The Yamaha Motor Italia squad today completed an extensive two day test at the Brno circuit in the Czech Republic. Riders Andrew Pitt and Noriyuki Haga completed 160 and 120 laps respectively during a busy programme that saw the team combine the testing of a new gearbox, chassis settings, tyre development work and acclimatization to the circuit ahead of next month’s race at the venue. Pitt recorded a best lap time of 2:03.9 around the long, flowing circuit with Haga just one tenth of a second behind despite concentrating on recording consistent laps on race settings rather than ultimate lap times. With sunny weather allowing the riders to maximize their time on track, the team’s mechanics were able to make big changes to the chassis characteristics of the R1s – mainly by altering the height of the rear swingarm pivot. Despite moving in opposite directions in terms of chassis set-ups, both riders declared themselves happy with the changes – claiming improvements in both grip levels and steering characteristics. Also attending the test was Yamaha’s officially supported world supersport riders Kevin Curtain and Broc Parkes. The Yamaha Motor Germany riders spent the two days working on finding a good set-up for next month’s race. Curtain set a best lap of 2:06.6 with Parkes just behind on a 2:06.9. Round six of the series takes place at Misano in Italy next weekend (24-26 June) with superbike racing returning to Brno after an absence of a decade three weeks later (15-17 July). Andrew Pitt (Yamaha Motor Italia) “We’ve found a good base setting for the circuit, so hopefully that will give us a slight edge when we come here for the race. I’m happy because I didn’t feel I was pushing too hard on my fast lap so that gives me confidence that we are able to find a bit more. It’s been good to be able to try out these new settings and find out what works and what doesn’t and, overall, we have moved forward. Pirelli also brought a bunch of tyres along for us to test on the second day so we’ve certainly been kept busy.” Noriyuki Haga (Yamaha Motor Italia) “It has been good to have this test. The weather has been good and it has allowed me to make a lot of laps and try out new things away from the race weekend. Overall it has been not so bad. We changed the swingarm position and this gave me a better feeling with the steering so this is a good step for us. We were able to get through a lot of work and I have spent the time to find some settings that will work here in the race.” Kevin Curtain (Yamaha Motor Germany) “Coming here to test should give us some advantage when we come here for the race next month. Brno is a long circuit so it’s been good to get in so many laps and be able to get a good set-up for when we come back. There was one scary moment when someone had a huge crash in front of me and I had to take avoiding action, but we’re really happy with how it’s gone here. I’m doing a wild-card in the German championship this weekend and then it’s off to Misano and, hopefully, doing better than my second place last year.” Broc Parkes (Yamaha Motor Germany) “It’s been good to get all these laps in and if I’m not used to the R6 by now I guess I’ll never be! All in we did about 130, 140 laps over the two days and I’ve ended up just two tenths of a second behind Kevin and able to put in a lot of comfortable 2:07 laps. That’s the closest I’ve been all year and I should’ve gone quicker but for another rider getting in my way during my fast lap. I’m looking forward to Misano now, but before then we’re going to the Nurburgring where I’ll be riding an R1 for the first time in the IDM championship.” Wilco Zeelenberg (Technical Coordinator – Yamaha Motor Europe) “It has been a good choice to have Brno as our test track because it is a long circuit that takes some time to learn properly and this should benefit our riders in the race, especially as it is a ‘new’ track in the championship and one we have no previous settings for. It was particularly good for the R6 guys who normally only get four 45 minute sessions to set up the bike in the race, so to get two full days is a real benefit to them. It was also their first big test with their new suspension technician and you can see that the riders are becoming more and more confident with the bike. The superbike guys were also able to try a lot of things with Andrew really benefiting. He was struggling a bit on the first day and wondering why he couldn’t go as fast as Noriyuki but the team was able to make the changes he needed and, by the end, he was going over a second a lap quicker and feeling very comfortable on the bike. Overall a very good test with no crashes or silly mistakes and that’s good for the confidence too.”