Bayliss and Corser already on top of the world

Round Two - Qatar

Troy Corser leads Troy Bayliss and team mate Yukio Kagayama in pursuit - round one Qatar. Photo courtesy of www.irpr.com.au

Australia’s most successful World Superbike riders – Troy Bayliss and Troy Corser – are already in full flight following a superb opening to the 2006 championship at the Losail International Circuit in Qatar on February 25.

Corser (Suzuki GSX-R1000), the reigning world champion, and Bayliss (Ducati 99F06), returning from a three-year stint in MotoGP, cleared out from the field in the second 18-lapper at Losail, which may be a portent of what’s in store at Phillip Island’s round two next Sunday (March 5).

Corser, 34, showed staunch resistance to win that outing by 1.025sec – despite an ongoing clutch problem. It was Corser’s 32nd World Superbike victory, leaving him only behind four-time world champion Carl Fogarty (59).

However, Bayliss heads to Australia with the all-important championship lead – by 2pts (40 to 38) over Corser and 2004 champion James Toseland (CBR1000RR), who has replaced the departed Chris Vermeulen in the Honda camp.

In a round where another notable MotoGP exile, Alex Barros, made his World Superbike debut at the age of 36, Toseland won the opening race at Losail by a scant 0.008sec from Bayliss and another Australian, Andrew Pitt (Yamaha YZF-R1).

Toseland is now the 12th rider to win a World Superbike race for Honda.

But it was the reprisal of the Troy Show that lived up to all the pre-event hype, with the two having not locked horns in earnest since the 2001 season, when Bayliss won his one and only title for Ducati, and Corser was on an Aprilia.

Corser was fourth in race one – which should have been sixth had the pacesetting Japanese duo Yukio Kagayama (GSX-R1000) and Noriyuki Haga (YZF-R1) not crashed on the final lap.

In race two, Corser passed Haga on lap seven, and led for the balance – despite polesitter Bayliss’ valiant lunge on the penultimate corner.

“Phew that was a hard day’s work,” said Corser. If the whole season is like today, there are going to be an awful lot of tired riders out there at the end.

“Considering how well the winter tests went at Phillip Island, it was strange to have any problems here - but that’s what happened. We’re using a new clutch this year and it worked perfectly in the tests, but today it gave us problems in both races.

“It was good being back at the front of the pack again and I kept pushing hard for as long as I could. Towards the end, I could hear this noise and knew it was probably Bayliss on the Ducati. I overdid it a bit at the last turn and nearly let him through, but I managed to keep the thing upright and then blast my way to the line and the chequered flag.

”I think we all knew that this year is going to be tough - maybe the toughest ever. There are a lot of good riders and the level has definitely gone up. It’s important to win races for sure, but it’s more important to be consistently in the points and high up as possible for as many races as possible.”

Corser’s consistency has never been an issue, with the dual world champion now having finished in the points in the last 26 races.

Meanwhile, Bayliss is also beyond reproach when it comes to getting the job done, with the Taree-reared 36-year-old finishing on the podium in 18 of the last 20 World Superbike races, dating back to 2002.

His sentiments after race two were similar to Corser’s – this is going to be a long, arduous and competitive season.

“It was hard work today,” declared Bayliss. "Everyone was riding very well and their machines were also working well.

“The second race was a long one and I really wanted to get a better start than what I did but I found myself again in fourth and fifth in the group. I was a bit unsettled and it took me till two thirds of the race until everyone started to suffer before I could make my move. I put my head down and was trying everything to get past people.

“With two laps to go, I was making ground on Corser and we had a good fight in the end. But my timing was a little bit off for the last corners and he covered it well.

“Today the best I could do was second so I'm reasonably happy with the results. Everything is going well however and I'm looking forward to Phillip Island.”

Meanwhile, Pitt, now in his second year with Yamaha on an all-new machine, reproduced the strong form he showed during Losail’s 2005 inauguration. His third in race one, sandwiched between Bayliss and Corser, was his maiden appearance on a World Superbike podium, and he spent the majority of race two in the same position before eventually being shuffled back to fifth.

Pitt is in fourth on 27pts, ahead of Barros (19pts), impressive newcomer Michel Fabrizio (CRB1000RR, 19pts), Haga (16pts) and yet another MotoGP cast away, Roberto Rolfo (Ducati 999F05, 12).

Haga only scored points for his third place in race two, as well as tearing strips off Frenchman Sebastien Gimbert’s one-year-old lap record. Haga’s benchmark around the 5.380km circuit now stands at 2.00.061.

Of the remaining Aussies, new-dad Karl Muggeridge (CFB100RR) snuck into the top 10 in race two after a disappointing opener (12th), while Steve Martin (Foggy Petronas) was again lamenting a lack of acceleration on the FP1 triple. He finished out of the points with a pair of 18ths.

However, Martin, like the rest of the Aussie phalanx, loves Phillip Island, and a strong qualifying result at the seaside circuit – he was second fastest behind Corser during pre-season testing - way be enough off a foundation to see him back among the leaders.

On the other hand, Bayliss and Corser are the quintessential Phillip Island go-to men. Bayliss swept all before him in the 2002 round, the year he set the current lap record – 1:33.019.

Meanwhile, Corser has five wins at the circuit – a performance only matched by fellow Aussie Anthony Gobert.

Corser claimed maximum points in last year’s round, as he motored to six wins in the opening eight races. He also blitzed during pre-season testing, going well under Bayliss’ lap record.

Haga and Pitt are also proven Phillip Island hard chargers, while Barros pushed the peerless Valentino Rossi all the way in the 2002 Australian Grand Prix.

In World Supersport at Losail, reigning champion Sebastien Charpentier (Honda CBR600RR) led all the way in a processional affair to score a 5.396sec win over venerable Aussie Kevin Curtain (Yamaha YZF-R6).

Third was Supersport rookie, Charpentier’s Turkish teammate Kenan Sofuoglu (CBR600RR).

Australians Josh Brookes (Ducati 749R) and Anthony Gobert (YZF-R6) also scored points in 10th and 12th respectively, while Dean Thomas (Kawasaki ZX-6RR) and Broc Parkes (YZF-R6) failed to finish.

The Australians will now head to Phillip Island full of optimism, with 39-year-old Curtain (2001) and Brookes (2004) both having won World Supersport races at the 4.448km circuit in past years.