World Superbike Championship Round 11 Lausitz, Germany
Toseland fights back
British rider James Toseland is still leading the Superbike
World Championship following a difficult event at Lausitz
in Germany. Tyre problems in the first race severely affected
the Bennetts-supported rider's performance and enabled rival
Noriyuki Haga to pull back some of the Brit's advantage.
An improved second race helped to minimise the damage to
the former World Superbike Champion's title chase and he left
the 11th round of the series with a 41-point lead. However,
he is acutely aware that he still has a long way to go to
secure the championship crown.
James Toseland: "I wanted to come away from Lausitz
with one-and-a-half hands on the trophy, but unfortunately
I came away feeling like I'd had two fingers prised off it.
The first race at Lausitz was a severe disappointment for
me and the HANNspree Ten Kate Honda team.
"I had used exactly the same tyre in warm-up and race
two and we made no changes to the set-up of the bike, so it
was difficult to understand why race one proved so problematic.
As a result, the team had no data from race one to help in
race two so to finish fourth was a real achievement.
"I can only hope that the final four races at Vallelunga
and Magny Cours go a little more smoothly for me, the team
and my sponsors. I'm approaching the final two rounds positively
and I'm determined to leave the Superbike World Championship
as the champion.
"I've already proved that I can perform under pressure
this season at Brands Hatch when Bennetts announced their
sponsorship of the series. Expectations were high and I secured
double victory, but the fight is far from over."
World Superbike Championship race results
Race one: 1 Noriyuki HAGA 40'02.923; 2 Max
BIAGGI + 11.007; 3 Troy CORSER + 11.628; 9 James TOSELAND
+44.258
Race two: 1 Troy BAYLISS 39'49.291; 2 Noriyuki
HAGA +1.353; 3 Max BIAGGI +13.001;
4 James TOSELAND +14.641
2007 World Superbike Championship standings (after
round 11)
1 James TOSELAND 375; 2 Noriyuki HAGA 334; 3 Max BIAGGI 322;
4 Troy BAYLISS 296
5 Troy CORSER 254; 6 Ruben XAUS 177; 7 Lorenzo LANZI 173;
8 Roberto ROLFO 166; 9 Max NEUKIRCHNER 130; 10 Yukio KAGAYAMA
116.
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