Troy Bayliss (Ducati Xerox) powered to his second double of the year with two convincing wins at the Assen TT Circuit in the Netherlands in the fourth round of the HANNspree FIM Superbike World Championship front of 75,000 spectators.
Race 1: Bayliss powered to his fifth win at Assen in the opening race after a mistake by early leader Kagayama (Alstare Suzuki) on lap 12 left him with a gap at the chicane. The Australian then increased his lead over the following riders in the final laps to win by a margin of 2 seconds. Carlos Checa (Hannspree Ten Kate Honda) took the runner-up slot, in a sprint to the finish with Max Neukirchner (Suzuki Alstare). Kagayama took fourth from Troy Corser (Yamaha Motor Italia WSB), both riders holding off a late charge by Jakub Smrz (Ducati Guandalini). Seventh and eighth went to Kiyonari (Hannspree Ten Kate Honda) and Tamada (Kawasaki PSG-1 Corse), who faded after a good start. Tenth went to Max Biaggi (Sterilgarda Ducati). A clash in the opening laps eliminated two potential winners, Noriyuki Haga (Yamaha Motor Italia WSB) and Ruben Xaus (Sterilgarda Ducati).
Troy Bayliss: “I’m very happy with the way it turned out of course, but all the other guys were riding really well today. I made a really good start, pushed reasonably hard but Yukio was riding good and when he passed me, I thought I’d follow him for a while. He made a little mistake finally and I thought it was time to put my head down. I was turning round a bit, more than normal, but just wanted to keep an eye on how fast Carlos was coming through basically.”
Carlos Checa: “I thought many times about Valencia and didn’t want to make the same mistake twice, but Max slowed down a little before the end and when I saw clear road I passed him. He was behind and it was very close but it was nice to fight until the end and get onto the podium.”
Max Neukirchner: “It’s been a long time since I’ve been on the podium, the last time was in 2005 and I’m so happy right now to ride for the Suzuki factory team and it’s a fantastic podium for me. I did a good job for this race, and also my team, and we worked really hard for this result.
Results – Race 1 1. Bayliss T. (AUS) Ducati 1098 F08 36'50.907 (163,171 kph)
2. Checa C. (ESP) Honda CBR1000RR 2.132
3. Neukirchner M. (GER) Suzuki GSX-R1000 2.179
4. Kagayama Y. (JPN) Suzuki GSX-R1000 10.919
5. Corser T. (AUS) Yamaha YZF-R1 11.051
6. Smrz J. (CZE) Ducati 1098 RS 08 11.979
7. Kiyonari R. (JPN) Honda CBR1000RR 15.184
8. Tamada M. (JPN) Kawasaki ZX-10R 18.395
9. Lavilla G. (ESP) Honda CBR1000RR 18.634
10. Biaggi M. (ITA) Ducati 1098 RS 08 20.699
11. Laconi R. (FRA) Kawasaki ZX-10R 25.759
12. Sofuoglu K. (TUR) Honda CBR1000RR 26.064
13. Badovini A. (ITA) Kawasaki ZX-10R 35.582
14. Muggeridge K. (AUS) Honda CBR1000RR 36.266
15. Nakatomi S. (JPN) Yamaha YZF-R1 37.215
16. Xaus R. (ESP) Ducati 1098 RS 08 37.286
Race 2:Bayliss also took the win in race 2 after leading from lights to flag. He was pushed all the way by Haga, who was never able to pass him and in the end the gap was 0.082 seconds. Thanks to this win, the Australian has now increased his championship lead to 70 points over second-placed Checa. The Spanish rider grabbed the final podium position with a superb recovery from a bad start, overtaking Xaus on the final lap. Fifth place went to Neukirchner, the first Suzuki to the chequered flag, ahead of team-mate Kagayama and Gregorio Lavilla (VentAxia VK Honda). Smrz finished in eighth place, ahead of Tamada (Kawasaki). It was another disappointing race for Max Biaggi, who struggle to twelfth, while Fabrizio retired.
Troy Bayliss:
“It’s been an incredible weekend, pole and two race wins on the last time I’m going to ride a bike around Assen in a race that’s for sure. That was such a hard race to control it like I did, because Nori is so strong. I did all the tricks I could use in the last few laps to hold him off and was lucky enough to get it. I used a harder tyre in the second race and my lap times are a lot more consistent so that was a good choice for sure. I think these guys here with me are my main contenders for the year at the moment.”
Noriyuki Haga: “For sure I was unlucky for the first race but I’m very happy for the second place. It was a really tough race with Troy and I was looking for a way I could pass him but I couldn’t find one. But I never gave up and tried my best until the last lap. You know, I’m very tired and now I’m looking forward to the next round at Monza, where I won both races last year.”
