Bayliss and Nieto win in Losail

Eurosport - Sat, 23 Feb 19:55:00 2008

Troy Bayliss and Fonsi Nieto shared the wins in the opening round of the Superbike World Championship in Qatar.

Australia"s double WSBK champion Bayliss had the honour of scoring the Ducati 1098's maiden victory in the first encounter while Spaniard Nieto picked up his first race win since 2003 on the Suzuki GSX-R1000.

Race 1
Bayliss had to work hard for the win from eighth place on the opening lap. He put his wheels on the edge a few times as he made his way to the front and then had a terrific duel with Max Biaggi (Sterilgarda Go Eleven Ducati) on the final lap to seal victory. The Italian, in front from lap 12 to 17, went slightly wide and had to settle for second.

Third went to poleman Troy Corser (Yamaha Motor Italia), who ran in the top three throughout, while Ruben Xaus (Sterilgarda Go Eleven) made it three 1098s in the top four.

Max Neukirchner looked impressive on the Alstare Suzuki, leading for most of the first half of the race, eventually finishing fifth ahead of Carlos Checa (HANNspree Ten Kate Honda), while Noriyuki Haga (Yamaha Motor Italia) had a nasty high-side on lap seven.

"I guess it was special to take the 1098 to its first win and it's the first time I've had a win here at Losail," declared Bayliss.

"I thought it was going to be between me, Troy and Nori, but Neukirchner surprised me and Max did a good job as well. It was a hard race, I got a terrible start and had to really ride hard to get to the front.

"I made a couple of mistakes, eventually when I reached Max I was on the limit. Then it was a matter of playing our cards, he went a bit wide and that gave me the advantage to come home to the finish line."

Race 1 results
1. Troy Bayliss (Ducati)
2. Max Biaggi (Ducati) +0.396
3. Troy Corser (Yamaha) +1.878
4. Ruben Xaus (Ducati) +4.487
5. Max Neukirchner (Suzuki) +7.505
6. Carlos Checa (Honda) +9.639
7. Fonsi Nieto (Suzuki) +9.725
8. Yukio Kagayama (Suzuki) +19.537
9. Michel Fabrizio (Ducati) +23.156
10. Jakub Smrz (Ducati) +24.429
11. Roberto Rolfo (Honda) +27.595
12. Kenan Sofuoglu (Honda) +27.979
13. Gregorio Lavilla (Honda) +28.237
14. Noriyuki Haga (Yamaha) +30.205
15. Regis Laconi (Kawasaki) +31.882

Race 2
The second race saw a battle up front between Corser, who led for nine laps before fading, Biaggi, Xaus and Nieto.

Biaggi and Xaus both had spells in the lead but neither were able to shake off Nieto, who took over at the front with three laps to go. The Spaniard went on to take his first-ever WSBK win ahead of his compatriot Xaus and Biaggi.

The two factory Ducati riders Bayliss and Fabrizio were fourth and fifth with Corser finishing sixth.

"It's nice for me, I haven't won for four years and I'm really happy," said Nieto.

"When I arrived in World Superbike it was really difficult for me. I worked really hard for four seasons and this is a dream come true. We are not yet 100% with the frame of the bike but the engine is the best now, today I won because I had a really good engine. I rode with my mind and never gave up."

Race 2 results
1. Fonsi Nieto (Suzuki)
2. Ruben Xaus (Ducati) +0.301
3. Max Biaggi (Ducati) +1.321
4. Troy Bayliss (Ducati) +6.452
5. Michel Fabrizio (Ducati) +7.627
6. Lorenzo Lanzi (Ducati) +9.117
7. Troy Corser (Yamaha) +10.806
8. Max Neukirchner (Suzuki) +11.661
9. Jakub Smrz (Ducati) +13.269
10. Kenan Sofuoglu (Honda) +14.563
11. Carlos Checa (Honda) +15.953
12. Makoto Tamada (Kawasaki) +16.748
13. Noriyuki Haga (Yamaha) +18.356
14. Gregorio Lavilla (Honda) +26.311
15. Roberto Rolfo (Honda) +26.560

Riders points: 1. Bayliss 38; 2. Biaggi 36; 3. Nieto 34; 4. Xaus 33; 5. Corser 25; 6. Neukirchner 19; etc.

Manufacturers points: 1. Ducati 45; 2. Suzuki 36; 3. Yamaha 25; 4. Honda 16; 5. Kawasaki 5.