Team Alstare Suzuki Corona rider Yukio Kagayama had his best day of the year so far, taking a superb podium in race one and finishing fifth in race two. His third place in race one was by far his best result of the season and, but for tyre problems in race two, another podium would’ve been on the cards. In contrast, reigning Superbike World Champion Troy Corser had a day to forget. A crash in both races left him without any points to show and he has now slipped to fourth place in the championship.
Troy Bayliss (Ducati) won the first race, after storming though the field from his seventh place on the grid, with James Toseland (Honda) second and Kagayama third. Troy Corser led race two for the first seven laps and was looking comfortable until he ran wide (avoiding cement dust) in the final chicane and lost the front end. He tried to re-mount but saw that there was gravel and stones in the bike and it would’ve been pointless to carry on. Andrew Pitt (Yamaha) took the chequered flag - his maiden Superbike World Championship win - with Alex Barros (Honda) second and Noriyuki Haga (Yamaha) third.
Team Alstare Engineering rider Fabien Foret recorded his best results of the season, with a thirteenth in the first race and a tenth in the second.
Yukio - Race 1: 3rd, Race 2: 5thI’m happy to be on the podium again, because it has been such a long time - maybe six months! This season has been unlucky for me, so I’m hoping that this is the start of a change of luck. I think I could’ve got another podium in the second race if it wasn’t for a tyre problem. I used the same bike and the same tyres, but the feeling of the bike was not the same as the first race and I could not push as hard. The bike was sliding and wheelspinning a lot more and so my lap times were not as good. Generally speaking, we have had a bit of a grip problem all season and I suppose that the very high temperatures here today did not help us at all. It was difficult to ride the bike today, so I I am happy to get a podium and a fifth.
Troy - Race 1: DNF, Race 2: DNFI am very frustrated and disappointed today. The problems we had would’ve been solved if I had been able to take part in the recent Brno tests. Missing that tests has hurt us a lot. In the first race, the bike just jumped out of gear going in Querca corner and I was spat off the bike. I was pretty comfortable leading the second race, but after about five laps, the bike started jumping out of a gear a bit again and that made me a bit nervous in the turns. At the final chicane there was a lot of cement dust (put down from an earlier crash) and it was right on my line. In order to avoid it, I had to change my line and run a bit wide and, on one lap, I must’ve run a bit too wide and when I tried to make the turn again the tyre ran out of grip and down I went. And that was the end of disastrous day!
Fabien - Race 1: 13th, Race 2: 10thI’m happy today because I made some good results at last. It is always difficult getting good results when you start so low down the grid, so to get a tenth in the second race is particularly pleasing to me. Of course, if I had qualified better, I would’ve had a better chance of finishing even higher up then I did. In race one, I had a little fuel problem - the bike stuttered a bit when it was leant over. In race two, I was very happy with the front end feeling and I enjoyed that race a lot. There were a lot of slides and wheelspin and Misano was not so easy today, but I’m happy.
Circuit: 4.060 kms
Crowd: 61,000 (3-day)
Weather: Dry, sunny 30 C.
Race 1:1 Bayliss (AUS-Ducati);
2 Toseland (GBR-Honda);
3 Yukio Kagayama (JPN-Alstare Suzuki Corona Extra);
4 Barros (BRA- Honda);
5 Haga (JPN-Yamaha);
6 Laconi (FRA-Kawasaki);
7 Lanzi (ITA-Ducati);
8 Nieto (ESP-Kawasaki);
9 Xaus (ESP-Ducati);
10 Abe (JPN-Yamaha),
13 Fabien Foret (FRA-alstare Engineering Corona Extra);
Troy Corser (AUS- Alstare Suzuki Corona Extra) DNF.
Race 2: 1 Pitt (AUS-Yamaha);
2 Barros (BRA-Honda);
3 Haga (JPN- Yamaha);
4 Walker (GBR-Kawasaki);
5 Yukio Kagayama (JPN-Alstare Suzuki Corona Extra);
6 Fabrizio (ITA-Honda);
7 Lanzi (ITA-Ducati);
8 Toseland (GBR-Honda);
9 Xaus (ESP-Ducati);
10 Fabien Foret (FRA Alstare Engineering Corona Extra);
Troy Corser (AUS-Alstare Suzuki Corona Extra) DNF
Points: 1 Bayliss, 254;
2 Haga, 160;
3 Toseland, 157;
4 Corser (AUS- Alstare Suzuki Corona Extra), 149;
5 Barros, 146;
6 Pitt, 128;
7 Lanzi, 80;
8 Xaus, 70;
9 Walker, 64; 1
0 Nieto, 61;
12 Kagayama (JPN- Alstare Suzuki Corona Extra) 56;
17 Foret (FRA-Alstare Engineering Corona Extra) 19.
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