World Superbike

WSS: Yamaha Teams Portimao summary

Parkes fifth after tough fight at new circuit After running in the leading pack for some of the 20-lap race at Portimao Broc Parkes (Yamaha World Supersport Team) could not stay in contention for the podium and finished fifth. The Australian ...

Published: Nov 4, 2008, 1:26 AM

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Parkes fifth after tough fight at new circuit

After running in the leading pack for some of the 20-lap race at Portimao Broc Parkes (Yamaha World Supersport Team) could not stay in contention for the podium and finished fifth.

The Australian rider had been slowed by a crash which happened right in front of him and after that he was unable to catch the leading group again and slowly dropped back as his tyres lost optimum grip. He held off a late challenge to finish in the top five and end his season fourth overall, on 150 points, with one win to his credit.

Fabien Foret (Yamaha World Supersport Team) could not get into contention after starting 16th on the grid and despite finishing tenth, he was disappointed by his final raceday of the 2008 season. He also scored a single win in the championship chase this year, and despite missing four races through injury, he was sixth overall, on 111 points.

Massimo Roccoli (Yamaha Team Italia Lorenzini by Leoni) crashed out of contention on lap five, remounted, but eventually retired in the pits, ending his season in overall 12th place. David Salom (Yamaha Spain World Supersport) only just missed out on a point for 16th place today.

Broc Parkes (5th - Yamaha World Supersport Team)

"I really wanted to win the last one for Yamaha and I tried my best. I got caught up with the crash of Veneman and got separated from the front bunch. Once I had lost them, I basically had to keep my position. At the end I was losing some time when I started losing rear grip, and I had to work hard to keep Nannelli behind me, but I beat him to the line. I gave it my best."

Fabien Foret (10th - Yamaha World Supersport Team)

"The track was very challenging in the dry over the full race and to be honest I was not expecting a great result after qualifying. I wanted to ride, find some feeling from the bike and have fun but it was not so easy. I am not happy with how the set-up was. I am just happy that this season is now over and I can start working to 2009 now."

Wilco Zeelenberg (Team Manager, Yamaha World Supersport Team)

"A very disappointing race of course for us, rear tyre grip dropped quite dramatically and Broc couldn't do anything to keep up with the first three. It was the same story for Fabien, we saw that the rear tyre is really bad at the moment, for our bike especially. Qualifying was ok, but after eight or nine laps the tyre went off very hard, we've not had that so bad this year."

Massimo Roccoli (DNF - Yamaha Team Italia Lorenzini by Leoni)

"It was very disappointing not to finish and it has not been the happiest experience this weekend, especially at this new circuit. I lost the front end and tried to continue after but it was not possible. The gear linkage was too badly broken and I would have got no points."

Pirro fourth in Portugal and fifth overall

Michele Pirro (Yamaha Lorenzini by Leoni) rode to within less than a second of a podium position at Portimao and in earning 13 points he finished fifth in the championship rankings, the top YZF-R1 rider on show. Pirro also set the new best lap in practice, a 1'48.466.

Claudio Corti (Yamaha Motor Italia Junior Team) was eighth today, having started on the sixth row, and battling through the pack for the after a couple of early problems.

In the final rankings, Brendan Roberts was champion on 147, Maxime Berger second on 140 and Alessandro Polita third with 137.

Michelle Pirro (4th - Yamaha Motor Italia Lorenzini by Leoni)

"I started the race with dry tyres and early on that was a bit of a problem because there was still some water around and I was sliding in some places. But it improved as the race went on and I made a good finish."

Claudio Corti (8th - Yamaha Motor Italia Junior Team)

"I went straight on under braking a couple of times but I rode very aggressively to recover and really enjoyed it today. I made up a lot of places and I think it was the best I could do today."

Baz and Rea battle it out as the Superstock finale sees a Yamaha 1-2-3 podium

Gino Rea (Stonebaker Yamaha) and Loris Baz (Yamaha France Junior Team) ended up battling for the win in the ten lap Superstock 600 contest, and after a seriously combative final lap the English rider took the win, by a mere 0.060 seconds.

In third place, Marco Bussolotti (Yamaha Motor Italia Junior Team) was also on a YZF-R6, three seconds off the win. In the final rankings, Baz has 186 points, Bussolotti 134 and Rea 132.

Loris Baz: "It was a very hard race and I ran off on the last lap and had to work really hard to bet back to Gino. I won the championship last time out and I wanted to win here to finish the season in the perfect way."

-credit: yamaha-racing.com

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