[Ducati] WSBK Losail Race Reports ********************SPOILER*************************

[2vtwin at comcast.net]

Looked to me like the advantage Ducati had was riders and tire conservation, perhaps the 1098 is easier on tires? We'll see. Glad to see Ducati back on top and Bayliss do so well. I think Haga/Corser will be a challengs at Phillips Island. 

-------------- Original message -------------- 
From: "Harlyn Jenkins" <harlyn at jenkins.org> 

> They were GREAT races! So, any guesses on how much weight they are going to 
> want to add to the 1098? 
> 
> GO DUCATI! 
> 
> Harlyn 
> 
> -----Original Message----- 
> From: ducati-bounces at ducati.net [mailto:ducati-bounces at ducati.net] On Behalf Of 
> Veloce916 at aol.com 
> Sent: Sunday, February 24, 2008 9:11 PM 
> To: ducati at ducati.net 
> Subject: [Ducati] WSBK Losail Race Reports 
> ********************SPOILER************************* 
> 
> 
> **********SPOILER*************** 
> PRESS RELEASE 
> 2008 HANNSPREE SUPERBIKE WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP® 
> 1 ROUND – LOSAIL (QATAR) - 21st, 22nd and 23rd FEBRUARY 
> 
> RACE REPORT 
> Losail, Saturday 23rd February 2008 
> BAYLISS (DUCATI) AND NIETO (SUZUKI) SHARE THE WINS IN QATAR WORLD SUPERBIKE 
> OPENER Troy Bayliss (Ducati Xerox) and Fonsi Nieto (Alstare Suzuki) shared the 
> wins in two exciting races in the opening round of the HANNspree Superbike 
> World Championship in Qatar. Australia’s double WSBK champion Bayliss had the 
> honour of scoring the Ducati 1098’s maiden victory in the first encounter, 
> while Spaniard Nieto picked up his first race win since 2003 on the Suzuki 
> GSX-R1000. 
> Race 1 
> Bayliss had to work hard for the win from eighth place on the opening lap. 
> He put his wheels on the edge a few times as he made his way to the front and 
> then had a terrific duel with Max Biaggi (Sterilgarda Go Eleven Ducati) on the 
> final lap to seal victory. The Italian, in front from lap 12 to 17, went 
> slightly wide and had to settle for second. Third went to poleman Troy Corser 
> (Yamaha Motor Italia), who ran in the top 3 throughout, while Ruben Xaus 
> (Sterilgarda Go Eleven) made it three 1098s in the top 4. Max Neukirchner 
> looked impressive on the Alstare Suzuki, leading for most of the first half of 
> the race, eventually finishing fifth ahead of Carlos Checa (HANNspree Ten Kate 
> Honda), while Noriyuki Haga (Yamaha Motor Italia) had a nasty high-side on lap 
> 7. 
> “I guess it was special to take the 1098 to its first win and it’s the 
> first time I’ve had a win here at Losail” declared Bayliss. “I thought it 
> was going to be between me, Troy and Nori, but Neukirchner surprised me and 
> Max did a good job as well. It was a hard race, I got a terrible start and had 
> to really ride hard to get to the front. I made a couple of mistakes, 
> eventually when I reached Max I was on the limit. Then it was a matter of 
> playing our cards, he went a bit wide and that gave me the advantage to come 
> home to the finish line”. 
> Race 1 results 
> 1. Troy Bayliss (Ducati) 
> 2. Max Biaggi (Ducati) +0.396 
> 3. Troy Corser (Yamaha) +1.878 
> 4. Ruben Xaus (Ducati) +4.487 
> 5. Max Neukirchner (Suzuki) +7.505 
> 6. Carlos Checa (Honda) +9.639 
> 7. Fonsi Nieto (Suzuki) +9.725 
> 8. Yukio Kagayama (Suzuki) +19.537 
> 9. Michel Fabrizio (Ducati) +23.156 
> 10. Jakub Smrz (Ducati) +24.429 
> 11. Roberto Rolfo (Honda) +27.595 
> 12. Kenan Sofuoglu (Honda) +27.979 
> 13. Gregorio Lavilla (Honda) +28.237 
> 14. Noriyuki Haga (Yamaha) +30.205 
> 15. Regis Laconi (Kawasaki) +31.882 
> Race 2 
> The second race win saw a battle up front between Corser, who led for nine laps 
> before fading, Biaggi, Xaus and Nieto, with Bayliss not far behind. Max and 
> Ruben both had spells in the lead but neither were able to shake off Nieto, who 
> took over at the front with three laps to go. The Spaniard went on to take his 
> first-ever WSBK win, ahead of his compatriot Xaus and Biaggi. The two factory 
> Ducati riders Bayliss and Fabrizio were fourth and fifth, with 
> Corser finishing sixth. 
> “It’s nice for me, I haven’t won for four years and I’m really happy” 
> said Nieto. “When I arrived in World Superbike it was really difficult for 
> me. I worked really hard for four seasons and this is a dream come true. We are 
> not yet 100% with the frame of the bike but the engine is the best now, today I 
> won because I had a really good engine. I rode with my mind and never gave 
> up” 
> . 
> Race 2 results 
> 1. Fonsi Nieto (Suzuki) 
> 2. Ruben Xaus (Ducati) +0.301 
> 3. Max Biaggi (Ducati) +1.321 
> 4. Troy Bayliss (Ducati) +6.452 
> 5. Michel Fabrizio (Ducati) +7.627 
> 6. Lorenzo Lanzi (Ducati) +9.117 
> 7. Troy Corser (Yamaha) +10.806 
> 8. Max Neukirchner (Suzuki) +11.661 
> 9. Jakub Smrz (Ducati) +13.269 
> 10. Kenan Sofuoglu (Honda) +14.563 
> 11. Carlos Checa (Honda) +15.953 
> 12. Makoto Tamada (Kawasaki) +16.748 
> 13. Noriyuki Haga (Yamaha) +18.356 
> 14. Gregorio Lavilla (Honda) +26.311 
> 15. Roberto Rolfo (Honda) +26.560 
> Riders points: 1. Bayliss 38; 2. Biaggi 36; 3. Nieto 34; 4. Xaus 33; 5. 
> Corser 25; 6. Neukirchner 19; etc. 
> Manufacturers points: 1. Ducati 45; 2. Suzuki 36; 3. Yamaha 25; 4. Honda 16; 
> 5. Kawasaki 5. 
> World Supersport 
> Broc Parkes scored a fortuitous win for the Yamaha World Supersport team in the 
> opening round of the championship at Losail as his team-mate Fabien Foret, race 
> leader since the early stages, ran out of fuel on the final lap. The Australian 
> still had to fight for the win however against Spain’s Joan Lascorz who was 
> ahead with a couple of corners remaining. Parkalgar Honda’s Craig Jones was 
> also in contention right until the very end and the British rider took the 
> final podium slot. The entire HANNspree Ten Kate team was eliminated on the 
> second lap as Jonathan Rea crashed in front of Andrew Pitt, causing his 
> team-mate to go down in the process. Both riders suffered a series of nasty 
> cuts and abrasions. 
> 
> 
> 
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