Troy Bayliss (Ducati Xerox) bounced back to the winner’s podium after a gap of eight races with a dominant double victory at the Brno circuit in the Czech Republic. The points leader took his seventh and eighth wins of the season in front of 63,000 spectators, and this was the fifteenth time the Australian has picked up the ‘double’. The ninth round of the season also saw great performances by his team-mate Michel Fabrizio, twice on the podium, and by Max Biaggi (Sterilgarda Go Eleven Ducati), third in race 2, while Troy Corser (Yamaha Motor Italia WSB) was also in good form in the two races.
Race 1After starting from pole, Bayliss took the lead on lap 12 and then powered to the chequered flag after setting the fastest lap of the race three from the end. Second place went to Corser after a great race in which he kept Bayliss under pressure until the final stages. The final podium slot went to Fabrizio, who passed Biaggi on the last lap after an exciting duel with his fellow Italian. Ryuichi Kiyonari (Hannspree Ten Kate) brought the first Honda home, the Japanese rider confirming his excellent Superpole performance with fifth place. Noriyuki Haga (Yamaha Motor Italia WSB) managed to salvage a good result with sixth place after a difficult two days, finishing ahead of two other riders fighting for the title, Max Neukirchner (Alstare Suzuki) and Carlos Checa (Hannspree Ten Kate Honda). Checa’s team-mate Kenan Sofuoglu did well to finish in tenth, while rookie Niccolò Canepa (Ducati Xerox) notched up his first Superbike points.
Troy Bayliss: “It’s been a while since I won and Brno has been up and down for me in the past so I’m happy to take a win. I was struggling a bit at the start to stay with everyone, but my bike just didn’t get any worse and I continually got to grips with it and got a better feel throughout the race and felt very at ease towards the end.”
Troy Corser: “I’m reasonably happy, the bike was working well for the first half of the race and then the rear tyre just dropped a little bit and I lost a few tenths. When Troy came past I tried to go with him but he did seem to have a bit more grip coming out of the corners, other than that we were pretty even. I pushed as hard as I could to try and stay with him, but didn’t want to throw away second like I did in America.”
Michel Fabrizio: “It was a great race, I was a bit off the pace half-way through the race but when I got back into the rhythm immediately after, I went to catch Max and passed him on the last lap. I had made a couple of attempts to pass him in the previous laps but this time I made it stick.”
Results: 1. Bayliss T. (AUS) Ducati 1098 F08 40'22.724 (160,57 kph)
2. Corser T. (AUS) Yamaha YZF-R1 1.468
3. Fabrizio M. (ITA) Ducati 1098 F08 3.272
4. Biaggi M. (ITA) Ducati 1098 RS 08 3.475
5. Kiyonari R. (JPN) Honda CBR1000RR 3.791
6. Haga N. (JPN) Yamaha YZF-R1 9.120
7. Neukirchner M. (GER) Suzuki GSX-R1000 9.358
8. Checa C. (ESP) Honda CBR1000RR 11.787
9. Kagayama Y. (JPN) Suzuki GSX-R1000 17.228
10. Sofuoglu K. (TUR) Honda CBR1000RR 17.705
11. Muggeridge K. (AUS) Honda CBR1000RR 22.347
12. Nakatomi S. (JPN) Yamaha YZF-R1 25.563
13. Canepa N. (ITA) Ducati 1098 F08 25.699
14. Nieto F. (ESP) Suzuki GSX-R1000 34.064
15. Lavilla G. (ESP) Honda CBR1000RR 36.545
16. Tamada M. (JPN) Kawasaki ZX-10R 43.934.
Race 2Bayliss again went on to pick up the win in race 2, on a track that has always proved to be difficult for Ducati in the past. Thanks to these wins, the Australian has increased his championship lead to 79 points over Neukirchner, fifth at the flag. Fabrizio and Biaggi put on a terrific battle for the runner-up slot, which eventually went to the Xerox team rider with another passing move on the last lap. Fourth went to Corser, after the Australian had led for the first half of the race, and Kiyonari again had another good run to finish sixth. Checa retired with a mechanical problem, while Haga finished in seventh place after starting last from the pit lane on his second R1 machine.
Troy Bayliss: “Obviously I’m very happy with how the results have turned out, it’s really great for me in the championship, but today I rode two really good races. I was feeling quite confident but Corser was setting a good pace until two-thirds distance, so then I thought it was time to go. It took quite a while and then in the end the guys behind were coming fast, but I didn’t have many laps to do and relaxed a bit.”
Michel Fabrizio: “These two races were really good for me, this one maybe even better than the first. Unfortunately I again lost touch half-way through and was unable to stay with the other guys. I don’t know why because my 1098 was perfect and towards the end I began to set some good times again.”
Max Biaggi: “Fabrizio was my shadow today! It was very tough here, but I tried my best and in the last lap he came so close and overtook me. I tried to come back and was desperate braking on the last corner. Third place is good however, I rode in the top group all the time. Hopefully things will be better next race, but this is a good result.”
