DISAPPOINTING DAY AT BRNO FOR DUCATI XEROX TEAM
 The
Ducati Xerox Team's worst fears regarding the ninth round
of the World Superbike Championship were confirmed as Troy
Bayliss and Lorenzo Lanzi had a disappointing day at the Automotodrom
Brno. The Italian team again found the going tough on the
Czech track and a crash for Troy Bayliss in race 1 and a sixth
place finish in race 2 complicate matters somewhat for Troy
in the title battle. Lorenzo Lanzi also struggled on the second
Ducati Xerox 999 machine with eighth place in race 1, but
he did have the satisfaction of leading the field for the
opening lap of race 2 before dropping to seventh.
Troy was taken out of a lowly tenth spot in the first race
as Muggeridge's crashed Honda slid into him on lap 12, but
apart from a bruise and a stiff ankle, the Ducati Xerox rider
was OK. "I didn't see anything, I was going into the
corner, heard a noise and that was it. The next thing I saw
Karl on the ground, he had crashed into me, but wasn't even
on his bike! I went over and thanked him because I wasn't
enjoying that race anyway in tenth place!" joked Troy.
A harder choice of front tyre brought an improvement in the
second race but Troy was down in tenth at the end of lap 2
and could only claw his way back up to sixth at the flag.
"It was exactly the same here as last year - a crash
and a poor finish - but this time I'm happier with the result
in race 2. We made a mistake in the first race putting the
soft tyre on but for the second race we put in a harder front
tyre and it made a huge difference. We started to get good
confidence back because it's a tyre I normally like anyway.
My start was good and I was in second place at the first corner
but then I got beat up. Someone came at me on the inside,
somebody hit me on the outside and I got knocked back down
a long way. I came back pretty strong, but anyway the best
thing I can do now is forget about this place and move on
to Brands Hatch!"
"I really thought that the front tyre would last a bit
longer in the first race. In my opinion a hard front and a
soft rear was the best choice today, but unfortunately it
did not allow me to keep the pace of the leaders" declared
Lorenzo. "In race 2 I made an excellent start, but then
had the same problem as race 1 with the front tyre despite
the drop in the track temperature. In the last six laps the
tyre was literally destroyed, Rolfo and Corser passed me easily
and I lost ground. The last laps were a bit of a lottery,
because the bike was almost impossible to ride. At least the
early laps showed that I am still the same old Lanzi as 2005
and that I'm not lacking in determination. If conditions allow,
I can fight with the top guys. But this wasn't the right track
and we knew that we couldn't do much more than what we did
today".
Today's results at Brno, a win apiece for James Toseland (Honda)
and Max Biaggi (Suzuki), mean that Troy slips back down to
4th in the table again from 2nd and that the top 4 in the
championship race are separated by 56 points with four rounds
remaining and 200 points still up for grabs.
RACE 1: 1. Toseland (Honda); 2. Biaggi (Suzuki);
3. Kagayama (Suzuki); 4. Haga (Yamaha); 5. Rolfo (Honda);
6. Fabrizio (Honda); 7. Corser (Yamaha); 8. Lanzi (Ducati
Xerox); etc... RACE 2: 1. Biaggi; 2. Toseland; 3. Fabrizio;
4. Haga; 5. Rolfo; 6. Bayliss (Ducati Xerox); 7. Lanzi; 8.
Nieto (Kawasaki); etc.
POINTS (after 9 of 13 rounds): Riders - 1.
Toseland 305; 2. Biaggi 262; 3. Haga 260; 4. Bayliss 249;
5. Corser 191; 6. Lanzi 150. Manufacturers - 1. Honda 319;
2. Yamaha 303; 3. Ducati 302; 4. Suzuki 278; 5. Kawasaki 115;
6. MV Agusta 1.
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