Race Results
Team Alstare Suzuki Corona Extra rider Max
Biaggi won the first race at Vallelunga today, much
to the delight of his legions of fans who had packed
the 4.110 kilometer circuit, then followed that up
with a hard-fought for runner-up spot in race two to
move into second place in the World Superbike
Championship.
Biaggi overtook Bayliss after three
laps of the first race and then immediately began to
extend his lead lap by lap. He took the
checkered flag by a comfortable margin with Troy
Bayliss (Ducati) second and James Toseland third.
In race two, the Italian once again
battled Bayliss for the lead and looked as if he was
going to pass the Australian at the two-thirds
distance mark, but he ran wide at one of the turns
and lost ground. That was the breathing space
Bayliss needed. Although Biaggi charged back at
Bayliss, the gap was too great and he was forced to
settle for second place. Third went to Haga
ahead of Troy Corser (Yamaha), Roby Rolfo (Honda)
and Ruben Xaus (Ducati).
Biaggi's team mate Yukio Kagayama
was unable to race due to pain in his right hand and
knee - the result of his crash in Lausitz two weeks
ago.
Max Biaggi - Race 1: 1st,
Race 2: 2nd: "Winning the first race here in
front of my home fans is an incredible feeling.
It's been a long time since I raced at Vallelunga,
but the last time I was here, I won! So it's
good to come back with a win. It took me a few
laps to get going in race one but once I got past
Bayliss and into the lead, I was able to run at my
own pace. I kept an eye on my pit board and
ran consistent laps and that was good enough to take
the win. Winning a race is always special, but
to win at your 'home' track in front of your own
fans is even more special.
"Race two was very difficult race.
There was a lot of cement dust on the track after an
oil spillage in the race before. In some
places there was so much dust flying around that it
got on to my visor and it was hard to see where I
was going! We all settled into the race after
a few laps and I caught Bayliss and was ready to
make my move."
"But, in one turn, I nearly hit him
and avoiding him I ran a bit wide. That was
the key moment of the race because it gave him a bit
of a gap. My tires were spinning a bit, maybe
because of the higher temperatures, but it was the
same for everybody. I am a little disappointed
because I really want to win both races today - for
myself, my team and all the fans."
Yukio Kagayama - DNS:
"I knew this morning that it would not be possible
to race in my condition, so I made the decision
before the warm-up. It's a big shame because I
wanted to race but not if I would be a danger to the
other riders or if I could not ride safely. My
injuries need time to heal up so I am not sure about
Magny-Cours next weekend. I will see how it
all feels in the first day of qualifying and then
make up my mind."
Yamaha Team Report
In a day of dramatic racing, Yamaha came away
with both their rider and manufacturer championship
still hopes alive. Haga came third and fourth
in today's races with Corser finishing in fifth in
the second race after a DNF in race one.
Race one had a spectacular start as
Corser lost the front and crashed out on the first
lap while Haga almost crashed but managed to move
into third in front of Toseland. He then
proceeded to take the fastest lap three times to
catch Bayliss and Biaggi who were battling for
first. Having caught Bayliss, Haga tousled and
swapped places with him many times before Bayliss
made it stick on lap 17. The battle up front
had given Toseland the chance to catch up and
challenge Haga for third position; a challenge which
he eventually won.
Race two was equally exciting with
the usual suspects of Bayliss, Biaggi, Haga,
Toseland and Corser up front and challenging for
position. Bayliss took an early lead but Haga
was quick to chase, along with Biaggi. Corser,
in fifth, fought to get past Toseland until Toseland
crashed allowing Corser to get on with catching the
front runners up. The fight for first place
turned into a three-way battle between Bayliss, Haga
and Biaggi until Biaggi squeezed past the Yamaha
rider for second place on lap 13. From there
on the positions remained the same until the
chequered flag.
Shinichi Nakatomi had one of the
best rides of his WSB career today, taking a pair of
ninth place finishes. He made a good start in
race one to move up to ninth, where he finished.
Race two's start wasn't as good as he went down to
15th but he focused on the job in hand and managed
to claim ninth by the end of the race.
The outcome of today's races is that
Haga now lies third in the championship, 4 points
behind Biaggi and 33 points behind Toseland.
With 50 points still up for grabs at the final round
next weekend all three riders will be looking for
the all-important win. Yamaha lies second in
the manufacturer championship but only 3 points
adrift of Honda. Both championships will be decided
next weekend at Magny-Cours.
Noriyuki Haga (4th and 3rd -
Yamaha Motor Italia WSB Team): "Today was a
bit disappointing for me with regards to the tires.
I used the same tire in warm up as in the first race
but in the race it didn't work as well as I'd hoped.
