Troy Corser will fight a lone Aussie hand when the 2010 Superbike World Championship resumes at Nurburgring this weekend. With Chris Vermeulen already a scratching for the remainder of the season with a knee injury, Broc Parkes has now joined him on the sidelines after parting company with his privateer Honda team.

That leaves Corser as the sole bearer of antipodean pride, and he’s confident that his factory BMW will strike up a real rapport with the historic 5.137km circuit.

“I really like the Nürburgring,” said Corser. “In the past I’ve regularly had good results here, including several podium finishes and a race win. I think the circuit will suit the engine and chassis of our bike. Our aim for Friday practice is to settle on a good set-up. If we can do that, then anything is possible this weekend.

“The Nürburgring is a great race track and the perfect venue for motorcycle racing. There are plenty of overtaking opportunities and lots of rises and falls, which generally produces really exciting and spectacular racing — both for us as riders and for the spectators.

“In summer 2009 I had the chance to drive a BMW Formula One car at the Nürburgring, which was a lot of fun. I was surprised by how quickly you can feel comfortable driving that kind of car. But I think I prefer being at the limit on my bike.”

Corser is still searching for an elusive maiden win on the BMW, and has already been to the brink in 2010 with a couple of podium finishes. Last year Corser finished eighth and sixth at Nurburgring, but there wasn’t a massive gulf between him and the two winners – Ben Spies and Jonathan Rea.

Corser’s currently 10th in the championship, but a stirring final three rounds could still see him finish in the top six, which would provide a strong platform for the 2011 campaign — again slated for a Phillip Island kick-off next February 25-27.

Italy’s Max Biaggi (Aprilia) takes a commanding 60pt championship lead over Briton Leon Haslam (Suzuki) into Nurburgring, and another dominant performance – and with a little help from his team-mate Leon Camier to take points away from Haslam — could see him become champion-designate in a home town crowning at Monza on September 26.

Biaggi has seized every opportunity in 2010, with an excellent strike rate of nine wins from 12 podiums.

Haslam has also marked his territory with a string of excellent performances, but he knows that Nurburgring is crunch time if he is to make a dent into Biaggi’s huge lead.

Over the last four rounds, only Jonathan Rea (Honda) and Cal Crutchlow (Yamaha) have joined Biaggi on the winners’ list, with Crutchlow scoring a dominant double in the last round at Silverstone.

Meanwhile, Rea is also the lap record holder at Nurburgring, while the usual roll call of stars will be in the thick of it, including Carlos Checa (Ducati), James Toseland (Yamaha) and factory Ducati pair Noriyuki Haga and Michel Fabrizio.

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The action continues to come thick and fast as the MotoGP field returns to the track just five days after the visit to Indianapolis, with the World Championship moving onto Misano for the Gran Premio Aperol di San Marino e della Riviera di Rimini. Jorge Lorenzo remains the rider to catch, having maintained his 100% podium record for the season in the U.S. along with his substantial lead in the standings.

The fact that third place at Indianapolis represented the Fiat Yamaha rider’s worst result of the season to date is testament to his phenomenal form in 2010, and he has now finished on the podium for 12 successive races – stretching back to the final race of last season in Valencia. In his two previous premier class visits to Misano Lorenzo has placed second and will be going for an eighth win of the season on Sunday.

Brimming with confidence will be his main challenger Dani Pedrosa, and the pair’s intense competitiveness has continued throughout the season. The Repsol Honda rider trimmed his rival’s Championship lead to 68 points with victory at Indy, his third of the campaign, and edged back in front of Lorenzo in the GP victory stakes across all classes. The score now is 34-33 to Pedrosa, with Lorenzo leading in terms of premier class wins at 12-11. Last season Pedrosa completed the podium at Misano behind Lorenzo, but will be aiming to upset his adversary’s run to a first MotoGP title and become the first Spaniard to win in the premier class at the circuit.

Further back Andrea Dovizioso and Casey Stoner are separated by just seven points respectively as they continue to contest third position. The Repsol Honda man has a best premier class result of fourth which came last season in his first race on new Öhlins suspension and was disappointed with fifth last time out at Indy. For Stoner it has been two years since he raced at Misano having missed last season due to illness, and he will want to correct his DNF at Indianapolis. A repeat of his 2007 victory from pole would be the perfect remedy for the Ducati Team rider.

