Solid Fifth for Roberts at Brands Brendan Roberts secured a fantastic result in the FIM Superstock Cup 1000 race at the technical Brands Hatch circuit, Kent this weekend. Roberts sealed a solid fifth place overall for the Ducati Xerox Junior Team in the 14-lap race, his best result in the dry this year with his still healing right wrist injury. In the blistering British sunshine in front of a huge British crowd Roberts got his head down throughout the weekend and worked on getting a good qualifying position on the Ducati 1098S. Struggling with a few front end issues throughout the weekend the youngster still managed to equal his best qualifying position this year of sixth place, which set him in a good position for the race. A good start saw the young Australian move up to fourth by the end of the first lap and a position he held until lap four when a small mistake saw him run onto the grass on the exit of Graham Hill Bend. Losing a place to Championship leader Matteo Baiocco, Roberts fought hard to stay with the leading pack and was still in a chance of a podium position. However his tyres began to wear in the latter stages of the race and he had to bring the bike home in a strong fifth position. Commenting he said “It’s been a pretty good weekend. I still only have about 45% movement in my right wrist and although I have been strong at the wet races this is my best result so far in the dry. It’s a good sign that hopefully my wrist is beginning to heal and also that we are making progress with the new 1098. It’s been a good weekend and the team took another win with my team-mate Nic and I’m hoping that I’ll be back on the podium at some point in the near future.” He went on to say “I’m at Croft next weekend for Buildbase in the National Superstock Championship and I’m hoping that the weather will be as good as it has been at Brands. After Oulton was cancelled due to the rain it would be nice to get a decent result back in the British Championship series.” A full timetable of events for Croft can be found at the link below: – http://www.mcrcb-events.co.uk/gallery/CROFT%20FINAL.pdf More, from a press release issued by Yamaha Racing: Yamaha Motor Italia Effort is Rewarded with Three Podiums The Yamaha Motor Italia WSB Team today reaped the rewards of their weekend’s hard work to take three podium positions and regain their second place in the rider championship standings. Race one was an exciting start to the day with both Corser and Haga getting good starts to take second and fourth respectively in a four-man battle with Toseland and Bayliss. Haga set about moving forward through the pack and set the fastest lap of the race on lap four before a very close pass with Bayliss to take second behind Toseland. The two Troy’s were dicing for third when Bayliss crashed, giving Corser the advantage. Everything was settling down at the mid-race point when Haga ran hard into Surtees and had to take to the grass. He kept the bike upright and re-joined in 11th and dug in to climb back up to take seventh finishing place. Haga’s incident allowed Corser through to second, where he completed the race. Corser’s result in this race gave Yamaha their 150th WSB podium. Haga made another good start in race two to take the lead before Toseland forced his way through. Haga refused to let him get away though and the two riders broke away from the pack as they battled with each other for the race lead. Corser went into fifth place at the start and then had to work his way through the pack before joining the Haga-Toseland fight on lap 14. As the race wore on Haga and Toseland swapped places several times but Noriyuki was unable to maintain the lead and had to settle for second position as his tyres wore off. Haga took the second podium place with Corser riding shotgun to take