Troy Corser (Yamaha Motor Italia WSB Team) secured a fine third place in the second race at Donington, in what was otherwise a particularly challenging weekend of action at a wet and dry Donington Park. Noriyuki Haga (Yamaha Motor Italia WSB Team) was ruled out of each Donington race after a technical issue in race one saw him penalised for not stopping his machine in time after it developed a fault caused by a rider colliding into him, and then mistiming a subsequent ride through penalty.
Neither rider was credited with a finish in the aggregate race one, as they were among several riders not allowed to take part in the restart, which was caused by an oil spill at Coppice corner. Corser had fallen and was not allowed to take his place on the grid for the restart, while Haga had earlier been classified as a retiree after his technical problem. He went out to take his place on the grid, only to be led away by race control.
In race two, Haga was not classified as a finisher either after coming in too early for his ride-through penalty, and then being black-flagged. By contrast, Corser, who pushed hard throughout despite suffering multiple crashes this weekend, ignored the pain and stiffness of his body to record a superb third place, his ninth podium of the year. His bravery and skill delivered him an overall second ranking in the championship table, one higher than he started the weekend with. Haga is now fifth overall, on an unchanged 230 points.
Both Haga and Corser started their races at Donington wearing unique one-off leathers and riding race bikes clad in special fairings designed by Yamaha Livery Design competition winner Ben Leeves.
David Checa (Yamaha GMT94) was 11th in a crash-filled race one, then a faller in race two. His team-mate Sebastien Gimbert (Yamaha GMT94) was a double no scorer. Shinichi Nakatomi (Team YZF Yamaha) stuck to his task in race one and scored 13th, dropping to 18th in race two.
Troy Corser (DNF and 3rd - Yamaha Motor Italia WSB Team):
"This is one of the toughest weekends we have had, and the conditions have been quite slippery in qualifying. I have had lots of crashes so I am pretty sore. Thanks to the guys in the team who have done a great job repairing the bike each time and putting me back on the track. I don't know how many spares the team has left after this meeting!"
Noriyuki Haga (DNF and DNF - Yamaha Motor Italia WSB Team):
"In race two I knew I had to come in for a ride through penalty but there was so much spray in the early laps I could not see if there was a board out for me. So I came in to do my ride through on my own. I restarted out of pitlane and then I saw a black flag for me. I could not understand it as I had already done my ride through. But not when they wanted me to, apparently. So I had to pull in. Not a good day for me but thanks to all in the team for all the hard work, and for the support from the fans"
Massimo Meregalli (Team Manager, Yamaha Motor Italia WSB Team):
"In some ways it was impossible to do worse this weekend, but we tried our best throughout. Nori had a really difficult day and scored no points. But what Troy did in race two was something incredible. He has had multiple crashes and he was in a lot of pain. As a rider, when you crash even once you lose a little bit of feeling and confidence, but even after several crashes Troy showed he had lost nothing. Troy is now second in the championship and that is a very positive thing to take away from this weekend. We continued to test the new Ohlins electronic suspension this weekend. It has mainly been tried in dry conditions so it was important to gather data in the wet. We have already found an advantage with the limited testing time we've had and plan to use it in Vallelunga where it was first tested six weeks ago."
Shinichi Nakatomi (13th and 18th - Team YZF Yamaha):
"The conditions were difficult in race one. We made a mistake when we decided to use intermediate tyres, when the other riders used slicks. After ten laps, my feeling with the bike was coming better. For the second race, we changed a few things on the setting of the bike. In this race, I did my best on this very wet and difficult race track."
Race 1
1. Bayliss - Ducati Xerox Team - Ducati 1098 F08 - 29'55.384
2. Sykes - Rizla Suzuki - Suzuki GSX-R1000 k - 29'56.650
3. Biaggi - Sterilgarda Go Eleven - Ducati 1098 RS 08 - 30'24.020
4. Lavilla - Ventaxia VK Honda - Honda CBR1000RR - 30'28.950
5. Kagayama - Team Suzuki Alstare - Suzuki GSX-R1000 - 30'31.350
6. Smrz - Guandalini Racing - Ducati 1098 RS 08 - 30'31.418
7. Nieto - Team Suzuki Alstare - Suzuki GSX-R1000 - 30'31.826
8. Haslam - HM Plant Honda - Honda CBR1000RR - 30'37.017
9. Muggeridge - D.F. Racing - Honda CBR1000RR - 30'37.459
10. Ellison - Hydrex Bike Animal Honda - Honda CBR1000RR - 30'38.860
11. Checa - Yamaha France Ipone GMT 94 - Yamaha YZF-R1 - 31'07.962
12. Badovini - Team Pedercini - Kawasaki ZX-10R - 31'08.531
13. Nakatomi - YZF Yamaha - Yamaha YZF-R1 - 31'30.048
14. Aoyama - Alto Evolution Honda Superbike - Honda CBR1000RR - 31'52.110
Race 2
1. Kiyonari - Hannspree Ten Kate Honda - Honda CBR1000RR - 40'26.508
2. Crutchlow - HM Plant Honda - Honda CBR1000RR - 40'28.769
3. Corser - Yamaha Motor Italia WSB - Yamaha YZF-R1 - 40'36.235
4. Ellison - Hydrex Bike Animal Honda - Honda CBR1000RR - 40'46.735
5. Fabrizio - Ducati Xerox Team - Ducati 1098 F08 - 40'53.983
6. Biaggi - Sterilgarda Go Eleven - Ducati 1098 RS 08 - 40'54.559
7. Lavilla - Ventaxia VK Honda - Honda CBR1000RR - 40'57.430
8. Xaus - Sterilgarda Go Eleven - Ducati 1098 RS 08 - 41'04.861
9. Checa - Hannspree Ten Kate Honda - Honda CBR1000RR - 41'16.704
10. Sykes - Rizla Suzuki - Suzuki GSX-R1000 k - 41'23.854
11. Lanzi - R.G. Team - Ducati 1098 RS 08 - 41'29.601
12. Smrz - Guandalini Racing - Ducati 1098 RS 08 - 41'33.205
13. Rolfo - Hannspree Honda Althea - Honda CBR1000RR - 41'34.565
14. Neukirchner - Team Alstare Suzuki - Suzuki GSX-R1000 - 41'41.784
15. Laconi - Kawasaki PSG-1 Corse - Kawasaki ZX-10R - 42'05.356
Best Lap: Troy Bayliss Ducati AUS 1'31.814
Rider Standings:
1. T Bayliss (AUS) 359pts
2. T Corser (AUS) 258pts
3. M Neukirchner (GER) 254pts
4. C Checa (ESP) 240pts
5. N Haga (JPN) 230pts
6. F Nieto (ESP) 192pts
7. M Biaggi (ITA) 192pts
8. R Kiyonari (JPN) 190pts
9. M Fabrizio (ITA) 172pts
10. R Xaus (ESP) 156pts
11. Y Kagayama (JPN) 120pts
12. J Smrz (CZE) 105pts
13. G Lavilla (ESP) 105pts
14. L Lanzi (ITA) 99pts
15. K Muggeridge (AUS) 71pts
21. S Nakatomi (JPN) 32pts
26. D Checa (ESP) 12pts
28. S Gimbert (FRA) 7pts
Manufacturer Standings:
1. Ducati 439pts
2. Yamaha 366pts
3. Honda 335pts
4. Suzuki 329pts
5. Kawasaki 69pts