Reigning World Champion Valentino Rossi has won for the past two years at Misano, last season from pole, and is hot on the tail of Stoner in the standings having finished fourth in Round 11. Ben Spies in turn has the Italian in his sights after a season’s best result at Indianapolis of second and the Monster Yamaha Tech 3 rider won one of the two WSBK races at Misano last year. Just a point behind him is fellow American Nicky Hayden who continues his search for a first podium of the season on his factory Desmosedici GP10.

Randy de Puniet’s (LCR Honda) continuing recovery from his broken leg will take its next step, whilst rookie Marco Simoncelli and his San Carlo Honda Gresini team-mate Marco Melandri will both want solid home results. Colin Edwards (Monster Yamaha Tech 3) is closely grouped with last year’s 250cc race winner Héctor Barberá (Páginas Amarillas Aspar), and veteran Italian Loris Capirossi (Rizla Suzuki) is scheduled to become only the second rider in the 62-year history of GP racing to make 200 premier class starts.

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Dani Pedrosa narrowed the gap on MotoGP World Championship leader Jorge Lorenzo to 68 points with seven rounds of the 2010 season remaining by winning the Red Bull Indianapolis Grand Prix on Sunday. It was the Repsol Honda rider’s third win of the campaign, the first time he has achieved three wins in a season in the premier class.

Starting from the second row Pedrosa was on the pace early on and a fastest lap on lap two lifted him into second position, as he set his sights on pole holder Ben Spies. On the end of the seventh lap the Spaniard overtook the rookie on the start/finish straight and never relinquished the lead, eventually crossing the line 3.575s clear of Spies.

After the race Pedrosa commented, “I’m really happy with this win and it was an especially tough one because of the heat today. My rhythm was good and even though Spies was strong in front I was able to close him down and make the pass. When I was out in front it was quite hard to stay focused and at the end of the race I was really tired – but I’m very happy because last year I crashed when I could have won and now I have made up for it.”

For the Monster Yamaha Tech 3 rider Spies, second place marked his best result to date and a second podium in what has already been a fantastic debut season. Spies started from pole – the first of his MotoGP career – and his race result capped off a great weekend that also saw him confirmed as a factory Yamaha rider for 2011.

Completing the podium was series leader Lorenzo who had started from second on the grid but dropped to fifth at the start of the race. That failed to affect his concentration however and he battled his way past Andrea Dovizioso and into third just before the midway point of the race, finishing just over three seconds off Spies as his phenomenal record of having placed in the top two in every race this season was finally broken. He did however score a twelfth consecutive podium finish in the premier class.

A complicated weekend for Valentino Rossi (Fiat Yamaha) ended with the reigning World Champion placing fourth in the race, as he won the battle of the Italians with Repsol Honda rider Dovizioso taking fifth. Nicky Hayden was sixth having started from the front row for the first time in his Ducati career and battling with an awkwardly dislodged knee-slider throughout the race.

Rookies Marco Simoncelli (San Carlo Honda Gresini) and Álvaro Bautista (Rizla Suzuki) impressed with seventh and eight places respectively, with Aleix Espargaró (Pramac Racing) and Héctor Barberá (Páginas Amarillas Aspar) completing the top ten. Loris Capirossi, Hiroshi Aoyama – on his return from injury – and Randy de Puniet were the final three riders to finish the race.

Suffering the disappointment of DNFs were Marco Melandri (lap two) on his 200th Grand Prix start, Casey Stoner who lost the front end of his Ducati Desmosedici GP10 on lap eight whilst in sixth, Colin Edwards who was forced to retire with rear tyre issues (lap 17) and Mika Kallio who crashed in turn ten when he hit a bump.

Lorenzo moves onto 251 points with Pedrosa now on 183 in second in the standings. Dovizioso is third on 126, with Stoner now seven points behind in fourth. Rossi remains in fifth while Spies moves up to sixth.

Results next page.

