Race Results
The British weather tried to spoil the seventh
round of the World Superbike Championship at
Silverstone today but it couldn't take away two
podium positions from the Yamaha Motor Italia Team.
In a rain-soaked single-race day,
Troy Bayliss and James Toseland split the wins,
while Noriyuki Haga took second and Troy Corser took
his 110th podium position in third.
The second race was cancelled after
a 30 minute delay to clear water from the track
failed to improve conditions.
The day started with a twenty minute
warm up session that doubled up as the first
opportunity for all the teams to find their wet set
up. Corser showed his wet race confidence in
the YZF-R1, going second fastest overall in the
session. Haga went fifth fastest but had a
small crash at the end of the session.
Both Haga and Corser got good race
starts with Haga maintaining his second place and
Corser moving up to fourth. Within one lap Corser
had passed his way up to second, overtaking Haga
along the way, and was focusing on catching front
man Bayliss. It was on lap four that Corser
took the lead until Bayliss re-took it after six
laps.
The water soaked track made for
difficult race conditions but all three riders were
locked in a tight battle for the lead for the
remainder of the race. Haga squeezed past
Corser on lap 19 and went on to set the fastest lap
of the race on the penultimate lap to give Yamaha
their 50th fastest lap of all-time. Both
riders held on to their positions to take second and
third positions. Yamaha was the only
manufacturer today to have all its riders finish.
Haga now goes into the eighth round
at Misano only 23 points behind first place; Corser
maintains his fifth position with the 16 points from
today's race.
Noriyuki Haga (2nd - Yamaha
Motor Italia WSB Team): "I'm a bit
disappointed the race has been cancelled because I
have lost out on the chance to take away even more
points. The conditions out there are bad but I
still would've wanted to race - that's my job and I
know the risks. At least no championship
points have gone elsewhere."
"This morning I had a small
high-side crash in the warm up session but it didn't
put me off in the race. I was more concerned
about my suspension setting which wasn't perfect.
The twenty minute session this morning wasn't long
enough for me to find the best wet set up so I had
to work with what I had. I am surprised at my
result and getting fastest lap considering this but
it's a good result and I have even managed to reduce
the points difference between myself and first
place. I'm looking forward to Misano - at least it
hardly ever rains there!"
Troy Corser (3rd - Yamaha Motor Italia WSB
Team): "I'm disappointed that the second race
was cancelled because I was going well in the wet
today and reckon I could've got another podium.
I am pleased with my race one result as it's the
first time I have ridden the Yamaha in full wet
conditions. I was running in first place but
just couldn't maintain it because of the conditions
and I made a small mistake - when you make a mistake
in this weather it can really affect you. I'm happy
with the bike and also now with both wet and dry set
up. With regard to race two there was so much
water on the track I nearly crashed twice on the
sighting lap. But to not race is still
disappointing."
|
2007 World Superbike -
Silverstone Race Results |
|
Circuit Length: 3619; Temp:
10; Crowd: 55,000; Weather: Wet. |
|
Race 1 - 28 Laps
|
|
Pos. Rider Manu. Nat. Total
Time |
|
1 Troy Bayliss Ducati AUS
46'2.875 |
|
2 Noriyuki Haga Yamaha JPN
0'2.035 |
|
3 Troy Corser Yamaha AUS
0'4.568 |
|
4 Roberto Rolfo Honda ITA
0'50.039 |
|
5 Regis Laconi Kawasaki FRA
1'9.696 |
|
6 Max Biaggi Suzuki ITA
1'20.982 |
|
7 Lorenzo Lanzi Ducati ITA
1'33.061 |
|
8 James Toseland Honda GBR
-1 Laps |
|
9 Ruben Xaus Ducati ESP -1
Laps |
|
10 Max Neukirchner Suzuki
GER -1 Laps |
|
11 Vittorio Iannuzzo
Kawasaki ITA -1 Laps |
|
12 Luca Morelli Ducati ITA
-1 Laps |
|
13 Shinichi Nakatomi Yamaha
JPN -2 Laps |
|
|
|
Best Lap |
|
Rider Manu. Nat. Total Time
|
|
Noriyuki Haga Yamaha JPN
1'37.005 |
|
|
|
Rider Standings as of May
27, 2007 |
|
Pos. Rider Manu. Nat. Points
|
|
1. James Toseland Honda GBR
237 |
|
2. Noriyuki Haga Yamaha JPN
214 |
|
3. Max Biaggi Suzuki ITA 201
|
|
4. Troy Bayliss Ducati AUS
189 |
|
5. Troy Corser Yamaha AUS
151 |
|
6. Lorenzo Lanzi Ducati ITA
116 |
|
7. Ruben Xaus Ducati ESP 113
|
|
8. Roberto Rolfo Honda ITA
90 |
|
9. Max Neukirchner Suzuki
GER 87 |
|
10. Regis Laconi Kawasaki
FRA 62 |
|
11. Yukio Kagayama Suzuki
JPN 60 |
|
12. Michel Fabrizio Honda
ITA 59 |
|
13. Fonsi Nieto Kawasaki ESP
46 |
|
14. Jakub Smrz Ducati CZE 44
|
|
15. Joshua Brookes Honda AUS
40 |
|
17. Shinichi Nakatomi Yamaha
JPN 22 |
|
|
|
Manufacturer Standings as
of May 27, 2007 |
|
Pos. Manufacturer Points
|
|
1. Honda 251 |
|
2. Yamaha 237 |
|
3. Ducati 234 |
|
4. Suzuki 201 |
|
5. Kawasaki 88 |
Qualifying
The rain held off just long enough today for
Haga and Corser to take second and fifth qualifying
positions respectively for tomorrow's races at
Silverstone.
