FIM Superbike World Championship Phillip Island Victoria, Australia March 2, 2008 Race Two Results: 1. Troy BAYLISS (Duc 1098F08), 22 laps, 34:35.284 2. Carlos CHECA (Hon CBR1000RR), -1.127 seconds 3. Fonsi NIETO (Suz GSX-R1000), -4.395 4. Ruben XAUS (Duc 1098RS), -6.621 5. Max NEUKIRCHNER (Suz GSX-R1000), -11.550 6. Ryuichi KIYONARI (Hon CBR1000RR), -11.620 7. Noriyuki HAGA (Yam YZF-R1), -12.049 8. Gregorio LAVILLA (Hon CBR1000RR), -12.134 9. Russell HOLLAND (Hon CBR1000RR), -13.462 10. Karl MUGGERIDGE (Hon CBR1000RR), -15.519 11. Kenan SOFUOGLU (Hon CBR1000RR), -16.225 12. David CHECA (Yam YZF-R1), -21.959 13. Sebastien GIMBERT (Yam YZF-R1), -21.989 14. Makoto TAMADA (Kaw ZX-10R), -29.106 15. Shinichi NAKATOMI (Yam YZF-R1), -29.219 16. Roberto ROLFO (Hon CBR1000RR), -32.994, jump start/ride-through penalty 17. Regis LACONI (Kaw ZX-10R), -34.380, jump start/ride-through penalty 18. Jakub SMRZ (Duc 1098RS), -42.537, jump start/ride-through penalty 19. Michel FABRIZIO (Duc 1098F08), -46.623, jump start/ride-through penalty 20. Lorenzo LANZI (Duc 1098RS), -47.030 21. Ayrton BADOVINI (Kaw ZX-10R), -68.601 22. Max BIAGGI (Duc 1098RS), -16 laps, DNF, crash 23. Troy CORSER (Yam YZF-R1), -18 laps, DNF, jump start/crash 24. Shuhei AOYAMA (Hon CBR1000RR), -19 laps, DNF, retired 25. Loic NAPOLEONE (Yam YZF-R1), -19 laps, DNF, retired World Championship Point Standings (after 4 of 30 races): 1. Bayliss, 88 points 2. Nieto, 61 3. Xaus, 59 4. TIE, Corser/Checa, 45 6. Neukirchner, 39 7. Biaggi, 36 8. Fabrizio, 34 9. Haga, 22 10. Lavilla, 18 More, from a press release issued by Motorcycling Australia: Bayliss’ perfect farewell Troy Bayliss (Ducati) has won both races in the Australian round of the 2008 World Superbike Championship providing him with a perfect farewell to Phillip Island and his adoring Australian fans. After a dramatic first race, things got off to a smoother start in race two with Bayliss taking the lead accompanied by Fonsi Nieto (Suzuki) and Noriyuki Haga (Yamaha). Only four laps into the race Australian Troy Corser (Yamaha) had moved ahead of Bayliss, before he crashed out and was unable to rejoin the race. Max Biaggi (Sterilgarda Go Eleven) soon shifted up a gear and moved into third position shortly, before a spectacular high-speed crash ended his race in only six laps. With Biaggi out, Carlos Checa (Honda) began to move in on Bayliss slowly making his way up from the middle of the field. However it was Bayliss who managed to hold on to the race, and stay on the bike, and for the second time today, take the chequered flag. Bayliss was thrilled with the result and couldn’t speak highly enough of his team. “This has been an incredible weekend, I’ve had a few little ups and downs and the guys have been working very hard,” Bayliss said. “They had to build a new bike from scratch, normally I’m pretty good and I don’t wreck too many bikes but this one seemed to be quite damaged.” Speaking about his win Bayliss was blown away by the weekend. “All in all, it was brilliant, incredible, and two wins like that is perfect.” The next round of the 2008 World Superbike Championship will be in Valencia, Spain. Please see the links below for more of the day’s action at Phillip Island. More, from a press release issued by HANNspree Ten Kate Honda: Checa secures second Phillip Island podium for HANNspree Ten Kate Honda After a dramatic start of the first Superbike today, Checa got off to a good start in the second race. Starting from 6th position, Checa worked his way up to the front, leading the pack of fellow Spanish riders Xaus and Nieto behind Troy Bayliss. Checa stayed put for the rest of the race and finished second behind double race winner Bayliss, securing the second podium of the day for the HANNspree Ten Kate Honda team after Andrew Pitt took home the first win in the Supersport race. After a good performance earlier, Kiyonari and Sofuoglu continued their pace in the second race with Kiyonari finishing just outside the top 5, securing a 6th position while Sofuoglu claimed 11th. Ronald ten Kate, Team Manager; I think the real winners today were the people watching, it was a very nice battle out there today. It’s good to come out on the top again, battling with all the other strong contenders. The second race for Kiyonari was outstanding. The podium of Carlos shows, even in the stage of development we are in now that the CBR1000RR Fireblade is competitive which brings a lot of confidence to the team and motivation to even make it better. I am looking forward to be racing back in Europe again. Carlos Checa, 2nd; After all the incidents and the strange