Ben Spies will start a MotoGP race from pole position for the first time on Sunday after he laid down a fantastic hot lap in qualifying for the Red Bull Indianapolis Grand Prix. The Monster Yamaha Tech 3 rookie posted a best time of 1’40.105 on his final flying lap to delight the home crowd and mark another highlight in what has already been an eventful weekend following confirmation of his factory ride for 2011. The Texan celebrates a first pole after already having tasted podium champagne at Silverstone in June in what is quickly becoming an impressive debut season in the premier class of motorcycle racing.

Spies was 0.220s quicker than Championship leader and last year’s race winner Jorge Lorenzo who took his Fiat Yamaha M1 machine round in the second fastest time, and there was further joy for the American fans as Nicky Hayden took his first Ducati front-row place with third. Hayden was just a hundredth of a second behind Lorenzo on the timesheet in a typically action-packed and frantic hour-long session.

Riders who were quick in the morning session found the going tough as the temperature soared and grip levels decreased, with Andrea Dovizioso holding top spot briefly before his best time of 1’40.559 eventually placed him fourth on the starting grid, with his Repsol Honda team-mate Dani Pedrosa fifth just under eight-hundredths further back. A visibly frustrated Casey Stoner, who had been fastest in both free practice sessions, could only qualify in sixth as he lapped 0.559s off the pace of Spies on his Ducati Desmosedici GP10.

The third row will be headed up by Valentino Rossi (Fiat Yamaha) with the Italian left bewildered but uninjured when he fell at turn six with little over five minutes to go – his second fall of the day following an earlier one in practice. The reigning World Champion has struggled to match the speed of the front-runners this weekend and will hope to find some improvements with his crew overnight.

Marco Simoncelli (San Carlo Honda Gresini) also had a crash in the final stages of the session but managed to secure eighth place, equalling his best qualification so far this season, with Colin Edwards (Monster Yamaha Tech 3) and Loris Capirossi (Rizla Suzuki) completing the top ten.

Hiroshi Aoyama (Interwetten Honda MotoGP Team) was 13th in his first qualifying practice since returning from injury, whilst Aleix Espargaró (Pramac Racing) had a fall at turn 13 and subsequently qualified in 14th.

1 11 Ben SPIES USA Monster Yamaha Tech 3 1′40.105
2 99 Jorge LORENZO SPA Fiat Yamaha Team 1′40.325
3 69 Nicky HAYDEN USA Ducati Team 1′40.336
4 4 Andrea DOVIZIOSO ITA Repsol Honda Team 1′40.559
5 26 Dani PEDROSA SPA Repsol Honda Team 1′40.637
6 27 Casey STONER AUS Ducati Team 1′40.664
7 46 Valentino ROSSI ITA Fiat Yamaha Team 1′41.005
8 58 Marco SIMONCELLI ITA San Carlo Honda Gresini 1′41.092
9 5 Colin EDWARDS USA Monster Yamaha Tech 3 1′41.232
10 65 Loris CAPIROSSI ITA Rizla Suzuki MotoGP 1′41.512
11 19 Alvaro BAUTISTA SPA Rizla Suzuki MotoGP 1′41.534
12 33 Marco MELANDRI ITA San Carlo Honda Gresini 1′41.623
13 7 Hiroshi AOYAMA JPN Interwetten Honda MotoGP 1′41.631
14 41 Aleix ESPARGARO SPA Pramac Racing Team 1′41.649
15 36 Mika KALLIO FIN Pramac Racing Team 1′41.856
16 40 Hector BARBERA SPA Paginas Amarillas Aspar 1′41.896
17 14 Randy DE PUNIET FRA LCR Honda MotoGP 1′41.923

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The 2010 season continues its march towards the decisive part of the season with round 11 of 18 taking place at Indianapolis this weekend, and all eyes will once more be on Jorge Lorenzo as the Fiat Yamaha rider aims to maintain his phenomenal form this season. Victory last time out at Brno made the Spaniard only the third premier class rider in history to have placed inside the top two in all ten opening races of a season, and few would bet against him extending his win count this season to eight at a track he was victorious on last season.

