Troy Bayliss celebrated double victory once more this season as he climbed on to the top step of the podium in both of today's races at Assen. Troy and his Ducati 1098 F08 dominated both races, although the Australian rider faced something of a battle against Yamaha rider Haga in the second outing this afternoon. A perfect finish to a weekend in which Bayliss has been consistently strong, and these wins, his fourth and fifth of the ten races held so far this season, mean that his lead in the riders championship is extended to 70 points. Bayliss now holds 178 points and second-placed Checa has so far accumulated 108.
Noriyuki Haga secured a second place for his Yamaha Motor Italia WSB Team after another unsettled race day for the Japanese star, with a crash in race one preventing him from a potential double points score at one his favourite tracks. In the first race Haga fell on lap two, after colliding with Ruben Xaus at the slow De Strubben left hand corner. The second race of the day was run in warmer conditions than the first, with a track temperature of 31 degrees, and it offered Haga a real chance to make up for his first race disappointments. He ran eventual race winner Troy Bayliss close, taking second place by a margin of 0.082 seconds.
Troy Bayliss - Ducati Xerox - 1st/1st I'm very happy of course, it's been an incredible weekend. This is the last time I'll race Superbikes here at Assen. It's perfect in that the first time I raced at this track I had a big battle with Nori and now again here this year. That first year he won and so it's fitting that in my last visit here, this time I was able to beat him. We've been going well all weekend and were able to take pole and then I made a really good start in both races. I think I'm riding for the best team in the paddock at the moment so I thank my guys, the Ducati Xerox Team, again for their hard work, and we go to Monza with 50 extra points in the bag.
Race 1 Highlights
Race 2 Highlights
Noriyuki Haga - Yamaha Italia - DNF/2nd For sure I was unlucky for the first race but I'm very happy for the second place. It was a really tough race with Troy and I was looking for a way I could pass him but I couldn't find one. But I never gave up and tried my best until the last lap. You know, I'm very tired and now I'm looking forward to the next round at Monza, where I won both races last year. When I overtook Ruben I touched with him and then we fell. In race two I pushed hard all through the race and when I was following Bayliss he tried to get away near the end. But I could stay with him and even caught back up with him. I was following, waiting to see where I could pass but in the last few laps he rode the corners on a tight line and had good acceleration. I am disappointed with the first race and satisfied with the second, but not satisfied enough.
Carlos Checa - Hanspree Ten Kate Honda - 2nd/3rd I thought many times about Valencia and didn't want to make the same mistake twice, but Max slowed down a little before the end and when I saw clear road I passed him. He was behind and it was very close but it was nice to fight until the end and get onto the podium. [In Race 2] It was quite a bad start as usual for me, we need to improve that area. Of course it was a very hard race, we made some changes and I was not comfortable at the beginning, but I was able to keep a good pace and catch the guys in front of me and finish on the podium, which for us was a surprise because I didn't expect it at the end.
Max Neukirchner - Suzuki Alstare - 3rd/5th It's been a long time since I've been on the podium, the last time was in 2005 and I'm so happy right now to ride for the Suzuki factory team and it's a fantastic podium for me. I did a good job for this race, and also my team, and we worked really hard for this result. Race one was a fantastic race and a fantastic result for me. I was always with the front runners and felt very comfortable with them. I had some small problems with two right turns and maybe it was because I was using the rear brake too much that the front was moving round a bit. In race two, I think I overdid the front braking and after ten laps had a lot of problems with grip in the fast corners. So instead of pushing too hard, I decided to ride safely and get as many points as possible.
Troy Corser - Yamaha Italia - 5th/10th Towards the end of race one the rear tyre, maybe after two-thirds distance, lost grip on the right hand side. On the long rights, onto the back straight, it was spinning but not pushing. In race two I struggled with the front tyre a bit and used it up. I had no front left at the end. It was a bit rough with a couple of riders at one point, but that's normal, just racing.
Yukio Kagayama - Suzuki Alstare - 4th/6th Race one was better for me then race two because the bike feeling was better. I made a small mistake in the chicane and went into the gravel. I recovered OK but lost two positions and after that it was hard to catch up again. I used the same bike in race two, but the rear tyre feeling was not so good and there was quite a bit of vibration or chattering. If I tried to go any faster the vibration got worse, so I just had to ride as hard as I could and finish the race.
Ruben Xaus - Sterilgrada GMB Ducati - 16th/4th What a pity. I feel to be in my best form and I could run also a great race-1, but Haga made me tumble. I tried to take to the track again in order to get few points but I would have needed a couple of laps more to complete my recovery. In race-2 I defended my position in the first part of the race and then I moved my attack when I though that my rivals was slowing down. Unfortunately we paid a power gap compared to the 4-cylinders motorbikes and I could not get clear once passed Neukirchner. So Checa came across and passed me just some corners to the end.
Max Biaggi - Sterilgrada GMB Ducati - 10th/12th In this week-end we have been unable to improve the performance of the motorbike. We can not explain why we could not reach the levels of the best ones, both in the race and in the qualifying. We must immediately work to reverse the trend before Monza.
Fonsi Nieto - Suzuki Alstare - DNF/11th This was a weekend to forget. I don't why I highsided and crashed in the first race because it happened without any warning. I hit my left knee pretty badly and had to have a painkilling injection so that I could start the second race. But the problem was that there was not enough strength in my legs to move the bike around and I had to use my upper body instead - and that wasn't so easy.
Michel Fabrizio - Ducati Xerox - DNF/DNF I made quite a good start in race 1 but at the very first curve me and Smrz made contact and so I went wide and lost several places. I was able to make up a few places to reach sixteenth but my arm was pretty painful and I made a mistake in my braking and went off. Between the first and second race I went to the medical centre for treatment but unfortunately in Race 2 the pain in my right arm was much worse and I wasn't able to brake at all, which meant I had to stop. Tomorrow my arm will be operated on, in the hope that doing that immediately will mean I can be back on the bike as soon as possible. I am very disappointed with the outcome of the weekend but I need to fix my arm before I can be competitive again.
