FIM Superbike World Championship Valencia, Spain April 23 Race One Results: 1. Troy BAYLISS (Duc 999F06), 23 laps, 37:04.634 2. Troy CORSER (Suz GSX-R1000), -2.765 seconds 3. Lorenzo LANZI (Duc 999F06), -14.225 seconds 4. Norick ABE (Yam YZF-R1), -17.126 seconds 5. Noriyuki HAGA (Yam YZF-R1), -18.225 seconds 6. Yukio KAGAYAMA (Suz GSX-R1000), -18.495 seconds 7. Ruben XAUS (Duc 999F05), -22.693 seconds 8. Regis LACONI (Kaw ZX-10R), -24.233 seconds 9. James TOSELAND (Hon CBR1000RR), -28.799 seconds 10. Andrew PITT (Yam YZF-R1), -28.946 seconds 11. Alex BARROS (Hon CBR1000RR), -34.558 seconds 12. Shinichi NAKATOMI (Yam YZF-R1), -37.151 seconds 13. Michel FABRIZIO (Hon CBR1000RR), -43.368 seconds 14. Jose David DE GEA (Hon CBR1000RR), -45.753 seconds 15. Fabien FORET (Suz GSX-R1000), -46.586 seconds 16. Vittorio IANNUZZO (Suz GSX-R1000), -49.648 seconds 17. Marco BORCIANI (Duc 999F05), -58.220 seconds 18. Giovanni BUSSEI (Hon CBR1000RR), -60.656 seconds 19. Franco BATTAINI (Kaw ZX-10R), -70.607 seconds 20. Norino BRIGNOLA (Duc 999RS), -71.443 seconds 21. Sergio FUERTES (Suz GSX-R1000), -71.752 seconds 22. Craig JONES (Foggy Petronas FP1), -75.123 seconds 23. Chris WALKER (Kaw ZX-10R), -100.231 seconds 24. Josep MONGE (Yam YZF-R1), -3 laps, pitted 25. Fonsi NIETO (Kaw ZX-10R), -6 laps, DNF, mechanical 26. Lorenzo ALFONSI (Yam YZF-R1), -7 laps, DNF, crash 27. Gianluca NANNELLI (Hon CBR1000RR), -9 laps, DNF, mechanical 28. Steve MARTIN (Foggy Petronas FP1), -10 laps, DNF, mechanical 29. Roberto ROLFO (Duc 999F05), -10 laps, DNF, mechanical 30. Ivan CLEMENTI (Duc 999RS), -13 laps, DNF, crash 31. Max NEUKIRCHNER (Duc 999RS), -13 laps, DNF, mechanical 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. 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. Winner of the race was Bayliss in front of Corser and Lanzi. Alex Barros: “In the second heat today I have another chance. I’ll try my best to achieve a better result.” More, from a press release issued by Team Suzuki: Suzuki’s World Superbike Champion Troy Corser raced his Alstare Suzuki Corona Extra GSX-R1000 to two second places at today’s third-round World Superbike Championship race in Valencia, Spain. He led Troy Bayliss (Ducati) for the best part of the two 23-lappers but had to give way to his fellow countryman in the closing stages both times. But team mate Yukio Kagayama had a weekend to forget: After his concussion yesterday and badly bruised right hand, he was far from fit but battled hard in the opening race for a well-deserved sixth place. The second race was following a similar pattern until he lost the front going into the first hairpin and crashed out. Fortunately he didn’t do any further damage to his right hand but hurt his right leg in the process. Alstare Engineering Corona Extra rider Fabien Foret scored his first points of the season with a 15th in race one and a 13th in race two. Troy Corser – Race 1: 2nd, Race 2: 2nd: “I’m happy, but also frustrated today. Happy because I took two seconds and also because I know I couldn’t have ridden any harder than I did. I tried my best, but I couldn’t overtake Troy Bayliss after he had passed me in both races. That was kind of frustrating, but I could see his bike was working the tyres less than mine and in the end the difference between us was marginal. “In race one I got a pretty good start and managed to pull out a bit of a gap, but in the later part of the race he caught me up when my tyres started to go. When he passed me I tried to get back at him, but he could run a bit faster than me and I just couldn’t do it. “It was much of the same in the second race: I built up a pretty good lead but I got a false neutral going into the first hairpin and was lucky not to crash. That was enough for Troy to close the gap. I had to adjust the clutch slip during the race and although it was only a tiny problem, that and tyre wear prevented me from catching and passing him.” Yukio Kagayama – Race 1: 6th, Race 2: DNF: “The weekend was not so good for me and maybe it’s better that I forget it. The crash yesterday meant that my right hand was not strong and, because Valencia is a very physical circuit, I couldn’t brake as hard as normal. Also it made changing direction much more difficult. “In the first race, I had a good fight with a group of riders and I enjoyed this battle. I could only use one finger to brake, so I could not go in as deep and hard as normal. If I hadn’t had the problem, I think I could’ve caught Haga and Abe ahead. In the second race I crashed at the hairpin, but I am not exactly sure why. I went into the turn, braked as usual and suddenly I was down without any warning. I was using a medium front tyre in race two – compared to a hard front in race one – so maybe that was part of the problem.” Fabien Foret – Race 1: 15th, Race 2: 13th: “All in all, I’m pretty happy with the weekend because it has been a good experience – my first ever Superpole yesterday and then scoring some points today. In the first