KAGAYAMA TAKES MISANO PODIUM	zurück

Team Alstare Suzuki Corona Extra rider Yukio Kagayama had his best day of the World Superbike Championship year so far, grabbing a podium in the first race at today’s Misano sixth round and finishing fifth in race two. His third place in race one was by far his best result of the season and, but for tyre problems in race two, another podium would’ve been on the cards.

In contrast, reigning Superbike World Champion Troy Corser had a day to forget: A crash in both races left him without any points to show and he has now slipped to fourth place in the championship.

Troy Bayliss (Ducati) won the first race after storming though the field from his seventh place on the grid with James Toseland (Honda) second and Kagayama third.

Corser led race two for the first seven laps and was looking comfortable until he ran wide avoiding cement dust in the final chicane and lost the front end. He tried to remount but saw that there was gravel and stones in the bike and it would’ve been pointless to carry on. Andrew Pitt (Yamaha) took the chequered flag - his maiden Superbike World Championship win - with Alex Barros (Honda) second and Noriyuki Haga (Yamaha) third.

Team Alstare Engineering rider Fabien Foret recorded his best results of the season, with a 13th in the first race and a 10th in the second.

Yukio Kagayama - Race 1: 3rd, Race 2: 5th:

“I’m happy to be on the podium again because it has been such a long time - maybe six months! This season has been unlucky for me so I’m hoping that this is the start of a change of luck. I think I could’ve got another podium in the second race if it wasn’t for a tyre problem. I used the same bike and the same tyres but the feeling of the bike was not the same as the first race and I could not push as hard. The bike was sliding and wheel-spinning a lot more and so my lap times were not as good. Generally speaking, we have had a bit of a grip problem all season and I suppose that the very high temperatures here today did not help us at all. It was difficult to ride the bike today so I am happy to get a podium and a fifth.”

Troy Corser - Race 1: DNF, Race 2: DNF:

“I am very frustrated and disappointed today. The problems we had would’ve been solved if I had been able to take part in the recent Brno tests. Missing that test has hurt us a lot. In the first race the bike just jumped out of gear going in Querca corner and I was spat off the bike. I was pretty comfortable leading the second race but after about five laps the bike started jumping out of a gear a bit again and that made me a bit nervous in the turns. At the final chicane there was a lot of cement dust - put down from an earlier crash - and it was right on my line. In order to avoid it, I had to change my line and run a bit wide and, on one lap, I must’ve run a bit too wide and when I tried to make the turn again, the tyre ran out of grip and down I went. And that was the end of disastrous day!”

Fabien Foret - Race 1: 13th, Race 2: 10th:

“I’m happy today because I made some good results at last. It is always difficult getting good results when you start so low down the grid, so to get a 10th in the second race is particularly pleasing to me. Of course, if I had qualified better, I would’ve had a better chance of finishing even higher up then I did. In race one I had a little fuel problem - the bike stuttered a bit when it was leant over. In race two, I was very happy with the front end feeling and I enjoyed that race a lot. There were a lot of slides and wheelspin and Misano was not so easy today, but I’m happy.”

Race 1: Bayliss (AUS-Ducati); 2 Toseland (GBR-Honda); 3 Yukio Kagayama (JPN-Alstare Suzuki Corona Extra); 4 Barros (BRA- Honda); 5 Haga (JPN-Yamaha); 6 Laconi (FRA-Kawasaki); 7 Lanzi (ITA-Ducati); 8 Nieto (ESP-Kawasaki); 9 Xaus (ESP-Ducati); 10 Abe (JPN-Yamaha), 13 Fabien Foret (FRA-Alstare Engineering Corona Extra). Troy Corser (AUS-Alstare Suzuki Corona Extra) DNF.

Race 2: 1 Pitt (AUS-Yamaha); 2 Barros (BRA-Honda); 3 Haga (JPN-Yamaha); 4 Walker (GBR-Kawasaki); 5 Yukio Kagayama (JPN-Alstare Suzuki Corona Extra); 6 Fabrizio (ITA-Honda); 7 Lanzi (ITA-Ducati); 8 Toseland (GBR-Honda); 9 Xaus (ESP-Ducati); 10 Fabien Foret (FRA-Alstare Engineering Corona Extra). Troy Corser (AUS-Alstare Suzuki Corona Extra) DNF.

World Championship Points: 1 Bayliss 254; 2 Haga 160; 3 Toseland 157; 4 Corser (AUS- Alstare Suzuki Corona Extra) 149; 5 Barros 146; 6 Pitt 128; 7 Lanzi 80; 8 Xaus 70; 9 Walker 64; 10 Nieto 61. 12 Kagayama (JPN-Alstare Suzuki Corona Extra) 56; 17 Foret (FRA-Alstare Engineering Corona Extra) 19.