Troy Corser (Yamaha Motor Italia WSB Team) moved from fourth to third in the championship standings after securing a second and a fourth place finish at Brno, as his team-mate Noriyuki Haga rode with all his spirit and skill to take sixth in race one and salvage a seventh from a pitlane start in race two.
Corser was on top form once more on raceday and in the 500th World Superbike race, the 13 points he took for his race two fourth place put him into overall third place in the championship, 12 points behind Max Neukirchner and 91 behind today's double race winner, Troy Bayliss. Each race saw Corser lead and fight for the podiums, for Haga Brno was a hard fought battle with two brilliant displays of riding to overcome firstly a third row grid position, and then a start from the pitlane.
In the first 20-lap race Corser contested the win until the final few laps, when eventual winner Troy Bayliss had taken a lead Corser could not make up, and he had to settle for second. Haga kept his championship points score on the move with a sixth place finish, moving through the field from 12th grid position.
In race two Corser's rear tyre spun on the wheel rim, and that caused an out-of-balance vibration that stopped him from taking his second podium of the day and a chance of his first race victory for Yamaha. Haga had a problem with his machine on the sighting lap and had to start the second race from pitlane, slicing through the pack to secure a top seven finish.
Haga remains fifth in the championship standings, with a total of 210 points to Bayliss' 309. The battle for second place right now features four riders all separated by only 20 points.
Shinichi Nakatomi (Team YZF Yamaha) was a superb 12th in race one at what is his favourite track, but neither David Checa (Yamaha GMT94) nor Sebastien Gimbert (Yamaha GMT94) finished the race, with Gimbert taken to the medical centre for checks. In race two Nakatomi was 15th, Checa was 16th and Gimbert, who was declared fit to ride again, was a retiree in pitlane.
Troy Corser (2nd and 4th - Yamaha Motor Italia WSB Team)
"In race one I was reasonably happy and the bike was working well for the first half of the race. The rear tyre just dropped off a little bit and we lost a few tenths after that. When Troy came past I tried to go with him but he had a bit more grip coming off the corners. But other than that we were pretty even. I pushed as hard as I could to stay with him but was careful not to throw away second. In race two we had a problem from about lap four or five.
As has happened in the past we have spun the tyre on the rim and there was a vibration through the bike in every part of the track. From then on it was a case of just holding on to see where we ended up. I kept looking back to see who was behind and just kept pushing as much as I could. If the tyre had not have spun on the rim then we would have been up the front. It's just disappointing because I was feeling good and the bike was good. We moved up to third today, which is a positive thing, but it could have been much better."
Noriyuki Haga (6th and 7th - Yamaha Motor Italia WSB Team)
"In race one my qualifying position did not help me, but I caught up to pass Neukirchner at the end and got some points. I'm not sure what was the problem with the bike in race two but the engine was not working right and I had to swap my bike. We swapped some settings from race one to race two on that spare bike and it worked quite well. I enjoyed the race because I had to make many passes, which was very exciting. I hope from this point on we can work in a good direction until the end of the year and improve our championship position."
Massimo Meregalli (Team Manager, Yamaha Motor Italia WSB Team)
"Troy rode very well today and took a podium finish that puts him third in the championship. So it is good news that he has moved up the rankings even if he had a problems in race two. There is nothing obviously wrong with Nori's bike in race two, we will find out in the workshop, and he rode really well from a start in pitlane, passing many riders because his race pace was very good. With a normal start he would be in front."
Shinichi Nakatomi (12th and 15th - Team YZF Yamaha)
"For me today race one was best. I like Brno very much to ride on and enjoyed the race very much. I found the second race to be harder but still enjoyed it and was happy with my result."
Circuit Length: 5403
Temp: 25
Crowd: 63000
Weather: Hot and Sunny
2008 WSB Czech Republic - Brno 20/07/2008 Race 1 - 20 Laps
1 Troy Bayliss Ducati AUS 40'22.724
2 Troy Corser Yamaha AUS 0'1.468
3 Michel Fabrizio Ducati ITA 0'3.272
4 Max Biaggi Ducati ITA 0'3.475
5 Ryuichi Kiyonari Honda JPN 0'3.791
6 Noriyuki Haga Yamaha JPN 0'9.120
7 Max Neukirchner Suzuki GER 0'9.358
8 Carlos Checa Honda ESP 0'11.787
9 Yukio Kagayama Suzuki JPN 0'17.228
10 Kenan Sofuoglu Honda TUR 0'17.705
11 Karl Muggeridge Honda AUS 0'22.347
12 Shinichi Nakatomi Yamaha JPN 0'25.563
13 Niccolo Canepa Ducati ITA 0'25.699
14 Fonsi Nieto Suzuki ESP 0'34.064
15 Gregorio Lavilla Honda ESP 0'36.545
Race 2 - 20 Laps
1 Troy Bayliss Ducati AUS 40'16.436
2 Michel Fabrizio Ducati ITA 0'0.928
3 Max Biaggi Ducati ITA 0'1.259
4 Troy Corser Yamaha AUS 0'1.785
5 Max Neukirchner Suzuki GER 0'3.942
6 Ryuichi Kiyonari Honda JPN 0'7.910
7 Noriyuki Haga Yamaha JPN 0'11.297
8 Fonsi Nieto Suzuki ESP 0'11.375
9 Yukio Kagayama Suzuki JPN 0'13.103
10 Kenan Sofuoglu Honda TUR 0'18.978
11 Jakub Smrz Ducati CZE 0'19.106
12 Roberto Rolfo Honda ITA 0'20.556
13 Lorenzo Lanzi Ducati ITA 0'21.775
14 Gregorio Lavilla Honda ESP 0'26.372
15 Shinichi Nakatomi Yamaha JPN 0'26.922
16 David Checa Yamaha ESP 0'27.109
Best Lap Troy Bayliss Ducati AUS 2'0.298
Rider Standings 20/07/2008
1. Troy Bayliss Ducati AUS 309
2. Max Neukirchner Suzuki GER 230
3. Troy Corser Yamaha AUS 218
4. Carlos Checa Honda ESP 215
5. Noriyuki Haga Yamaha JPN 210
6. Fonsi Nieto Suzuki ESP 161
7. Ruben Xaus Ducati ESP 148
8. Michel Fabrizio Ducati ITA 147
9. Max Biaggi Ducati ITA 146
10. Ryuichi Kiyonari Honda JPN 115
11. Yukio Kagayama Suzuki JPN 96
12. Lorenzo Lanzi Ducati ITA 83
13. Gregorio Lavilla Honda ESP 78
14. Jakub Smrz Ducati CZE 77
15. Karl Muggeridge Honda AUS 64
19. Shinichi Nakatomi Yamaha JPN 29
23. David Checa Yamaha ESP 7
24. Sebastien Gimbert Yamaha FRA 7
Manufacturer Standings 20/07/2008
1. Ducati 373
2. Yamaha 317
3. Suzuki 277
4. Honda 247
5. Kawasaki 64
- Yamaha -