This morning's qualifying session
was dry with the track temperature slightly higher
than yesterday and both riders quickly improved on
their best times from yesterday, dropping down into
1'25 lap times.
The lap times continued to tumble
with the first sub 1'25 lap occurring during the
session. Corser posted the fastest time with minutes
to go - 1'24.731 - and went into Superpole in first
position. Haga started Superpole in sixth.
Haga was first to do his Superpole
lap and joined the 1'24 club with his best time so
far of the weekend. He remained in pole position
until Bayliss beat him by 0.02 seconds. Corser was
the final man to complete the Superpole lap and he
secured fifth place start for tomorrow's race. Haga
has finished six out of the eight races ever held at
Silverstone on the podium and he maintains his 100%
record of front row starts here.
Shinichi Nakatomi put in a
courageous ride today and made some improvement from
yesterday's sessions to qualify in 18th place. The
Team Yamaha YZF rider had a pain killer injection
this morning to help the pain in his foot and
managed to knock five seconds off his best time from
Friday.
Noriyuki Haga (2nd - Yamaha
Motor Italia WSB Team): "Today's Superpole was
good. I had a good lap with no mistakes and
even got my best lap time so far this weekend.
It is annoying to be beaten by such a small margin
but I am happy with front row. Tomorrow I hope
it is sunny but I suspect it won't be! If it
does rain it will be a bit of a gamble as we have
not had a wet practice yet this weekend. It
could end up being a survival race if we have no wet
practice but a wet race - we will have to wait and
see."
Troy Corser (5th - Yamaha
Motor Italia WSB Team): "Today we have made a
lot of adjustments to our set up, constantly
checking and refining where possible. I still
lack some confidence in braking at the end of the
back straight which we will work on before the race.
It was good to see my name at the top of the board
after the qualifying session this morning, it shows
we have made progress and have the potential to win
here. If it rains everyone will be in a similar
position so it could prove very interesting."
|
2007 World Superbike -
Silverstone Qualifying |
|
Circuit Length: 3619 |
|
Temp: 16 |
|
Weather: Dry |
|
Superpole |
|
Pos. Rider Manu. Nat. Total
Time |
|
1 Troy Bayliss Ducati AUS
1'24.558 |
|
2 Noriyuki Haga Yamaha JPN
1'24.577 |
|
3 James Toseland Honda GBR
1'24.621 |
|
4 Lorenzo Lanzi Ducati ITA
1'24.810 |
|
5 Troy Corser Yamaha AUS
1'25.164 |
|
6 Ruben Xaus Ducati ESP
1'25.299 |
|
7 Yukio Kagayama Suzuki JPN
1'25.597 |
|
8 Max Biaggi Suzuki ITA
1'25.866 |
|
9 Karl Muggeridge Honda AUS
1'25.886 |
|
10 Joshua Brookes Honda AUS
1'26.116 |
|
11 Fonsi Nieto Kawasaki ESP
1'26.175 |
|
12 Jakub Smrz Ducati CZE
1'26.365 |
|
13 Roberto Rolfo Honda ITA
1'26.488 |
|
14 Regis Laconi Kawasaki FRA
1'26.661 |
|
15 Michel Fabrizio Honda ITA
1'26.933 |
Race Preview
The seventh round of the 2007 World
Superbike Championship will be held this weekend at
Silverstone and the Yamaha Motor Italia WSB Team
goes there positive and determined after Noriyuki Haga's
success at the last round in Monza where he took the
double win.
Silverstone is the second of three
UK rounds on the WSB calendar this year and comes at
the halfway point in the season. Silverstone is
relatively new on the championship calendar - it has
only been going there since 2002 - but the circuit
has excellent facilities as it also hosts the
British F1 Grand Prix.
Like many race tracks in the UK,
Silverstone was originally a wartime airfield but
was leased by the Royal Automobile Club from the Air
Ministry and opened as a racing circuit in 1948. The
name Silverstone derives from an early English word
for 'wooded area'.
