Young Yamaha Talents Master the Misano World Circuit

Some lucky kids from the Asian Roadracing Championship are getting specialized training at none other than the VR46 Rider’s Academy. Yamaha is chronicling their trip, and below is one of a series of press releases from the Academy. This time the students get to put all their training to use as they compete in a timed practice session around the Misano World Circuit Marco Simoncelli aboard Yamaha R3s. -TS

Today was the last time Peerapong Loiboonpeng (Thailand), Galang Hendra Pratama (Indonesia), Soichiro Minamimoto (Japan),Kasma Daniel Bin Kasmayudin (Malasia) and Imanuel Putra Pratna (Indonesia) visited the Fisio Gym for a workout to warm up for their riding session in the afternoon and they were in for a treat.

After a quick stretching session with Franco Morbidelli and Andrea Migno, the Yamaha VR46 Master Camp riders were given a tour around an exclusive part of the gym as a farewell gesture. Morbidelli quickly changed into his leathers and gave a demonstration of how to operate the virtual reality device and ’rode‘ a few laps on the Misano World Circuit.

Having seen a glimpse of what was in store for them later that day, the riders rushed to their last lunch break in Tavullia, where the Official VR46 Fan Club Vice President, Flavio Fratesi, made a surprise entry with his arms full of gifts for the five riders. With big smiles on their faces and new VR46 caps on their heads, they made their way to the track, where they were greeted by VR46 Riders Academy‘s Lorenzo Baldassarri. The Moto2 rider had prepared a short briefing for the riders and gave them useful tips, with the circuit‘s outline as a visual aid, before Valentino Rossi and the other VR46 Academy Riders joined the gathering.

Their arrival signalled it was time for the five pupils to get changed and get aboard their all-new YZF-R3 bikes. Much like yesterday they competed against the Doctor, the VR46 Academy Riders and other guests, before they where given some clear track time all for themselves, to hold a timed practice session.

Peerapong Loiboonpeng, who set the best time amongst just the five young riders, also scored the best combined results over the Yamaha VR46 Master Camp practice sessions so far, earning him a gold medal. 
Make sure to get to know our fourth talent: Peerapong Loiboonpeng better by watching the rider video that was uploaded earlier today.

Again another great day together with the riders of the Yamaha VR46 Master Camp. This time we found ourselves at the Misano World Circuit, and these were three hours of very intensive training. Some of the VR46 Academy riders have followed the Asian riders on the track and at the end of the day I saw them riding really well. I too have crossed some of them on the track during training and I was impressed with how well they are picking up on our teachings. Tomorrow is the last day of Master Camp. We will end this very exciting week in a really nice way: on track with minibikes!

This morning‘s session was really good for me because I felt a little exhausted after yesterday‘s full programme at the Motor Ranch. I have a muscle ache all over my body and at the gym we got a lesson on how to stretch our muscles in such a way that it relieves the pain. This was my first time to race at the Misano World Circuit and it‘s an honour because it’s one of the best race tracks in the world. That lay-out is difficult, but the speed you carry in the corners is quite similar to the track we have in Thailand. I feel really happy that I‘ve had a chance to come here and train in front of Valentino Rossi and the VR46 Riders Academy and to get a golden Yamaha VR46 Master Camp medal at the end of the day is unbelievable.

We did three sessions at the Misano World Circuit today; the first was just to get a feeling for the track and the bike, in the second I already noticed a big improvement and the last stint was definitely the best of all. At the end of today, I feel like I was in my element and I‘m really happy about this. It was the first time for me, riding at the Misano World Circuit, but Lorenzo Baldassarri gave really good advice on how to ride here. Thanks to him I was able to ride well here and I can‘t wait to ride the YZF-R3 again!

It was the first time for me to ride at the Misano World Circuit and it was great because it is fast. I enjoyed the riding session a lot today. It was also the first time I rode on a YZF-R3, but the bike is so good that I barely needed time to adapt to it. Lorenzo Baldassarri explained to us how to ride at this circuit and thanks to him I was able to ride smoothly. I also want to thank Franco Morbidelli for showing us the race simulator. I really want to try it some time, because it looks so realistic.

Finally we have arrived at the Misano World Circuit! We got to ride YZF-R3 bikes and I had been looking forward to this moment all week! Now that I‘ve ridden it I feel great, because it handles really well and the track is really nice. It has been a real experience with Valentino Rossi and the other guys of the VR46 Riders Academy and we even had Lorenzo Baldassari as a teacher. I think it will take a few weeks before these amazing experiences all sink in and it will feel like it‘s reality. I want to sincerely thank Yamaha for making this possible!