With a 77-point advantage over Dani Pedrosa in the standings the Repsol Honda man will be eager not only to halt his rival’s run, but also to make up for last year’s Indy outing. Pedrosa dominated the weekend and started from pole, but crashed early in the race and eventually placed tenth. Fresh from second place in the Czech Republic he will be targeting a third win of the season, which would be a first treble of premier class wins in one year for the 24 year-old.

Casey Stoner’s consistent podium finishing over the past five rounds has lifted the Ducati Team rider to third overall, and still in search of a first win of the season the Australian will also be looking to make up for last year’s absence from this race due to illness. He will also be expecting a front-end improvement on his Desmosedici after testing new forks at Brno. Just four points behind him in the standings is Andrea Dovizioso, and the Repsol Honda man will want a solid result after his first DNF of 2010 in the last round. The Italian has finished fifth and fourth in his two rides at Indy, and will expect to go one better in the battle for third with Stoner.

Reigning World Champion Valentino Rossi continues to go from strength to strength as he regains full fitness, and has winning form on the track from 2008. Two points off the Italian in the standings is his prospective team-mate for 2011, Ducati’s Nicky Hayden. The American – still in search of a first podium of the campaign – will be desperate for a strong home display and will hope the injured left hand he sustained in Brno does not hinder those aspirations.

Monster Yamaha Tech 3 rookie Ben Spies will have identical aims to compatriot Hayden on home soil, whilst Randy de Puniet’s incredible return to action at Brno just four weeks after a broken leg will take its next step as the LCR Honda rider attempts to regain the highest privateer honour. Italian Marco Melandri (San Carlo Honda Gresini) and another proud American Colin Edwards (Monster Yamaha Tech 3) complete the top ten as it stands.

Rookies Marco Simoncelli (San Carlo Honda Gresini), Héctor Barberá (Páginas Amarillas Aspar) and Álvaro Bautista (Rizla Suzuki) will all want positive first premier class runs at the circuit, whilst those with previous Indy experience in Loris Capirossi (Rizla Suzuki) and Pramac Racing pair Aleix Espargaró and Mika Kallio will look to pull on their knowledge in search of good results.

Having ridden at the Brno test for the first time in two months Hiroshi Aoyama (Interwetten Honda MotoGP Team) could make his return to action, but is waiting to make a decision. In the case the Japanese rookie does not Alex de Angelis will continue as his stand-in on the satellite RC212V.

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Jorge Lorenzo’s phenomenal 2010 form continued at the Cardion ab Grand Prix České republiky on Sunday where the Fiat Yamaha rider won his seventh race of the season. A front row start was converted into another 25 points by the Spaniard, who maintained his record of having finished inside the top two in every race so far.

The sun was shining brilliantly in stark contrast to the wet morning warm-up session and the dark clouds that had circled the track as just over 148,000 enthusiastic fans packed out the Brno circuit. Lorenzo quickly engaged himself in an early battle with rival Dani Pedrosa (Repsol Honda) – who started from pole position – by taking the lead in the third corner.

There were two early fallers as Loris Capirossi (Rizla Suzuki) and Andrea Dovizioso (Repsol Honda) went down inside the opening three laps, the latter managing to avoid collisions with a number of oncoming bikes while stranded in the middle of the track coming out of turn nine. Dovizioso rejoined the back of the race but was forced to retire shortly after with a handlebar issue.

Lorenzo and Pedrosa exchanged fastest-lap times in the preliminary stages of the race as they set the pace but the championship leader gradually began to pull away from his compatriot, and the pair were also well ahead of Casey Stoner (Ducati Team) in third place. The riders became more separated as the race reached its finale, and Lorenzo cruised across the line 5.494s ahead of Pedrosa to extend his Championship lead over his fellow Spaniard to 77 points. The Repsol Honda rider was followed onto the podium by Australia’s Stoner, who finished third almost six seconds back and also moved into third in the Championship ahead of Dovizioso.

