Corser on podium

From Yamaha Racing

PHILLIP ISLAND, AUSTRALIA -- Troy Corser went through one race of joy and endured one non-finish at the challenging Phillip Island circuit in Australia Sunday, taking a masterful second place in race one but falling out of contention for the podium places in race two.

On his home track, Corser had to work hard with his Yamaha Motor Italia WSB Team to find a good raceday set-up and he made adjustments between races to improve it still more, finding great gains until his race finished early.

Noriyuki Haga celebrated his 33rd birthday Sunday but not in the way he wished on the racetrack, taking eighth in race one and seventh in race two. He found traction issues in each 22-lap race, following on from similar concerns in qualifying at Phillip Island.

A dramatic race one had to be restarted after a startline incident, when Michel Fabrizio's machine stalled on the line and was struck first by the unsighted David Checa (Yamaha GMT94 Team) and then more powerfully by privateer Vittorio Iannuzzo, who was injured in the impact, breaking his left wrist. As Iannuzzo lay trackside the race was red-flagged, and a complete 22-lap restart called.

In the second race, Corser was fast off the line, too fast for the race officials, and he was given a jump-start penalty in controversial circumstances. Unsure if the penalty signal was for him, he carried on initially, but fell on lap 5, having led for three laps and looking strong for another podium finish at least.

Corser was uninjured by his high-speed crash exiting the first left-hand corner, and felt he must have slid off on oil or water lying on the racing line.

Fast starting in each race, Haga was forced to go backwards through the field, having a lonely race towards the end of the first contest, but working hard in race two to defend his seventh place finish.

Even with his race two no score, Corser is fourth in the championship chase, with 45 points, while Haga, who has scored in every race so far, is on 22 points, holding ninth place.

Checa was lucky to escape the race one startline incident with only a badly cut left foot.

"There were a few tough passes in that first race, but I never panicked even when I got run wide a couple of times. The bike wasn't perfect and we were moving around a bit too much. We were going as fast as we could sideways," Corser said. "We made changes for race two and it was a lot better. Overall a podium in race one was not too bad.

"They definitely held the start too long in race two. It was like the starting light was on, on and then on some more, then it went off. It was way too long to wait. I knew I had moved, but I had stopped again. Anyway I felt much more confident on the bike and in control in race two but it seemed to me that there was a small line of oil on the corner and that's what it felt like - tucking the front on oil."

Race 1 Results
1. Troy Bayliss, Ducati, AUS, 34:22.933
2. Troy Corser, Yamaha, AUS, 4.221
3. Michel Fabrizio, Ducati, ITA, 4.738
4. Ruben Xaus, Ducati, ESP, 5.171
5. Fonsi Nieto, Suzuki, ESP, 5.543
6. Carlos Checa, Honda, ESP, 5.895
7. Max Neukirchner, Suzuki, GER, 5.964
8. Noriyuki Haga, Yamaha, JPN, 14.826
9. Ryuichi Kiyonari, Honda, JPN, 18.899
10. Roberto Rolfo, Honda, ITA, 20.633
11. Gregorio Lavilla, Honda, ESP, 21.601
12. Karl Muggeridge, Honda, AUS, 29.281
13. Lorenzo Lanzi, Ducati, ITA, 29.500
14. Kenan Sofuoglu, Honda, TUR, 30.030
15. Shinichi Nakatomi, Yamaha, JPN, 30.223

Race 2 Results
1. Troy Bayliss, Ducati, AUS, 34'35.284
2. Carlos Checa, Honda, ESP, 1.127
3. Fonsi Nieto, Suzuki, ESP, 4.395
4. Ruben Xaus, Ducati, ESP, 6.621
5. Max Neukirchner, Suzuki, GER, 11.550
6. Ryuichi Kiyonari, Honda, JPN, 11.620
7. Noriyuki Haga, Yamaha, JPN, 12.049
8. Gregorio Lavilla, Honda, ESP, 12.134
9. Russel Holland, Honda, AUS, 13.462
10. Karl Muggeridge, Honda, AUS, 15.519
11. Kenan Sofuoglu, Honda, TUR, 16.225
12. David Checa, Yamaha, ESP, 21.959
13. Sebastien Gimbert, Yamaha, FRA, 21.989
14. Makoto Tamada, Kawasaki, JPN, 29.106
15. Shinichi Nakatomi, Yamaha, JPN, 29.219

Best Lap
Troy Bayliss, Ducati, AUS, 1:32.516

Rider Standings
1. Troy Bayliss, Ducati, AUS, 88
2. Fonsi Nieto, Suzuki, ESP, 61
3. Ruben Xaus, Ducati, ESP, 59
4. Troy Corser, Yamaha, AUS, 45
5. Carlos Checa, Honda, ESP, 45
6. Max Neukirchner, Suzuki, GER, 39
7. Max Biaggi, Ducati, ITA, 36
8. Michel Fabrizio, Ducati, ITA, 34
9. Noriyuki Haga, Yamaha, JPN, 22
10. Gregorio Lavilla, Honda, ESP, 18