Haga and Corser make real progress in testing at Vallelunga

Noriyuki Haga and Troy Corser (Yamaha Motor Italia WSB Team) used their two days of official testing time at the Vallelunga circuit to prepare for the next races, and came away from Vallelunga with positive results all round.

The sessions were a combined official FGSport outing and a Development Teams Test for Pirelli, and both Noriyuki and Troy found some advantages in the latest specification of control tyres.

With track temperatures climbing to over 60°C on the final afternoon most riders set their best times during the final day’s morning session. Over the two days, Corser finished top Yamaha rider, with a 1’36.770. Noriyuki had set his fastest lap of 1’37.115 on the afternoon of the first day, which was generally cooler than day two.

Despite the incredibly hot track temperatures, each rider found great improvements in the duration of the latest rear tyres during their long runs. The Vallelunga race itself, scheduled for September, is expected to be considerably cooler than it was during this test, but the team learned many valuable lessons for immediate and long-term use.

Each rider tried out Öhlins electronic suspension units, which were being tested for the first time in public at this event and despite having limited track time in which to try them out, initial results were declared positive by each rider.

The team also ran their latest exhaust developments, which made for a better engine response and slightly more power through the rev range.

"I was happy enough with that test. We tried lots of different things with the suspension and the new things we worked with seemed pretty good. Overall the bike was working well and the new tyres they brought seemed to give us more life. They were not that much different in single lap times but they just lasted longer. We did a long run and from the first to the last lap the lap time was pretty good.

I think there was more time to come off if we had pushed harder but we are testing, not qualifying. The temperature going up didn’t offer us much grip at all and there seemed to be less track grip than at Misano, which is unusual. It doesn’t feel as hot here but the tarmac obviously holds more heat. The test has been good, no silly mistakes or crashes, so it’s been positive all round."

"I’m happy with the test and we did most of our work on our normal suspension set-up because that is what we will be using in real race conditions. We had a little problem finding a good final set-up to go faster than we did on day one, and we could not improve today. But in our long run the lap times were good, consistent and we had the same experience as Troy with the development tyres.

They lasted longer than the regular ones. In this regard we are happy and the important thing is that the track temperature may be different for the race in two months, but we hope to use a similar machine set-up September."

"We tested the electronic suspension for the first time and it seems to have good possibilities. Troy was happy with it, and we used it with Nori for a short time. We found a good solution from Pirelli for the races and both riders’ long runs were very good, and maybe Nori was slightly longer. I think he did 20 laps, with good results.

Some riders could push harder for a single lap today, and because of that they set a better time, but we are happy with the work we did to make sure we will be ready for the races. Our new exhaust design was a small improvement in all areas. It is hard to do that at this stage of the season so the final result was good all round."

- Yamaha Racing -