third. Team Yamaha YZF riders Shinichi Nakatomi and Steve Martin were well-matched in their results today. In race one Martin finished in 11th while Nakatomi rode through his injuries sustained earlier this weekend to take 13th. In race two Martin took 15th with Nakatomi behind in 16th. Today’s results put Haga back in second championship place ahead of Biaggi. Troy Corser (2nd and 3rd – Yamaha Motor Italia WSB Team) “Both races were pretty much the same for me. The bike felt good even if it wasn’t quite 100%. There was a bit too much movement, although the tyres were pretty consistent over the race distance and over both races. I made some minor changes to the bike for the second race; suspension, mapping and fork settings mostly. I didn’t get a good start though, so just put my head down and worked my way through the field. I felt held back by some riders so it was good to get clear and catch Nori and James up. I was conscious of Nori’s championship points and was therefore content to settle for third. It’s been a good weekend with no problems; it’s all been very smooth.” Noriyuki Haga (7th and 2nd – Yamaha Motor Italia WSB Team) “In race one I was doing really well until I crashed. It happened because I was pushing the bike and tyres so much in order to catch James up. I was pleasantly surprised that nothing was broken on the bike, which allowed me to re-join the race and pick up nine valuable points. For the second race I kept the same tyres and made only some minor suspension changes, which gave me better feeling. After ten laps the bike started sliding and then I couldn’t push the bike so much and had to settle for second.” Massimo Meregalli (Team Coordinator, Yamaha Motor Italia WSB Team) “After Friday I was a bit concerned as to how well we would do this weekend but it has turned out well and I’m pleased with our result. Nori’s crash in race one was unfortunate but we are very happy with three podium positions overall. Now we must keep focused despite the break before the next race.” Shinichi Nakatomi (13th and 15th – Team Yamaha YZF) “I’m happy to have two good results although I would’ve liked to have repeated my success from Brno. The bike is feeling good and stronger with every race. I am pleased to now have a few weeks to rest and recover from my crash.” Steve Martin (11th and 16th – Team Yamaha YZF) “The team has done a fantastic job this weekend and I’m happy that I did my best. Race one was quite good with 11th. Overall it’s a good weekend and I’d like to thank the team for their help.” Martial Garcia (Team Manager, Team Yamaha YZF) “I am happy with the achievements of both riders. Steve has helped us a lot this weekend and given us much to think about. I’d like to thank him for his efforts and wish him well for his British Superbike race. Tomi has done well considering his crash earlier this weekend and he has taken some very valuable points this weekend. ” Circuit Length: 4197 Temp: 27 Crowd: 120,000 Weather: Dry 2007 WSB Brands Hatch 05/08/2007 Race 1 – 25 Laps Pos. Rider Manu. Nat. Total Time 1 James Toseland Honda GBR 36’35.120 2 Troy Corser Yamaha AUS 0’1.554 3 Max Biaggi Suzuki ITA 0’2.917 4 Ruben Xaus Ducati ESP 0’10.202 5 Michel Fabrizio Honda ITA 0’14.133 6 Roberto Rolfo Honda ITA 0’14.323 7 Noriyuki Haga Yamaha JPN 0’19.380 8 Regis Laconi Kawasaki FRA 0’22.676 9 Lorenzo Lanzi Ducati ITA 0’24.259 10 Max Neukirchner Suzuki GER 0’24.423 11 Steve Martin Yamaha AUS 0’33.365 12 Fonsi Nieto Kawasaki ESP 0’33.373 13 Shinichi Nakatomi Yamaha JPN 0’33.548 14 Jakub Smrz Ducati CZE 0’48.283 15 Marty Nutt Yamaha GBR 1’4.655 Race 2 – 25 Laps Pos. Rider Manu. Nat. Total Time 1 James Toseland Honda GBR 36’34.177 2 Noriyuki Haga Yamaha JPN 0’1.686 3 Troy Corser Yamaha AUS 0’1.760 4 Michel Fabrizio Honda ITA 0’8.456 5 Yukio Kagayama Suzuki JPN 