ASSEN – 4th ROUND – 25th, 26th and 27th APRIL
RACE REPORT
Double Dutch delight for Bayliss at Assen
Troy Bayliss (Ducati Xerox) powered to his second double
of the year with two convincing wins at the Assen TT Circuit
in the Netherlands in the fourth round of the HANNspree FIM
Superbike World Championship front of 75,000 spectators.
Race 1: Bayliss powered to his fifth win
at Assen in the opening race after a mistake by early leader
Kagayama (Alstare Suzuki) on lap 12 left him with a gap at
the chicane. The Australian then increased his lead over the
following riders in the final laps to win by a margin of 2
seconds. Carlos Checa (Hannspree Ten Kate Honda) took the
runner-up slot, in a sprint to the finish with Max Neukirchner
(Suzuki Alstare). Kagayama took fourth from Troy Corser (Yamaha
Motor Italia WSB), both riders holding off a late charge by
Jakub Smrz (Ducati Guandalini). Seventh and eighth went to
Kiyonari (Hannspree Ten Kate Honda) and Tamada (Kawasaki PSG-1
Corse), who faded after a good start. Tenth went to Max Biaggi
(Sterilgarda Ducati). A clash in the opening laps eliminated
two potential winners, Noriyuki Haga (Yamaha Motor Italia
WSB) and Ruben Xaus (Sterilgarda Ducati).
Troy Bayliss: “I’m very happy
with the way it turned out of course, but all the other guys
were riding really well today. I made a really good start,
pushed reasonably hard but Yukio was riding good and when
he passed me, I thought I’d follow him for a while.
He made a little mistake finally and I thought it was time
to put my head down. I was turning round a bit, more than
normal, but just wanted to keep an eye on how fast Carlos
was coming through basically.”
Carlos Checa: “I thought many times
about Valencia and didn’t want to make the same mistake
twice, but Max slowed down a little before the end and when
I saw clear road I passed him. He was behind and it was very
close but it was nice to fight until the end and get onto
the podium.”
Max Neukirchner: “It’s been
a long time since I’ve been on the podium, the last
time was in 2005 and I’m so happy right now to ride
for the Suzuki factory team and it’s a fantastic podium
for me. I did a good job for this race, and also my team,
and we worked really hard for this result.
Results – race 1
1. Bayliss T. (AUS) Ducati 1098 F08 36'50.907 (163,171 kph)
2. Checa C. (ESP) Honda CBR1000RR 2.132;
3. Neukirchner M. (GER) Suzuki GSX-R1000 2.179;
4. Kagayama Y. (JPN) Suzuki GSX-R1000 10.919;
5. Corser T. (AUS) Yamaha YZF-R1 11.051;
6. Smrz J. (CZE) Ducati 1098 RS 08 11.979;
7. Kiyonari R. (JPN) Honda CBR1000RR 15.184;
8. Tamada M. (JPN) Kawasaki ZX-10R 18.395;
9. Lavilla G. (ESP) Honda CBR1000RR 18.634;
10. Biaggi M. (ITA) Ducati 1098 RS 08 20.699;
11. Laconi R. (FRA) Kawasaki ZX-10R 25.759;
12. Sofuoglu K. (TUR) Honda CBR1000RR 26.064;
13. Badovini A. (ITA) Kawasaki ZX-10R 35.582;
14. Muggeridge K. (AUS) Honda CBR1000RR 36.266;
15. Nakatomi S. (JPN) Yamaha YZF-R1 37.215;
16. Xaus R. (ESP) Ducati 1098 RS 08 37.286;
Race 2 : Bayliss also took the win in race 2 after leading
from lights to flag. He was pushed all the way by Haga, who
was never able to pass him and in the end the gap was 0.082
seconds. Thanks to this win, the Australian has now increased
his championship lead to 70 points over second-placed Checa.
The Spanish rider grabbed the final podium position with a
superb recovery from a bad start, overtaking Xaus on the final
lap. Fifth place went to Neukirchner, the first Suzuki to
the chequered flag, ahead of team-mate Kagayama and Gregorio
Lavilla (VentAxia VK Honda). Smrz finished in eighth place,
ahead of Tamada (Kawasaki). It was another disappointing race
for Max Biaggi, who struggle to twelfth, while Fabrizio retired.
Troy Bayliss: “It’s been an
incredible weekend, pole and two race wins on the last time
I’m going to ride a bike around Assen in a race that’s
for sure. That was such a hard race to control it like I did,
because Nori is so strong. I did all the tricks I could use
in the last few laps to hold him off and was lucky enough
to get it. I used a harder tyre in the second race and my
lap times are a lot more consistent so that was a good choice
for sure. I think these guys here with me are my main contenders
for the year at the moment.”
Noriyuki Haga: “For sure I was unlucky
for the first race but I’m very happy for the second
place. It was a really tough race with Troy and I was looking
for a way I could pass him but I couldn’t find one.
But I never gave up and tried my best until the last lap.
