Biaggi wins Brno Superbikes

Australian Troy Bayliss has politely 'thanked' compatriot Karl Muggeridge for taking him out at the Brno round of the 2007 World Superbike title.

Confirming his worst pre-event fears, the reigning world champion was struggling down in 10th position on his factory Ducati in race one when he found himself caught up in an unfortunate sequence of events.

Muggeridge, running in 11th position on his privateer Honda, hit the tarmac at 200kmh after another rider knocked his brake lever, with his sliding machine then adding Bayliss to the collateral damage.

"I didn't see anything. I was going into the corner, heard a noise and that was it," said Bayliss. "The next thing I saw Karl on the ground, he had crashed into me, but wasn't even on his bike! I went over and thanked him because I wasn't enjoying that race anyway in 10th place!"

Bayliss has been struggling with a soft front tyre before his demise, but he returned to finish sixth in race two as Suzuki's Max Biaggi motored to his second win of the year. Briton James Toseland (Honda) returned to form with victory in race one.

"It was exactly the same here as last year - a crash and a poor finish - but this time I'm happier with the result in race two," said Bayliss. "My start was good and I was in second place at the first corner, but then I got beat up. Someone came at me on the inside, somebody hit me on the outside and I got knocked back down a long way. I came back pretty strong, but anyway the best thing I can do now is forget about this place and move on to Brands Hatch!"

After coming off three straight wins, the Brno disaster continued Bayliss' roller coaster season. He has now slipped back to fourth position on 249pts, behind Toseland (305pts), Biaggi (262pts) and Japan's Noriyuki Haga (Yamaha, 260pts). Four rounds - and a maximum of 200pts -- still remain in the championship.

In race one, Toseland and Biaggi were joined by the polesitter, Haga, and last year's double winner Yukio Kagayama (Suzuki) in a pulsating four-way scrap, which only began to dissolve when Toseland upped his pace with seven laps to go.

Only Biaggi could go with him, but Toseland's defence remained impregnable as he prevailed by 0.237 seconds, with Kagayama getting the better of Haga for third.

Toseland's win, his sixth for the year, relieved the pressure after a recent lean spell.

"After Misano, these two races were pretty big," said Toseland. "We had fallen behind on_electronics, but we knew what the problems were and we sat down and figured out what we needed to do.
"Since the recent tests things have just got better and better. I feel like we are back in the game again and it's nice to draw a line under it all."

Meanwhile, Biaggi stole the show in race two, as he won his eighth world title race at the popular Czech venue - seven in grand prix events, and now one in Superbike. Toseland was second, ahead of a slow-starting but fast-finishing Michel Fabrizio (Honda). Haga and Roberto Rolfo (Honda) saw out the top five.

Aussie Troy Corser (Yamaha) had just set the fastest lap in race two when he was forced out with a mechanical problem. Earlier, he was seventh in the opener.

"This weekend just hasn't been mine," said a frustrated Corser. "I came here looking for a win but it wasn't to be. In race one, we had tyre grip issues as we've had all weekend and I just couldn't make the pace.

"We changed bikes for race two as well as the set-up and it felt much better; a definite improvement. Everything was looking good when it all went wrong and I know I would've been on the podium if that bolt hadn't broken."

Corser remains fifth in the championship - and that's where he will probably end his campaign. Bayliss is 58pts in arrears of Bayliss, and 41 ahead of sixth-placed Italian Lorenzo Lanzi (Ducati).

In World Supersport, Honda's Kenan Sofuoglu now has a vice-like grip on the crown after breezing to his fifth win of the year, this time ahead of Briton Craig Jones (Honda) and Kawasaki's Fabien Foret. Australian Josh Brookes (Honda) was an impressive fifth on his return to the class, with Yamaha-backed compatriots Jason O'Halloran and Broc Parkes were 12th and 13th.

Parkes was actually involved in a last lap battle for second with Robbin Harms (Honda), but a bout of over exuberance from the Aussie saw them both come down, gifting the final podium slots to Jones and Foret. Parkes did manage to remount to add three points to his world championship tally, but still dropped back to eighth.

Sofuoglu, who has only finished off the dais once in nine races, is now a 70pt (186 to 116) leader over Foret, followed by Katsuaki Fujiwara (Honda, 87). If results go his way - and the current climate suggests it will - Sofuoglu will wrap up the title in the next round at Brands Hatch on August 5.

BRNO WORLD SUPERBIKE RESULTS

Race one: 20 laps
1. James Toseland, Great Britain, Honda
2. Max Biaggi, Italy, Suzuki
3. Yukio Kagayama, Japan, Suzuki
4. Noriyuki Haga, Japan, Yamaha 
5. Roberto Rolfo, Italy, Honda
6. Michel Fabrizio, Italy, Honda
7. Troy Corser, Australia, Yamaha
8. Lorenzo Lanzi, Italy, Ducati
9. Max Neukirchner, Germany, Suzuki
10. Shinichi Nakatomi, Japan, Yamaha
DNF Troy Bayliss, Australia, Ducati
DNF Karl Muggeridge, Australia, Honda

Race two: 19 laps
1. Biaggi
2. oseland
3. Fabrizio
4. Haga
5. Rolfo
6. Bayliss
7.  Lanzi
8. Fonsi Nieto, Spain, Kawasaki
9. Nakatomi
10. Ruben Xaus, Spain, Ducati
11. Muggeridge

2007 WORLD SUPERBIKE STANDINGS (after nine of 13 rounds):
1. Toseland 305
2. Biaggi 262
3. Haga 260
4. Bayliss 249
5. Corser 191
6. Lanzi 150
7. Xaus 140
8. Rolfo 131
9. Neukirchner 111
10. Kagayama 105
16. Muggeridge 33