Vladimir Leonov

Leonov leaves Donington

World Supersport Championship

Round 5

Donington 11-13 May 2012

Saturday 12 may

One lap. No more than one lap on Saturday free practice, and the Vladimir Leonov fifth stage of WSS is finished. He entered the circuit with a good smile. Yesterday practice was good, and instead of the stone that broken the radiator and obliged him to stai in the box for more than 20 minutes, in only three fast laps he signed a promising 10.th position. During the night mechanics prepared the bike to fits his request even better, and a significantly better performance was possible for Vladimir and Yakhnich Motorsport Yamaha R6.

But for some reasons destiny decided it wasn’t our week-end. Vladimir entered the circuit, made is flying lap, and just when he was starting the first full lap, at corner 3, suddently he loose the rear tyre and a terrible high side was the end of his week-end.

Corner three, the Craner Curves, is one of the fastest of the circuit. 200 km/h in fourth gear, left hand corner after other two fast right corners. IN this part of the circuit yesterday Leonov was among the fasters riders, very safe and fluent riding...

Today in the first lap he entered much slower than yesterday fast laps, and tyre temperature, asphalt temperature and general conditions was absolutely the same.

What happened? It happened that just some seconds before Vladimir arrived in that corner, the official showed the black/orange flag to number 38, Nemeth, for technical problems. 99% Vladimir loose the grip on some oil or water lost by the Toth Racing team Honda. 

With the accident Vladimir suffered a double fracture in the left malleolus, left and right side.

It was immediately treated in the medical center and then in Clinica Mobile. Doctors says we have good possibilities to have him on the grid at Misano, next WSS race, the 10.th of june, if rest and reabilitation will work in the right direction.

VLADIMIR LEONOV

“I entered the corner much slower than usual, without any risk. I loose suddently the grip from rear tyre, but it was not a standard sliding because of the tyre grip. I’m sure there where something on the asphalt. I’m so sorry to jump this race, everything was going in the right direction, and we could obtain even here a good result! Now I must stay 20 days without walking, than 1 week of reabilitation just before the Misano race”.

Supersport, 1st Qualifying, Friday

World Supersport Championship

Round 5

Donington 11-13 May 2012

Friday 11 may

Again  the bad weather. The 2012 WSS championship seems a “winter championship” up to this moment. Even in Donington cold temperature and some rain shower was waiting the riders on thursday, but fortunately friday morning, for the first free practice, the circuit was dry after the night rains. 

Dry but mostly slippery... Donington circuit is side by side to the West Midland Airport, and the airplane gas released in the air during take of and landing, create a slippery film on the circuit, especially in the cold morning asphalt. The first free practice was very difficult, many crashes, but fortunately it was not the case of Vladimir Leonov, that ended the session with a promising 9.th position.  

The first qualifying session, at 13,45, started with a not lucky situation: after one fast lap, that setted immediately Leonov in the top ten standing, one stone launched by another bike broken the radiator of the Yakhnich Motorsport Yamaha R6. Vladimir was so obliged at a long stop to change it.

When he entered finally the circuit, it was 8 minutes to finish the session, but again Vladimir demonstrated his good moment, fixing immediately, after two laps, the best personal time of 1’33”475, more than half second faster respect the morning session. This laptime at the moment means the 10.th position on the grid, but we hope to do better tomorrow. To be qualified in second row is the target of the team. And it is possible.

VLADIMIR LEONOV

“I was not so lucky today. The morning was very difficult and cold, and easy to crash with the slippery circuit. In the afternoon we did some modification in the setting and it worked immediately, but because of the radiator broke we could not finalize the testing work. In any case it is nice to see that we are in any case among the top ten”.

Battle at Assen

Round 4, race, Monza

World Supersport Championship

round 4

Monza 4-6 May 2012

Sunday 6 may 

Racing is racing. One day you are on the podium, the other one you must give applause to the others. One day the good luck kiss you, another day choose another.

For sure in Monza didn’t kissed Yakhnich team and Vladimir Leonov. From the problems in the first free practice, till the wet second qualifying, that did not allowed Vladimir to obtain a better starting position then 15.th place then he could expects. 

The race was on wet, yes, and Vladimir is fast on wet, yes.

