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Monday, 02 February 2009 00:00 |
The fifth round of seventeen in the 2009 AMA Supercross Championship (also an FIM World series) in San Francisco was owned by LandM San Manuel rider James Stewart with his YZ450F for the fourth time this season and for the fourth meeting in a row. The 23 year old has soared up the standings since his unlucky DNF at the opening event and now lies a clear second and just six points behind Chad Reed.
Stewart - who had previously won in Los Angeles, Houston and Phoenix - rode the perfect race after acing the holeshot around the first corner of the open-air AtandT Park stadium. He was able to pull away and beat Reed by almost five seconds by the chequered flag. The main event was the seventh to be held in the picturesque city and was the third victory for Yamaha.
"I'm starting to feel like my old self and I've just been training as hard as I can. Right now it's showing, and we'll see what happens. It has definitely been better the last couple of weeks than in weeks past, so we'll see what happens," said Stewart who increased his career win haul to 29. "We're going to Anaheim soon and we're just going to have to try to keep it going. We're still six points back and there's still a long way to go."
Joe Gibbs Racing's Josh Grant maintained his 100% record of top five positions in each event. The 2009 rookie is having an impressive campaign to-date and added 4th place in San Francisco to his tally of 1st, 3rd, 5th and 5th. Grant is third in the table, seven points behind his brand-mate.
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Monday, 26 January 2009 13:46 |
James Stewart raced to his third straight victory in just his fourth appearance in the AMA Supercross series with the San Manuel LandM YZ450F Yamaha. The 23 year old conquered the fourth round of the 2009 contest (also an FIM World Championship) at the Reliant Stadium in Houston, Texas; the first time the '09 competition had left the west coast of the USA.
In front of a little more than 48,000 spectators Stewart started reasonably well and was fourth around the opening turns. He needed another two laps before he relegated Ryan Villopoto and was then able to control the remaining 17 circulations in the 16 minute sprint.
The 2009 edition was the 44th Supercross meeting to be held in Houston with Pierre Karsmakers winning the inaugural event in 1974 with a Yamaha. Stewart's success increased Yamaha's tally to 15 triumphs in the State since the mid-1970s. In taking the chequered flag he also registered the 27th AMA SX win of his career.
"The bike was definitely better this weekend," he said. "I just felt more comfortable when we first got here, and we changed some stuff, and it's coming along. I think it was definitely a better weekend for me, and I'm just going to try and keep on improving and see what happens."
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Monday, 26 January 2009 13:45 |
World Supersport rookie Cal Crutchlow performed brilliantly at his second ever test ride on the Yamaha World Supersport machine. The young British rider battled high winds and adverse weather conditions to finish the three day test an impressive second place overall, less than a tenth of a second off fastest rider Lascorz with a time of 1’45.214. French team mate Fabien Foret proved that any demons from his crash in 2008 had been put firmly to rest, finishing the test with a competitive time of 1’46.036, less than a second from his new team mate.
Cal Crutchlow, Yamaha World Supersport Team
“I enjoyed the test although I was a little bit disappointed with the weather. We wanted to get quite a lot done but didn’t manage to get as much as we would have liked due to the changing conditions. We won’t be out testing again now before Australia so the final test there will be a crucial one for us. Our time here in Portugal has proved we’re up there in the championship and highly competitive. The team are working really well with me, we understand each other really well and I’m working well with the R6 too. It’s been good for me and I’m looking forward to the next session.”
Fabien Foret, Yamaha World Supersport Team
"It’s been wet in the mornings and half dry in the afternoon, for me it’s pointless to push too hard in these conditions. We tried to work as much as possible on the second day and we found a pretty good bike for me. I was getting the confidence back, it was getting easier to relax on the bike and I got up to fourth until a few minutes before the end when the other riders switched to fresh tires for a fast lap. My speed is back and my confidence too, I am back to how I was before my crash last year. I’m very happy, not just about the tests but about myself. I knew I would get my speed back and I was sure I would be fine but it’s good to actually see it for real!”