The previous round at Monza proved
to be successful for the Yamaha Motor Italia WSB
Team with Haga taking his third double win of his
WSB career. As well as both race wins he also took
the Superpole and the fastest lap of race one,
narrowly missing out on 'the Full Monty' which is
both race wins, the fastest lap in both races and
Superpole. Only 16 riders have achieved this before,
the last being Corser in Valencia in 2005.
Not resting on their laurels after
their Monza success, the team went straight to
Misano last week for a two-day test session. Over
the course of the session both riders tested various
new parts and spent time getting to know the circuit
- from this season riders circulate the opposite way
to previous years. Corser also spent time working
through the braking issues he had encountered at
Monza which caused him to finish in fifth and sixth
places.
Haga goes to Silverstone on a mental
high after his double win and is pleased to be going
to a circuit that has historically been good for
him. He finished second in both races there last
year and provided Yamaha's YZF-R1 with its first WSB
podium there in 2005. In 2004 he also claimed a race
win and a second at the UK circuit. With seven
rounds to go Haga is strongly contending for the
championship and only 35 points behind first
position.
"I like the Silverstone circuit a
lot and I am feeling extra motivated following my
double win at Monza so I am expecting to get a good
result this weekend. I am looking to try and take
the championship lead at Silverstone; thirty five
points is a small margin and I believe it's
achievable to go into first place," he says. "The UK
has some good circuits and I enjoy all three that we
visit on the WSB calendar."
Troy Corser took away fifth and sixth
position finishes from Monza as well as 21 crucial
points. His track record at Silverstone includes a
pair of second places in 2005 and he goes to
Silverstone looking to achieve his 110th podium of
his WSB career.
"I'm looking forward to Silverstone
as I think the bikes will go well there. Nori has
got on the podium there before so we have proven
experience of the R1's success at the track. I've
had mixed results there previously but I have been
on the podium at Silverstone and I like the circuit
so I am positive. The testing we did at Misano last
week will help us at Silverstone because both tracks
are quite bumpy and we will use similar mapping
settings."
Team Yamaha YZF rider Shinichi
Nakatomi will be riding at Silverstone despite
breaking two toes in a crash at Monza. The young
Japanese rider is having special boots made to
accommodate his broken toes and provide increased
protection. Nakatomi missed out on last year's WSB
race at Silverstone after crashing in warm up and
breaking the radius bone in his right arm. The team
is hoping for better success this year even with the
rider's minor injuries.
|
 |
|
Silverstone Race Circuit |
|
|
World Supersport
Anthony West stood in for Kevin Curtain at the Monza
round of the World Supersport Championship and
brought his R6 home in third for the team. The young
Australian made good progress over the weekend
considering he hadn't ridden a four-stroke for over
two years nor ever ridden the Monza circuit.
Broc
Parkes qualified in fifth at Monza and was in second
place in the race when his bike suffered a technical
failure putting an end to his weekend.
Parkes has put the disappointment of
Monza behind him and although he hasn't won at
Silverstone before he is determined to claim his
first race win of the season this coming weekend. His track record at Silverstone is encouraging for a
good result - he has been on the podium twice in the
last three years.
"I don't feel I have too much to
lose at the moment. I just want to go there, have a
good weekend and get a good result. It's about time
things started going our way. I don't think we're
too far off, we now just need to finish off the job. After the last race we got some good direction for
the bike's base set-up which we can now put into
action at Silverstone," Parkes says.
Kevin Curtain will not be entering
the world Supersport round this coming weekend. The
injury sustained after being taken out by another
rider during the Valencia round in mid-April is not
healing as expected. Anthony West will once again
replace Curtain following on from his podium finish
at Monza two weeks ago.
Kevin says, "I just can't believe
the bad luck I'm having this season. Just when I
hoped things would get better the wound got infected
ten days ago. This has now been cured with
antibiotics but I still have a sharp pain in my leg
which, according to the doctors, might be because
the muscle is put together too tight. The wound
might have to be re-opened to correct this which
means I will be out for several months. But for the
moment I'm trying to avoid this by stretching and
exercising in the hope that this can solve it. But
honestly speaking I expect my season to be finished.
I just want to get fully fit and race again next
season."
"I'm really happy to be racing again
for the Yamaha World Supersport Team following on
from my success at Monza," Anthony says. "I'm keen
to go better and get on the podium again, maybe even
get the top step. I know it's not going to be easy;
this championship is very competitive and I haven't
raced at Silverstone before. That didn't stop me at
Monza though! I just hope the track isn't too
difficult to learn as I want to spend as much time
as possible in practice finding the right set-up as
opposed to learning the track."
Silverstone Race Circuit
Track length: 3619m
Track opened: 1948
2006 WSB winner: Bayliss (Ducati), Bayliss (Ducati)
2006 WSB fastest lap: 1'26.299 (Bayliss, Ducati,
race two)
WSB lap record: 1'26.299 (2006, Bayliss, Ducati)
Circuit tel: +44 1327 320312
Circuit website: www.silverstone.co.uk
