Xerox Ducati takes first win for new 1098
- From: TRS Media | Published: February 23rd, 2008 - 3:03 pm
Troy Bayliss took the opening win of the 2008 HANNspree World Superbike Championship season this morning at Qatar.
Bayliss said: “It is a special win for me, my first at Losail and the first for the new 1098. Yesterday was hard, but we are back today. It was a hard race and I had a terrible start which meant I had to ride hard. I made a few mistakes and was on the limit. On the last lap Max (Biaggi) ran a bit wide and I managed to get past.”
When the lights went green for the first race of the season it was the Alstare Suzuki of Max Neukirchner that headed to turn one leading the pack, closely followed by pole sitter Troy Corser and Max Biaggi. Bayliss had a bad start and was sitting in eighth on the opening lap.
Neukirchner lead the way until lap five, when the Yamaha Motor Italia machine of Troy Corser made a move at turn one. Meanwhile, Bayliss was moving through the pack and by lap six was trying to close in on the leading pack of Corser, Neukirchner, Noriyuki Haga and Biaggi who had pulled a slight advantage.
On lap seven Biaggi barged pass Haga, the Japanese ace was clearly frustrated by the move and took his hand of the bar, causing him to high-side out of fourth place. He picked the bike up out of the gravel but finished the race in 14th place after rejoining the race in 19th place.
Neukirchner passed Corser on the main straight, but Bayliss was the man on the move, and by lap nine the Xerox Ducati was at the front of the pack, closely followed by Neukirchner, Biaggi and Corser.
Bayliss was clearly on the limit and on lap nine was past the Alstare Suzuki, but on the next lap Bayliss went wide and touched the gravel, loosing him time and dropping him back to fourth.
Biaggi was then in a strong position to try and steal the lead from Neukirchner, and after swapping places several times he final made the move stick on lap 12.
Bayliss clearly was going to settle for nothing less than the race win, passing Corser to take third on lap 13 and on the next lap moving to second after a move on Neukirchner.
The last three laps was a battle of the Ducatis with Corser in a safe third place. Bayliss tried to steal the lead from Biaggi, but when he made a move Biaggi would be right back past at the next opportunity.
On the final lap Biaggi held the advantage, but on the final corner he ran wide leaving just enough room for the Xerox Ducati to edge through, giving Bayliss the first ever win for the new Ducati 1098 and the first WSB win of the season.
Biaggi said: “I had a good start and when I saw the Yamaha and Suzuki in front I was a bit shocked. They were fast on the straight and I couldn’t pass. The more laps I had the more confident I got with the bike. It is not easy to pass here but I tried my best. Second is not too bad, but first place is sweet. My fans should watch out for me in race two.”
Former British Superbike rider Gregorio Lavilla ended the race in 13th on the Paul Bird Motorsport Vent Axia VK Honda, whilst reigning BSB champion Ryuichi Kiyonari was 22nd on the HANNspree Ten Kate Honda.