Wilco Zeelenberg, Yamaha World Supersport Team Manager
“Of course we were not really pleased with the weather, we had only 70 or 80 laps for both riders over the three days. We are quite pleased with the final results though. Fabien improved a lot over the last test in Portimao, in the first three splits he was as fast as the top guys. We are really pleased as we know after a big crash you have to see if everything is ok, but he’s able to give 110 percent. Cal was consistently fast,there are no technical problems at all. I think it will be close racing this year but I’m confident we can fight for the championship. We have a very competitive package and we’re looking forward to the season. There are some very strong riders but we have two of them!” |
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Monday, 26 January 2009 13:44 |
The first test of 2009 for the Yamaha World Superbike Team at the Portimao circuit in Portugal was hampered by bad weather for the duration of the three days. Despite this setback both new riders performed well, fine tuning their set ups for the upcoming test and first race of the 2009 World Superbike Championship at Phillip Island in Australia.
Young American three-time AMA Superbike star Ben Spies was consistently on the pace, and finished the test second fastest with an overall time of 1’43.484, less than two tenths of a second off fastest rider Shane Bryne. Spies team mate, Young rising British star Tom Sykes, took advantage of the test to catch up on time missed due illness at the previous test in South Africa and flew up the times, ending the test an impressive fourth, less than a tenth of a second from his team mate with a time of 1’43.546.
This was only the third outing for the riders on the M1 derived 2009 Yamaha WSB YZF-R1. The advantage of the revolutionary cross plane crankshaft and uneven firing interval resulted in more grip and smoother torque delivery for Spies and Sykes, enabling both riders to achieve faster times in the dry and in the wet. With more fine-tuning to come the team are looking to be serious contenders in the 2009 WSB Championship.From the South Africa test to Portimao, the Yamaha team achieved a big power output, clearly demonstrated when the R1 claimed the maximum top speed of all teams at the Portugese test.
Ben Spies, Yamaha World Superbike Team
“For sure it was good to be here and get more time on the bike and work with the team, the rain was a bit dodgy so it’s been frustrating to get some decent track time. In the first of the new format Superpole test sessions on the last day we were quickest, unfortunately for the second session it rained and I didn’t want to do anything silly so didn’t push too hard. We worked on some settings over the test and got down to some pretty quick times. We got to try a few things with the bike and made a big step up, taking half a second a lap off, but the weather didn’t allow us to get more. The bikes got good straight line speed now and we’re continually improving. I’m very confident we’ve got what it takes to win. The team have been great, we’re working really well together. I’m looking forward to getting to Australia and getting stuck in again!”
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Monday, 19 January 2009 13:29 |
James Stewart scored his second win from three races in the seventeen round 2009 AMA Supercross series (also an FIM World Championship) onboard his San Manuel LandM YZ450F by owning the 50th meeting to be held at the Anaheim Stadium in Los Angeles last Saturday.
The AMA Motocross Champion took Yamaha's 17th success at the venue and also increased his personal triumph tally to 27; equalling Bob Hannah in 5th place on the all-time victory roll.
Despite the impressive numbers Anaheim II was a hard meeting for the 23 year old. He collided with Travis Preston during practice and badly cut his hand, he then admitted that he made mistakes and wasn't riding well during the race that was watched by over 43,000 people.
On a track that was not easy for overtaking Stewart needed half of the 20 laps to pass Ivan Tedesco, Ryan Villopoto and then impressive Rookie and fellow Yamaha rider Josh Grant. Two circulations later and he demoted Kevin Windham for the lead and would hold the advantage to the chequered flag. Chad Reed had recovered from a first corner crash to make his way to second place, therefore limiting Stewart's points gain in the standings. Grant held on for fifth place and has yet to drop out of the top five in the first three events.
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