FIM Superbike World Championship Monza, Italy May 7 Race Two Results: 1. Troy BAYLISS (Duc 999F06), 18 laps, 32:17.705 2. Troy CORSER (Suz GSX-R1000), -1.916 seconds 3. Noriyuki HAGA (Yamaha YZF-R1) -6.479 seconds 4. Alex BARROS (Hon CBR1000RR), -10.227 seconds 5. James TOSELAND (Hon CBR1000RR), -11.910 seconds 6. Andrew PITT (Yam YZF-R1), -17.551 seconds 7. Karl MUGGERIDGE (Honda CBR1000RR), -17.720 seconds 8. Fonsi NIETO (Kaw ZX-10R), -17.825 seconds 9. Chris WALKER (Kaw ZX-10R), -22.873 seconds 10. Roberto ROLFO (Duc 999F05), -31.603 seconds 11. Lorenzo LANZI (Duc 999F06), -31.610 seconds 12. Shinichi NAKATOMI (Yam YZF-R1), -34.282 seconds 13. Fabien FORET (Suz GSX-R1000), -35.273 seconds 14. Michel FABRIZIO (Hon CBR1000RR), -35.306 seconds 15. Ruben XAUS (Duc 999F05), -40.522 seconds 16. Norick ABE (Yam YZF-R1), -51.516 seconds 17. Vittorio IANNUZZO (Suz GSX-R1000), -56.396 seconds 18. Gianluca NANNELLI (Hon CBR1000RR), -58.679 seconds 19. Lorenzo ALFONSI (Yam YZF-R1), -59.135 seconds 20. Norino BRIGNOLA (Duc 999RS), -60.991 seconds 21. Marco BORCIANI (Duc 999F05), -72.581 seconds 22. Lorenzo MAURI (Ducati 999RS), -86.383 seconds 23. Franco BATTAINI (Kaw ZX-10R), -86.954 seconds 24. Ivan CLEMENTI (Duc 999RS), -13 laps, DNF, crash 25. Regis LACONI (Kaw ZX-10R), -15 Laps, DNF, mechanical 26. Steve MARTIN (Foggy Petronas FP1), -16 laps, DNF, mechanical 27. Yukio KAGAYAMA (Suz GSX-R1000), -16 laps, DNF, mechanical 28. Max NEUKIRCHNER (Duc 999RS), -17 laps, DNF, mechanical 29. Craig JONES (Foggy Petronas FP1), -18 laps, DNF, crash FIM Superbike World Championship Point Standings (after 8 of 26 races): 1. Bayliss, 175 points 2. Corser, 139 points 3. Toseland, 97 points 4. Barros, 95 points 5. Haga, 93 points 6. Pitt, 79 points 7. Lanzi, 59 points 8. Rolfo, 46 points 9. Abe, 40 points 10. Nieto, 37 points 11. Fabrizio, 36 points 12. Xaus, 34 points 13. Walker, 33 points 14. Laconi, 31 points 15. Muggeridge, 30 points 16. Kagayama, 24 points 17. Nakatomi, 18 points 18. TIE, Pierfrancesco Chili/Foret, 10 points 20. TIE, Borciani/Neukirchner, 9 points More, from a press release issued by FGSPORT Group: BAYLISS TAKES THE DOUBLE AT RECORD PACE BAYLISS PLAYS PATIENCE AND TAKES BOTH POTS With the Monza weather proving to be gloriously sunny, it shone brightest of all on Troy Bayliss (Ducati Xerox) as he scored the wins in race one and two. He had serious problems from Troy Corser and Noriyuki Haga on occasion, but taking the new lap record of 1’46.815 in race two to boot, he performed immaculately once again. RACE ONE The opening 18-lap race at Monza was the personal property of Bayliss, who won by over three seconds from eventual second place man Alex Barros, who had to work through the pack in assured fashion. Troy Corser took a close third, with Noriyuki Haga just squeezed off the podium in fourth. A last gasp attempt to get on terms with this trio resulted in James Toseland crashing at the Parabolica on lap 17. A multiple rider first corner pile up, involving 7 riders in total, reduced the midfield and allowed the top riders to make a clean break at the earliest possible opportunity, as the rest picked through the fallen bikes and riders. No riders were seriously hurt in the crash. RACE TWO Bayliss had a three rider fight with Corser and Haga in race two, before stretching the legs of his loping Ducati twin to secure his second win of the day, and his fifth SBK race in a row. A slower starting Barros claimed fourth place, when a battle between himself and Toseland was terminated by Toseland slowing as his bike ran out of fuel. Toseland was clear of the following pack when trouble struck, and took fifth. BAYLISS EXTENDS LEAD BUT CORSER STILL IN TOUCH Bayliss now sits on a meaty 175 points from a possible 200 so far, while 2005 champion Corser is still well in the hunt with seven rounds remaining, having scored 139. A close battle is developing for third, with Toseland on 97, Barros on 95 and Haga on 93. AUSSIES COME ON LEAPS AND BOUNDS On another good day in SBK for Australian riders, Andrew Pitt (Yamaha Motor Italia) scored a fifth and a sixth, putting smiles on the faces of his team, which is based only