Corser Takes Race One Podium to Add to Superpole Win

Troy Corser had mixed fortunes on raceday at Losail, taking a fine third in race one but slipping backwards in race two to finish seventh as his tyres lost grip at half race distance. His team-mate Noriyuki Haga recovered from a crash in race one to secure an eventual 14th, and he was also in a leading position for much of race two, before the same lack of traction experienced by Corser made him drop through the field. He ended up 13th. Corser, the Superpole winner yesterday, was in sparkling early form in each race, looking set for a double podium finish at least. Haga 's race one crash came after Max Biaggi made a strong pass on the Japanese rider, and forced him wide, off the ideal racing line. Haga had set the best lap of the race in the first 18-lap contest, with a 1'59.217, before the lap record was broken in race two, by race winner Fonsi Nieto. Troy Bayliss won the first race, from Max Biaggi. Corser now leaves the Losail circuit fifth in the championship chase, on 25 points, with Haga 14th on five points. Troy Corser (3rd and 7th - Yamaha Italy WSB Team) "We made a tyre change between race one and race two just to be on the same tyres as everyone else. But it wasn't better it was worse. There was just no grip after a while and you can't race when you can't push hard. I'm really disappointed after getting Superpole yesterday, and it was obvious we had the speed to be competitive. That's about all I can say." Noriyuki Haga (14th and 13th - Yamaha Italy WSB Team) "Not such a great day after we started so well in each race. In the first race Biaggi took my front tyre and what can I say, it was a mistake. In race two I was following Troy and saving my time until the end but after nine laps I had chatter from the rear, then more the next lap, then it started moving, then there was no grip and I could not push any more. My wrist is sore so I have to rest that before the next race." Massimo Meregalli (Team Manager, Yamaha Motor Italia WSB Team) "This morning we made a choice of harder tyres, and this afternoon we went to the softer tyres of the other riders. Troy said that the traction was not enough in race one, so we decided to go with the ones that gave more performance. After ten laps, they were gone." Shinichi Nakatomi (21st and DNF - Team YZF Yamaha) "There was nothing I could do in race one because the tyre choice didn't give me any drive. In race two it started OK but then I was forced off the track. Disappointing but it is a strange circuit here." Martial Garcia(Team Manager, Team YZF Yamaha) "We were only in 21st position in race one because Shinichi chose a C tyre, the same as many riders, but it didn't have enough grip. In the second race somebody crashed in front of him and went into to gravel and rejoined after 30 seconds had passed. He carried on to test the tyre but when the grip dropped down he pulled in." Round 01 Losail, Qatar Track length: 5.380m Opened: 2004 Fastest Superbike lap: 1:58.053 (Troy Corser, Yamaha) Lap record: 1'59.156 (Fonsi Nieto, Suzuki) Last year's winners: Max Biaggi (Suzuki) and James Toseland (Honda) Ambient temperature: 24 degrees Weather: dry, sunny Race 1 - 18 Laps Pos., Rider, Manu., Nat., Total Time 1, Troy Bayliss, Ducati, AUS, 36'11.468 2, Max Biaggi, Ducati, ITA, 0'0.396 3, Troy Corser, Yamaha, AUS, 0'1.878 4, Ruben Xaus, Ducati, ESP, 0'4.487 5, Max Neukirchner, Suzuki, GER, 0'7.505 6, Carlos Checa, Honda, ESP, 0'9.639 7, Fonsi Nieto, Suzuki, ESP, 0'9.725 8, Yukio Kagayama, Suzuki, JPN, 0'19.537 9, Michel Fabrizio, Ducati, ITA, 0'23.156 10, Jakub Smrz, Ducati, CZE, 0'24.429 11, Roberto Rolfo, Honda, ITA, 0'27.595 12, Kenan Sofuoglu, Honda, TUR, 0'27.979 13, Gregorio Lavilla, Honda, ESP, 0'28.237 14, Noriyuki Haga, Yamaha, JPN, 0'30.205 15, Regis Laconi, Kawasaki, FRA, 0'31.882 16, Lorenzo