Yamaha Racing Team’s elite road race squad have shown today why they are considered amongst the ‘best in the business’, again taking out round honours across both Superbike and Supersport classes at Perth’s Barbagallo Raceway, host of round two of the YMF Loan Australian Superbike Championship. Once again it was dual championship leader Jamie Stauffer who claimed the spoils after a perfect pair of pole positions, though he received strong support from his teammates across both classes. The power and pace of both the YZF-R1 and YZF-R6 machines was more than apparent as they continued their dominance from the previous round across the course of the race meeting. The Yamaha Racing Team will have little time to regroup as the series travels back east to Mallala Motorsport Park, SA for round three. Yamaha Racing Team Superbike Squad Yamaha Racing Team’s man of the moment Jamie Stauffer has added another Superbike round win to his impeccable season 2006 record today, though he did it without winning a race. Stauffer’s consistency through two 2nd place finishes was enough to award him round honours as the winners of both races stumbled in their weekend campaigns. The racing was littered with red flags which halted any momentum the riders could build as the fast and sandy circuit claimed a number of victims. Stauffer said it was a strange situation in which to win a round but felt that he would have been more than capable of gapping the field had they been able to string more than ten laps together without stopping. “We were able to learn quite alot about the bikes today as the circumstances forced a major change to race strategy,” explained Stauffer. “It’s great to have taken the win and though a little of it may have been through luck, I feel as though we worked very hard for it as a team.” “It’s still fairly close as far as the championship is concerned, both Russell (Holland) and Shannon (Johnson) again put in strong race results and it will be interesting to see what we can do at Mallala.” Dan Stauffer experienced an up and down weekend aboard his YZF-R1 machine, but made some good ground in the second race of the day. Stauffer executed two perfect restarts, leaping up the order early as his rivals struggled to get the power down. Despite the good result in race 2 (5th), he was unable to make inroads on the points leaders as the race was declared and only half points awarded. Stauffer’s weekend result keeps him in the title hunt and he sits handily placed within the top 5. “It was a pretty trying weekend, we had some good speed but it was hard to convert it to results as there were constant interruptions and rain,” said Stauffer. “I was particularly pleased with the restarts though, the bike got off the line really well.” “I’ll take some of the things I learnt about the R1 to Mallala and try to further refine the bike into a race-winning package.” Yamaha Racing Team Supersport Squad Yamaha Racing Team’s Supersport trio have experienced a highly successful weekend in their quest for round victory, and all three riders shone in their pursuit of the top podium place. In the end it would once again be Jamie Stauffer who claimed overall honours, though he was capably backed up by his younger teammates Mark Aitchison and Jason O’Halloran. Aitchison and O’Halloran put in stellar performances across the course of the weekend and demonstrated the full potential of both themselves and their bikes. Aitchison had the measure of Stauffer for much of the weekend and only just fell short of his mark in terms of round points. “It’s been a really positive weekend for the team, and I feel like I am coming along leaps and bounds in terms of my own riding,” said Aitchison. “The R6 really is a complete package and was really suited to this style of track, and I think it showed as we stuck together at the front.” “Third and second places across both races is where I want to be, it was a great improvement over the Eastern Creek result and the bike was more reliable than ever.” Jason O’Halloran experienced a fairly successful weekend, the highlight being his magnificent comeback in race one. He was left with nowhere to go as the massive Supersport grid roared into turn 1, and ended up stranded deep in the sand. O’Halloran demonstrated a resilient attitude by single-handedly getting himself back onto the road and onto the back of the pack, and was later rewarded with a restart which gave him the opportunity to make up ground. By the end of Supersport race 1, O’Halloran had made up a number of spots, showing just how determined he was to catch the leaders. “It could have been a much better result for me personally, I really made a mess of the first race but was able to get a little back after the red flag,” said O’Halloran. “I’ve been really pleased to be able to run with Jamie up the front, I’m getting more and more confident each time we take to the bikes.” “Mallala will be a good test to see if I can challenge for race wins, I’m quietly confident of being there very soon.” More, from a press release issued by Team Suzuki: Three-time Australian Superbike rider Shawn Giles suffered a broken foot and a laceration to his arm in a heavy crash during round two of the 2006 series at Barbagallo Raceway, Western Australia, yesterday. The Suzuki star crashed from the lead as a result of oil on the track left by a back-marker who also crashed only moments earlier. Left with nowhere to go, Giles’ GSX-R1000 hit the oil and the 35-year-old was sent skidding feet first into the sand The battered and bruised Champion was taken to hospital with initial fears of two broken ankles. Currently with his right foot in plaster and six stitches in his arm, he also has very sore ankles and hips as a result of the impact. The Team Suzuki rider has returned to New South Wales and is now recuperating at home with his family and has not yet been ruled out of next weekend’s Australian Superbike round at Mallala in South Australia.