2008 World Superbike Championship - Round 8 - Misano

Race Results
Surprise wins today at Round 8 of the 2008 World Superbike Championship in Misano, San Marino.

German Max Neukirchner took first place in the first race on his Suzuki, with the charging Ruben Xaus winning the second race on his Ducati.

Perhaps Xaus was re-focused after the announcement this week that he will be racing for BMW on their brand new S 1000 RR Superbike next year?

Pole position starter Troy Corser (Yamaha Motor Italia WSB Team) looked set for his first win of the 2008 season on two occasions at Misano but he had to settle for a second in race one and a good points score of fifth in race two after running off track and ultimately avoiding a crash.

He also set a new lap record, 1'37.580, on lap two of race two, which he led for 10 laps.

In the opening 24-lap race Corser looked on for his first win of the year in race until Max Neukirchner surprised the whole paddock by turning a tenth place in qualifying into a race win. Haga was struggling through the race and finished just behind Shinichi Nakatomi (Team YZF Yamaha) who had two great races in the points, ninth and then 15th. Race two was taken by Ruben Xaus, from Max Biaggi.

Troy Corser (2nd and 5th - Yamaha Motor Italia WSB Team): "Race one was looking really good until Max Neukirchner appeared and our whole weekend hasn't been bad in general. Our rear tire moved about a bit more in the second race than the first, especially under braking. We had made a couple of little changes to the front suspension for the second one, but not enough to affect the rear in any way. I ran on when the bike jumped out of gear in the second and lost some time, and the chance of a second podium."

2008 World Superbike - San Marino - Misano June 29, 2008

Race Results - Circuit Length: 4,060. Temp: 31. Crowd: 68,000

Weather: Hot and Sunny

Race 1 - 24 Laps

1 Max Neukirchner Suzuki GER 39'27.918

2 Troy Corser Yamaha AUS 0'0.542

3 Troy Bayliss Ducati AUS 0'2.249

4 Ruben Xaus Ducati ESP 0'3.028

5 Carlos Checa Honda ESP 0'5.408

6 Lorenzo Lanzi Ducati ITA 0'5.518

7 Jakub Smrz Ducati CZE 0'6.202

8 Gregorio Lavilla Honda ESP 0'18.279

9 Shinichi Nakatomi Yamaha JPN 0'19.072

10 Noriyuki Haga Yamaha JPN 0'19.132

11 Yukio Kagayama Suzuki JPN 0'28.098

12 Fonsi Nieto Suzuki ESP 0'34.385

13 Shuhei Aoyama Honda JPN 0'34.572

14 Ryuichi Kiyonari Honda JPN 0'34.902

15 David Checa Yamaha ESP 0'39.979

16 Sebastien Gimbert Yamaha FRA 0'44.669

Race 2 - 24 Laps

1 Ruben Xaus Ducati ESP 39'19.710

2 Max Biaggi Ducati ITA 0'1.035

3 Troy Bayliss Ducati AUS 0'4.158

4 Noriyuki Haga Yamaha JPN 0'5.466

5 Troy Corser Yamaha AUS 0'6.759

6 Lorenzo Lanzi Ducati ITA 0'13.468

7 Max Neukirchner Suzuki GER 0'15.221

8 Carlos Checa Honda ESP 0'16.687

9 Jakub Smrz Ducati CZE 0'17.030

10 Fonsi Nieto Suzuki ESP 0'17.681

11 Michel Fabrizio Ducati ITA 0'21.356

12 Yukio Kagayama Suzuki JPN 0'28.676

13 Ryuichi Kiyonari Honda JPN 0'31.304

14 Gregorio Lavilla Honda ESP 0'32.339

15 Shinichi Nakatomi Yamaha JPN 0'33.716

16 David Checa Yamaha ESP 0'34.171

Best Lap: Troy Corser Yamaha AUS 1'37.580

Rider Standings as of June 29, 2008

1. Troy Bayliss Ducati AUS 259

2. Max Neukirchner Suzuki GER 210

3. Carlos Checa Honda ESP 207

4. Noriyuki Haga Yamaha JPN 191

5. Troy Corser Yamaha AUS 185

6. Fonsi Nieto Suzuki ESP 151

7. Ruben Xaus Ducati ESP 148

8. Max Biaggi Ducati ITA 117

9. Michel Fabrizio Ducati ITA 111

10. Ryuichi Kiyonari Honda JPN 94

11. Yukio Kagayama Suzuki JPN 82

12. Lorenzo Lanzi Ducati ITA 80

13. Gregorio Lavilla Honda ESP 75

14. Jakub Smrz Ducati CZE 72

15. Karl Muggeridge Honda AUS 59

19. Shinichi Nakatomi Yamaha JPN 24

23. David Checa Yamaha ESP 7

24. Sebastien Gimbert Yamaha FRA 7

Manufacturer Standings as of June 29, 2008

1. Ducati 323

2. Yamaha 284

3. Suzuki 257

4. Honda 226

5. Kawasaki 64

Qualifying
Troy Corser (Yamaha Motor Italia WSB Team) was the fastest rider going into the Superpole contest at Misano and despite being down in the first two splits he rallied on the final section of the 4.226km circuit to record an outstanding 1'35.993 second lap.

