Troy Bayliss's hopes of taking a second successive World Superbike title for the Ducati Xerox Team all but vanished today as he came away from Brands Hatch with disappointing results in the two races. The 2006 champion started from pole position but crashed out on lap 5 of race 1. Troy then struggled with tyre problems in race 2 and could only finish seventh as James Toseland (Honda) took a double win in front of a massive 126,000 crowd. Lorenzo Lanzi also had a disappointing day, the Italian only managing a ninth and a twelfth in the two races.
"I'm a bit upset with myself actually" declared Troy after race 1. "I thought I'd jumped the start and every lap I was looking for the board to come out with the stop-and-go so I was a bit distracted for the first three laps. Then Nori bumped me, but I managed to get past Corser and was pushing hard at Druids when the bike came around. I didn't hurt myself but after that I reckon the championship's over".
Troy struggled for grip in race 2 to finish seventh. "I don't understand how it can happen with such a difference in track temperature. We did low 26s this morning in the warm-up and it turned into this, just like Brno. It's not the fault of anyone but our bike just doesn't seem to like high temperatures, except at Misano where the grip is great. I honestly thought I could do a good job here but after one lap I realised it wasn't happening, and then it was just a matter of bringing the bike home".
"Unfortunately I haven't really got any explanations to give" declared Lorenzo. "I used the same tyres as this morning, when we did 16 laps at a good pace in the warm-up and had no problems. Unfortunately the track temperature in race 1 changed completely and after five laps I couldn't make any progress. The same thing happened in race 2, the bike was almost impossible to ride. My times were a second a lap slower and I had no grip either in the front or in the rear. This weekend I went worse than last year and I am pretty disappointed because things were looking quite promising after the first couple of days".
Race 1:
1. Toseland (Honda);
2. Corser (Yamaha);
3. Biaggi (Suzuki);
4. Xaus (Ducati Sterilgarda);
5. Fabrizio (Honda);
6. Rolfo (Honda);
7. Haga (Yamaha);
8. Laconi (Kawasaki);
9. Lanzi (Ducati Xerox); etc.
Race 2:
1. Toseland;
2. Haga;
3. Corser;
4. Fabrizio;
5. Kagayama (Suzuki);
6. Xaus;
7. Bayliss (Ducati Xerox);
8. Biaggi; ...
12. Lanzi (Ducati Xerox).
Points (after 10 of 13 rounds): Riders
1. Toseland 355;
2. Haga 289;
3. Biaggi 286;
4. Bayliss 258;
5. Corser 227;
6. Xaus 163;
7. Lanzi 161.
Manufacturers:
1. Honda 369;
2. Yamaha 343;
3. Ducati 325;
4. Suzuki 305;
5. Kawasaki 130;
6. MV Agusta 1.
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