World Superbike Championship
Round four: Valencia, Spain
Race report
Toseland secures a Valencian victory
 HANNspree
Ten Kate Honda's James Toseland extended his lead in the 2007
World Superbike Championship by 13-point margin at the Ricardo
Tormo Circuit in Valencia today. The British rider suffered
mixed fortunes in the two 23-lap races at the 4km track in
one of the most thrilling rounds of the series so far. Team-mate
Roberto Rolfo performed well to maintain his ninth place in
the standings.
Race one saw Toseland miss out on a place on the podium
for only the second time this season. After starting from
fifth on the grid, a severe problem with chatter in the rear
wheel prevented the British rider from passing the leading
pack. He held fast in fifth position for the entire race to
pick up 11 points and maintain his lead in the standings.
Spaniard Ruben Xaus took the victory, followed by Noriyuki
Haga and Troy Bayliss in second and third places respectively.
Race two was a different story for Toseland, who stormed
to victory in a nail-biting race that kept the Valencia crowds
on the edge of their seats. The thrilling contest was incredibly
close-run, with the five front runners within less than a
second of each other for almost the entire 23-laps. The HANNspree
Ten Kate Honda rider fought his way up from fifth on the grid
to take third place by lap three, second place by lap nine
and first place by lap 16.
From then on it was a three-way battle between Toseland,
Max Biaggi and Noriyuki Haga. The three rivals were rarely
more than a second away from each other as they fought for
the top place on the podium, changing places frequently and
with great skill. On the last lap Biaggi pushed hard to pass
both Haga and Toseland, but the British rider fought back
and secured the first place with a 0.287 seconds advantage.
Two strong performances from team-mate Roberto Rolfo saw
him move from 17th on the grid to a tenth place in the first
race and twelfth in the second. In race one the 25-year-old
was involved in a tussle with second place championship contender
Max Biaggi for the majority of the contest. At the end of
the day, Rolfo picked up ten valuable points to add to maintain
ninth place in the championship standings.
Ronald ten Kate:
"After the problems we had in the first race when we
didn't get the result we were hoping for, we made some changes
to James' bike for the second race. It obviously worked so
thanks to his crew for getting that done so quickly and big
compliments to James for riding so well. This is a hard track
to overtake on, especially when all the front runners are
on the same pace. Roby also did well to climb up from 17th
place on the grid. We came here as leaders in the championship
and we have not only kept that, we have extended it in both
classes so we are obviously very happy and looking forward
to the home round in Assen."
James Toseland:
"The problems in the first race were due to the tyre
moving in the wheel rim and that's the end of my excuses for
that. The second race was just awesome! We used Friday's set-up
on the number two bike so thanks to my team for getting it
ready so quickly after the first race. I am just so happy
to have got the win here. Last year I was ninth and eleventh
here, so I was determined to do better this year. It really
was a great race and I had to give it everything to hang in
there until the end, but I did it and I leave here as the
leader."
Roberto Rolfo:
"The weekend has not been too great for me because starting
in the fifth row it is hard to get to the front of the pack.
I pushed pretty hard and had a good fight with Biaggi in the
first race, but the second it was not working for me. I have
two weeks before Assen and I will work hard to come back fighting
for the team's home race"
Race one results:
1 R. Xaus 1'36.323
2 N. Haga + 1.997
3 T. Bayliss + 6.330
4 T. Corser + 8.780
5 J. Toseland + 17.040
6 L. Lanzi + 24.272
7 M. Fabrizio + 25.822
8 M. Biaggi + 26.087
9 J. Brookes + 28.778
10 R. Rolfo + 32.754
FL T. Bayliss 1'36.092
Race two results
1 J. Toseland 1'35.825
2 M. Biaggi + 0.287
3 N. Haga + 0.375
4 R. Xaus + 6.637
5 L. Lanzi + 7.991
6 T. Bayliss + 10.210
7 J. Brookes + 10.861
8 R. Laconi + 14.366
9 T. Corser + 15.511
10 M. Neukirchner + 19.716
12 R. Rolfo + 26.437
FL N. Haga 1'35.746
Championship standings
1 J. Toseland 151
2 M. Biaggi 138
3 N. Haga 124
4 T. Corser 101
5 T. Bayliss 90
6 L. Lanzi 87
7 R. Xaus 83
8 M. Neukirchner 56
9 R. Rolfo 46
10 R. Laconi 37
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