Corser on the podium as Haga defies pain for points
Troy Corser secured his fourth podium of the 2008 season
after scoring second in race one, while his team-mate Noriyuki
Haga overcame the pain and weakness of his multiple right
collarbone fracture to take sixth place in race two, despite
suffering yet another crash in the opening race at Miller
Motorsports Park.
In the first event, delayed by a starting grid mix-up between
a few riders, Corser was only 2.8 seconds from his first win
in Yamaha race colours, pushing hard once settled into position
behind eventual leader Carlos Checa. He was a strong podium
finisher, almost four seconds ahead of third placed rider,
Michel Fabrizio.
Haga's bravery was rewarded for a time with a strong top
five position, but he fell on lap six, luckily on the other
side from his broken right collarbone. Shortly after, championship
leader Troy Bayliss also fell, causing the following Corser
to take sharp avoiding action.
In the second race, again won by Checa, Haga was running
fifth for much of the time, but got passed by Yukio Kagayama
on the last lap. Corser was lying third until he fell on lap
17, losing the front on a fast left-hander, and he was unable
to restart his machine. Bayliss had to withdraw from race
two, scoring no points and throwing the championship wide
open again. Haga is now fifth overall, on 122 points, with
Corser one place back, on 121.
Team YZF Yamaha rider Shinichi Nakatomi posted a 16th place
finish in race one, just missing points, while Sebastien Gimbert
(Yamaha GMT94) was 18th in race one, 17th in race two. David
Checa was forced to retire on lap seven of race one and did
not race in the second outing due to his recent injury.
Troy Corser (2nd and DNF - Yamaha Motor Italia WSB
Team)
"The first race was pretty good and even the second one
was going well although I was having to ride hard in the corners
to make up the time. So I pushed a bit too hard. We changed
the fork settings between race one and race two and it was
better, but it gave a bit less warning. I felt I could have
had another podium in that race. Race one was a good confidence
booster but I just made a slowish start."
Noriyuki Haga (DNF and 6th - Yamaha Motor Italia
WSB Team)
"In race one I lost grip in the same corner as I did
on Saturday. I think I opened the throttle a bit too much
at maximum lean angle. In the end it was impossible for me
to do more than I did in the second race. I scored ten points
more than Troy Bayliss so that is the most important thing.
Now I will have an operation to pin my collarbone and be ready
for the next race. I was happy to race today because nobody
thought I would be able to."
Massimo Meregalli (Team Manager, Yamaha Motor Italia
WSB Team)
"What Noriyuki did was like a miracle; I don't remember
anything like it. Probably he will go to California tomorrow
to get an operation on his collarbone. Now we are waiting
to see if we can schedule in the operation. Today we saw the
Troy that we saw in the first two races of the year and I
am very pleased about that. He really deserved his podium
in race one. The championship is still open and we will start
to make up more ground from the next race."
Martial Garcia (Team Manager Team YZF Yamaha)
"Our choice of tyres was optimistic in race two and after
ten laps it was finished. This tyre would have been good if
the temperature was higher. We tried an 'A' solution and it
was a gamble - but we lost. The bike was good and the top
speed was fine, but we tried to make a jump and it was too
much."
Circuit Length: 4905
Temp: 27
Crowd: 51000
Weather: Dry
2008 WSB United States - Salt Lake City 01/06/2008
Race 1 - 21 Laps
Pos. Rider Manu. Nat. Total Time
1 Carlos Checa Honda ESP 37'4.991
2 Troy Corser Yamaha AUS 0'2.809
3 Michel Fabrizio Ducati ITA 0'6.546
4 Max Neukirchner Suzuki GER 0'7.764
5 Fonsi Nieto Suzuki ESP 0'16.475
6 Jakub Smrz Ducati CZE 0'17.126
7 Karl Muggeridge Honda AUS 0'17.284
8 Yukio Kagayama Suzuki JPN 0'17.416
9 Max Biaggi Ducati ITA 0'18.117
10 Ryuichi Kiyonari Honda JPN 0'20.467
11 Lorenzo Lanzi Ducati ITA 0'21.742
12 Kenan Sofuoglu Honda TUR 0'27.533
13 Gregorio Lavilla Honda ESP 0'32.609
14 Ruben Xaus Ducati ESP 0'33.165
15 Russel Holland Honda AUS 0'34.182
16 Shinichi Nakatomi Yamaha JPN 0'34.500
18 Sebastien Gimbert Yamaha FRA 0'41.685
Race 2 - 21 Laps
Pos. Rider Manu. Nat. Total Time
1 Carlos Checa Honda ESP 38'44.105
2 Max Neukirchner Suzuki GER 0'3.547
3 Michel Fabrizio Ducati ITA 0'6.613
4 Max Biaggi Ducati ITA 0'7.878
5 Yukio Kagayama Suzuki JPN 0'10.568
6 Noriyuki Haga Yamaha JPN 0'11.539
7 Ryuichi Kiyonari Honda JPN 0'18.381
8 Fonsi Nieto Suzuki ESP 0'20.646
9 Regis Laconi Kawasaki FRA 0'21.264
10 Lorenzo Lanzi Ducati ITA 0'24.863
11 Karl Muggeridge Honda AUS 0'25.672
12 Ayrton Badovini Kawasaki ITA 0'31.711
13 Makoto Tamada Kawasaki JPN 0'35.628
14 Kenan Sofuoglu Honda TUR 0'42.816
15 Gregorio Lavilla Honda ESP 0'45.034
17 Sebastien Gimbert Yamaha FRA 0'50.653
Rider Standings 01/06/2008
Pos. Rider Manu. Nat. Points
1. Troy Bayliss Ducati AUS 194
2. Carlos Checa Honda ESP 166
3. Max Neukirchner Suzuki GER 144
4. Fonsi Nieto Suzuki ESP 126
5. Noriyuki Haga Yamaha JPN 122
6. Troy Corser Yamaha AUS 121
7. Ruben Xaus Ducati ESP 92
8. Michel Fabrizio Ducati ITA 87
9. Max Biaggi Ducati ITA 85
10. Ryuichi Kiyonari Honda JPN 80
11. Yukio Kagayama Suzuki JPN 73
12. Gregorio Lavilla Honda ESP 63
13. Lorenzo Lanzi Ducati ITA 60
14. Jakub Smrz Ducati CZE 51
15. Karl Muggeridge Honda AUS 49
20. Shinichi Nakatomi Yamaha JPN 16
23. Sebastien Gimbert Yamaha FRA 6
24. David Checa Yamaha ESP 5
Manufacturer Standings 01/06/2008
Pos. Manufacturer Points
1. Ducati 249
2. Yamaha 201
3. Suzuki 191
4. Honda 185
5. Kawasaki 51
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