2009 Yamaha Motor Italia Superbike riders Ben Spies and Tom Sykes have
endured some serious heat on their three day test in Kyalami. The
young riders have endured track temperatures approaching 50 degrees as
they put the all-new-for-2009 Yamaha YZF-R1 through its paces on only
its second outing on track.

Spies was second quickest on day one with an impressive best lap time
of 1’41″599(46 laps) in the African sunshine. Team mate Tom Sykes was
struck down with a mysterious bug, and he only managed to put in some
laps prior to returning to the hotel.

Day two saw Spies fall in testing, so missing the final time on track,
he still managed to improve on his day one times, finishing the day
with a best lap of 1’41″049 (38 laps). Sykes managed to improve
dramatically on day two with a best time of 1’42″933 (18
laps).

The final day saw Spies pull in his fastest time of the test, taking
second fastest honours overall and only a mere 0.2s behind Michele
Fabrizio and beating Noriyuki Haga to the second spot,making him one
of only three riders to break the 1.40 barrier with a time of
1.39″978. Tom Sykes was getting back on form until an unfortunate
crash curtailed his testing for the day, he again improved on his
times in the limited laps run with a 1.41″562. The re-entered Aprilia
squad took 8th and 9th and the new for 2009 BMW factory team finished
11th and 13th.

The new 998cc bike, featuring a high tech powerplant closely linked to
the M1 MOTOGP bike, is currently at the very beginning of its
development for the 2009 WSB season and is still relatively close to
production specifications. The M1-derived crossplane crankshaft design
and uneven firing interval, give very good traction to the bike and
improved tyre life. The new chassis gives an unparallel feedback to
the riders, improving stability and feeling out of corners. The WSB
spec engine is being developed step by step, improving power output at
each stage in the run up to the first race in 2009.

So far the team’s minor modifications to the standard bike include a
modified cam-shaft, an enlarged radiator for extra cooling and the
addition of an oil cooler. The new bike has no rear sub-frame but
incorporates a strengthened frame. The exhaust is unique, and was
developed in partnership with Akrapovic. The standard fuel tank has
also been replaced with an aluminium tank with increased capacity. The
bike features the latest Magneti Marelli electronic systems. The new
swing arm is also developed purely for the WSB race bike based on
knowledge taken from the 2008 racing season.

Since Portimao the team have changed the seating position slightly for
both riders and taken the engine one step further in
tuning.

Ben Spies
“I’m really happy with the bike, the team and the progress we’re
making,” Spies continued. “This was the first time we had the
opportunity to go out and size ourselves up against everyone in a
major test. We’re ahead of where we thought we’d be at this point.
There are two more test sessions this winter and I expect the bike
will continue to improve as we move towards the season opener at
Phillip Island in March. The fan support here is pretty amazing. It
was a good week to get to know some of the other riders too. I had a
lot of them come up and shake my hand and welcome me to the series.
Max Biaggi came up and talked with me for awhile. That was pretty
awesome for me. I’ve been a fan of Max since I was a kid. In AMA there
might be two or three guys in testing who get down to business from
start to finish,” Spies admitted. “There’s no lollygagging here. No
one’s going around doing wheelies the length of the straightaway.
Everyone pushes hard here all the time. The competition is going to be
good for sure.”

Tom Sykes
“It’s been a tough test! I missed one and half days through this bug
I’ve had so was a long way behind with laps. When I got out I still
managed to get some good laps in and the team were brilliant, they
improved the bike massively every time I came in. I’ve got a very sore
shoulder from falling today but it’s nothing serious.”

Massimo Meregalli Yamaha Motor Italia Team Manager
“In the end we tested almost everything while we were out here, tyres,
different suspension set ups, different mappings and so on. We’ve
found some good set ups to take forward to the next test. We’ve been
waiting out for the evenings here for the temperature to drop so we
could get back out on the track and try some new things.Both Tom and
Ben have performed really well, it’s been really unfortunate that Tom
has been held back by things out of his control. We’re still very much
running in the new bike, this is only the second session since
Portimao. All in all we are very satisfied, we know what our potential
is and we are very happy.”

The Yamaha Motor Italia Team move on to their next test in Portimao on
23 to 25th January 2009.

Yamaha Racing Communications
Hoogte Kadijk 61hs / 1018 BE Amsterdam / The Netherlands
office@yrc.nl W. http://www.yamaha-racing.com