situation this morning, race two was more normal and nothing strange happened. We had some limitations on the bike and experienced some problems with the front brake. The stability at the back had improved and I was able to keep my pace and fight more closely with the other riders. I tried to push as hard as possible until I saw there was enough distance to the guys behind me. Bayliss was ahead of me but with the problems I encountered with my front brakes I was unable to get closer to him. We still have some work to do but overall I am very positive that we can get to higher levels. Ryuichi Kiyonari, 6th; I am very happy with my result, but not happy with the beginning of the race. I am still too slow at the start. I can keep my lap times during the second part of the session. I will have to improve my qualifying in order to get a better position at the start. But I will continue to work hard. The feeling with the bike is getting better, the machine feels good and the set up was fine, I just need to go faster. Everyone has worked very hard over the weekend and I want to thank my mechanics for everything they’ve done to set up the bike for me. Kenan Sofuoglu, 11th; The beginning of the second race was all right. If I am relaxed on the bike I can join the guys up front in their fights. But in the second part of the race I’m just losing physical power and control. I don’t know how to dose the power of the bike yet but am improving day by day and believe I will be able to make more progress in the next race. More, from a press release issued by Xerox Ducati: BAYLISS TAKES THE DOUBLE WIN AT PHILLIP ISLAND. FABRIZIO TAKES FIRST PODIUM WITH THE DUCATI XEROX TEAM Phillip Island (Australia), Sunday 2nd March: an incredible day for the Ducati Xerox Team with both Bayliss and Fabrizio performing impeccably. Twice world-champion Troy Bayliss took the double win in front of his home crowd, in what is to be his last ever Superbike race day at Phillip Island. Despite the elbow injury he sustained in a high-side yesterday morning, Bayliss rode the two races perfectly, leading the field from the start in Race 1 (restart) and leading for most of Race 2 after rival Corser crashed out in the early stages. Fabrizio had a much more difficult start to race 1 after failing to leave the start line. He sustained muscular contusions to his right calf and although in pain returned to the grid for the race 1 restart. After a less than perfect start, Fabrizio soon moved up from eighth place to fourth and, after a battle with Corser and Xaus, was able to take an impressive third place and his first podium with the Ducati Xerox Team. Unfortunately in Race 2 a jump start for Fabrizio meant a drive through penalty, leaving him unable to catch up and with an eventual nineteenth place finish. Bayliss now leads the championship with 88 points, 27 points ahead from Nieto (Suzuki) while Fabrizio is in eighth place overall. Ducati leads the manufacturers championship with 95 points and a 32 point advantage over Suzuki. Troy Bayliss (winner – Race 1 and Race 2) “It’s something you dream of, to have a double win and I knew this year it would be difficult to achieve but I have a great team behind me who all worked really hard. overnight They had to build a new bike for me from scratch after my crash yesterday. I had a few ups and downs this weekend. After Race 1 I was struggling with the last 6 laps but in the end I managed to take the win. In the second race the tyres were a little slower but I felt better on the bike which was more consistent and a pleasure to ride. After race 1 I was so tired but after the second one I felt great. I had to concentrate hard today as in the second race, even though I was ahead I was aware I had to keep it together and put in some consistently good laps. It’s been incredible, great weather and some good racing. I know there will be fighting to come later this season so two wins like that was just fantastic.” Michel Fabrizio (3rd place – Race 1) “All in all, it was a good day. I’m sorry for what happened this morning on the grid but the bike failed to leave the start line and that unfortunately caused an accident. The blow to my leg from the impact from David Checa’s bike meant that of course my leg was hurting a lot during the restarted race 1 but I gritted my teeth and did what I had to do. Then there was the jump start in race 2. I realised straight away that I’d done it and unfortunately after the ride-through penalty that they gave me, I wasn’t able to catch the others. A big thank-you goes to my team today as they had to completely rebuild my