WSS: Yamaha Racing Misano race notes

Yamaha 1st and 2nd in Supersport Race

The Yamaha World Supersport Team took first and second in an exciting two-part race today at Misano with Anthony West taking the win and Broc Parkes finishing second. This is the first time since Brands Hatch last season that the both riders in the team have stepped on the podium together.

The pair started the race on the front row with Parkes in pole and West in second. Unfortunately Broc got a bad start and went back to fifth while Anthony leapt into the lead and wasted no time setting the fastest lap. Parkes had climbed up to second place and was chasing West when the race was red flagged doe to oil on the circuit.

The race was re-started, with times being calculated on aggregate, and West and Sofuoglu fought for the led from the off. The pack of riders behind, which included Parkes, were in a close battle of their own, allowing West and Sofuoglu to get some distance ahead. But by lap 12 Parkes had broken through to third and set about catching the leaders. It was only two laps later when Parkes made his move on Sofuoglu but was re-taken when he dropped back suddenly on lap 20. This was caused by him hitting the pit lane limiter as he swerved the bike while removing a visor tear-off.

Meanwhile West had put in a textbook performance and lead the race from lap 14 to take his second win for the Yamaha World Supersport Team. Parkes took second by 0.143 seconds from Sofuoglu after recovering from his tear-off incident.

Massimo Roccoli got a good start in the second heat of the race to go from tenth to fifth where he was contending with Parkes for position. He put in a strong performance to finish fourth.

Anthony West (1st - Yamaha World Supersport Team)
"It's great to win another race and I'm even happier to win it in the dry because I now feel that I have really proven myself and that people won't necessarily say I only won at Silverstone because of the weather. I was very nervous on the front row but I just focused on watching the gaps open up in front of me. I wasn't sure what to expect in the second half but I saw riders in front making mistakes which gave me confidence and kept me focused. I'd like to thank the Yamaha team for all their hard work and I'm pleased to win for them as much as for me."

Broc Parkes (2nd - Yamaha World Supersport Team
"I got a really bad start in the second heat but I just put my head down and worked my way through the pack. It still took me a while to catch Anthony once I'd passed everyone else; I had three seconds to make up and that's not easy to do in a race. Then I ripped off a tear-off and hit the pit lane limiter, which lost me over a second and let Sofuoglu passed. I knew I had to be within half a second at the finish line to beat him overall but we were both riding completely on the limit for the last bit of that race! I've crashed three times now while in second place so, despite the fact that I wanted to catch Anthony, I decided that points are more valuable than to risk another crash at this stage in the championship. I'm just so happy to step on the podium again! Thanks to the team for their efforts and support this weekend, it has all come together nicely."

Massimo Roccoli (4th - Yamaha Team Italia)
"I'm disappointed about the first half of the race as there was an eight second gap between me and the riders in front. I was not happy about starting on the third row either but I got a good start in the second half and was in the front group. It is very important to me to have had a good result here. It might be my home track but I don't know it well at all. I want to thank the team for all their efforts this weekend."

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Baiocco Takes His Second Win of the Season for Yamaha

Team Umbria Bike rider Matteo Baiocco took his second race win of the season today at the sixth round of the FIM Superstock 1000 Cup. The 23 year old Italian had shown good form all weekend on his YZF-R1, taking the first pole of his Superstock career yesterday. Baiocco led both parts of the two-heat race from start to finish in a textbook ride to retake the lead in the championship from Aitchison.

Baiocco got a good start in the first heat and broke away from the pack with Simeon right behind. The race was then red flagged on lap four after Badovini's bike leaked fluid on the track before bursting into flames. With the race reduced to nine laps from fourteen, Baiocco went on to repeat his good start in the second heat to take the race win and twenty five points. Today's win comes only one week after Baiocco's win in the national Italian championship at Vallelunga last week.

Yamaha Team Italia rider Claudio Corti also had an exciting race finishing fourth after starting in ninth. He suffered a minor elbow injury at the start of the weekend when he crashed in practice on Friday but went on to take six seconds off his time during the qualifying sessions to start on the second row. In the first heat he started well and moved up to third before the red flag. In the second heat he battled throughout the race for fourth, where he eventually finished.

Corti's team mate Michele Pirro struggled in today's race after crashing in qualifying yesterday, losing valuable time in which to find the right set-up. Although he was the fastest rider in Friday's practice, the young rider could only manage a qualifying position of 19th, which he found hard to come back from in the start/stop race.

Baiocco now leads the championship on 95 points with an eight point lead back to Aitchison. Corti lies in sixth on 64 points with team mate Pirro right behind in seventh on 59 points.

Matteo Baiocco (1st - Team Umbria Bike)
"I knew I was fast from the first free practice session on Friday. Simeon tried to make my life hard in the race but I closed all his windows of opportunity to pass me. The bike was sliding so much with very little grip but I'm fortunate that I won. I don't want to think about leading the championship again though, because I want to stay focused and on fighting form."

Claudio Corti (4th - Yamaha Team Italia)
"I started badly and I struggled because of my bad set up. I lost set-up time because of my crash on Friday and we paid for it today. I tried to attack Dionisi on the last lap today but I couldn't get past. I hope to have a better result here in the national championship round here next weekend and I will use it as an opportunity to sort out some of the issues we had today."

Michele Pirro (13th - Yamaha Team Italia)
"Today was very difficult because I started from a way back on the grid, not up the front like normal. My target was to finish in the top ten but that proved impossible. I tried to push but I couldn't due to the bad set-up I had caused by the lack of set-up time I had after crashing in qualifying. I didn't want to crash again today and so couldn't really push for positions."

-credit: yamaha