Two very different races delivered two types of riveting spectacle for the enthusiastic fans at Kyalami, with race two the pick of the day’s action. The opening race was taken by a rejuvenated Michel Fabrizio (Ducati Xerox) in front-running style. Race two victor Leon Haslam (Suzuki Alstare), on the other hand, battled it out right to the end, with the top four riders all within a second of each other after 24 intense laps. The net result is an extended championship lead for Haslam, now on 222 points to Aprilia Alitalia rider Max Biaggi’s 207.

Race One

Fabrizio took an early lead in the first race of the day at Kyalami and the factory Ducati Xerox rider did not put a wheel wrong as he dominated throughout. Behind was Carlos Checa, on an Althea Ducati privateer machine, while third went to a patient Haslam, who extended his championship lead over fourth place rider Biaggi. Jonathan Rea, from Hannspree Ten Kate Honda, made an amazing charge towards the end of the race, taking fifth place for his efforts. Leon Camier (Aprilia Alitalia) had the late pace to stick with Rea on the last couple of laps, but Yamaha Sterilgarda team-mates James Toseland and Cal Crutchlow were unable to drive as hard in the final reckoning and went seventh and eighth. Jakub Smrz (Pata B&G Ducati) was a battling ninth, and right on the tail of the Yamaha duo on the very last lap. Peculiarly, Fabrizio’s winning time of 2010 was only 0.033 seconds faster than the first race time he set to go second in 2009.

Michel Fabrizio: “I am very happy for Ducati and so happy to win for myself as well. I needed it. We tried our best from the very start and I rode an intelligent race to control the gap to the rider behind.”

Carlos Checa: “We started with a very strong pace; 1′38 low was very fast. I was focused to be behind Fabrizio and we kept a good pace early on. Then the tyres dropped down and I thought maybe at that point I would have been able to manage the tyre better, but Fabrizio did very well. On some laps I could improve one tenth but then I would lose it. The bike is working well here.”

Leon Haslam: “It was pretty tough out there, a long race doing 24 laps round here. It is really key to make the start but the biggest thing round here is that it is hard to pass, so you definitely have to get the start done. I was feeling pretty good in that race but I was having a little bit of chatter every time I pushed to try and get on the back of the front two.”

Race Two

Leon Haslam (Suzuki Alstare) wrapped up a magnificent race two win as five riders were covered by 1.479 seconds at the flag and any one of three were in with a real chance of winning even in the final lap. Second was long-time leader Jonathan Rea (Hannspree Ten Kate Honda) and Max Biaggi went third for the Aprilia Alitalia team. Cal Crutchlow (Yamaha Sterilgarda) and Carlos Checa (Althea Ducati) completed the top five, all on different manufacturer machinery. James Toseland (Yamaha Sterilgarda) battled hard to record sixth place, with both he and Troy Corser (BMW Motorrad) overhauling a fading Fabrizio at the end. Jakub Smrz was again ninth and 2009 double race winner Noriyuki Haga (Ducati Xerox) tenth. The top Kawasaki rider was Tom Sykes, 14th, while Camier and Sheridan Morais (Emtek Aprilia) failed to finish. In the championship Haslam now has 222 points, Biaggi 207 and Rea 141, tied with Checa.

Leon Haslam: “Racing is all about winning and I felt I was in a position where I was strong in a few places and I had to go for it. And it worked out. It was a high risk last few laps with the front and rear moving about but we didn’t make too many mistakes and we won.”

Jonathan Rea: “It seems we now have a base with the bike that works everywhere. I really enjoyed the race, it was good fun but I wanted to win so badly. Leon rode well and every time he passed me he would run deep and I was able to cut back inside. With two laps to go I thought maybe it would be mine if I just covered myself, but Leon made a lunge three corners from the end of the penultimate lap.”

Max Biaggi: “A nice and close race. In race two I made a good start and that was maybe 50% of the final result. In race one I was held up and could not go through but in race two I went away with top two guys and could match their pace. At the end I tried but my attack did not come off.”

Results next page.

An outstanding weekend of action at the Autodromo Nazionale di Monza, played out in front of 115,000 people, culminated in a remarkable double win for Max Biaggi and his Aprilia Alitalia team, and pulled Max up to within three points of championship leader Leon Haslam (Alstare Suzuki). Biaggi made some radical changes to his rear suspension after his race one win and eventually ran out the clear winner of race two. This was Max’s second double of the year, the first coming in Portimao.

Race One

Biaggi scored the race one win with a well-judged front running ride, albeit with several riders for company through all 18 laps. He kept his pace and consistency on his vee four machine to lead Yamaha Sterilgarda duo James Toseland and Cal Crutchlow across the line, finishing 0.247 seconds ahead of Toseland. Leon Haslam was only 0.958 seconds behind Biaggi, in fourth, with Leon Camier, Biaggi’s team-mate, fifth. Ruben Xaus (BMW) was sixth, Michel Fabrizio seventh for Ducati Xerox. Troy Corser went eighth and Tom Sykes ninth on his Kawasaki Racing Team machine.

