Michel Fabrizio: “It was a great race, I was a bit off the pace half-way through the race but when I got back into the rhythm immediately after, I went to catch Max and passed him on the last lap. I had made a couple of attempts to pass him in the previous laps but this time I made it stick.”

Race 2
Bayliss again went on to pick up the win in race 2, on a track that has always proved to be difficult for Ducati in the past.

Thanks to these wins, the Australian has increased his championship lead to 79 points over Neukirchner, fifth at the flag. Fabrizio and Biaggi put on a terrific battle for the runner-up slot, which eventually went to the Xerox team rider with another passing move on the last lap. Fourth went to Corser, after the Australian had led for the first half of the race, and Kiyonari again had another good run to finish sixth.

Checa retired with a mechanical problem, while Haga finished in seventh place after starting last from the pit lane on his second R1 machine.

Troy Bayliss: “Obviously I'm very happy with how the results have turned out, it's really great for me in the championship, but today I rode two really good races. I was feeling quite confident but Corser was setting a good pace until two-thirds distance, so then I thought it was time to go. It took quite a while and then in the end the guys behind were coming fast, but I didn't have many laps to do and relaxed a bit.”

Michel Fabrizio: “These two races were really good for me, this one maybe even better than the first. Unfortunately I again lost touch half-way through and was unable to stay with the other guys. I don't know why because my 1098 was perfect and towards the end I began to set some good times again.”

Max Biaggi: “Fabrizio was my shadow today! It was very tough here, but I tried my best and in the last lap he came so close and overtook me. I tried to come back and was desperate braking on the last corner. Third place is good however, I rode in the top group all the time. Hopefully things will be better next race, but this is a good result.”

FIM Supersport World Championship

Jonathan Rea (Hannspree Ten Kate Honda) scored his first win in his rookie World Supersport season, the talented young Northern Ireland rider edging out team-mate Andrew Pitt on the line.

The Australian has now increased his championship lead to 32 points. The final podium slot went to Joshua Brookes (Hannspree Stiggy Motorsport Honda), ahead of Broc Parkes (Yamaha World Supersport) and Barry Veneman (RES Software Suzuki), the Dutchman scoring his best result of the season. Gianluca Nannelli (Honda Althea) was sixth, while Craig Jones (Parkalgar Honda) and Robbin Harms (Hannspree Stiggy Motorsport Honda) were both out of luck, retiring with mechanical problems while battling for the lead.

© CAPSIS International