Randy Krummenacher’s accusations that his Bardahl Yamaha WorldSSP team equipped him with a slow engine at the San Juan WorldSBK round have been dismissed by the boss, saying his comments are ‘without foundation’.
The Swiss rider said after yesterday’s race that his motor was much slower than team-mate Federico Caricasulo because the team wanted the Italian to win the championship.
But team principal Fabio Evangelista has denied it and says the motors have all been tested thoroughly and the only difference has been brought about by rider size and aerodynamics.
His statement reads:
We are very sorry about the serious accusations made by Randy Krummenacher to some of the international media. The accusations are both unfounded and unexpected. We want to immediately underline that no favouritism has ever been shown within the team, not in previous races nor in this one. We are aware of the pressure that Randy was under this weekend, considering the prize on the table, but we can only strongly deny his accusations.
Our team cannot afford to treat its two riders any differently, considering that we are fighting for the Supersport world title along with other teams and other riders. Our intention is only to allow our riders to head up the championship classification, without favouring one over the other.
Initial checks carried out post-race have shown that over the entire race, there was an average difference of only two or three km/h between Caricasulo’s speeds and those of Krummenacher, Caricasulo the faster, as was the case on other occasions too, for reasons relating to weight and aerodynamics.
We have compared Randy’s speeds with those of Cluzel, the winner of Sunday’s race and the performance of the two engines is very similar, despite the significant weight difference that also exists between the riders in this case.
We therefore want to reaffirm that Krummenacher’s accusations are completely without foundation. In the coming days, we will carefully analyse all the data collected this weekend, so that we have an even clearer picture of the situation.
We hope to resolve this issue as soon as possible, providing further proof that confirms our absolute good faith, of which we are absolutely certain.
