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WSBK Nuerburgring mega-update

Posted by Staff
Monday, 16 June 2008
Page 1 of 6 From Ducati WSBK Press BAYLISS INCREASES HIS CHAMPIONSHIP LEAD WITH A PODIUM FINISH AT THE NUERBURGRING Nuerburgring (Germany) Sunday 15th June: another day of unstable weather conditions made for two interesting races today at the Nuerburgring. Race 1 was restarted due to rain, but then subsequently declared a dry race, and saw Troy Bayliss (Ducati Xerox) caught up in a fantastic battle for victory against Yamaha rider Noriyuki Haga. Haga eventually took the win with Bayliss coming home in second and Neukirchner in third. Team-mate Michel Fabrizio also got a great start in Race 1 and battled for third place during the first half of the race before gradually slipping back slightly to conclude the race in eventual seventh position. In Race 2, Bayliss again made a strong start and fought this time against not just one, but both factory Yamaha riders, Haga and Corser. The race was brought to its conclusion five laps ahead of schedule due to rain, which meant that Bayliss and Fabrizio concluded proceedings in fourth and sixth positions respectively. Troy Bayliss has today further increased his championship lead, now holding 227 points, ahead of Carlos Checa who remains in second with 188 points, while Michel Fabrizio remains in eighth place with 108 points. Ducati continues to lead the manufacturers championship with 282 points ahead of Yamaha (251 points). Troy Bayliss (Race 1 - 2nd, Race 2 - 4th) "I've had a difficult day and have had to ride very hard, too hard in Race 2. After seeing Nori's consistency in this morning's warm-up I thought he was going to be the man to beat today and that proved to be the case. After about two-thirds of Race 1 I was doing everything I could to stay with him and although at one point I thought I might be able to take the win, in the end Nori won fair and square. My congratulations go to him, he rode a great race, bearing in mind he broke his collarbone just two weeks ago! We made a small change to the bike set-up for Race 2 but this didn't help and riding over the limit meant I made a couple of small mistakes. I'm lucky to come away with more of a points lead over Carlos but at the same time I've given away points to Nori and Max (Neukirchner)... We will test this week in Mugello and so we plan to work more on the settings in order to be able to finish off the corners better because that's where I'm struggling a bit at the moment." Michel Fabrizio (Race 1 - 7th, Race 2 - 6th) "All things considered we are happy with today's results. In Race 1 I lost the front a couple of times which meant I also lost my concentration a little during the final laps. I finished in fourth, but the guys ahead of me all rode a great race and so I am satisfied with the position I took. In Race 2 I had a bit of a run-in with Xaus who touched me as he passed. The way the race ended was a bit unusual but anyway, at the end of the day I have earned another 19 points which is of course the most important thing and although I stay in eighth place in the classification I've significantly increased my points total. Now we move on to Misano where I hope for a great result in front of the Italian fans!" << Start < Prev 1 2 3 4 5 6 Next > End >>

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