FIM Superbike World Championship Valencia, Spain April 23 Race Two Results: 1. Troy BAYLISS (Duc 999F06), 23 laps, 37:06.508 2. Troy CORSER (Suz GSX-R1000), -0.790 second 3. Lorenzo LANZI (Duc 999F06), -15.133 seconds 4. Norick ABE (Yam YZF-R1), -16.004 seconds 5. Noriyuki HAGA (Yam YZF-R1), -16.929 seconds 6. Fonsi NIETO (Kaw ZX-10R), -17.056 seconds 7. Chris WALKER (Kaw ZX-10R), -19.967 seconds 8. Regis LACONI (Kaw ZX-10R), -21.395 seconds 9. Andrew PITT (Yam YZF-R1), -21.801 seconds 10. Michel FABRIZIO (Hon CBR1000RR), -32.166 seconds 11. James TOSELAND (Hon CBR1000RR), -32.259 seconds 12. Shinichi NAKATOMI (Yam YZF-R1), -32.355 seconds 13. Fabien FORET (Suz GSX-R1000), -32.648 seconds 14. Alex BARROS (Hon CBR1000RR), -33.875 seconds 15. Steve MARTIN (Foggy Petronas FP1), -38.052 seconds 16. Roberto ROLFO (Duc 999F05), -40.284 seconds 17. Marco BORCIANI (Duc 999F05), -44.877 seconds 18. Max NEUKIRCHNER (Duc 999RS), -49.267 seconds 19. Jose David DE GEA (Hon CBR1000RR), -51.754 seconds 20. Giovanni BUSSEI (Hon CBR1000RR), -56.747 seconds 21. Franco BATTAINI (Kaw ZX-10R), -61.652 seconds 22. Nicola BRIGNOLA (Duc 999RS), -71.288 seconds 23. Gianluca NANNELLI (Hon CBR1000RR), -72.297 seconds 24. J. MONGE (Yam YZF-R1), -83.967 seconds 25. Craig JONES (Foggy Petronas FP1), -85.553 seconds 26. Vittorio IANNUZZO (Suz GSX-R1000), -2 laps, mechanical 27. Ruben XAUS (Duc 999F05), -15 laps, DNF, crash 28. Yukio KAGAYAMA (Suz GSX-R1000), -16 laps, DNF, crash 29. Ivan CLEMENTI (Duc 999RS), -17 laps, DNF, crash 30. Sergio FUERTES (Suz GSX-R1000), -17 laps, DNF, crash 31. Lorenzo ALFONSI (Yam YZF-R1), -19 laps, DNF, mechanical More, from a press release issued by Winston Ten Kate Honda: TOSELAND STILL THIRD AFTER VALENCIA WEEKEND James Toseland (Winston Ten Kate Honda CBR1000RR) battled hard around the twisty 4.005km Valencia circuit but could not replicate his pace in the opening two rounds of the season and finished only ninth and 11th. He remains third overall in the championship chase. Toseland’s team-mate for the weekend, Giovanni Bussei (Winston Ten Kate Honda CBR1000RR) experienced similar difficulties in finding a set-up that worked in either race and ended his Valencia weekend 18th and 20th. Karl Muggeridge, the second regular team rider, will be back at Monza, a race that all in the Winston ten Kate Team expect to be a much more fruitful affair than Valencia proved to be. In the first race Toseland gave his all, despite obvious problems exiting corners, to finish ninth, just ahead of factory Yamaha runner Andrew Pitt. Toseland was nonetheless top Honda rider on show, with his team-mate Giovanni Bussei finishing 18th. The race was won by Troy Bayliss, from Troy Corser, with Lorenzo Lanzi third. In the second 23-lap race the top three were a mirror image of race one, but Toseland found even more difficulty in pushing forward, and fought out a rearguard action at the head of a group of four riders. Ronald Ten Kate Team Manager “To say that it wasn’t a good weekend would be quite an understatement. We have been running behind all weekend here, and just couldn’t get the bike to handle, and especially grip, well around here. We knew it was going to be difficult when we came here but we never expected it to be this difficult. It’s purely in the nature of the track – so twisty – and for some reason we cannot get the bike set-up well. Luckily for us, we now go to a track of a completely different nature Monza which has long straights and fast corners. I prefer to look forward than to speak too much about the happenings here over the weekend. We will come back very, very strong.” James Toseland Winston Ten Kate Honda Rider (Race 1: 9th position Race 2: 11th position Championship Position: 3rd with 86 points) “When we have the bike on its side for a long time, and then just tap on the power, the tyre can’t find any grip. It just wheel spins and wheel spins unless you pick it up. When the bike is on full lean round here you cannot do anything about it but sit on it and spin it. It’s very frustrating. We got some points and we’re still third in the championship but we were miles behind the leaders