2008 HANNSPREE SUPERBIKE WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP®
PHILLIP ISLAND – 2nd ROUND – 29 FEBRUARY
– 1st and 2nd MARCH STATISTICS
AN HISTORICAL TRACK – Phillip Island has formed part
of the WSBK™ calendar since 1990 and is the most used
track in history. 33 races have been run at Phillip Island,
one more than Assen, Donington, Misano, Monza and Sugo.
Troy Corser is the undisputed king of Phillip Island, with
7 wins, between 1995 and 2006, followed by Anthony Gobert
with 5 wins.
The Yamaha rider is also the best poleman, with 4 poles to
his name (the first in 1998 and the last in 2001), while he
misses out on the fastest laps record, which belongs to Aaron
Slight, with 8 fastest laps, four straight from 1991 to 1992.
It will be interesting to see if Corser manages to score another
pole in Phillip Island, because it will be a relevant milestone:
no one so far has managed to record more than four pole positions
at the same track. At the moment a score of four poles on
the same track is held by Corser at Phillip Island, Valencia
and Misano, Carl Fogarty at Donington and Neil Hodgson at
Brands Hatch.
AUSTRALIANS IN AUSTRALIA – Australian riders have won
22 of the 33 races run at Phillip Island. Australians also
dominate the pole ranking with 10 out of 17 and fastest laps
with 18 out of 22.
MILESTONES AT PHILLIP ISLAND
1990 race 2: first win for Rob Phillis. The Aussie has a
total of 4 race wins and two third places in the Championship
to his name, in 1991 and 1992. In the same weekend Peter Goddard
recorded his only pole position and in race 1 the 10th fastest
lap for Yamaha was recorded by Fabrizio Pirovano;
1994: first pole position and first podium for Anthony Gobert
in race 1, the Australian going on to win his first race in
race 2;
1998: 25th win for Yamaha by Noriyuki Haga in race 2; 10th
pole for Troy Corser;
1999: 25th pole position (and 50th front row start) for Troy
Corser, who scored his 50th podium finish in race 1;
2000: first win and first fastest lap for Aprilia by Troy
Corser in race 2;
2001: first fastest lap for Ruben Xaus and first podium for
Tadayuki Okada;
2004: first win for Garry McCoy (in race 2), first podium
for Chris Vermeulen (in race 1);
2005: 25th win for Troy Corser (in race 1), first pole (the
10th for Suzuki) for Yukio Kagayama, 10th podium for Chris
Vermeulen (in race 1) and first podium for Max Neukirchner
in race 2;
2007: tenth win for James Toseland in race 2.
PHILLIP ISLAND PERSONAL SCOREBOARD
Troy Bayliss is one of the most successful active riders
in Phillip Island, scoring 4 wins out of his last 6 appearances
here, obtaining also a sixth (after his rear tyre collapsed
in a race he totally dominated) and a second place;
Max Biaggi was third and fourth in the 2007 races, he won
here with Yamaha in the 500cc World Championship race in 2000;
Troy Corser obtained in Phillip Island in 2006 (race 1) his
last win to date. In 2007 he was fifth twice. Troy scored
4 straight poles here from 1998 to 2001, but has never been
on pole since, even though in the last three editions he has
always started from the front row;
The best result for Michel Fabrizio at Phillip Island is
a ninth place in race 2, 2007, out of four starts;
Noriyuki Haga won here only once, in 1998 (race 2). In the
last couple of seasons he recorded three fourth places and
a third in race 2, 2007. Before that, Haga hadn’t been
on the podium in Australia since race 2, 2000;
The best result obtained by Carlos Checa in the World Championship
(500cc/MotoGP) at Phillip Island is a third place, scored
in 1996 with the Honda NSR and in 2005 with the Ducati Desmosedici;
Yukio Kagayama recorded a couple of second places in his
debut races here in 2005 but hasn’t been able to score
a podium finish since;
Regis Laconi won race 1 in 2004 and hasn’t been on
the podium since. In 2007 he scored here his only double retirement
of the season;
The best result for Lorenzo Lanzi in Phillip Island is a
sixth place in race 1, 2007; Gregorio Lavilla managed to get
on the podium (in third) in the first race of 2003;
Karl Muggeridge hasn’t seen the chequered flag in Australia
since his debut race in 2005, when he finished eighth. After
that placement, Karl has only collected retirements;
Fonsi Nieto’s performances in Phillip Island are on
their way down: he was fifth in race 2, 2005, then eighth,
a couple of times ninth and then fourteenth;
Max Neukirchner scored the only podium of his career at Phillip
Island in 2005, race 2.
THE LAST THREE EDITIONS OF THE PHILLIP ISLAND RACE
2005: The race day was marked by strong
winds, so strong that some riders in race 1 decided to withdraw.
Not Corser, who flew towards the win, followed by team-mate
Kagayama who finished eight seconds adrift. The plot was the
same in race 2, even if the race was stopped by the rain.
Another double for Suzuki with Corser leading Kagayama by
five seconds.
2006: In race 1 Bayliss pulled away all
alone, but after half race he recorded a sharp fall in performances.
The pace he kept in the first part of the race destroyed the
left side of his rear tyre, and this made his Ducati so slow
that he was caught by Corser and Barros, who were able to
pass him on a straight line under acceleration. In the final
stages Corser pulled out all the stops to keep Barros at bay
to win the race. To avoid the same problems, in the second
race Bayliss opted for a harder compound at the rear and in
the first laps instead of pulling away he sat behind Toseland,
Corser and Haga. Little by little Bayliss made his way to
the top and after a handful of laps he found himself alone
with Toseland. Bayliss stayed behind the Englishman up to
the final laps, when he decided to leave him, winning all
alone, with James not able to keep the same pace. Big scare
on the fourth lap when Corser fell in the middle of the pack
and was hit on the helmet by Barros’ bike. Troy was
so fast to recover that he quickly jumped up and dived towards
the trackside in order not to be hit by other riders.
2007: Before the race the main concern was
tyre performance and duration and all riders opted for the
softer compound. The worries made everyone extremely cautious
and the leading group in race 1, made up of Toseland, Bayliss
and Corser, seemed to run in slow motion, without anyone taking
any chances or trying to pull away. Towards half race Corser
was the first to slow down due to tyre performance dropping
and in the final stages Bayliss was able to leave Toseland
behind, winning by a good margin. After the race Toseland
declared that he pushed too hard in the first part and then
he hadn’t any tyres left to follow the Australian. Remembering
this Toseland decided for another strategy in race 2: the
Englishman made it to the lead, but instead of pushing hard
he kept a very slow rhythm that grouped all the leaders behind
him. Doing this he saved his tyres and in the closing stages
he changed pace, and only Bayliss was able to respond, but
he was not able to challenge Toseland, who won the race.
TIMES TO BEAT – These are the best
lap times recorded by the various Superbikes manufacturers
in the Phillip Island track:
Bike Time Year Model Rider
Yamaha 1’31.826 2007 YZF-R1 T.Corser
Ducati 1’31.887 2007 999F07 T.Bayliss
Honda 1’32.024 2007 CBR 1000 RR J.Toseland
Suzuki 1’32.373 2006 GSX-R 1000 K6 T.Corser
Kawasaki 1’32.769 2007 ZX-10R F.Nieto
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