Troy Bayliss (Ducati Xerox) clinched the FIM Superbike World Championship for the third time today after finishing third in race 1 at Magny-Cours in front of 78,000 spectators. The Australian rider then celebrated his title in the best possible way by winning race 2. Victory in race 1 and second place in race 2 went to Noriyuki Haga (Yamaha Motor Italia WSB), who moves into second place in the table, with just the final round at Portimao (Portugal) remaining on November 2. With today’s results, Ducati also celebrates its fifteenth Manufacturers’ title.
Race 1
The race was dominated by Haga, with his third win in a row, the Japanese rider finishing 6″ ahead of Fonsi Nieto (Suzuki Alstare), who had a good race to finish runner-up, and Bayliss, who stayed out of trouble to take the title. Fourth went to Max Biaggi (Sterilgarda Go Eleven Ducati), who came on strong towards the end. Max Neukirchner (Alstare Suzuki) was sixth, followed by Troy Corser (Yamaha Motor Italia) and Carlos Checa (Hannspree Ten Kate Honda), who faded with tyre problems after a good early part. Three laps from the end Michel Fabrizio (Ducati Xerox) crashed out while fighting for a podium place with Nieto and Bayliss, while Frenchman Régis Laconi took his PSG-1 Corse Kawasaki to a respectable eleventh place.
Noriyuki Haga (Yamaha Motor Italia WSB): “It’s a great result, the bike is working very well. During this weekend the weather was not so good but my team made a good set-up on the bike for me and I had a very comfortable feeling riding it. I want to say thanks to Yamaha, congratulations for Nieto and of course Troy for winning the title.”
Fonsi Nieto (Suzuki Alstare): “For sure it was a really hard race with these conditions, it was very cold on the track. I tried to push at the beginning on a full fuel tank, but I had a lot of problems. In the end I came past Troy, I didn’t want to make him crash because he was fighting for the championship. I love this track and it’s great to be on the podium again.”
Troy Bayliss (Ducati Xerox): “This last championship has been up and down the whole year, everyone has been fast but a little bit inconsistent and that made it easier for me. Half-way through the year we were very confident but it was a case of not losing the title rather than winning it. I did what I set out to do and win three titles on three different Ducati machines, so that’s a great achievement. Finally it’s done and I can go out and relax a bit more and see if I can win race 2!”
Race 2
Bayliss and Haga thrashed out a duel for the entire second race, but two laps before the end the newly-crowned champion made his attack and went on to conclude a triumphant day with the win. Third place on the podium went to Corser, who also rode an attacking race, with Checa finishing fourth. There was a terrific scrap for fifth between Sterilgarda team-mates Ruben Xaus and Max Biaggi, with the Spaniard getting the edge in a sprint finish with the Italian. The second race was not so good for the Suzuki riders, with Yukio Kagayama, Nieto and Max Neukirchner finishing in that order behind Biaggi. Roberto Rolfo (Honda Althea) and Lorenzo Lanzi (Ducati RG) both finished in the points, but it was a race 2 to forget for Fabrizio, who only finished 14th.
Troy Bayliss (Ducati Xerox): “It was a great race in the end, we made one change and put on a harder front tyre for the second race. The grip was similar but more consistent during the race. I was struggling on the exits to the tight corner, losing a bit to Nori, but it’s always like this. You lose some and gain some. I gave it my all, there wasn’t much to lose, I put three good laps together at the end and it was a great win.”
Noriyuki Haga (Yamaha Motor Italia): “In the last five laps my rear tyre started to go off and I could not open the gas, but Troy and I had a great fight. Once again a big thanks to the team, they did a great job all weekend.”
Troy Corser (Yamaha Motor Italia): Starting from the third row meant that it was going to be a tough race for me, but I managed to get a good start and get through the first few laps. I had a bit of a tussle with Rolfo and Checa, and then when the rain started to come, I thought this is my chance to make up some time. I caught these guys but couldn’t go any further. The front tyre was almost finished on the right side and I almost took Troy out. Shame I was so far back, but now we’ll see if we can win one at the next round.”
