Cal Crutchlow's World Supersport Yamaha R6 - World Championship Send-Off

It actually pays to rev the motor right out to near the rev-limiter in every gear, with the row of shifter lights flashing bright red across the top of the MoTeC dash at exactly 16,200 rpm. There's a big gear indicator on the LCD dash, which also shows your lap time in the middle of the panel, and the bar graph sweep of the tachometer across the top. The vestigial but carefully shaped windscreen gives a surprising amount of protection even to a taller rider flat out in a straight line; but Crutchlow's riding position is quite individual, with the handlebars spread out wide and very flat. This gives better leverage in tight turns or when controlling a slide, and compensates for the fact that the seat pad Crutchlow prefers is positively wafer thin. You actually sit lower than normal, and the fine layer of rubber spread over the surface of the tailpiece gives your leathers some grip that would otherwise be non-existent.

It seemed last year when I rode the Yamaha that it preferred wide, sweeping lines-250GP-style-in faster turns, which a wide track like Brno gives plenty of room for. That's how I was riding it to start with; but after my first short five-lap session, I returned to the pits to for an unexpected lesson from Crutchlow. "You're trying to use too much turn speed," said the World Supersport champion. "Because supersport bikes are now getting more power, you have to stand them up as soon as you can out of a turn for less tire wear as well as better grip, so you need to end up riding it more like a superbike. My corner speed on some bends can be [6 mph] slower compared to [Yamaha teammate Fabien] Foret's and [Anthony] West's, and sometimes even than Eugene [Laverty], too, though he also rides his Honda more like a superbike now. But I always get out of the turn faster, and that's the key to quick laps, because it gives you more speed on the straight that comes after, and your tires last better. High corner speeds are okay at keeping up momentum, but often they mess up your speed down the next straight, so brake deeper and get it stood up sooner. Plus there's another thing: I can hear you blipping the throttle on the downchanges for that bend. You don't need to do that, and not just because it's got a slipper clutch. Just brake and change gear with your foot-nothing else-don't even use the clutch. You'll be surprised at what happens!"

The Yamaha really excelled on the brakes, where it was surprisingly stable in spite of the short wheelbase and the extra weight transfer from my additional pounds. Just like a year ago with another rider's settings, the team had the Soqi inverted fork with Öhlins internals dialed in perfectly, with enough compression damping to handle that weight transfer without lifting the back wheel off the ground and swapping the back end entering a turn. There was just enough residual engine braking left to help with final turn-in too. "The brakes are fantastic on this bike," says a satisfied Crutchlow. "Normally I'll leave some braking distance in reserve in qualifying and the morning warm-up, when I don't brake as late as I could. But in the race, if I need to, I'll be able to pass anyone. I tend to brake early, but I don't brake hard; I leave a lot of corner entry speed, and I just brake right deep into the corner. This bike gets the job done on the brakes." The cocktail of twin 310mm Brembo discs with the stock R6 four-piston Sumitomo monobloc calipers is a potent mixture.

Still, you have to get to that base camp, and after that crucial development season in 2008, Zeelenberg's team settled on Ohlins suspension components. "We worked a lot over the winter with Ohlins, and we took good steps forward with the stability of the bike, especially," says Eschenbacher. The Yamaha's handling is agile but confidence-inspiring-it steers pretty fast into a bend without feeling nervous, and with the reduced 1380mm wheelbase, it's quite forgiving if you need to correct your line, or change it to avoid a slower rider, as on the track day when I rode the bike. But it also felt very predictable, with good feedback from the Pirelli tires helping in maintaining corner speed, and at my level I reckon this is still the best way to ride the bike. But I did notice a couple of corners, like exiting the infield complex, or the uphill chicane before the last turn, where the rear Pirelli was starting to slide under the punishment, as I fed in the power cranked over on the exit for the long run along the next straight. Taking Crutchlow's advice to heart, I lifted the Yamaha exiting the turn superbike-style and that certainly resolved any traction problems. A good tug on the handlebars also helped redress the front end push I'd been experiencing at those turns with the rear Öhlins compressing unduly thanks to the effects of my extra weight compared to the slimmer Mr. Crutchlow.

It's nice to be wise after the event, and after riding the predecessor of Crutchlow's Yamaha Europe R6 one year ago, I wrote that "one thing's for sure: after a season of development in 2008, the latest Yamaha R6 will be a serious contender for world honors next season." Well, thanks to riding skill and an innate ability to learn new circuits very fast-a skill he shares with the man he'll be replacing in the hot seat of the factory Yamaha R1 Superbike in 2010, Ben Spies-that's the way it's turned out for Britain's Crutchlow in his debut season on the world stage. Yamaha's been waiting for nine years to regain the World Supersport championship, and the Crutchlow R6 was the bike that did it for them.