After the superb 5th position of Norick Abe last Sunday, the Team Yamaha Motor France-Ipone is ready for the difficult German Lausitz track. In Assen, Abe realized a beautiful first race, coming back from the 11th position on lap one to the 8th place on lap 9, then the Japanese champion was 4th on the 15th lap before he was passed in the last moments of the race by Fonsi Nieto (Kawasaki). Abe did almost as well as his two best results this year (2 times 4th in Valencia). Shinichi Nakatomi picked up the points of 13th place and Sebastien Gimbert (then 7th after an excellent start) crashed. The second race was less fortunate, as Gimbert did not start while Abe and Nakatomi had to retire. Very brilliant races for the Yamaha rider Andrew Pitt (2 times second) who is now forth of the championship behind his team mate Noriyuki Haga. THE EUROSPEEDWAY LAUSITZ RACE TRACK Lausitz was opened on August 20th 2000. The racing complex follows current trends and includes an oval and a road circuit. This type of configuration originated in the United States but can now be found more and more frequently elsewhere. Examples are Rockingham (near Northampton in England), Jacarepagua (Brazil) opened in 1978, Welkom (South Africa, opened in 1999) and Motegi (Japan, opened in 1997). Stretching over 570 hectares, the Lausitz EuroSpeedway offers sprint events like Superbike a 4265km long circuit. But F1 racing can also be catered for, over a 4.5km long course, Endurance racing has an 11.3km circuit while the Super Speedway tri-oval is 3.2km long. There are a total of 120,000 seats for spectators with 96,000 of them giving a full view of the circuit. Total tarmac surface is an impressive 90,000m2. Compare that to Valencia’s already large 49,066m2 or Oschersleben’s 60,000m2. 60 km away from Dresden, Lausitz is 130 km from Berlin. It is about the same distance away from Chemnitz Sachsenring, where the German Grand Prix has been held since 1998. Last year, troy Corser was leading the race 2 when he crashed in the first corner of the second lap, restarted 28th (last) and finished 13th. July 15, 16 and 17 tests: Race tyres: 1. Bayliss (Ducati) & Haga (Yamaha) 1:38.2 ; 3. Pitt (Yamaha) 1:38.3 ; 4. Corser & Kagayama (Suzuki) 1:38.4 ; 6. Lanzi (Ducati), Toseland (Honda) & Muggeridge (Honda) 1:39.0 ; 9. Walker (Kawasaki) 1:39.5 ; 10. Nieto (Kawasaki) 1:39.7 Qualifying tyres: 1. Haga & Corser 1:37.6 ; 3. Bayliss 1:37.8 ; 4. Pitt 1:38.1 ; 5. Lanzi 1:38.5 ; 6. Kagayama 1:38.6 ; 7. Toseland 1:38.7 ; 8. Walker 1:39.2 ; 9. Nieto 1:39.5 ; 10. Martin (Foggy Petronas) 1:40.1 World Championship standings: 1- Bayliss (Ducati) 332 points, 2-Toseland (Honda) 232, 3-Haga (Yamaha) 230, 4-Pitt (Yamaha) 197, 5-Corser (Suzuki) 193 LAUSITZ STATS Practice record (2005): 1:39.019 Lanzi (Ducati) 155.060 kph 2005 Yamaha Motor France practice times: Norifumi Abe: 1:41.034 / 15th and Sebastien Gimbert: 1:41.224 / 19th Race 1 result 2005: 1- Vermeulen (Honda) 2- Haga (Yamaha) 3- Corser (Suzuki), 4- Toseland (Ducati) 5- Kagayama (Suzuki) 2005 Yamaha Motor France race 1 results: Norifumi Abe: 9th and Sebastien Gimbert: DNF (retired lap 13) Race 2 results 2005: 1- Lanzi (Ducati) 2- Vermeulen (Honda) 3- Haga (Yamaha) 4- Kagayama (Suzuki) 5-Muggeridge (Honda) – 13-Corser (Suzuki) 2005 Yamaha Motor France race 2 results: Norifumi Abe: 8th and Sebastien Gimbert: 14th Lap record (best race time 2002): 1:39.679 Ruben Xaus (Ducati) 154.030 kph 11th round of the Superbike World Championship: October 1st at Imola (Italy)