Race Day -Salt Lake City
FABRIZIO STEPS UP TO THE PODIUM IN BOTH OF TODAY'S
SUPERBIKE RACES AT MILLER MOTORSPORTS PARK
Michel Fabrizio (Ducati Xerox) proves that he has taken
a liking to America and the Miller Motorsports Park circuit,
scoring two third place finishes here today in impressive
style on board his Ducati 1098 F08 machine. A less than perfect
start in both of this afternoon's races failed to deter the
young Italian rider and he powered his way through the field
in Race 1 and again in Race 2 to eventually earn third place
finishes in both. Unfortunately the day was not so lucky for
fellow Ducati Xerox rider Troy Bayliss who failed to finish
Race 1 and completed Race 2 in 22nd position after a technical
problem.
Troy Bayliss still leads the championship with 194 points
while Michel Fabrizio gains 32 points at Miller today, moving
him up to eighth place in the riders classification with 87
points.
Troy Bayliss (Race 1 - DNF, Race 2 - 22nd)
Having made a blistering start to both Race 1 and Race 2,
Bayliss unfortunately came off during lap four of the first
race and then suffered a technical problem with his 1098 F08's
gear lever during the second.
"I am really disappointed with today's results of course.
In race 1 I crashed in a similar way to how I went down yesterday,
which was a bit strange. Having said that, my weekend had
been going ok until Race 1 and I was feeling pretty positive
ahead of Race 2. Although I got a good start, after a few
laps something came loose with the gear shifter so I had to
come in. We sorted it quickly enough that I thought I might
as well go out and ride, even if it was impossible to get
points. I was going well out there but I was too far behind
to make up any places. It goes without saying that after all
our hard work this weekend I'm really disappointed that we've
given away 50 championship points in one weekend."
Michel Fabrizio (Race 1 - 3rd, Race 2 - 3rd)
In Race 1 Michel found himself going from fourth place on
the grid down to fourteenth place before making an exceptional
comeback to finish the race on the podium, in third place.
Race 2 was almost an exact replica, as Michel once again dropped
back to twelfth position before battling back to take an impressive
third place on the podium for the second time today.
"Obviously I am extremely happy with today's results.
In Race 1 I had a gear problem on the start-line which caused
a race restart but thanks to the great work of my team I was
able to start (the restarted Race 1) without incident. On
the first lap I went right down to fourteenth position but
worked my way up the field, stayed calm and was very satisfied
to take third. In Race 2 I again had to make up a lot of positions
and although I'm happy with third, I was hoping to be able
to give Carlos more of a run for his money. It was hard work
today, the heat and altitude here makes it a really physical
challenge, and the last laps of both races were a struggle."
RESULTS: Race 1 - 1 Checa
(Honda); 2. Corser (Yamaha); 3. Fabrizio (Ducati Xerox) Race
2 - 1. Checa (Honda); 2. Neukirchner (Suzuki); 3.
Fabrizio (Ducati Xerox)
CHAMPIONSHIP POINTS: Riders - 1. Bayliss
(Ducati Xerox) 194 ; 2. Checa (Honda) 166 ; 4. Neukirchner
(Suzuki) 144; 5. Nieto (Suzuki) 126; 3. Haga (Yamaha) 122;
6. Corser (Yamaha) 121; 7. Xaus (Ducati) 92; 8. Fabrizio (Ducati
Xerox) 87. Manufacturers - Ducati 249; Yamaha 201; Suzuki
191; Honda 185; Kawasaki
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