Posted by Administrator on 07-26-2007 at 07:07 am
Yamaha Motor Co., Ltd announces that it has concluded a two-year agreement with 250cc World Champion Jorge Lorenzo. The 20-year-old Spaniard will make his MotoGP debut in 2008 aboard a YZR-M1, with direct Factory support.
Lorenzo, who won the 250 title in 2006, is currently leading the championship, after winning six out of the first ten races this season.
“Yamaha has been watching Jorge’s career with interest for some time and we are delighted that he will be joining our MotoGP line-up from next season” - commented Lin Jarvis, Managing Director of Yamaha Motor Racing. “We are sure that he will be a valuable asset for the future and we look forward to the commencement of his MotoGP career with Yamaha.” |
The exact structure of Yamaha’s team and rider organization is still under consideration at the present time. Further details, including Lorenzo’s team structure, will be announced in due course.
Posted by Administrator on 07-23-2007 at 04:07 am
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Valentino Rossi took fourth place in the US Grand Prix at Laguna Seca today, after a spirited ride in difficult conditions from fifth on the grid. Team-mate Edwards was unable to fulfil his dream of a home-race success and crossed the line in eleventh after a race led from flag-to-flag by series leader Casey Stoner.
Rossi lost some ground at the start and found himself behind Edwards for the first part of the lap. He quickly moved ahead of his team-mate however and the pair crossed the line for the first time in fourth and fifth respectively. On lap five Marco Melandri took Edwards and set off after Rossi, overtaking the Italian a few laps later and relegating him to fifth. After Melandri had in turn passed Dani Pedrosa, Rossi quickly began to close the gap on the Spaniard until he was able to strike at the end of lap twenty to claim fourth. For several laps he then looked to be closing the gap to Melandri but a lack of grip forced him to slacken off and he eventually crossed the line 30.664 seconds behind Stoner.
Edwards looked comfortable in sixth for much of the race but as his tyres too lost performance in the latter stages he was caught by a collection of riders and relegated to eleventh. Rossi and Edwards hold on to second and seventh respectively in the championship but the gap from Rossi to Stoner is extended to 44 points, with seven rounds remaining. The MotoGP paddock now embarks on a well-deserved summer break before action recommences at Brno in the Czech Republic in late August.
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Valentino Rossi - Position: 4th Time: +30.664
“Today was incredibly disappointing because, with the tyre situation like this, it was like our rivals were in a different race. My team and I worked very hard, especially after yesterday’s crash, and we did the maximum we could to have our bike in the best possible condition. However without grip it was impossible to fight with the leaders. I rode the best race I could and I was very happy to pass Pedrosa, but I couldn’t catch Melandri; we just didn’t have the right rhythm or grip today. I’m very sad for last weekend in Sachsenring because there Michelin was strong and we missed a chance to make up some important points there. After today we can see just how important! It seems that tyres are the deciding factor for this season and this is a pity for the fans and for the show. We are not giving up; there are seven races left and we know that Michelin are going to work as hard as they possibly can in order to make the situation better for the second part of the season, but Stoner is very strong and we know it will be very hard. Anyway, we have some holidays now and we will be back in Brno to fight as hard as we can until the end.”
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Colin Edwards - Position: 11th Time: +47.376
“I think it was pretty obvious today to everyone that we were struggling and why. We had a problem all weekend and we changed the bike in every possible way to try to work around it but unfortunately it proved impossible. We went round in circles but we couldn’t change the underlying problem and the basic fact is that we had no grip. Of course I’m pretty disappointed that this happened at my home race, with all my family and friends here and it’s a great pity we couldn’t give the American fans more to cheer about today. My guys worked really hard all weekend, they all deserve their holidays now and then we’ll all be fresh for a new start in Brno.”
Davide Brivio - Team Director
“It was quite clear today that the tyres played an important role. Last week our tyre was better but this week the situation was reversed and our riders couldn’t fulfil their potential. It’s a great pity because this championship should be about seeing all the best riders fighting together but at the moment this is being limited by other factors. Everyone worked incredibly hard this weekend but unfortunately Valentino wasn’t able to fight for the win as we hoped and Colin, too, wasn’t able to exploit his potential in front of his home fans. Now we have to keep working but we know that the situation won’t be easy or quick to change. Thank you to both riders, the team and the engineers because they have worked very hard in difficult circumstances all weekend. Everyone has some time off to recover from a very hard few months now before we start again; we will keep the same fighting spirit and we won’t give up.”
Dunlop Yamaha Tech 3 delivers season best result
Under perfect cloudless summer skies at the Grand Prix of the USA held at the Laguna Seca circuit in the Californian hills, the Dunlop Yamaha Tech 3 Team secured its best result of the 2007 MotoGP season when Grand Prix winner, Makoto Tamada finished in eighth spot.
It was an intense race as Makoto battled with up to seven riders in a race long duel with only seconds separating the group after a gruelling 32 laps of the tight layout.
