World Superbike 2008 - Round Four

World Superbike 2008 - Round Four - Assen

Superbike Race 1

Troy Bayliss capitalised on his pole position to score the holeshot off the line ahead of Kagayama, Corser, Xaus and Haga in what was a clean start to the opening bout of the fourth round of the 2008 World Superbike Championship at much maligned modified Assen circuit.

Kagayama had quite a moment late on the first lap while trying to challenge Bayliss for the lead with his GSX-R1000 doing an ugly hippy-hippy shake but it settled itself down and Yukio got straight back on the gas.

Early on lap two Haga put a pass up the inside on Xaus but then came together with the Spaniard and both riders skittled off into the kitty litter. Meanwhile up front Kagayama was the man looking eager to take the fight to Bayliss.

Second placed man in the series Fonsi Nieto was having a Dutch nightmare. The Suzuki man struggling in the midfield before actually running off the track before eventually rejoining well down the field.

Upholding Suzuki honour at Assen however was Kagayama and a charging Neukirchner who broke the lap record on his fourth time across the stripe to close right onto the tail of Kagayama and Bayliss.

Kagayama led hit the lead on lap five. Meanwhile Carlos Checa had closed the gap down to that leading trio and quickly turned the battle up front into a four-way affair. A lap later Corser made it a five-way battle and that top five were covered by less than a second with 15 laps to run.

As the race passed the halfway mark Kagayama had a big out of the seat moment and in one four swoop was pushed from first back to fourth with Troy Corser right up his clacker and sniffing for a way through. The Yamaha man didn't have to wait long for his opportunity as Kagayama again got out of shape on the gas and had to get out of the throttle.

With seven laps to run Bayliss broke away from his pursuers and left Neukirchner and Checa to tussle over the remaining two places on the podium as Corser and Kagayama began to lose touch with the leading trio.

The excitement in the closing laps came from Checa and Neukirchner with the Spanish-Germanic war on in earnest throughout the final ten kilometres of the 100 kilometre race. A little further back Jakub Smrz was looking to challenge Corser for fifth place in the final stages.

Troy Bayliss celebrated his win with a one handed victory mono across the line. What had promised to be a cracking race for the win with a gaggle of riders nose to tail in the first half of the race ended in a seemingly easy walk in the park for Bayliss. Checa held off Neukirchner on the run to the flag to claim second place in the race and with those 20 points also second place in the championship. Neukirchner took the final step on the podium. Kagayama fourth and Corser just managed to hold off Smrz to claim fifth.

Race 1 Results	Championship Standings
Bayliss Checa Neukirchner Kagayama Corser Smrz Kiyonari Tamada Lavilla Biaggi	Bayliss 153 Checa 92 Corser 83 Nieto 80 Xaus 68 Neukirchner 56 Biaggi 50 Haga 47 Lanzi 42 Kiyonari 39