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Troy Bayliss (Ducati Xerox) and Fonsi Nieto (Alstare Suzuki) shared the wins in two exciting races in the opening round of the HANNspree Superbike World Championship in Qatar. Australia's double WSBK champion Bayliss had the honour of scoring the Ducati 1098's maiden victory in the first encounter, while Spaniard Nieto picked up his first race win since 2003 on the Suzuki GSX-R1000.
Race 1
Bayliss had to work hard for the win from eighth place on the opening lap. He put his wheels on the edge a few times as he made his way to the front and then had a terrific duel with Max Biaggi (Sterilgarda Go Eleven Ducati) on the final lap to seal victory. The Italian, in front from lap 12 to 17, went slightly wide and had to settle for second. Third went to poleman Troy Corser (Yamaha Motor Italia), who ran in the top 3 throughout, while Ruben Xaus (Sterilgarda Go Eleven) made it three 1098s in the top 4. Max Neukirchner looked impressive on the Alstare Suzuki, leading for most of the first half of the race, eventually finishing fifth ahead of Carlos Checa (HANNspree Ten Kate Honda), while Noriyuki Haga (Yamaha Motor Italia) had a nasty high-side on lap 7.
"I guess it was special to take the 1098 to its first win and it's the first time I've had a win here at Losail" declared Bayliss. "I thought it was going to be between me, Troy and Nori, but Neukirchner surprised me and Max did a good job as well. It was a hard race, I got a terrible start and had to really ride hard to get to the front. I made a couple of mistakes, eventually when I reached Max I was on the limit. Then it was a matter of playing our cards, he went a bit wide and that gave me the advantage to come home to the finish line".
Race 2
The second race win saw a battle up front between Corser, who led for nine laps before fading, Biaggi, Xaus and Nieto, with Bayliss not far behind. Max and Ruben both had spells in the lead but neither were able to shake off Nieto, who took over at the front with three laps to go. The Spaniard went on to take his first-ever WSBK win, ahead of his compatriot Xaus and Biaggi. The two factory Ducati riders Bayliss and Fabrizio were fourth and fifth, with Corser finishing sixth.
"It's nice for me, I haven't won for four years and I'm really happy" said Nieto. "When I arrived in World Superbike it was really difficult for me. I worked really hard for four seasons and this is a dream come true. We are not yet 100% with the frame of the bike but the engine is the best now, today I won because I had a really good engine. I rode with my mind and never gave up".
World Superbikes – Qatar – Race One Result
1 - Troy Bayliss - Ducati Xerox Team - Ducati 1098 F08 - 36'11.468
2 - Max Biaggi - Sterilgarda Go Eleven - Ducati 1098 RS 08 - 36'11.864
3 - Troy Corser - Yamaha Motor Italia WSB - Yamaha YZF-R1 - 36'13.346
4 - Ruben Xaus - Sterilgarda Go Eleven - Ducati 1098 RS 08 - 36'15.955
5 - Max Neukirchner - Team Alstare Suzuki - Suzuki GSX-R1000 - 36'18.973
6 - Carlos Checa - Hannspree Ten Kate - Honda CBR1000RR - 36'21.107
7 - Fonsi Nieto - Team Suzuki Alstare - Suzuki GSX-R1000 - 36'21.193
8 - Yukio Kagayama - Team Suzuki Alstare - Suzuki GSX-R1000 - 36'31.005
9 - Michel Fabrizio - Ducati Xerox Team - Ducati 1098 F08 - 36'34.624
10 - Jakub Smrz - Guandalini Racing - Ducati 1098 RS 08 - 36'35.897
11 - Roberto Rolfo - Hannspree Honda Althea - Honda CBR1000RR - 36'39.063
12 - Kenan Sofuoglu - Hannspree Ten Kate Jr. - Honda CBR1000RR - 36'39.447
13 - Gregorio Lavilla - Ventaxia VK Honda - Honda CBR1000RR - 36'39.705