FIM Supersport World Championship
The Supersport title was also assigned immediately after the SBK race, and it went to another Australian, Andrew Pitt (Hannspree Ten Kate Honda), who took the win. Pitt, who won the same title seven years ago, benefitted from a contact between Robbin Harms (Hannspree Stiggy Motorsport Honda), Jonathan Rea (Hannspree Ten Kate Honda) and Broc Parkes (Yamaha World Supersport), which eliminated two of his rivals for the title, even though Rea remounted to finish tenth. In the race, Pitt was followed home by a fast improving Barry Veneman (RES Software Suzuki), who held off a late attack by Joshua Brookes (Hannspree Stiggy Motorsport Honda) and Matthieu Lagrive (Intermoto Czech Honda). Massimo Roccoli (Yamaha Lorenzini by Leoni) and Gianluca Nannelli (Honda Althea) took the next two places, with Roccoli getting the edge on the last lap. Fabien Foret (Yamaha World Supersport), returning to the track after his crash at Brno, ran well to finish in eighth place.
Superstock 1000 FIM Cup
First win of the season for Matej Smrz (MS Racing Honda), the Czech rider getting the better in a hectic final few laps over Frenchman Freddy Foray (Coutelle Suzuki) and Claudio Corti (Yamaha Motor Italia Junior Team), who scored his first podium this year. There were upsets for the four riders fighting for the title, which will now go down the wire in Portimao. The best finisher was Alex Polita (Sterilgarda Go Eleven Ducati), who finished fourth, ahead of the new points leader Xavier Simeon (Suzuki Alstare). Out of the points was Brendan Roberts (Ducati Xerox Junior Team) with gearbox problems, while Maxime Berger (Hannspree IDS Ten Kate Honda) could only finish 11th. All four are separated by nine points and still have a chance of taking the title.
| SBK Race 1 1, Noriyuki Haga, Yamaha, JPN, 38’33.367 2, Fonsi Nieto, Suzuki, ESP, 0’6.223 3, Troy Bayliss, Ducati, AUS, 0’6.875 4, Max Biaggi, Ducati, ITA, 0’7.237 5, Max Neukirchner, Suzuki, GER, 0’8.925 6, Troy Corser, Yamaha, AUS, 0’10.714 7, Carlos Checa, Honda, ESP, 0’16.176 8, Yukio Kagayama, Suzuki, JPN, 0’22.661 9, Kenan Sofuoglu, Honda, TUR, 0’27.224 10, Gregorio Lavilla, Honda, ESP, 0’31.300 11, Regis Laconi, Kawasaki, FRA, 0’35.558 12, Karl Muggeridge, Honda, AUS, 0’35.774 13, Sebastien Gimbert, Yamaha, FRA, 0’36.078 14, Shinichi Nakatomi, Yamaha, JPN, 0’36.289 15, Chris Walker, Honda, GBR, 0’40.472 16, Ayrton Badovini, Kawasaki, ITA, 0’40.497 17, Martin Bauer, Honda, AUT, 0’43.350 18, Makoto Tamada, Kawasaki, JPN, 0’54.263 19, Shuhei Aoyama, Honda, JPN, 0’54.382 20, Ivan Silva, Honda, ESP, 0’54.513 |