Max Biaggi: “That was a special result, because it is special to win at Monza and because this is a special track with a very high top speed. We worked very hard for this race weekend so it was a perfect performance by all the team. The Yamaha guys running together means they could be quicker than me in the final lap but we held it together and took our first win here at Monza.”

James Toseland: “Another second place, it’s a bit frustrating, but it was a good strong race. I want to congratulate the team for getting two bikes on the podium. Congratulations to Max, he didn’t put a foot wrong. On that last lap I was hoping he was going to make a slight mistake to allow me to get alongside but he didn’t. They were strong round here, but we’re getting better all the time, but as I said second and third all the time is a bit frustrating.”

Cal Crutchlow: “I felt like I put together a solid race, but we never got the best of starts again, the bike is hard to get off the line, but all credit to Yamaha, we came to their home round and second and third for me and James is a strong result. We knew we would struggle a bit for speed, but to be honest I struggled throughout with gear shifting, I had a leaky engine oil cover. I was struggling to change gear up the box, but I feel I rode well.”

Race Two

Biaggi took his second win of the day in fine style after closest challenger Crutchlow suffered an oil leak and crashed. Max’s eventually clear win, by 4.5 seconds from Leon Haslam, was an important one and sends the WSB paddock to Kyalami confident of more close action between this year’s two most consistently fast riders. Haslam now has 181 points to Biaggi’s 178 as he struggled with a sore wrist from a couple of hairy moments in the second race. Third place for Troy Corser was a historic first podium for BMW in WSB racing, in only the second season of full-on competition for the S 1000RR in the production-based series. Corser is now seventh in the championship. Leon Camier was a lonely fourth for Aprilia in race two and an aggressive fifth from Kawasaki rider Tom Sykes rounded out a day of new high points for many riders and teams. James Toseland was taken to hospital to have a CT scan after suffering concussion in a high-speed crash, with Jonathan Rea spraining his ankle and Ruben Xaus escaping the turn one collision without injury. In contrast to Biaggi’s great day some leading lights suffered in the final analysis, with Carlos Checa 14th and 11th in the races, as he ties for fourth place on 110 points with Rea, who did not score today. Toseland is fifth on 106, Haga sixth on 100.

Max Biaggi: “This track is very long and it’s very easy to make a little mistake plus when you have your rhythm you stay with it, and it’s difficult to go faster and easier to go slower. Anyway I’m happy with the result, it was a close race. I’m happy for me and my team. It’s an unbelievable result, it looks like we are achieving our goal. Here there is also the President of our group and it’s been a great weekend for everyone.”

Leon Haslam: “We had a few big moments in that race and I’m nursing my wrist because one of them sent me off the back of the bike when I was with Max and Cal at the time. This weekend’s been tough, we’ve been a little bit down on speed, which is unlike the Suzuki, but the boys have worked fantastic. To get on the podium here in Monza is always special so I’m really happy for that. The battle for the title is definitely closing in, we knew Max was going to be strong here, but hopefully we can get back to our winning ways because each race is getting tougher and tougher.”

Troy Corser: “I’m so happy, the team has put a lot of hard work into the project not just this year but last year and sometimes it’s been difficult and frustrating. But this weekend we’ve worked really hard and have been progressively getting better and better, just struggling a bit with braking, but we made a change for the second race and it made the bike easier to stop. We had the speed, our bike was as fast as anything out there, and it just took me a few laps to get used to the brakes in the second race. Thanks to all the boys at BMW, it’s been a long time coming, let’s hope it’s not going to be the last one!”

Results next page.

The classic circuit of Assen once more played host to a tense period of practice and qualifying, with the new overall length of 4.542km making for new track bests in each class. Six of the seven competing WSBK manufacturers were represented in the top ten after three sessions of Superpole, with a new track best coming in the very final session, a 1′34.944.

Jonathan Rea: “I am happy and excited to have won Superpole. I can’t quite believe that this is my first ever world championship pole, so it is good to win it. On a serious note, tomorrow is raceday and there will be at least three or four guys who have good pace, so it will be 22 long laps in each race.”

Jakub Smrz: “Practice and qualifying has gone pretty well, always in the first few places, and we all did a good job. The set-up and tyre choice is good but for sure in the race other guys will be very strong and I think it will be a tough race. A few things will depend on temperature tomorrow.”

Troy Corser: “This is my best qualifying for BMW so far, so I am pretty happy. The engineers have done a great job away from the track, we have done a fair bit of testing and it has definitely improved the bike. I feel more comfortable on the bike now and when you feel comfortable you push more, and can go a bit faster. I am looking forward to the race.”

