Amadeus X One finish the World Endurance season with a SuperProduction podium finish Excellent 5th Place at the Qatar 8 Hour Amadeus X One finally managed to realise the potential of their Yamaha YZF-R1 at the final round of the World Endurance Championship, with fifth place overall and second in the SuperProduction class. A fantastic result for the Italian team, who were able to celebrate the end of a difficult season from the podium at Doha; “This is just the great result we wanted,” said team principal Maurizio Bargiacchi. “We’ve had to completely renew the organisation of the team during the season and we’ve paid for this ‘uncertainty’ on more than one occasion. After the brake problems at the Bol d’Or deprived us of important points, this beautiful fifth place will repay all the hard work and difficulties and I want to thank again everyone in the team and the riders Tessari, Gruy and Ricci who rode brilliantly at Doha. I can now confirm that next year we will be back in the World Endurance Championship again, with many new innovations and the real possibility of heading for the top.” The 8 Qatar Hour race won by the factory Suzuki of Lagrive and Philippe was a great turnaround for the company from Pistoia in Tuscany: great mechanical performance, riders on good form, faultless pitstops. For much of the race the Amadeus X One Yamaha held the third fastest lap time and after eight hours of racing the team were less than 30 seconds behind the SuperProduction leaders. The team finish the 2007 season in an honourable 18th place overall in the championship. More, from a press release issued by Damian Cudlin: CUDLIN ENDS SEASON ON A HIGH Taree’s Damian Cudlin has ended his 2007 World Championship campaign with another podium finish, securing 2nd place in the final WEC race of the season in Losail, Qatar on the weekend. The YART squad comprising of Martin, Jerman & Cudlin initially struggled in practice and qualifying for the 8Hour race. Despite setting the teams fastest lap in qualifying, Cudlin was nervous before the start, lying just 5th on the starting grid on combined times. “We weren’t in a great position the night before the race, as all 3 of us struggled to get on with the set up and the tyres” Cudlin explained. “It wasn’t one of the best nights sleep I’ve had. With the final championship places hanging in the balance there was a lot riding on the race, and our package wasn’t the strongest.” An improvement to the bike in Warm Up proved critical for race, as Cudlin fought to 3rd in the opening hour of the race before inheriting the lead when SERT and Phase One crashed. Cudlin and the YART squad maximised the opportunity to extend a healthy lead as the Suzuki spent time in the pits for costly repairs. With 3 hours to go it looked likely that YART would take it’s first WEC win until Martin signalled problems coming from the tank of the YART R1. “I felt the bike suddenly losing power in top revs and it began getting worse and worse until it was barely going at all.” Martin said. “I figured it was fuel related and felt like either the fuel pump or fuel filter, so I signalled to the boys on the wall to get another tank ready.” Martin’s quick thinking saved YART valuable time in the pits, however 1 and a half laps were still lost in the tank change. With Suzuki moving to 2nd and catching fast, Jerman put in a heroic effort setting personal best times lap for lap in the night, but it was to no avail. With an extra pit stop needed to finish the race, YART lost the lead just 40 minutes from the chequered flag, eventually finishing less then a minute behind the Suzuki. “It’s a shame we didn’t win this one as it would have been nice to have gone out on top, but at the end of the day 2nd in this race was still a great result for us.” said Cudlin. “Our main goal was to finish in 3rd in the World Championship which we did, so we’re happy.” The young Aussie insisted though that he’d felt for his former Phase One Team and his brother Alex’s Diablo Team when both suffered bad luck during the race. “Seeing Phase One get taken down in the race was sad as I’m still very close to all those guys and they were certainly set for a good result. Alex’s Diablo Team were too. At one point it looked like there might have been 2 Cudlins on the podium but it wasn’t to be. I guess that’s racing, but I hope to see my brother up there too next year.” Cudlin will return home to Taree in the coming weeks as he prepares for his 2008 campaign.