World Superbike News

The Australian, Troy Bayliss won both races at Phillip Island in the second race of the season for the World Superbike Championship.

In Race one, Bayliss led from the start after the race was stopped on the opening lap because of a start-line incident with Michel Fabrizio on the Ducati. The Italian had stalled and was clipped by Kenan Sofuoglu on the Ten Kate Honda before being hit from behind by Vittorio Lannuzzo which led to red flags being waved.

As the red flags were dispatched Carlos Checa backed off but unfortunately Russell Holland on the DF Honda didn’t and sent Checa tumbling and causing Ryuichi Kiyonari on the third Ten Kate Honda to practice some grass track riding to avoid the situation.

Only one rider never made the restart however, Vittorio Lannuzzo but Bayliss took the lead ahead of Troy Corser and Noriyuki Haga and by lap 4 had amassed a 1 second lead with the six bikes behind fighting for second place.

Max Biaggi was up to fourth place by lap eight after having started in sixteenth on the grid. On lap ten, Biaggi passed Checa on Honda corner of all places and then passed Corser on the next lap at MG before shooting off into the distance.

Just when it looked like it was settling down, Ruben Xaus caught-up with the pack and within two laps had slipped past the riders into third place but not for long as on lap sixteen, his team mate, Biaggi, crashed coming out of the MG corner moving him up to second place, however, the Spaniard was soon under pressure from Fabrizio and Corser.

Corser had a bit of a moment on lap 18 when he came out of the seat on Doohan corner seemingly with grip problems on the tyres, however, he was unfazed and shot past the other two rides on the back straight with only three laps left to go.

The race did not go so well for Jakob Smrz who had qualified in an impressive fifth place on the Guandalini Ducati but crashed out and both PSG-1 Kawasaki riders Makoto Tamada and Regis Laconi failed to finish the race due to mechanical problems.

Results for Race One

First race:
1 T Bayliss (Aus) Ducati, 34 mins 22.933 secs
2 T Corser (Aus) Yamaha @ 4.221 secs
3 M Fabrizio (It) Ducati, @ 4.738
4 R Xaus (Sp) Ducati, @ 5.171
5 F Nieto (Sp) Suzuki, @ 5.543
6 C Checa (Sp) Honda, @ 5.895
7 M Neukirchner (Ger) Suzuki, @ 5.964
8 N Haga (Jpn) Yamaha, @ 14.826
9 R Kiyonari (Jpn) Honda, @ 18.899
10 R Rolfo (It) Honda, @ 20.633

Race Two

Troy Bayliss again led from the start but was soon passed by the Alstare Suzuki rider Fonsi Nieto who took him going into Doohan corner on lap two. The two front riders were in for a surprise as Troy Corser shot past both of them going into Honda corner to take the lead.

Another twist was however in store as Corser, Fabrizio, Smrz and Larconi were all given ride-through penalties for jump starts although Corser crashed out on lap five before he got a chance to take his.

Biaggi again making excellent progress from sixteenth on the grid he was soon putting Nieto under pressure for the second place slot at the end of the seventh lap, unfortunately he lost the rear end of his Ducati on the entry to Doohan’s corner which saw him crash out in spectacular fashion. He was quickly diagnose with a broken wrist at the medical centre.

The rest of the pack seemed to be spacing out a bit until a great battle began between Nieto, Xaus and Checa. Checa was soon back on top after an impressive move on Nieto going into Doohan’s corner on the thirteenth lap.

Results for Race Two

Second Race:
1T Bayliss (Aus), 34:35.284
2 C Checa (Sp), @ 1.127 secs
3 F Nieto (Sp), @ 4.395
4 R Xaus (Sp), @ 6.621
5 M Neukirchner (Ger), @ 11.550
6 R Kiyonari (Jpn), @ 11.620
7 N Haga (Jpn), @ 12.049
8 G Lavilla (Sp), @ 12.134
9 R Holland (Aus) Honda @ 13.462
10 K Muggeridge (Aus) @ Honda 15.519