Corser on Podium in San Marino

Pole position starter Troy Corser (Yamaha Motor Italia WSB Team) looked set for his first win of the 2008 season on two occasions at Misano but he had to settle for a second in race one and a good points score of fifth in race two after running off track and ultimately avoiding a crash. He also set a new lap record, 1'37.580, on lap two of race two, which he led for 10 laps.

Noriyuki Haga (Yamaha Motor Italia WSB Team) struggled hard in qualifying and the first race, finding himself only 19th after one lap. He recovered to gain six points for tenth. In race two Haga felt he had a better technical package and he made real progress from his grid position of 14th, to hold off his team-mate by just over a second.

In the opening 24-lap race Corser looked on for his first win of the year in race until Max Neukirchner surprised the whole paddock by turning a tenth place in qualifying into a race win. Haga was struggling through the race and finished just behind Shinichi Nakatomi (Team YZF Yamaha) who had two great races in the points, ninth and then 15th. Race two was taken by Ruben Xaus, from Max Biaggi.

In the championship itself, Haga is now fourth, on 191 points to championship leader Troy Bayliss's 259, while Corser is fifth, only six points from Haga.

David Checa (Yamaha GMT94) was 15th in race one and 16th in race two, while Sebastien Gimbert (Yamaha GMT94) just missed a point in race one and retired in race two.

Troy Corser (2nd and 5th - Yamaha Motor Italia WSB Team)

"Race one was looking really good until Max Neukirchner appeared and our whole weekend hasn't been bad in general. Our rear tyre moved about a bit more in the second race than the first, especially under braking. We had made a couple of little changes to the front suspension for the second one, but not enough to affect the rear in any way. I ran on when the bike jumped out of gear in the second and lost some time, and the chance of a second podium."

Noriyuki Haga (10th and 4th - Yamaha Motor Italia WSB Team)

"We got caught in race one when Laconi crashed and I had to avoid him so to come from so far back was not easy. Race two was better and I got good points, but it has been a very hard weekend for me. I have not been able to do the same running training I would do normally, because of my injury. In this heat it made a difference and I didn't have my normal strength."

Massimo Meregalli (Team Manager, Yamaha Motor Italia WSB Team)

"We saw definitely that Troy is back. He had a good weekend. He worked hard and was rewarded with a Superpole win, and a good podium finish for his efforts. Nori didn't find the set up he was looking for until the 2nd race where he showed us that even when it wasn't possible to win he rode to get the best result, had he started further up the grid, the result would possibly have been more points. He is still always competitive. With six races still to run everything is still possible."

Shinichi Nakatomi (9th and 15th - Team YZF Yamaha)

"On Friday, we could not find the right setting, even if we tried many different possibilities. I did not have enough feeling. On Saturday, we had a much better set up. I had a good start on race and I could follow Lavilla, but I made some small mistakes. I pushed really hard. I am happy with race one. In race two, the temperature was hotter. It was difficult for me to follow the riders who have traction control, because I don't have any and I had to accelerate later than them. The tyres started to move a lot after 10 laps, front and rear. I am happy with race one because I had a lot of stress because of previous not-so-good results. Today, it was better."

Martial Garcia (Team YZF Yamaha Team Manager)

"After difficult practice sessions, we found a good set up during the warm up. This result is fantastic! Shinichi finishes ninth only 19 seconds behind the winner, and in front of Noriyuki Haga. This is the opportunity to score seven points and to make a progression of one position in the championship. Shinichi had a good start in race two, but unfortunately it was black flagged because of Muggeridge's crash. At the restart, Nakatomi was blocked and it was difficult to pass. He still finished 15th, with one championship point. I am happy because everybody could see the progression we made this weekend."

Circuit Length: 4060
Temp: 31
Crowd: 68000
Weather: Hot and Sunny

2008 WSB San Marino - Misano

Race 1 - 24 Laps

1. Max Neukirchner - Suzuki - GER  39'27.918
2. Troy Corser - Yamaha - AUS  0'0.542
3. Troy Bayliss - Ducati - AUS  0'2.249
4. Ruben Xaus - Ducati - ESP  0'3.028
5. Carlos Checa - Honda - ESP  0'5.408
6. Lorenzo Lanzi - Ducati - ITA  0'5.518
7. Jakub Smrz - Ducati - CZE  0'6.202
8. Gregorio Lavilla - Honda - ESP 0'18.279
9. Shinichi Nakatomi - Yamaha - JPN  0'19.072
10. Noriyuki Haga - Yamaha - JPN  0'19.132
11. Yukio Kagayama - Suzuki - JPN  0'28.098
12. Fonsi Nieto - Suzuki - ESP  0'34.385
13. Shuhei Aoyama - Honda - JPN  0'34.572
14. Ryuichi Kiyonari - Honda - JPN  0'34.902
15. David Checa - Yamaha - ESP  0'39.979
16. Sebastien Gimbert - Yamaha - FRA  0'44.669

Race 2 - 24 Laps:

1. Ruben Xaus - Ducati - ESP  39'19.710
2. Max Biaggi - Ducati - ITA  0'1.035
3. Troy Bayliss - Ducati - AUS  0'4.158
4. Noriyuki Haga - Yamaha - JPN  0'5.466
5. Troy Corser - Yamaha - AUS  0'6.759
6. Lorenzo Lanzi - Ducati - ITA  0'13.468
7. Max Neukirchner - Suzuki - GER  0'15.221
8. Carlos Checa - Honda - ESP  0'16.687
9. Jakub Smrz - Ducati - CZE  0'17.030
10. Fonsi Nieto - Suzuki - ESP  0'17.681
11. Michel Fabrizio - Ducati - ITA  0'21.356
12. Yukio Kagayama - Suzuki - JPN  0'28.676
13. Ryuichi Kiyonari - Honda - JPN  0'31.304
14. Gregorio Lavilla - Honda - ESP  0'32.339
15. Shinichi Nakatomi - Yamaha - JPN  0'33.716
16. David Checa - Yamaha - ESP  0'34.171

Best Lap: Troy Corser - Yamaha - AUS  1'37.580

RIDER STANDINGS:

1. Troy Bayliss - Ducati - AUS  259
2. Max Neukirchner - Suzuki - GER  210
3. Carlos Checa - Honda - ESP  207
4. Noriyuki Haga - Yamaha - JPN  191
5. Troy Corser - Yamaha - AUS  185
6. Fonsi Nieto - Suzuki - ESP  151
7. Ruben Xaus - Ducati - ESP  148
8. Max Biaggi - Ducati - ITA  117
9. Michel Fabrizio - Ducati - ITA  111
10. Ryuichi Kiyonari - Honda - JPN  94
11. Yukio Kagayama - Suzuki - JPN  82
12. Lorenzo Lanzi - Ducati - ITA  80
13. Gregorio Lavilla - Honda - ESP  75
14. Jakub Smrz - Ducati - CZE  72
15. Karl Muggeridge - Honda - AUS  59
19. Shinichi Nakatomi - Yamaha - JPN  24
23. David Checa - Yamaha - ESP  7
24. Sebastien Gimbert - Yamaha - FRA  7

MANUFACTURER STANDINGS:

1. Ducati    323
2. Yamaha    284
3. Suzuki    257
4. Honda    226
5. Kawasaki  64

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