2011 Yamaha World Superbike
As well as the presence of SBK rookies Marco Melandri and Eugene Laverty, last week’s one-day appearance at Valencia also saw the new Yamaha World Superbike Team Manager Andrea Dosoli in charge of the team for the first time at what was a productive and positive test all round.
The Valencia test gave Marco Melandri the chance to run Pirelli tires for the first time and he was fast on them at the first time of asking on the Yamaha, posting a 1:33.9, while Laverty got down to a time of 1:34.9 on superbike race rubber.
The latest Yamaha R1 superbike runs a reduced weight and an altered weight balance to improve traction and the latest spec machine also ran 2011 Öhlins front forks.
The superbike adheres to the 2011 FIM regulations for the World Superbike championship, featuring standard fuel injectors, fuel pump and fuel regulators.
Andrea Dosoli (the replacement for outgoing Massimo Meregalli as the new Yamaha World Superbike Team Manager) says: "It feels nice to be involved in such a professional environment, the team is working really well. I believe there is a good base here to achieve great results and have a good feeling with both the riders."
"I was a little worried about Marco’s first experience on a heavier bike with different tires but I’m really happy that he had a good feeling and adapted quickly to the new tires and bike, the lap time for him was not so bad either. Eugene has a lot of potential and is very motivated; he was working on different settings between the 2010 and 2011 bikes and was providing very clear feedback for the team to work with. We will go away now and use this information to prepare for the test in Australia in three weeks time."
