QUALIFYING 1 REPORT

The Yamaha World Superbike Team ended the first day of on good form with both riders taking top five positions in the first of the Valencia qualifying sessions. As relative newcomers to the circuit having never raced here it was an impressive start for both Spies and Sykes who were quicker than a number of World Superbike regulars in the Spanish sunshine.
Spies finished the session in 2nd position 0.13 seconds behind fastest rider Max Biaggi (Aprilia) whilst team-mate Sykes wrapped up the session in fifth place a mere 0.5 seconds off the leader. Sykes took a small spill at the end of the session whilst experimenting with different corner gears but was unhurt.

Ben Spies

Ben Spies, Yamaha World Superbike Team (2nd, 1’34.907)
"It was a good day for us, in the first session we ran into some problems and we were unable to finish the session but in the second session we were really good. I think we’ve found our race set-up and race tyres already so we’re now just going to continue to make the bike better. I think it’s going to be a really good track for the bike, everybody’s definitely a little bit closer here, our goal for sure is just to stay with all the other bikes and see how we get on. The Ducati’s have always statistically been the better bikes round here, so our goal is to stay with them and look for our opportunity, if we can be strong at this track we can be strong anywhere. Right now our bike is working really well, but we can still make improvements and make it better for the race."

Tom Sykes

Tom Sykes, Yamaha World Superbike Team (5th 1’35.270)
"Over all for me it was a good day. We started off a little bit slower in the first session but again thanks to the team we’ve come back this afternoon and tried a couple of things with the suspension and straight away I felt a lot more at home, especially with the heavy braking areas . At the end of the session we tried some new tyres and straight away I was doing low 35’s, and I feel confident we could have got into the 34’s. I had a small crash at the end, totally my mistake. I was going into turn two and I tried using a different gear. On the exit it was working really well but unfortunately I had less engine braking on the way in so I just overloaded the front a little and at this pace that little bit is enough go down. On a positive note it was something that we can identify, it was my fault and not the bike, we’ve got a really good base setting and can go into tomorrow looking to make even more improvements."
Massimo Meregalli, Yamaha World Superbike Team Manager
"we are very satisfied, considering it’s the first proper day in Valencia for our bikes and for our riders we’ve performed pretty well. We are already looking to tomorrow to make some small adjustments to the set-up which we will do and that’s it. We may work a little bit more on the tyre endurance to try to find the best one to use for the race but overall we have a good set-up and looking forward to racing on Sunday."

Circuit Length: 4005

Lap Record: 1’35.007 (Neil Hodgson, 23/04/2003)
Fastest Lap Ever: 1’33.805 (Max Neukirchner, 06/04/2008)
Last Years Winner: Ayrton Badovini

Yamaha World Supersport Team riders Cal Crutchlow and Fabien Foret got straight down to business in Valencia today. Under the revised 2009 schedule there was no qualifying session and only one free practice session to work out the set-up today. Despite this both riders got onto the pace quickly and echoed their Superbike counterparts, ending their session in the top five.
Crutchlow ran the entire session without changing tyres, ending just 0.75 of a second behind leader Lascorz (Kawasaki) who had changed to fresh tyres for the final laps. Crutchlow’s team-mate Foret was happy with a good session, working on his set-up and finishing in 5th position 0.3 seconds behind 4th placed Sofuoglu (Honda).

Cal Crutchlow

Cal Crutchlow, Yamaha World Supersport Team (2nd, 1’37.343)
"It was good enough today. I think consistently over the whole session we were fast enough. Our pace is good, even after a lot of laps on the same tyres and we’re confident with our Yamaha. Lascorz had a big advantage as he went out with a new tyre at the end which we could have done but we chose not to. I was happy enough with the pace and the bike is working really well for me. I’m disappointed with the schedule as it is, I think not having two practice sessions on a Friday has hindered us quite a bit. On the positive side Yamaha are doing a great job and my team’s really good, we’re still searching for a little bit but nothing we can’t find!"

Fabien Foret

Fabien Foret, Yamaha World Supersport Team (5th, 1’37.864)
"Well I’m very happy with the work we did today. I’ve changed my approach following the first two rounds of the championship, I’m being a bit more relaxed and finding it easier to focus on the bike and improving the set-up. I think we found some good stuff today and can go forward to tomorrow happy and maybe looking for a couple more improvements. I’m not focusing on points, I’m just concentrating on setting up my bike and racing as best I can, If I have a chance to try and win then that’s great."
Wilco Zeelenberg, Yamaha World Supersport Team manager
"I’m happy, it’s the first free practice and both my riders are up there and have the speed and there’s still space to improve tomorrow. There were a couple of small tyre issues today and a little bit of chatter but these are small things. The bike is 90% ready and the sun is shining!"

