Corser scores miracle podium in tough Donington weekend

Troy Corser (Yamaha Motor Italia WSB Team) secured a fine third place in the second race at Donington, in what was otherwise a particularly challenging weekend of action at a wet and dry Donington Park.

Noriyuki Haga (Yamaha Motor Italia WSB Team) was ruled out of each Donington race after a technical issue in race one saw him penalised for not stopping his machine in time after it developed a fault caused by a rider colliding into him, and then mistiming a subsequent ride through penalty.

Neither rider was credited with a finish in the aggregate race one, as they were among several riders not allowed to take part in the restart, which was caused by an oil spill at Coppice corner. Corser had fallen and was not allowed to take his place on the grid for the restart, while Haga had earlier been classified as a retiree after his technical problem. He went out to take his place on the grid, only to be led away by race control.

In race two, Haga was not classified as a finisher either after coming in too early for his ride-through penalty, and then being black-flagged. By contrast, Corser, who pushed hard throughout despite suffering multiple crashes this weekend, ignored the pain and stiffness of his body to record a superb third place, his ninth podium of the year.


His bravery and skill delivered him an overall second ranking in the championship table, one higher than he started the weekend with. Haga is now fifth overall, on an unchanged 230 points.

Both Haga and Corser started their races at Donington wearing unique one-off leathers and riding race bikes clad in special fairings designed by Yamaha Livery Design competition winner Ben Leeves.

David Checa (Yamaha GMT94) was 11th in a crash-filled race one, then a faller in race two. His team-mate Sebastien Gimbert (Yamaha GMT94) was a double no scorer.

Shinichi Nakatomi (Team YZF Yamaha) stuck to his task in race one and scored 13th, dropping to 18th in race two.
Troy Corser (DNF and 3rd - Yamaha Motor Italia WSB Team) 
"This is one of the toughest weekends we have had, and the conditions have been quite slippery in qualifying. I have had lots of crashes so I am pretty sore. Thanks to the guys in the team who have done a great job repairing the bike each time and putting me back on the track. I don't know how many spares the team has left after this meeting!"

Noriyuki Haga (DNF and DNF - Yamaha Motor Italia WSB Team) 
"In race two I knew I had to come in for a ride through penalty but there was so much spray in the early laps I could not see if there was a board out for me. So I came in to do my ride through on my own. I restarted out of pitlane and then I saw a black flag for me. I could not understand it as I had already done my ride through. But not when they wanted me to, apparently. So I had to pull in. Not a good day for me but thanks to all in the team for all the hard work, and for the support from the fans"
Massimo Meregalli (Team Manager, Yamaha Motor Italia WSB Team) 
"In some ways it was impossible to do worse this weekend, but we tried our best throughout. Nori had a really difficult day and scored no points. But what Troy did in race two was something incredible. He has had multiple crashes and he was in a lot of pain. As a rider, when you crash even once you lose a little bit of feeling and confidence, but even after several crashes Troy showed he had lost nothing. Troy is now second in the championship and that is a very positive thing to take away from this weekend. We continued to test the new Ohlins electronic suspension this weekend. It has mainly been tried in dry conditions so it was important to gather data in the wet. We have already found an advantage with the limited testing time we've had and plan to use it in Vallelunga where it was first tested six weeks ago."

Shinichi Nakatomi (13th and 18th - Team YZF Yamaha) 
"The conditions were difficult in race one. We made a mistake when we decided to use intermediate tyres, when the other riders used slicks. After ten laps, my feeling with the bike was coming better. For the second race, we changed a few things on the setting of the bike. In this race, I did my best on this very wet and difficult race track."


Race 1 

Pos., Rider, Manu., Nat., Total Time

1, Troy Bayliss, Ducati, AUS, 29'55.384
2, Tom Sykes, Suzuki, GBR, 0'1.266
3, Max Biaggi, Ducati, ITA, 0'28.636
4, Gregorio Lavilla, Honda, ESP, 0'33.566
5, Yukio Kagayama, Suzuki, JPN, 0'35.966
6, Jakub Smrz, Ducati, CZE, 0'36.034
7, Fonsi Nieto, Suzuki, ESP, 0'36.442
8, Leon Haslam, Honda, GBR, 0'41.633
9, Karl Muggeridge, Honda, AUS, 0'42.075
10, James Ellison, Honda, GBR, 0'43.476
11, David Checa, Yamaha, ESP, 1'12.578
12, Ayrton Badovini, Kawasaki, ITA, 1'13.147
13, Shinichi Nakatomi, Yamaha, JPN, 1'34.664
14, Shuhei Aoyama, Honda, JPN, 1'56.726