Results: 1. Bayliss T. (AUS) Ducati 1098 F08 40'16.436 (160,988 kph)
2. Fabrizio M. (ITA) Ducati 1098 F08 0.928
3. Biaggi M. (ITA) Ducati 1098 RS 08 1.259
4. Corser T. (AUS) Yamaha YZF-R1 1.785
5. Neukirchner M. (GER) Suzuki GSX-R1000 3.942
6. Kiyonari R. (JPN) Honda CBR1000RR 7.910
7. Haga N. (JPN) Yamaha YZF-R1 11.297
8. Nieto F. (ESP) Suzuki GSX-R1000 11.375
9. Kagayama Y. (JPN) Suzuki GSX-R1000 13.103
10. Sofuoglu K. (TUR) Honda CBR1000RR 18.978
11. Smrz J. (CZE) Ducati 1098 RS 08 19.106
12. Rolfo R. (ITA) Honda CBR1000RR 20.556
13. Lanzi L. (ITA) Ducati 1098 RS 08 21.775
14. Lavilla G. (ESP) Honda CBR1000RR 26.372
15. Nakatomi S. (JPN) Yamaha YZF-R1 26.922
16. Checa D. (ESP) Yamaha YZF-R1 27.109
Points (after 9 of 14 rounds): Riders 1. Bayliss (Ducati) 309
2. Neukirchner (Suzuki) 230
3. Corser (Yamaha) 218
4. Checa (Honda) 215
5. Haga (Yamaha) 210
6. Nieto (Suzuki) 161
7. Xaus (Ducati) 148
8. Fabrizio (Ducati) 147
9. Biaggi (Ducati) 146
10. Kiyonari (Honda) 115; etc.
Manufacturers 1. Ducati 373
2. Yamaha 317
3. Suzuki 277
4. Honda 247
5. Kawasaki 64
FIM Supersport World ChampionshipJonathan Rea (Hannspree Ten Kate Honda) scored his first win in his rookie World Supersport season, the talented young Northern Ireland rider edging out team-mate Andrew Pitt on the line. The Australian has now increased his championship lead to 32 points. The final podium slot went to Joshua Brookes (Hannspree Stiggy Motorsport Honda), ahead of Broc Parkes (Yamaha World Supersport) and Barry Veneman (RES Software Suzuki), the Dutchman scoring his best result of the season. Gianluca Nannelli (Honda Althea) was sixth, while Craig Jones (Parkalgar Honda) and Robbin Harms (Hannspree Stiggy Motorsport Honda) were both out of luck, retiring with mechanical problems while battling for the lead.
Results: 1. Rea J. (GBR) Honda CBR600RR 37'35.093 (155,255 kph)
2. Pitt A. (AUS) Honda CBR600RR 0.020
3. Brookes J. (AUS) Honda CBR600RR 1.433
4. Parkes B. (AUS) Yamaha YZF-R6 1.853
5. Veneman B. (NED) Suzuki GSX-R600 2.237
6. Nannelli G. (ITA) Honda CBR600RR 12.032
7. Holland R. (AUS) Honda CBR600RR 12.221
8. Lagrive M. (FRA) Honda CBR600RR 12.787
Points (after 8 of 13 rounds)1. Pitt (Honda) 133
2. Brookes (Honda) 101
3. Parkes (Yamaha) 100
4. Foret (Yamaha) 97
5. Rea (Honda) 92
6. Lascorz (Honda) 81
7. Jones (Honda) 80
8. Harms (Honda) 50; etc.
Superstock 1000 FIM CupThe Superstock 1000 race was dominated by Frenchman Maxime Berger (Hannspree IDS Ten Kate Honda). In the lead on lap 1, Berger gradually increased his advantage over his rivals and went on to win by an easy margin. The fight for the remaining podium places was an exciting affair, and the runner-up slot eventually went to Brendan Roberts (Ducati Xerox Junior Team), who takes over the lead of the table by one point from Belgian Xavier Simeon (Suzuki Alstare), only fifth at the line. Third place went to Misano winner Alex Polita (Sterilgarda Go Eleven Ducati), ahead of Andrea Antonelli (Althea Racing Honda).
Results: 1. Berger M. (FRA) Honda CBR1000RR 24'58.402 (155,772 kph)
2. Roberts B. (AUS) Ducati 1098R 3.043
3. Polita A. (ITA) Ducati 1098R 3.100
4. Antonelli A. (ITA) Honda CBR1000RR 3.367
5. Simeon X. (BEL) Suzuki GSX-R1000 5.709
6. Pirro M. (ITA) Yamaha YZF-R1 10.032
7. Seaton C. (AUS) Suzuki GSX-R1000 K8 13.380
8. Smrz M. (CZE) Honda CBR1000RR 19.510
Points (after 6 of 10 rounds) 1. Roberts (Ducati) 96
2. Simeon (Suzuki) 95
3. Berger (Honda) 84
4. Polita (Ducati) 83
5. Pirro (Yamaha) 73
6. Giugliano (Suzuki) 55; etc