SBK Race 2 1, Troy Bayliss, Ducati, AUS, 38’33.579 2, Noriyuki Haga, Yamaha, JPN, 0’0.909 3, Troy Corser, Yamaha, AUS, 0’2.966 4, Carlos Checa, Honda, ESP, 0’2.966 5, Ruben Xaus, Ducati, ESP, 0’12.822 6, Max Biaggi, Ducati, ITA, 0’13.004 7, Yukio Kagayama, Suzuki, JPN, 0’18.876 8, Fonsi Nieto, Suzuki, ESP, 0’19.512 9, Max Neukirchner, Suzuki, GER, 0’19.627 10, Roberto Rolfo, Honda, ITA, 0’21.425 11, Lorenzo Lanzi, Ducati, ITA, 0’25.133 12, Gregorio Lavilla, Honda, ESP, 0’30.538 13, Jakub Smrz, Ducati, CZE, 0’35.334 14, Michel Fabrizio, Ducati, ITA, 0’38.453 15, Chris Walker, Honda, GBR, 0’40.008 16, Shinichi Nakatomi, Yamaha, JPN, 0’40.802 17, Ayrton Badovini, Kawasaki, ITA, 0’46.941 18, Makoto Tamada, Kawasaki, JPN, 0’50.172 19, Kenan Sofuoglu, Honda, TUR, 0’58.616 20, Regis Laconi, Kawasaki, FRA, 1’0.422 21, Ivan Silva, Honda, ESP, 1’2.852 22, Shuhei Aoyama, Honda, JPN, 1’21.378 23, Vittorio Iannuzzo, Kawasaki, ITA, 1’32.289 |
SBK Championship 1, Troy Bayliss, Ducati, AUS, 410 2, Noriyuki Haga, Yamaha, JPN, 325 3, Troy Corser, Yamaha, AUS, 316 4, Max Neukirchner, Suzuki, GER, 298 5, Carlos Checa, Honda, ESP, 284 6, Max Biaggi, Ducati, ITA, 235 7, Fonsi Nieto, Suzuki, ESP, 234 8, Michel Fabrizio, Ducati, ITA, 203 9, Ryuichi Kiyonari, Honda, JPN, 193 10, Ruben Xaus, Ducati, ESP, 171 11, Yukio Kagayama, Suzuki, JPN, 153 12, Gregorio Lavilla, Honda, ESP, 117 13, Jakub Smrz, Ducati, CZE, 113 14, Lorenzo Lanzi, Ducati, ITA, 109 15, Karl Muggeridge, Honda, AUS, 751, Ducati, 520 2, Yamaha, 461 3, Suzuki, 384 4, Honda, 379 5, Kawasaki, 82 |
| SS Race 1, Andrew Pitt, Honda, AUS, 37’57.929 2, Barry Veneman, Suzuki, NED, 0’1.250 3, Joshua Brookes, Honda, AUS, 0’1.514 4, Matthieu Lagrive, Honda, FRA, 0’1.685 5, Didier Van Keymeulen, Suzuki, BEL, 0’5.075 6, Massimo Roccoli, Yamaha, ITA, 0’13.171 7, Gianluca Nannelli, Honda, ITA, 0’13.386 8, Fabien Foret, Yamaha, FRA, 0’19.563 9, Josh Hayes, Honda, USA, 0’19.677 10, Jonathan Rea, Honda, GBR, 0’21.686 11, Gianluca Vizziello, Honda, ITA, 0’22.599 12, Katsuaki Fujiwara, Kawasaki, JPN, 0’24.967 13, Patrick Vostarek, Honda, ITA, 0’28.888 14, Ivan Clementi, Triumph, ITA, 0’29.351 15, Robbin Harms, Honda, DNK, 0’38.000 16, Chris Martin, Kawasaki, GBR, 0’40.934 17, David Salom, Yamaha, ESP, 0’43.876 18, Jesco Gunther, Triumph, GER, 0’46.230 19, Balazs Nemeth, Honda, HUN, 0’58.762 20, David Perret, Honda, FRA, 0’59.258 21, Russell Holland, Honda, AUS, 1’1.131 22, Santiago Barragan, Honda, ESP, 1’14.306 |