That new track best time delivered Corser his 42nd career Superpole win, extending his record to exactly twice as many as the next best riders in the all-time rankings.

The Misano circuit has proved to be bumpier than last year, but its altered layout proved no challenge to Corser, who was simply peerless in getting the most out of the available grip from the track surface in the two days of qualifying and practice. He is looking for his first win of the 2008 season, despite some tremendous front-running rides and five podium finishes so far.

Such was the intensity of the practice sessions that Corser and Haga were the only Yamaha riders inside the top 16 places after regulation qualifying, and thus David Checa (Yamaha GMT94) in 18th place was not in Superpole, despite setting a time only 1.462 seconds from Corser's pre Superpole best. Shinichi Nakatomi (Team YZF Yamaha) earned a 20th spot on the grid, with Sebastien Gimbert (Yamaha GMT94) 21st fastest.

Troy Corser (1st - 1'35.993 - Yamaha Motor Italia WSB Team): "Practice has been going well and we've found a good setting for the race tomorrow. We made some changes for Superpole, and it helped the bike. I feel I can push the bike as hard as I want to and it feels just like it did in Germany. It's always good to beat Ducati here in qualifying or Superpole or a race. It is going to be two long races tomorrow in the heat, so we'll see how we go then."

2008 World Superbike Round 8 - San Marino - Misano June 28, 2008

Circuit Length: 4,060. Weather: Hot

Superpole

1 Troy Corser Yamaha AUS 1'35.993

2 Troy Bayliss Ducati AUS 1'36.106

3 Ruben Xaus Ducati ESP 1'36.189

4 Michel Fabrizio Ducati ITA 1'36.403

5 Max Biaggi Ducati ITA 1'36.506

6 Lorenzo Lanzi Ducati ITA 1'36.609

7 Jakub Smrz Ducati CZE 1'36.652

8 Regis Laconi Kawasaki FRA 1'36.691

9 Fonsi Nieto Suzuki ESP 1'36.746

10 Max Neukirchner Suzuki GER 1'36.856

11 Carlos Checa Honda ESP 1'37.143

12 Makoto Tamada Kawasaki JPN 1'37.183

13 Yukio Kagayama Suzuki JPN 1'37.243

14 Noriyuki Haga Yamaha JPN 1'37.395

15 Karl Muggeridge Honda AUS 1'37.950

Race Preview
Team Suzuki - Team Suzuki Alstare rider Yukio Kagayama will be back in action at this weekend's eight-round World Superbike Championship race at Misano in Italy after breaking a bone in his left hand at the Nurburgring.

The Japanese rider lines up with Fonsi Nieto and Max Neukirchner aboard their GSX-R1000s at the 4.180 kilometer track which is situated only a short distance from the Adriatic coastline and has been a regular on the calendar since 1991.

Misano Race Circuit by Massimo Meregalli (Yamaha Motor Italia Team Manager)
"We treat every race in the calendar the same but because our team is based in Italy it does mean Misano is more work and there are always simply more things to do. But to race in Misano is always a good thing.

After our good results in Germany we have a really high level of team morale. We are, like always, trying to improve our machine and we would like to do all the things we can to be more competitive again in Misano. It is a very different place from the Nürburgring.

We will consider the set-up we used last year for the Misano race, but when you find a good base like we have now, usually we don't change it so much from race-to-race. I think we are ready and both riders are determined. We can do a god job."

2007 Results
Race 1: Bayliss Aus-Ducati), 2 Corser (Aus-Yamaha), 3 Yukio Kagayama (J-Suzuki Alstare), 9 Max Neukirchner (D-Suzuki), Fonsi Nieto (E-Kawasaki) DNF.

Race 2: 1 Bayliss , 2 Haga (J-Yamaha), 3 Biaggi (Suzuki Alstare), 4 Yukio Kagayama (J-Suzuki Alstare), 10 Max Neukirchner (D-Suzuki), 12 Fonsi Nieto (E-Kawasaki).