race, I made a good start and the first five or six laps were not so bad. But, I think the tyre choice was wrong and that together with a small suspension problem didn’t allow me to lap as fast as I had expected. “My start in race two was ok and I was in a good group Toseland and Barros – and I enjoyed the battle and was happy because my lap times were consistent. This race weekend I feel I have made another step forward and gained a lot of experience. My next step is to qualify better and improve my finishing positions.” More, from a press release issued by Foggy Petronas Racing: Scant reward for FPR at Valencia Foggy PETRONAS Racing finished the third round of the Superbike World Championship at Valencia, Spain, with scant reward for their continued efforts. After the joy of qualifying on the front row, Steve Martin again had to battle hard for the team’s only point of the weekend when he finished 15th in the second race. Team-mate Craig Jones was able to gain encouragement from two race finishes, in which he showed further promise for the remainder of the season. Both race wins went to championship leader Troy Bayliss, who tracked his compatriot Troy Corser before pulling away in the final stages. The day began in disappointing fashion for FPR as Steve was forced to pull in during the first race, after experiencing deteriorating grip from the rear. In race two he was closing in on Alex Barros in 14th during the final stages. Craig completed the first race in 22nd, despite suffering an oil leak in the opening laps, and was challenging Giovanni Bussei, standing in for the injured Karl Muggeridge, on the Winston Ten Kate Honda for 20th in race two when he ran off into the gravel at the end of the start-finish straight. Craig said: “I had a good second race and felt that I made a lot of progress. I was doing consistent lap times throughout the race after a good start, when I got my elbows out for the first couple of corners to make up some places. When Bussei passed me I thought he would pull away but I found that little bit extra that I have been looking for and he was holding me up eventually. But, whether it was down to me or the bike, I experienced two or three false neutrals going into turn one and, when I couldn’t get it back into gear, I ran off into the gravel. I didn’t get the best of starts in the first race as I was beaten up in the first corner when Barros sat up, forcing me to sit up too. But then I managed to get past a few before, after about five laps, I had oil on my boots from a leak and my feet kept slipping off the pegs. If I had had a better feeling and better stopping power at the front I could have finished higher. Monza is a new track for me but I am looking forward to learning it and hopefully we can make more progress.” Steve said: “The bike is a million times better than at this time last year but we still need to find more horsepower in order to be race competitive throughout the year. I made an excellent start to the second race but, once again, was chewed up going into the first corner. You cannot afford to give away anything in such a competitive championship or you are going to go backwards, no matter how well the bike is handling. And although I didn’t finish the first race, I did feel as though we were racing until, on lap 12, I lost the rear a couple of times. I felt I had to come in to check there wasn’t a major problem, which there wasn’t, so maybe I was a little over-cautious. Once again, though, the effort of everyone involved has been faultless.” More, from a press release issued by Yamaha Racing: Yamaha’s world superbike riders overcame a lack of traction to bring home a good haul of points at round three of the series in Valencia today. Norick Abe was the leading Yamaha rider, ending the day with a pair of fourth places and only narrowly missing out on a podium finish in his second outing. The Japanese star was in superb form all weekend after his Yamaha Motor France squad brought along a new specification engine for the race. The team, which uses and is responsible for development of Yamaha’s YEC kit parts, worked hard after below par performances in Qatar and Phillip Island. In both races Abe made good starts and worked hard to battle with fellow Yamaha rider Noriyuki Haga. In the afternoon’s second race the two-time 500cc Grand Prix winner looked like coming home third for what would have been his first ever superbike podium, only to be passed by Lorenzo Lanzi (Ducati) on the final lap. Despite a little disappointment at missing out on third, Abe was delighted with the performance of his R1 and at being back running with the leaders. Yamaha Motor Italia riders Haga and Andrew Pitt had a tough day struggling with set-up problems. For Haga, the two races were virtually carbon copies of each other, holding third for much of the race but succumbing to Lanzi and Abe in the final few laps. The Japanese rider suffered electrical problems in both outings, affecting his machine’s