bike between the two races, literally from the frame, so I’m very grateful to them.” More, from a press release issued by Pirelli: ROUND 2 PHILLIP ISLAND 2nd MARCH 2008 RACE REVIEW 2 March 2008, Phillip Island (Australia) The Australian weekend started with rain and low temperatures on Friday, but by Saturday things were very different. Temperatures went up both in the racetrack and in the air. The two Troys, both Australians and both great riders, swept to the top of the time sheets, until a crash seemed to cut short the plans of the Ducati rider. But it was an illusion, because the last rider to set a Superpole lap, when Corser was leading, was eventual winner Troy Bayliss, despite suffering pain after sustaining eight stitches in his left elbow. A great result for him as he was able to take pole position. His 1’31.493 new best lap was also a testimony to his Pirelli qualifying tyres. Good work also from Fabrizio in third place, and for Carlos Checa, who already seems to know his new bike and Pirelli tyres, taking a front row start. Bad luck for Biaggi who had to retire from Superpole due to a technical problem, and started the races from 16th place – even though he was 8th going into Superpole. The usual fabulous spectacle graced WSBK, on the perfect backdrop of Phillip Island. The start of race one delivered early drama. At the green light, Fabrizio’s Ducati, on the first row, didn’t move and was hit hard by Iannuzzo, who crashed heavily. Incredible bad luck for the two riders because Iannuzzo suffered a double fracture of the wrist, while Fabrizio hurt his right leg, but could still restart the race. During the same first lap another crash, involving another two riders, was ultimately of little consequence, as each restarted the race. A new start, a new race. Bayliss and Corser led, followed by Haga and Nieto. A WSBK race is never predictable and the race result is never quite sure until the end. The fastest rider, lap after lap, seemed to be Max Biaggi, who was able to recover from his 16th starting position to second place in lap 9, behind Bayliss. It was a very good race also for Fabrizio, despite his pain. He was down in ninth at one stage, but then reached fifth on the 19th lap, following Bayliss, Biaggi, Xaus and Corser. Although he was holding an apparently safe second place Biaggi crashed, with Bayliss now alone and the four following riders were involved in a heavy battle. These riders were racing with soft tyres, both on the front and on the rear, racing with the big 200 section rear, while Corser decided to go for a medium harder rear tyre. Despite this very aggressive choice of tyres the pace was great and most of all the show stayed great until the end, with the podium places going to Bayliss, Corser and Fabrizio. Despite the even higher temperatures of race two almost all the riders used “soft” tyre choices. Fastest riders at the start were once again the two Troys, together with Nieto, Haga and Xaus. A bad start for Fabrizio, who finishing the first lap 12th. Only a few corners in and the race officials claimed a jump start for Fabrizio, Corser, Smrz, Laconi and Rolfo. The race was compromised, especially for Corser who crashed before taking his ride-through. Once again the leading guy was Bayliss, and coming from behind three Spanish riders Nieto, Checa and Xaus. Once again Biaggi trying to overtake Nieto crashed and had to abandon the race. A fast but lucky crash for him, with the bike very close to him as it bounced. Max was later diagnosed with a broken wrist, but luckily the next race will be at Valencia in April, and there’s enough time to recover. In race two the podium went to Bayliss ahead of Checa and Nieto. Three different manufacturers in the top three – typical WSBK stuff. Another great performance for the Pirelli DIABLO SUPERBIKE tyre which proved adaptable for all the different bikes and different riders, especially 2008 rookie Checa. More, from a press release issued by HANNspree Racing: Dramatic race day brings improvements for HANNspree riders Two dramatic races at Phillip Island in Australia today have seen Troy Bayliss secure double victory at his home track to extend his advantage at the head of the 2008 HANNspree Superbike World Championship standings. Bayliss has a points tally of 88 – more than 27 points over closest rival Fonsi Nieto. The eventful round saw Italian contender Max Biaggi crash out of contention in both races in dramatic fashion leaving him with a broken wrist, while Australia’s Troy Corser only managed to finish race one at his home circuit. He crashed out of race two while leading to