With another top 10 finish and a result that saw Carlos Checa finish closer to the leaders that at any other race of the 2006 season, the German Grand Prix at the Sachsenring circuit provided a huge step forward for the Tech 3 Yamaha Team and the performance of the team's Dunlop tyres. Checa was involved in a tense battle throughout the race to miss out on seventh place by just 0.389 of a second to eventually finish ninth in an enthralling race won by fellow Yamaha rider and defending world champion, Valentino Rossi. Carlos was only 17 seconds in arrears after the 30-lap battle. In another positive result, Checa's best lap of 1'23.097 was just 0.424 of a second off the fastest lap of the race. Englishman, James Ellison had to overcome handling problems in his quest to finish 13th, picking up some valuable points for himself and the team.
Carlos Checa (9th, +17.097 secs Fastest lap 1'23.779)This has been a very good result for us and I am very happy. The gap to the winner was the closest we have ever been this year, so that is another positive step considering that we had some chatter and after 17 laps something went wrong with the engine. This is no excuse of course but, basically overall our consistency and speed is good. The first race of the year we were 59 seconds behind the winner, now we are 17 seconds and also we were with other riders fighting for positions so this has been a very big improvement. I'm quite satisfied. We started with the tyre we knew from practice and overall we are working quite well. Now I hope that Yamaha will help us with the chatter and maybe the engine a little bit. On the chassis side, the tyres are getting better and better but we need to work on the chassis as we can see the official team is struggling as well. I think it is a general problem with the Yamaha we must work together and even us with different tyres we are finding this problem but we will continue to work hard and hopefully we can continue to progress and improve the way we have done in the last four races".
James Ellison (13th +1'02.029 Fastest lap 1'25.634)"I wish I could say I was happy but that would be far from the truth. I had very bad chattering for most of the race. The whole balance of the bike was really good but I couldn't run it into turns very fast because of the chatter so I had to pull back and I couldn't run the speed I wanted to. The tyres were working well but I couldn't get the times I wanted. At the start I could see Colin and the rest of the boys and I kept them close for 10 laps or so but then the chatter starting getting worse and worse and it started happening in more areas of the track. I just had to bring it home so I'm happy I did that and got some more points for myself and the team but that's about all I'm happy about as I'm pretty disappointed. I've had a chat to Carlos about the chatter as he has dealt with things like that for years. He told me that if you try to carry the speed going into the corner it just gets worse so you have to brake as hard as you can and then throw it in because he knows it
's going to chatter. I've just got to change my riding to adapt to it because, it takes a while as if a bike is chattering the last thing your brain is telling you is to just throw it in because you think you will crash. I've just got to get on with it and see what I can do. I really hope the next race at Laguna Seca is different because this year has become extremely frustrating. I can't tell you how much I want to improve and get up to a pace I know I can run at."
Herve Poncharal - Tech3 Yamaha Team Director"Altogether, a very good weekend and the very best weekend for us so far this season. We were only 17 seconds behind the winner at the end so for sure this is by far the best result we have had. We were a bit worried about the second part of the race but the tyre was really stable and we have definitely gained on performance and durability of the Dunlop tyres. At the end of the race we were in front of Hopkins on the Suzuki and on Bridgestones. We were catching Vermeulen but just a bit too late to pass him - another lap and we would have! We could've been seventh, that's no big deal but clearly we are happy we improving. To be 12 seconds in front of Edwards was another positive sign for us. We are not talking about Valentino because he is on another planet after what he has done today. To be the second Yamaha in the race, second Yamaha on the grid and fastest Yamaha in morning warm-up was extremely satisfying for everyone so it confirms that the Yamaha/Dunlop combination worked very well here at Sachsenring and the improvements are getting bigger and improving all the time. We have another race before the summer break so we hope to continue at this same pace and to be able to fight again for a top 10 finish. James rode a steady race as he didn't finish that far from Colin which is ok. Both our riders were in the points. In the team's championship we move up, Carlos is gaining some more points so we are happy.
