WSB – Qatar results and report

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World Superbike Qatar Race One Result

1 – Toseland James – Winston Ten Kate Honda – Honda CBR 1000RR – 36’31.339
2 – Bayliss Troy – Ducati Xerox – Ducati 999 F06 – 36’31.427
3 – Pitt Andrew – Yamaha Motor Italia WSB – Yamaha YZF R1 – 36’33.729
4 – Corser Troy – Alstare Suzuki Corona Extra – Suzuki GSXR1000 K6 – 36’33.938
5 – Fabrizio Michel – D.F.X. Treme – Honda CBR 1000RR – 36’38.338
6 – Barros Alex – Klaffi Honda – Honda CBR 1000RR – 36’46.056
7 – Rolfo Roberto – Ducati SC – Caracchi – Ducati 999 F05 – 36’46.563
8 – Chili Pierfrancesco – D.F.X. Treme – Honda CBR 1000RR – 36’52.522
9 – Borciani Marco – Sterilgarda – Berik – Ducati 999 F05 – 36’53.789
10 – Neukirchner Max – Team Pedercini – Ducati 999 RS – 36’55.271
11 – Abe Norick – Yamaha Motor France-Ipone – Yamaha YZF R1 – 36’56.155
12 – Muggeridge Karl – Winston Ten Kate Honda – Honda CBR 1000RR – 36’56.982
13 – Laconi Régis – PSG-1 Kawasaki Corse – Kawasaki ZX10R – 37’00.478
14 – Gimbert Sebastien – Yamaha Motor France-Ipone – Yamaha YZF R1 – 37’01.316
15 – Xaus Ruben – Sterilgarda – Berik – Ducati 999 F05 – 37’08.014
16 – Nakatomi Shinichi – Yamaha Motor France-Ipone 2 – Yamaha YZF R1 – 37’08.834
17 – Iannuzzo Vittorio – Celani Team Suzuki Italia – Suzuki GSXR1000 K6 – 37’37.793
18 – Martin Steve – Foggy Petronas Racing – Petronas FP1 – 37’37.933
19 – Battaini Franco – Kawasaki Bertocchi – Kawasaki ZX10R – 37’43.141
20 – Pedercini Lucio – Team Pedercini – Ducati 999 RS – 38’14.419
21 – Al Naimi Talal – D’Antin MotoGP – Yamaha YZF R1 – 37’17.531

Not Classified

RT – Kagayama Yukio – Alstare Suzuki Corona Extra – Suzuki GSXR1000 K6 – 34’28.903
RT – Haga Noriyuki – Yamaha Motor Italia WSB – Yamaha YZF R1 – 34’28.909
RT – Nieto Fonsi – PSG-1 Kawasaki Corse 2 – Kawasaki ZX10R – 18’32.918
RT – Walker Chris – PSG-1 Kawasaki Corse – Kawasaki ZX10R – 14’30.609
RT – Foret Fabien – Alstare Eng. Corona Extra – Suzuki GSXR1000 K6 – 12’30.807
RT – Clementi Ivan – Team Pedercini – Ducati 999 RS – 8’25.635
RT – Lanzi Lorenzo – Ducati Xerox – Ducati 999 F06 – 6’09.545
RT – Jones Craig – Foggy Petronas Racing – Petronas FP1 –

World Superbike Qatar Race Two Result

1 – Corser Troy – Alstare Suzuki Corona Extra – Suzuki GSXR1000 K6 – 36’20.395
2 – Bayliss Troy – Ducati Xerox – Ducati 999 F06 – 36’21.420
3 – Haga Noriyuki – Yamaha Motor Italia WSB – Yamaha YZF R1 – 36’23.857
4 – Toseland James – Winston Ten Kate Honda – Honda CBR 1000RR – 36’23.858
5 – Pitt Andrew – Yamaha Motor Italia WSB – Yamaha YZF R1 – 36’24.745
6 – Lanzi Lorenzo – Ducati Xerox – Ducati 999 F06 – 36’40.005
7 – Barros Alex – Klaffi Honda – Honda CBR 1000RR – 36’40.943
8 – Fabrizio Michel – D.F.X. Treme – Honda CBR 1000RR – 36’41.578
9 – Muggeridge Karl – Winston Ten Kate Honda – Honda CBR 1000RR – 36’43.593
10 – Xaus Ruben – Sterilgarda – Berik – Ducati 999 F05 – 36’46.928
11 – Abe Norick – Yamaha Motor France-Ipone – Yamaha YZF R1 – 36’47.249
12 – Nieto Fonsi – PSG-1 Kawasaki Corse 2 – Kawasaki ZX10R – 36’48.527
13 – Rolfo Roberto – Ducati SC – Caracchi – Ducati 999 F05 – 36’48.530
14 – Borciani Marco – Sterilgarda – Berik – Ducati 999 F05 – 36’54.571
15 – Gimbert Sebastien – Yamaha Motor France-Ipone – Yamaha YZF R1 – 36’55.790
16 – Walker Chris – PSG-1 Kawasaki Corse – Kawasaki ZX10R – 37’02.553
17 – Nakatomi Shinichi – Yamaha Motor France-Ipone 2 – Yamaha YZF R1 – 37’11.301
18 – Martin Steve – Foggy Petronas Racing – Petronas FP1 – 37’11.899
19 – Clementi Ivan – Team Pedercini – Ducati 999 RS – 37’21.338
20 – Battaini Franco – Kawasaki Bertocchi – Kawasaki ZX10R – 37’21.851
21 – Al Naimi Talal – D’Antin MotoGP – Yamaha YZF R1 – 36’54.502