hand the place at the front of the pack to rival Bayliss. However, it was a day of improvements for the HANNspree Ten Kate Honda riders. Carlos Checa finished sixth in race one before taking his maiden podium finish of the series in race two. The Spaniard battled with Ruben Xaus and Fonsi Nieto to finish in second position ahead of the more experienced Superbike contenders. World Superbike rookie Ryuichi Kiyonari also proved that he is now getting to grips with the all-new HANNspree Ten Kate Honda CBR1000RR Fireblade. The Japanese rider secured two top finishes with ninth and sixth positions respectively. Reigning World Supersport Champion Kenan Sofuoglu was still struggling to adapt to the more powerful machine and finished in 14th and 11th places. Roberto Rolfo also suffered a frustrating day aboard the HANNspree Honda Althea machine after tyre problems thwarted his chances of being more competitive. More, from a press release issued by Honda: Australian World Superbike at Phillip Island , 2 February 2008 World Superbike and World Supersport race report Crowd: 65,400 Temperature Air: 22 to 28 Temperature Ground: 30 to 47 CHECA SCORES FIRST PODIUM FOR NEW CBR1000RR HONDA Carlos Checa (Hannspree Ten Kate Honda CBR1000RR) took only four races of his World Superbike racing career to secure a podium finish, missing out on a win in the second 22-lap race at Phillip Island by only 1.127 seconds. It was his and his 2008 specification Honda CBR1000RR’s first visit to the podium, and came after he had qualified on the front row in Superpole on Saturday, with the fourth best qualifying time. Checa had been knocked off his number one machine on the first lap of the first race, although the race was restarted from the beginning in any case, because of a dramatic crash on the starting grid. Despite suffering from a sore ankle, foot and leg, Checa used his spare machine for the restarted race and battled hard to secured a sixth place finish, and then go on to take the best Honda finish of the 2008 season so far in the second outing. With the Honda riders on either new machines with little development time behind them or on 2007 machines, there were still some strong performances from most CBR1000RR competitors in Australia. Ryuichi Kiyonari (Hannspree Ten Kate Honda CBR1000RR) only qualified 19th, and out of Superpole, but recovered in race one to take ninth, then went on to charge through almost the entire 25-rider field to secure a career best sixth in race two. Kenan Sofuoglu (Hannspree Ten Kate Honda Jr CBR1000RR) also missed Superpole, only going 21s in qualifying, and in race one he was struggling to get into the top positions, going 14th. In race two he was more effective in his early laps, and took 11th place. Race one was delayed for some time, causing disruption of the following Supersport race as well, after a crash between Michel Fabrizio (who had stalled his machine on the startline) and two following riders. One hit him a glancing blow, the other a more severe one, and with stricken rider Vittorio Iannuzzo lying trackside, the race was red-flagged. Iannuzzo broke his left hand, but is otherwise only battered and bruised. Before the remaining riders had made it back to the pits for the restart, Checa and fellow Honda rider Russell Holland (DFX Corse Honda CBR1000RR) had collided at the entrance to Lukey heights. Both riders made the restart, Holland on his spare bike, a 2007 model machine. Holland had qualified for his home race 9th, and repeated that result in race two; like Checa, it was his fourth ever SBK race. In race two a long delay in the start lights caused five riders to suffer a jump-start penalty, one of them being 13th place qualifier Roberto Rolfo (Hannspree Althea Honda CBR1000RR). He had been tenth in race one, but was without a point in race two, in 16th place. Gregorio Lavilla (Vent Axia VK Honda CBR1000RR) made a breakthrough on a 2007 bike in Australia, qualifying 14th but improving in each race, with 11th in race one and a truly battling eighth in race two, only 12 seconds from the winner. Karl Muggeridge (DFX Corse Honda CBR1000RR) enjoyed his home races for periods in each contest, and finished 12th and tenth, using his 2008 machine. Shuhei Aoyama (Alto Evolution Honda CBR1000RR) qualified 24th and was 18th in race one, a non-finisher when he entered the pits in race two. His team-mate Luca Morelli (Alto Evolution Honda CBR1000RR) did not finish either race, after being hit by another rider in the first lap of first contest, and suffering a muscle injury to his leg. Checa now sits fifth and top Honda rider in the points, with 