2006 Superbike World Championship Round 11, Imola, Italy
Circuit: 4.959 kms. Crowd: 86,500 Weather: Dry, mostly sunny
27-28
Sunday 1st October
PODIUM FOR YUKIO. TITLE FOR BAYLISS.
It was not the best of days for Team Alstare Suzuki Corona
Extra riders at Imola today, but at least Yukio managed to
take a hard-fought for podium in race two. The first race
saw both Yukio and Troy fail to finish for very different
reasons. Yukio’s GSX-R1000 was hit by the falling bike
of Max Neukirchner on the opening lap and that was that. Troy
was forced to retire after his bike kept finding false neutrals
and it would have been too dangerous to continue.
The first race was won by Alex Barros (Honda), with James
Toseland (Honda) second and Andrew Pitt (Yamaha) third. Pitt
led the early stages of the race before being passed by Bayliss
(Ducati), Toseland, Haga (Yamaha) and Barros - all on the
same lap. Barros charged to the front on lap twelve and from
then on in was never headed on his way to his first ever WSBK
win. Bayliss finished fifth and that was enough to take the
2006 title.
The start of race two was far more encouraging for Team Alstare,
with Troy in second at the end of lap one, behind Bayliss.
But it wasn’t long before he began to develop tyre problems
and gradually began to slip down the order. Meanwhile Yukio
moved up the order and was second with eight laps to go. But
he too, started suffering tyre problems and could do nothing
when Barros came past. Bayliss took the win - to the roar
and approval of the huge partisan crowd - with Barros runner-up
and Yukio third.
YUKIO - Race 1: DNF, Race 2: 3rd
Strange day today and I am not happy with the results. My
first race never really started because I was hit on the first
lap and crashed. I thought about getting back on the bike,
but it was too badly damaged. In between the first and second
races, my team did amazing work to repair my bike so that
I could ride it in race two - and for this I say a ‘big
thank you.’ The start of the second race was very fast
and it was difficult to overtake anybody. Also, my front tyre
feeling was not very good and I kept thinking I would crash
every lap! But I did not want to give in, so I tried my hardest
to keep the bike upright and close in on the leaders. I managed
to do this and got into second place, but when Barros came
past my tyres would not let me fight him back. So I settled
for third place. It was one of the hardest races I’ve
ever done, because Imola is a very physical track and when
your tyres do not work it makes it even more physically tiring.
Now I want to go to Magny-Cours and get two podiums!
TROY - Race 1: DNF, Race 2: 9th
What a day! One to forget for sure! I have had some bad luck
this season and it seems to be carrying on and on. There’s
not much to say really - especially about the first race.
After a few laps, my bike found a false neutral on the downhill
approach to a left-hander. I had to take to the gravel but
I managed to stay on the bike and get back on the circuit.
On the next lap, I got some false neutrals again and it became
quite scary as I didn’t know when or where the bike
would do it. It happened a couple more times, so I decided
to pull in rather than crash and that was it for race one.
Race two started better and I was with Bayliss from the off.
After 5-6 laps, the rear tyre started going off and that,
together with a lot of wheelspin, meant that I couldn’t
get any drive or grip. From then, it was a real struggle to
keep up and soon my lap times began to get worse and prevented
me getting any decent result. I have no idea or explanation
how or why all this is happening at the moment, but I’ve
got to believe that it can’t last for ever.
Results
Race 1: 1 Barros (Bra-Honda), 2 Toseland
(Honda ), 3 Pitt (Yamaha), 4 Haga (Yamaha), 5 Bayliss (Ducati),
6 Lanzi (Ducati), 7 Nieto -(Kawasaki),8 Muggeridge (Honda),
9 Abe (Yamaha), 10 Laconi (Kawasaki), TROY CORSER (Aus-Alstare
Suzuki Corona Extra) DNF, YUKIO KAGAYAMA (J-Alstare Suzuki
Corona Extra) DNF,
Race 2: 1 Bayliss, 2 Barros, 3 YUKIO KAGAYAMA (J-Alstare Suzuki
Corona Extra), 4 Pitt, 5 Toseland, 6 Haga, 7 Lanzi (I-Ducati),
8 Muggeridge (Aus-Honda), 9 TROY CORSER (Aus-Alstare Suzuki
Corona Extra), 10 Laconi (I-Kawasaki),
Points
1 Bayliss 393, 2 Toseland 295, 3 Haga 293, 4 Pitt 239, 5 Barros
231, 6 TROY CORSER 218, 7 YUKIO KAGAYAMA 193, 8 Lanzi 152,
9 Walker 140, 10 Nieto 139,
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