a couple of kilometres from Monza. Karl Muggeridge (Winston Ten Kate Honda) finished one place behind Pitt in each race, an encouraging pair of results for a rider recovering from recent spinal injuries. KAWASAKI RIDERS UP AND DOWN Regis Laconi (PSG-1 Kawasaki Corse) ran with the leading bunch in each 18-lap race and enjoyed his team’s best individual finish of the weekend, with seventh in race one. He was forced out of race two with an electrical problem, and his team-mate Fonsi Nieto scored the top Kawasaki slot, in eighth, one place up on Chris Walker. Nieto was one of the unlucky seven who crashed in the first chicane of race one, an event in which Walker finished 11th. ROLFO MAKES THE TOP TEN, ABE RACES AND NAKATOMI SHINES Robby Rolfo (Ducati SC Caracchi) scored an eighth and a tenth place at Monza, in front of his home fans, and was the best scoring home rider of the weekend. Norick Abe (Yamaha Motor France Ipone) raced on Sunday despite his huge crash of Friday, and also missing all of Saturday’s practice. Taken out by the melee on lap one of race one, he rode to 16th for pride’s sake in race two. His team-mate, Shinichi Nakatomi, had two good rookie rides at Monza, taking tenth and 12th places. LANZI TOP TEN AND THEN 11th Lorenzo Lanzi (Ducati Xerox) did not have his best home weekend, running to a ninth and 11th place finish. A miserable Monza for Michel Fabrizio only gave him two points for 14th in race two, while Ruben Xaus (Sterilgarda Berik) was one of the first corner fallers in the opener, and took the last point on offer in race two. WORLD SUPERSPORT CHAMPIONSHIP Monza’s WSS race provided the best race of the Supersport season so far, and delivered a new winner, 19-year-old Yoann Tiberio (Megabike Honda). Sebastien Charpentier (Winston Ten Kate Honda) made his usual incredible start and scored an early lead, but this time around his start was simply too fast, and he was penalised with a stop-and-go penalty. He recovered from this – and a further unplanned off track excursion while braking – to score an incredible third, and take a new lap record of 1.51.403 along the way. Rising star Robbin Harms (Stiggy Motorsports Honda) scored a strong second place, after Tiberio’s main rival for the win, Kevin Curtain (Yamaha Motor Germany), suffered a dramatic machine failure on the start/finish straight of lap 13. Massimo Roccoli (Yamaha Team Italia) and Kenan Sofuoglu (Winston ten Kate Honda) clashed fairings on the final corner, with Roccoli claiming the fourth place on offer. Katsuaki Fujiwara (Megabike Honda) crashed out of contention, alongside Gianluca Vizziello (Yamaha team Italia). Wildcard rider Stuart Easton scored a magnificent sixth on his first ride on the SC Caracchi Ducati. Charpentier’s astounding ride to third, and Curtain’s no score, conspired to give Charpentier a 31 point lead with four races gone, with Harms third on 52 and Tiberio fourth, with 48. SUPERSTOCK 1000 FIM CUP Alessandro Polita (Celani Suzuki) jumped to the immediate lead in the Superstock 1000 race, with Danilo Dell’Omo (TCM Team Cruciani Corse) and Ricardo Chiarello (Lightspeed Kawasaki) in the second podium slots. At the end of lap three Chiarello had pushed through to second and was closing on the championship leader from then on. He was unable to match the speed of the Suzuki man, but took a close second, only 0.357 from the win. Badovini made it a good day for the local MV factory, taking third on his Biassono Unionbike F4. In the championship Polita leads Badovini, with 50 points to Badovini’s 32 and Chiarello third on 22. SILVERSTONE NEXT UP FOR SBK HORDES Silverstone, on May 28th, will form the first of two British races for the SBK field this season. More, from a press release issued by Winston Ten Kate Honda: James Toseland (Winston Ten Kate Honda CBR1000RR) suffered a crash in the opening race, after fighting for a top five finish, and despite running low on fuel on the last lap he scored fifth in race two, to keep his third place in the overall championship chase. Karl Muggeridge (Winston Ten Kate Honda CBR1000RR) made an assured comeback from his recent spinal injury to score a sixth and