well known brand in the paddock recognize how successful the Yamaha World Superbike Team is and want to be part of it. We’re looking forward to working together and this being the start of a long term relationship.” |
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Monday, 04 May 2009 00:00 |
Yamaha rider James Stewart has won the 2009 AMA SX Championship (also an FIM world championship) thanks to third position taken at the seventeenth and last round of the series in front of almost 40,000 spectators at the Sam Boyd Stadium in Las Vegas. The 23 year old claimed his second SX title and the sixth of his career while successfully defending Yamaha's crown in the premier class.
The 19th Supercross event to take place in Las Vegas saw a tense final face-off between points-leader Stewart and defending number one Chad Reed; the pair had been trading places at the top of the standings throughout the campaign. Stewart carried a six point advantage and could afford to ride conservatively and within distance of Reed. He led for the opening laps of the Main Event but relinquished control to Ryan Villopoto and then withstood close pressure from Reed, no doubt hoping to force a mistake, before settling for third behind the Australian and confirming the championship by just four points.
"I might not have ridden the best tonight, but I did what I had to do, and I'm so happy," said Stewart who had previously won in both classes at Las Vegas and managed to stretch his career tally of wins to 36 through his efforts in 2009. "It's so emotional. There is so much hard work that went into this, and honestly I'm exhausted right now because it's been the toughest year for me. Every race this year, I've had to win, and that's hard mentally. I don't think anybody's ever been in a situation where they had to win every race. Chad has been on the podium 16 out of 17 races this year, so I had to win after Anaheim I, and then after Daytona. It pays off to have a great team, a great trainer, and a great supporting cast. I'm so happy."
2009 was the first season for the Floridian on the YZ450F and he already forged a milestone by becoming the first rider to give Yamaha 11 victories in one term (an achievement not even seen in the dominant era of Jeremy McGrath, although '09 was only the sixth season since the inception of the sport in 1974 in which the calendar stretched to 17 rounds). Stewart only finished off the podium twice and his DNF at Anaheim for round one was the sole blight on his scorecard.
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