and that’s not good enough. We’ll have a think about it and see what we come away with for Monza.” Giovanni Bussei Winston Ten Kate Honda Rider (Race 1: 18th Race 2: 20th Championship Position: No Points Scored) “Not so happy. I came here to be better. I understand that it is difficult but it was hard to find everything and be competitive. I was hoping to faster in the second race, but I think I still have too much weight on the front tyre. So at the beginning the rear grip was good, it was pushing a lot, and I nearly crashed many times. From half way it became better with less fuel in the tank helping as well. At the end I was doing the sort of lap times I expected.” More, from a press release issued by Team Klaffi Honda: Hard work for Alex! The Brazilian started from 16th position in the grid. But things became even worse in the first heat. Alex didn’t do a good start and was only on position 27 when he came back from the first lap. But Alex never gives up. He started an immense fight. It was nearly unbelievable how he coped with his task. Already in the second lap he passed Alfonsi and Clementi. And on he went pursuing the riders in front of him. Alex passed Iannuzzo, Rolfo, Bussei. From lap 21 on he was already 11th. Now he had his sights on Toseland and Pitt. But during the last three laps he couldn’t come close enough to them. So Alex finished 11th in the first race. At 15.3o pm Alex started for the second race and this time too he had some bad luck. After the start he was on 23rd position and again he had to fight. From lap 12 Alex was riding on 12th position. But then Foret and Nakatomi seized a chance. They repassed Alex and the Brazilian rider of the Klaffi Honda Team finished 14th in the second heat. In both races Bayliss was the winner in front of Corser and Lanzi. The fourth round of World’s Superbike Championship will take place at Monza on 05-07 May. The next chance for Alex to attack. Alex Barros: “It is needless to say that I’m disappointed. But sometimes things like that happen in racing. Now I have to go one, let this bad experience behind me and concentrate on the upcoming race.” More, from a press release issued by Ducati Corse: BRILLIANT BAYLISS TAKES A BRACE OF WINS FOR DUCATI XEROX TEAM AT VALENCIA DOUBLE PODIUM FOR LANZI Valencia (Spain), Sunday 23 April: Troy Bayliss notched up the 24th and 25th victories of his World Superbike career with a double win at the Valencia circuit as the Ducati Xerox rider and his fellow Australian Troy Corser (Suzuki) put on a spectacular display of racing today. The Spanish Round saw two similar races and identical podiums with Bayliss’s young Italian team-mate Lorenzo Lanzi grabbing third place on both occasions for his first podiums of the year. “Everything went really well in both races” declared Troy. “We thought about changing the tyre for race 2 but we didn’t and it was the right decision to stick with the hard tyre. I didn’t think Corser was going to be as quick as he was in that second race, I thought it would be the same as the first but he went really well. I know that the limit of my tyre on the rear is exactly 35.7 or 35.8, but it stays good for the whole race and when I saw him pulling away it was disheartening. I just kept my eye on the board and did every lap like a qualifying lap, just hoping he was going to run into the same sort of problems as the first one and he did. Then once I got there it took me a long while to put it together and get past him. A big thanks to the Ducati Xerox squad, Shell Advance and all our other sponsors, with who I want to share the joy for this double win today!” “Two fantastic podiums today!” declared Lorenzo. “I am pleased for Ducati Xerox and for me obviously because this podium in race 2 is worth the win at Lausitzring. It wasn’t a victory for but it was just as hard-fought. I pushed hard from the first to the last lap, never gave in, and to keep up with Abe I had to struggle because he had a superior pace at the mid-race distance. Then I caught Haga and managed to pass both of them, Haga on the penultimate lap and Abe on the last lap. It was incredible! Troy and I were the