BAYLISS’S DOUBLE THE FIRST OF 2006 - BATTLE OF THE TROYS DELIVERS TWO WINS TO BAYLISS Troy Bayliss (Ducati Xerox) and Troy Corser (Alstare Suzuki Corona Extra) were on a different plane of existence from their peers at Valencia, each Australian rider taking turns to lead the races, which were both eventually won by Bayliss. His first double win of the year means that he has now scored three straight wins, after his race two success in Australia. He leads the championship, by 22 points, from Corser. Each Valencia race had identical top five finishers.

RACE ONE A two-man fight for the win pitted the two Troys together at the head of the pack, with Corser the leader for most of the race, but Bayliss making it count at the end, earning a winning margin of 2.765 seconds. The Aussie duo ended up 14 seconds clear of their nearest challengers. The final podium place went to Lorenzo Lanzi (Ducati Xerox) who overcame strong challenges from Norick Abe (Yamaha Motor France) and Noriyuki Haga (Yamaha Motor Italia). Fourth was Abe’s best career World Superbike finish. Yukio Kagayama (Alstare Suzuki Corona Extra) scored sixth place, before a fall robbed him of a good finish in race two.

RACE TWO The second 23-lap race looked like it would be Corser’s, such was the speed of his initial escape, but as the end of the race approached, Bayliss hunted down his compatriot, and took the win by 0.790 seconds. Bayliss’ team-mate Lanzi scored his second podium of the day in third, with Abe and Haga completing an identical run of top five finishers to race one. Fonsi Nieto gave Kawasaki a much-desired top six finish in race two, running his PSG-1 Kawasaki to the upper echelons, despite being pushed wide by his team-mate Regis Laconi on turn one. Chris Walker continued the happiness for the PSG-1 team in race two, when he finished seventh, one place up on Laconi. Laconi had also finished race one eighth, but Walker touched a wet line and ran off the track, finishing only 23rd. Andrew Pitt finished race two ninth on his Yamaha Motor Italia R1, one place better than race one, having found the Valencia circuit much less grippy than during recent test sessions.

TOSELAND DISAPPOINTED BUT THIRD OVERALL IN TITLE RACE James Toseland (Winston Ten Kate Honda) found the Ricardo Tormo circuit equally difficult in race and qualifying conditions, posting a ninth place finish in race one and 11th in race two. He was the top Honda finisher in race one, but was overhauled by his race long shadow in race two, Michel Fabrizio (DFX Honda). Alex Barros (Klaffi Honda) had a difficult weekend all round, and two bad starts from his 16th place qualification spot left him 11th in race one and only 14th in race two.

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Ruben Xaus (Sterilgarda Berik Ducati) scored seventh in the opening race, but fell in the second outing, while SBK rookie Shinichi Nakatomi (Yamaha Motor France) learned much from a three day test at Valencia last month and scored good points thanks to a brace of 12th place finishes.

WORLD SUPERSPORT CHAMPIONSHIP Sebastien Charpentier (Winston Ten Kate Honda) raced at lap record pace to take his third win in three attempts, his new best of 1’38.664 being set on lap two, as he made a decisive break from the chasing pack. Kevin Curtain (Yamaha Motor Germany) rode to his third consecutive runner up spot of the year, with returning rider Katsuaki Fujiwara (Megabike Honda) third, despite his lingering wrist injury. Broc Parkes (Yamaha Motor Germany) was fourth, despite problems with brake fluid leaking onto the rear of his machine. Local rider Jordi Torres (Speed Moto Yamaha) was an impressive fifth, ahead of series regular, Robbin Harms (Stiggy Motorsports Honda). Charpentier leads Curtain by 15 points in the championship table, with Harms third, some 44 points from the lead.

SUPERSTOCK 1000 FIM CUP Alessio Polita (Celani Suzuki) scored a narrow win after the first race of the Superstock 1000 season got underway at Valencia, holding off local rider Ivan Silva (La Glisse Kawasaki) by only 0.303 seconds. With the advantage down the straights Polita got in front of Silva on the penultimate lap and powered away to the win. In third place Ayrton Badovini took a podium finish for MV Agusta, in the Unionbike Biassono team.