0’8.988 6 Ruben Xaus Ducati ESP 0’9.470 7 Troy Bayliss Ducati AUS 0’18.313 8 Max Biaggi Suzuki ITA 0’19.116 9 Regis Laconi Kawasaki FRA 0’20.501 10 Max Neukirchner Suzuki GER 0’20.586 11 Roberto Rolfo Honda ITA 0’21.808 12 Lorenzo Lanzi Ducati ITA 0’24.883 13 Fonsi Nieto Kawasaki ESP 0’31.988 14 Karl Muggeridge Honda AUS 0’33.253 15 Shinichi Nakatomi Yamaha JPN 0’36.868 Best Lap Rider Manu. Nat. Total Time Noriyuki Haga Yamaha JPN 1’26.590 Rider Standings 05/08/2007 Pos. Rider Manu. Nat. Points 1. James Toseland Honda GBR 355 2. Noriyuki Haga Yamaha JPN 289 3. Max Biaggi Suzuki ITA 286 4. Troy Bayliss Ducati AUS 258 5. Troy Corser Yamaha AUS 227 6. Ruben Xaus Ducati ESP 163 7. Lorenzo Lanzi Ducati ITA 161 8. Roberto Rolfo Honda ITA 146 9. Max Neukirchner Suzuki GER 123 10. Yukio Kagayama Suzuki JPN 116 11. Michel Fabrizio Honda ITA 109 12. Regis Laconi Kawasaki FRA 98 13. Fonsi Nieto Kawasaki ESP 65 14. Jakub Smrz Ducati CZE 58 15. Shinichi Nakatomi Yamaha JPN 41 Manufacturer Standings 05/08/2007 Pos. Manufacturer Points 1. Honda 369 2. Yamaha 343 3. Ducati 325 4. Suzuki 305 5. Kawasaki 130 6. MV Agusta 1 Parkes Takes His Season’s Maiden Win Broc Parkes completed a textbook ride today to take his first win of the season. The victory was made all the sweeter for Yamaha as Massimo Roccoli finished third and Tommy Hill came home in fifth. At the beginning of the race Hill got a good start to take third with Parkes in fourth and Roccoli in fifth. Parkes made quick work of passing through the pack to take second behind Jones within one lap. Having set a new lap record on lap four, Parkes was on the charge towards the lead man when Jones crashed, leaving an open track ahead for the Yamaha rider. From there on it was a textbook ride for the young Australian as he increased his lead over Sofuoglu by 0.3 seconds per lap, eventually taking the win with a 3.6 second margin. With Parkes leading the way and Sofuoglu settled in second, Hill, Roccoli and Harms fought long and hard throughout the race for the final grid position. The riders swapped places and diced for position every lap with Roccoli winning the battle for third and Hill finishing in a well-earned fifth. Today’s result is Parkes’ second consecutive win at Brands and puts him fifth in the championship on equal points with Roccoli. Broc Parkes (1st – Yamaha World Supersport Team) “I got a good start and went pretty hard into the first corner; I knew I’d have to break free early on if I was to be in with a chance of winning. The bike felt really good and I saw Jones ahead so focused on catching him up. When he crashed I didn’t know which way the bike would go so I lost a bit of time avoiding that. The bike worked really well today and we found a good set-up this morning. It’s been a good day at the office! To get a win finally feels so good, this circuit has been good to me two years running now, and I look forward to coming back here next year.” Tommy Hill (5th – Yamaha World Supersport Team) “This race has turned out much better than I expected considering my crashes earlier in the weekend! I’m really pleased with my result and, although I felt I could’ve finished higher, I thought it was better to finish than crash. All three of us in that battle were riding on the edge by the end and I’m glad the tyre lasted the race distance. The team has worked really hard to get the bikes sorted for me and I’m very grateful. Knowing they were working late to repair the bike one night, I even brought them a crate of beer at one point! They’ve been great to work with and I’d like to thank the team for the opportunity to ride this weekend.” Terrell Thien (Team Manager, Yamaha World Supersport Team) “Today’s race was really good. Tommy improved a lot over the weekend and kept a good race pace. Without those crashes earlier