Portimao: YZF Yamaha season review

THE 2009 TEAM REVIEW

There was this year a great progress for Doni Tata Pradita, who arrived in the beginning of the season coming from the 250 cc class, not knowing yet most of the tracks used for the Supersport World Championship.

In the early part of the season, Doni was around the 20th position. He scored his first championship point at Valencia where he finished 15th, then earned two more points in South Africa. He kept on progressing regularly to achieve a great result at the Miller Motorsport Park, near Salt Lake City, where he finished 11th, less than one second away from the top 10. Things were looking very good for the young Indonesian, when unfortunately he was hit by another rider during the Misano race. The consequence of this accident was a broken shoulder that had to be immediately operated and that was a handicap for the rest of the season. Happily, before it happened Doni displayed a very positive evolution.

The South-African rider Sheridan Morais, standing in for Doni Tata Pradita, did a superb race at Brno, finishing in 6th position in front of great riders like ex-World Champions Kenan Sofuoglu and Andrew Pitt. This was a great result for the Team YZF Yamaha, showing that the R6 was very competitive. In the race, it was the machine with the best top speed, which demonstrated the quality of the preparation of the engine.

Team-manager Martial Garcia: "We have reached our goal, which was to teach and help our rider to be competitive in the Supersport World Championship, considering that he had never raced in a 4-stroke class before. His injury at Misano slowed down his good progression, but Doni is now able to finish in the top 10. This proves the qualities of this new school which can help young riders from Indonesia as well as from other parts of the world to improve their talent, experience and results."

The team displayed his ability to help young riders to progress in 2008, when 15 year old Loris Baz became Superstock 600 European Champion.

-credit: yzf