A mixed round of racing at Imola last weekend witnessed the first wet Superpole of the year disrupting the grid for Sunday’s two races. Yamaha Sterilgarda rider Cal Crutchlow started from 12th on the grid to secure a podium finish in race two with an incredible ride. Team mate James Toseland experience a continued run of bad luck with two DNFs despite showing strong, podium contending pace in the early stages of each race. The team now head straight to Magny Cours in France for the 13th and final round of the 2010 World Superbike Championship.
The riders set up for the final two races with Crutchlow sitting in fifth place in the standings on 239 points, 35 behind Carlos Checa in fourth. Team mate James Toseland sits two places back in seventh with 187 points, 51 points behind Noriyuki Haga in sixth.
“I’m all set to go this weekend after Imola,” said Cal Crutchlow. “The last Italian round was tough with the strange starting grid, but we had a great set up on what was a difficult track. I was really happy with the podium we scored and I’m confident if we can get a good grid start on Sunday in Magny Cours I can end the year with the Yamaha superbike team on a high with more podiums!”
“It was a really disappointing race weekend in Italy,” said James Toseland. “I am determined to go to Magny Cours for my last two races on the R1 and deliver good results. I have always been lucky at the French circuit, after a year if lots of bad luck I think we deserve some good luck here! We had really good pace at Imola in the races and had found a great set up so I want to use that to score in France.”
Magny Cours technically speaking according to Marcus Eschenbacher, Cal Crutchlow’s crew Chief
“Magny Cours is a track with typical Formula one design. It has a very tight start, stop corners and tight chicanes. First our gearbox has to be adjusted to suit these conditions. Also the chassis has to be adjusted to offer a good compromise; stable enough for hard braking and agile enough to achieve fast cornering in the tight sections. As usual the weather conditions are also very critical Magny Cours can be very cold in the morning with a high chance of rain. In light of this we will keep the option of a ‘bad weather’ setup. This means that we will have two bikes with different setups if the conditions are not clear.”
Magny Cours Technically Speaking according to Frankie Carchedi, James Toseland’s Crew Chief
“We will be looking to finish the season strong at Magny Cours. James’s race pace was good enough to fight for the win at Imola but a bad qualifying put an end to this. We will be doing everything to finish strongly with the same set-up as Imola. In recent races we have found a set-up which has good balance and handling. Magny Cours requires both, but weather conditions could make things a little trickier. Forecasts predict a wet weekend, so we will be working hard on a good wet set-up!”
Massimo Meregalli, Yamaha Sterilgarda World Superbike Team Manager
“I’m looking forward to this race, we go there with the intention to finish the season with the best results possible. Hopefully we can reach this target. Yamaha was has been very competitive at the Magny Cours circuit over the last four years, with the set up we found at Imola we think we can continue the run of success.”
This weekend at Magny Cours marks the last race of the season for European Superstock 600 2010 Champion Jeremy Guarnoni, who sealed victory last weekend at Imola on his YZF-R6. It also marks the return to the European Superstock 1000 Championship of Yamaha YZF-R1 rider Loris Baz who has been enjoying a ride in the British Superbike Championship with the Motorpoint Yamaha Team R1.