seventh, only losing out places as the final laps unfolded and his energy levels dipped. In the first race Toseland saw an opportunity to make his race long high pace count after losing touch with the leaders in the first stages of the 18-laps. After a big wobble had disrupted his braking power, he fell after entering the Parabolica corner too quickly, when trying to make up ground and find the slipstream of the group in front. He ran off, lost the front on the grass and landed on his head and neck as he tumbled through the gravel. His team-mate Karl Muggeridge almost led the race at one point, but dropped back slowly to score a top six on his return from injury. In the second 18-laps race Toseland, despite the discomfort of his sore neck, was battling for fourth with fellow Honda rider Alex Barros, but ran out of fuel and had to concede the points to his closest championship rival. Muggeridge had his second good race of the day, but had to give ground to his countryman Andrew Pitt, and did well to hold off Fonsi Nieto over the line, ending his second race seventh. Toseland sits third overall, on 97 points (two ahead of Barros) with Muggeridge 15th, on 30. Ronald Ten Kate Team Manager “To be honest the weekend didn’t really bring us what we were hoping for. We worked hard all the weekend to make the bike better and better. The crash for James in the first heat didn’t help him, in terms of confidence for the second and his number one bike was destroyed, so we also had to move to his number two bike, which was just a little bit different. For Karl I am just glad that he brought in two solid results, good strong top tens. It shows he is recovering and the result is something we can build on for the future.” James Toseland SBK Winston Ten Kate Honda Rider (Race 1: DNF Race 2: 5th Championship Position: 3rd with 97 points) “I’m not happy with the crash in race one, and not happy with the conclusion of the race in race two. We ran out of fuel and that allowed Barros to come by. Enough said about that. But we’ve got some work to do, to try and get the power down. This circuit was better for us for sure but we have a lot more work to do. But I am prepared, and the team is prepared, to do the work required. So we can only move onwards and upwards from here. It’s not over yet and we will battle to the end. I’ve got confidence that we can improve.” Karl Muggeridge SBK Winston Ten Kate Honda Rider (Race 1: 6th Race 2: 7th Championship Position: 15th with 30 points) “We had a pretty good weekend, all things considered. I’m just a bit disappointed that I am not a bit fitter and I had quite low energy. I had good speed, so that was a positive thing after being out for a while. We have a good break to Silverstone now, so I can work on myself. All in all, I’m satisfied with my comeback rides.” More, from a press release issued by Ducati Corse: Monza (Italy), Sunday 7 May: Troy Bayliss (Ducati Xerox) extended his World Superbike winning streak to five as he notched up another two wins at Monza to add to his race 2 triumph in Australia and his double at Valencia. The 37-year-old, whose return to the championship this year after three years in MotoGP, has been nothing short of sensational, now leads the table by 36 points from his closest rival Troy Corser (Suzuki), who twice finished on the podium today. The wins were Troy’s fifth and sixth at the high-speed Autodromo, and his third double win at Monza to go with the same results in 2001 and 2002. “I love coming to Monza and I’ve got fond memories of the place ever since I first arrived here with Ducati in 2000 but to win like I did today is pretty special. Ernesto Marinelli, my main man, had a few solutions this morning to solve the bike’s stability, he’s normally right and we didn’t really have any problems at all” declared Troy after race 1. “The second race was a bit harder, because the guys got a bit of a jump and Corser and Haga made a good first few laps, while I was with James for a bit and it was difficult to get past. Eventually I caught the two in the front. Troy and I played a bit of cat-and-mouse but the most important thing was that we got away from Nori and