45, while Lavilla is just in the top ten, on 18. Kiyonari’s turnaround puts him 11th equal on points with his team-mate Sofuoglu. Rolfo and Muggeridge have double digit points scores, 12 and ten respectively. Checa said: “We are still new to this, a new rider on a new bike but at one stage of race two I thought I could win. Then I realised that Bayliss, like in race one, had a bit in reserve. Second is a good result for this stage of the season. My pace was enough to pull away from Xaus and Nieto, but there are still areas of the bike to improve. I didn’t have a lot of time to get back from the medical centre after the crash in race one, but we just made it for the restart. I didn’t feel ready to race right then and considering this we did OK in sixth.” Kiyonari said: “I am too slow at the start of the race but every time I go out our settings get better and I am more and more comfortable. I am very happy with my result, but not happy with the beginning of the race. I will have to improve my qualifying in order to get a better position at the start. But I will continue to work hard. The feeling with the bike is getting better, the machine feels good and the set up was fine, I just need to go faster.” Rolfo said: “During the first laps of race one I was very fast, but starting from the seventh lap I felt some vibrations coming from my rear wheel. Race two was really strange. I made a big mistake, starting too early. When I saw some riders opening in front of me I also released the clutch lever, but it was a jump start.” Sofuoglu said: “The beginning of the second race was all right. If I am relaxed on the bike I can join the guys up front in the fight. But in the second part of the race I’m just losing physical power and control. I don’t know how to control the power of the bike yet but am improving day-by-day.” Lavilla said: “I thought my front tyre was going to be no good in the second race but I just rode through it, adjusted my style a bit and found I was catching some other riders. We get our 2008 bikes soon and that should allow us to make even greater steps.” Aoyama said: “This weekend we improved comparing to Qatar, but here it was much harder. We are in the same ranking position that we were in Qatar, even with the improvements we had. We worked a lot for the races and I think I could learn and get more experience. All I can say is that we are going better and certainly moving towards our targets.” More, from a press release issued by Team Suzuki Press Office: Team Suzuki Alstare rider Fonsi Nieto took a fifth in the first race and followed that with a superb third in race two at the second-round Phillip Island World Superbike Championship to move into second place in the championship behind Troy Bayliss (Ducati). Bayliss won both 22-lap races today at Phillip Island with Troy Corser (Yamaha) second and Michel Fabrizio (Ducati) third in race one and Carlos Checa second in race two. Team Alstare Suzuki rider Max Neukirchner finished seventh in race one and was in line for a podium in the second race, but bike set-up problems forced him down the order to fifth at the flag. Fonsi Nieto – Race 1: 5th, Race 2: 3rd: “I am happy because I got a podium on a very tough day of racing and also because I am now second in the championship. In the first race, my gearing was too short and, because of the wind, I was on the limiter all the way down the straight. So, fifth was not so bad. “In race two, I pushed as hard as I could, but Bayliss was impossible to catch, but I am happy because I ended up on the podium. My idea is to be very consistent this season and keep taking points whenever and wherever I can, because it is a very long season. I want to thank my team for all their hard work. The guys had to change both engines in the bikes and that was a lot of work for them, but I hope my podium was a good way of saying thank you.” Max Neukirchner – Race 1: 7th, Race 2: 5th: “My general feeling is that I am a little happy because I managed two good finishes and had no crashes! We made the rear a bit stiffer for race two, but I felt that it wasn’t much improvement from the first race. I thought a podium would be possible but I got held up by a group of riders and couldn’t get past. But I think my main problem in the second race was that I lost a lot of time in the very first lap. “At the moment, I am not entirely happy with how the chassis of the bike is working and I feel sure that we can improve it. I am having trouble getting on the gas exiting the turns and that is costing me a lot of time – especially at a circuit like Phillip Island. That could