AMA-SX: Stewart fourth after dramatic Atlanta SX

AMA-SX UNITED STATES - ROUND 8     Georgia Dome AMA-SX Race Report - 28/02/2011 Stewart fourth after dramatic Atlanta SX San Manuel Yamaha's James Stewart finished 4th at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta after an exciting and frantic eighth round of seventeen in the AMA Supercross series (also an FIM World Championship). The Floridian engaged in a fight for the win with Chad Reed throughout the twenty lap main event watched by over 69,000 spectators and a thrilling finale was denied on the final circulation when the two collided and crashed trying for the same line and both Ryan Villopoto and Ryan Dungey were able to capitalise. Stewart and Reed were clearly the fastest competitors around a tight course inside the Atlanta venue for the first meeting away from the west coast of the country. Both were vying for track space with small mistakes limiting their capacity to make a break away. Stewart moved past the Australian with one lap remaining but Reed hounded the back of the YZ450F and attempted an aggressive block pass several corners before the chequered flag, despite entering the turn several bike-lengths behind. In the ensuing chaos both were able to remount and Reed found a way to gain the last step on the podium. Disappointed, Stewart - who has finished off the podium only twice in 2011 - could only mention on his Twitter account that he 'never saw it coming' and also added 'now I am just looking forward to Daytona. The bike and team were great. I'll be back for another day of racing.' JGR Yamaha's Justin Brayton crossed the line in 7th position while team-mate Davi Millsaps was 11th. Stewart now stares at a 10 point deficit to standings leader Villopoto while Reed is 11 adrift of the Yamaha man in third spot. Round nine will take place next weekend at the Daytona International Speedway. 2011 AMA-SX United States Georgia Dome 28/02/2011 20 Laps race I 1 Ryan Villopoto Kawasaki USA 15'50.894  2 Ryan Dungey Suzuki USA 0'03.339  3 Chad Reed Honda AUS 0'03.997  4 James Stewart Yamaha USA 0'04.102  5 Trey Canard Honda USA 0'19.076  6 Andrew Short KTM USA 0'19.547  7 Justin Brayton Yamaha USA 0'24.637  8 Kevin Windham Honda USA 0'30.590  9 Ivan Tedesco Kawasaki USA 0'31.720  10 Brett Metcalfe Suzuki AUS 0'36.072  11 David D Millsaps Yamaha USA 0'40.851  12 Nicholas Wey Yamaha USA 0'47.956  13 Kyle Regal Yamaha USA 0'50.539  14 Chris Blose Kawasaki USA -1Laps  15 Tye Simmonds KTM USA -1Laps  19 Antonio Balbi Yamaha BRA -2Laps  AMA-SX World Standing Rider Standings After Race 8 of 17 1. Ryan Villopoto Kawasaki USA 171 2. James Stewart Yamaha USA 161 3. Chad Reed Honda AUS 150 4. Trey Canard Honda USA 146 5. Ryan Dungey Suzuki USA 145 6. Andrew Short KTM USA 110 7. Brett Metcalfe Suzuki AUS 104 8. Justin Brayton Yamaha USA 90 9. David D Millsaps Yamaha USA 88 10. Ivan Tedesco Kawasaki USA 78 11. Kevin Windham Honda USA 75 12. Nicholas Wey Yamaha USA 63 13. Kyle Regal Yamaha USA 60 14. Chris Blose Kawasaki USA 48 15. Mike Alessi KTM USA 46 16. Kyle Chisholm Yamaha USA 46 18. Weston Peick Yamaha USA 24 19. Thomas Hahn Yamaha USA 17 20. Austin Stroupe Yamaha USA 15 25. Vince Friese Yamaha USA 12 28. Michael Byrne Yamaha AUS 5 31. Jeff Alessi Yamaha USA 3 32. Antonio Balbi Yamaha BRA 2 Crowd: 69, 517 Weather: Dry Lap Record: 0'52.919 (Ricky Carmichael , 1/1/2006) Last Years Winner: Ryan Dungey Manufacturer Standings 28/02/2011 1 Yamaha 173 2 Kawasaki 171 3 Honda 168 4 Suzuki 156 5 KTM 110

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MX-GP: Philippaerts wins soaked Italian Championship opener

