CORSER EXTENDS WSB SERIES LEAD
30 May 2005 - Suzuki Racing

Team Suzuki''s World Superbike Championship leader Troy Corser raced to two close second places at today''s British fifth round at Silverstone and increased his series lead over team-mate Yukio Kagayama to 78 points.

In the opening race, the Alstare Suzuki Corona Extra rider finished neck-and-neck with Regis Laconi (Ducati) and in the second, it went down to the wire with World Champion and local hero, James Toseland (Ducati).

The first of the two 28-lappers featured a tremendous three-way dice between Corser, Noriyuki Haga (Yamaha) and Regis Laconi (Ducati) until the 25th lap when Haga''s R1 suffered an engine problem. That left Corser chasing Laconi for the last three laps but, try as he could, he could not get past the Frenchman and so he settled for second place. Third place went to current world champion James Toseland (Ducati) - much to the delight of the home fans.

Race two was equally thrilling and started with a five-rider battle involving fast-starting Haga, Corser, Kagayama, Laconi and Toseland. But Laconi''s dreams of taking a double vanished when he crashed out on lap two, leaving four to carry on the fight.

Corser took the lead on lap four but after Kagayama started dropping back, it was Haga and Toseland who took up the challenge. Corser led at the half way point, but three laps later, Toseland stormed to the front and, despite a fierce fight back from Corser, he held on to take the chequered flag for his first ever World Superbike win on his home soil.

Corser was a comfortable second, with Haga third and although Kagayama had problems, he kept going and finished seventh.

Troy Corser - Race 1: 2nd, Race 2: 2nd:

''Both races were hard ones today but I knew they were going to be that way before we started because I didn''t believe anybody would be able to make a big breakaway.

''I got a good start in race one and led for half the distance but, although I opened up a bit of a gap on Haga and Laconi, I just couldn''t shake them. When Laconi came past, I thought I would keep close and see if I could pass at the end. But, my bike was spinning up a bit and I couldn''t get good drive exiting the final chicane. So although I could catch Laconi, I couldn''t get past him.

''In race two, it was a bit of the same except this time it was Haga and Toseland who I was fighting with. Toseland was on a mission and I tried my best but in the end I decided that second would be good for championship points. Possibly I could''ve pushed harder but probably I would''ve crashed. At the end, I didn''t even know that Laconi hadn''t finished. Although I didn''t win today, I extended my Championship lead and that''s what it''s all about.''

Yukio Kagayama - Race 1: 11th, Race 2: 7th:

''I am disappointed today because I thought I could get maybe two podiums, but a crash in the first race ruined my plans. I got back on the bike as soon as I could, but I had dropped from sixth to 16th position in the process. I fought as hard as I could and managed to get 11th position.

''In between the two races we changed the set-up of the bike because I didn''t have a good feeling in the first race. But the set-up we had for the second race did not give me a good feeling either and it was not possible for me to push as hard as I wanted. I tried my best, but I didn''t want to crash again so I made sure I brought the bike home. I am particularly disappointed because I have many British fans here and I wanted to do well in front of them.''

Superbike Results:

Race 1: 1 Laconi (I-Ducati), 2 Corser (Aus-Alstare Suzuki Corona Extra), 3 Toseland (GB-Ducati), 4 Vermeulen (Aus-Honda), 5 Chili (I-Honda), 6 Walker (GB-Kawasaki), 7 Neukirchner (D-Honda), 8 Bussei (I-Kawasaki), 9 Cardoso (E-Yamaha), 10 Muggeridge (Aus-Honda). 11 Kagayama (J-Alstare Suzuki Corona Extra).

Race 2: 1 Toseland, 2 Corser (Aus-Alstare Suzuki Corona Extra), 3 Haga (J-Yamaha), 4 Vermeulen, 5 Chili, 6 Walker, 7 Kagayama (J-Alstare Suzuki Corona Extra), 8 Abe (J-Yamaha), 9 Pitt (Aus-Yamaha), 10 Muggeridge,

World Superbike Points: 1 Corser 222, 2 Kagayama 144, 3 Vermeulen 141, 4 Laconi 112, 5 Toseland 98, 6 Walker 74, 7 Pitt 70, 8 Haga 68, 9 Chili 66, 10 Abe 62.

SUPERSTOCK 1000:

Team Alstare Suzuki Corona Extra rider Riccardo Chiarello was forced to retire from today''s third-round European Superstock 1000 Championship at Silverstone with a mystery clutch problem.

He had been looking comfortable in fourth place at the time and was about to mount a charge for the podium on the 12th lap when the problem worsened.

The 15-lap race featured a tremendous scrap between Roccoli (Yamaha), Sofuoglu (Yamaha) and Coxhell (Suzuki), with the result in doubt until the final lap.

Roccoli led going into the final chicane, but Sofuoglu tried an ambitious move into the left-hander. For a moment he was ahead but he got in way too hot and he missed his line. Roccoli nipped through to take the lead and the win with Coxhell second and Sofuoglu third.

Riccardo Chiarello - DNF (12 laps):

''On the warm-up lap, I felt a small problem with the clutch but it was too late to do anything about it and I had no choice but to start the race like that. I made a good start and was second after the first lap, but that was probably the highlight of the race for me because after that the clutch started giving me more problems. I kept going as best I could, but had to pull in and retire. I hope that I have better luck in the next race at Misano.''

Superstock 1000 Results: 1 Roccoli (I-Yamaha), 2 Coxhell (Aus-Suzuki), 3 Sofuoglu (Tur-Yamaha), 4 Van Keymeulen (NL-Yamaha), 5 De Angelis (I-Yamaha), 6 Rocamora (I-Suzuki), 7 Martinez (E-Yamaha), 8 Scassa (I-Yamaha), 9 Iannuzzo (I-MV Augusta), 10 Polita (I-Suzuki). Chiarello (I-Alstare Suzuki Corona Extra) DNF.

Superstock 1000 Championship Points: 1 Sofuoglu 66, 2 Roccoli 61, 3 Coxhell 47, 4 Van Keymeulen 44, 5 De Angelis 24, 6 Martinez 19, 7 De Marco 18, 8 Sacchetti 17, 9 Polita 15. 10 Chiarello (I-Alstare Suzuki Corona Extra) 13.

SUPERSTOCK 600:

Team Alstare Suzuki Corona Extra rider Xavier Simeon crashed out of Saturday''s Superstock 600 European Championship race as he contested a podium position.

The teenager made a good start and was sixth at the end of the first lap. He then moved up to fifth two laps later, but his dreams of taking a podium vanished when he crashed on lap eight, fortunately without any serious injury.

Italian Corti (Yamaha) led the race from start-to-finish and ran out the winner four seconds ahead of his nearest rival, Frenchman Tiberio (Honda) with fellow countryman Berger (Honda) third.

Xavier Simeon - DNF (8 laps):

''I am disappointed because, when I was in fifth, I thought I had a good chance of getting a good result. It''s a great shame because this is a hard championship and you need to take as many points as you can in every race. I intend making up for it in the next round at Misano.''

Superstock 600 Results: 1 Corti (I-Yamaha), 2 Tiberio (F-Honda), 3 Berger (f-Honda), 4 Canepa (I-Kawasaki), 5 Napoleone (F-Kawasaki), 6 Antonelli (I-Kawasaki). Xavier Simeon (B-Alstare Suzuki Corona Extra), DNF.

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