Superbike Race Two

The opening Superbike bout was an absolute cracker and will be a hard act to follow. Biaggi took first blood after a titanic battle with Toseland. The Yamaha men started strongly but faded badly. Have they found a cure for their woes for race two? 18 laps and we will have our answer...

Max Biaggi began where he left off by going straight to the race lead but Toseland squeezed his way to the front a couple of corners later. Noriyuki Haga then pushed Biaggi back to third and Corser then pushed him back to fourth. A Kawasaki was also figuring strongly in the early stages of the race with Fonsi Nieto setting a good pace in fifth place. Qatar continuing its trend as a far from happy hunting ground for Ducati however. Muggeridge and Brookes both fairing much better in this second bout, the Aussie Honda pair running 11th and 13th respectively after four laps.

Nieto lost touch with the leading quartet as the laps progressed. The Yamaha men looking strong in second and third place while the Honda mounted Briton fronted the group and Biaggi watched from close astern. Lap five saw Biaggi pick up the pace to push Corser back to fourth. Around the same time Haga upped the pressure on Toseland by showing the Brit a wheel from time to time.

Meanwhile things were going from bad to worse for defending World Champion Troy Bayliss as after six laps the Ducati man had drifted back to 11th place. Certainly not the way he would have liked to kick off his title defence.

Biaggi pulled an extremely brave out braking maneuver on Haga into turn one on lap seven and set about chasing down race leader James Toseland. The top four were still separated by nothing as the race approached its halfway point. Bayliss had drifted further back to 12th and it was looking as though he might come under attack from countrymen Karl Muggeridge and Josh Brookes.

Biaggi then made a couple of mistakes and was swallowed up by both Yamaha men which allowed Toseland to escape to a very handy lead of just over 1.5 seconds. The biggest margin from first to second place the season thus far.

Biaggi slipped back past the Yamaha men on lap 11 but Toseland had the hammer down and was enjoying a near two second buffer. Biaggi only managed to pull a tenth back on the Briton on the next lap and Toseland was looking fairly safe and tidy up front. Biaggi again could only pull back a single tenth on the next lap. Biaggi was not giving up the chase though as he screwed that rear Pirelli to bits on the hot Qatar tarmac in his efforts to chase down the Fireblade but the task was looking beyond him this time around.

Strangely Bayliss picked up his pace in the final laps to pick off some riders and was back up to eighth place by lap 16. His tyres perhaps only now coming into their performance envelope.

Biaggi was putting in an all out massive late effort to catch Toseland and narrowed the gap by nearly a full second on the penultimate lap to get the last lap board only a second behind the Fireblade man.

Last lap and Biaggi an absolute demon into turn one and on a mission to try and get on fighting terms with the Briton. Biaggi riding the wheels off the Suzuki, rear end slides, front end slides, all over the shop at times, throttle to the stop and 100% effort. But no Toseland does it by 7-tenths of a second in a great ride. A thrilling late chase by Biaggi the highlight of the race. A ripper start to the season and a fantastic precursor to Phillip Island next weekend where hopefully the Yamaha men can find a solution to their lack of pace late in the race.