quick shift system and the power delivery of the engine. Despite the first race problems, Haga was able to bring his R1 home in fifth place. Set-up changes and the replacement of various electrical components brought hope of a better result in race two and, after a good start, Haga was challenging eventual winner Troy Bayliss (Ducati) in the battle for second. Unfortunately for Haga the problem reemerged and his lap times dropped off, drawing him into the clutches of Abe and Lanzi. Despite his disappointment at not battling for the podium, Haga had the consolation of moving up two places in the championship, leaving Valencia in fourth place. Pitt also had two similar races, unable to fix the front end grip problems he faced all weekend. The Australian came home tenth in the first race following a bad start and finished ninth in race two, at the back of a three-way battle for seventh with Kawasaki riders Chris Walker and Regis Laconi. Yamaha Motor France’s improved fortunes allowed Shinichi Nakatomi to show his true colours. The Japanese newcomer grabbed two 12th places in a wonderful display of aggressive riding on his R1. After a somewhat lonely race one, the second outing saw Nakatomi was involved in an intense four-way battle for tenth that included no less than multiple Grand Prix winner Alex Barros (Honda) and former superbike world champion James Toseland (Honda). In the end Nakatomi finished just a tenth of a second behind Toseland, but claimed Barros as a scalp. Both Valencia races were won by Bayliss, with defending world champion Troy Corser (Suzuki) second both times. In the championship, Bayliss extends his lead to 22 points over second placed Corser with Toseland third and Haga fourth. Pitt slips back one place to sixth, with Abe’s 26 points taking him up to eighth place overall. The next round takes place at Yamaha Motor Italia’s local Monza circuit in two weeks’ time. Norick Abe (Yamaha Motor France) “Two good results today, so I am very happy with that. In the second race compared to the first I had a better feeling but in the beginning the top two were gone and in a different world. I caught up with Lanzi then tried so hard to catch Haga. When I passed him I tried to make a gap but by that stage the tyres were spinning a lot. I think the Ducati has good traction in that condition, because Lanzi was very fast at the end. So I am a little disappointed to miss the podium but the whole day was a big improvement over the first rounds, so I am very happy.” Noriyuki Haga (Yamaha Motor Italia) “After qualifying we knew that this was going to be a tough race but the problems we had today made it impossible to fight for the podium. In the first race the traction was not so good but I thought I could take third until the engine lost power. For the second race the feeling with the bike was better but the problem came back and there was nothing I could do when Abe and Lanzi came past.” Andrew Pitt (Yamaha Motor Italia) “In the first race we also tried something different on the start and it didn’t work, which gave me a lot of work to do. We made some improvements to the bike after qualifying and between the races but I was still struggling for front end grip. The bike was actually quite good for the first ten laps but when it went off I couldn’t push as hard as I wanted to. I was able to run with guys like Toseland and Laconi but the confidence in the front end wasn’t there and I couldn’t make a pass.” Shinichi Nakatomi (Yamaha Motor France) “I’m pleased to have two good races and score some championship points. The main difference this weekend was that the team has made the bike a lot better than at the first two races, so I could go fast and have some good battles in the second race. We had three days of testing here as well so that also makes a difference.” Martial Garcia (Team Manager – Yamaha Motor France) “We found the correct settings today and adapted well to the tyres. We made tests all winter with the old tyres but are now racing with the new ones, which are much better but they do increase chattering and sometimes that means we are lost in the set-up. In the Misano test we recovered confidence and we can see the results now.” Massimo Meregalli (Team Coordinator – Yamaha Motor Italia) “It has been a difficult weekend for us. Noriyuki’s bike developed an electrical problem which caused some problems with the engine power. We replaced the sensors between the races but it did not fix the problem. Andrew had problems with front end grip but rode well to get some good points. To be honest, we know that Valencia is not one of our best circuits but we are an ambitious team with a goal of winning the championship so even though we came here knowing it would be difficult we are never satisfied with fifth places. On the positive side, Noriyuki has moved up the championship table to fourth and when you consider that he was seventh in the championship this time last year we are clearly going in the right direction.”