only ones to lap in 37.0 in the last few laps, so the choice of tyre was the right one to keep up the same pace until the very end. It is a perfect result for me in view of Monza in two weeks time!” More, from a press release issued by Honda Racing Information: VALENCIA PROVIDES A TOUGH TEST FOR HONDA’S SUPERBIKE RIDERS James Toseland (Winston Ten Kate Honda CBR1000RR) left the Valencia race weekend in third position in the championship after a challenging pair of races saw him finish ninth and 11th at the Circuito Ricardo Tormo. The 4.005km circuit, and its changeable nature, prevented any of the top Honda entrants from getting on podium terms. Toseland finished race two one place behind rookie SBK entrant Michel Fabrizio (DFX Honda CBR1000RR), but his points scores in Spain leave him third in the championship itself, with 86 points. Troy Bayliss beat Troy Corser to win both Valencia races. Alex Barros (Klaffi Honda CBR1000RR) endured two bad starts and some set-up problems and ended his weekend with only 11th and 14th places to his credit. Michel Fabrizio scored points with 13th place in race one, while the stand in rider for the Winston ten Kate Honda team Giovanni Bussei finished 18th and 20th. Gianluca Nannelli failed to finish the first event of the afternoon due to a technical problem, and was 23rd in race two. Toseland knew that Valencia would be a tough challenge for him and his fellow Honda riders, consoling himself with the knowledge that better results should be eminently possible at the next race, at Monza, on May 7. “When we have the bike on its side for a long time, and then just tap on the power, the tyre can’t find any grip,” said Toseland. “It just wheelspins and wheelspins unless you pick it up. When the bike is on full lean round here you cannot do anything about it but sit on it and spin it. It’s very frustrating. We got some points and we’re third in the championship, but we were miles behind the leaders and that’s not good enough. We’ll have a think about it and see what we come away with for Monza.” Fabrizio had a better race two than race one and put it down to chassis changes between the 23-lap events. “In race one there was too much wear on the front,” said Fabrizio, “and a lot of chattering. So we made some changes in set-up. In race two I could set better laps and could race with the others. I managed to pass James on the very last lap, on the very last corner.” Barros, who was on the podium twice after the previous races in Australia, was naturally disappointed not to be able to challenge once more. “I just had a bad start in race one and that stopped me finishing any higher,” said Barros, who endured a similar fate in race two, compounded by less grip from the front than expected. “For sure I am disappointed but sometimes things happen like this. This is racing. Now I have to go on and leave this experience behind me. The bad starts really did not help me at all.” Bussei, in his comeback ride as a replacement for Karl Muggeridge, could not find a good set-up, and like Fabrizio and Nanneli, did not qualify for Superpole. “Not so happy,” said Bussei after race two. “I came here to be better. I understand that it is difficult but it was hard to find everything and be competitive. I was hoping to faster in the second race, but I think I still have too much weight on the front tyre. So at the beginning the rear grip was good, it was pushing a lot, and I nearly crashed many times. From half way it became better with less fuel in the tank helping as well. At the end I was doing the sort of lap times I expected.” Nannelli’s weekend was not what he had hoped for, after misadventures in each race, but he has more chances to rack up points scores while team regular Pierfrancesco Chili recovers from his Misano testing injuries. “I think something broke in the steering in race one and that was that,” said Nannelli. “In race two I got involved in a crash between two other riders, got run off the track and I had to restart the race in last place. That made it very difficult for me, but I made some places up.” The next WSS and SBK rounds take place at Monza, on 5 7 May.