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Troy Corser and Noriyuki Haga each took a second podium position in today’s World Superbike races at Misano after starting in pole and third respectively.
Haga got a good start in race one and maintained his second with his team mate right behind him in third and Bayliss leading the pack. Together with Biaggi in fourth, the pack created some distance from the rest of the field with all four riders battling throughout the race. Haga and Bayliss had an exciting fight for the lead on lap 16 but it was Bayliss who came out on top with Haga second, Biaggi third and Corser fourth. Then, on the penultimate lap Biaggi tried to overtake Haga the second curvone corner but crashed, taking both riders out. As a result of this Corser grabbed second place and his 111th Superbike podium.
Race two saw the Yamaha Motor Italia team mates challenge each other for second place in the first couple of laps before Haga won the battle. Haga then turned his attention to front man Bayliss whom he diced with for first place. Unfortunately, he started to feel sick due to painkilling injections he had been given following injuries received in the race one incident. He was forced to relax his challenge on Bayliss and settle for second as his condition worsened.
Following his battle with Haga early on in the second race, Corser found himself battling with Biaggi and Kagayama for the rest of the race. Despite a last lap charge to overtake Kagayama Corser had to accept fifth place and eleven points.
Corser has now scored over 300 points at the same circuit - 325 to be precise. This has only been achieved three times before and by only two riders. Carl Fogarty achieved this record at Assen (350 points) and Donington Park (308 points), while Corser first achieved it in Phillip Island (330 points).
Shinichi Nakatomi had a mixed day today but finished 14th in race two to take two points away. He was forced to retire from the first race on lap seven with engine problems.
Today’s results have reduced Yamaha’s championship points deficit to just seven behind Ducati. Haga sits in third five points behind Bayliss and an accessible 26 behind Toseland. Corser remains fifth in the championship standings with the next race in a month’s time. The team has two tests before the next round, which is at Brno.
Troy Corser (2nd and 5th - Yamaha Motor Italia WSB Team)
“Today has been unbelievably disappointing after such a good day yesterday. In race one I had a rear grip problem and didn’t get a good start either. Those two factors together just made for a tough race. I changed bikes between the two races and the engine in the second bike felt better but the set-up wasn’t quite right, giving me all sorts of problems. I kept losing the front throughout the second race. I was actually crashing at one point but I landed back on the bike, hit the screen and managed to keep going. It is such a disappointment after getting my fortieth pole yesterday - a sorry end to an otherwise good weekend. “
Noriyuki Haga (DNF and 2nd - Yamaha Motor Italia WSB Team)
“I was unlucky in race one. Mistakes can happen to anyone; I’m not angry about the incident in race one but I’m very disappointed that there has been no acknowledgement or apology for what happened. That isn’t professional in my book.
I hurt my right elbow and wrist in the race one incident and so had to have some painkillers for the second race. The race was going well when, about halfway through, I started to feel sick, which was caused by the painkillers. I had to slow down. Also, only a few laps into the race my rear brake pedal broke leaving me without any rear brake. All in all I am quite happy with second. But today was an unlucky day for me. “
Massimo Meregalli (Team Coordinator, Yamaha Motor Italia WSB Team)
“Mistakes can happen but it was perhaps unexpected from such an experienced rider; Nori was unlucky to be involved. Today was a good opportunity for us to get more points in our campaign to catch Toseland but we haven’t achieved that. The day didn’t go as planned but the result is actually quite good for the team as we don’t traditionally have a good record at Misano. I am very pleased that we were able to fight for wins in both races here as it means, if we can do it here, we can do it anywhere. Nori’s second race was very good considering he felt ill and it is a good result for Troy to get pole as well as a second place. “
Shinichi Nakatomi (DNF and 14th - Team Yamaha YZF)
“The first race was frustrating for me; I was very disappointed to have to retire. In race two I managed to make up some places but lost a couple at the end of the race. At least I have two more points. “
Martial Garcia (Team Manager, Team Yamaha YZF)
“Race one was difficult for us today with Tomi suffering from engine problems. He got a good start in race two and was having a good race when he unfortunately had to slow down one some of the last laps. We came here hoping to get two good results but at least we got fourteenth and two points. “