Leon Haslam: “I am happy to have a front row start, because this weekend had been pretty tough and Jonathan has been fast – all the guys in front of me have. It has been a case for us of finding a set-up not just for a fast lap but for the race as well. The positions have been changing in practice but I have been happy with my lap times on race tyres.”

Superpole

1 65 Rea J. (GBR) Honda CBR1000RR 1′34.944

2 96 Smrz J. (CZE) Ducati 1098R 1′35.062

3 11 Corser T. (AUS) BMW S1000 RR 1′35.306

4 91 Haslam L. (GBR) Suzuki GSX-R1000 1′35.330

5 2 Camier L. (GBR) Aprilia RSV4 1000 F. 1′35.633

6 7 Checa C. (ESP) Ducati 1098R 1′35.892

7 67 Byrne S. (GBR) Ducati 1098R 1′35.909

8 84 Fabrizio M. (ITA) Ducati 1098R 1′36.405

9 35 Crutchlow C. (GBR) Yamaha YZF R1 1′36.027

10 52 Toseland J. (GBR) Yamaha YZF R1 1′36.061

11 3 Biaggi M. (ITA) Aprilia RSV4 1000 F. 1′36.069

12 111 Xaus R. (ESP) BMW S1000 RR 1′36.094

13 50 Guintoli S. (FRA) Suzuki GSX-R1000 1′36.327

14 66 Sykes T. (GBR) Kawasaki ZX 10R 1′36.348

15 41 Haga N. (JPN) Ducati 1098R 1′36.574

16 76 Neukirchner M. (GER) Honda CBR1000RR 1′36.581

17 99 Scassa L. (ITA) Ducati 1098R 1′36.906

18 57 Lanzi L. (ITA) Ducati 1098R 1′36.989

19 77 Vermeulen C. (AUS) Kawasaki ZX 10R 1′38.378

20 23 Parkes B. (AUS) Honda CBR1000RR 1′38.622

21 15 Baiocco M. (ITA) Kawasaki ZX 10R 1′38.471

22 95 Hayden R. (USA) Kawasaki ZX 10R 1′38.769

www.worldsbk.com/

Two action-packed races held under clear Spanish skies saw two different winners make their mark, Leon Haslam (Suzuki Alstare) in race one and Noriyuki Haga (Ducati Xerox) in race two. The races could not have been more different, with Haslam a clear leader in an uninterrupted contest, while Haga won an aggregate race two by only 0.025 seconds. Max Biaggi (Aprilia Alitalia) scored two podiums today, while James Toseland (Yamaha Sterilgarda) and Carlos Checa (Althea Ducati) also put in top three rides.

Leon Haslam had a comfortable win in the end, after early leader Carlos Checa went out with a technical problem, and Max Biaggi could not make up the ground to get back into winning contention. James Toseland’s return to WSB in 2010 was marked by his first podium on his Sterilgarda Yamaha four, while BMW Motorrad Motorsport earned a great fourth place with Troy Corser, the highest ever SBK place for the team since entering WSBK last year. Noriyuki Haga (Ducati Xerox) fought through to fifth, but could not pass Corser in the final laps.

Haga secured his first race win of 2010 after a tense fight with second place rider Checa and Biaggi. A two part aggregate race was required after a crash on lap four of the first heat brought out the red flags. Simon Andrews and Vittorio Iannuzzo both had heavy falls at high speed on the start/finish straight, but two fractures to Andrews’s left foot and heel were the final result. The total time from the first three laps, and the time from a second heat of 20-laps were combined to find the final results. The margin of victory in the two-part race was 0.025 seconds between Haga and Checa, with Biaggi only 0.0299 from the win, in third place.

In the championship, Leon Haslam’s fourth in the second of today’s races gives him 123 points to Biaggi’s 105 and Checa’s 80. Haga is on 79 points, in fourth place. After a sixth and fifth today, Jonathan Rea (Hannspree Ten Kate Honda) is now fifth on 60 points, while Toseland and Sylvain Guintoli (Suzuki Alstare) are tied on 50 points. Michel Fabrizio (Ducati Xerox) had two no-scores leaving him eighth on the same 46 points as the ever-improving BMW of Troy Corser. Leon Camier led race two for Aprilia but fell for the second time today, scoring no points. Kawasaki Racing Team rider Tom Sykes went 11th and 15th, now sitting in 16th place overall.

Leon Haslam: “To make the break was a bit of a surprise, because I felt we could race the other guys, but for sure it would be a big battle to the end. But when I got to the lead I saw the lap times I was doing were not so great and I knew that Max and the others guys could go quicker, it had been proven. But I kept my rhythm and when I saw a small gap behind I pushed again and the gap became bigger and bigger. It’s great to win another race and leave with the championship lead.”

Noriyuki Haga: “I like Valencia a lot. I am Mr Valencia! Before the red flag in race two I made a good start and was in fifth position. In the restart I started from fifth and I kept a good pace. It was not easy to catch and pass the top two riders but in the last few laps I pushed hard and took the win. I was not thinking about the time difference I just knew I had to go at the front.”