But starting from the fourth row, you have to overtake lot of slower riders to go ahead...

Vladimir had a good start, he was already in the first 10 position at the end of the first lap, then 8.th at the second, then 7.th.. his rhythm was already good for a podium, again, but on his way a lot of “traps”: first of all Cruciani, with his fast Kawasaki on the straight, sowed many times Vladimir in to the corners... then the Quarmby crash, just in front of Vladimir, obliged our rider to slow down and loose again some positions, till the 9.th. Pushing to recover position Vladimir did a mistake in Roggia “esse”, and even there loose some positions, till the 12.th.   

It was still the beginning of the race, yes, but all this unlucky happenings can create nervous situation to the rider. From 12.th position Vladimir started a new race. Faster and faster, between the third and the fourth lap he overtook one, two, three riders, another crashed in front... at the end of fourth lap he was 7.th, and in the fifth he signed the best lap of the race up to that moment, 2’03”7, one second faster respect the leaders of the race. In the beginning of the 6.th lap he overtook even Baldolini,  conquering the 6.th position. Arriving at the Roggia braking point he was already back of  the 5.th and again faster then the leaders. But today it was not our day... an harder braking than usual in Roggia create an instability in the rear of the bike and Vladimir had an high side just in the middle of the corner.

Our race today finished there.

But now we are sure. Vladimir Leonov and Yakhnich Motorsport team will be always protagonists of the fight for the first 5-8 position from now till the end of the season. Would you have believed it before the championship start? 

 See you in one week for the Donington 5.th stage.

VLADIMIR LEONOV

“I’m so sorry... I was really in the condition to go again on the podium, or very close to that. Unfortunately I loose time back of slower riders and so in the beginning of the race I could not be as fast as it was possible. I tried to stay “out of the problems”, but probably today was impossible. Already in that point of the crash I had lot of rear sliding the laps before, and in 6.th lap it was too much, and as the tyre recovered the grip in the middle of the corner, the reaction of the bike lauched me on the air. I’m so sorry for all our fan, even here in Monza I saw lot of russian fan on the standing, it was so emotional to see russian fan and russian flag from the grid, and I really wanted a good results to dedicate to all of them... Sorry, we will try to do it from next races!”.

Second qualifying

World Supersport Championship

round 4

Monza 4-6 May 2012 

Saturday 5 may

As last week during CIV, Monza WSS round is under the rain. Today we arrived in the circuit already wet because of the night rain, but fortunately the morning free practice session was held in good condition. Not perfect as Friday qualifying, but with dry circuit in the last laps of the session. 

And today the things went better than yesterday, and Vladimir Leonov could improve his performances of quite half a second, doing his best lao in 1’49”485. As announced, rain arrived for second official qualifying, so was not possible to improve the 15.th position on the grid conquered yesterday. 

But the team work was very hard even during this session, to find the good setting for the tomorrow race, announced wet.

The session started with the circuit just humid in the last part, but quite dry in the first part, and in this condition Vladimir fixed immediately the second best laptime in 2’02”512. Then rain started to be harder and harder, but even in this condition, the Yakhnich Yamaha R6 was stable in the fastest laps ranking.

So, if tomorrow will really rain, we will start with the conviction to have a good basic setting for Vladimir.

VLADIMIR LEONOV

“In the morning session we finded a good feeling whit the bike. Not perfect in some points, like in the fast changing direction, but very stable and performer in braking and in general stability, that is important in Monza. The afternoon session was hard, I was close two times to crash, but in any case the chrono results is very good and now we just have to wait and see what will be the weather condition tomorrow”.

First qualifying 

World Supersport Championship

Round 4

Monza 4-6 May 2012

Friday 4 may

Coming from  the astonishing podium of Assen, the Yakhnich team arrived in Monza hoping to start the week-end with the same optimum mental condition.

But racing is racing, and every week-end has it’s own story.

Monza is one of the most difficult circuit in the world for the engine and for the brake system, so we prepared a new step in both this technical side of the bike setting, just to give Vladimir Leonov the chance to go on in his climbing the start grid.

The first free practice on Friday morning was really important to check all this details, but we couldn’t do more then 6 laps, because of some electronical management setting failure for the new engine.