it came down to us two in the last few laps. I love to do well here in front of all the Italians, there’s just something special about the place, I’ve done the double here today and the last time I was here I was lucky enough to get the same result. I think I’ve got the best team in the paddock and a big thanks to everyone for these wins today”. Two disappointing races for Lorenzo Lanzi, who was unable to repeat his Valencia form after struggling to get to grips with the Monza circuit from Friday onwards. “After the excellent results at Valencia, I thought I could do better at Monza because I had always done great races here with the Superstock and the 749″ commented Lorenzo. “But the fact that I had never been here before on a Superbike maybe conditioned my entire weekend. I tried to be the best Italian on the track, and came close but it wasn’t to be. I clearly had problems right from the Friday morning and I had to struggle. We will now try and get back to the front at Silverstone”. RACE 1: 1. Bayliss (Ducati Xerox); 2. Barros (Honda); 3. Corser (Suzuki); 4. Haga (Yamaha); 5. Pitt (Yamaha); 6. Muggeridge (Honda); “¦ 9. Lanzi (Ducati Xerox). RACE 2: 1. Bayliss; 2. Corser; 3. Haga; 4. Barros; 5. Toseland (Honda); 6. Pitt; “¦ 11. Lanzi. POINTS (after 4 of 13 rounds): Riders 1. Bayliss 175; 2. Corser 139; 3. Toseland 97; 4. Barros 95; 5. Haga 93; 6. Pitt 79; 7. Lanzi 59; 8. Rolfo 46. Manufacturers 1. Ducati 176; 2. Suzuki 149; 3. Honda 124; 4. Yamaha 113; 5. Kawasaki 57; 6. Petronas 4. More, from a press release issued by Team Klaffi Honda: Sunday May 7 the first heat of World’s Superbike Championship at Monza. Alex is third in the front row of the grid and here he goes! A good start for Alex but then he is blocked by some other riders in the first corner. Alex is on the brake and he comes back from the first lap on 12th position. But there are only 23 riders still on the track. Seven riders were involved in an immense crash in the first lap. Alex attacks! In the third lap he is already 8th and does with a 1’47.027 the best lap of all the riders in the race! He is ultra fast and he needs his full concentration. Kagayama crashes just in front of him. Alex manages the situation and goes on and on. He passes Laconi and Muggeridge and rides on 4th position. Bayliss is leading. Haga and Corser are in front of Alex and the Brazilian is hunting them. Alex catches the slip stream and starts a great fight against these both. And Alex gets them. After some breath taking laps Alex finishes second after Troy Bayliss. Alex Barros: “This was a real good race! In the first corner I had a problem because there was too much traffic. And the worst moment in the whole race was, when Kagayama crashed just in front of me. I really had to struggle to miss him. After this things turned very well for me. The slip stream games were great. I’m very happy and thanks to the Klaffi Honda Team. They gave me a great machine this weekend!” Superbike II At 15.30 Alex Barros starts again from the first row in the grid. And as in the heat before Alex is in the traffic jam in the first corner. Hard work again for Alex. Fighting and passing the riders in front of him takes a lot of time. Finally he is on 5th position behind Toseland and puts pressure on him. And Alex has success. In the last lap he passes Toseland and finishes 4th in the second heat today. Alex Barros: “The second heat today was very similar to the first one. But this time I caused a problem by myself. I lost about two seconds in the 5th lap after a manoeuvre with Muggeridge. After this I had no chance to close the gap and I finished 4th. We changed a little bit the suspension today and the Fireblade was perfect for Monza. I know that have to improve the start and I will concentrate on this during the next test.” Team Manager Klaus Klaffenböck: “After the podium in the first race we expected an excellent result like this again in the second heat. All in all the weekend was okay. Alex was the best Honda rider. But we head always straight for a top three position.” Superbike I 1. Bayliss (Ducati) 2. Barros (Klaffi Honda) 3.982 3. Corser (Suzuki) 4.218 Superbike II 