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Tough start for Yamaha in Valencia
Saturday, 10 April 2010 00:00
It wasn't the easiest start to the Spanish race weekend for Yamaha Sterilgarda riders Cal Crutchlow and James Toseland today. The unforgiving Ricardo Tormo circuit proved challenging for both British riders with low grip on the track surface. Crutchlow made several changes to the bike during the qualifying session, leaving little time for an unbroken run to fully test the changes, ending the heat in ninth. Team-mate James Toseland had found a set-up to test, but then suffered a small crash as he settled in for some quick laps at the end of the session. Although uninjured and able to continue, it left not enough time to improve on his 12th place time.

Cal Crutchlow
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Cal Crutchlow
Cal Crutchlow, Yamaha Sterilgarda World Superbike Team (9th, 1'35.052)
"Today wasn't easy. We made good progress up to Portimao, unfortunately we are now at a track with much less grip which makes it again more difficult for us. Hopefully we can make improvements over the evening and into tomorrow. I look forward to getting started again in the morning and seeing how it goes."

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James Toseland
James Toseland

James Toseland, Yamaha Sterilgarda World Superbike Team (12th, 1'35.203)
"A frustrating session for me today. I'd just put the softer tyre in at the end of the session, I came out of turn one really well but unfortunately I got my finger stuck under the brake lever and couldn't stop in time. I only just got the bike stopped right up by the barrier and then tipped it over. Luckily no damage to me or the bike so I got back on but by the time I'd cleaned all the dirt off them the performance of them had just dropped slightly. I was three tenths quicker than this morning and the time was there to be had but I ran out of time, frustrating as it was my error. We've got a lot of information from today so I'm looking forward to tomorrow."

Massimo Meregalli, Yamaha Sterilgarda World Superbike Team Manager
"A difficult day, but it seems for many of the 4 cylinder machines it wasn't easy to get good grip here. With chassis set up changes and adjustments in the electronics area we hope to improve this for tomorrow and also help to reduce tyre wear. I'm confident we will be more competitive tomorrow in the next session."

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Crutchlow and Toseland get set for round three in Valencia
Tuesday, 06 April 2010 00:00
Valencia circuit
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Valencia circuit

After an exciting second round in Portimao which saw both Yamaha Sterilgarda WSB riders make good progress on their bike set up and development, the team are now gearing up for round three in Valencia this weekend. Moving forward from a difficult first round in Australia, round two saw big improvements in the 2010 bike with both riders making good use of the increased power available. Crutchlow caught the attention of the paddock, impressing with a new Best Lap record in Superpole, knocking nearly half a second off last year's time set by Ben Spies. The 25yr old British rider also took the first podium finish of the year for the team in the second race. Team-mate James Toseland made up for a less than perfect grid start position in both races, starting from 15th he pushed hard to break the top ten, delivering a 7th and then a 6th place finish.

The Ricardo Tormo circuit in Valencia is known to both riders, and with Toseland getting back to full fitness as his hand recovers, the weekend has the potential to deliver great results for the team.

"After my podium at Portimao I'm keen to get to Valencia," said Cal Crutchlow. I think we can continue our good streak. I don't know how the bike will be there as we used the 2009 bike in our winter test but I'm optimistic. Lots of the teams have tested there recently so we've got some work to do, but hopefully we'll be up there and have a good result."

"We've made massive improvements from Australia to Portugal," said James Toseland, "which obviously the podium from Cal proved. The second race in Portimao was particularly good for me, I had a really good race pace but couldn't get to front which was disappointing as I started from too far back. The Valencia test went well in the winter and I've done a lot on the Spanish track compared to Portugal so I'm looking forward to getting out there and getting stuck in, being able to concentrate on the bike set up without having the added focus of learning the circuit."

Valencia technically speaking according to Marcus Eschenbacher, Cal Crutchlow's Crew Chief
"Valencia is one of the WSB circuits with the most stadium character, the track is flat and has some banked corners. The track conditions vary a lot so it is never certain what it will be. The infield is technical and physical for the riders, the last corner is particularly hard for the tyres over race distance so the track is more difficult than it appears. We made some adjustments to the bike in Portimao which Cal really liked, adding weight to the rear to improve the balance for him. We hope that we can find some new improvements again for the coming round."

Valencia technically speaking according to Frankie Carchedi, James Toseland's Crew Chief
"We had a successful test over the winter. We have continued to work extremely hard since Portimao to continue improving the electronics on the bike. Valencia is a very challenging circuit, a good front fork setting is important, and a good handling bike, as a lot of corners link together. We will start on a very similar setting to race two in Portimao, with the biggest change coming from a new electronic strategy for corner exit. James will be one step closer to full fitness, and hopefully with another step of improvement from the bike, we can be challenging at the front!"

Massimo Meregalli, Yamaha Sterilgarda World Superbike Team Manager
"Our test at Valencia over the winter went well. Following Portimao we will bring some more electronic updates for the bikes to the Spanish circuit in order to continue the progress we made from the first two rounds and be as competitive as possible. The electronics are our focus for development at the moment so these updates will include new maps for both James and Cal. Unfortunately the time is very short between these races but I am confident that we will get more improvements this weekend again."