be a chassis problem, set-up problem or tyre problem, or it could be a combination of those things. We’ll work at finding the solution, but hopefully we will do this at the Valencia tests.” WSB Results: Race 1: 1 Bayliss (Aus-Ducati), 2 Troy Corser (Aus-Yamaha ), 3 Fabrizio (I-Ducati), 4 Xaus (E-Ducati), 5 Fonsi Nieto (E-Suzuki Alstare), 6 C.Checa (E-Honda), 7 Max Neukirchner (D-Alstare Suzuki). Race 2: 1 Bayliss, 2 C.Checa, 3 Fonsi Nieto (E-Suzuki Alstare), 4 Xaus, 5 Neukirchner (D-Suzuki Alstare), 6 Kiyonari (J-Honda). Points: 1 Bayliss 88, 2 Fonsi Nieto (E-Suzuki Alstare) 61, 3 Xaus 59, 4 Troy Corser 45, 5 Checa 45, 6 Max Neukirchner (D-Alstare Suzuki) 39. More, from a press release issued by Yamaha Racing: Corser second in race one as Haga fights hard Troy Corser went through one race of joy and endured one non-finish at the challenging Phillip Island circuit in Australia, taking a masterful second place in race one but falling out of contention for the podium places in race two. On his home track, Corser had to work hard with his Yamaha Motor Italia WSB Team to find a good raceday set-up and he made adjustments between races to improve it still more, finding great gains until his race finished early. Noriyuki Haga celebrated his 33rd birthday today but not in the way he wished on the racetrack, taking eighth in race one and seventh in race two. He found traction issues in each 22-lap race, following on from similar concerns in qualifying at Phillip Island. A dramatic race one had to be restarted after a startline incident, when Michel Fabrizio’s machine stalled on the line and was struck first by the unsighted David Checa (Yamaha GMT94 Team) and then more powerfully by privateer Vittorio Iannuzzo, who was injured in the impact, breaking his left wrist. As Iannuzzo lay trackside the race was red-flagged, and a complete 22-lap restart called. In the second race, Corser was fast off the line, too fast for the race officials, and he was given a jump-start penalty in controversial circumstances. Unsure if the penalty signal was for him, he carried on initially, but fell on lap five, having led for three laps and looking strong for another podium finish at least. Corser was uninjured by his high-speed crash exiting the first left-hand corner, and felt he must have slid off on oil or water lying on the racing line. Fast starting in each race, Haga was forced to go backwards through the field, having a lonely race towards the end of the first contest, but working hard in race two to defend his seventh place finish. Even with his race two no score, Corser is fourth in the championship chase, with 45 points, while Haga, who has scored in every race so far, is on 22 points, holding ninth place. David Checa (Yamaha GMT94) was lucky to escape the race one startline incident with only a badly cut left foot, and he recovered from a DNF in the restart to take a fine 12th place in race two. His team-mate Sebastien Gimbert just missed a point in race one, but had a neck-and-neck race with Checa in race two and scored 13th place. Team YZF Yamaha squad rider Shinichi Nakatomi overcame some difficult moments in qualifying to take two points scores, going 15th in each race, approximately thirty seconds behind the leaders each time. Troy Corser (2nd and DNF – Yamaha Italy WSB Team) “There were a few tough passes in that first race, but I never panicked even when I got run wide a couple of times. The bike wasn’t perfect and we were moving around a bit too much. We were going as fast as we could sideways! We made changes for race two and it was a lot better. Overall a podium in race one was not too bad. They definitely held the start too long in race two. It was like the starting light was on, on and then on some more, then it went off. It was way too long to wait. I knew I had moved, but I had stopped again. Anyway I felt much more confident on the bike and in control in race two but it seemed to me that there was a small line of oil on the corner and that’s what it felt like – tucking the front on oil. I thought there would be bikes coming into the gravel trap after me. We learned many things this weekend and I think we could have finished second in race two at least, maybe even challenged Troy Bayliss.” Noriyuki Haga (8th and 7th – Yamaha Italy WSB Team) “My physical condition was OK today because I had a very effective massage from the Clinica Mobile people, so thanks to them. This whole weekend has just been down to a lack of grip. It feels like the first two races this year have just been an exercise for me. We have not had the chance to build our performance