1. Bayliss (Ducati) 2. Corser (Suzuki) 1.916 3. Haga (Yamaha) 6.479 4. Barros (Klaffi Honda) 10.227 Championship Standings 1. Bayliss 175 2. Corser 139 3. Toseland 97 4. Barros 95 5. Haga 93 6. Pitt 79 7. Lanzi 59 8. Rolfo 46 9. Abe 40 10. Nieto 37 More from a press release issued by Honda Racing Information: Alex Barros (Klaffi Honda CBR1000RR) secured a superb second place finish in the first SBK race at Monza, and then went on to underline his return to form with a fourth place in race two. His race results in Italy bring him closer to James Toseland (Winston Ten Kate Honda CBR1000RR) in the championship chase, with Toseland crashing out of race one while fifth and then scoring fifth in the second race. Karl Muggeridge (Winston Honda Ten Kate CBR1000RR) had a more than respectable comeback to action after his recent back injury, qualifying one place ahead of Toseland in seventh and then posting sixth and seventh place finishes. A not so happy day for Michel Fabrizio (DFX Treme Honda CBR1000RR) and Gianluca Nannelli (DFX Treme Honda CBR1000RR) saw them both involved in a seven rider crash at the start of race one, with Fabrizio the only points scorer in race two. In the opening race fine weather allowed the 30 starters a clean holeshot, but after a crash involving Gianluca Nannelli, Michel Fabrizio and five others, the field was almost immediately reduced to 23. Alex Barros played a superb game of slipstreaming and patience, passing riders until he reached his eventual second place finish, behind winner Troy Bayliss. He had qualified third in Superpole. Toseland’s attempt to get back into contention on the final lap saw him fall from fifth, at the Parabolica on the 17th lap. His brake pads had been shaken loose after a violent wobble exiting the Ascari chicane, and reduced his immediate braking effort at a key time. His team-mate Karl Muggeridge enjoyed an instantly rewarding return to action, scoring sixth place. In the second race Troy Bayliss secured the win, his fifth straight victory, with Barros the highest placed Honda rider again, in fourth. Toseland was fighting with Barros for this position, but his machine began to run out of fuel on the last lap, and he had to slow over the line. Muggeridge was a tiring seventh after so long out of action, and Fabrizio battled hard to finish 14th. Bayliss enjoys a lead of 175 points to Troy Corser’s 139, with Toseland third on 97, and Barros fourth with 95. Fabrizio is 11th on 36, Muggeridge 15th on 30. Barros, who has not raced at Monza since the mid eighties, was happy with his Monza efforts, and those of his team. “In the first corner I had a problem because there was too much traffic,” stated Barros after the first race podium ceremony. “The worst moment in the race was when Kagayama crashed right in front of me. I really had to struggle to miss him. After that things went well for me and the slipstreaming games were great. The machine was also great this weekend. Because of my start in race two it took me a lot of time to get to the leading positions, which probably stopped me challenging for another podium.” Toseland was understandably disappointed by his race results, but happy to still be third overall. “I’m not happy with the crash in race one, and not happy with the conclusion of the race in race two,” said Toseland. “We ran out of fuel and that allowed Barros to come by. Enough said about that. But we’ve got some work to do, to try and get the power down. This circuit was better for us for sure but we have a lot more work to do.” Muggeridge had every reason to be happy with his comeback at Monza, and was only let down by his strength and stamina in the final laps of the races. “We had a pretty good weekend, all things considered,” stated Muggeridge. “I’m just a bit disappointed that I am not a bit fitter and I had quite low energy. I had good speed, so that was a positive thing after being out for a while. We have a good break to Silverstone now, so I can work on myself. All in all, I’m satisfied with my comeback rides.” Fabrizio had his second difficult weekend in succession, multiplied by it being at his home circuit. “In the first race the