Circuit Length: 4005

Lap Record: 1’38.664 (Sebastien Charpentier, 01/01/2006)
Fastest Lap Ever: 1’36.773 (Andrew Pitt, 06/04/2008)
Last Years Winner: Attila Magda

www.yamaha-racing.com

The Ducati MotoGP riders surprise customers at a Shell filling station

Download the video here    

The countdown to the much-anticipated new MotoGP season got underway this weekend in Jerez, when the bikes got out on track for the final pre-season MotoGP test. All of the MotoGP teams gathered at the Andalucian circuit and Ducati Corse riders Casey Stoner and Nicky Hayden made a ´pit-stop´ in Madrid, stopping off at a Shell filling station in the Spanish capital en route to their final testing session before the beginning of the season.

Stoner and Hayden were on-hand in Madrid for a photocall, which was made all the more special for two Ducati fans who were able to meet the 2006 and 2007 World Champions when they arrived to refuel their bikes. The whole day was captured on an exclusive video which shows Nicky Hayden turning pump attendant, filling up the bike of one of the Ducati fans with Shell V-Power road fuel, the road-going equivalent of the Shell V-Power race fuel which powers the Ducati bikes in MotoGP. 

Over the course of the strong ten-year technical partnership between Shell and Ducati, the formulation of Shell V-Power race fuel has constantly been developed. The knowledge gained from developing fuels for racing these high revving, ultra-powerful engines contributes to the development of Shell V-Power for the road, which is a vital part of Shell’s research and development process.

“I don´t know whether to pay or not – I should be pumping fuel for them,” commented Francisco Lopez, one of the local riders who was more than a little surprised to see the 2006 MotoGP Champion ready and waiting to re-fuel his bike. Jose Antonio Perez was another customer who was completely astonished to find Nicky ready and waiting to fill up his bike.

Hayden joked, "It´s part of my new contract… I have to work 20 days for Shell and this is my first day!” before saying, “Seriously, it’s great to meet fans on a day like this. I hope everything goes well in Jerez as I feel good at Ducati and the GP9 feels better every time I ride it.”

Casey Stoner, who enjoyed the event alongside his new team mate, was very optimistic ahead of the forthcoming test. “I’m really looking forward to the test in Jerez and I believe we can be a lot more consistent for the next season with the Ducati and the Shell package we have at the moment. Everything technically is working very well, very consistently.”

Shell Motorsport      

Valencia circuit

The Yamaha World Superbike Team head to Valencia for the first European round of the world championship in great shape with Ben Spies currently 2nd in the standings ten points behind leader Noriyuki Haga. The Ricardo Tormo circuit welcomes the Yamaha team as it celebrates its tenth anniversary of WSB this year, having featured on the championship calendar every year since 2000.
The season has started impressively for the Yamaha riders, in his first season in WSB Spies has already taken three race wins and 75 points from the two opening rounds in Phillip Island and Qatar whilst team-mate Sykes sits 6th in the championship behind fellow Brit Leon Haslam with 32 points.
Although both Spies and Sykes have never raced on the Spanish circuit they have proved quick to adapt to the tracks on the WSB calendar so far and are eager to get to grips with the first European round.
"I’m really looking forward to Valencia," said Ben Spies, "We’ve been having a couple of really strong weekends on the new bike and I’m feeling confident. We’re definitely in a good position for the season so far with more to go out and win. I’ve seen the Valencia circuit in the past and ridden a gentle 35 laps so I know my way round it a bit now. The way the 2009 YZF-R1 is working for me I think it should be a good track for us, it’s going to be hard to expect good results every weekend but we’ll keep trying and keep on pushing! It has to be said the bike has been awesome so far, the control and way it lays down its torque is amazing, I am loving riding it. Valencia is a different track to what we’ve ridden so far in Phillip Island and Qatar but I think we’ve got a good setup and it should work great here. Tom’s getting his confidence, we’re helping each other really well and he’s been great as team-mate. We are both looking forward to racing in Europe and having some fun!"
Said Sykes of the forthcoming weekend, "I’m really looking forward to getting into European races, I’ve tested at Valencia in previous years so I’ve had a start with the learning aspect of it. I’m feeling quite confident as I feel like I’ve got a good base setting on my R1. In Qatar we made little improvements here and there and as far as race distance is concerned the package works very consistently. Hopefully coming to Valencia we’ve put a few things together to make a nice improvement and we’ll be on it to win!"
Massimo Meregalli, Yamaha World Superbike Team manager said, "The development of the 2009 YZF-R1 is still proceeding, but as you can see it is already performing really well and winning on the track. We are ready for Valencia, we changed the gear box to be ready for the circuit, we have already got a set-up that works so we’re set to race! We are especially pleased with our performance so far this year as we are still looking for a title sponsor, being one of the top performers on track is great for raising our profile for potential sponsors."
"We are really confident in the abilities of the new YZF-R1 in Valencia," said Yamaha World Superbike Team Technical Chief Silvano Galbusera. "The new engine design including the crossplane crankshaft is giving our riders more useable power. The ability to lay down smooth torque and get the power down sooner through corners without giving less tire life has given the riders confidence to push on harder on track. We’re also very happy with the response of the riders to the strengthened frame of the bike, the balance and handling is improved, giving us an advantage."