this weekend I’m sure he could’ve been on the podium. He was wise to know when to back off though and not risk another crash. Broc’s victory was not as easy as it looked; we’ve had to do a lot of work on the set-up throughout the weekend but we found a suitable front tyre this morning and from there it all clicked into place. I’d just like to say thanks to the team, it has been a very busy one for them. I’m really pleased.” Massimo Roccoli (3rd – Yamaha Team Italia) “We’ve worked really hard this weekend to get the bike set up properly. Just after the start I knew I could do well. I knew that there were two places where I was faster than Harms and one of them was on the back straight. I took my chance there and it worked. I’d like to thank the team for their efforts.” Circuit Length: 4197 Temp: 24 Crowd: 120,000 Weather: Dry 2007 WSS Brands Hatch 05/08/2007 Race 1 – 23 Laps Pos. Rider Manu. Nat. Total Time 1 Broc Parkes Yamaha AUS 34’34.688 2 Kenan Sofuoglu Honda TUR 0’3.658 3 Massimo Roccoli Yamaha ITA 0’5.556 4 Robbin Harms Honda DNK 0’5.573 5 Tommy Hill Yamaha GBR 0’6.506 6 Fabien Foret Kawasaki FRA 0’10.113 7 Lorenzo Alfonsi Honda ITA 0’10.414 8 Barry Veneman Suzuki NED 0’14.236 9 Pere Riba Kawasaki ESP 0’15.978 10 Matthieu Lagrive Honda FRA 0’18.424 11 Gianluca Vizziello Yamaha ITA 0’25.083 12 Joan Lascorz Honda ESP 0’25.154 13 Sebastien Gimbert Yamaha FRA 0’25.442 14 Gregory Leblanc Honda FRA 0’28.957 15 Mauro Sanchini Kawasaki ITA 0’36.557 Best Lap Rider Manu. Nat. Total Time Broc Parkes Yamaha AUS 1’29.021 Rider Standings 05/08/2007 Pos. Rider Manu. Nat. Points 1. Kenan Sofuoglu Honda TUR 206 2. Fabien Foret Kawasaki FRA 126 3. Katsuaki Fujiwara Honda JPN 87 4. Robbin Harms Honda DNK 83 5. Massimo Roccoli Yamaha ITA 75 6. Broc Parkes Yamaha AUS 75 7. Anthony West Yamaha AUS 66 8. Barry Veneman Suzuki NED 64 9. Lorenzo Alfonsi Honda ITA 45 10. Craig Jones Honda GBR 45 11. Gianluca Nannelli Ducati ITA 44 12. Andrew Pitt Honda AUS 40 13. Sebastien Charpentier Honda FRA 37 14. Pere Riba Kawasaki ESP 37 15. David Salom Yamaha ESP 34 20. David Checa Yamaha ESP 29 21. Sebastien Gimbert Yamaha FRA 25 22. Kevin Curtain Yamaha AUS 25 Manufacturer Standings 05/08/2007 Pos. Manufacturer Points 1. Honda 226 2. Yamaha 170 3. Kawasaki 137 4. Suzuki 71 5. Ducati 44 Corti Takes Fourth Podium of the Season Today saw a positive end to a good weekend for Claudio Corti with him finishing third having taken his second pole of the season yesterday. Matteo Baiocco put in a strong performance to finish in fourth while Pirro took ninth. Corti had shown his capability with his pole position and proceeded to get the holeshot at the start of the race to take the lead into the first corner. With Baiocco second and Van Keymeulen fourth it was shaping up to be a Yamaha battle. Unfortunately, Van Keymeulen ran wide and onto the grass on lap two and re-joined in 28th position but was forced to retire one lap later. Canepa put a strong pass on Corti at Druids on lap four, pushing Corti to second and Baiocco to third. Corti and Baiocco continued to fight for podium positions for the remainder of the race until a successful challenge from Simeon on lap 12 saw Corti move into third with Baiocco finishing just behind in fourth. Michele Pirro found himself embroiled in a midfield battle from start to finish in today’s race. Unfortunately, Pirro was unable to fend off some of the challenges and finished in ninth. As a show of appreciation to all the support from his British fans this weekend, Corti wore a special edition helmet this weekend. The helmet featured an Italian flag on the front and an English flag at the back. Corti also showed his alliance with his British fans with an ‘I love Brands Hatch’ T-shirt on the podium and a Union flag. Yamaha also did well in this weekend’s