Yamaha Motor Germany riders Broc Parkes and Kevin Curtain took advantages of development work on their Yamaha YZF-R6s to finish second and third in a sunny fifth round of the Supersport World Championship at Silverstone today. Having brought a new development of the YZF-R6 engine with more mid-range power to Silverstone, the Australians pushed defending world champion Sebastien Charpentier (Honda) hard over the opening laps. Parkes set the fastest lap of the race on lap four, however a lack of dry-weather set-up time, brought on by two day's of wet practice, meant that the Yamaha riders dropped off the pace slightly as the rear end grid decreased from around half distance. The team-mates then engaged their own personal duel before Parkes was able to pull out a slight advantage on his more senior colleague and take second at the flag.
Yamaha Team Italia rider Massimo Roccoli had a good race at Silverstone, ending the day in sixth place after a thrilling race-long battle with Yamaha privateer Xavi Fores and Honda riders Robbin Harms, Mattieu Lagrive and Johan Stigefelt. Harms just finished at the front of the train, with Fores ending the day in seventh. Yamaha GMT94's David Checa came from dead last at the end of the first lap to finish 11th.
The result sees Curtain consolidate his second place in the championship, 40 points behind Charpentier after five of the 12 championship rounds. Parkes moves up to fourth place with Roccoli sixth. The sixth round of the championship takes place at Misano in Italy in one month's time.
Broc Parkes (Yamaha Motor Germany)"The bike is working really well at the moment but we didn't have a lot of time to set it up this weekend. But on Sunday afternoon I found something that was working pretty well. I felt a lot better at quarter distance into the race, but at that time I really didn't get the chance to get past Sebastien. But things are good for me, getting better and better, but it hasn't been easy for me this year, after some good qualifying performances but problems in the races. So I'm happy to score this and I'm looking forward to getting better and better."
Kevin Curtain (Yamaha Motor Germany)"Things were going ok until I ran out of rear grip. I changed to my second bike this morning, after the free practice of warm-up. In general we did not have a lot of dry time for set-up because it has been raining so much this weekend. But it was important to get a good haul of points after losing a whole bunch in Monza."
Massimo Roccoli (Yamaha Team Italia)"A difficult race because Silverstone is a physically demanding circuit and we had very little time in the dry. I couldn't hold Harms off in the end but I'm pleased with sixth and getting some more good championship points."
Terrell Thien (Team Manager - Yamaha Motor Germany)"We are really happy with the results today, especially with all the new parts we've brought this weekend. Seeing both riders on the podium is good for the team spirit, especially after the DNF in Monza. We are looking forward to the three day test in Brno. This is a track that really suits the Yamaha. We should be able to make some improvements to the suspension because the bike is so new and we are learning about it with every lap we do."
Race classification WSS: Round: 5 - United Kingdom
Circuit: Silverstone
Circuit Length: 3619
Lap Record: 1' 29.027 (Sebastien Charpentier, 2005)
Fastest Lap Ever: 1' 28.750 (Sebastien Charpentier, 2005)
Crowd: 71000
Temp: 15ºC
Weather: Dry
Race: 28 Laps 1 S. Charpentier Honda FRA 41' 54.640
2 B. Parkes Yamaha AUS +2.802
3 K. Curtain Yamaha AUS +6.767
4 P. Riba Kawasaki ESP +17.116
5 R. Harms Honda DNK +26.102
6 M. Roccoli Yamaha ITA +27.097
7 X. Fores Yamaha ESP +27.492
8 M. Lagrive Honda FRA +27.492
9 J. Stigefelt Honda SWE +29.073
10 K. Fujiwara Honda JPN +41.265
11 D. Checa Yamaha ESP +41.615
12 M. Berger Kawasaki FRA +43.602
13 K. Andersen Suzuki NOR +44.079
14 Y. Tibero Honda FRA +47.538
15 S. Easton Ducati GBR +49.619
Championship standings WSS: 1 Sebastien Charpentier Honda FRA 116
2 Kevin Curtain Yamaha AUS 76
3 Robbin Harms Honda DNK 63
4 Broc Parkes Yamaha AUS 58
5 Yoann Tibero Honda FRA 50
6 Massimo Roccoli Yamaha ITA 46
7 Xavi Fores Yamaha ESP 39
8 Johan Stigefelt Honda SWE 35
9 Kenan Sofuoglu Honda TUR 27
10 Katsuaki Fujiwara Honda JPN 22
11 Joshua Brookes Ducati AUS 21
12 Gianluca Vizziello Yamaha ITA 17
13 Christian Zaiser Ducati AUT 15
14 Pere Riba Kawasaki ESP 13
15 Sebastien Le Grelle Honda BEL 12
19 David Checa Yamaha ESP 8
Manufacturers standings WSS:1 Honda 125
2 Yamaha 93
3 Ducati 34
4 Kawasaki 27
5 Suzuki 10
Related Linkswww.yamaha-racing.com
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