Yamaha WSB riders Eugene Laverty and Marco Melandri fought hard in two difficult races in the hot Italian sunshine today at Imola to gain valuable points ahead of the last two rounds of the season.

In the opening race of the day, Laverty maintained fourth place off the grid before climbing up to third by the fourth lap. The WSB rookie put on a strong battle to fight off advances from Checa and Haga until an error on his behalf on lap six caused him to slip back to fifth place. Following a solid performance Laverty proceeded to the line to take a fifth place finish. A perfect start in race two saw Laverty shoot straight into second place. A chattering issue at the early stages of the race caused the Northern Irish rider to fall back as far as seventh. Mid race Laverty made a small adjustment to the engine brake setting enabling him to improve his race pace and gradually fight through the pack ahead to complete the second race of the day in an impressive fourth position.

Marco Melandri had a less successful race day at his home round at Imola. Struggling with a less than perfect race set up in race one, the Italian fought hard but was unable to improve on his eighth position off the starting grid. Having switched to a softer tyre for the second race, the Italian had more confidence on his machine and worked his way up to sixth place on the track that offers few opportunities to overtake. An error on “acque minerali” caused the Yamaha rider to go wide, bumping him to 11th place. Melandri put on a strong battle to work his way through his adversaries and cross the line in sixth.

Yamaha World Superbike Team riders will be back on track in Magny Cours next Sunday. Melandri heads to the French track in second place in the standings on 320 points 97 behind championship leader Carlos Checa which makes him the only rider theoretically standing in the Spaniard’s way to obtain the title. Team-mate Laverty remains in fourth place on 256 points, 25 short of Biaggi in third place. With a 124 point advantage the Yamaha World Superbike Team cannot be exceeded by any other team for the top place in the official 2011 Team standings.


Eugene Laverty - Yamaha World Superbike Team - 5th, 4th

"I was disappointed with the results in the first race. The bike was working quite well but I made a stupid mistake that caused me to go wide and then I lost out on the chance to fight for the podium. I got a good start in race two but suffering from a chattering problem I found it tough to keep fighting. Mid way I adjusted a button on the handle bar which altered the engine braking allowing me to improve lap times. With the less than perfect set up and the hotter track temperatures, I am really satisfied with my fourth place finish."

Marco Melandri - Yamaha World Superbike Team - 8th, 6th

"In race one I felt a strong vibrating sensation on the rear of the machine and was struggling with the engine brake so it was impossible to push any harder. In the second race I was also finding it hard to brake on downhill slopes but as the race progressed and the tank got lighter, the bike was more manageable. I was hoping to fight for the podium but at that stage it was bit late so I had to settle for sixth."

Andrea Dosoli - Yamaha World Superbike Team Manager

"As we had expected, this is a tough track for our R1 and we can see that from today’s results. Eugene did well in both races. He worked very hard all weekend and made great progress especially if you take into consideration that he was in 18th place on Friday. He had a good race pace in both races but unfortunately Checa, Haga and Rea were a notch faster than him. We are pleased with his progress and his performance. Marco had a difficult first race, lacking in confidence on entering curves and struggling with the rear set up. In the second race he had a faster race pace and a better set up but starting from the third row on the grid didn’t help him. A mistake on his behalf caused him to go wide and fall back a few places but after as the petrol tank gradually got lighter he was much faster and did really well to complete in sixth place. We are aware that our R1 struggles on this track but we also know what needs to be improved for the future. "



Yamaha ParkinGO team riders Chaz Davies and Luca Scassa will not have fond memories of the historical Italian circuit at Imola following today’s disappointing race day. Both riders were delivering a perfect race performance before falling victim to technical issues which prevented them from completing the 19 laps.

Davies got off to a perfect start from fourth position on the grid to shoot straight into the lead, a position he maintained for the 14 laps. The Welshman had created a significantly safe gap of almost 10 seconds ahead of Rea in second place before experiencing a technical issue which interrupted his performance. Teammate Luca Scassa was equally misfortunate on the Italian circuit. Initially dropping back to third from second place off the grid, the Rocker didn’t hasten to regain second position. Just seven laps in, fighting hard to keep Marino at bay, the Italian experienced a technical issue that caused him to prematurely retire.

Chaz Davies will head to Magny Cours next weekend still holding the lead in the World Supersport championship. The Brit now holds a 35 point advantage over Foret in second place and 48 over Salom in third. With two races left before the season finale there are still 50 points up for grabs. Following today’s disappointing race, Luca Scassa now sits in sixth place with 96 points, 13 points short of Lowes in fifth place and 40 points behind Foret. Despite today’s results, Yamaha remains at the top of the manufacturer’s standings holding a seven point advantage.


Chaz Davies - Yamaha ParkinGO Team - DNF

"I am very disappointed, to say the least. I expected to be leaving Imola on a high note and certainly not like this. Thankfully I worked hard all year and still have a 35 point advantage, so I’ll be going to Magny Cours next week more determined than ever to win. I guess these things can happen in racing but today’s race was going perfectly and the whole weekend had gone so well that I just didn’t expect it."

Luca Scassa - Yamaha ParkinGO Team - DNF

"I really wanted to fight for the win today, especially seen as it’s my home race. The bike was working really well and I was gradually getting faster, so I was hoping to be able to catch Chaz but unfortunately that wasn’t to be. My goal was to fight for a reachable second place in the championship but now that’s going to be very difficult. I’m extremely disappointed with the lack of results today but I suppose, that’s motorsports!"

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