MX1-GP News Philippaerts wins soaked Italian Championship opener The heavens fell at Ponte e Egola near Florence for the first round of the Italian Motocross Championship 'Internazionali d'Italia' but Monster Energy Yamaha's David Philippaerts battled through the mud to record his second victory in a week. The 2008 MX1-GP World Champion collected results of 1st and 3rd in two difficult motos for the overall triumph in a race format that saw the MX1 and MX2-GP machines competing together. The first round of four in the national series witnessed Monster Energy Yamaha at full strength and Steven Frossard shone again on the works YZ450FM to place second overall with finishes of 5th and 2nd. "I am happy to win again and it was not an easy day," said Philippaerts. "Even though the track was difficult I feel comfortable riding in these conditions. I had a small crash in the second moto but I recovered very well and closed a six second gap to Cairoli in two laps. Again I feel that my starts could be better but I was with the leaders both times out of the gate so there is not much work to do there." "I'm pretty happy but also a bit disappointed because on the second lap of the first race my goggles had steamed up and I had to throw them," recounted Frossard. "It was very hard to ride like that because when I was near another rider I could not see a thing for the mud. If I didn't have the goggle problem then I think I could have been in the top three. I started well in the second moto and I was happy with that." Anthony Boissiere was less fortunate on the third MX1-GP motorcycle and two falls on the slippery terrain ended his participation. Gautier Paulin was the first classified MX2-GP rider home in the first race but was unlucky to find his rut and path blocked by a fallen rider in the opening stages of the second. It took time for the Frenchman to retrieve his YZ250FM and then another slip when he lost the front-end on a downhill led to a retirement. "I started well in the first moto considering we were up against the 450s but the first lap was pretty crazy! I got away again strongly in the second heat but Leok crashed right in front of me and there was nowhere to go," he said. "It was very hard to pull the bike out from the mud and I ended up facing the wrong way. I was outside the top twenty after that and when I came off down the hill I was too far back and didn't want to take any more risks." Christophe Charlier was 14th in the first moto (4th best in MX2) but was involved in the Paulin incident at the start of the second and DNF-ed. Harri Kullas was 16th (5th in MX2) and 17th (6th in MX2) and lamented some mediocre starts against a host of 450cc rivals. Round two will take place at former GP venue Faenza, east of Bologna, next weekend and will see another full Monster Energy Yamaha line-up grace the start-gate.

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Melandri impresses with First World Superbike Podium at Phillip Island

