Corser increases WSB lead, while Yamaha takes first win

Yamaha Motor Italia team-mate Andrew Pitt had a troubled weekend. Struggling for front end grip he came home 10th in race one, before a clutch problem forced him out of a points scoring position in the second, which had been restarted due to an oil spill in the opening laps of the initial running.

Quotes: Troy Corser, Team Alstare Corona Extra Suzuki, Race 1 - first, Race 2 - second: “I’m pretty happy with how the day worked out -especially after the problems we had in the first day and a half. Once we found a good set-up, I knew a win or two was possible. I made a good start and had clear track ahead of me and that’s what you need at Brno if you are to have a good race. Although no race is ever easy, that was one of the more comfortable races I’ve had this year and it was good to get back to winning ways. My bike’s engine felt a bit slow at the start of the second race, so I guess I was fortunate that it was red-flagged and I was able to jump on my spare for the restart. The set-up was very close - and I have to thank the team for doing such a good job - but there was a bit of an electronic problem and I feel that stopped me from catching and passing Nori. But we came here to increase our points and that’s what we did, so I’m pretty wrapped.”

Noriyuki Haga, Yamaha Motor Italia, Race 1- seventh, Race two – first: “I am very happy for this win. I had some problem in the first laps when I touched Chris (Vermeulen) and this made my brake lever go up in the air. I had to hit it to put it back in place and this cost me some time but I was able to make some very good lap times. All season I have been asking for more engine power and I think that we will have a new engine with more power for Brands Hatch. I won twice there last year so now I am very much looking forward to going there.”

Andrew Pitt, Yamaha Motor Italia, Race 1- tenth, Race two – DNF: “We had the same problem in race two as we did at Misano. The clutch was slipping so I was losing drive and although I was able to make some time going into the corners the acceleration was not strong enough and eventually I had to retire. I also didn’t have enough grip from the front in either race which made for a tough weekend.”

Norick Abe, Yamaha Motor France, Race 1- ninth, Race two – fourth: “It certainly helped that I have been here before but the main difference between race one and race two was not even the start but the fact that we put more weight on the back of the bike to improve traction and a harder front tyre. The changes almost allowed us to take a podium, but in the last five laps the performance of my front tyre went down, and I could not push it any harder. I still had a lot of spinning from the rear but we made the bike much better in race two.”

Massimo Meregalli, Team Coordinator - Yamaha Motor Italia: “You have to ask Noriyuki about this race because I have no idea how he did it! Maybe the temperature change had something to do with it because he had the same set up on the machine from race one to race two. Obviously this is a huge morale boost for the whole team and we will go back to Italy tonight very happy and motivated for the next race.”

Martial Garcia, Team Manager – Yamaha Motor France: “The secret with our bike is to manage the lap times of the bike even when the tyre is not brand new. Abe did this better in the second race and we almost got a podium. This shows our level of potential performance.”

Yukio Kagayama, Team Alstare Corona Extra Suzuki, Race 1 -11th, Race 2 - 11th: “There’s not much to say except that all weekend I’ve had problems with grip and today was no better then the past two days. This track is very difficult if you do not have a good set-up - and I did not have a good set-up - probably because we did not have so much time on the bike to test different things. We made big changes from yesterday, but I don’t think the bike worked any better. I am disappointed of course, but I must look forward. The next race is a circuit I know and like - Brands Hatch - and I want to get on the podium in both races there for myself and all my British fans.”

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