A Sunday at Phillip Island which feeds legitimate hopes

Even if Valentin Debise and Lorenzo Baldassarri were hoping for better results, the GMT94 Yamaha riders can leave Australia with good prospects.

Valentin Debise (Race 2: P8): I clearly had the potential to play a top 5 but after 3 laps the grip was not the same. It’s a pity because even if Phillip Island is not my favourite track I knew I had the potential to be in the front. It’s up to us to work on finding solutions. During the weekend there were some positive things. We have to build on them to prepare for the next meeting in Indonesia. My team is working hard. We will do better soon.

Lorenzo Baldassarri (Superpole race: P16/Race 2: P16): I had fun for a good part of Race 2. It’s a shame because with 8 laps to go I had some problems with the front. I had difficulties to turn.  I decided to change the electronics but it was worse. I’m a bit frustrated but that’s racing.The weekend remains positive. With different track conditions during these 3 days, we gained a lot of experience. We made progress in each free session and understood a lot about the bike, especially the electronics. My goal was to finish the races, to do a lot of miles with the Yamaha YZF-R1. I am now looking forward to Indonesia.

Christophe Guyot (Team Manager): A race weekend with ups and downs. In terms of pure performance we can be satisfied with our riders even if we did not reach our objectives in terms of results.The Supersport qualification was frustrating.Valentin Debise should have started from 4th position in Race 1 if his lap had not been cancelled for passing 2 thousandths before a chequered flag which had not been presented to him. But the performance was there and we were confident for the race. Unfortunately the weather conditions made it difficult for us to win the race, we tried a gamble with slick tires and it was a bad choice on my part. It started raining again shortly after the start of the race. Mea-culpa as far as I am concerned. Valentin still had an exceptional race scoring points and finishing 13th, and first of the drivers who chose the same tire option. In race 2 Valentin finished 8th. Even if he is disappointed, it is still a good result in the World Championship. He was suffering with rear tire grip at Phillip Island. We will work to help him find a new set-up and hopefully get closer to the top five in Indonesia.For Lorenzo Baldassarri, we can only take positives from Race 1. Even if we could read the disappointment on his face after the race, he showed his potential during the first 5 laps. And let’s remember that it was a first for him in the wet with a 1000 and a first with Pirelli rain tires. Sunday’s race confirmed that Lorenzo is moving in the right direction. He battled for 15 laps with three top riders (Baz, Gerloff and Redding). He stalled at the end of the race and came within one place of the points, but he can be proud of his weekend.