Sylvain Guintoli also put in an impressive performance fighting his way up to the group after an incident with another rider metres after the start caused him to drop back momentarily. A top ten result also looked possible but a slight mistake in an intense battle with Carlos Checa negated his charge to a top ten finish.
While the team will now take a holiday during the summer break, Dunlop will continue its development work to ensure the progress continues for the remainder of the season.
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Makoto Tamada - Position: 8th Time: +42.355
Finally, I have had a good result. We knew we could have one of our best races this year from the practices as we found a setting early on during the weekend and we also found tyres that we knew would work all race. It is so good to ride on a tyre that I know will allow me to put in competitive lap times for the entire race. I had a good start and got away with a big group. The race was a lot of fun as I had a big battle with a lot of riders like Edwards, West, Barros and De Puniet. This has given me a lot of confidence to come back after the summer break. Thanks to everyone that has been putting in so much work. Now I can’t wait for the next race.
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Sylvain Guintoli - Position: 13th Time: +58.410
I am disappointed with the result but I am happy with my riding. I got another bad start then had a hit from Kurtis Roberts, which put me back in last, but I was able to fight back and get with a big group. It took me some time to get past Checa but when I did I was able to pull away but I made a mistake at turn five and he got back in front of me. I fought back and passed him again but made another mistake at the Corkscrew to let him back in front. I put my head down and was able to pass him again. It is disappointing as if I hadn’t made those mistakes I feel I could’ve been up with Makoto in the top ten but I feel that now we have a package that we can fight for some better places after the break.
Hervé Poncharal - Dunlop Yamaha Tech 3 Team Manager
Without doubt this has been the best weekend of the year for us and it has come at the right time just before the summer break, which is a good boost for the rest of the year. I would like to congratulate Makoto an all the engineers for the hard work they have put in. We were pretty strong as our tyres worked well in the heat and it reflects the progress Dunlop and the team are making to finish in eighth position and battling for even better positions. I am sorry for Sylvain as after a bad start he fought back well and it looked like he might finish with Makoto but around a tight circuit like Laguna Seca one little mistake is all it takes to drop you behind. Now Dunlop will continue working during the holiday some of us have and I expect that we will have other good results for the rest of the season.
Posted by Administrator on 07-22-2007 at 02:07 pm
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Valentino Rossi recovered from an unlucky fall in this morning’s free practice session to qualify in fifth position today, putting his Fiat Yamaha Team M1 onto the middle of the second row for tomorrow’s US Grand Prix at Laguna Seca. Team-mate and home favourite Colin Edwards meanwhile struggled with set-up problems and was unable to replicate his front-row performance of last year, qualifying eighth.
Rossi’s crash this morning occurred at the exit of turn six, when he touched an area of unlevel asphalt where the edge of the track meets the kerb. He was sent skidding off his M1 and was lucky to escape with only a cut to the little finger of his left hand and some bruising to his right hand. The Italian sat out the remainder of the session while he received treatment on both hands but was fortunately able to get back out to contest this afternoon’s qualifying.
The afternoon session was red-flagged after just a few minutes when Marco Melandri crashed, and it was another twenty minutes before pit-lane re-opened and qualifying recommenced. Rossi and Edwards spent the time making final adjustments and decisions about tyres and set-up ahead of tomorrow’s 32 lap race, before making their bids for grid positions with qualifying tyres in the last 15 minutes. Rossi briefly held a front-row position in third but was edged into fifth when first Nicky Hayden and then Casey Stoner went above him, Stoner taking pole in a time of 1′22 292. Edwards made improvements to his pace during the session but could not quite get close enough to the front runners and his best lap 0.651 seconds shy of pole. Tomorrow’s race gets underway at 1400 West Coast time, 2300 CET.
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Valentino Rossi - Position: 5th Time: 1′22.683 Laps: 34
“My crash this morning was very unfortunate, because there’s a very small section of the track where the new asphalt is at a different level to the kerb, and I lost the rear when I touched this. I paid a high price for a very small mistake! In fact I was very lucky because it’s a bad place to crash, going 180km/h with the throttle open in third. I slid a long way on the track so when I came onto the gravel I was already going quite slowly, but it was a shock because I didn’t expect it. I hurt the little finger of my left hand a little and also had some pain in the right hand, but after some treatment and ice I was okay to ride this afternoon. After this, the second row is not so bad and all the riders in front are fast, with a good pace, so I should be able to push hard from the start. I am expecting a very competitive race tomorrow but we have a good rhythm and I am quite confident that we can fight at the front. I want to say a big thank you to all my guys because they did an amazing job to rebuild the bike in just two hours.”