Crutchlow and Foret ready for action in Spain
The Yamaha World Supersport Team spent two days testing in Valencia last week to iron out some issues with the bikes and prepare for the race weekend. New for 2009 rider Cal Crutchlow comes to Valencia 4th in the championship a mere 11 points behind leader Andrew Pitt. French team-mate Fabien Foret has had a mixed start to the year, currently in 12th position with nine points he comes to Valencia fresh from last week’s test and determined to move up the standings.
Crutchlow commented, "I’m excited about getting on to the Valencia circuit as it’s one I know better than the others so far. I feel if I can get a good result here it will keep the ball rolling in the European races. I’ve really been looking forward to doing the motor-home thing in Europe and just concentrating on racing and getting back to enjoying the championship flow."
"It was good to be on the track in Valencia last week," said Foret. "I took it easy as I know I have my race-pace back, and only did one day of testing as my shoulder is still sore, it’s important I give it time to recover before the next race. I’m feeling confident, it’s a big thing to come back from such a large crash last year but my pace is good and I’m confident in my speed and keen to race."
Yamaha World Supersport Team manager Wilco Zeelenberg said, "The weather was really good on our test here last week and we found a good rhythm and a good set up. We were happy to have the chance to be here to work through some issues we had and now we feel we’re happy and on the pace and ready for the race weekend."
New schedule changes for 2009 season
New schedule changes are in place for the 2009 season from Valencia onwards. The Superbike free practice will now start at 12.45pm on Friday, with the morning session being cancelled. The first Superbike qualifying session will take place at 16.15pm. The Supersport, Superstock 600 and Superstock 1000 classes will have just one qualifying session from Valencia onwards which will be scheduled for the Saturday. Friday sessions will be devoted solely to free practice.
Superstock gets underway in Valencia
Valencia also sees the opening round of the Superstock 1000 FIM Cup and European Superstock 600 Championship. 2008 Superstock 600 champion Loris Baz is back on a Yamaha again this year and will be starting the season in Superstock 1000 on the new YZF-R1.
Yamaha dominates across the water
Yamaha’s racing success in WSB is being echoed across the waters in the USA where American rider Ben Bostrom has kicked off the AMA series in style, taking the Daytona 200 by storm and winning the opening race of the championship in style on his Yamaha YZF-R6.

www.yamaha-racing.com

FERRER COMPARTIRÁ EQUIPO CON EL MUNDIALISTA  JOSÉ LUIS CARDOSO

El piloto mallorquín Enrique Ferrer, que consiguió la pasada temporada el Campeonato Mediterráneo de Velocidad, ha confirmado su participación en el Campeonato de España de Velocidad con el equipo Neu Grip donde compartirá Box con el mundialista José Luis Cardoso.

Tras su exitoso paso por el Campeonato Mediterráneo de Velocidad, varios equipos se han interesado por este joven piloto de 16 años, su rápida adaptación y su juventud han llamado la atención de los equipos más importantes del Campeonato de España.

Tras realizar un test previo con el equipo Neu Grip, el piloto y su equipo han firmado un acuerdo para este primer año en el CEV, donde Enrique contará con un compañero experimentado del que espera aprender todo lo posible.

Este próximo fin de semana el equipo se desplazará hasta Albacete para realizar los primeros entrenamientos y preparar el primer asalto al Campeonato de España con su nuevo equipo y su nueva montura ya que cambiará su GSXR  para competir con una Yamaha R6 preparada por el equipo de Dues Rodes.

Más información:

VOLTERETA Comunicación   Javier Beltrán

Avenida 16 de Julio, 34   07009 Palma de Mallorca   Tel. +34 971 291 321  M. +34 616 99 26 87  info@voltereta.com