The Ducati men are getting closer all the time and nearly managed to split the now almost customary Suzuki 1-2 in the opening race and on home turf at Monza there is no more fitting place for Ducati to strike their first real blow of the season.

The front row away well and it is Corser again leading through turn one but then ran a little too deep at the next turn and both Kagayama and Laconi slot through.  Corser got back past Kagayama quick enough but Laconi out in front and trying hard to get away from the Suzukis.  No problems for Muggeridge in getting off the line this time around just in behind Andrew Pitt in 5th and surrounded by Vermeulen, Walker and Toseland.

Corser all over the back of Laconi, the Ducati man weaving his way around on the straight and really quite strong on the brakes which is not going to make it easy for Corser to make an easy pass.  Vermeulen the fastest man on the second lap to close up on to the tail of Kagayama.  Ducati, Suzuki, Suzuki, Honda, Honda, Yamaha, Kawasaki the race order and all still fairly close together with a few laps down and this race looks to be shaping up as the closest of the year thus far.

Laconi still leading from Corser and Vermeulen looking for a way past Kagayama but then got baulked a little and his Ten Kate team-mate decided it was his turn to sniff Kagayama's tailpipe.

Corser alongside and inside Laconi under brakes to take the lead but Laconi really on it through the fast right hander in a big lurid slide and got the run on Corser down to the next tight left to put his Ducati back in front. Kagayama and the two Ten Kate men still right there also with Pitt, Walker and Toseland also still in with a chance with Chili a further few bike lengths behind hat freight train of bikes.

Laconi and Corser side by side down the straight but the Ducati holds the advantage into turn 1 this time around.  Pitt the leading Yamaha rider, Walker the leading Kawasaki rider, the Suzuki men together while Laconi is up front and his team-mate down in 8th but still not out of the game and we have seen before just how smart Toseland can play the game in the closing laps. He didn't become World Champion by being stupid.

The Ten Kate men all over Kagayama and will surely lose patience sometime soon and make a forceful move, Vermeulen and Muggeridge basically level pegged and it could be either of them that decides to make the move on Kagayama. Toseland has slipped past Walker and now working on Andrew Pitt, make that now through on Pitt as I typed that sentence.

Laconi putting in a big effort and now pulling some ground on Corser.  The fight between the two Ten Kate men has allowed Kagayama to escape their clutches a little.  A nice little battle unfolding between Corser and Kagayama also with the Japanese rider putting a somewhat forceful move on Corser but half a lap later Corser took that 2nd position right back.

Vermeulen really hanging the Ten Kate Fireblade out in a fashion that he looks very comfortable with on the Fireblade this year and really trying to press the issue with the Suzuki men.  Kagayama slipped in front of Corser again for 2nd place but the Suzuki men now a full second behind the Ducati mounted Frenchman.  No such luck for his team-mate however as just when it looked as though he was going to start a gradual march forward that progress halted and it looked as though he would make no further inroads towards the top 5. 

Chris Vermeulen then pushed Troy Corser back to 4th place but that soon became 3rd place as Yukio Kagayama ran straight off and out of the race promoting Vermeulen up to second place.  The next question was could the Ten Kate man or Corser chase down the now significant 1.7 second lead enjoyed by Regis Laconi.  Karl Muggeridge great drive around the fast right hander and challenging Corser for 3rd place.

Muggeridge did managed to push Corser back to 4th place and the pair set about trying to eat into Laconi's gap which they immediately started to devour and had the margin down to a single second only a lap later.

Vermeulen is the main threat and takes another half a second out of Laconi on the next lap.  The Yandina (QLD) boy will be keen to make up for that loss of points from that race one engine failure that cost him a lot in the championship standings.  Three laps to run and the gap is down to a couple of bike lengths and he will make a move at some stage before the chequered flag comes out and it will just be a wait and see for which tactical approach he chooses to try and make the #1 step on the podium his.  The final step on the podium would be battled out between Corser and Muggeridge with the pair running nose-to-tail with Corser the one with his nose just in front and running 3rd with two laps to run.

Vermeulen still right in behind Laconi and they go nose-to-tail across the line down the main straight for the final time but Laconi is oh so strong under brakes on the Ducati and holds the advantage and they both slide around the fast right hander before slipping up the inside into the tight left and holds his line, then down to the Parabolica which is where the win would probably be decided, still Vermeulen in front, down the back straight and still Vermeulen and drive to the line with Vermeulen smoking the Fireblade around the final turn in a huge power slide and takes the win.  What a thriller!

Vermeulen the winner, and a deserving winner to make up for that race 1 engine failure,  Laconi 2nd and Corser manages to hold off Muggeridge for the final step on the podium.  Muggeridge a brilliant 4th, Toseland a slightly more distant 5th and just managed to hold off Andrew Pitt for that position.  The first non Suzuki win for the season goes to Honda and from their form tonight it certainly doesn't seem too far away before Ducati also score a spot on the top of the podium again at some stage in the near future.

Corser struggled with a little vibration under brakes which he said was affecting him a little during this race and thus couldn't hang with Laconi and Vermeulen and was happy to still be able to get on the podium. 

Corser now holds down a significant 50 point advantage over Kagayama while Vermeulen a strong 3rd in the series only 15 points adrift of Kagayama.  Laconi is next best with 87 points while Andrew Pitt the leading Yamaha man with 60 points in 5th place then it is James Toseland 6th on 57 points with Walker and Abe only 3 points adrift of him.