BAYLISS THE CHAMPION AT IMOLA - BAYLISS GETS HIS REWARD AS BARROS TAKES FIRST SBK WIN
Troy Bayliss (Ducati Xerox) finally wrapped up the championship he had led for so long with a safe fifth place in race one, before underlining his abilities with a second race victory in front of an enthusiastic crowd at Imola. Alex Barros (Klaffi Honda) broke his personal SBK duck in the first race, setting a new lap record of 1'50.266 as he powered through from eighth on lap one to the victory. James Toseland (Winston Ten Kate Honda) secured second in race one and Andrew Pitt (Yamaha Motor Italia) third, while in race two, Barros was second behind Bayliss, with Yukio Kagayama (Alstare Suzuki Corona Extra) third. Bayliss now has an impressive 393 points, with Toseland up to second overall on 295, and Noriyuki Haga (Yamaha Motor Italia) third on 293. Pitt is fourth (239) and Barros fifth (231).

RACE ONE A brilliant race of strategy and sheer pace gave Barros his first ever win in World Superbike. He had been down the order in the early laps, but slowly worked his way forward at a pace no-one could match, and even scored a new lap record on lap five, as he caught up with the leading group. Toseland, in second, was on his own at the finish, with Pitt third and Haga fourth. Troy Bayliss made his championship sure with a safe finish in fifth, and changed his crash helmet for one with cycling champion's colours on it his slow-down lap, to take the plaudits of a the adoring Ducatisti - 86,500 of whom thronged to the Imola circuit during this weekend.

RACE TWO In race Bayliss was uncaged from his championship concerns, and would not be denied - even by the astonishingly rapid Barros. Suffering a terrible start, Barros still managed to score second, making him the highest points scorer on the day. Kagayama was aggressive in third, with Pitt fourth and Toseland fifth, riding his second machine after electronics problems in race one.

CORSER WORKS HARD AT IMOLA BUT SLIPS TO SIXTH OVERALL Another difficult raceday, despite a good qualifying performance, from outgoing champion Troy Corser (Alstare Suzuki Corona Extra) left him a non-finisher in race one and only ninth in race two. He thus drops to sixth overall in the championship. His team-mates, Kagayama and Max Neukirchner (Alstare Engineering Suzuki) had tangled and fallen in race one, and Neukirchner would fall again, from a strong top ten placing, in race two. Haga was a slowing sixth in race two, nine seconds from the victor, Bayliss.

LANZI BATTLES WELL ON HOME TARMAC In front of a voluble home crowd Lorenzo Lanzi (Ducati Xerox) scored sixth in race one, and despite there being less fallers in race two, he still managed a seventh. In a difficult day for all Kawasaki riders, the high water mark was set by Fonsi Nieto (PSG-1 Kawasaki Corse) with a seventh in race one, despite struggling with a shoulder injury. He was a fatigued 13th in race two.

MUGGERIDGE SCORES IDENTICAL FINISHES Karl Muggeridge (Winston Ten Kate Honda) had some issues to contend with in each race, and ran out eighth in each contest. Ruben Xaus (Sterilgarda Berik) was on form in each race, but fell from leading position on each occasion. Chris Walker (PSG-1 Kawasaki Corse) was in trouble from the outset, having qualified only 19th, and he finished 12th and 14th, scoring a handful of points. Third PSG-1 Kawasaki Corse rider Regis Laconi, three times a winner at Imola, was tenth in two races, suffering from front traction issues in the first race. Norick Abe was also in the points twice (ninth and 11th) the best placed Yamaha Motor France rider on show. Pierfrancesco Chili (DFX Treme Honda) riding in his last race on home tarmac, went 16th and 18th, scoring no points.

SUPERSPORT WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP Sebastien Charpentier (Winston Ten Kate Honda) and Kenan Sofuoglu (Winston Ten Kate Honda) dominated the Supersport race at Imola, and with championship leader Kevin Curtain (Yamaha Motor Germany) only third, the race for the championship itself was not decided, and now goes to Magny-Cours. The table now has Curtain on 187 points, Charpentier on 169 and Sofuoglu third, on 137. Broc Parkes (Yamaha Motor Germany) is still recovering from injury, and was thus sixth in the race (behind the impressive local duo of Gianluca Nannelli and William De Angelis) and Parkes now sits fourth overall, on 129 points.

SUPERSTOCK 1000 FIM CUP The Superstock 1000 FIM Cup championship race saw the on-track winner Luca Scassa (EVR Corse Ormeni MV Agusta) disqualified, and thus the race win was given to original second place rider Brendan Roberts (HP Racing Suzuki) - and the championship to Alessandro Polita (Celani Team Suzuki).
Polita held off a strong and brave push on the last lap from Claudio Corti (Yamaha Team Italia) to take third, leaving Corti a close fourth, with each rider promoted one place in the final classification.
After Scassa's disqualification Polita was put into an unassailable lead over Claudio Corti (Yamaha team Italia) 157 to 131.

TO FRANCE FOR THE FINALE Magny-Cours is the venue for the final round of the season, next weekend, between 6 and 8 October.