Not Classified

RT – Chili Pierfrancesco – D.F.X. Treme – Honda CBR 1000RR – 20’23.698
RT – Kagayama Yukio – Alstare Suzuki Corona Extra – Suzuki GSXR1000 K6 – 19’02.062
RT – Neukirchner Max – Team Pedercini – Ducati 999 RS – 16’27.979
RT – Jones Craig – Foggy Petronas Racing – Petronas FP1 – 12’28.620
RT – Pedercini Lucio – Team Pedercini – Ducati 999 RS – 8’32.420
RT – Laconi Régis – PSG-1 Kawasaki Corse – Kawasaki ZX10R – 4’12.838
RT – Foret Fabien – Alstare Eng. Corona Extra – Suzuki GSXR1000 K6 – 2’10.998
RT – Iannuzzo Vittorio – Celani Team Suzuki Italia – Suzuki GSXR1000 K6 – 2’13.996

As we continue suffer in the biting winds of the longest winter, it warmed the soul to see two ripsnorting superbike races in the hot desert sun of Qatar. The inaugural WSB race here last year seemed to take everyone but Alstare Suzuki almost by surprise, and they left the Middle East with two wins under their belt. Thankfully this year they had some real competition, and this meeting bodes very well for this year’s championship, which could be one of the best ever.

Some big names have come from MotoGP to give the championship some welcome stardust, as well as potential champions. Troy Bayliss has done it all – BSB, AMA, MotoGP and WSB. He was quick from the get go, when he replaced Fogarty after his career ending crash in 2000. It seems he is as quick as ever, having dominated in winter testing, and blitzing the field in qualifying. But any thoughts Ducati may have had of the former champ clearing off were crushed by the time they swept round the first corner, with the two Motor Italia Yamahas of Haga and Pitt, clearly using some superb launch control kit , heading the field in first and second. Corser and Kagayama were in close attendance, along with Bayliss, and these five made an early break. Bayliss was soon to find his bike was not quick enough to get by any of the competition using horse power alone, and he would have to work frantically hard and make many mistakes while trying to prize a way through. I don’t think he passed anybody all day along the long front straight, meaning he had to do everything the hard way. When the tyre wear finally started to tell in the last 3 laps, Bayliss found himself with clear track in front at last. His true pace was instantly apparent and he closed the gap on Toseland in a few turns.

But by then the two Japanese speed merchants, Haga and Kagayama, had opened a gap on JT in third, and were in full on dice mode for the win. The lead was changing from lap to lap with Haga pulling off an audacious move at the hairpin to retake the lead on lap16. But when he tried it again with on the last lap, the front end folded and he wiped poor Yukio out in the process. Incredibly this left James Toseland in the lead. He had fired in a succession of quickest laps to catch the front five on his ride on the Winston Ten Kate Honda Fireblade. On lap 13 he had put paid to Corser’s chances when he eased him out wide as he tipped in, leaving the no.1 plate off the back of the pack. As they passed the finish line with five to go, Haga had snuck away and looked like he might be able to establish a decent lead. Kagayama was to have none of it and when Yuki took the lead at the end of the straight with three to go, the gloves were off.

Meanwhile Toseland breezed past Pitt and opened a large gap, with Bayliss was stuck behind the R1, watching the others disappearing into the distance.It took him a whole lap to find a way past, finally nailing it on a slow left hander. When the front two went down, a win was suddenly in his sights and he launched a last gasp attack on JT. But when he ran wide on the first of two right handers, JT just had to bring it home to take the win.

Race 2 was more of the same. Again the red Yamahas got away to lead, and again Pitt proved he has got the race pace to stay with the big boys this year. Corser looked more determined to lead and it didn’t take him long to hit the front. He got his head down and tried to get away, but the Yams, along with Bayliss and Toseland, were a constant threat and we had another five back freight train at the front of the race. Yukio Kagayama’s horrible day was completed when he pulled off, having been mired in the chasing pack at the start. Again it took Bayliss forever to make his move. Finally, with four laps to go, he had clear track ahead, having disposed of Pitt and Haga, and he set after Corser. He was on him with two to go, and this time he had more than three corners to hit the front. He almost wiped out Corser as he tried to find the timing and precision needed to get by. The penultimate lap was like a warm up for the main event – the last lap. This had it all with Bayliss in full on assault mode, again and again trying to find a way past and stop it in time for the next corner. It looked like he had done it as he gunned out of a left hander, but he couldn’t stop and almost ran off and Corser swept through to take a joyous win. At the same time Haga and Toseland were in their own battle for third, with Haga taking it by the tiniest margin imaginable. Fabulous stuff.

Alex Barros had an average start to his WSB career. Lanzi was going quicker than anyone when he had an evil high side a few laps into race 1, with the bike barrelling over and over into destruction. Xaus is injured so not much is expected of him for a while. The Kawasakis look well off the pace, with Walker and Laconi both suffering big time. And as for the Foggy Petronas team, Martin finished out of the points, which was better than Craig Jones with two DNFs, who was glimpsed falling off as he tried to get the FP1 round a gentle turn. Visions of James Haydon on the troublesome turquoise triple come to mind. Things can only get better Craig!

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