 
Philippaerts decent 4th in Bulgaria
Sunday, 04 April 2010 00:00
DP19
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DP19
David Philippaerts tied on points for 3rd position and had to accept 4th overall on the 2010 YZ450FM at the Grand Prix of Bulgaria at Sevlievo for the first round of fifteen in the FIM MX1-GP World Championship. The Yamaha Monster Energy MX Team rider was 2nd and 7th across a difficult circuit in two hot motos.

Rain early on Saturday caused the soft track to become even rougher and the ruts to carve deeper. The terrain mixed slippery hard-pack sections with heavy bumps and was a real test of concentration and physical endurance.

2008 world champion Philippaerts made two impressive launches from the start gate on the new rear-slanting fuel-injected YZ450F and held second position from start-to-finish of the first moto. In the second race the Italian was again maintaining a consistent pace in 3rd place until he lost traction on a downhill section and briefly hit the floor. Remounting he had lost ground but embarked on a brave charge and was crawling over the rear wheel of Clement Desalle for 5th on the final lap. The Belgian held firm and Spaniard Jonathan Barragan caught Philippaerts unaware on the last charge down to the finish line, relegating the 25 year old to 7th mere metres from the flag.

Despite the late surprise and misfortune of missing the podium, Philippaerts could gather 36 points and is just 11 behind winner and series leader Max Nagl.
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De Dycker
De Dycker
Yamaha Monster Energy Ricci MX Team's Ken De Dycker made his world championship debut for the Italian team and although the Belgian made mistakes and could not find his desired rhythm across the course was able to take 6th overall, with his finish of 4th in Moto1 beating his run to 8th in Moto2.

Round two will take place next weekend for the Grand Prix of Lombardia at Mantova, Italy. The event will be the home meeting for the team and the scene of victory for them in 2007.

David Philippaerts, 4th Yamaha Monster Energy MX Team:
"It was not a bad weekend and we have a lot of points but I am disappointed with how it finished. I just misjudged the last lap and did not know Barragan was so close. This is only the first race and we have fourteen more to go. It was a hard weekend; the track was fast with a lot of bumps but I liked it. In the first moto my riding was good but I made a stupid crash in the second. Without that mistake for sure I would have had the podium. The bike was great and the Ohlins suspension worked so well; I really like what they have given us. The difference in the points with the leaders is small so we will look ahead to the next GP and we only have a few days before Mantova."

Ken De Dycker, 6th Yamaha Monster Energy Ricci MX Team:
"It was a difficult day. The first moto was OK. I had a pretty decent start but was caught in the backmarkers and made mistakes. The track was very different to past years. It was good but demanding. I had a bad start in the second moto. I could not find good lines and was making a lot of mistakes. I don't have any excuses, I train really hard but I could not get going for the second moto."
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Paulin ruled out of first 2010 MX2-GP events
Tuesday, 30 March 2010 04:07
Gautier Paulin
Gautier Paulin

Yamaha Monster Energy MX Team’s Gautier Paulin will miss the opening rounds of the 2010 FIM MX2-GP World Championship after breaking his left fibula in a training accident today. The recently turned 20 year old, who finished 3rd in the ’09 series, was just days away from making his Grand Prix bow for the factory team on the 2010 YZ250FM when he twisted his ankle traversing a rut at La Fare-les-Oliviers circuit, near Aix-en-Provence in his native France.

Paulin swiftly halted his training moto and an x-ray revealed a clean break that will require an estimated four weeks of convalescence, signifying his absence from at least the first two Grands Prix. It is a disappointing blow for the former European champion who had negotiated the off-season in fine form with two victories in the Italian MX2 Championship and round one of the Dutch national competition.

The 2010 FIM MX-GP World Championship will kick off at the Sevlievo circuit for the Grand Prix of Bulgaria this coming weekend.

“I feel pretty devastated by this but now that it has happened I am totally focussed on healing as quickly as I can and making my Grand Prix debut for Yamaha,” Paulin said. “I didn’t do anything wrong on the bike and didn’t even crash but when I caught my ankle I knew something was wrong. I was, and still am, completely dedicated to this MX2-GP championship for the Yamaha Monster Energy MX team and now I will set myself a new goal of getting back on the bike as soon as possible.”

 
Yamaha dominates the Superstock European 600 Championship opening round
Tuesday, 30 March 2010 04:06
Yamaha made a clean sweep of the podium yesterday, taking all three top spots in the Superstock 600 class at the opening round in Portimao. An action fuelled race saw French riders Jeremy Guarnoni and Romain Lanusse, both of the MRS Racing Team fight it out for the top two spots on their Yamaha Superstock YZF-R6s. Guarnoni eventually won out with his team-mate Lanusse crossing the line 6.1 seconds later. Lanusse took the second spot by just .1 of a second from Norwegian rider Frederik Karlsen also riding an R6 for the MTM Racing Team.
Jeremy Guarnoni, MRS Racing Team (1st)
“I was second on the grid and I was going to try and have a good start. Last year I struggled with my starts so I’ve been practising for this season. I had a good start, I didn’t lose position in the first and was behind Marino but in the second corner he made a mistake and I got the first position. I pushed hard for the rest of the race but after the fourth lap my mechanics told me to take it easy. I had a good feeling with the bike so I got a good rhythm so ended up with a six second lead at the end.”

Adrien Morillas, MRS Racing Team Manager
“The weekend was perfect, the results were better than expected. The progression of the team is better and better from pre season to now and we saw that this weekend. We have good materials from Yamaha with great support. We are so happy with the result. There’s still a lot of work to do but we hope everything will continue as we have started.”
 
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