KAGAYAMA DOUBLES UP AFTER HOT RACES AT BRNO - KAGAYAMA THE MASTER AT CLASSIC CZECH TRACK After a resurgent burst of form at the previous round in Misano, Yukio Kagayama (Alstare Suzuki Corona Extra) scored two wins, in similar fashion, at the 5.403km Brno circuit, to take his first SBK double win. He got back to winning ways after running down long time leader James Toseland (Winston Ten Kate Honda) in race one, then repeating it even more impressively in race two, when he hunted down Superpole winner Noriyuki Haga (Yamaha Motor Italia) to score a second magnificent 20-lap victory. Another candidate for rider of the day was Michel Fabrizio (DFX Treme Honda) who scored his first two podium finishes since his promotion from World Supersport. In a nightmare raceday for championship leader Troy Bayliss (Ducati Xerox), he tangled with Regis Laconi (PSG-1 Kawasaki Corse) in race one, and fell from contention at the first corner. A strong start in the second leg gave him only an eighth place finish. He lost ground to both Noriyuki Haga (Yamaha Motor Italia) and Toseland in the championship chase, and now has a total of 262 points, with Haga on 189 and Toseland on 188.

RACE ONE An astounding contest for the final podium place, behind the clear eventual winner Kagayama and second place rider Toseland, was taken by SBK rookie rider, Michel Fabrizio, all despite a recently broken shoulder. Kagayama claimed his first win of the year after sitting behind long-time leader Toseland and then making a break with six laps to go. Fabrizio, only fifth on the penultimate lap, took both Troy Corser (Alstare Suzuki Corona Extra) and Haga on the final circuit, to score third, with Haga fourth and Corser fifth. Championship leader Bayliss retired after tangling with Laconi at turn one, after Laconi had been forced wide.
Toseland was lucky to make the start of the first race at all, after a collision with a backmarker in morning warm-up trashed his number one engine and chassis. The backmarker was cruising on the racing line, and Toseland's avoiding action, despite being committed to the corner, meant that they only hit a hard glancing blow, and not something even more serious. An oil leak and subsequent crash from a privateer's machine in the morning warm-up restart caused another halt to proceedings, postponing the start of the Superstock 1000 race to the last race of the day.

RACE TWO With Kagayama finally away and clear, Fabrizio completed the most dramatic last corner double pass imaginable, forcing past Corser and then holding Haga to the white line on the outside of the corner exit, to score his second career podium in SBK, just a few hours after his first. Only 0.173 seconds separated Fabrizio in second with Corser in fourth, in what was an all-time classic finish that brought Sunday's portion of the 41,000 weekend crowd on the edge of their seats. Toseland took fifth, having difficulty getting into and out of right hand corners.

PITT RETIRES IN TWO RACES AS NIETO SCORES TWO SIXTHS Misano race winner Andrew Pitt (Yamaha Motor Italia) had to retire from the leading pack twice, with a recurring misfire on his raceday machine. Fonsi Nieto (PSG-1 Kawasaki Corse) felt he had learned more in this SBK day than in any other, running with the leading riders almost throughout each race. Karl Muggeridge (Winston Ten Kate Honda) swapped a front tyre specification between races and went from 11th to seventh. Chris Walker (PSG-1 Kawasaki Corse) had two points scoring rides, in seventh and 10th.

YAMAHA RIDERS ON RECORD FORM For the first time in SBK history all three Yamaha Motor France Ipone riders finished each race in the points, with rookie rider Shinichi Nakatomi scoring the single best result, eighth in race one, ahead of his team-mate, Norick Abe, with Sebastien Gimbert 13th. In race two Abe went 12th, with Nakatomi 13th and Gimbert 15th.
Regis Laconi (PSG-1 Kawasaki Corse) scored no points today, as he finished race two only 16th. Klaffi Honda rider Alex Barros suffered from a tucking front end and an overheated engine as he retired from race one, but he scored a few points for 11th place in race two.

SUPERSPORT WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP Kevin Curtain (Yamaha Motor Germany) followed up his Superpole triumph with his first race win of the season in Supersport. His main championship challenger, current leader Sebastien Charpentier (Winston Ten Kate Honda), lost ground with a lowly 11th place finish. Charpentier now leads Curtain by only ten points, with the Brands Hatch round coming in two weekends' time. Broc Parkes (Yamaha Motor Germany) was an assured second, and a resurgent Kenan Sofuoglu (Winston Ten Kate Honda) third, but unable to take any points from Charpentier's main pursuers. Yoann Tiberio (Megabike Honda) was fourth, Gianluca Vizziello fifth on his Yamaha team Italia machine.

SUPERSTOCK 1000 FIM CUP In a much delayed Superstock 1000 contest, the shortened seven lap race was won by Ayrton Badovini (Biassono Unionbike MV Agusta) making history for the Italian marque. Luca Scassa (EVR Corse Ormeni racing MV Agusta) scored second while Richard Cooper (MS Racing Honda) took his CBR to a well-earned third. In the championship standings, long term leader Alessandro Polita (Celani Suzuki) remains top, despite a crash and no score today, as Badovini moved to within two points of him. Scassa is third, with 71.

SUPERSTOCK 600 EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIP Xavier Simeon (Alstare Corona Extra Suzuki) scored his third win in five races to extend his lead in the Superstock 600 series. He now heads overall second place rider Niccolo Canepa (Ducati Xerox) by 34 points, 115 to 81. Canepa was also second in the race itself, with Andrea Antonelli (Junior Team Italia) third.