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04/27/2008 - 01:12 PM
Assen, Netherlands
Ducati Xerox's Troy Bayliss and Yamaha Motor Italia's Nori Haga (Photo: Yamaha Racing) ยป More Photos
Troy Bayliss (Ducati Xerox) powered to his second double of the year with two convincing wins at the Assen TT Circuit in the Netherlands in the fourth round of the HANNspree FIM Superbike World Championship front of 75,000 spectators.
Race 1: Bayliss powered to his fifth win at Assen in the opening race after a mistake by early leader Kagayama (Alstare Suzuki) on lap 12 left him with a gap at the chicane. The Australian then increased his lead over the following riders in the final laps to win by a margin of 2 seconds. Carlos Checa (Hannspree Ten Kate Honda) took the runner-up slot, in a sprint to the finish with Max Neukirchner (Suzuki Alstare). Kagayama took fourth from Troy Corser (Yamaha Motor Italia WSB), both riders holding off a late charge by Jakub Smrz (Ducati Guandalini). Seventh and eighth went to Kiyonari (Hannspree Ten Kate Honda) and Tamada (Kawasaki PSG-1 Corse), who faded after a good start. Tenth went to Max Biaggi (Sterilgarda Ducati). A clash in the opening laps eliminated two potential winners, Noriyuki Haga (Yamaha Motor Italia WSB) and Ruben Xaus (Sterilgarda Ducati).
Troy Bayliss: "I'm very happy with the way it turned out of course, but all the other guys were riding really well today. I made a really good start, pushed reasonably hard but Yukio was riding good and when he passed me, I thought I'd follow him for a while. He made a little mistake finally and I thought it was time to put my head down. I was turning round a bit, more than normal, but just wanted to keep an eye on how fast Carlos was coming through basically."
Carlos Checa: "I thought many times about Valencia and didn't want to make the same mistake twice, but Max slowed down a little before
Max Neukirchner: "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 2: Bayliss also took the win in race 2 after leading from lights to flag. He was pushed all the way by Haga, who was never able to pass him and in the end the gap was 0.082 seconds. Thanks to this win, the Australian has now increased his championship lead to 70 points over second-placed Checa. The Spanish rider grabbed the final podium position with a superb recovery from a bad start, overtaking Xaus on the final lap. Fifth place went to Neukirchner, the first Suzuki to the chequered flag, ahead of teammate Kagayama and Gregorio Lavilla (VentAxia VK Honda). Smrz finished in eighth place, ahead of Tamada (Kawasaki). It was another disappointing race for Max Biaggi, who struggle to twelfth, while Fabrizio retired.
Troy Bayliss: "It's been an incredible weekend, pole and two race wins on the last time I'm going to ride a bike around Assen in a race that's for sure. That was such a hard race to control it like I did, because Nori is so strong. I did all the tricks I could use in the last few laps to hold him off and was lucky enough to get it. I used a harder tire in the second race and my lap times are a lot more consistent so that was a good choice for sure. I think these guys here with me are my main contenders for the year at the moment."
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