on the bike so it feels like our season will start in the European races.” Massimo Meregalli (Team Manager, Yamaha Motor Italia WSB Team) “We had a lot of trouble with grip all weekend and I think what Troy achieved in race one was earned by Troy. We made the same settings for Nori in race two as we did for Troy, but he did not feel any great benefit. We always seem to have a struggle in Qatar and here, but we will be back when we get to Europe. We never give up and the season is a long one.” Shinichi Nakatomi (21st and DNF – Team YZF Yamaha) “I had a better feel from the tyres in the first race, not so much in the second. We scored points in both races, which was a good reward for the team, who work so hard.” Cristophe Guyot: (Team Manager Yamaha GMT94 Team) “As we are still racing these bikes 12kgs over weight and on Endurance specifications mainly, we can be very happy with these results. Unfortunately David Checa was involved in a crash during the start of race one, resulting in pain in his neck and quite a big wound on his foot. For race two both riders did a great job – David with his injuries and Sebastien with a lesser spec YZF-R1. WSB is a perfect experience for the team and is major benefit for our Endurance efforts. Our aim is to be on of the top contenders in WSB. For Valencia we will be able to lose a couple of kilograms and we have some additional YEC (Yamaha racing) kit parts available for our riders and therefore we have great hopes for that race as well.” More, from a press release issued by PSG-1 Kawasaki Corse: Laconi Fast But Stopped in His Tracks Phillip Island, Australia, 2 March 2008 Régis Laconi (PSG-1 Kawasaki Corse) looked set for a strong finish in race two at Phillip Island until he was penalised with a ride-through penalty for jump-starting. Laconi Fast But Stopped in His Tracks Both he and his team-mate Makoto Tamada had found improvements in the set-up of their Ninja ZX-10R machines during final qualifying and morning warm-up, with Tamada finishing 14th in race two. Neither rider managed to complete race one, each suffering the same form of technical problem with their electronics systems. In the second race Laconi was as high as fifth, and setting competitive lap times, until he was forced to take his penalty in pit lane. Laconi battled back, trying to score points, but had to settle for 17th place. Tamada is now 19th in the championship, on six points, after scoring two points. The first race was delayed after the original 12-noon start saw two riders collide with a stationary bike on the startline, and the red flag was put out to allow Vittorio Iannuzzo to be attended to at the trackside. He was riding for the Team Pedercini Kawasaki squad, on last year’s Ninja ZX-10R machine, and could not avoid hitting the stationary bike and rider in his path. Iannuzzo broke his left hand, but escaped more serious injury. Next up for the team is an official FGSport test session at Valencia on 13 and 14 March, then the third round of the year, again at Valencia, comes around on April 6. Makoto Tamada: “We had the same problem as Régis in race one, but in race two we had some difficulty with chatter and entering the turns the bike still didn’t want to change direction. We also had some problems with rear traction. I got a couple of points today so we can take that forward to our next test in Valencia.” Régis Laconi “I made a false start in my second race, but we have a race machine, not a standard road machine and they kept us on the start line for a long time. When you have the clutch pulled in for a long time, it starts to grab. When you rev it more in that situation it makes the clutch grip more. I am disappointed because I was running easily with some of the top guys and we could have had a good result. The bike still needs to be better, but it was good today and we could really race. In race one there was an electrical problem, with a misfire.” More, from a press release issued by Troy Corser’s publicist: DELIGHT AND DISAPPOINTMENT FOR TROY Troy experienced mixed emotions in the second round of the World Superbike Championship at Phillip Island today. He took a superb runner-up spot in race one after a tremendous battle with four other riders, but then fell on oil in race two whilst in the lead. Fortunately he was uninjured, but he was disappointed because there had been no oil warning flags out. Troy Bayliss (Ducati), on his last ever race in Australia, won both 22-lappera and extended his lead in the championship to 27 points. Fonsi Nieto (Suzuki) is now third, with Ruben Xaus (Ducati) fourth and Troy fourth. Troy – Race 1: 2nd, Race 2: DNF I guess you could say that I’m happy, but unhappy – or perhaps that should be disappointed. It’s always great to race at Phillip Island and see all my family, friends and all the fans. It’s a great circuit and provides great racing – like today. We had a few problems in practice and my bike wasn’t perfect for the first race, but at least it was consistent and I was able to keep up reasonably good lap times. Troy (Bayliss) was out of sight fairly early in the race and I chased as hard as I could, but I don’t think anybody could’ve caught him today. At the start of race two, they held us for far too long on the line and a few riders moved, which sort of made a couple more move. There were quite a few jump starts and I might have been judged to have done the same myself. I think there was a sort of number 11 on the pit straight, but it wasn’t a regular 11, it was two different size number ones and it didn’t even look like an 11, so that’s why I carried on. Either way, I led for three out of the four first laps and was having a good fight with Bayliss when I crashed. As I entered Siberia, I saw some oil on the track, but it was too late to do anything about it and down I went. I was pretty unhappy because there weren’t any flags out to warn us. So bit of a mix really, but at least I wasn’t hurt in the crash and the stuff we learnt today gives us a very good direction to go in at the next track. More, from a press release issued by Paul Bird Motorsports: POINTS FOR LAVILLA, PODIUM FOR BIRD It was a busy weekend for the Paul Bird Motorsport Team on both two wheels and four with action taking place on both sides of the globe. In the HANNspree World Superbike Championship, Paul Bird Motorsport rider Gregorio Lavilla secured an overall top ten championship ranking at Phillip Island, Australia after taking eleventh in race one and eighth place in race two. Not yet on his 2008 specification Vent Axia VK Honda Fireblade, the Spanish rider improved upon his Qatar performance in round one last week, running to within twelve seconds of victory in the second race. Glorious sunshine and temperatures of over 28°C made Sunday race day the hottest of the weekend, but complicated the task of set up and tyre choice. Once again Lavilla took time to acclimatise himself to his feel of his tyres, but after fitting a new front tyre specification for race two, he made great progress from his Superpole qualifying position of 14th. Also in race one, Lavilla finished in a gaggle of fellow Honda riders, and close to his old BSB sparring partner, Ryuichi Kiyonari as he just missed out on the top ten. Meanwhile, in his native Lake District, team owner Paul Bird was in action in the Malcolm Wilson Rally where he was going for a record-equalling fourth win on his local event. With a new engine fitted to his VK and Vent Axia backed Subaru WRC, the Penrith driver and co driver Andy Richardson led early on but a couple of high speed spins saw him have to settle for second place behind Scottish teenager David Bogie at the Cockermouth finish, and in doing so, ended his winning run which saw him take victory twice in the last two years and three times since 2005. Gregorio Lavilla: “I was behind some riders in race one and I felt that I could go quicker but I was losing the front tyre every lap on the important corner before the main straight. I thought the tyre was finished. It was the first time I’d used this one, but that is the one everyone uses. I struggled until I realised I could take the corner a different way and I ended up chasing Kiyo and Haga, but it took a while to realise what to do so I learned how to use the front better. We were not far away from the podium positions and only 12 seconds from the winner. If we can work this way on the new bike, then we can be optimistic. For Valencia, we hope lots of people will come, because I think the Spanish riders here are doing well!” Paul Bird: “Regarding the Superbikes, that’s a bit more like it. Greg adapted his riding style to compensate for the grip and as a result, he ended up in a good battle in race two that could easily have ended up with a top five placing. This is a step in the right direction and now I hope we can push on and start finishing in the top six regularly from now on. As for the rally, I’m disappointed but a couple of mistakes cost me victory and the better driver on the day won. But I’ll be back again next year and hope to add my name to the winner’s trophy again.” The next World Superbike Championship race will take place at Valencia, in Lavilla’s native Spain, on Sunday 6th April.