Max Biaggi: “We had a very nice race in race two, just like the first one. The temperature went up a lot in the second race, which meant that the grip went down. Nori and Carlos were in front of me in race two and they deserved their places. I could not follow Haga in the last two laps because he was very fast but second and third at Valencia are two good results.”

Carlos Checa: “It was a good weekend; if not the first race then the second one, when I was battling right to the end. I thought I could control the second part of race two by sitting behind Max but then Nori arrived and broke up the group. I tried to catch him at the end but I could not make up the difference. Anyway I think it was a good result.”

James Toseland: “I think Max was slightly faster than me after half race distance in race one, but I was stronger where you can pass another rider, and that made it difficult for him to overtake. Once he did get past, he helped me take a couple of tenths of a second from my lap times and I kept ahead of Corser and Haga. I couldn’t do any more but we are getting better all the time.”

Results next page.

Cal Crutchlow (Yamaha Sterilgarda) took his second Superpole of the year for Yamaha with a 1′33.615 at Valencia, leading a front row that will comprise of Cal, Carlos Checa (Althea Ducati), Max Biaggi (Aprilia Alitalia) and Leon Haslam (Suzuki Alstare).

Checa had been even faster around the 4.005km circuit today than Crutchlow was in Superpole 2, but not in the final Superpole session when the final grid places were determined, leaving Carlos second overall.

Crutchlow had set pole at the previous round in Portugal but this one was maybe even more of a surprise, as he had only been 15th in regular qualifying before Superpole started.

The second row will be headed by Troy Corser on his BMW Motorrad Motorsport S1000RR, the best Superpole qualifying result for the German manufacturer in WSBK. Sylvain Guintoli (Suzuki Alstare), Jonathan Rea (HANNspree ten Kate Honda) and Lorenzo Lanzi (DFX Ducati) were ranged out behind Corser, with Lanzi crashing in the final section of Superpole, and sticking in eighth place. The top seven places featured machines from six of the championship’s seven manufacturers, after a day of incredibly close competition for grid spots.

Superpole

1 35 Crutchlow C. (GBR) Yamaha YZF R1 1′33.615

2 7 Checa C. (ESP) Ducati 1098R 1′33.840

3 3 Biaggi M. (ITA) Aprilia RSV4 1000 F. 1′33.860

4 91 Haslam L. (GBR) Suzuki GSX-R1000 1′33.961

5 11 Corser T. (AUS) BMW S1000 RR 1′34.059

6 50 Guintoli S. (FRA) Suzuki GSX-R1000 1′34.073

7 65 Rea J. (GBR) Honda CBR1000RR 1′34.235

8 57 Lanzi L. (ITA) Ducati 1098R 1′34.261

9 52 Toseland J. (GBR) Yamaha YZF R1 1′33.988

10 84 Fabrizio M. (ITA) Ducati 1098R 1′34.021

11 41 Haga N. (JPN) Ducati 1098R 1′34.100

12 67 Byrne S. (GBR) Ducati 1098R 1′34.246

13 2 Camier L. (GBR) Aprilia RSV4 1000 F. 1′34.273

14 96 Smrz J. (CZE) Ducati 1098R 1′34.280

15 99 Scassa L. (ITA) Ducati 1098R 1′34.730

16 76 Neukirchner M. (GER) Honda CBR1000RR 1′34.934

17 111 Xaus R. (ESP) BMW S1000 RR 1′34.756

18 66 Sykes T. (GBR) Kawasaki ZX 10R 1′34.894

19 88 Pitt A. (AUS) BMW S1000 RR 1′36.088

20 32 Morais S. (RSA) Honda CBR1000RR 1′36.072

21 15 Baiocco M. (ITA) Kawasaki ZX 10R 1′36.104

22 95 Hayden R. (USA) Kawasaki ZX 10R 1′36.117

23 17 Andrews S. (GBR) Kawasaki ZX 10R 1′36.329

24 31 Iannuzzo V. (ITA) Honda CBR1000RR 1′36.524

25 123 Resch R. (AUT) BMW S1000 RR 1′36.639

www.worldsbk.com

Veteran Italian Max Biaggi has ignited his 2010 world superbike campaign with a superb double victory in Portugal.The fast but occasionally fragile Biaggi (Aprilia) simply wasn’t going to be denied at Portimao, edging out Briton Leon Haslam (Suzuki) in two pressure-packed 22-lap races.Troy Corser (BMW) was the best of the depleted Australian contingent with ninth and 10th place finishes.

It was Biaggi’s first clean sweep in a WSBK round, and catapulted him five spots up the ladder into second position, 16pts behind Haslam.

“It’s great to get my first double win in WSBK, said Biaggi. “The feeling is, so I feel confident and we are in a good rhythm.

“We go to Valencia (for round three) next and we will ask very much of ourselves there as well. We had good speed down the straight today but if you saw how fast we could exit the last corner then you would know it was not just the engine. Our bike is fast but other bikes are also fast.”