You know, I’m very tired and now I’m looking forward
to the next round at Monza, where I won both races last year.”
Carlos Checa: “It was quite a bad
start as usual for me, we need to improve that area. Of course
it was a very hard race, we made some changes and I was not
comfortable at the beginning, but I was able to keep a good
pace and catch the guys in front of me and finish on the podium,
which for us was a surprise because I didn’t expect
it at the end.”
Results – Race 2
1. Bayliss T. (AUS) Ducati 1098 F08 36'46.238 (163,516 kph);
2. Haga N. (JPN) Yamaha YZF-R1 0.082;
3. Checa C. (ESP) Honda CBR1000RR 6.336;
4. Xaus R. (ESP) Ducati 1098 RS 08 7.575;
5. Neukirchner M. (GER) Suzuki GSX-R1000 8.011;
6. Kagayama Y. (JPN) Suzuki GSX-R1000 13.999;
7. Lavilla G. (ESP) Honda CBR1000RR 15.215;
8. Smrz J. (CZE) Ducati 1098 RS 08 16.376;
9. Tamada M. (JPN) Kawasaki ZX-10R 17.269;
10. Corser T. (AUS) Yamaha YZF-R1 18.380 ;
11. Nieto F. (ESP) Suzuki GSX-R1000 18.926;
12. Biaggi M. (ITA) Ducati 1098 RS 08 21.452;
13. Muggeridge K. (AUS) Honda CBR1000RR 23.794;
14. Rolfo R. (ITA) Honda CBR1000RR 29.847;
15. Nakatomi S. (JPN) Yamaha YZF-R1 30.252;
16. Laconi R. (FRA) Kawasaki ZX-10R 31.249;
Points (after 4 rounds): Riders – 1. Bayliss (Ducati)
178; 2. Checa (Honda) 108; 3. Corser (Yamaha) 89; 4. Nieto
(Suzuki) 85; 5. Xaus (Ducati) 81; 6. Haga (Yamaha) 67; 7.
Neukirchner (Suzuki) 66; 8. Biaggi (Ducati) 54, etc. Constructors
– 1. Ducati 190; 2. Yamaha 126; 3. Suzuki 113; 4. Honda
109; Kawasaki 37.
World Supersport
Round 4 of the championship was an exciting affair, with
the top 13 riders covered by 3 seconds with five laps to go.
Six riders were in with a chance of winning as they started
the final lap, but in the end victory went to Andrew Pitt
(Hannspree Ten Kate Honda), who edged past his team-mate Jonathan
Rea at the final chicane to win by a fraction. A Honda 1-2-3
was completed by Spanish rider Joan Lascorz (Glaner Motocard.com),
who consolidated his points lead in the championship. Fourth
and fifth place went to the two Yamaha World Supersport machines
of Fabien Foret and Broc Parkes ahead of Josh Brookes (Hannspree
Stiggy Motosport Honda). Craig Jones managed to place his
Parkalgar Racing Honda into the lead for a couple of corners
on lap 16 but he slipped back in the final stages to finish
ninth.
Results
1. Pitt A. (AUS) Honda CBR600RR 36'10.751 (158,635 kph)
2. Rea J. (GBR) Honda CBR600RR 0.014;
3. Lascorz J. (ESP) Honda CBR600RR 0.150;
4. Foret F. (FRA) Yamaha YZF-R6 0.201;
5. Parkes B. (AUS) Yamaha YZF-R6 0.283;
6. Brookes J. (AUS) Honda CBR600RR 0.447
Points (after 4 rounds): Riders - 1. Lascorz (Honda) 70;
2. Pitt (Honda) 50; 3. Parkes (Yamaha) 49; 4. Foret (Yamaha)
46; 5. Brookes (Honda) 43; etc. Constructors – 1. Honda
95; 2. Yamaha 71; 3. Triumph 25; 4. Kawasaki 20; 5. Suzuki
19.
Superstock 1000
Maxime Berger (Hannspree IDS Ten Kate Honda) scored his first
win of the season at Assen. The Frenchman went on to take
a deserved win after the race leader Claudio Corti (Yamaha
Junior Team) crashed out at the chicane. Second place went
to Italian Michele Pirro (Yamaha Lorenzini by Leoni), who
was in contention for the win with Corti and Berger, and third
to Xavier Simeon (Alstare Suzuki). Winner of the opening round
Brendan Roberts (Ducati Xerox Junior Team) capped a difficult
weekend when he crashed out in the opening laps.
Superstock 600
The outcome of the Superstock 600 race was virtually decided
on the opening lap when a crash eliminated poleman Danilo
Petrucci (Yamaha Team Trasimeno). At that point Dan Linfoot
was in the lead and the Beowulf Racing Yamaha rider had no
problems in taking the chequered flag from Patrick Vostarek
(Intermoto Honda) from the Czech Republic and Vincent Lonbois
(MTM Racing Suzuki). Valencia winner Loris Baz (Yamaha Junior
Team) could only finish fifth.
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