Carlos Checa: “It was quite a bad start as usual for me, we need to improve that area. Of course it was a very hard race, we made some changes and I was not comfortable at the beginning, but I was able to keep a good pace and catch the guys in front of me and finish on the podium, which for us was a surprise because I didn’t expect it at the end.”
Results – Race 2 1. Bayliss T. (AUS) Ducati 1098 F08 36'46.238 (163,516 kph)
2. Haga N. (JPN) Yamaha YZF-R1 0.082
3. Checa C. (ESP) Honda CBR1000RR 6.336
4. Xaus R. (ESP) Ducati 1098 RS 08 7.575;
5. Neukirchner M. (GER) Suzuki GSX-R1000 8.011
6. Kagayama Y. (JPN) Suzuki GSX-R1000 13.999
7. Lavilla G. (ESP) Honda CBR1000RR 15.215
8. Smrz J. (CZE) Ducati 1098 RS 08 16.376
9. Tamada M. (JPN) Kawasaki ZX-10R 17.269
10. Corser T. (AUS) Yamaha YZF-R1 18.380
11. Nieto F. (ESP) Suzuki GSX-R1000 18.926
12. Biaggi M. (ITA) Ducati 1098 RS 08 21.452
13. Muggeridge K. (AUS) Honda CBR1000RR 23.794
14. Rolfo R. (ITA) Honda CBR1000RR 29.847
15. Nakatomi S. (JPN) Yamaha YZF-R1 30.252
16. Laconi R. (FRA) Kawasaki ZX-10R 31.249
Points (after 4 rounds):
Riders:1. Bayliss (Ducati) 178
2. Checa (Honda) 108
3. Corser (Yamaha) 89
4. Nieto (Suzuki) 85
5. Xaus (Ducati) 81
6. Haga (Yamaha) 67
7. Neukirchner (Suzuki) 66
8. Biaggi (Ducati) 54, etc.
Constructors:
1. Ducati 190
2. Yamaha 126
3. Suzuki 113
4. Honda 109
Kawasaki 37
World Supersport Round 4 of the championship was an exciting affair, with the top 13 riders covered by 3 seconds with five laps to go. Six riders were in with a chance of winning as they started the final lap, but in the end victory went to Andrew Pitt (Hannspree Ten Kate Honda), who edged past his team-mate Jonathan Rea at the final chicane to win by a fraction. A Honda 1-2-3 was completed by Spanish rider Joan Lascorz (Glaner Motocard.com), who consolidated his points lead in the championship. Fourth and fifth place went to the two Yamaha World Supersport machines of Fabien Foret and Broc Parkes ahead of Josh Brookes (Hannspree Stiggy Motosport Honda). Craig Jones managed to place his Parkalgar Racing Honda into the lead for a couple of corners on lap 16 but he slipped back in the final stages to finish ninth.
Results:
1. Pitt A. (AUS) Honda CBR600RR 36'10.751 (158,635 kph)
2. Rea J. (GBR) Honda CBR600RR 0.014;
3. Lascorz J. (ESP) Honda CBR600RR 0.150;
4. Foret F. (FRA) Yamaha YZF-R6 0.201;
5. Parkes B. (AUS) Yamaha YZF-R6 0.283;
6. Brookes J. (AUS) Honda CBR600RR 0.447
Points (after 4 rounds)
Riders:
1. Lascorz (Honda) 70
2. Pitt (Honda) 50
3. Parkes (Yamaha) 49
4. Foret (Yamaha) 46
5. Brookes (Honda) 43; etc.
Constructors:
1. Honda 95
2. Yamaha 71
3. Triumph 25
4. Kawasaki 20
5. Suzuki 19
FIM Superstock 1000 World Championship Maxime Berger (Hannspree IDS Ten Kate Honda) scored his first win of the season at Assen. The Frenchman went on to take a deserved win after the race leader Claudio Corti (Yamaha Junior Team) crashed out at the chicane. Second place went to Italian Michele Pirro (Yamaha Lorenzini by Leoni), who was in contention for the win with Corti and Berger, and third to Xavier Simeon (Alstare Suzuki). Winner of the opening round Brendan Roberts (Ducati Xerox Junior Team) capped a difficult weekend when he crashed out in the opening laps.
FIM Superstock 600 Championship
The outcome of the Superstock 600 race was virtually decided on the opening lap when a crash eliminated poleman Danilo Petrucci (Yamaha Team Trasimeno). At that point Dan Linfoot was in the lead and the Beowulf Racing Yamaha rider had no problems in taking the chequered flag from Patrick Vostarek (Intermoto Honda) from the Czech Republic and Vincent Lonbois (MTM Racing Suzuki). Valencia winner Loris Baz (Yamaha Junior Team) could only finish fifth.