I ended up focusing on my finishing position rather
than the race win because the grip had gone. I
chose to use my second bike for second race because
the two bikes feel quite different. I found it
to be better feeling with better engine delivery.
In the middle of the race I tried to catch Bayliss
but I was unable to and so had to settle for third
and 16 valuable points.
Next weekend at Magny-Cours is going
to be crazy with everyone going for the win but I'm
still confident and determined. I've reduced
the gap between Toseland and me and I'm not giving
up yet!"
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2007 World Superbike -
Vallelunga Results - September 30, 2007
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Circuit Length: 4110Temp: 21 |
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Crowd: 80,000 |
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Weather: Sunny |
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Race 1 - 24 Laps |
|
Pos. Rider Manu. Nat. Total
Time |
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1 Max Biaggi Suzuki ITA
39'24.967 |
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2 Troy Bayliss Ducati AUS
0'5.638 |
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3 James Toseland Honda GBR
0'7.452 |
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4 Noriyuki Haga Yamaha JPN
0'10.079 |
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5 Michel Fabrizio Honda ITA
0'22.257 |
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6 Lorenzo Lanzi Ducati ITA
0'25.662 |
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7 Regis Laconi Kawasaki FRA
0'34.811 |
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8 Fonsi Nieto Kawasaki ESP
0'38.075 |
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9 Shinichi Nakatomi Yamaha
JPN 0'39.070 |
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10 Vittorio Iannuzzo
Kawasaki ITA 0'47.702 |
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11 Jakub Smrz Ducati CZE
0'47.806 |
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12 Marco Borciani Ducati ITA
0'53.488 |
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13 Karl Muggeridge Honda AUS
0'54.509 |
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14 Steve Martin Yamaha AUS
1'1.967 |
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15 Yoann Tiberio Honda FRA
1'8.291 |
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Race 2 - 24 Laps |
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Pos. Rider Manu. Nat. Total
Time |
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1 Troy Bayliss Ducati AUS
39'30.861 |
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2 Max Biaggi Suzuki ITA
0'1.431 |
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3 Noriyuki Haga Yamaha JPN
0'4.466 |
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4 Troy Corser Yamaha AUS
0'13.766 |
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5 Roberto Rolfo Honda ITA
0'20.848 |
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6 Ruben Xaus Ducati ESP
0'21.930 |
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7 Lorenzo Lanzi Ducati ITA
0'29.847 |
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8 Fonsi Nieto Kawasaki ESP
0'29.986 |
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9 Shinichi Nakatomi Yamaha
JPN 0'40.126 |
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10 Max Neukirchner Suzuki
GER 0'40.733 |
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11 James Toseland Honda GBR
0'42.544 |
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12 Vittorio Iannuzzo
Kawasaki ITA 0'54.504 |
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13 Karl Muggeridge Honda AUS
0'55.024 |
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14 Steve Martin Yamaha AUS
0'55.304 |
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15 Yoann Tiberio Honda FRA
0'59.781 |
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Best Lap |
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Rider Manu. Nat. Total Time
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Noriyuki Haga Yamaha JPN
1'37.419 |
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Rider Standings as of
September 30,2007 |
|
Pos. Rider Manu. Nat. Points
|
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1. James Toseland Honda GBR
396 |
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2. Max Biaggi Suzuki ITA 367
|
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3. Noriyuki Haga Yamaha JPN
363 |
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4. Troy Bayliss Ducati AUS
341 |
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5. Troy Corser Yamaha AUS
267 |
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6. Lorenzo Lanzi Ducati ITA
192 |
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7. Ruben Xaus Ducati ESP 187
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8. Roberto Rolfo Honda ITA
177 |
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9. Max Neukirchner Suzuki
GER 136 |
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10. Michel Fabrizio Honda
ITA 123 |
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11. Regis Laconi Kawasaki
FRA 122 |
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12. Yukio Kagayama Suzuki
JPN 116 |
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13. Fonsi Nieto Kawasaki ESP
98 |
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14. Jakub Smrz Ducati CZE 66
|
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15. Shinichi Nakatomi Yamaha
JPN 61 |
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Manufacturer Standings
September 30, 2007 |
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Pos. Manufacturer Points
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1. Honda 420 |
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2. Yamaha 417 |
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3. Ducati 408 |
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4. Suzuki 386 |
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5. Kawasaki 165 |
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6. MV Agusta 1 |
Qualifying
Troy
Corser will start from second on the grid in
tomorrow's races, having been beaten by Troy Bayliss at
the last minute to the top slot by 0.126 seconds.
His team mate Noriyuki Haga took fifth position in a day of
set-up challenges and Superpole drama.