Race 2 

Pos., Rider, Manu., Nat., Total Time

1, Ryuichi Kiyonari, Honda, JPN, 40'26.508
2, Cal Crutchlow, Honda, GBR, 0'2.261
3, Troy Corser, Yamaha, AUS, 0'9.727
4, James Ellison, Honda, GBR, 0'20.227
5, Michel Fabrizio, Ducati, ITA, 0'27.475
6, Max Biaggi, Ducati, ITA, 0'28.051
7, Gregorio Lavilla, Honda, ESP, 0'30.922
8, Ruben Xaus, Ducati, ESP, 0'38.353
9, Carlos Checa, Honda, ESP, 0'50.196
10, Tom Sykes, Suzuki, GBR, 0'57.346
11, Lorenzo Lanzi, Ducati, ITA, 1'3.093
12, Jakub Smrz, Ducati, CZE, 1'6.697
13, Roberto Rolfo, Honda, ITA, 1'8.057
14, Max Neukirchner, Suzuki, GER, 1'15.276
15, Regis Laconi, Kawasaki, FRA, 1'38.848
16, Makoto Tamada, Kawasaki, JPN, 1'0.000


Best Lap

Rider, Manu., Nat., Total Time

Troy Bayliss, Ducati, AUS, 1'31.814

Rider Standings 07/09/2008

Pos., Rider, Manu., Nat., Points
1, Troy Bayliss, Ducati, AUS, 359
2, Troy Corser, Yamaha, AUS, 258
3, Max Neukirchner, Suzuki, GER, 254
4, Carlos Checa, Honda, ESP, 240
5, Noriyuki Haga, Yamaha, JPN, 230
6, Fonsi Nieto, Suzuki, ESP, 192
7, Max Biaggi, Ducati, ITA, 192
8, Ryuichi Kiyonari, Honda, JPN, 190
9, Michel Fabrizio, Ducati, ITA, 172
10, Ruben Xaus, Ducati, ESP, 156
11, Yukio Kagayama, Suzuki, JPN, 120
12, Jakub Smrz, Ducati, CZE, 105
13, Gregorio Lavilla, Honda, ESP, 105
14, Lorenzo Lanzi, Ducati, ITA, 99
15, Karl Muggeridge, Honda, AUS, 71
21, Shinichi Nakatomi, Yamaha, JPN, 32
26, David Checa, Yamaha, ESP, 12
28, Sebastien Gimbert, Yamaha, FRA, 7



Manufacturer Standings 07/09/2008

Pos., Manufacturer, Points

1, Ducati, 439
2, Yamaha, 366
3, Honda, 335
4, Suzuki, 329
5, Kawasaki, 69
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RACE REPORT - 07/09/2008

Parkes into the top ten as Laverty scores points

Broc Parkes (Yamaha World Supersport Team) and Eugene Laverty (Yamaha World Supersport Team) had to race on untried settings at Donington, after all practice and warm-up sessions were damp to some degree, but nonetheless each improved form their lowly starting places to record points scoring finishes.

Parkes went tenth from 20th on the grid, with Laverty taking his time to get to know his new bike in the dry, and finally posting 12th in his first ever WSS race.

As the race progressed Laverty made great strides and set some impressive times as he chased a rider pairing in front that also featured Parkes. Laverty will stay with the Yamaha World Supersport team fo rthe next round at Vallelunga, continuing to ride in place of injured team rider Fabien Foret.

Massimo Roccoli (Yamaha Team Italia Lorenzini by Leoni) was 17th on his Yamaha, while David Salom (Yamaha Spain World Supersport) was only 32nd in qualifying, while his team-mate Jason Crowe missed out on a qualifying time.
Broc Parkes (10th - Yamaha World Supersport Team) 
"Better that we had dry race than a wet one. We were down on dry settings too because we didn't race here last year so we didn't have a base setting to work with. It was not quite right, so we had to work hard to get there. That was the best we could do today. It was not perfect but it could have been worse."