Ben Spies (Monster Yamaha Tech 3) placed fourth from his first MotoGP front row grid position having made an impressive start, with Valentino Rossi (Fiat Yamaha) fifth, just over four seconds off the rookie. American duo Nicky Hayden (Ducati Team) and Colin Edwards (Monster Yamaha Tech 3) were sixth and seventh respectively, with Marco Melandri (San Carlo Honda Gresini Team), Héctor Barberá (Páginas Amarillas Aspar) and the returning Randy de Puniet (LCR Honda) completing the top ten just four weeks after breaking his leg in Germany. A frustrating weekend was ended in heartbreaking fashion for Álvaro Bautista (Rizla Suzuki) as the rookie slid out on the last corner of the final lap, having just passed Marco Simoncelli (San Carlo Honda Gresini Team) who took 11th.

Results next page.

Dani Pedrosa will start the Cardion ab Grand Prix České republiky from pole position on Sunday after a fantastic qualifying effort at Brno. The Repsol Honda rider’s best lap of 1’56.508 delivered his third pole of the season and placed him just over three-tenths of a second clear at the top of the timesheet in a session that had a dramatic climax.

American rookie Ben Spies had looked to be on course for a sensational first ever MotoGP pole when he assumed the lead time with only a few minutes remaining. The Monster Yamaha Tech 3 rookie will not be disappointed with second spot on the grid next to Pedrosa however as he starts a premier class race from the front row for the first time.

Championship leader Jorge Lorenzo will attempt to achieve his seventh win of the campaign from the final front-row spot having qualified at 0.357s off Pedrosa’s pace. However, the Fiat Yamaha rider had a fall right at the end of the hour-long session when pushing through turn 11, a crash which thankfully left him unharmed, however his confidence may well have taken a slight knock.

Casey Stoner was not satisfied with his Ducati Team machine as he struggled with traction on corner exit, but a determined final push at the end of the session placed the Australian fourth and he and his team will work hard overnight to correct the rear grip issues he appeared to be having. Valentino Rossi (Fiat Yamaha), at just over half a second off pole, will start from fifth and the reigning World Champion was extremely frustrated to have a fall at turn 13 just moments after Lorenzo went down.

Pedrosa’s Repsol Honda team-mate Andrea Dovizioso will complete the second row after taking his factory RC212V round in the sixth best time. The third row comprises Colin Edwards (Monster Yamaha Tech 3), Nicky Hayden (Ducati Team) and rookie Héctor Barberá (Páginas Amarillas Aspar), with Loris Capirossi (Rizla Suzuki) tenth. Randy de Puniet (LCR Honda) will start from 11th on his return from injury.

Marco Simoncelli (San Carlo Honda Gresini Team) had a fall inside the opening ten minutes but returned to the track to qualify 12th, whilst Hayden had a crash at turn three with 15 minutes remaining and suffered a chipped radius in his left forearm, however he will be fit to race. Absent from the session was Álvaro Bautista (Rizla Suzuki) following his crash in the morning practice, and a decision on his participation in the race will be made on Sunday morning.

1 26 Dani PEDROSA SPA Repsol Honda Team 1′56.508
2 11 Ben SPIES USA Monster Yamaha Tech 3 1′56.846
3 99 Jorge LORENZO SPA Fiat Yamaha Team 1′56.865
4 27 Casey STONER AUS Ducati Team 1′56.868
5 46 Valentino ROSSI ITA Fiat Yamaha Team 1′57.059
6 4 Andrea DOVIZIOSO ITA Repsol Honda Team 1′57.117
7 5 Colin EDWARDS USA Monster Yamaha Tech 3 1′57.222
8 69 Nicky HAYDEN USA Ducati Team 1′57.635
9 40 Hector BARBERA SPA Paginas Amarillas Aspar 1′57.960
10 65 Loris CAPIROSSI ITA Rizla Suzuki MotoGP 1′57.981
11 14 Randy DE PUNIET FRA LCR Honda MotoGP 1′58.089
12 58 Marco SIMONCELLI ITA San Carlo Honda Gresini 1′58.169
13 36 Mika KALLIO FIN Pramac Racing Team 1′58.182
14 33 Marco MELANDRI ITA San Carlo Honda Gresini 1′58.430
15 15 Alex DE ANGELIS RSM Interwetten Honda MotoGP 1′58.522
16 41 Aleix ESPARGARO SPA Pramac Racing Team 1′58.700
- – 19 Alvaro BAUTISTA SPA Rizla Suzuki MotoGP Suzuki

Triumph are rolling out 2010 Special Edition models right now. The Thruxton, T100 Special Edition the ‘Bonneville Sixty’ and Speed Triple come with varying degrees of visual and mechanical changes to distinguish them from the standard editions. All models are available now in Australia.

