Toseland convinced that Yamaha can solve problems before Portimao
Added on Monday, March 1st, 2010 by Carole Nash Editor
Toseland convinced that Yamaha can solve problems before Portimao
James Toseland was looking for the positives from Phillip Island despite a disappointing return to World Superbikes with Yamaha.
The former world champion, back in WSB after a two-year stint in MotoGP, crashed out of race one at Phillip Island after just three laps, high-siding onto the arm that he injured during free practice just two days earlier, before eventually recovering to finish tenth in race two, from a starting position of eighth.
That has put Toseland, one of many fan’s picks for the WSB rider’s title, at an early disadvantage in the championship race but the Yorkshireman believes that the team is aware of the problems and that fans can expect more from him and Yamaha in Portimao.
“I really needed to finish the second race after the crash in the first. To only finish 14 seconds from the front with the issues we’ve had this weekend is not so bad,” he claimed.
“I was really disappointed with the first race, with my injury on Friday I wanted to have two good finishes today. Full credit to the team they’ve tried so hard but unfortunately we haven’t had the software here to solve the issue. We know what the problem is and I’ve given enough feedback and input to give the guys a direction to go in.
“We’ve got a lot of work to do, no doubt, but even with all the problems we’re not actually that far away. The package, the power, the balance and the suspension have come on leaps and bounds. On to Portimao now, it’s a long season so we can do it.”
It was also a disappointing weekend for Toseland’s teammate Cal Crutchlow, who also crashed out on race one before finishing ninth in race two, and the WSS champion suggested that the R1′s notorious chatter problem isn’t helping matters at present.
“Race one was unfortunate, I felt we had good pace and were running up in the top five quite comfortably, I just made a little mistake,” he claimed. “I was a bit better than Rea into the hairpin so had to run wide to avoid him and lost the front on the dirt. The second race was hard, I felt like I had no grip from the start and still some chattering. If we had better grip we could have pulled more out of it. We need to go back to the drawing board and work some stuff out.”
