Bayliss extends lead despite DNF

The lucky break for the Australian came amidst another day of incredible racing at the Italian high-speed mecca, which saw a combined winning margin of just 0.067secs over the two races as German Max Neukirchner (Suzuki) and Japan's Noriyuki Haga (Yamaha) shared victories.

Bayliss, who started from pole position, was third in race one, just over half a second behind Neukirchner, but was then forced out of the second 18-lapper with an oil leak on his factory Ducati.

Fortunately for the dual world champion, his closest challenger in the title, Spain's Carlos Checa (Honda), also failed to last the distance in race two, which saw him maintain a massive 78pt (194 to 116) buffer over the Spaniard.

Earlier, Checa was a lowly eighth in race one after a poor start from the front row of the grid, allowing Bayliss to sneak 8pts further ahead in the 14-round title.

"I knew today's races would be hard and that proved to be the case," said Bayliss. "In race one I felt the bike was missing a couple of things and struggling on the long corners, but in the end I was happy to take a third place.

Monza was a battle of attrition, with Bayliss and Checa also joined on the sidelines in race two by world No. 3 Max Biaggi (Ducati) and Japan's Yukio Kagayama (Suzuki).

Kagayama was all over the back of Bayliss in a blanket finish to race one, which saw Neukirchner become the first German to win a world Superbike race since the title's inception in 1988.

The victory was well received after he was cruelly robbed of victory in race one at Valencia when Checa cannoned into him on the last turn after he had led all the way.

Neukirchner and Haga didn't waste anytime in getting back down to business in race two, where they were joined by Bayliss, until his demise, and Japan's Ryuichi Kiyonari in his first visit to Monza.

The heralded Kiyonari, a dual British Superbike winner, has finally got his Honda set-up the way he'd like, and he led on the final lap before Haga and Neukirchner edged past in a gripping finish.

Haga's final winning margin over Neukirchner was just 0.009secs, with Kiyonari only centimetres behind in third.

Fonsi Nieto (Suzuki) and Michel Fabrizio (Ducati) rounded out the top five, with Aussie Karl Muggeridge (Honda) equaling his best result of the season in sixth after mechanical problems forced him out of race one.

Haga (112pts) and Neukirchner (111pts) made the biggest championship gains at Monza, moving up to third and fourth in the standings, leapfrogging past the likes of Nieto (107pts) and Corser (101pts).

Corser, normally a regular podium finisher at Monza, laboured to exasperating 12th and eighth places as he again struggled to find grip on his Yamaha - while his teammate Haga was again in the express lane.

Corser's fellow Australian Russell Holland (Honda) was 16th and 13th in the two races.

In the 16-lap world Supersport encounter, Australia's top guns Josh Brookes (Honda), Broc Parkes (Yamaha) and Andrew Pitt (Honda) filled positions second to fourth, while tireless Frenchman Fabien Foret (Yamaha) broke through for his first win of the year - which should have come at the opening round in Qatar before he ran out of fuel on the last lap.

This time around, his factory Yamaha didn't miss a beat, as he became the fourth separate winner in 2008, joining Parkes, Pitt and championship leader Joan Lascorz (Honda).

It was Foret's 11th world Supersport win, placing second on the all-time list, just two behind recently retired countryman Sebastien Charpentier.

Mark Aitchison was 11th on his Triumph, while Garry McCoy (Triumph) crashed on lap one after another rider 'took' away his front wheel in a chicane.

Lascorz' lead has now been trimmed to 6pts (77 to 71) by Foret, followed by the Aussie trio: Parks (65pts), Pitt (63pts) and Brookes (63pts).

MONZA WORLD SUPERBIKE RESULTS