YAMAHA RACING TEAM MAKES CHAMPIONSHIP GAINS AT MALLALA The Yamaha Racing Team’s goal of scoring round win hat-tricks across the Superbike and Supersport classes has been partially realised this weekend, with dual-contender Jamie Stauffer leading the way. Stauffer was forced to share the spotlight at round three of the YMF Loan Australian Superbike Championship at Mallala this weekend, winning the Supersport round but finishing runner-up in a hotly-contested Superbike battle. A less than perfect start to the opening Superbike race was quickly remedied by Stauffer, but he was unable to find a way past the lead pairing, and had to settle for third. Stauffer backed up with a dominant race two victory, finishing just one point shy of the round win, which was taken by Honda privateer Russell Holland. Yamaha Racing Team Superbike Man of the moment Jamie Stauffer has maintained a healthy points margin over his rivals in the YMF Loan Australian Superbike Championship, scoring an impressive second placing overall. A race win and a third placing were not enough to deliver Stauffer a dream hat-trick round result, but keep him well clear of the competition at the top of the table. He was a little deflated at missing out by such a minute margin, but enjoyed the battle, concurring that he simply had no answer for Russell Holland in the opening race. “It was a very successful weekend for the team in relative terms, but disappointing in a way to end the round win streak,” said Stauffer. “We had a fairly good handle on the bike, starting from pole, but the start really did leave me with a lot of work to do,” he said. “Full credit to Russell (Holland) for the win, it was well deserved as long as he doesn’t score too many more!” Dan Stauffer has scored a season best 4th overall at today’s round of the Superbike championship, finishing just 6 points shy of a podium placing. Stauffer’s determination and consistency was rewarded with 6th and 4th place finishes across races 1 and 2 respectively, and he was encouraged by the performance. He now moves to third overall in the championship chase, a brilliant reward for his hard work. “It’s been a positive weekend for us in a lot of ways, the results were great and the guys really nailed the setup on the bike,” said Stauffer. “More importantly though is the championship points situation, I’m now in third which is an unexpected bonus, it will be good to get to Queensland and build on this.” Yamaha Racing Team Supersport The Supersport arm of the Yamaha Racing Team has experienced a weekend of highs and lows, capped off by another dominant round win from Jamie Stauffer. Stauffer’s victory was seemingly effortless, with rider, team, machine and tyres all working in perfect harmony. Teammates Mark Aitchison and Jason O’Halloran had a difficult weekend, which got off to a bad start as they collided with each other in the first race of the day. The akward incident forced Aitchison out of the race, while O’Halloran was able to go on to finish within the top ten. The riders made amends in the second 19-lap stoush, following Stauffer home in second and third places respectively. “It was a tough situation to deal with, I was in a really good position at the time so it was frustrating, but this is all a part of racing,” said Aitchison. “The positive to come from the weekend is that the bike is working superbly and I’m back within the championship top five.” “All that’s required now is to string together a strong consistent round and I should be able to make back a few more spots.” Aitchison now sits in 5th in the Supersport championship, with teammate O’Halloran just ahead in 4th. O’Halloran had similar feelings about the weekend, which did not live up to his hopes. “We came into this round really confident, coming off a strong test here and knowing that the bikes are field leaders,” said O’Halloran. “It just goes to show that small mistakes can cost you dearly and today was disappointing for the team as we were both running so well.” “Our results in the second race were a good showing of what the team and myself are capable of.” + Yamaha Motor + Superbike 2. Jamie Stauffer, 44 points 4. Dan Stauffer, 32 points +Supersport 1. Jamie Stauffer, 51 points 5. Jason O’Halloran, 29 points 9. Mark Aitchison, 20 points + YMF Loan ASC + Superbike 1. Jamie Stauffer, 126 points 3. Dan Stauffer, 83 points + Supersport 1. Jamie Stauffer, 153 points 4. Jason O’Halloran, 89 points 5. Mark Aitchison, 78 points