2006 Superbike World Championship,
Round 2, Phillip Island, Australia
Sunday 5th March
Circuit: 4.445 kms. Weather: Dry, sunny 25 C.
MIXED EMOTIONS FOR TEAM ALSTARE IN AUSTRALIA.
Team Alstare Suzuki Corona Extra experienced practically
every sort of emotion in the second round of the Superbike
World Championship at Phillip Island today, with Troy causing
most of the ups and downs. He won the first race - a tremendous
battle with Bayliss (Ducati) and Barros (Honda) - after keeping
his cool when Bayliss romped away from the rest of the field
from the start. When Bayliss was forced to slow (because he
had trashed his tyres) Troy took the opportunity to take the
lead. Barros was right with him and proved to be more than
a handful in the closing stages, but Troy used his experience
and took the chequered flag by almost half a second. Third
went to Toseland, ahead of Haga (Yamaha), Rolfo (Ducati) and
Bayliss. Yukio Kagayama suffered clutch problems and was forced
to overshoot Honda hairpin and rejoined the track in twenty-first
place. He charged his way back up the field and managed to
take twelfth place before running out of laps. Fabien Foret
was thirteenth after the first lap, but was forced to retire
with a throttle problem after ten laps.
The second race was another one of drama for the team, starting
with Troy’s crash after three laps, when he highsided
just after Lukey Heights. In the fall, he was hit by Barros’
Honda and was lucky to escape serious injury. The footpeg
of Barros’ bike hit him just behind his head and the
rest of the bike struck his shoulder, elbow and hip. Troy
was taken to the Clinica Mobile but the X-rays revealed no
broken bones. Nevertheless, to make sure, Troy went to Melbourne
hospital for a precautionary check. Yukio was twelfth at the
end of lap one before getting stuck in a group of riders.
He had a difficult time getting through the pack, but he fought
hard and managed to take sixth position at the flag. Fabien
made a good start, but had to run wide at the second turn
to avoid another rider and this dropped him well down the
order. He ended eighteenth after being caught up for the second
part of the race with the Yamahas of Shinichi Nakatomi and
Sebastien Gimbert. Bayliss won the race comfortably, with
Toseland second and Barros third. Fourth went to Haga, ahead
of Pitt and Kagayama.
TROY - Race 1: 1st, Race 2: DNF
Well that was a day and a half for sure. A fantastic win the
the first race and then a crash in the second! I knew Bayliss
would not be able to keep up that pace in the first race and
that his tyres would not last. I got caught in a group at
the beginning and knew that I couldn’t hang around with
them too long, so when James (Toseland) made a little mistake
and ran wide, at Honda, I sneaked through. When I caught Bayliss,
I could see he was having problems, so it was no surprise
when I passed him - in fact he let me through. I then had
a pretty good fight with Barros, but held him off at the end.
In race two, on the approach to the turn after Lukey Heights,
I lost the rear end suddenly and highsided. I felt a thud
on my back and knew I had been hit by a bike. I went to a
hospital in Melbourne for a check-up. I really don’t
know why I crashed, because the telemetry shows that I wasn’t
doing anything different to the previous laps. But that’s
racing!
YUKIO Race 1: 12th, Race 2: 6th
Not such a good day , I think. I had problems with the clutch
in the first race - similar to Qatar - and it was very difficult
to ride the bike. The feeling was not consistent and sometimes
it worked OK and sometimes it did not! I did my best to stay
out and finished 12th. In race two, my start was not perfect
and that meant I had a lot to do in the race. It is always
hard to make a good result from the third row of the grid,
but if I had made a better start then I think I could’ve
challenged for a podium.
FABIEN Race 1: DNF, Race 2: 18th
It was a bit of a disappointment for me today, but it’s
all part of my learning process in Superbikes, I guess. I
really thought that I would be able to score some points today,
but the DNF in race one didn’t help. My throttle was
not consistent at all - sometimes it would stay open after
I had shut it - so I had to pull in. I made a good start in
the second race, but had to run wide to avoid a rider who
had made a mistake and that cost me many places. Then I got
caught up in a battle with two Yamaha riders and that was
that. I am looking forward to some tests before the next race
because I need to understand this bike more than I do at the
moment.
Results
Race 1: TROY CORSER (Aus-Alstare Suzuki Corona Extra), 2 Barros
(Bra-Honda), 3 Toseland (GB-Honda), 4 Haga (J-Yamaha), 5 Rolfo
(I-Ducati), 6 Bayliss (Aus-Ducati), 7 Xaus (E-Ducati), 8 Nieto
(E-Kawasaki), 9 Pitt (Aus-Yamaha), 10 Walker (GB-Kawasaki),
12 YUKIO KAGAYAMA (J-Alstare Suzuki Corona Extra), FABIEN
FORET (F-Alstare Suzuki Corona Extra) DNF,
Race 2: 1 Bayliss, 2 Toseland, 3 Barros,
4 Haga , 5 Pitt, 6 YUKIO KAGAYAMA(J-Alstare Suzuki Corona
Extra), 7 Rolfo, 8 Xaus, 9 Nieto, 10 Walker, 19 FABIEN FORET
(F-Alstare Suzuki Corona Extra)
Points
1 Bayliss 75, 2 Toseland 74, 3 TROY CORSER (Aus-Alstare Suzuki
Corona Extra) 673, 4 Barros 55, 5 Pitt 45, 6 Haga 42, 7 Rolfo
32, 8 Fabrizio 25, 9 Xaus 24, 10 Nieto 19, 12 YUKIO KAGAYAMA
(J-Alstare Suzuki Corona Extra) 14,
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