Eugene Laverty (12th - Yamaha World Supersport Team) 
"I made some good lap times at the end but I had to be so careful at the start because I didn't really know the bike in dry conditions, and when you are riding in such close proximity with other riders, it could have been dangerous to try and push too hard from the beginning. But my lap times improved as I learned the bike and my second to last lap was fast, as quick as anyone really. It has been a difficult weekend but I think everyone can understand that. The weather was a disaster but to get a result out of things was our aim and we reached it."
Wilco Zeelenberg (Team Manager, Yamaha World Supersport Team) 
"Of course I am not happy with tenth and 12th places but when you look back on the whole weekend it is difficult for many riders, not only for us. Eugene rode well and progressed through the field once he started to get familiar on the bike in the dry and he had to rebuild his confidence after crashing the bike in the wet. Broc was doing some 1'35 lap times in the dry and did well to come through the field to tenth. For the next race we will have a better base set-up, because we didn't have one for here because we had so little track time last year.."

Massimo Roccoli (17th - Yamaha Team Italia Lorenzini by Leoni) 
"With no dry test time this weekend I had to use last year's settings on the machine and it meant that there was a lot of movement from the back end of the machine. Not a great weekend. We continued to test the new electronic suspension this weekend. It has mainly been tried in dry conditions so it was important to gather data in the wet. We have already found an advantage with the limited testing time we've had and plan to use it in Vallelunga where it was first tested six weeks ago. "


Race 1 

Pos., Rider, Manu., Nat., Total Time

1, Joshua Brookes, Honda, AUS, 34'53.607
2, Andrew Pitt, Honda, AUS, 0'0.872
3, Jonathan Rea, Honda, GBR, 0'4.846
4, Barry Veneman, Suzuki, NED, 0'5.066
5, Hudson Kennaugh, Yamaha, RSA, 0'8.604
6, Robbin Harms, Honda, DNK, 0'8.990
7, Joan Lascorz, Honda, ESP, 0'15.660
8, Didier Van Keymeulen, Suzuki, BEL, 0'16.674
9, Matthieu Lagrive, Honda, FRA, 0'17.081
10, Broc Parkes, Yamaha, AUS, 0'20.474
11, Gianluca Vizziello, Honda, ITA, 0'21.110
12, Eugene Laverty, Yamaha, GBR, 0'26.338
13, Mark Aitchinson, Triumph, AUS, 0'26.597
14, Katsuaki Fujiwara, Kawasaki, JPN, 0'29.104
15, Chris Martin, Kawasaki, GBR, 0'30.603
16, Gianluca Nannelli, Honda, ITA, 0'39.201
17, Massimo Roccoli, Yamaha, ITA, 0'39.505
18, Ivan Clementi, Triumph, ITA, 0'40.004
19, Danilo Dell'omo, Honda, ITA, 0'41.030
20, Graeme Gowland, Honda, GBR, 0'53.383
21, Balazs Nemeth, Honda, HUN, 1'10.076
22, Bryan Staring, Honda, AUS, 1'19.610
23, Midge Smart, Honda, NZL, 1'19.931


Best Lap

Rider, Manu., Nat., Total Time

Joshua Brookes, Honda, AUS, 1'34.079

Rider Standings 07/09/2008

Pos., Rider, Manu., Nat., Points
1, Andrew Pitt, Honda, AUS, 169
2, Joshua Brookes, Honda, AUS, 137
3, Jonathan Rea, Honda, GBR, 133
4, Broc Parkes, Yamaha, AUS, 119
5, Craig Jones, Honda, GBR, 100
6, Fabien Foret, Yamaha, FRA, 97
7, Joan Lascorz, Honda, ESP, 92
8, Barry Veneman, Suzuki, NED, 61
9, Robbin Harms, Honda, DNK, 60
10, Gianluca Nannelli, Honda, ITA, 51
11, Massimo Roccoli, Yamaha, ITA, 48
12, Gianluca Vizziello, Honda, ITA, 46
13, Matthieu Lagrive, Honda, FRA, 43
14, Chris Walker, Kawasaki, GBR, 36
15, Vesa Kallio, Honda, FIN, 23
25, David Salom, Yamaha, ESP, 9



Manufacturer Standings 07/09/2008

Pos., Manufacturer, Points

1, Honda, 240
2, Yamaha, 162
3, Suzuki, 70
4, Triumph, 61
5, Kawasaki, 42
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RACE REPORT - 07/09/2008

Pirro Sixth After Donington Superstock Battle

Michele Pirro (Yamaha Lorenzini by Leoni) was one of several fallers in the 12-lap 1000cc Superstock race, exiting after highsiding at the final hairpin on lap two, and restarting to finish 19th, out of the points.