The Thruxton SE retains its 865cc parallel-twin engine and other mechanicals but comes with the frame powder coated in red and white bodywork with red striping down the middle. It also comes with a colour-matched, factory fitted fly screen and blacked out engine cases.

The 2010 Thruxton SE retails for $14,990 plus on road costs.

The T100 Special Edition ‘Bonneville Sixty’ draws on the heritage of one of Triumph’s most famous models from 1960 by recreating the classic two-tone Meriden Blue/Caspian Blue colour scheme with hand painted pinstripes.

Each Bonneville Sixty comes with a numbered plaque on the handlebar clamp and an individual certificate of authenticity and retails for $14,990 plus on road costs.

The 2010 Triumph Speed Triple SE gets a bit more of a working over gaining a higher spec suspension as well as an SE colour scheme.

Named Tornado Red, the new colour features a Crystal White centre stripe and black pinstripe, with a colour matched fly screen and seat cowl.

The suspension is of more interest however, with an upgrade that includes modified internal components in both the forks and rear suspension unit to improve the damping characteristics. Triumph are promising better ride comfort, reduced fork dive under heavy braking and superior body control thanks to a 5% softer rear spring.

The 2010 Triumph Speed Triple SE retails for $17590 plus on road costs.

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The streets of Vienna were humming with the sound of MotoGP, Moto2 and 125cc bikes on Wednesday as riders from all three categories delighted fans with a display of their machines in the Austrian capital, in an official pre-event ahead of this weekend’s Cardion ab Grand Prix České republiky, organised by Austrian national broadcasters ATV.

Parading their machines from the 125cc category were Championship leader Marc Márquez along with Bradley Smith and Randy Krummenacher, whilst Moto2 was represented by Toni Elías, Thomas Lüthi and Karel Abraham. MotoGP stars present on their prototypes were Ben Spies, Mika Kallio and Alex de Angelis, as all nine rode down the famous Ringstrasse in the heart of Vienna. Thousands of local fans enjoyed the demonstration rides and the interviews on stage with ATV presenters. There were then autograph sessions with the fans and a group photo of all riders in front of the Parliament –iconic venue of the city of Vienna.

Monster Yamaha Tech 3 rider Spies, who is currently seventh in the overall standings in his rookie season in MotoGP, talked about Brno, a track he has superbike experience on: “I like Brno a lot and I think everyone does. We have had good results for the last four or five races, and now we’ll just continue in that way and see how we go here.”

“We have to try and keep the top privateer spot, and if we can continue the progression and keep doing what we’re doing that will be good. We just have to remain consistent and carry it into next year,” he added.

Fellow premier class rider Kallio explained that after some difficulties in the first half of the season he is now ready to have a positive second stint. “Now I think it’s time to show what we can do,” said the Pramac Racing rider.

“We were struggling at the start of the season but now I think we’re on a better course, the last race was better. My confidence is getting better and I think we have some good ideas where we need to go with settings. Now I hope everything is at a good level.”

Moto2 Championship frontrunner Elías stated: “It’s very special with all the fans here, and there are so many of them. Now we go to race and I hope it will be a good one. We’re trying to do a good job, and we will try to win on Sunday. The aim is to finish the second half of the season like we did the first, which would be perfect. It will be difficult because the Championship is long, but I think we are in a good situation.”

Currently topping the 125cc class and having won the last five races of the campaign before the summer break, Márquez was just as pleased to meet fans and is looking forward to more action. “It’s great to be here at this event,” he said. “The vacations went well, and we will now see if we can continue in the same manner as we did before the summer break. The objective, starting from this race, is to go race by race and see if we can be on the podium.”

