MRS Yamaha competitor Kev Coghlan was one of four YZF-R1M riders inside the top eight places after a strong period of qualifying for the new machine at the fourth round of the FIM Superstock 1000 FIM Cup at Donington Park in the UK.

Coghlan was fifth overall and only 0.544 seconds from the pole-sitter Roberto Tamburini, earning himself a second row start. His new MRS Yamaha team-mate Mathieu Gines placed eighth as he replaces injured team regular Florian Marino at Donington.

Despite overcast conditions at several points of the weekend the 4.023km long track remained dry during practice allowing the YZF-R1M riders to work through their set-up at a circuit that demands hard braking and acceleration in the final part but a nimble machine for the entire first section.

The fast corners of the first part allowed the YZF-R1M, an all new model for 2015, to shine, giving several Yamaha riders hopes of a season-best finish in Sunday's 15 lap race.

Kev Coghlan  - 5th / 1'29.993 / 15 laps 

"We made a good step this morning after working on day one with used tyres to get that side of the set-up sorted out. I put a new tyre in this morning in practice and we jumped straight up to third, and I was feeling quite comfortable at that point. We made some changes this afternoon but I am not quite sure if they were in the right direction. It may have cost is a bit of pace so we will now analyse everything to see what to do tomorrow in warm-up. I think this is the closest we have been to pole for a few races. That is a step in the right direction and the bike is working a lot better on used tyres as well. That should put is in good stead - and racing at home is always good. I always liked Donington because it is an old, original track layout, not computer generated. That makes it a nice place to ride at."



Mathieu Gines - 8th / 1'30.683 / 16 laps 

"The bike feels good around here. The track is a lot of fun to ride but the last time I rode here before this weekend was on a 600 in 2007, so that was a long time ago. We have worked well with the bike and the feeling with it got better and better. It was a little bit difficult in qualifying because I lost my best lap and afterwards I made a lot of small mistakes. I think if I can start near the front in the race I can fight with the top five or six riders. Now I have to work to be able to brake a little better and feel more easy in the fast corners. Overall, the feeling is good."

Adrian Morillas – MRS Yamaha Team Manager 

"At Imola in the last round we were about 1.5 seconds from the quickest rider in qualifying and now we have reduced that to 0.5 seconds. I think we have made a good step to move closer. Now the electronics package is working even better than in Imola. I also think this track is good for the new Yamaha because it is fast in places. I think our guys can make a good race on Sunday. We will now do some work to find out what is the best set-up, then I think we can make a very good race."


The top Yamaha rider in qualifying was Jeremy Guarnoni (Team Trasimeno Yamaha) who just missed out on a front row start in fourth place. Sylvain Barrier (G.M. Racing Yamaha) was also well into the top results in qualifying, finishing seventh, one place ahead of his fellow Frenchman Gines.

Results - Qualifying 

1. R. Tamburini (ITA), Team MotoxRacing, 1'29.449
2. L. Savadori (ITA), Nuova M2 Racing, 1'29.692
3. R. De Rosa (ITA), Althea Racing, 1'29.876
4. J. Guarnoni (FRA), Team Trasimeno, 1'29.956
5. K. Coghlan (GBR), MRS Yamaha, 1'29.993
6. O. Jezek (CZE), Triple-M by Barni, 1'30.204
7. S. Barrier (FRA), G.M. Racing, 1'30.275
8. M. Gines (FRA) MRS Yamaha, 1'30.683
9. F. Massei (ITA), EAB Racing Team, 1’30.691
10. B. Staring (AUS), Team Pedercini, 1'30.741

14. M. Magnoni (ITA), G.M. Racing, 1'31.041
16. L. Marconi (ITA), Team Trasimeno Yamaha, 1'31.363
17. C. Bergman (SWE), MG Competition Yamaha, 1'31.582