Pirro remains fifth in the championship chase, with 83 points.

Claudio Corti (Yamaha Motor Italia Junior Team) fell in a first corner multiple-rider incident, and is 11th overall in the series.
Michelle Pirro (19th - Yamaha Motor Italia Lorenzini by Leoni) 
"I just lost the rear tyre and had to wait to get my bike restarted and that meant I was too far back to challenge. It's a shame but it was very tricky in those conditions."

Claudio Corti (DNF - Yamaha Motor Italia Junior Team) 
"I was out on the first corner, in a collision with other riders, and there was nothing I could do to carry on once we had stopped."
Baz Leads Despite Fall and Restart 
Loris Baz crashed his Yamaha Motor France Junior Team machine in the Superstock race but remounted to finish 12th, and defend his championship lead. He is now on 146 points to Vostarek's 121, with race winner Bussolotti third, on 106.

Gino Rea was third on his Yamaha machine.


Race 1 

Pos., Rider, Manu., Nat., Total Time

1, Xavier Simeon, Suzuki, BEL, 21'30.092
2, Alessandro Polita, Ducati, ITA, 0'16.109
3, Davide Giugliano, Suzuki, ITA, 0'34.318
4, Brendan Roberts, Ducati, AUS, 0'37.319
5, Jon Kirkham, Yamaha, GBR, 0'44.199
6, Maxime Berger, Honda, FRA, 0'45.533
7, Matteo Baiocco, Kawasaki, ITA, 0'47.888
8, Filip Backlund, Suzuki, SWE, 0'49.623
9, Barry Burrell, Honda, GBR, 0'50.461
10, Jure Stibilj, Honda, SVN, 0'51.416
11, Domenico Colucci, Ducati, ITA, 0'52.516
12, Raymond Schouten, Yamaha, NED, 1'1.720
13, Danny De Boer, Suzuki, NED, 1'2.726
14, Niccolo Rosso, Honda, ITA, 1'2.946
15, Gregory Junod, Yamaha, CHE, 1'5.181
16, Peter Hickman, Yamaha, GBR, 1'7.026
17, Franck Millet, MV Agusta, ITA, 1'10.043
18, Tommaso Lorenzetti, Suzuki, ITA, 1'10.558
19, Michele Pirro, Yamaha, ITA, 1'10.929
20, Yoann Tiberio, Kawasaki, FRA, 1'12.577
21, Aldo Aldrovandi, Kawasaki, ITA, 1'13.377
22, Marko Jerman, Yamaha, SVK, 1'18.026
23, Roy Ten Napel, Suzuki, NED, 1'18.515
24, Cameron Stronach, Kawasaki, AUS, 1'46.326


Best Lap

Rider, Manu., Nat., Total Time

Xavier Simeon, Suzuki, BEL, 1'46.033

Rider Standings 07/09/2008

Pos., Rider, Manu., Nat., Points
1, Brendan Roberts, Ducati, AUS, 122
2, Xavier Simeon, Suzuki, BEL, 120
3, Maxime Berger, Honda, FRA, 119
4, Alessandro Polita, Ducati, ITA, 114
5, Michele Pirro, Yamaha, ITA, 83
6, Davide Giugliano, Suzuki, ITA, 71
7, Andrea Antonelli, Honda, ITA, 57
8, Matej Smrz, Honda, CZE, 48
9, Chris Seaton, Suzuki, AUS, 36
10, Freddy Foray, Yamaha, FRA, 35
11, Claudio Corti, Yamaha, ITA, 33
12, Barry Burrell, Honda, GBR, 31
13, Michele Magnoni, Yamaha, ITA, 30
14, Kenny Foray, Yamaha, FRA, 24
15, Domenico Colucci, Ducati, ITA, 23
30, Sylvain Barrier, Yamaha, FRA, 4



Manufacturer Standings 07/09/2008

Pos., Manufacturer, Points

1, Ducati, 157
2, Honda, 141
3, Suzuki, 135
4, Yamaha, 106
5, Kawasaki, 49
6, KTM, 2