crash was an incredible thing, because I fell without knowing what had happened,” said Michel. “In race two from the start the bike was OK, until half of the race was finished. After that, the tyres started to go and it was difficult to ride in the corners. I’m not happy because this was a big weekend.” Nannelli was involved at the start of the first corner, first race fall, having already suffered a hard crash in qualifying on Friday, which helped to keep him out of Superpole qualifying. “In race one I crashed out in the first corner,” said Nannelli. “I don’t know why you never remember your own crashes. In race two the bike was very good in terms of the suspension and the tyres. When Clementi crashed I went off the track and lost some time. Afterwards it was impossible to get back to the same position as before.” Silverstone hosts round five of the Superbike and Supersport championships, and runs between 26 and 28 May. More from a press release issued by Team Suzuki: Team Alstare Suzuki Corona Extra rider Troy Corser rode his heart out at today’s World Superbike fourth round at Monza to take two well-deserved podiums on his GSX-R1000. The reigning world champion showed his ‘never give up’ spirit in both 18-lap races: He had front brake problems in race one and nearly crashed twice, but still managed third place behind Troy Bayliss (Ducati) and Alex Barros (Honda). And in race two, he and Bayliss traded the lead for most of the 18-lapper, but his Suzuki could not quite match the Ducatis’ acceleration out of the turns and when Bayliss pulled out a small advantage Corser could not push any harder and catch up. Bayliss crossed the line to take his second win of the day, with Corser second and Noriyuki Haga third. It was an unlucky day for team mate Yukio Kagayama: In the first race, he got taken out when James Toseland highsided next to him and crashed. And in the second, he was forced to retire with clutch problems. Team Alstare Engineering Corona Extra rider Fabien Foret finished 13th in both races and scooped six points. Troy Corser – Race 1: 3rd, Race 2: 2nd: “Today, like at Valencia, I rode as hard as I could and when you do that and don’t win, you just have to reach out and shake the hand of the winner. In race one, I had some front brake problems. The lever was inconsistent and sometimes it’d be ok and sometimes it would come nearly all the way back to the bar! That made it a bit entertaining, I can tell you! I nearly crashed a couple of times, so in the end I was happy to get on the podium. “There were no real problems in race two and there was just no way I could have ridden any harder. The Ducati can accelerate out of the turns like no other bike – especially the four cylinder ones – and their traction control allows Bayliss to get on the gas hard when the bike is still leant over. We cannot do that, and that is where we lose ground and time. It’s a little frustrating to ride so hard and not win, so we’ll have to figure out what to do and try and get our own back in Silverstone.” Yukio Kagayama – Race 1: DNF, Race 2: DNF: “Today I am not a lucky man. Really, it’s not that I had no luck, I did have luck, but it was all bad luck! In the first race I was next to Toseland when he highsided and we touched. I went down and crashed but the impact of my bike helped to stay on his bike and recover, so he was a lucky man. In race two, I had clutch problems and it was impossible to continue so I had to pull in. I hope for better luck next time.” Fabien Foret – Race 1: 13th, Race 2: 13th: “I was not so happy with my result in the first race because we had some small problems, I made a good start but then a little problem with my front tyre meant I couldn’t push hard and so I didn’t enjoy the race. I was much happier with race two because I was involved in a good battle with Lanzi, Nakatomi and Fabrizio. We used the same bike as race one, but just changed the settings a little and it felt much better. Also, my lap times were much more consistent. I am a little disappointed overall because before this weekend I wanted to get into the top 10, so now I will try and do it in the next round in Silverstone.”