Superbike Race One

James Toseland got away well but ran a little wide at turn one and Max Biaggi led them through but the Italian also ran a little wide on the exit of the turn which left Yamaha to go 1-2 at the head of the field with Troy Corser ahead of Noriyuki Haga as Biaggi and Toseland did battle over third place. Toseland took third place from Biaggi late on the first lap and set out after the Yamaha men who had pulled out half a second on their pursuers on the opening lap. But Toseland caught them in no time and was challenging Haga for second place only a couple of corners into lap two.

Toseland put a great move on Haga late on lap two to move up to second place and was immediately nipping at the heels of Corser. The Briton looked in absolutely outstanding form and his Fireblade was proving an absolute missile as he simply hosed Corser down the main straight on his way to setting a new lap record. The apparent top speed advantage of the Fireblade was simply outstanding and nothing like we have seen before from the Honda Superbike.

With the ease that Toseland closed down and then passed the Yamaha men one would have expected him to sprint away but both the Yamaha men and Biaggi's Suzuki stayed on his tail for the next couple of laps. Biaggi moved past Haga to take third place on lap five. A lap later Biaggi then moved up to second place but Corser got him back a few corners later only for the Italian to put his Suzuki up to second place again shortly after. The Suzuki-Yamaha dust up had given Toseland a little breathing space and the Briton had used the breath to pull out a second on his pursuers. Defending World Champion Troy Bayliss was on Yukio Kagayama's tail in a tussle for fifth place a couple of seconds further back.

Noriyuki Haga put an aggressive inside move on his team-mate on lap seven and the pair were rapidly being chased down by Kagayama and Bayliss.  Max Biaggi put the hammer down and sprinted away from the Yamaha men and was quickly right on the muffler of Toseland's Ten Kate Honda Fireblade.

Biaggi was putting the power down hard and his rear Pirelli was slipping and squirming in protest at his efforts to get the better of Toseland. In contrast the Fireblade looked as though it was on rails.  Biaggi put a brave out braking maneuver on Toseland at the halfway point of the race but ran in a little too deep and had to relinquish that position straight back to the Briton. Half a lap later Biaggi put his Suzuki into the lead again, this time around the Italian held on to it for a few corners before Toseland took the lead at the same point on the circuit as he passed Haga early in the race. The pair by this stage of the game had really gapped their pursuers and it appeared that their's would be a battle for the win all the way to race end.

Biaggi went into the lead at turn one and tapped knees with Toseland and the two did it again a few corners later as the Fireblade went to position one again and the pair again tapped sliders in a fantastic display of brave one-upmanship. Turn one on the next lap the pair repeated the process once again with Biaggi going in front and Toseland nipping straight back into the lead. And again the same thing on the next lap except this time Biaggi held onto the position despite Toseland's best hard charging efforts. An absolutely thrilling tussle of epic proportions was unfolding as a fantastic salute to the start of the season.

Max Biaggi held on to the lead for the whole of lap 14 as the pair engaged in some awesome late braking daredevil machinations. Toseland looked to either be starting to struggle for some front grip or was making an effort to save some front rubber for a last lap charge for the win. Lapped traffic also started to come into play. Yukio Kagayama had moved up to third place as the Yamaha men had really started to suffer as the race wore on. Troy Corser had drifted back through the field to eighth place. Kawasaki team-mate Laconi and Nieto had taken each other out of the race but funnily enough got up and embraced rather than threw punches. No doubt some of the race team were probably punching toolboxes back in pit lane however.

The fight for the final spot on the podium really hotted up in the final laps with Kagayama coming under attack from Lanzi and Bayliss. Lanzi got Kagayama for third on the penultimate lap.

Biaggi got the last lap board with a second advantage over Toseland, the biggest gap of the race between the first and second placed riders. This pair had run away from the field though with the battle for third place waging a long, long way behind the Suzuki-Honda stoush for the win. That gap was simply too much for Toseland to overhaul and Biaggi went on to take a simply brilliant hard fought win in what was one of the most exciting two man battles in the history of Superbike. Biaggi was overcome with the emotion and sat in parc ferme for a long time astride his GSX-R1000 with his helmet still on his head. The four-time 250cc World Champion ecstatic with his up yours to the doubters who thought he was done and dusted.

Toseland a brilliant second and Lanzi the top finishing Ducati with third place ahead of Kagayama and Bayliss. Neukirchner took a creditable sixth place ahead of Rolfo while early pacesetters Haga and Corser finished eighth and ninth respectively. Ruben Xaus rounded out the top ahead of Steve Martin. Both Karl Muggeridge and Josh Brookes failed to finish the race.