2005 World Superbike & Supersport Championships - Round 1
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Image Gallery ( 13 images )February 28, 2005 The 2005 World Superbike Championship is shaping as the most exciting in years, with at least a dozen riders with a realistic chance of taking the title and four marques competing for each race win after the first round was held at the Losail circuit in Qatar on the weekend - a distinct change from the Ducati processions of the last few years. The surprise winner of the first of twelve rounds of the World Superbike Championship was Yukio Kagayama, indicating that the new Suzuki GSX-R1000 is likely to be as competitive on the racetrack in superbike form as it is on the road, and the Suzuki quinella has installed former World Superbike Champion Troy Corser as favourite for the title after one round. Bookmakers have installed the 1996 world champion as a firm favourite for the title ahead of Regis Laconi (Ducati 999), 2004 Champion James Toseland (Ducati 999), Chris Vermeulen (Honda CBR 1000RR) and hard-charging crowd favourite Nori Haga (Yamaha R1). Pictured above are Laconi, Kagayama and Corser on the podium at Losail, Qatar,
Corser finished the round with a first and third on his Alstare Corona Suzuki, collecting 41 points and giving him second place on the day behind Kagayama's second and first place (45 pts). For Corser, who has been in motorcycling's wilderness for the last few years as the lead rider on the Foggy Petronas Team, he clearly enjoyed having a motorcycle that was powerful and competitive from the outset and had luck gone his way, he could easily have left Qatar with a double victory.
Bookmakers are quoting Corser at 2.6 for the title after the first round, which could be termed surprising given that he finished ninth and twelfth in the title in the last two years and scored no points at all in 2002.
But in his tenth year on the World Superbike circuit (he began in 1995 but sat out the entire 2002 season waiting for the Foggy petronas Team to finish building the bike), he has been around for long enough to know every track on the circuit (he won the first race at Qatar, a track completely new to everyone), and he's now back on a very fast bike and clearly as hungry as ever to show he can deliver.
Corser was comfortably leading the first race when the rain came after ten laps. By the time it was restarted, the track had dried and this time Corser was third, behind team mate Kagayama and the Ducati of Regis Laconi. Corser was so close to Laconi that he knew he would win on aggregated time.
It was Corser's first SBK race win since 2001 and as he spoke to the press after the first race it was clear he was relieved to have returned to the winner's circle and clearly demonstrated to everyone he was still a force, not least to himself. In a year that has seen the birth of his son Kalani and marriage to long-term partner Sam, Corser looks set to be a major part of the 2005 season outcomes.
It was also Suzuki's first win since 2001, though the 1000cc four is clearly a very different beastie to the 750 that took the 2001 win.
While the wet weather testing just prior to the Qatar race and the wet practice and first race made it difficult to sort a set-up that worked for most teams, the overwhelming message is that Suzuki, Yamaha and Honda all have competitive machines this year, and Ducati will need to really stretch itself if it is to keep its remarkable Superbike record going.
Since missing the title by one point to Honda-mounted Colin Edwards in 2002 (when Honda pulled out of the Superbike Competition), Ducati has won all but four of the 48 races in the last two seasons and quite frankly, the championship had all but lost its credibility - how can you have a world motorcycle championship based on street machines without the participation of any of the "Big Four" Japanese factories.
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