SS Championship 1, Andrew Pitt, Honda, AUS, 194 2, Jonathan Rea, Honda, GBR, 164 3, Joshua Brookes, Honda, AUS, 157 4, Broc Parkes, Yamaha, AUS, 139 5, Fabien Foret, Yamaha, FRA, 105 6, Joan Lascorz, Honda, ESP, 105 7, Craig Jones, Honda, GBR, 100 8, Barry Veneman, Suzuki, NED, 92 9, Robbin Harms, Honda, DNK, 71 10, Gianluca Nannelli, Honda, ITA, 69 11, Massimo Roccoli, Yamaha, ITA, 58 12, Matthieu Lagrive, Honda, FRA, 56 13, Gianluca Vizziello, Honda, ITA, 52 14, Didier Van Keymeulen, Suzuki, BEL, 38 15, Chris Walker, Kawasaki, GBR, 361, Honda, 290 2, Yamaha, 192 3, Suzuki, 101 4, Triumph, 70 5, Kawasaki, 46 |
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| Superstock Race 1, Matej Smrz, Honda, CZE, 24’7.794 2, Freddy Foray, Yamaha, FRA, 0’0.463 3, Claudio Corti, Yamaha, ITA, 0’0.543 4, Alessandro Polita, Ducati, ITA, 0’1.001 5, Xavier Simeon, Suzuki, BEL, 0’1.792 6, Franck Millet, MV Agusta, ITA, 0’2.556 7, Sylvain Barrier, Yamaha, FRA, 0’8.425 8, Kenny Foray, Yamaha, FRA, 0’8.701 9, Michael Savary, Suzuki, CHE, 0’12.636 10, Michele Pirro, Yamaha, ITA, 0’12.776 11, Maxime Berger, Honda, FRA, 0’14.352 12, Chris Seaton, Suzuki, AUS, 0’22.002 13, Domenico Colucci, Ducati, ITA, 0’23.114 14, Barry Burrell, Honda, GBR, 0’23.739 15, Davide Giugliano, Suzuki, ITA, 0’27.654 16, Raymond Schouten, Yamaha, NED, 0’27.893 17, Gareth Jones, Suzuki, AUS, 0’28.672 18, Andrea Antonelli, Honda, ITA, 0’29.861 19, Filip Backlund, Suzuki, SWE, 0’31.655 20, Brendan Roberts, Ducati, AUS, 0’39.173 21, Peter Hickman, Yamaha, GBR, 0’42.859 22, Pauli Pekkanen, KTM, FIN, 0’43.156 23, Matt Bond, Suzuki, GBR, 0’43.591 24, Marko Jerman, Yamaha, SVK, 0’49.153 25, Niccolo Rosso, Honda, ITA, 0’50.458 26, Gregory Junod, Yamaha, CHE, 0’53.215 27, Jure Stibilj, Honda, SVN, 1’1.096 28, Tommaso Lorenzetti, Suzuki, ITA, 1’1.390 29, Roy Ten Napel, Suzuki, NED, 1’4.057 31, Danny De Boer, Suzuki, NED, 1’9.815 32, Brank Srdanov, Yamaha, NED, 1’10.142 33, Michal Drobny, Honda, CZE, 1’12.430 34, Cameron Stronach, Kawasaki, AUS, 1’26.143 |
Superstock Championship 1, Xavier Simeon, Suzuki, BEL, 131 2, Alessandro Polita, Ducati, ITA, 127 3, Maxime Berger, Honda, FRA, 124 4, Brendan Roberts, Ducati, AUS, 122 5, Michele Pirro, Yamaha, ITA, 89 6, Matej Smrz, Honda, CZE, 73 7, Davide Giugliano, Suzuki, ITA, 72 8, Andrea Antonelli, Honda, ITA, 57 9, Freddy Foray, Yamaha, FRA, 55 10, Claudio Corti, Yamaha, ITA, 49 11, Chris Seaton, Suzuki, AUS, 40 12, Barry Burrell, Honda, GBR, 33 13, Kenny Foray, Yamaha, FRA, 32 14, Michele Magnoni, Yamaha, ITA, 30 15, Domenico Colucci, Ducati, ITA, 26 22, Sylvain Barrier, Yamaha, FRA, 13 1, Ducati, 170 |
