Bayliss takes Assen double

Troy Bayliss has dominated round four of the world Superbike title at Assen, powering to his second clean sweep of the year on the factory Ducati.

Bayliss again came through with the goods at the historic circuit, defeating Spain's Carlos Checa by 2.132secs in the opening 22-lap race, before leading all the way in the second bout from Japan's Noriyuki Haga (Yamaha).

Bayliss now has a commanding 70pt (178 to 108) lead over Checa, which is the second biggest ever at such a juncture in the championship. Only Neil Hodgson's 85pt advance on Ruben Xaus in 2003 has produced such an authoritative start to a world Superbike campaign.

Bayliss, who was lucky to escape with only cuts and bruises after a big bicycle crash on the Wednesday before Assen, was understandably elated with the double win, his second maximum-point haul at the Dutch circuit. The previous came in 2001 when he won his maiden world Superbike title.

"It's been an incredible weekend, pole and two race wins on the last time I'm going to ride a bike around Assen in a race that's for sure," said Bayliss.

"That was such a hard race (two) to control it like I did, because Nori is so strong. I did all the tricks I could use in the last few laps to hold him off and was lucky enough to get it.

"I used a harder tyre in the second race and my lap times are a lot more consistent so that was a good choice for sure. I think these guys here with me (Haga and Checa) are my main contenders for the year at the moment."

In race one, three of Bayliss' title foes - Haga, Xaus and Fonsi Nieto - had crashed within the first 10 minutes, putting them out of the equation.

Meanwhile, Bayliss engineered the perfect start from pole position and led for the opening four laps before Yukio Kagayama (Suzuki) moved into the lead.

A holding pattern then emerged for about seven laps, with Kagayama clearing the air from Bayliss, German Max Neukirchner (Suzuki), Checa and Aussie Troy Corser (Yamaha). Only 0.643secs separated the quintet at one stage.

The circuit breaker came at mid-distance when Kagayama made a slight mistake and lost three spots in one hit. That was all the motivation Bayliss required to put his head down, and he was over one second in front by lap 16.

The dual world champion then sauntered to the finish line, with Checa getting the better of Neukirchner in the last few laps. Kagayama just held out Corser and privateer Jakub Smrz (Ducati).

Race two didn't wipe out as many big guns as the opener, but that didn't faze Bayliss who upped his pace to lead from go to whoa with relentless precision.

Haga exhausted all avenues to pass Bayliss, but the 39-year-old Bayliss didn't buckle en route to his 46th world Superbike.

Checa was third after displacing Xaus on the final lap, while Neukirchner was fifth.

Corser struggled with his front tyre in race two and could only manage 10th. The Wollongong rider still remains in third on 89pts, but with Nieto (85pts) and Xaus (81pts) in close company. Haga is on 67pts, with two DNFs already tarnishing his campaign.

Gold Coast's Andrew Pitt (Honda) completed an imperious day for Australia with victory in the high-voltage world Supersport race.

The 21-lapper was an epic from start to finish, with a freight-train of riders at the front, including Pitt's countryman Broc Parkes (Yamaha) and Josh Brookes (Honda).

However, Pitt and his impressive British teammate Jonathan Rea were always at the head of the snarling pack, and that's how it remained on the last lap as they flashed across the finish line just 0.014secs apart, with championship leader Joan Lascorz (Honda) in third from Fabien Foret (Yamaha), Parkes and Brookes.

It was Pitt's fourth world Supersport win, and surprisingly the first in Europe for the 2001 world champion. His 2008 record now stands at two DNFs and two victories.

"I was trying to keep myself up front as much as possible like I did in Phillip Island," said Pitt. "Jonathan was very strong and riding smoothly, but at some parts of the track I was faster, on other parts he was, so we kept overtaking each other and swapping positions."

Mark Aitchison (Triumph) completed the Australian contingent in 11th, while Garry McCoy (Triumph) failed to finish.

Pitt catapulted four spots into second place with his victory. He's now on 50pts, behind Lascorz (70pts) and ahead of Parkes (49pts), Foret (46pts) and Brookes (43pts).

ASSEN WORLD SUPERBIKE RESULTS