World Superbike News Melandri impresses with Maiden World Superbike Podium at Phillip Island Yamaha World Superbike Team rider Marco Melandri ended his podium drought this afternoon, stepping up to take third position in the second World Superbike race, his first podium since 2009. The World Superbike rookie started well from his second row position, closing in on defending World Champion Max Biaggi and pushing him to the race finale, interchanging for second position a number of times before finally settling for third at the line, less than 1.5 seconds from double race winner Carlos Checa. The first race of the day saw both Melandri and his teammate Eugene Laverty start well, Laverty impressing by leading the first two laps of his first ever Superbike race, before dropping back to swap positions with Melandri several times. Laverty claimed fourth and Melandri fifth at the line. Both riders had struggled a bit for rear grip in the first race, and Laverty also from arm pump, problems which were rectified by team set up changes and help from Clinica Mobile prior to race two. Laverty's second race began with the young Northern Irishman pressing on and holding sixth position until lap eight when a false neutral caused him to run wide, losing valuable time and positions. The same issue was repeated on lap 11, dropping him to 20th position by lap 15. Despite the setback Laverty fought back, pushing back up over seven laps to claim 15th at the line. As they head to Donington in the UK for the second round of the championship, they do so with Melandri sitting in third in the overall standings with 27 points, his teammate Laverty sits in ninth with 14 points, 13 behind Melandri. Marco Melandri, Yamaha World Superbike Team 5th, 3rd "I'm pretty happy with the end results of today, although I wasn't too happy about race one. We've been struggling all week with a rear grip issue, which could be seen in race one. I think we made a good job before race two, changing our set up to deal with it and we were a little bit more aware of our potential afterwards. The bike was a lot better and I felt a lot more comfortable. It's nice to be back on the podium! I wanted to challenge Biaggi for second but in the end my body was slower than my mind at the end of the race, it felt a bit dangerous to make some passes so I was happy to settle for third." Eugene Laverty, Yamaha World Superbike Team 4th, 15th "In the first race I had problems with arm pump and had just to sit there, I had the possibility to go third but didn't want to risk my arms. I got it fixed at Clinica, it was just really stiff after five days riding on a Superbike this week! Marco upped the pace in second race; it would have been tough to beat, but there was a definite fourth there for me. Unfortunately two false neutrals killed the race leaving me with one point. On the plus side I'm very positive for Donington, we've clearly got a very competitive package and under race conditions we can see that our competitors aren't as fast as the practice sessions suggested." Yamaha World Superbike Team Manager - Andrea Dosoli "Today we got confirmation that all the work we have done is in the right direction. We struggled a bit in race one, both riders complained about a lack of rear grip and we could see we where slow in the last sector. With just a few adjustments we improved the bike for race two, so Marco could follow Max and, at the end, the gap to Carlos Checa was not as big as in race one so he kept a good race pace. Eugene did a great job in race one and he was doing in the same in race two. He really impressed us with a fantastic start he showed he could work under pressure and ride in a tough race. He put in the same performance in race two, unfortunately getting a couple of false neutrals and running off, losing ten seconds each time. If not for this he could have been on the podium. We showed this weekend that the performance of the team is high with both riders so we should be proud, especially considering this is the first time they have run a two race event on a Sunday. Thank you to all the team for a good job done so far and we will try to be even more competitive at Donington." Yamaha R6 returns with instant victory as Scassa Takes First World Supersport Victory Yamaha ParkinGo rider Luca Scassa made it a day to remember this afternoon, enjoying an adrenalin filled battle in the top five for the duration of the World Supersport race. The Italian World Supersport rookie made good use of the R6's superior performance to charge through the pack, leading for some laps before dropping back again. He then passed Sam Lowes on the final straight for a photo finish, claiming victory by just 0.009 seconds. Scassa's teammate Chas Davies had a less fortunate afternoon. Having found a perfect setup for the Phillip Island circuit, Davies had been in contention for the podium for the majority of the race, fighting alternate for second and third position until a flat tyre forced early retirement on lap 18. Scassa heads to the next round at Donington in the UK leading the championship with a full 25 points, teammate Davies goes keen to get off the points mark and catch up to his Italian stablemate. Today's victory marks the first race for the officially supported Yamaha R6 since it won the World championship in 2009 with Cal Crutchlow. An impressive result for the Yamaha ParkinGO Team considering the collaboration with Yamaha was started just six weeks ago. PHILLIP ISLAND RACE ONE RESULTS 1. Carlos Checa ESP Althea Ducati 1098R 34mins 16.503s 2. Max Biaggi ITA Aprilia Alitalia Racing RSV-4 +4.365s 3. Leon Haslam GBR BMW Motorrad S1000RR +10.719s 4. Eugene Laverty IRL Yamaha WSBK YZF R1 +11.266s 5. Marco Melandri ITA Yamaha WSBK YZF R1 +11.293s 6. Michel Fabrizio ITA Suzuki Alstare GSX-R1000 +12.039s 7. Jakub Smrz CZE Effenbert Liberty Ducati 1098R +20.294s 8. Tom Sykes GBR Kawasaki RTS ZX-10R +20.742s 9. Noriyuki Haga JPN PATA Aprilia RSV-4 +22.421s 10. Troy Corser AUS BMW Motorrad S1000RR +25.822s 11. Roberto Rolfo ITA Pedercini Kawasaki ZX-10R +29.270s 12. Jonathan Rea GBR Castrol Honda CBR1000RR +31.059s 13. Leon Camier GBR Aprilia Alitalia Racing RSV-4 +31.721s 14. Ayrton Badovini ITA BMW Italia S1000RR +36.389s 15. Bryan Staring AUS Pedercini Kawasaki ZX-10R +36.470s 16. Ruben Xaus ESP Castrol Honda CBR1000RR +41.928s 17. James Toseland GBR BMW Italia S1000RR +55.239s 18. Josh Waters AUS Yoshimura Suzuki GSX-R1000 +1min 00.312s 19. Mark Aitchison AUS Pedercini Kawasaki ZX-10R +1min 00.316s 20. Maxime Berger FRA Supersonic Ducati 1098R +1min 30.125s PHILLIP ISLAND RACE TWO RESULTS 1. Carlos Checa ESP Althea Ducati 1098R 34mins 15.041s 2. Max Biaggi ITA Aprilia Alitalia Racing RSV-4 +1.188s 3. Marco Melandri ITA Yamaha WSBK YZF R1 +1.406s 4. Jonathan Rea GBR Castrol Honda CBR1000RR +10.563s 5. Leon Haslam GBR BMW Motorrad S1000RR +10.885s 6. Leon Camier GBR Aprilia Alitalia Racing RSV-4 +16.914s 7. Noriyuki Haga JPN PATA Aprilia RSV-4 +17.558s 8. Michel Fabrizio ITA Suzuki Alstare GSX-R1000 +17.679s 9. Tom Sykes GBR Kawasaki RTS ZX-10R +18.070s 10. Ruben Xaus ESP Castrol Honda CBR1000RR +19.053s 11. Jakub Smrz CZE Effenbert Liberty Ducati 1098R +19.060s 12. Roberto Rolfo ITA Pedercini Kawasaki ZX-10R +23.771s 13. Josh Waters AUS Yoshimura Suzuki GSX-R1000 +23.956s 14. James Toseland GBR BMW Italia S1000RR +28.713s 15. Eugene Laverty IRL Yamaha WSBK YZF R1 +32.673s 16. Mark Aitchison AUS Pedercini Kawasaki ZX-10R +33.226s 17. Bryan Staring AUS Pedercini Kawasaki ZX-10R +42.598s 18. Maxime Berger FRA Supersonic Ducati 1098R +51.819s 19. Troy Corser AUS BMW Motorrad S1000RR +55.738s WORLD SUPERBIKE CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS 1. CARLOS CHECA DUCATI 50 2. MAX BIAGGI APRILIA 40 3. MARCO MELANDRI YAMAHA 27 4. LEON HASLAM BMW 27 5. MICHEL FABRIZIO SUZUKI 18 6. JONATHAN REA HONDA 17 7. NORIYUKI HAGA APRILIA 16 8. TOM SYKES KAWASAKI 15 9. EUGENE LAVERTY YAMAHA 14 10. JAKUB SMRZ DUCATI 14 11. LEON CAMIER APRILIA 13 12. ROBERTO ROLFO KAWASAKI 9 13. RUBEN XAUS HONDA 6 14. TROY CORSER BMW 6 15. JOSHUA WATERS SUZUKI 3 16. JAMES TOSELAND BMW 2 17. AYRTON BADOVINI BMW 2 18. BRYAN STARING KAWASAKI 1

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