This morning's qualifying session
was an unremarkable affair with both riders focusing
on finding the best set-up for the race. Corser
started top of the leader board and remained there
until towards the end of the session. Despite
improving his own time by 0.009 seconds he was
marginally beaten to the top slot by Bayliss and
Xaus. Haga went eighth fastest in qualifying,
concerning himself with his settings rather than
grid position.
It was in Superpole that events got
exciting; Haga was first of the Yamaha Motor Italia
riders out of the box and he was the first rider in
the session to set a 1'36 time, despite suffering
with vision problems caused by his visor.
He was
later knocked off the top spot by Biaggi, who was
then ousted himself by Haga's team mate. With only
three riders left to go out Corser set a blistering
1'36.016 to take pole, only to be beaten by the
slimmest of margins by Bayliss.
Team Yamaha YZF rider Shinichi
Nakatomi suffered some bike chattering problems
during this morning's qualifying session, which
prevented him from improving on his time from
yesterday. He still managed to qualify in 13th,
allowing him into the afternoon's Superpole session.
In one of his best Superpole sessions of the season, Nakatomi went out and did his best lap time of the
weekend to claim tenth starting place.
Bayliss and Corser are joined on the
front row tomorrow by Xaus and Biaggi. Haga will be
looking to reduce his 41-point gap up to Toseland,
who starts in eighth following a crash in Superpole. With 73 WSB podium finishes in his career so far,
Haga will show his usual determination to climb
those podium steps in this penultimate round and
join Edwards in fourth place of all-time podium
finishes.
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Vallelunga Race Circuit |
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Vallelunga Track Data
Circuit Length: 3200 m
Fastest Lap Ever: 1' 35.890 (Troy Bayliss,
2007)
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Troy Corser (2nd - 1'36.016 - Yamaha
Motor Italia WSB Team):
"That Superpole lap was the best I could do - it was
100% maximum! There was no risk of crashing; it was
just a very smooth consistent lap. I thought it
would be good for the front row but I was very
pleased with the result."
"The first section was fast
and good but I just lost a little bit of drive at
the bottom of the hill in the second section. We've
got a good race set-up for tomorrow. We'll just try
and few small adjustments in the morning to make
sure."
"The two bikes are set up a bit differently at
the moment - one is better for the front, one is
better for the rear - and I think we'll try and make
them a bit closer together. But overall I've felt
good on the bike in every session so far this
weekend. I'm very happy with how this weekend has
gone so far!"
Noriyuki Haga (5th - 1'37.825 -
Yamaha Motor Italia WSB Team):
"As I exited the pit box I noticed that everything
looked a bit strange through my visor, as if I was
wearing prescription glasses. I removed a rip-off,
then another but it didn't make any difference - I
just couldn't see very clearly. This made me nervous
for the whole of my Superpole lap and put me off."
"Other than that I was feeling good on the Superpole
lap; it was just my visor causing me problems. But
the bike's feeling better and better with every
session. I have chosen a tire for tomorrow and feel
all set for the race now. We'll just make a final
check tonight and then we're ready."
Shinichi Nakatomi (10th - 1'37.775 -
Team Yamaha YZF):
"We changed some of the settings for this morning
but I had a small problem with chattering. This made
it difficult for me to be quicker than yesterday. During the afternoon practice session we tried a lot
of different settings to try and stop the
chattering."
"Bit by bit the bike was getting better. But then in the last five minutes I decided to take
the opposite direction with the settings and the
bike felt great! T hat's why I was able t do such a
good Superpole lap. I'm very pleased with tenth
place and I hope I can have a good race tomorrow."
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2007 World Superbike - Vallelunga
Qualifying - September 29, 2007
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Circuit Length: 4110
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Temp: 21
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Weather: Dry
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Superpole
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Pos. Rider Manu. Nat. Total Time
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1 Troy Bayliss Ducati AUS 1'35.890
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2 Troy Corser Yamaha AUS 1'36.016
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3 Ruben Xaus Ducati ESP 1'36.737
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4 Max Biaggi Suzuki ITA 1'36.925
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5 Noriyuki Haga Yamaha JPN 1'36.996
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6 Lorenzo Lanzi Ducati ITA 1'37.428
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7 Michel Fabrizio Honda ITA 1'37.430
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8 James Toseland Honda GBR DNF
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9 Roberto Rolfo Honda ITA 1'37.589
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10 Shinichi Nakatomi Yamaha JPN 1'37.775
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11 Marco Borciani Ducati ITA 1'37.902
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12 Max Neukirchner Suzuki GER 1'37.942
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13 Regis Laconi Kawasaki FRA 1'38.067
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14 Jakub Smrz Ducati CZE 1'38.110
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15 Vittorio Iannuzzo Kawasaki ITA 1'38.153
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