Superstock 600 double header. To make up for the cancelled round at Silverstone earlier in the season two races were held this weekend – one on Saturday and one on Sunday. In race one Yamaha made up five out of the top ten finishing spots with Berger taking the win and Magnoni third. Berger then repeated his win in race two today and now leads the championship with a 26 point lead. Claudio Corti (3rd – Yamaha Team Italia) “I got a good start and my pace was good until the rear tyre started sliding. I’m disappointed as this round was vital for me to improve my championship standing. But with three races to go I’m still in championship contention.” Matteo Baiocco (4th – Team Umbria Bike) “The race was very fast and many riders wanted to be on the podium. I was able to attack Simeon but when I was behind Corti I felt it would’ve been dangerous to try and challenge him. I’m still first in the championship though and we are one race nearer to the end of the season.” Michele Pirro (9th – Yamaha Team Italia) “This was my first visit to Brands and I was riding well in the first part of the race. Unfortunately I developed a pain in my right arm partway through, which I also suffered from at Misano and Brno. I need to work out why this is happening and resolve it before the next race.” Circuit Length: 4197 Temp: 25 Crowd: 120,000 Weather: Dry 2007 Superstock Brands Hatch 05/08/2007 Race 1 – 14 Laps Pos. Rider Manu. Nat. Total Time 1 Nicolo Canepa Ducati ITA 21’7.922 2 Xavier Simeon Suzuki BEL 0’0.654 3 Claudio Corti Yamaha ITA 0’2.212 4 Matteo Baiocco Yamaha ITA 0’2.394 5 Brendan Roberts Ducati AUS 0’3.130 6 Ayrton Badovini MV Agusta ITA 0’3.566 7 Ilario Dionisi Suzuki ITA 0’4.640 8 Mark Aitchison Suzuki AUS 0’5.763 9 Michele Pirro Yamaha ITA 0’10.051 10 Arne Tode Honda GER 0’10.284 11 Matej Smrz Honda CZE 0’13.642 12 Sheridan Morais Ducati RSA 0’14.439 13 Denis Sacchetti MV Agusta ITA 0’20.329 14 Danilo Dell’omo MV Agusta ITA 0’25.853 15 Barry Burrell Honda GBR 0’25.994 Best Lap Rider Manu. Nat. Total Time Mark Aitchison Suzuki AUS 1’29.317 Rider Standings 05/08/2007 Pos. Rider Manu. Nat. Points 1. Matteo Baiocco Yamaha ITA 128 2. Xavier Simeon Suzuki BEL 116 3. Mark Aitchison Suzuki AUS 108 4. Nicolo Canepa Ducati ITA 105 5. Claudio Corti Yamaha ITA 96 6. Ilario Dionisi Suzuki ITA 86 7. Michele Pirro Yamaha ITA 77 8. Didier Van Keymeulen Yamaha BEL 53 9. Brendan Roberts Ducati AUS 52 10. Matej Smrz Honda CZE 44 11. Rene Mahr Yamaha GER 43 12. Sheridan Morais Ducati RSA 33 13. Arne Tode Honda GER 24 14. Cederic Tangre Yamaha FRA 23 15. Marko Jerman Suzuki SVK 23 Manufacturer Standings 05/08/2007 Pos. Manufacturer Points 1. Yamaha 162 2. Suzuki 156 3. Ducati 130 4. Honda 60 5. MV Agusta 43 6. Kawasaki 4 More, from a press release issued by bp Concepts: WERA Middleweight Superbike endurance team “bp concepts” was back on top of the podium taking 1st in class for the third time during round 6 at Summit Point Motorsports Park this past weekend. Brandon Parrish comments: “The past two rounds we unfortunately had some bad luck with two DNF’s at about the 4 hour mark while running first in class at Road Atlanta and Gratten. This past week we were skeptical about how things were going to turn out because two of our riders could not make the 6 hour race. Andy Feuersthaler is out with an injured ankle due to a crash at Road Atlanta, and Ben Thompson was attending the AMA round at Mid Ohio. However, prior to the weekend we had made arrangements with Opie Caylor to ride with us the remainder of the season so we were not too worried and appreciate his help. As far as results, we couldn’t have asked for a better finish. Our NPSracing.com engines are always fresh; our Dunlop tires were awesome having one front and rear change at the half way point; our Gemini Motorsports quick