YAMAHA RACING:

Yamaha’s factory R1 and R6 racers are aiming to carry form and focus into this weekend’s Mallala Motorsport Park meeting, round 5 of the hotly-contested Australian Superbike Championships (ASBK).

It will be an integral event for YRT’s Superbike duo, Jamie and Daniel Stauffer, who will be aiming to convert the practice and qualifying pace they showed at Eastern Creek into a solid race result at the 2.6km circuit.

On the other side of the garage, Bryan Staring and Pat Medcalf are eager to extend their respective Supersport and Superstock 1000 championship leads after a season of standout rides.

The YRT’s Peter Jones said today’s shakedown session had provided riders with the necessary momentum ahead of Friday practice.

“The Supersport team was right up there as we expected and on the pace straight away,” said Jones. “It was more a matter of dialling in the data we had for the circuit rather than making any wholesale changes.

“It’s been a tough year for the Superbike team so far but they remain very committed to finding the best setup on these bikes and getting that breakthrough result.

“Jamie and Daniel made some good ground today and are hoping to come away from Mallala with the results they know the R1 is capable of.”

The Superbike and Supersport classes will each contest two, 20-lap races on Sunday while Superstock 1000’s three, 10-lap races will get underway on Saturday afternoon.

Yamaha Racing Team Superbike

A productive day of testing aboard their factory Yamaha R1 racebikes have Jamie and Daniel Stauffer quietly confident of challenging for podium placings at Mallala Motorsport Park.

Round 5 of ASBK kicks off tomorrow morning, with riders set to further benefit from two practice sessions ahead of Saturday’s qualifying showdown and subsequent Superpole.

Cooler track temperatures are set to present a distinctive contrast to the unusually warm conditions that the team faced at Eastern Creek in Sydney and current forecasts suggest rain could play a factor early in the weekend.

From front row starts, both Jamie and Daniel showed promise in the early stages of last round but faded as the races went on.

The duo are eager to halt the momentum of championship frontrunners and finish Sunday’s two, 20-lap races on a high note.

“Today was a good chance to get out there and try a few different things in terms of setup and suspension,” said Daniel.

“We changed a few things around and started to feel pretty good on the R1 by the end of the day, the speed is certainly there and we’re looking forward to carrying this over into the rest of the weekend.

“It was a clear day today but if the forecast is to be believed then we could see a few showers tomorrow which will force us to take the setup in another direction.

“We had a great run in qualifying last round and we’re really hoping that the setup we establish for the races can keep us fighting at the front.”

Jamie is seventh going into Mallala, with Daniel a further two places back.

Yamaha Racing Team Supersport

Gun teammates Bryan Staring and Pat Medcalf will look to make their mark at Mallala Motorsport Park this weekend, shooting for wins in their respective championship classes.

The Gold Coast-based Staring has taken the upper hand in a see-sawing Supersport class battle with YRT Superbike rider Jamie Stauffer, matching the New South Welshman for pace in 2009.

Staring heads to round 5 with an 18-point lead after taking a race win and a second place at Eastern Creek.

The team headed to today’s practice session with a good handle on the R6’s setup and only minor adjustments had to be made to dial in the dominant bike to suit current conditions.

Meanwhile Pat Medcalf will be hoping to make his presence felt on his first visit to Mallala with the factory outfit.

He stretched his lead in the Superstock 1000 class to 48 points at Eastern Creek and is looking to make further progress aboard his R1 this weekend.