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Colin Edwards - Position: 8th Time: 1′22.943 Laps: 30
“I’m disappointed with today because we’ve got some fairly serious issues to deal with, especially with the front tyre, and so far we haven’t been able to find a way around the problem. We’ve turned everything upside-down but so far it hasn’t worked. It wasn’t much better with the qualifying tyre, the bike felt really nervous and basically spent the whole lap holding on instead of pushing. We’re going to have a long meeting now and come up with some bright ideas for tomorrow!”
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Davide Brivio - Team Director
“The good news is that Valentino was able to ride this afternoon after what really quite a big crash this morning. Fifth position in the circumstances is very good, even if we know that it’s going to be a very hard race tomorrow. He needs to make a good start and put some work in to stay in touch, as usual, but he has a good pace. We have some more work to do with Colin, as he has struggled a bit today. We will work hard now to find a better way to put everything together for him in order to make him more comfortable tomorrow. The new surface might affect the tyres tomorrow and it’s a long race so we will try hard to make sure we make the right decisions and that we’re in the best possible shape with both riders.”
Posted by Administrator on 07-21-2007 at 01:07 am
Fiat Yamaha Team riders Colin Edwards and Valentino Rossi got off to a solid start today at the US Grand Prix at Laguna Seca, finishing the day fourth and sixth in the combined standings. With the track newly resurfaced and the temperatures sitting comfortably in the high twenties, riding conditions were vastly improved from this time last year and times were fast from the start.
Edwards, who is running a one-off ‘Texas Tornado’ livery for his home GP, and Rossi were quick to get down to business this morning during a first session that was red flagged for ten minutes after a crash involving Alex Hofmann and Sylvain Guintoli. The Yamaha pair finished the morning third and fifth fastest respectively and were both positive about the improved track conditions and the initial performance of their 800cc M1s. This afternoon saw more of the same as they continued to work on set-up and tyres, which are likely to be a crucial factor during Sunday’s 32-lap race. Casey Stoner set the fastest lap of the day in a time of 1′22.997 with Edwards and Rossi 0.538 and 0.551 seconds off the Australian’s time.
Colin Edwards
Position: 4th Time: 1′23.535 Laps: 61
“Not too bad for the first day. This morning felt quite good and actually the track didn’t change too much throughout the day so we pretty much just kept going in the same way this afternoon. We’ve been playing about with the settings and I am feeling quite comfortable but could definitely be more so. Tyre-wise we’ve got some more work to do before we’re in a position to make a decision about race tyres, so we’ll be concentrating on that tomorrow morning. Stoner and Melandri are looking pretty strong so we need to close the gap to them tomorrow. It’s fun being back out on this track again and the 800 feels good around here. The track surface is fantastic compared to last year; there are still a few too many bumps around turn nine but otherwise it’s pretty smooth.”
Valentino Rossi
Position: 6th Time: 1′23.550 Laps: 64
“My first impressions after today are quite good. The new surface is much, much better; quite smooth with only a few bumps and it seems almost like a different track! I’m very happy about this because last year it was really a nightmare and almost impossible to ride. Now we can have fun! I think the new 800s are better for this; you can use all of the track and the best lines. Today we’ve been quite fast from the start and our bike seems to be working well here. It seems that we have a good selection of tyres, we started with something quite soft and we’ll need something a little bit harder for the race, but anyway I think the situation so far is quite good. It’s a tricky track but I enjoyed today a lot. It’s always great fun to race here, the fans are great and the weather is good! We have some more work to do tomorrow of course and we need to improve our pace in comparison to the leaders, but we have made a good start.”
Davide Brivio
Fiat Yamaha Team Director
“Overall a positive first day for us. Both Colin and Valentino are able to run at the front quite comfortably and the bike seems to be working quite well around this track. We need to improve our pace a little bit more and work on choosing the tyres for the race, as this is going to be a key factor on Sunday. We’ve got some more tyres to test tomorrow before we can make a final decision about this. Anyway, we’re quite close to the top so now we’ll keep working in the same direction and hopefully be right at the top tomorrow!”
Posted by Administrator on 07-21-2007 at 01:07 am
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Fiat Yamaha Team rider Colin Edwards will contest his home Grand Prix at Laguna Seca this weekend in a one-off special livery, starting from first practice on Friday. The popular American is well known to his legion of fans, both on home shores and worldwide, as the ‘Texas Tornado’ and this weekend’s livery has been inspired by his famous nickname.
The livery, which is Fiat Yamaha’s second change of the season following the ‘Fiat 500′ inspired bikes in Assen, represents a personal tribute to the two-time World Superbike champion and Edwards has been influential in the design process.
“I’m really happy with the final result!” said the 33-year old Texan. “The finished article is exactly how I imagined and I think it’s transmitting just the message we were after, mixing the idea of the tornado with the American flag. I’m always very proud to race in front of my home fans and I’m especially pleased to have something extra special to give them this weekend; I’d like to say a big thank you to Fiat for giving me the chance to do something different!”
Edwards’ bike will be unveiled today, Thursday 19th July, at 1700 local time in Pit Lane at the Laguna Seca circuit.