change was super fast, our new gas tank made by Ricky Howerton was super nice, the modified dump can by Johnny at Wise Guys fabrication dumped very fast and all of our riders had flawless, fast paced stints to keep us at the front. Other than that, at Summit you can utilize the horsepower on the big bikes, so we were proud to be the first 600 behind the 1000’s for the overall finish of 6th place, finishing 2 laps ahead of RedStar and running an average of 2 seconds off the overall leaders pace. We look forward to round 7 at Talladega Gp on the 18th.” Opie Caylor Comments: “Just want to thank bp concepts for putting me on the bike this weekend. The bike performed great, as usual the Dunlop’s were excellent and kept us in the hunt, and we put in great stints and did what we had to do. I look forward to riding again.” More, from a press release issued by Team Moe’s/TVR: Team Moe’s/TVR on the WERA Endurance Podium Twice at Summit Point SUMMIT POINT, W. Va. Heat, humidity, an understaffed crew and a shortened rider roster were not enough to keep Team Moe’s/TVR from winning the Heavyweight Superstock class and finishing second overall in Saturday’s WERA National Endurance Series race at Summit Point. Chuck Ivey and Joshua Day were joined by Reuben Frankenfield for the six-hour race on the TVR Yamaha YZF-R1. Ivey and Day intended to share the riding, but former TVR regular Frankenfield stepped in to ride a stint when Day began having trouble with numbness in his hands and arms. Ivey started the race and rode three and a half stints before the checkered flag. Day put in two stints, and Frankenfield one. Ivey held down fourth overall in his opening stint, and from there the team moved up to the top of the Heavyweight Superstock class. After six hours of racing, the competition was still close between TVR and the other entries in the race. The Yamaha crossed the finish line with only 31.4 seconds over both Team Maxxis and Brand X. The close race for second overall was nearly lost in the final minutes of the race. The R1’s fuel tank capacity gave the team about 48 minutes between pit stops, but when Ivey got on the bike for the final stint there were 52 minutes left in the race. The fuel light came on with ten minutes to go, but Ivey decided to risk making it to the end. He conserved fuel as much as he could without allowing the other teams to close the gap. The gamble paid off and Ivey held onto second. For Ivey, taking another class win and standing on the overall podium was a rewarding end to the weekend. “I knew coming into the weekend we would have our work cut out for us,” said Ivey. “We just wanted to be consistent and run our pace; let everyone else wear themselves out and make mistakes. Josh and Reuben rode well and we got a new Pirelli front tire that let us save time on pit stops. We only had to change the front tire once. I would like to thank Keith, Chris, and Regina for their invaluable help in the pits.” “I knew going in that it would be a tough weekend,” said Day. “My first stint was pretty uneventful, but about halfway through my second stint my hands started to tingle and get numb. I finally signaled to come in, but I had to keep lapping until the team could get ready for a pit stop.” With the new Pirelli front, TVR hopes that no front tire changes will be required during upcoming four-hour races, significantly speeding up pit stops. Moe’s Southwest Grill serves fresh, healthy Mexican food with an emphasis on fast service and a fun atmosphere. The group of restaurants began in the Southeast U.S. and explosive growth over the past few years has made Moe’s Southwest Grill a household name. Moe’s locations can be found online at www.Moes.com. Fans can follow Team Moe’s/TVR’s quest for the Heavyweight Superstock title at www.TeamVelocityRacing.com.