Lanzi, Ducati, ITA, 0'32.067 17, Karl Muggeridge, Honda, AUS, 0'40.745 18, Ayrton Badovini, Kawasaki, ITA, 0'41.280 19, Vittorio Iannuzzo, Kawasaki, ITA, 0'41.333 20, Sebastien Gimbert, Yamaha, FRA, 0'41.743 21, Shinichi Nakatomi, Yamaha, JPN, 0'43.183 22, Ryuichi Kiyonari, Honda, JPN, 0'43.569 23, David Checa, Yamaha, ESP, 0'43.892 24, Russel Holland, Honda, AUS, 0'50.380 25, Shuhei Aoyama, Honda, JPN, 1'12.884 Race 2 - 18 Laps Pos., Rider, Manu., Nat., Total Time 1, Fonsi Nieto, Suzuki, ESP, 36'12.963 2, Ruben Xaus, Ducati, ESP, 0'0.301 3, Max Biaggi, Ducati, ITA, 0'1.321 4, Troy Bayliss, Ducati, AUS, 0'6.452 5, Michel Fabrizio, Ducati, ITA, 0'7.627 6, Lorenzo Lanzi, Ducati, ITA, 0'9.117 7, Troy Corser, Yamaha, AUS, 0'10.806 8, Max Neukirchner, Suzuki, GER, 0'11.661 9, Jakub Smrz, Ducati, CZE, 0'13.269 10, Kenan Sofuoglu, Honda, TUR, 0'14.563 11, Carlos Checa, Honda, ESP, 0'15.953 12, Makoto Tamada, Kawasaki, JPN, 0'16.748 13, Noriyuki Haga, Yamaha, JPN, 0'18.356 14, Gregorio Lavilla, Honda, ESP, 0'26.311 15, Roberto Rolfo, Honda, ITA, 0'26.560 16, Regis Laconi, Kawasaki, FRA, 0'26.683 17, Ayrton Badovini, Kawasaki, ITA, 0'26.821 18, Sebastien Gimbert, Yamaha, FRA, 0'28.650 19, Ryuichi Kiyonari, Honda, JPN, 0'33.150 20, Karl Muggeridge, Honda, AUS, 0'36.656 21, Russel Holland, Honda, AUS, 0'42.633 22, Shuhei Aoyama, Honda, JPN, 0'55.352 Best Lap Rider, Manu., Nat., Total Time Fonsi Nieto, Suzuki, ESP, 1'59.156 Rider Standings 23/02/2008 Pos., Rider, Manu., Nat., Points 1, Troy Bayliss, Ducati, AUS, 38 2, Max Biaggi, Ducati, ITA, 36 3, Fonsi Nieto, Suzuki, ESP, 34 4, Ruben Xaus, Ducati, ESP, 33 5, Troy Corser, Yamaha, AUS, 25 6, Max Neukirchner, Suzuki, GER, 19 7, Michel Fabrizio, Ducati, ITA, 18 8, Carlos Checa, Honda, ESP, 15 9, Jakub Smrz, Ducati, CZE, 13 10, Lorenzo Lanzi, Ducati, ITA, 10 11, Kenan Sofuoglu, Honda, TUR, 10 12, Yukio Kagayama, Suzuki, JPN, 8 13, Roberto Rolfo, Honda, ITA, 6 14, Noriyuki Haga, Yamaha, JPN, 5 15, Gregorio Lavilla, Honda, ESP, 5 Manufacturer Standings 23/02/2008 Pos., Manufacturer, Points 1, Ducati, 45 2, Suzuki, 36 3, Yamaha, 25 4, Honda, 16 5, Kawasaki, 5 ---------- RACE REPORT - 23/02/2008 Parkes Wins On new YZF-R6 As Foret Is Forced Out Broc Parkes scored a win on the 2008 Yamaha YZF-R6 first time out in World Supersport Championship, in a dramatic race that seemed almost certain to go the way of his team-mate Fabien Foret until the very last lap. Foret and Parkes had been looking for a one-two finish almost throughout, with Foret looking all set to win the 18-lap race, until he ran out of fuel on the very last lap. At that time he was leading by over two seconds from Joan Lascorz, Parkes and Craig Jones. Foret and the new Yamaha leave the circuit with the new lap record to their credit, a 2'02.626, set on lap nine. Unable to cross the finish line, Foret was not classified with a finish, but Parkes redoubled his efforts on a tense last lap to re-pass Lascorz on the home straight, and gain maximum points in round one. He now heads off to his home race at Phillip Island next week as the championship leader, on 25 points. David Salom continued his good form in qualifying through to raceday, earning a strong eighth place after a race-long fight with two other riders. Massimo Roccoli (Yamaha Team Italia Lorenzini by Leoni) retired on lap one with a clutch problem. Broc Parkes (1st - 37'05.271 - Yamaha World Supersport Team) "A good result for our side of the garage and the new YZF-R6 because at the end I was struggling a little bit for grip and when I saw Fabien go our I knew it was up to me to win so I pushed on anyway. I had a few front end slides on the last lap just because I was trying so hard, even though the tyres were good all race. I could still push them that hard at the end of the race and on the last corner I got into the slipstream and used the