By Glenn Le Santo

Ruben Xaus made history in World Superbike competition at Oschersleben today by winning race two. No Spaniard has ever won a race in the series’ 14-year history. The win was also enough to secure the Manufacturers’ Championship for Ducati; the Italian company has won the title 10 times.

Xaus rode a faultless race, overhauling holeshot man Colin Edwards to deny the reigning World Champion a double win. Xaus’ teammate Troy Bayliss finished third, ahead of yet another Ducati, ridden by American Ben Bostrom.

It was another poor race for pole-sitter Neil Hodgson, who could only manage 10th. Troy Corser also had a tough race–he was suffering from the effects of a high-speed spill in free practice prior to Superpole and finished 11th. The crash, which happened on the fastest curve of the circuit, left Corser with severe bruising to his shoulder and ankle. He struggled to even get on the bike in the morning warm-up so it’s no surprise that he also struggled in the race. Corser finished 11th.

Edwards acknowledged the help given to him by Akira Yanagawa in race one: “I’d like to thank Akira for holding everyone up in race one and letting me get away,” Edwards joked.

Xaus was obviously overjoyed to be the first-ever Spaniard to record a World Superbike victory. “This is a fantastic feeling,” said Xaus. “In Spain everyone goes to GPs, the money also goes to GPs, so for me to do World Superbike has been very hard. But I love four-strokes so I only wanted to do WSB. Now I am glad to have won and I hope it helps the profile of Superbikes in Spain.” Xaus also revealed that there was more than just the image of WSB riding on his win this weekend: “Ducati said to me to win or to go home, so I won!”

Troy Bayliss finished third, keeping the title wide open. “We didn’t have time to get the perfect set-up, so I was glad to finish third. I am satisfied with third, in the circumstances, it’s better than pushing too hard when things are not right and falling off,” Bayliss said.

Race two
1. Ruben Xaus, Spain, Ducati, 41:17.957
2. Colin Edwards, USA, Honda, 41:27.895
3. Troy Bayliss, Australia, Ducati, 41:32.864
4. Ben Bostrom, USA, Ducati, 41:35.527
5. Regis Laconi, France, Aprilia, 41:47.268
6. Pierfrancesco Chili, Italy, Suzuki, 41:47.349
7. Gregorio Lavilla, Spain, Kawasaki, 41:47.564
8. Tadayuki Okada, Japan, Honda, 41:47.698
9. Akira Yanagawa, Japan, Kawasaki, 41:48.004
10. Neil Hodgson, Great Britain, Ducati, 41:50.778

Superbike World Championship points
1. Bayliss, 319
2. Edwards, 295
3. Bostrom, 276
4. Troy Corser, Australia, Aprilia, 238
5. Hodgson, 232
6. Chili, 199
7. Yanagawa, 152
8. Xaus, 151
9. Okada, 137
10. Lavilla, 136

Manufacturers’ points:
1. Ducati 458 (World Champions 2001)
2. Honda 347
3. Aprilia 272
4. Kawasaki 252
5. Suzuki 215
6. Yamaha 28
7. Benelli 4

Next round: Assen, Holland – September 9