Because of that in the afternoon we went back to the old engine and settings, but we was obliged to do in the afternoon, during qualifyng, the work on brakes and suspensions setting prevented for the morning, loosing the first part of the qualifying doing this work. 

In the second part of the session Vladimir could ride for laptime, and the first run was not so bad, fixing the time of 1’49”880, that at the moment value for the 15.th place in the grid.

The bike and rider potential today is for a much better position. Even about top speed, thank’s to the engine development work, now we are no more so far from the leaders. So, the expectation for second qualifying is for a better results, but, again, rain is declared for tomorrow in second qualifying and even for Sunday.

VLADIMIR LEONOV

“It was not easy work today. We lost free practice, so we had to concentrate all test during qualifyng. In any case as starting point we are not so bad. Naturally I would like to start in the front rows, and that’s what we hope to obtain tomorrow!”.

Sixth!

ITALIAN CHAMPIONSHIP 2012

ROUND 3 MONZA

27-29 APRIL 2012

SUNDAY RACE

DAVID LEONOV

YAMAHA R6 TROPHY

David Leonov was very exited waiting the Monza race. The good practice results and the raining weather forecast was giving him the hope of a very good result, like in Imola some weeks ago. And, infact, just half an hour before the race, rain arrived. But the bad luck was waiting the Yakhnich Team just around the angle of the first lap. David had a very good start but immediately he felt somethign strange in the rear tyre. As he tried to push, bad reaction at the gas orders, strange sliding in acceleration and braking, and no speed in the straight. Impossible to understand why, but his rear tyre was absolutely “flat”, loosing all the internal air in the first lap. David Understood the problem, but his desire to race was so strong to decide to stay there, even riding much slower than the others. He wanted to finish this race, and he did, because a checkered flag is always a checkered flag!

Thank’s a lot David for your effort!

DAKOTA MAMOLA

STOCK 600

When bad luck visit the team, it is not only for one rider. Even Dakota Mamola knew that the raining condition could give him the possibility to faith easily with the front rows, starting back at the 26.th position. To be onest, rain stopped to be 10 min before the start of stock 600 class, but in any case we decided to use rain tyre for the race, as the most part of the other riders, because big dark cloud where arriving again, and because in nay case the asphalt was still wet. Just after the 5 minutes signal, some of the riders on the grid decided to change rear tyre with a slick, but it was no more possible because of the rules. All of them, at the end, would be penalized with a ride trough...

Dakota, as usual, had a wonderful start, and fighting as a lion at the end of the first lap he was already 19.th, overtaking 7 riders.

And in the first half of the second lap he already overtook other 3-4, ready to join the leaders groop very soon with his great rithm.

But arrived at the “Roggia” esse, exiting on the right, he was hardly hitted on the left side of the handlebars by Alessia Polita, that literally broke his clutch level. 

Without the clutch lever, Dakota tried to do a couple of laps, but it was creating him too much problems in downshifting, from the so high speeds of Monza, and, looking that his laptimes was going to be slower and slower, he finally decided to stop at box at the fourth lap.

Looking at what happened at the end of the race, we could strongly believe that without this accident, he could easily finish in the first five position!

SUPERSPORT 600

SERGEY VLASOV

In the early afternoon, when Supersport Race started, the circuit was completely dry. Sergey Vlasov could finally have a full week-end of good conditions to test his Supersport and increase his feeling with this difficult category.

For the race we tested a new set up, to solve for him some problem with the feeling in the front. As usual Sergey Needs some laps to keep confidence with new setting, and in the beginning his race was not so fast as expected. The rhythm after a not perfect start in the beginning was about 1’54” even because of the traffic, but as he could be alone, after a couple of overtaking, step by step he keep confidence with the bike and started to be better and better. Fighting many laps with Lagiongada for the 15.th place, he won the battle, and won even the smile of a very good series of laps in 1’53”. 

That’s what we wanted, that’s what he obtained.

Unfortunately our other rider, Vladimir Leonov, could not be present here because of the WSS rules, that will be held here in Monza next week. So we loose the leadership of the championship. Now Leonov is in fourth position, 14 points back to Dionisi, today second after Lombardi.

We have other 5 races to reduce this gap... It is possible.

Assen