Suzuki dominates World Superbike Championships

Ducati facing a big challenge

Seventh and fourteenth respectively were all that Ducati works riders Regis Laconi and James Toseland could manage in a windy first race after starting from rows 2 and 3 respectively.”I never had to ride so hard to stay on the bike because the front was just going away all the time‚” declared Laconi. ”I lost it five times at the same place at 220 kph because of the wind or the tyres, I don’t know which. It was so crazy that I couldn’t even stay on the bike and I just did the best I could do. I passed everyone to move up to fourth and thought I was OK but then it was so difficult because after 6 or 7 laps the bike was just so hard to ride.”

Toseland instead had problems with his rear tyre, which prevented him from making an impact on the race. ”I got a bad start and almost went off at the first corner and that dropped me down to fifteenth. After that I just started to lose grip very early on and that was it for my race‚” he declared.

Race 2 was red-flagged for rain after just over half-distance, with Laconi four seconds behind Corser in second place. In the final ten laps, which were run on full wets, Laconi did his best to maintain that position but had a nasty moment when he lost control of the rear of his 999 at Lukey Heights and crashed. The Frenchman was able to restart but eventually finished seventh overall.

Ducati won 18 of 22 races last year and on the showing so far, will struggle to win more than a handful of races this year given the increased competition and the re-emergence of the four cylinder machines as they overcome their airbox restrictions.

Foggy Petronas

Foggy PETRONAS Racing’s joy in qualifying second on the grid for the second round of the Superbike World Championship at Phillip Island, Australia, turned to despair on race day. The day had started full of promise after Steve had qualified in second spot, with Garry in seventh, but neither rider was able to finish either race with both retiring from the first race through mechanical problems before crashing out of the restarted wet section of the second race.

Yamaha close but no cigar

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