Corser again struggled with his BMW’s persistent Achilles heel: a chronic lack of grip. However, the Wollongong rider did remind everyone why he is a two-time world champion when he circulated near the front of the pack early in both races before slowly drifting back.

“It seems the bike is very sensitive to grip — whether it’s from the asphalt or from the tyres,” said Corser. “For race two my crew changed the bike a bit, working on the suspension settings in order to give me more grip. It was a little bit better for a little longer, and I was able to go over half the race distance without major difficulties. Still, this is not where we want to be. I am happy we have time to test tomorrow without any pressure.”

Meanwhile, Queenslander Chris Vermeulen (Kawasaki) didn’t compete after the knee he injured at the Phillip Island opener failed to come up, while Broc Parkes (Honda) still hasn’t raced this year after breaking his tibia in the pre-season. That left Port Macquarie’s Andrew Pitt (BMW) as the only other Australian in action, and he crashed out of the opener before finishing 20th in race two.

Race one was set a cracking pace, with the battle hardened Biaggi setting a new lap record of 1:42.774 as he and Haslam dictated terms from the front. Haslam led most of the way before Biaggi edged back in front on lap 17 and held onto win by just 0.200 secs.

Yamaha’s polesitter Cal Crutchlow was within sight of his first WSBK podium before he low-sided two laps from the finish, eventually finishing 14th. Crutchlow’s exit gifted third spot to Jonathan Rea, ahead of Carlos Checa (Ducati) and Leon Camier (Aprilia). Rea retired with a mechanical problem in race two, but it was still a stirring four-way battle between Biaggi, Haslam, Crutchlow and Checa.

And that’s the way they finished, with Biaggi using his superior drive out of the final corner to pass Haslam when it mattered most. The quarter flashed over the finish line just 1.015secs apart, ahead of Camier in fifth.

Meanwhile, it was a hapless day for the powerful Ducati factory team, with Noriyuki Haga and Michel Fabrizio eighth and 11th respectively in both races. Fabrizio’s now slipped to fourth in the standings on 46pts, behind Haslam (85), Biaggi (69) and Checa (60). Corser is ninth on 29pts.

Kenan Sofuoglu (Honda) won a thrilling supersport race by 0.031secs from Joan Lascorz (Kawasaki) and Sofuoglu’s team-mate Michele Pirro. Long time leader Eugene Laverty was caught and passed by both Sofuoglu and Lascorz with a few laps left to run and soon after lost the front, falling but restarting to finish 11th.

Results next page.

Leon Haslam and Carlos Checa split the victories in today’s opening round of the World Superbike Championship. Xerox Ducati’s Michele Fabrizio joined them on the rostrum with a second and a third, with Noriyuki Haga picking up third spot in the opening race. Irish rider Eugene Laverty won the World Supersport race with a dominant performance ahead of Joan Lascorz and Kenan Sofuoglu.

World Superbike Warm-up:

Let’s ‘av’ it: led by Jonathan Rea, the Superbike field chomps at the white line to get Warm-up underway.

World Superbike action started with a bang, followed by a dust cloud from the Turn 1 – Doohan Corner – gravel trap, kicked up by a works Ducati and BMW skittering across it, with  Noriyuki Haga and Ruben Xaus cartwheeling in pursuit. Xaus had drafted Haga down the straight and was just inside his line when the Japanese pilot tipped in. A desperate lunge for the brakes by Xaus folded his front wheel, and the falling S1000RR collected Haga’s rear wheel, knocking the Ducati over the highside. It was Xaus’ fourth crash of the weekend, and his last. On doctor’s advice, he elected to withdraw, joining Roland Resch, who broke a collarbone in a qualifying crash yesterday, on the bench.

Shakey Byrne was the only other faller in warm-up, laying his Althea Ducati down at Lukey Heights in the last five minutes of the session, after setting the 12th-fastest time, an improvement on the 18th-best time he set in qualifying, and the last time in the 1:32 bracket, which also includes both the factory Yamahas, both Suzukis, and the the Aprilia pairing of Max Biaggi and Leon Camier. After a none-too-spectacular qualifying – 11th for Biaggi, 16th for Camier, the two of them topped the warm-up timesheet, both lapping faster than they did in Superpole yesterday – Camier, for one, picked up a whole six tenths. Whatever the Aprilia team did overnight would appear to have worked.

Carlos Checa takes a shortcut down pitlane in World Superbike Warm-up.

Race 1:

Leon Haslam got a red-hot start from pole and was never headed, always a handy half-dozen bikelengths in front from the pursuing pair of Xerox Ducatis of Michel Fabrizio and Noriyuki Haga, who flew in formation, give or take the odd polite pass. It was only towards the very end of the race that Fabrizio found some extra speed, closing enough on Haslam to attempt one of Phillip Island’s trademark draught-passes out of Turn 12. The young Italian got so close he celebrated the finish as a win, finding out on his return to the pits that he’d lost the closest finish in the history of World Superbike at Phillip Island – 0.004 seconds separated him from Haslam.

