BAYLISS STARS IN QATAR
- 21 May 2013
Aussie Troy Bayliss made an excellent start to the 2008 World Superbike Championship at Losail on his new Ducati 1098 taking a hard fought win in race 1 and fourth in race 2 to take an early championship lead.
Bayliss started seventh on the grid and dropped back to eighth place on the opening lap before climbing up through the field. He put his wheels on the edge a few times as he made his way to the front and then had a terrific duel with Max Biaggi, who ran wide on the final lap, to claim an exciting victory. Biaggi, also on a Ducati, had to settle for second ahead of poleman Troy Corser on a Yamaha who ran in the top 3 throughout, while Ruben Xaus made it three Ducatis in the top 4.
Max Neukirchner made an impressive debut on the Alstare Suzuki, leading for most of the first half of the race and eventually finished fifth ahead of Carlos Checa on the Ten Kate Honda, while Nitro Noriyuki Haga Hagaed himself with a nasty high-side on lap 7.
"I guess it was special to take the 1098 to its first win and it's the first time I've had a win here at Losail" declared Bayliss. "I thought it was going to be between me, Troy and Nori, but Neukirchner surprised me and Max did a good job as well. It was a hard race, I got a terrible start and had to really ride hard to get to the front. I made a couple of mistakes, eventually when I reached Max I was on the limit. Then it was a matter of playing our cards, he went a bit wide and that gave me the advantage to come home to the win”
RESULTS RACE 1
1.Troy Bayliss (Ducati)
2. Max Biaggi (Ducati) +0.396
3. Troy Corser (Yamaha) +1.878
4. Ruben Xaus (Ducati) +4.487
5. Max Neukirchner (Suzuki) +7.505
6. Carlos Checa (Honda) +9.639
7. Fonsi Nieto (Suzuki) +9.725
8. Yukio Kagayama (Suzuki) +19.537
9. Michel Fabrizio (Ducati) +23.156
10. Jakub Smrz (Ducati) +24.429
11. Roberto Rolfo (Honda) +27.595
12. Kenan Sofuoglu (Honda) +27.979
13. Gregorio Lavilla (Honda) +28.237
14. Noriyuki Haga (Yamaha) +30.205
15. Regis Laconi (Kawasaki) +31.882
The “other Troy” (Corser) led the first nine laps of race 2 before fading back through the field to finish in seventh place. Biaggi then took over until he was in turn passed by Xaus who led until just 3 laps from home. Fonsi Nieto then grabbed the lead and held on for his first Superbike victory.
"It's nice for me, I haven't won for four years and I'm really happy" said Nieto. "When I arrived in World Superbike it was really difficult for me. I worked really hard for four seasons and this is a dream come true. We are not yet 100% with the frame of the bike but the engine is the best now, today I won because I had a really good engine. I rode with my mind and never gave up".
Ruben Xaus was second ahead of Biaggi with the the two factory Ducati riders Bayliss and Fabrizio in fourth and fifth.
RESULTS RACE 2
1. Fonsi Nieto (Suzuki)
2. Ruben Xaus (Ducati) +0.301
3. Max Biaggi (Ducati) +1.321
4. Troy Bayliss (Ducati) +6.452
5. Michel Fabrizio (Ducati) +7.627
6. Lorenzo Lanzi (Ducati) +9.117
7. Troy Corser (Yamaha) +10.806
8. Max Neukirchner (Suzuki) +11.661
9. Jakub Smrz (Ducati) +13.269
10. Kenan Sofuoglu (Honda) +14.563
11. Carlos Checa (Honda) +15.953
12. Makoto Tamada (Kawasaki) +16.748
13. Noriyuki Haga (Yamaha) +18.356
14. Gregorio Lavilla (Honda) +26.311
15. Roberto Rolfo (Honda) +26.560
9 J.Smrz 13
13 R.Rolfo 6
17 R.Laconi 1
In the Supersports race fellow Australian rider Broc Parkes scored a lucky win on his Yamaha when his team-mate Fabien Foret, race leader since the early stages, ran out of fuel on the final lap. Parkes still had to fight for the win however against Spain's Joan Lascorz who was ahead with a couple of corners remaining.
Parkalgar Honda's Craig Jones was also in contention right until the very end and the British rider took the final podium slot. The entire Ten Kate Honda team was eliminated on the second lap as Jonathan Rea crashed in front of Andrew Pitt, causing his team-mate to go down in the process. Both riders suffered a series of nasty cuts and abrasions.
RACE RESULTS
1. Broc Parkes (Yamaha)
2. Joan Lascorz (Honda) +0.048
3. Craig Jones (Honda) +0.755
4. Joshua Brookes (Honda) +9.502
5. Matthieu Lagrive (Honda) +11.962
6. Barry Veneman (Suzuki) +17.428
7. Robbin Harms (Honda) +17.660
8. David Salom (Yamaha) +17.888
9. Chris Walker (Kawasaki) +25.883
10. Gianluca Vizziello (Honda) +32.236
11. Gregory Leblanc (Honda) +32.573
12. Ivan Clementi (Triumph) +35.117
13. Miguel Praia (Honda) +36.390
14. Vesa Kallio (Honda) +36.608
15. Katsuaki Fujiwara (Kawasaki) +37.096
Sam Snape
24/02/2008