Round 1 of World Superbikes promises spectacular year

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Round 1 of World Superbikes promises spectacular year

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February 26, 2006 The World Superbike and Supersport Championships got underway on Saturday at the Losail circuit in Qatar, and already the indications are that both championships will see a much closer result than last season. Troy Bayliss returned to the Ducati Xerox superbike team after three years in MotoGP, and after the first two races of the year he leads the title with 40 points (two second places) from 2005 Champ Troy Corser’s Alstare Suzuki Corona Extra and James Toseland’s Winston Ten Kate Honda which both scored a win and a fourth place for 38 points. Had it not been for a first race crash by Yamaha Motor Italia rider Noriyuki Haga, who took out Corser’s Suzuki teammateYukio Kagayama with both riders battling for the win, the vastly improved Yamaha might have taken the win. With at least four makes capable of winning, the 13-round, 26-race series looks set for yet another year of spectacular racing. In the Supersports class Yamaha’s ride-by-wire 2006 Yamaha YZF-R6 debuted with a second place and promises a realistic threat to dominant Ten Kate Honda CBR600RR rider Sebastien Charpentier as the season unfolds.

Qualifying – Bayliss resumes three years on

That Troy Bayliss is better suited to riding a superbike than a grand prix bike became immediately obvious in the pre-season where his name was at the top of the list on every leaderboard every day of combined testing. Describing his Xerox Ducati 999 superbike as “just like my 2002 bike with more horsepower”, he continued his fast pace from day one to record the fastest lap in regulation qualifying on Friday, and subsequently took the Superpole win quite comfortably, marking his return to SBK racing in the best possible style.

His team-mate Lorenzo Lanzi made it a superb day of action for the twin-cylinder faction, running to second place, some 0.332 seconds from Bayliss. The 2001 World Champion’s Superpole lap of 1’59.696 was a new track best in qualifying, and was posted on race tyres, not qualifiers. Bayliss preferred the feel of tyres he was used to after extensive winter testing, and with only one day of dry testing at this race, he opted for a softer race tyre.

The superpole times panned out as 1 Bayliss Ducati 999 F06 1'59.696 2 Lanzi Ducati 999 F06 2'00.028 3 Pitt Yamaha YZF R1 2'00.110 4 Toseland Honda CBR 1000RR 2'00.112 5 Corser Suzuki GSXR1000 K6 2'00.206 6 Haga Yamaha YZF R1 2'00.613 7 Kagayama Suzuki GSXR1000 2'00.895 8 Muggeridge Honda CBR 1000RR 2'00.745 9 Martin Petronas FP1 2'00.940 10 Barros Honda CBR 1000RR 2'00.960 11 Rolfo Ducati 999 F05 2'01.072 12 Walker Kawasaki ZX10R 2'01.137 13 Nieto Kawasaki ZX10R 2'01.155 14 Chili Honda CBR 1000RR 2'20.695 2'01.781 2'02.038 15 Fabrizio Honda CBR 1000RR 2'22.655 2'02.437 2'02.596 16 Borciani Ducati 999 F05 2'21.778 2'02.449 2'03.150

First Race: Toseland inherits the win

2004 champion James Toseland was dumped from the Ducati Xerox team last year after a particularly lacklustre year in 2005 but steadfastly maintained his silence. His reward was to pick up a ride on one of the fastest and best sorted machines in the paddock – the Winston Ten Kate Honda CBR1000RR ridden to numerous victories towards the end of 2005 by Chris Vermeulen who vacated the ride to pursue a MotoGP carrer.

Toseland yesterday was rewarded with the ultimate debut by scoring his maiden win in the Winston Ten Kate Honda team in the opening 18-lap contest at Losail. He had been fourth on the grid after scoring fourth quickest time in Superpole, but a poor start dropped him to tenth overall after one lap. He battled back through the field and was poised to score a podium behind leading duo Noriyuki Haga and Yukio Kagayama, until Haga's crash ruled both Japanese out on the last lap.

Troy Bayliss, the Superpole winner on Ducati, was second, with early leader Andrew Pitt (Yamaha) third. Perhaps the most disappointing race of all was that of defending champion Troy Corser who finished fourth and would have been a distant sixth had it not been for the last lap crashes

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