Race classification MotoGP:Round: 10 - 2006 MotoGP Sachsenring
Circuit: Sachsenring
Circuit Length: 3671
Lap Record: 1' 23.355 (Daniel Pedrosa, 2006)
Fastest Lap Ever: 1' 23.355 (Daniel Pedrosa, 2006)
Crowd: 95000
Temp: 20ºC
Weather: Sunny
Race: 30 Laps 1 V. Rossi Yamaha ITA 41' 59.248
2 M. Melandri Honda ITA +0.145
3 N. Hayden Honda USA +0.266
4 D. Pedrosa Honda ESP +0.307
5 L. Capirossi Ducati ITA +8.764
6 S. Nakano Kawasaki JPN +9.147
7 C. Vermeulen Suzuki AUS +16.608
8 S. Gibernau Ducati ESP +16.648
9 C. Checa Yamaha ESP +17.097
10 J. Hopkins Suzuki USA +17.786
11 T. Elias Honda ESP +27.425
12 C. Edwards Yamaha USA +29.308
13 J. Ellison Yamaha GBR +1' 2.029
14 J. Cardoso Ducati ESP +1' 19.997
Fastest Race Lap: 1 D. Pedrosa Honda ESP 1' 23.355
Championship standings MotoGP:1 Nicky Hayden Honda USA 169
2 Valentino Rossi Yamaha ITA 143
3 Daniel Pedrosa Honda ESP 140
4 Marco Melandri Honda ITA 134
5 Loris Capirossi Ducati ITA 118
6 Casey Stoner Honda AUS 91
7 Colin Edwards Yamaha USA 77
8 Shinya Nakano Kawasaki JPN 67
9 Kenny Roberts Team Roberts KR USA 66
10 John Hopkins Suzuki USA 64
11 Makato Tamada Honda JPN 59
12 Toni Elias Honda ESP 58
13 Sete Gibernau Ducati ESP 52
14 Chris Vermeulen Suzuki AUS 46
15 Carlos Checa Yamaha ESP 44
17 James Ellison Yamaha GBR 17
Manufacturers standings MotoGP: 1 Honda 221
2 Yamaha 172
3 Ducati 127
4 Suzuki 81
5 Kawasaki 71
6 Team Roberts KR 66
Team standings MotoGP:1 Repsol Honda Team 309
2 Camel Yamaha Team 220
3 Fortuna Honda Team 192
4 Ducati Marlboro Team 177
5 Rizla Suzuki 110
6 Honda LCR 91
7 Kawasaki Racing Team 84
8 Team Roberts KR 66
9 Tech3 Yamaha 61
10 Konica Minolta Honda 59
11 Pramac D'Antin 20
Race classification GP250:Round: 10 - 2006 GP250 Sachsenring
Lap Record: 1' 25.118 (Sebastian Porto, 2004)
Fastest Lap Ever: 1' 24.618 (Alex de Angelis, 2005)
Race: 29 Laps: 1 Y. Takahashi Honda JPN 41' 30.350
2 A. de Angelis Aprilia SMR +0.058
3 J. Lorenzo Aprilia ESP +1.013
4 A. Dovizioso Honda ITA +4.021
5 H. Barbera Aprilia ESP +9.384
6 R. Locatelli Aprilia ITA +19.242
7 A. West Aprilia AUS +26.457
8 H. Aoyama KTM JPN +26.607
9 S. Aoyama Honda JPN +26.741
10 S. Guintoli Aprilia FRA +30.621
11 A. Baldolini Aprilia ITA +44.754
12 F. Battiani Aprilia ITA +45.063
13 M. Poggiali KTM SMR +48.793
14 J. Smrz Aprilia CZE +52.317
15 A. Espargaro Honda ESP +52.369
Fastest Race Lap: 1 A. de Angelis Aprilia SMR 1' 25.284
Championship standings GP250: 1 Jorge Lorenzo Aprilia ESP 174
2 Andrea Dovizioso Honda ITA 172
3 Yuki Takahashi Honda JPN 133
4 Alex de Angelis Aprilia SMR 131
5 Hiroshi Aoyama KTM JPN 116
6 Roberto Locatelli Aprilia ITA 114
7 Hector Barbera Aprilia ESP 100
8 Sylvain Guintoli Aprilia FRA 65
9 Anthony West Aprilia AUS 58
10 Marco Simoncelli Gilera ITA 55
11 Shuhei Aoyama Honda JPN 48
12 Alex Debon Aprilia ESP 35
13 Jakub Smrz Aprilia CZE 34
14 Manuel Poggiali KTM SMR 31
15 Martin Cardenas Honda COL 28
Manufacturers standings GP250:1 Aprilia 221
2 Honda 189
3 KTM 120
4 Gilera 55
Related Linkswww.yamaha-racing.com
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