Haga motored home in a safe third, no doubt pleased that he was able to erase his poor qualifying position – he leapt from the tenth spot on the grid to the front by the end of the straight on the first lap, and there he stayed, finishing  seventh tenths behind the sudden battle for the win, and over nine seconds clear of Ten Kate Honda’s Jonathan Rea, who spent most of the race in an almighty four-way fight for four place with Aprilia’s Max Biaggi, Haslam’s team mate Sylvain Guintoli and Carlos Checa on the Althea Ducati. Starting from eleventh, Biaggi was also able to overcome his poor qualifying, and his Aprilia’s speed down the straight – Biaggi’s 316kph was the fastest of the race – helped out with the rest of the pack he was in taking turns to barge past him on the brakes into the Turn 4 and MG corner hairpins.

Further back, things got somewhat strung out. with only Kawasaki’s Tom Sykes and Shakey Byrne on the other Althea Ducati coming home locked together, fighting for thirteenth place. It was not where either wanted to be, especially Byrne, who got off to a storming start from eighteenth on the grid, but then ran off down the Turn 4 escape road on the second lap.

He had better luck with Turn 4 than either Chris Vermeulen or Cal Crutchlow, who both exited stage left from the race there – Vermeulen on Lap 4, Crutchlow on Lap 6. Once he came to a stop, the Englishman ran to his fallen Yamaha, but there was no continuing – the bike had tumbled acros s the grass, snapping controls. Vermeulen’s crash was neater, but damage to the cooling system released a huge steamcloud across the Phillip Island infield and ensured the Australian couldn’t even limp home.

It was an unhappy race for recent MotoGP riders. James Toseland also DNF’d, going out on the second lap, and giving Sterilgarda Yamaha no points from the opening race of the 2010 Championship.

Troy Corser, spinning the lone factory BMW propeller after Xaus’ retirement, had a fittingly lonely race to ninth, a full 20 seconds down on the winners, and another six up on the top-ten tailender, Lorenzo Lanzi on the DFX Ducati. Jakub Smrz, on the other privateer Ducati, was a good four seconds up on Corser in eighth.

Leon Camier was another to take to the Turn 4 escape road. He’d been running with the Rea-Biaggi-Guintoli-Checa battle until the mistake. He brought the second Aprilia home in eleventh, just far enough ahead of Max Neukirchner – 0.4 sec – for the German not have been a worry for him. Behind the Sykes-Byrne battle, Andrew Pitt came away with the sole remaining point on the Reitwagen BMW.

Vittorio Ianuzzo won the battle of the cash-strapped privateers down the back, ahead of the Pedercini Kawasakis of Baiocco and Hayden. Josh Brookes, who had to pit early to correct a mechanical problem with his ECHO CRS Honda, rejoined the race to get more track time on the underdeveloped bike and finished five laps down.

Sayonara, suckers. Leon Haslam (91) bolted from red light to chequered flag in Race 1, although a late banzai charge by Michel Fabrizio (84) almost paid off – the Italian lost by only 0.004 seconds in the closest finish in World Superbike at Phillip Island.

Results, Race 1:

Race 2:

Well, this was more like it. After the tense, but – four-way battle for fourth notwithstanding – processional Race 1, Race 2 served up a classic World Superbike fight-to-the-finish, won by Carlos Checa, who fought his way from the back of the leading pack to decisively pass Leon Haslam into MG Corner on the last lap, and open up a four-tenth lead by the finish line.

This time, the four-bike battle was for the win, not fourth place. Sylvain Guintoli, whose sixth place in Race 1 was already none too shabby for a World Superbike newcomer, ran right with, and plenty often enough ahead of his Race 1-winning team mate. Michel Fabrizio, pumped by his Race 1 podium and near-victory, was also right in the mix, routinely going side-by-side with both the Suzukis.

Checa started out at the tail of this battle, accounting first for Noriyuki Haga, then setting after the red-vs-blue battle between Fabrizio’s Ducati and the pair of Alstare GSX-R’s. The dogfight lasted for the full race, culminating in Checa’s victory and a none-too-happy Haslam on the podium in second. Fabrizio, often running second, had to settle for third once Checa made his charge. Haga dropped off from the battle towards the end, finishing 3.7 seconds down in fourth. His third and fourth place finishes come with a handy haul of points to take away from the first round, expecially considering some of the bad luck further down the field.

Behind Haga, Johnny Rea, who was in the lead group until he and Haga came together on entry into Turn 4 early in the race, led home a procession of bikes strung out by gaps of between half a second to a second and a half – just far enough to lose the tow in a race. Immediately behind Rea’s white Ten Kate Honda was the black-blue-and-white BMW of Troy Corser, who improved his fastest race lap by a full six tenths compared to Race 1, and finished eight seconds closer to the leaders – 12 seconds down, not 20. A second down on Corser, Max Biaggi paid for a trip into the grass in Turn 4 with an eighth-place finish.