14 - Noriyuki Haga - Yamaha Motor Italia WSB - Yamaha YZF-R1 - 36'41.673
15 - Régis Laconi - Kawasaki PSG-1 Corse - Kawasaki ZX-10R - 36'43.350
16 - Lorenzo Lanzi - R.G. Team - Ducati 1098 RS 08 - 36'43.535
17 - Karl Muggeridge - D.F. Racing - Honda CBR1000RR - 36'52.213
18 - Ayrton Badovini - Team Pedercini - Kawasaki ZX-10R - 36'52.748
19 - Vittorio Iannuzzo - Team Pedercini - Kawasaki ZX-10R - 36'52.801
20 - Sébastien Gimbert - Yamaha GMT 94 - Yamaha YZF-R1 - 36'53.211
21 - Shinichi Nakatomi - YZF Yamaha - Yamaha YZF-R1 - 36'54.651
22 - Ryuichi Kiyonari - Hannspree Ten Kate - Honda CBR1000RR - 36'55.037
23 - David Checa - Yamaha GMT 94 - Yamaha YZF-R1 - 36'55.360
24 - Russel Holland - D.F. Racing - Honda CBR1000RR - 37'01.848
25 - Shuhei Aoyama - Alto Evolution - Honda CBR1000RR - 37'24.352
Not Classified
RT - Luca Morelli - Alto Evolution - Honda CBR1000RR - 24'49.915
RT - Loic Napoleone - Grillini PBR Team - Yamaha YZF-R1 - 25'12.423
RT - Makoto Tamada - Kawasaki PSG-1 Corse - Kawasaki ZX-10R - 10'16.224
Fastest Lap: Haga Noriyuki 1'59.217
World Superbikes – Qatar – Race Two Result
Pos – Rider – Team – Bike – Time
1 - Fonsi Nieto - Team Suzuki Alstare - Suzuki GSX-R1000 - 36'12.963
2 - Ruben Xaus - Sterilgarda Go Eleven - Ducati 1098 RS 08 - 36'13.264
3 - Max Biaggi - Sterilgarda Go Eleven - Ducati 1098 RS 08 - 36'14.284
4 - Troy Bayliss - Ducati Xerox Team - Ducati 1098 F08 - 36'19.415
5 - Michel Fabrizio - Ducati Xerox Team - Ducati 1098 F08 - 36'20.590
6 - Lorenzo Lanzi - R.G. Team - Ducati 1098 RS 08 - 36'22.080
7 - Troy Corser - Yamaha Motor Italia WSB - Yamaha YZF-R1 - 36'23.769
8 - Max Neukirchner - Team Alstare Suzuki - Suzuki GSX-R1000 - 36'24.624
9 - Jakub Smrz - Guandalini Racing - Ducati 1098 RS 08 - 36'26.232
10 - Kenan Sofuoglu - Hannspree Ten Kate Jr. - Honda CBR1000RR - 36'27.526
11 - Carlos Checa - Hannspree Ten Kate - Honda CBR1000RR - 36'28.916
12 - Makoto Tamada - Kawasaki PSG-1 Corse - Kawasaki ZX-10R - 36'29.711
13 - Noriyuki Haga - Yamaha Motor Italia WSB - Yamaha YZF-R1 - 36'31.319
14 - Gregorio Lavilla - Ventaxia VK Honda - Honda CBR1000RR - 36'39.274
15 - Roberto Rolfo - Hannspree Honda Althea - Honda CBR1000RR - 36'39.523
16 - Régis Laconi - Kawasaki PSG-1 Corse - Kawasaki ZX-10R - 36'39.646
17 - Ayrton Badovini - Team Pedercini - Kawasaki ZX-10R - 36'39.784
18 - Sébastien Gimbert - Yamaha France GMT 94 - Yamaha YZF-R1 - 36'41.613
19 - Ryuichi Kiyonari - Hannspree Ten Kate Honda - Honda CBR1000RR - 36'46.113
20 - Karl Muggeridge - D.F. Racing - Honda CBR1000RR - 36'49.619
21 - Russel Holland - D.F. Racing - Honda CBR1000RR - 36'55.596
22 - Shuhei Aoyama - Alto Evolution Honda - Honda CBR1000RR - 37'08.315
Not Classified
RT - Vittorio Iannuzzo - Team Pedercini - Kawasaki ZX-10R - 34'42.963
RT - Shinichi Nakatomi - YZF Yamaha - Yamaha YZF-R1 - 23'14.601
RT - Loic Napoleone - Grillini PBR Team - Yamaha YZF-R1 - 18'54.324
RT - David Checa - Yamaha GMT 94 - Yamaha YZF-R1 - 16'24.581
RT - Luca Morelli - Alto Evolution Honda - Honda CBR1000RR - 8'20.897
RT - Yukio Kagayama - Team Suzuki Alstare - Suzuki GSX-R1000
Fastest Lap: Fonsi Nieto 1'59.156
Championship Points after race two
1 - T. Bayliss - 38
2 - M. Biaggi - 36
3 - F. Nieto - 34
4 - R. Xaus - 33
5 - T. Corser - 25
6 - M. Neukirchner - 19
7 - M. Fabrizio - 18
8 - C. Checa - 15
9 - J. Smrz - 13
10 - L. Lanzi - 10
11 - K. Sofuoglu - 10
12 - Y. Kagayama - 8
13 - R. Rolfo - 6
14 - N. Haga - 5
15 - G. Lavilla - 5
16 - M. Tamada - 4
Manufacturers Standings after race two
1 - Ducati - 45
2 - Suzuki - 36
3 - Yamaha - 25
4 - Honda - 16
5 - Kawasaki - 5
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