Yamaha Preview Tassie ASC Round

Round five of the Australian Superbike Championship is set to be a crucial meet for the Yamaha Racing Team, who are looking to further bridge the gap between their riders and rivals at Symmons Plains. In relative terms, Mallala was a lean round for the Yamaha Racing Team, who, despite claiming both Superbike and Supersport overall victories, were less dominant on track.

In 2006, Tasmania proved an extremely fruitful expedition for the team, who showcased unparalleled speed and handling, as well as a strong synergy with their Dunlop tyres to take the win in both classes.They will look to build on the bank of data and valuable track time gained in order to ensure they are topping the timesheets across all 3 days at Symmons Plains.Weather could play a factor in the weekend, with low temperatures expected and rain always a possibility, throwing an extra element into the mix.

Yamaha Racing Team Superbike.

Jamie Stauffer is looking to assert himself upon on a particularly competitive pack of rival Superbike riders at Symmons Plains as he guns for back-to-back Tasmanian wins at round 5 of the Australian Superbike Championship.

Showing electrifying pace from start to finish last year, Stauffer was on top during practice, qualifying and across both races, with little opposition coming from other frontrunning riders. The two long straights at Symmons Plains saw the Yamaha Racing Team R1 streak away in the distance, and showed it was equally as able in completing some very tight turns, including the infamous hairpin.

Knowing there is a strong risk in becoming complacent, Stauffer will leave little to chance and will be pushing hard from the outset of the event. "Tasmania was a very good round for us last year, we had a pretty good handle on what was needed for a quick lap and the YZF-R1 worked particularly well," said Stauffer."Having said that its a much more competitive mix this year in terms of riders and I'd expect that in the second year of coming here we will see a lot closer racing at the front.  We're aiming for maximum championship points and are confident of being on the pace early."

By his own admission Dan Stauffer struggled at the previous round, but he has set his sights on a fightback at Tasmania, a round which saw him gain some great momentum in 2006. Strong performances at the start of the season afforded Stauffer a good points buffer in the event of an average round, and he is still 13 points clear of third place in the championship.

"It's a testament to the team and Yamaha's R1 that we can have an off round and still be running second in the championship, I was competitive here last year so hopefully we can capitalise on this and grab some good results at Symmons Plains."

Yamaha Racing Team Supersport.

Jeremy Crowe heads into the Symmons Plains event, the fifth instalment of the YMF Loan Australian Supersport Championship, as the defending round champion after winning by a point in 2006.

He forms part of the most formidable teammate trios on track in the nation, with Jason O'Halloran and Jamie Stauffer ready to contend for the podium positions once again.

Currently third in the title chase, Crowe feels as though he has another good shot at challenging for the round victory after an encouraging first half of the season.

"This should be a good round for me as I'm pretty confident at Symmons Plains, its a unique track and still fairly new to many of the riders so I feel as though I can definitely be in the position to race with my teammates for the win," said Crowe. "As it was last year the R6 is still clearly the bike to be on in Supersport."

Jason O'Halloran will look to improve on his 19-point series lead in Tasmania, and is hoping he can take his consecutive official round win streak to 4 in a row with a good performance.O'Halloran has clearly had an edge to date in 2007, and is hungry to take the title victory. With a maximum of 51 points on offer, he knows Symmons Plains will be a definitive round and plans to attack as soon as the team unloads its race-winning YZF-R6 machines from the transporter."I've been putting alot of work into my own fitness as I feel this is the best way to get myself properly prepared for the races, it is very close between the Yamaha teammates which is great for the team," said O'Halloran.

"It would be fantastic to come away with another round win and I'm aiming for 5 in a row, while still keeping in mind the championship picture which requires me to act conservatively before making any passing moves."

2007 YMF Loan Australian Superbike Championship
Current championship points after Round 4 of 8

Superbike Class

1. Jamie STAUFFER (NSW), 193
2. Daniel STAUFFER (NSW), 148
3. Craig COXHELL (VIC), 135
4. Glenn ALLERTON (NSW), 127
5. Shannon JOHNSON (VIC), 115
6. Wayne MAXWELL (VIC), 111
7. Shawn GILES (NSW), 107
8. Adam FERGUSSON (VIC), 95
9. Russell HOLLAND (NSW), 88
10. Scott CHARLTON (VIC), 87

Supersport Class

1. Jason O'HALLORAN (NSW),185
2. Jamie STAUFFER (NSW), 166
3. Jeremy CROWE (NSW), 141
4. Joshua WATERS (VIC), 134
5. Russell HOLLAND (NSW), 133
6. Bryan STARING (WA), 97
7. Wayne MAXWELL (VIC), 82
8. Christopher SEATON (QLD), 80
9. Gareth JONES (QLD), 80
10. Mick KELLY (WA), 77