Almost a second and a half down on Biaggi, the Sterilgarda Yamahas of Crutchlow and Toseland crossed the line three tenths apart to close out the top ten, an incremental improvement from their early exits in race 1.

Chris Vermeulen would likely give a lot for some of that incremental improvement. After crashing out of a packed mid-pack in Race 1, the Australian found the gravel trap at Lukey Heights on the sixth lap in Race 2, then kept going to wedge himself up to his waist under the tyre wall. The culprit – gearbox failure.

Kawasaki’s rotten luck didn’t stop there. Vermeulen’s team mate Tom Sykes and Matteo Baiocco of Team Pedercini also crashed out, with the sole finishing Kawasaki being that of Roger Lee Hayden, last in eighteenth place, behind the privateer Honda of Ianuzzo and, crushingly, the factory Honda of Max Neukirchner, who finished outside the points.

Carlos Checa was on a mission in Race 2. Before he could mug Leon Haslam for the win three corners from the flag, he had to get through his team mate first. Running right in front, and leading Haslam for much of the race, Sylvain Guintoli just missed out on a podium, finishing fourth.

Results, Race 2:

Championship after Round 1:

World Supersport Warm-up:

Hondas to the left of me, Hondas to the right: Fabien Foret (#99) was the charger in Warm-up, with the fifth-fastest time, five up on his grid position from yesteray.

Joan Lascorz continued to lead the depleted World Supersport field in morning warm-up, but the chasing Ten Kate Hondas of Kenan Sofuoglu and Michele Pirro are now right on his tail, less than 0.04 and 0.2 seconds back. Lascorz’ team mate, Katsuaki Fujiwara was fourth, some 0.4 seconds back – again, closer than the qualifying gap from yesterday.

Fabien Foret, on the third Kawasaki ZX-6R in the field, pushed hard in warm-up, running off the track at Turn 4 before sticking the bike into the weeds at the Hayshed on the same lap, but he was the only rider to come close to his qualifying time, and clocked in fifth, a big improvement on his tenth position on the grid. David Salom, absent from Friday’s sessions, mirrored his qualifying position with the sixth-best warm-up time. He remains the top Triumph runner, ahead of Chaz Davies and Jason DiSalvo in seventh and ninth. In the midst of that gaggle of Daytona 675’s sits Eugene Laverty’s Parkalgar CBR600RR, who’ll be starting fourth.

Race:

Last reported sighting of Eugene Laverty by the rest of the field in the World Supersport race. The Irishman bolted from both starts of the incident-interrupted race, winning by over four seconds.

There were two World Supersport races held at Phillip Island, the first an abortive three-lapper, ended by red flags after Massimo Roccoli’s CBR600RR exploded in a cloud of burning-hot oil mist at the Hayshed. Rather than run a shortened race, the organisers elected to give the crowd its money’s worth and re-ran the full 21-lap race.

That was lucky for Turkey’s Kenan Sofuoglu, who had a shocking opening lap of the first attempt at the race, running off at Turn 4 and rejoining so late that, on the second lap, he was battling for position with championship newcomer Paola Cazzola right down the back of the grid. After tha restart, the former champion was right in the mix.

If Sofuoglu was lucky to have the restart, Eugene Laverty, starting from second place, didn’t care either way. He shot off into the middle distance on both occasions and came away with a crushing 4.3 second victory, making irrelevant the 0.3 second qualifying advantage carved out by Joan Lascorz on the Team Motocard Kawasaki. For his part, Lascorz would’ve probably preferred to have done without the restart. Rather than be left in peace to try to figure out what he would do about Laverty up ahead -way ahead – he spent the entire restarted race fending off Sofuoglu, finally shaking him off with a draught-pass down the straight. Immediately behind their battle, their team mates, Michele Pirro and Katsuaki Fujiwara, were doing the same, at least until they tangled at Turn 4 and went down eight laps from the flag, with only Fujiwara rejoining to finish eleventh, 40 seconds down on the winner.

Behind the podium finishers, David Salom took fourth on the top-finishing of the four Triumphs in the field, five and a half seconds ahead of Fabien Foret on the Lorenzini by Leoni Kawasaki.

There were yawning, multi-second gaps down the rest of the field, with the only battle, between Miguel Praia and Gino Rea, for ninth place, behind American Jason Di Salvo, who raced for a Triumph team with tape over the Yamaha livery on the leathers he brought with him from AMA.

In an encouraging sign for her, Paola Cazzola, racing this far afield and in a World Championship for the first time, finished and banked two points.

After the restart, This went on all race long behind Laverty. Joan Lascorz (37) edged out Kenan Sofuoglu (54) for second after a draft-pass down the straight on the penultimate lap.

