YAMAHA RACING:

Wild weather conditions at Mallala Motorsport Park brought a mixed bag of results for the Yamaha Racing Team, which shone in the Supersport and Superstock 1000 classes but struggled in Superbike.

Bryan Staring maintained his Supersport lead despite being edged out of the round victory by Jamie Stauffer, once again by a single pole position point.

Pat Medcalf’s comfortable buffer was retained after a win in one of the three Superstock 1000 class races saw him add another round victory to his perfect record in 2009.

Daniel and Jamie Stauffer showed solid progress aboard the R1 Superbikes, but despite tremendous effort  shown by riders and crew, struggled to make an impact on the top 5.

Yamaha Racing Team Superbike

Changing weather conditions hampered a concerted effort by Yamaha’s R1 racers at this weekend’s fifth round of the Australian Superbike Championships (ASBK) at Mallala Motorsport Park in South Australia.

The factory outfit spent the day prior to Friday’s opening session dialling in the Superbikes of Jamie and Daniel Stauffer to suit the tight 2.8km circuit.

Rather than the forecasted rains, strong winds lashed the area during practice, again making definite setup direction difficult.

The Superbike class fit in the majority of their combined qualifying laps on Saturday before rain began to fall. The conditions eventually forced the cancellation of the Superpole showdown which meant Jamie Stauffer would start on the second row from seventh with a best time of 1:07.158 and Daniel Stauffer a further two grid places back in ninth with a 1:07.373.

Cool but dry track conditions on Sunday looked set to provide the YRT riders with a good opportunity to take back positions and points.

The 20-lap opening race proved to be a processional affair, with few positions changing throughout the duration.

Daniel Stauffer grabbed two places off the start and was seventh as the field completed its first lap. Jamie had dropped two places and was eighth.

The teammates held steady for the remainder of the race and crossed the line in the same positions.

The R1 pairing were involved in a number of see-sawing battles across the course of the second race and would eventually finish in seventh and eighth once more, with Daniel leading Jamie home this time.

Both riders finished the weekend on 27 points. In outright terms Jamie is placed seventh after five rounds, with Daniel just a spot behind in eighth.

“The bike felt good coming into the weekend but it was really hard to get on top of a good setup with the changeable conditions,” said Jamie.

“We didn’t get a chance to do Superpole which is where we made up good grid positions at Eastern Creek, so had to settle with a start on the second row.

“The pace was good but we couldn’t quite match the leaders over a lap. Some good progress was made with the R1 and I think there’s a bit more to be found ahead of Phillip Island.”

Jamie’s Supersport title defence was boosted with the overall round win at Mallala.

Stauffer got the better of YRT Supersport racer Bryan Staring, with the bonus point for pole notching up another round win for the New South Welshman aboard the dominant R6.

Yamaha Racing Team Supersport
Yamaha Racing Team Supersport rider Bryan Staring added another race win to his 2009 tally in a weekend which produced yet another carbon copy of results amongst the Supersport class leaders.

Staring’s back-and-forth scrap for points with YRT Superbike teammate Jamie Stauffer continued at Mallala Motorsport Park, with each rider taking a race win and a second place.

It was Stauffer who again took round honours by a single point for pole, but for Staring, it was a satisfactory result in championship terms.

“I made a good start to the second race and kept focused on fast, consistent laps,” said Staring. “I knew Jamie would be on the pace and he was incredibly tough to shake.

“In the end we made a big gap on the field and I ended up beating Jamie by less than half a second.

“We both struggled off the start in race two and took a few laps to work our way back to the front.

“I had Jamie in my sights early but he got away and ended up making a bit of a gap. It’s tough to finish second again but in terms of my championship, once again, I only lost one point.”

Staring leads the class on 230 points, 17 ahead of Stauffer.

Pat Medcalf continued his stellar run of results in the Superstock 1000 class, taking another round win aboard his R1.

The polesitter finish second in race 1, first in race 2 and second in race three to collect a further 66 points for his class championship.

On current form he is well-placed to secure the 2009 title, with 264 points to his name, 46 more than his closest challenger.