RED HOT FAVOURITE BAYLISS THWARTED IN THE GERMAN SUNSHINE After setting pole position and running into an early lead in race one at EuroSpeedway Lausitz, Troy Bayliss (Ducati Xerox) looked like he was well on the way to scoring the championship win itself with two entire rounds of the series to go. But after he fell from race one, restarting to finish seventh, the chase was on again. After the second dramatic Sunday afternoon of SBK racing in succession, this time in glorious sunshine in Eastern Germany, Yukio Kagayama (Alstare Suzuki Corona Extra) and James Toseland (Winston Ten Kate Honda) secured the race wins. The upshot is that Bayliss will now have to wait at least until round 1 at Imola, on October 1, to wrap up his second world title. He sits on 357 points, with double second place finisher Noriyuki Haga (Yamaha Motor Italia) on 270 and Toseland on 264.
RACE ONE A brilliant three way fight for the race win in the latter stages saw Kagayama take a win by 1.2 seconds from Haga, and Troy Corser (Alstare Suzuki Corona Extra). Bayliss had led the 24-lap race before falling out of contention, remounting, and then running off track once more, finally finishing seventh. Kagayama paced his attack perfectly, making clear track on the final lap as soon as he saw the opportunity to get clear. Haga's 20 points brought him closer to Bayliss, with James Toseland (Winston Ten Kate Honda) a disappointed ninth, after he too ran off track and lost places, having chosen the wrong rear tyre.
RACE TWO In race two holeshot man Haga was reeled in by Toseland, who led every one of the 24 laps, with Haga his perpetual shadow. Bayliss had a push to try and win but had to drop pace at the end of the contest, finishing three seconds back on an overjoyed Toseland, who took his second win of the season.
PITT UP AND DOWN AS CORSER GOES FOURTH Lausitz could not be described as one of Corser's best afternoons in World Superbike but it was enough to put him back into fourth place in the championship fight, as Andrew Pitt (Yamaha Motor Italia) went from fourth in race one to a faller in race two. Only one point separates this all-Aussie battle, with Corser some 53 points behind Toseland. Corser was penalised with a ride through for a jump start in race two, but still worked his way up to 14th, scoring two points.
Alex Barros (Klaffi Honda) was very close to a fourth place finish in race one, but fell from a top five in race two, being left behind somewhat by the Corser/Pitt duel in the championship table.
MUGGERIDGE SCORES BEST SEASON FINISHES Karl Muggeridge (Winston ten Kate Honda) overcame the disappointment of a relatively poor Superpole to post a fine sixth and season-best fifth at Lausitz, making the German weekend his most successful to date. A lot of hard work from Lorenzo Lanzi (Ducati Xerox) gave him an eighth and a sixth, a far cry from his 2005 race win at Lausitz, but earning useful points for his championship placings. Kagayama's brilliance in race one translated to fourth in the second running, as his forward motion in the early part of the race were curtailed by slides and lack of push later on. He remains seventh overall, some 43 points ahead of Assen race winner Chris Walker (PSG-1 Kawasaki Corse). The English rider was 11th in race one and, despite a rear tyre that spun on the rim in race two, he finished tenth.
NIETO TOP KAWASAKI FINISHER AT TOUGH TRACK FOR ZX-10R All three top Kawasaki runners found Lausitz a less than hospitable circuit for their motorcycles, but Fonsi Nieto's tenth and seventh place finishes were strong enough to keep him in the top ten overall. Regis Laconi, like Corser, jump-started race two and finished 19th, after a first race 12th.
PETRONAS IN THE POINTS AGAIN Steve Martin and Craig Jones each scored points in race two (for 12th and 13th respectively) adding to Martin's 14th in the opener. It was Jones' first point's scoring weekend in SBK racing. Max Neukirchner (Alstare Engineering Suzuki) went 13th in race one but was forced to retire from race two on his home circuit. Ruben Xaus (Sterilgarda Berik Ducati) scored the last point in race one, but was much more competitive in ninth in race two, one place behind the incredible surge through the pack of Assen podium finisher, Michel Fabrizio (DFX Treme Honda). Pierfrancesco Chili (DFX Treme Honda) started the races, but failed to finish either, having suffered a painful crash in qualifying. Kurtis Roberts was 19th in race one, a non-finisher in race two after changing the gearing between races. Norick Abe (Yamaha Motor France Ipone) went 11th in race two.
SUPERSPORT WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP Kenan Sofuoglu (Winston Ten Kate Honda) played a waiting game with long time race leader Kevin Curtain (Yamaha Motor Germany) to take the win at Lausitzring, after another disastrous day for his team-mate Sebastien Charpentier (Winston Ten Kate Honda). 2005 champion Charpentier looked to have trouble in braking and ran on early in the race, misjudging the width of an escape lane tyre barrier, and breaking a bone in his left hand after his machine hit it abruptly. He is hoping to be fit for Imola, but his biggest championship rival, Kevin Curtain, is now 27 points ahead, with only 50 up for grabs. Third in the Lausitz race was stand-in rider for the Yamaha Motor Germany squad, Fabien Foret, who replaced injured pilot Broc Parkes. Sofuoglu is now only two points from Parkes, still third despite missing the race.
SUPERSTOCK 1000 FIM CUP Claudio Corti (Yamaha Team Italia) scored his second win in succession after the Superstock 1000 race was rescheduled, due to a huge crash in the early laps of the original contest. A shortened 9-lap race saw Corti hold off Aussie Brendan Roberts (HP Racing) once more second, and now sixth overall. Loic Napoleone (Celani Suzuki) was third, his best race finish, with Alessandro Polita (Celani team Suzuki) miraculously largely uninjured after the massive morning crash, ninth, and still 19 points ahead of Luca Scassa (EVR Corse Ormeni Racing), who was fifth in Germany.
IMOLA NEXT STOP Imola hosts the 11th round of the Superbike and Supersport classes, on October 1.