After the event the riders headed across the border to begin their final preparations for the first round since the short summer pause, with the action at the Cardion ab Grand Prix České republiky in Brno set to begin on Friday afternoon.

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Cal Crutchlow (Yamaha Sterilgarda) was the undisputed star of the Silverstone show as he added two race wins to his Superpole triumph on Saturday. He is also the new lap record holder, thanks to a 2′05.259 lap in race one.

Max Biaggi (Aprilia Alitalia) lost a small amount of ground at the top of the championship, with his fifth and sixth places today as Leon Haslam scored a second and a fourth on his Suzuki Alstare machine. Biaggi now has 373 points, Haslam 313, a difference of 60 with three rounds and six races left to run.

The 65,000 weekend crowd saw Jonathan Rea (Hannspree Ten Kate Honda) take two strong second places, consolidating his third place overall in the series on 243 points. Leon Camier, Biaggi’s team-mate was third in race two, his first podium since Miller Motorsport Park in May. The all-British podium in race one was the first since Assen this year, and five British riders filled the top five places in race two, the first time this has happened for UK riders in WSBK history.

Fourth place rider in the standings, Carlos Checa (Althea Ducati) was seventh and tenth today and is on 2004 points, with Crutchlow moving up to fifth overall, on 188 points. James Toseland (Yamaha Sterilgarda) had to settle for eighth and fifth places today, remaining sixth in the rankings, nine points behind Crutchlow. For some fancied runners raceday was hard, with Troy Corser (BMW Motorrad Motorsport) dropping down the order to finish tenth in race one, then crash after passing Biaggi early in race two.

Race 1

Cal Crutchlow took his first career WSB race win in this 18-lap race, also giving his Yamaha Sterilgarda team its first win of the year. Cal eventually pushed away from early leader Jonathan Rea (Hannspree Ten Kate Honda) at lap record pace, setting his 2′05.259 best on lap 13. Third place rider was Leon Haslam (Suzuki Alstare), which made it a clean sweep of British riders on the podium at their home race. Michel Fabrizio was fourth, having qualified on the front row on his Ducati Xerox machine. Biaggi was sixth, and his team-mate Camier sixth.

Cal Crutchlow: “I think that one of the nicest things about the win is that we repaid Yamaha back for their efforts. It’s not been easy on us, we’ve been trying hard all year, but I’m absolutely ecstatic about bringing the win home!”

Jonathan Rea: “Cal quite simply had a little more pace than me in the race, a couple of tenths a lap on average. My bike worked very well, but I think we got a bit let down by the tyre. It’s nice to be on the podium and I’m enjoying riding around Silverstone.”

Leon Haslam: “It was a hard fight and Johnny and Cal have had a good pace all weekend, I managed to catch them a little bit but dropped off towards the end. It was a bit frustrating as they looked as if they were having a lot of fun!”

Race 2

Crutchlow completed a perfect weekend with a double win, pushing away in the last few laps to overhaul long time leader Jonathan Rea (Hannspree Ten Kate Honda) once again. Third went to another British rider Leon Camier (Aprilia Alitalia), fourth to Leon Haslam (Suzuki Alstare) and fifth to James Toseland (Yamaha Sterilgarda); complete domination from the home riders. Max Biaggi raced to sixth, maintaining a healthy championship lead despite being beaten by Haslam twice today.

Cal Crutchlow: “As people have said, it’s a dream come true for a lot of Brits, three on the podium in both races. All credit to the fans, they gave us tremendous support here today. What a brilliant day for Yamaha and a brilliant day for me! I couldn’t believe both wins came at once, I would rather have had one earlier in the year and one today, but we’ve been fighting for this all the year and here it is.”

Jonathan Rea: “Half-way through the race I was thinking ‘Have I got the pace?”. It was a bit slower than race 1 but well done to Cal he rode absolutely superb. On my side the team gave me a good bike this weekend. I’m really happy and enjoyed riding this weekend, it’s a good result to go into the summer break with.”

Leon Camier: “It’s a dream come true, from 16th to third, you could never imagine doing it! We’ve been having a bit of a rough time lately, but this weekend has more than made up for it. For this race, the team just told me to get involved so I’m so happy with the result.”

Results next page.