Noriyuki Haga and Troy Corser (Yamaha Motor Italia WSB Team) used their two days of official testing time at the Vallelunga circuit to prepare for the next races, and came away from Vallelunga with positive results all round. The sessions were a combined official FGSport outing and a Development Teams Test for Pirelli, and both Noriyuki and Troy found some advantages in the latest specification of control tyres. With track temperatures climbing to over 60°C on the final afternoon most riders set their best times during the final day’s morning session. Over the two days, Corser finished top Yamaha rider, with a 1:36.770. Noriyuki had set his fastest lap of 1:37.115 on the afternoon of the first day, which was generally cooler than day two. Despite the incredibly hot track temperatures, each rider found great improvements in the duration of the latest rear tyres during their long runs. The Vallelunga race itself, scheduled for September, is expected to be considerably cooler than it was during this test, but the team learned many valuable lessons for immediate and long-term use. Each rider tried out Ohlins electronic suspension units, which were being tested for the first time in public at this event and despite having limited track time in which to try them out, initial results were declared positive by each rider. The team also ran their latest exhaust developments, which made for a better engine response and slightly more power through the rev range. Troy Corser (5th – 1:36.770 – 127 laps – Yamaha Motor Italia WSB Team) “I was happy enough with that test. We tried lots of different things with the suspension and the new things we worked with seemed pretty good. Overall the bike was working well and the new tyres they brought seemed to give us more life. They were not that much different in single lap times but they just lasted longer. We did a long run and from the first to the last lap the lap time was pretty good. I think there was more time to come off if we had pushed harder but we are testing, not qualifying. The temperature going up didn’t offer us much grip at all and there seemed to be less track grip than at Misano, which is unusual. It doesn’t feel as hot here but the tarmac obviously holds more heat. The test has been good, no silly mistakes or crashes, so it’s been positive all round.” Noriyuki Haga (8th – 1:37.115 – 131 laps – Yamaha Motor Italia WSB Team) “I’m happy with the test and we did most of our work on our normal suspension set-up because that is what we will be using in real race conditions. We had a little problem finding a good final set-up to go faster than we did on day one, and we could not improve today. But in our long run the lap times were good, consistent and we had the same experience as Troy with the development tyres. They lasted longer than the regular ones. In this regard we are happy and the important thing is that the track temperature may be different for the race in two months, but we hope to use a similar machine set-up September.” Silvano Galbusera (Technical Chief, Yamaha Motor Italia WSB Team) “We tested the electronic suspension for the first time and it seems to have good possibilities. Troy was happy with it, and we used it with Nori for a short time. We found a good solution from Pirelli for the races and both riders’ long runs were very good, and maybe Nori was slightly longer. I think he did 20 laps, with good results. Some riders could push harder for a single lap today, and because of that they set a better time, but we are happy with the work we did to make sure we will be ready for the races. Our new exhaust design was a small improvement in all areas. It is hard to do that at this stage of the season so the final result was good all round.” More, from another press release issued by Yamaha Racing: Parkes and Foret fast in testing at Vallelunga The Yamaha World Supersport Team arrived in Vallelunga with a clear aim in mind and after exhaustive tests in high temperatures, both Broc Parkes and Fabien Foret found real improvements in the real-world race set-up of their Yamaha YZF-R6 machines. Parkes finished the test outright second fastest but more importantly he found an improved base set-up, even in the hot conditions of a Roman summer. The Qatar race winner also made good work in evaluating Pirelli’s latest batch of development tyres. Foret, who is not a fan of the Vallelunga circuit because it features contrasting fast and ultra-slow sections, made a set-up breakthrough on the final day, after working through several options during this test. Despite punishing track temperatures in the last session, both Foret and Parkes improved on their previous best laps times at the end of two hard days of action. Parkes was only 0.018 seconds from the fastest rider, with Foret only just over a tenth behind his team-mate, making him third quickest of all 17 riders. Broc Parkes (2nd – 1:39.523 – 96 laps – Yamaha World Supersport Team) “It’s been a good test for us over two hard days and the new tyres worked well on our bike. We came with a target to make the bike more secure and still fast and we found a set-up that let us do that. The boys in the garage worked really hard so big thanks to them. We went faster at the end and I was on course to make an even better lap until I made a mistake and lost that last chance. But the test was very good, despite the heat on the track, and I hope we can take the things we found here forward to other races.” Fabien Foret (3rd – 1:39.653 – 101 laps – Yamaha World Supersport Team) “In the end we made what felt like a small change but it had a really big effect. We found that the new tyres were working better and towards the end we tried something new, which worked straight away. I was more than half a second faster! This is not a track I enjoy so much, especially the very slow parts, but we found something good and it is been useful to have lots of new information.” Wilco Zeelenberg (Team Manager, Yamaha World Supersport Team) “We got to where we wanted to be in the end but this morning we struggled a bit. Fabien had a different problem from Broc so we adjusted the bikes of each rider. Fabien is still looking for something more but in the set-up we took the bike to a place where we have never been. It seemed to work for him, even though it was quite a big jump. It was very interesting for Fabien to improve his previous best time by eight tenths of a second, so we are pleased to have actually found something new. But that is what testing is for. The track temperature was unbelievable, more than 60°C to start the session. The new tyres were good and we were happy with them.” More, from a press release issued by Troy Corser’s publicist: TROY HAPPY IN THE ROMAN SUN Troy left Vallelunga circuit hot, but happy with the work completed in the two day test at the Roman circuit. This afternoon the track temperature rose to 60C, making life hard for riders and all mechanics, but nevertheless Troy worked at improving his R1 Yamaha and trying to find a good set-up for when he and the series return in September. Throughout the two days, Troy concentrated on working on the bike’s set-up and didn’t particularly chase any lap times at a circuit suited to Ducatis. In the end, Troy finished the fastest non-Ducati, behind Spaniard Ruben Xaus, Niccolo Canepa, Troy Bayliss and Michel Fabrizio. Troy I think the tests didn’t go too bad really and I’m pretty satisfied with what we did over these two days. Yesterday started well, and I guess we’re all pretty satisfied because we improved from then and kept going in the right direction. We went through quite a few tyres and when we did a long run this afternoon they seemed fairly consistent. It was pretty hot this afternoon and the track temperature got up to 60C and that was hotter than Misano! Conditions were better for quick times in the morning when it was a bit cooler, but all in all things worked out pretty good and I had no dramas or get-offs. To be fair, I wasn’t pushing too hard because I really wanted to work with the bike and keep improving – as we have done recently. We had some new suspension bits and pieces to try and that went pretty well also. This circuit is a real Ducati track and they seem to be able toa get on the throttle quicker than any of us four cylinder riders, so it’s no surprise they topped the time sheets today. I tried a qualifying tyre at the end of the day, just as a test to see what it would do, but I didn’t go any quicker then I had gone on race rubber. I’m actually happy that I went quicker today then yesterday and was one of the few to do so.