power of my Yamaha to get Lascorz over the line. It was a great win for me and we have struggled sometimes this weekend, but we got this season off to a good start. " Fabien Foret (DNF - Yamaha World Supersport Team) "It was really disappointing to be out of the race in such a fashion, especially as we had done so well all through practice, qualifying and the race itself. It was just fuel running out, not the bike, but it is still hard for the team and myself to take." Wilco Zeelenberg (Team Manager, Yamaha World Supersport Team) "It looked like two good results for almost all the race but bad luck for Fabien at the end. We filled the tanks completely before the race, that is sure, and our calculations showed we would have a safe amount of fuel left at the end of the race, obviously we used more. I am really happy for Broc to take the win and it is a relief after Fabien's misfortune. The season is long and we have two guys who can fight for the championship, but only one was able to get the result today. We won first time with an all new bike so we are happy, but we obviously have mixed feelings." Laurens Klein Koerkamp - YME Racing Division Manager "The story of raceday is clear - the bike was nearly perfect, the riders were nearly perfect, qualifying had been great and we just had some bad luck for Fabien at the end. It's a great result for Broc to win, especially in the first race for the new Yamaha YZF-R6, showing that the new roadbike technology works on the track as well." David Salom (8th - +17.888 seconds - Yamaha Spain World Supersport Team) "Not a bad race but my I didn't started very well and I could not make up the time in the first few laps. It was too late to go any higher than my group of riders, but it took us eight or nine races last year to reach the level that we have started this season at." Round 01 Losail, Qatar Track length: 5380m Opened: 2004 Fastest Supersport lap: 2:01.928 Fabien Foret (Yamaha) Lap record: 2:02.949 Sebastien Charpentier (Honda) Last year's winner: Kenan Sofuoglu (Honda) Race 1 Pos., Rider, Manu., Nat., Total Time 1, Broc Parkes, Yamaha, AUS, 37'5.271 2, Joan Lascorz, Honda, ESP, 0'0.048 3, Craig Jones, Honda, GBR, 0'0.755 4, Joshua Brookes, Honda, AUS, 0'9.502 5, Matthieu Lagrive, Honda, FRA, 0'11.962 6, Barry Veneman, Suzuki, NED, 0'17.428 7, Robbin Harms, Honda, DNK, 0'17.660 8, David Salom, Yamaha, ESP, 0'17.888 9, Chris Walker, Kawasaki, GBR, 0'25.883 10, Gianluca Vizziello, Honda, ITA, 0'32.236 11, Gregory Leblanc, Honda, FRA, 0'32.573 12, Ivan Clementi, Triumph, ITA, 0'35.117 13, Miguel Praia, Honda, POR, 0'36.390 14, Vesa Kallio, Honda, FIN, 0'36.608 15, Katsuaki Fujiwara, Kawasaki, JPN, 0'37.096 16, Didier Van Keymeulen, Suzuki, BEL, 0'38.526 17, William De Angelis, Honda, ITA, 0'42.675 18, Lorenzo Alfonsi, Kawasaki, ITA, 0'43.375 19, Mirko Giansanti, Honda, ITA, 0'44.319 20, Santiago Barragan, Honda, ESP, 0'45.924 21, Ilario Dionisi, Triumph, ITA, 0'47.277 22, Attila Magda, Honda, HUN, 1'24.963 23, Danilo Dell'omo, Honda, ITA, 1'25.440 24, Josep Pedro Subirats, Yamaha, ESP, -1 Laps Best Lap Rider, Manu., Nat., Total Time Fabien Foret, Yamaha, FRA, 2'2.626 Rider Standings 23/02/2008 Pos., Rider, Manu., Nat., Points 1, Broc Parkes, Yamaha, AUS, 25 2, Joan Lascorz, Honda, ESP, 20 3, Craig Jones, Honda, GBR, 16 4, Joshua Brookes, Honda, AUS, 13 5, Matthieu Lagrive, Honda, FRA, 11 6, Barry Veneman, Suzuki, NED, 10 7, Robbin Harms, Honda, DNK, 9 8, David Salom, Yamaha, ESP, 8 9, Chris Walker, Kawasaki, GBR, 7 10, Gianluca Vizziello, Honda, ITA, 6 11, Gregory Leblanc, Honda, FRA, 5 12, Ivan Clementi, Triumph, ITA, 4 13, Miguel Praia, Honda, POR, 3 14, Vesa Kallio, Honda, FIN, 2 15, Katsuaki Fujiwara, Kawasaki, JPN, 1 Manufacturer Standings 23/02/2008 Pos., Manufacturer, Points 1, Yamaha, 25 2, Honda, 20 3, Suzuki, 10 4, Kawasaki, 7 5, Triumph, 4