Yamaha on Every Step of the Podium

The weather was kind to the World Superbike Championship today as the rain disappeared and the sun came out while Haga and Corser took three podiums between them; one on each step of the podium. Haga took the win in race one and rounded it up with a second place in race two, while Corser finished third in the first race and fifth in the second.

Race one started well for Haga as he went from eighth to second in the first few laps. Undeterred by the gap that Bayliss had created between first and second, Haga just put his head down and reduced the margin lap by lap until the two riders were tyre to tyre on lap 14. Haga made his move on the next lap with a traditional Haga-style close pass and then just kept going. He finished the race a clear 11 seconds ahead of the rest of the field; his fourth win of the season.

Corser got off to a poor start in race one, almost high-siding in the second corner, and he slid back to ninth before turning the power back on and making way up through the field again. By lap eight he had made his way to fourth position and was hunting down Biaggi 6.2 seconds ahead in third. By lap 18 the gap had reduced to nothing and Corser tried valiantly to pass Biaggi In the end he had to settle for third as his tyres wore off.

The second race of the day got off to a mixed start with Corser dropping to sixth and Haga climbing to fifth. Haga wasted no time in passing through the field to once again chase down lead-man Bayliss. Corser meanwhile was challenging Xaus for fifth; a challenge he won going into the first turn. He then focused on finding a way past Toseland for fourth place; a battle which was to last the rest of the race with the riders in the order in which they had begun.

By lap nine Haga and Bayliss were dicing with each other and, on lap 14, a mistake by Bayliss gave Haga the chance he was looking for and he grabbed it to take the race lead. But, four laps from the end Bayliss managed to get past Haga, who was forced to settle for second.

Team Yamaha YZF rider Shinichi Nakatomi had a good day's racing taking 11th in race one and 15th in race two. Race one was the highlight of the day for the young Japanese rider and he takes six points away with him.

Today's results have boosted Haga's second place standing; he is now only 41 points behind first with two rounds still to go.

Noriyuki Haga (1st and 2nd - Yamaha Motor Italia WSB Team) "I feel happy with my result in both races today. The first race was the perfect result; even though my tyre started to wear off I was able to take the win. I made a minor suspension change for race two but then didn't get as good a start as I wanted because of a small mistake. This meant I had to use more rear tyre during the race to chase and challenge Bayliss. Towards the end the tyre started sliding and I just couldn't keep up the pace with Troy.

Today has reduced the margin on my championship challenge; it has given me more potential to win and I'm now feeling more focused than ever and I'm going to push right to the end for the title. I'd like to thank the team and Öhlins for all their efforts in getting the bike working right this weekend."