World Superbike 2008 - Round Five

World Superbike 2008 - Round Five - Monza

Superbike Race Two

Suzuki 1-2 was the order of proceedings on the opening lap of the second bout at Monza with Bayliss, Nieto, Haga, Xaus, Biaggi, Checa, Kiyonari giving chase and Corser rounding out the top ten.

Bayliss took the lead on lap three with a seemingly impossible move on the entry to the chicane that looked sure to end in tears but somehow Bayliss kept it altogether and came out the other side of the chicane in front. Haga was quickly up to second place and then went through to the lead at the Parabolica. At the end of the chute however Suzuki power came into play and Neukirchner blasted past both of them into the lead but Haga was bravest under brakes and took the lead in turn one. Next time around however the German played the same trick and this time held the line for turn one to take the lead proper.

Yukio Kagayama had been hanging onto the leaders in the early laps but started making a few little mistakes that lost him places before finally a highside catapulted him out of the race and into the air-fence.

Troy Bayliss took the lead with 12 laps to run. The top end power and aerodynamics of the Suzuki sucked the fairings off the Yamaha and Ducati down the straight next time around though and Neukirchner went straight back to the lead. The power advantage alarmingly obvious.

Lap eight saw Bayliss’ Ducati cry enough and the Australian returned to pitlane with a sick Ducati. Something that is incredibly rare in the modern era across both Superbike and MotoGP where Ducati’s reliability record is the envy of all other manufacturers.

Bayliss’ demise left the battle over the lead to Neukirchner and Haga but looming in the distance and looking to join the party was Ryuichi Kiyonari and Fonsi Nieto.

Kiyonari joined the party up front with three laps to run and was immediately all over the back of Haga’s Yamaha. Haga didn’t like that too much so he slipped past Neukirchner to take the lead and left the German to deal with the advances of the Fireblade pilot.

Kiyonari slipped past Neukirchner to take second place as they got the last lap board. Half a lap to run and Kiyonari went through to the lead. Haga back under him in the final corner and the three level pegged on the line with Haga taking a widely varying line and wiping Kiyonari’s nose as they crossed the line with a miniscule 5-hundredths of a second covering the podium finishers. Haga the man on top of that rostrum, Neukirchner second and Kiyonari third, but if not for Haga sweeping across in front of him just before the line making him get out of the throttle the tables might have been turned the other way...