Yamaha’s Aussie Win Streak Continues at PI

by Dave · March 4, 2007

Stauffer and O’Halloran keep Yamaha win streak alive

MARCH 4th 2007

The Yamaha Racing Team has once again taken command of the tarmac in road racing competition, this weekend winning both the Superbike and Supersport class support events at the Phillip Island World Superbike Championship round.

With Yamaha enjoying considerable success in the feature events, the time came for the national riders to shine in front of massive crowds, and it was Jamie Stauffer (Superbike, YZF-R1) and Jason O’Halloran (Supersport, YZF-R6) who laid claim to round honours.

Periods of strong wind and light rain did nothing to dampen the spirits of the Yamaha Racing Team lineup who in typical fashion set session-leading pace throughout the weekend.

Jamie Stauffer

In the Superbike class, Stauffer was pipped late in the piece to pole position, and started from an unfamiliar third place on the grid. He was unperturbed by the qualifying position and quickly established himself as race leader after enjoying some good battles with rival riders around the quick Phillip Island circuit.

Two from two on Saturday saw him head into Sunday’s decider as clear favourite, and after overcoming a number of challenges he managed to ride clear of the other frontrunners and greet the chequered flag to keep his perfect win streak alive. Despite the event’s non-championship status, Stauffer said he was very happy to have maintained the form from Eastern Creek and said the YZF-R1 handled the task capably in adverse conditions.

“It was actually a very hard race yesterday due to the wind just coming up so strongly along the straight, it made cornering quite difficult and even though it was a relatively short race it tested all areas of fitness as a rider,” said Stauffer. “We all had to deal with the weather so as a whole I’m very happy to have come out on top.”

“It was a great race this afternoon to finish up another good weekend for us, once again the team worked very well and the YZF-R1 was just flawless.” “Dan was right up there again and he seems to be very much at home on the bike, he’s been consistently quick and its great to have a challenge from your teammate to keep you on your toes.”

“The round is a great indicator of form and I’m looking forward to getting back on track for the double header round of the Australian Superbike Championship at Winton in a few weeks.”

Dan Stauffer

Dan Stauffer finished the weekend shy of the overall podium, but was pleased with the pace of the bike. Happy to get in extra track time ahead of Winton, he was unlucky not to steal a win back from his brother in the second of yesterday’s races. “It was an average weekend overall but we showed our true pace in race 2, I didn’t realise we were on the last lap otherwise I would have had a shot at Jamie much earlier,” explained Stauffer.

“We tried some setup changes in race 3 that didn’t really work out but it was better to try them this weekend rather than at a point-scoring ASC round.”

“Our team leant a lot this weekend and hopefully that knowledge with lead us to a win at Winton; it was good to see Jamie win and if anyone has to beat me then I want it to be him.”

With Jamie concentrating his efforts on the Superbike clash, it was his young teammate Jason O’Halloran who took charge in the Supersport races, clean sweeping Saturday and finishing well again in 4th on Sunday to take the overall win. O’Halloran, who fought toe to toe with Stauffer at the opening championship round, had been extremely encouraged by his form and he let his results do the talking today.

Sealing the deal for the weekend was Yamaha’s Jeremy Crowe, who grabbed an early opportunity and lapped consistently before crossing the line in 1st for today’s final race. For O’Halloran, it was a goal finally realised to take the round win, and the event’s international flavour made the feat even more rewarding.

“It has been a great weekend – Phillip Island is great, it's a good track and I love it every time we come out here so to get this result was very satisfying,” said O’Halloran. “The bike setup was spot on for most of the weekend, the rain did make it difficult at times but we pressed on and got two race wins on the Saturday."

“It’s good to be able to convert the form from Eastern Creek into wins and the overall win, and great to do it in front of such a huge crowd.

Jeremy Crowe

Jeremy Crowe’s maiden win with the Yamaha Racing Team was a spectacular one, and the first of many if his confidence and form suggests. “Today’s win was just awesome, it’s my first win with YRT and also the first I’ve had in a few years,” said Crowe. “The bike felt great on the warm up lap and it got off the line really well. When Jamie made a small mistake at MG, I went for it and just slid past.”

“From there the Dunlop’s did a great job in the wet and I never really needed to look back. It was a great day for Yamaha to own the podium.”

The team has just three weeks of turnaround time before the first ever double-header meet in the Australian Superbike Championship, at Winton in Victoria.