The development goes on After Shinichi Nakatomi earned his first points in Qatar last weekend, the Team YZF Yamaha continues in Phillip Island to develop the R1. For the second race of the year, the goal in to make the motorcycle better and better. The 2007 Yamaha R1 has excellent possibilities the team is working on. Shinichi Nakatomi: “I like the Phillip Island circuit. I have a good feeling with the bike, with the help of the Kayaba suspensions. We did little testing over the winter (two days at Valencia) and we progress step by step. I hope here to have my best result of the season so far and to earn some more points.” Martial Garcia: “We are satisfied with the chassis and we keep on working on this brand new engine of which we start the development. The motorcycle is well born and the chassis is very promising. There is a great evolution on this bike compared to last year. We are very happy to work with the Kayaba people for the suspension and Harry for the date recording.” 1999 record to be beaten? Troy Corser has been the fastest man on the race distance since 1999, with 34.24’167 for the 22 laps. That day he finished first, only 0.005 seconds in front of his factory team mate Carl Fogarty. To compare the times, Corser won the race 1 last year in 34:33.545 and Bayliss the race 2 in 34:33.803. Phillip Island Back in the twenties, the roads around Philip Island were very popular with local speed freaks. In 1928, the first Australian car Grand Prix was held at the Island on a 6.5 miles/10.4585 km course. 1931 was the year motorcycles first raced at the Island, for an event that was a lot like the Isle of Man TT on a 12 mile/19.308 km course. The permanent racing facility was opened in 1956. Philip Island is a varied and demanding 4.445 kms with everything from hairpins (minimum radius 23 m) to fast turns (maximum radius 207 m). Right-hand turns are scarce with only two such corners, Honda and Turn 10. In the fastest of left-handers, like turn 12 (the last turn before the start/finish straight), tyre temperatures go above normal. Standard running temperature for a rear slick is between 80 and 110°C but at Phillip Island, they often go beyond 130°C. January 13, 14 & 15 tests: 1-Bayliss (Ducati) 1:30.7; 2-Lanzi (Ducati) 1:31.2; 3-Toseland (Honda) 1:31.7; 4-Corser (Yamaha) 1:32.2; 5-Laconi (Kawasaki) 1:32.2; 6-Kagayama (Suzuki) 1:32.3; 7-Nieto (Kawasaki) 1:32.3; 8-Biaggi (Suzuki) 1:32.4; 9-Haga (Yamaha) 1:32.8; 10-Rolfo (Honda) 1:33.2 World Championship standings: 1-Toseland (Honda) and Biaggi (Suzuki) 45 points, 3-Lanzi (Ducati) 25, 4-Corser (Yamaha) and Kagayama (Suzuki) 23… 15-Nakatomi (Yamaha) 4 Phillip Island stats Practice record (2006): 1:32.081 Troy Bayliss (Ducati) 173.782 kph (second free practice session) Lap record (best race time 2006): 1:32.402 Troy Bayliss (Ducati) 173.180 kph 2006 Yamaha Motor France practice times: Nakatomi: 1:35.039 / 24th; Abe: 1:34.269 / 17th, Gimbert: 1:34.666 / 21st Race 1 results 2006: 1-Corser (Suzuki), 2-Barros (Honda), 3-Toseland (Honda), 4-Haga (Yamaha), 5-Rolfo (Ducati) 2006 Yamaha Motor France race 1 results: Nakatomi: DNF, Abe: 17th, Gimbert: DNF Race 2 results 2006: 1-Bayliss (Ducati), 2-Toseland (Honda), 3- Barros (Honda), 4- Haga (Yamaha), 5-Pitt (Yamaha) 2006 Yamaha Motor France race 2 results: Nakatomi: 19th; Abe: 12th, Gimbert: 20th 3rd round of the Superbike World Championship: April 1st at Donington (United Kingdom)