MEDIA RELEASE from Yamaha
25 October 2006
Yamaha secures 2006 Australian Supersport and NakedBike titles with one round to spare

Yamaha riders have wrapped up two classes of the YMF Loan Australian Superbike Championship with a round still remaining, with massive points tallies ensuring they cannot be beaten.

Jamie Stauffer has produced one of the most dominant displays of riding prowess ever seen in the national series, stealing the spotlight in both Superbike and Supersport classes.

While he leads the Superbike class by 37 points heading into the final round, his phenomenal Supersport performance has guaranteed him the 2007 title, with an unassailable points margin.

Stauffer clean swept the first four rounds of the Supersport series, taking round wins at Eastern Creek, Barbagallo, Mallala and Queensland Raceway.

Solid points hauls at the previous Symmons Plains and Winton rounds sealed the deal for the phenomenal R6 pilot, who was elated to have delivered the title a round in advance.

Yamaha Motor Australia Managing Director, Steven Cotterell, said the achievement was a fantastic reflection on both the ability of the star rider and the class-leading YZF-R6 package.

"Yamaha riders have dominated the Australian road race scene this year in all the high profile classes including Supersport, Superbike and Nakedbikes," said Cotterell.

"The only riders who have been able to get near Supersport rider Jamie Stauffer have been his YZF-R6 mounted team mates, which sums up the season for us."

"The new R6 has certainly earned its reputation as the one to beat and I would like to thank Jamie and all the Yamaha Race Team staff for dominating the class and for delivering the well earned Australian Supersport title."

"Congratulations also to Jon Cartwright and the Northstar Yamaha/Anchor Race team for clinching the Australian Nakedbike title on an immaculately prepared FZ1."

"These achievements highlight Yamaha's sporting pedigree and serve to promote the fact that if you want to rule the racetrack, look no further than Yamaha."

Encouragingly, the battle for second and third in the championship is now on between Stauffer's teammates Mark Aitchison and Jason O'Halloran.

Stauffer was quick to highlight the strong performance of the R6 on the racetrack as a major contributing factor to his win.

"It's a great achievement for the team and myself personally, especially considering we're running in both classes," said Stauffer.

"I was fortunate to get going early and notch up a lot of wins at the start of the season, it's allowed me to shift the focus to the Superbike and to have won the Supersport title at Winton is fantastic."

"It really takes the pressure off me, but that doesn't mean I'll hold back at Eastern Creek, we've got a great base setup from round one so I'll be pushing for the win."

In similar style, Northstar Yamaha/Anchor Race Team frontrunner Jon Cartwright blitzed the field on the weekend at Winton, creating an unbeatable lead for himself in the NakedBikes class.

Cartwright, who campaigns the distinct yellow and black Yamaha FZ1, has won 5 from 6 rounds in season 2006, represented by a massive 107.5 point lead.

"I'd like to thank everyone who has put in so much to this point to win us the 2006 title, from the sponsors Northstar Yamaha and Anchor as well as my fantastic crew." said Cartwright.

"We were not sure if we could wrap it up before Eastern Creek so to have won it with the results last weekend I'm extremely pleased."

"It's been a very good year and it's been great to work with Yamaha and run the FZ1 in NakedBikes as always, I'm absolutely ecstatic at this point."

Both riders will be out in force once again from November 17-19 as the YMF Loan Australian Superbike Championship contests its 'Grand Final' at Eastern Creek in New South Wales.