Results, World Superport:

Anyway, on to the pics.

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Leon Haslam of Alstare Suzuki has broken through for his first World Superbike pole position at Phillip Island today. He’ll start tomorrow’s races at the front of a grid shaken up by the events of a dramatic Superpole, which saw numerous likely race winners relegated to the second and third row.

Austrian Roland Resch didn’t even get that far. He just scraped into the top 20 (new rules for Superpole last year, remember) with a Q2 time of just over 1:32, but then end-over-ended his Reitwagen BMW S1000RR into the gravel trap at Siberia, breaking a collarbone as he cartwheeled after the bike. He won’t be starting tomorrow – a disappointing start to his World Superbike experience.

Behind Haslam on the grid tomorrow will be a brace of unlikely helmet liveries – Michel Fabrizio in second place notwithstanding. Cal Crutchlow has picked up where Ben Spies left off on the factory Yamaha, and scored himself a front-row start in his first World Superbike Superpole. He’ll have his team mate over his right shoulder – James Toseland could manage no better than eighth-fastest  in final Superpole on his debut for Sterilgarda Yamaha.

Like Crutchlow, Carlos Checa wouldn’t appear to have had much trouble getting used to the Ducati after several seasons on Hondas. He’s fourth. Fellow championship debutant Sylvain Guintoli’s fifth spot on the grid could be taken as having come with an unfair advantage in this company; he’d raced a GSX-R1000 in British Superbike – when he wasn’t laid off with major injury, that is.

Noriyuki Haga’s 1:32.229 in Superpole 2 was not enough to get him into the top eight and Superpole 3 – or top nine, for that matter. He starts from tenth, with Lorenzo Lanzi ahead and Max Biaggi behind him. The Italian veteran had another of his unhappy Superpoles, but rare has been race where a midfield start has kept him from slicing and barging his way towards the front for too long. His best regular-qualifying time of 1:33.637 is in the wrong bracket, though. Some nine riders banked times in the 1:32’s. It remains to be seen what the team can do for Biaggi and team mate Leon Camier, who starts from 16th, in tomorrow’s warm-up.

Troy Corser and Ruben Xaus continue to wring extra speed from their BMW’s. Both improved on their Q1 times from yesterday by big margins – something riders of the caliber of Haga or Biaggi didn’t manage on the cold, windy track this morning (yesterday’s sunshine and still air were ideal go-fast conditions). They started from too low a base, though. The hard work by the riders and the team could only secure 13th (Corser) and 15h (Xaus) for what remain the most striking-looking machines in the field – the cameras love them.

Sandwiched between the factory BMW’s is Australia’s Chris Vermeulen, riding for the other manufacturer yet to see a payoff in results for its development work – Kawasaki. Edged out by team mate Tom Sykes in the Kawasaki-furthest-from-the-back-of-the-grid stakes, Vermeulen remains upbeat. The bike appears much more controllable that last year’s rear-wheel-steering wheelie machine. Joan Lascorz and Katsuaki Fujiwara in World Supersport were pulling bigger power wheelies out of MG corner so far this weekend than the factory ZX-10R’s! The improved engine management is likely not to have filtered down to the satellite operation of Team Pedercini – their riders, Matteo Baiocco and Roger Lee Hayden, fill the last two spots on the grid, behind Vittorio Ianuzzo’s underfunder privateer Honda, and Australia’s Josh Brookes, who’s riding a privateer Honda which isn’t even his!

The most disappointed with his grid placing is likely to be Max Neukirchner. On the always-fast factory Honda, the German starts from a lowly 17th. His regular qualifying time indicates he can run in the 1:32’s, which should put him in the mix come race time tomorrow.

Results, Superpole 3:

(bold = quicker qualifying time. If the rider doesn’t better his regular qualifying time in Superpole, the regular qualifying time counts)

Results, Superpole 2:

Results, Superpole 1:

Not qualified for Superpole:

In World Supersport, Triumph pilot David Salom returned to action after missing yesterday’s sessions and proceeded to put his Daytona 675 onto the second row of the grid – a full second behind pole-setter Joan Lascorz. The Spanish Kawasaki rider found an extra eight tenths from the time he set yesterday to secure a clear view down Gardner Straight tomorrow; he’s over two tenths clear of Kenan Sofuoglu and his Ten Kate CBR600RR.

Going by the form shown by the field so far, tomorrow’s race is likely to feature the Motocard.com Kawasakis of Lascorz and Katsuaki Fujiwara, who qualified fifth, and the Hondas of Sofuoglu, Michel Pirro and Eugene Laverty doing a lot of lapping of slower traffic, with the tail-enders in the field, Sweden’s Alexander Lundh and the Italian duo of Danilo dell’Omo and Paola Cazzola over three, four and five seconds down on the pole time.

World Supersport Qualifying results:

More when the real action gets underway tomorrow. Stay tuned.

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