Ducati narrowly leads Honda, Suzuki and Yamaha in World Superbike title chase

Yamaha Team Italia riders Massimo Roccoli and Gianluca Vizziello brought their R6s home in tenth and 13th places respectively. FIM Superstock 1000 Cup champion Didier van Keymeulen finished 14th, with Javier Fores gaining a point for 15th. Former world superbike race winner Anthony Gobert ran as high as fifth on his GMT94 entered R6 but retired with set-up problems.

Charpentier’s win extends his championship lead to 10 points over second placed Curtain. Parkes’ 16 points for third place moves him to fifth in the standings with two of the 13 races gone.

Round three of the championship takes place at the Ricardo Tormo circuit close to Valencia in Spain on April 23. Prior to that, the Yamaha Motor Germany squad will undertake tests in Misano and Valencia, where they plan to have new parts to increase the competitiveness of their machines.

Kevin Curtain (Yamaha Motor Germany) I got in front of Charpentier a couple of times but every time I thought I could get a break on him, he came past again. It was close racing but always fair, because Sebastien and I trust each other. It’s the first stage of race development for our new R6. So after Qatar and here, I think we can say that the first stage is going pretty well. I can’t wait for the second stage - can’t wait to get to Valencia now.”

Broc Parkes (Yamaha Motor Germany) “It’s not my best result but I’m really happy to be on the podium here, because it’s my first one in Australia. Having only done a lap last week this was really my first race of the season. I struggled to get my lines flowing today and I probably geared the bike a bit too low. I was able to run with Kevin and Seb in the opening laps, but when I was in the slipstream the bike was hitting the rev-limiter, which I knew wasn’t good. I tried to stay with them but in the end it was better to take the third than try anything silly. I’m looking forward to Valencia as it is a track that suits my style.”

Massimo Roccoli (Yamaha Team Italia) “I am quite satisfied to finish in the top 10 in my first race at this circuit. I had a small problem with my braking, which meant that I could not brake as hard as I like into the hairpin but we have no problem with the traction and otherwise the bike was very good.”

Gianluca Vizziello (Yamaha Team Italia) “I am happy to get some points today. The front of the bike was sliding quite a lot and this meant I could not push as hard as I liked in the fast corners. So, some points are definitely better than none!”

Anthony Gobert (Yamaha GMT94) “I had excessive chatter in the front, but I felt like I could still get into the top five. It got so bad I had to stop. We looked at the bike and everything seemed OK, but the chatter just continued and I had to retire.”

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