Haga wins, Corser scores podium

From Yamaha Racing

VALENCIA, SPAIN -- Yamaha Motor Italia WSB Team rider Noriyuki Haga could not have had two bigger contrasts in his raceday at Valencia, taking a superb win in the second 23-lap contest Sunday but crashing out of the opener at high speed.

His teammate Troy Corser was rewarded for a consistent first race ride with a podium finish in third, and then went on to score a fighting fifth in race two.

Corser's podium came in a race where 20 riders finished and there were many high profile incidents. Corser was a lonely third eventually, some seven seconds from the win. Haga crashed out of race one, losing the front at the first corner on lap 4 as he tried to make up for qualifying 10th in Superpole.

In race two Haga led for the second half of the race, and his margin of victory over championship leader Troy Bayliss was 1.551 seconds. Corser, who had been pushing hard throughout and got tangled up with Ruben Xaus for some time, found it impossible to keep his early pace and finished eight seconds from his teammate.

"I was upset after race one because I was not expecting to lose the front at that point and I felt the bike was working OK," Haga said. "In the early laps of race two I was a bit worried because I had to use my second bike and I had to get my confidence back in the front. It was OK and when I understood that it was possible to win I pushed hard and didn't make any mistakes, which kept Bayliss behind me."

Shinichi Nakatomi secured a fine 11th place in the incident-strewn first race, then finished 16th in race two. David Checa (Yamaha GMT94) followed up his qualifying place of 14th with a point for 15th place, while his teammate Sebastien Gimbert (Yamaha GMT94) was involved in a three-rider crash on lap 2 of race one and did not start race two, as he only had one machine at his disposal here.

Results
Race 1 - 23 Laps
1. Lorenzo Lanzi Ducati 37:1.894
2. Troy Bayliss Ducati -2.987
3. Troy Corser Yamaha -7.287
4. Fonsi Nieto Suzuki -11.992
5. Carlos Checa Honda -12.824
6. Karl Muggeridge Honda -13.125
7. Gregorio Lavilla Honda -13.191
8. Regis Laconi Kawasaki -13.906
9. Makoto Tamada Kawasaki -17.254
10. Roberto Rolfo Honda -18.606
11. Shinichi Nakatomi Yamaha -19.858
12. Kenan Sofuoglu Honda -23.350
13. Russel Holland Honda -23.577
14. Jakub Smrz Ducati -24.082
15. David Checa Yamaha -26.611
Race 2 - 23 Laps
1. Noriyuki Haga Yamaha 37'3.590
2. Troy Bayliss Ducati -1.551
3. Carlos Checa Honda -2.903
4. Ryuichi Kiyonari Honda -7.277
5. Troy Corser Yamaha -8.051
6. Yukio Kagayama Suzuki -9.223
7. Ruben Xaus Ducati -10.164
8. Max Biaggi Ducati -10.614
9. Regis Laconi Kawasaki -17.234
10. Fonsi Nieto Suzuki -18.100
11. Gregorio Lavilla Honda -18.288
12. Lorenzo Lanzi Ducati -18.826
13. Michel Fabrizio Ducati -21.770
14. Jakub Smrz Ducati -22.872
15. Kenan Sofuoglu Honda -25.224

Rider Standings
1. Troy Bayliss Ducati 128
2. Fonsi Nieto Suzuki 80
3. Troy Corser Yamaha 72
4. Carlos Checa Honda 72
5. Ruben Xaus Ducati 68
6. Noriyuki Haga Yamaha 47
7. Max Biaggi Ducati 44
8. Lorenzo Lanzi Ducati 42
9. Max Neukirchner Suzuki 39
10. Michel Fabrizio Ducati 37
11. Gregorio Lavilla Honda 32
12. Ryuichi Kiyonari Honda 30
13. Kenan Sofuoglu Honda 22
14. Karl Muggeridge Honda 20
15. Yukio Kagayama Suzuki 18