Corser inching towards WSBK podium

After just one confidence-boosting outing on the all-new BMW world superbike machine, Australia's Troy Corser has declared a podium finish is within his grasp as the season resumes in Qatar on March 14.

Corser set the fastest lap in race one at the Phillip Island title opener on March 1, which even shocked the two-time world champion as he looks to shape the BMW into a serious contender by 2010.

"I was surprised that we got the fastest lap time in the opening race, and it shows the bike has improved and given the team a boost in confidence, especially knowing that there is still a lot we need to try and develop with it," said Corser. "It was a bonus, and to finish eighth after starting from the fifth row wasn't bad considering.

"The team feels there is a way to go with the chassis and engine, so that's encouraging and gives me that confidence to feel that we should be dicing for a podium by mid-season. The bike ran similar race pace as the leaders at the Island, and it was just that we had start so far back that kept us out of it.

"We've already said to ourselves that this is the bike we will race for the opening few rounds, so there is little opportunity to change things. We'll be just concentrating on doing the best we can at each round to get the bike set.

"Our goal is to score points at every race and, even though I didn't do that in the second, we still finished the race and that gave the guys more information to work with for the future."

Corser's machine lost all grip in race two, but he almost certainly would have been dicing at the front with Noriyuki Haga (Ducati) and Suzuki pairing Max Neukirchner and Yukio Kagayama in the opener had he not started from a distant 17th on the grid after a tactical blunder in Superpole.

The clanger, an incorrect tyre choice, certainly won't happen again, which means Corser is likely to be closer to the main action at Qatar from the outset, which is where he has to be in a crack field of factory and privateer riders.

Corser is no slouch around the desert circuit, with five podiums in four years, including two wins on a Suzuki. He believes his BMW will be well suited to the layout.

"Losail is a strange track because you need a fast engine for the long straights, but also good handling for the long left and three right-handers coming back onto the start/finish line, so I think the 1000RR should suit the circuit," said Corer. "The acceleration of the bike at the Island was good and the top speed was up there with the others, so that should hold well at Qatar.

"I drafted a few of the others at the Island with the exception of the Yamaha, so I know where we are with speed, but the Ducatis will have that cornering edge where they can get the power on earlier while the bike is fully leant over. All in all I think the new S 1000 RR will work well around there."

The two riders who really signalled their intentions at Phillip Island were Haga and American Ben Spies (Yamaha). Haga got the better of Neukirchner in race one after the German crumbled on the last lap, before polesitter Spies rebounded from an opening off-field foray to win his maiden WSBK event on the all-new YZF-R1.

Haga, new to the Ducati factory team in 2009 as a replacement for Australian Troy Bayliss, was runner-up in race two and leads the championship by a healthy 15pts from Neukirchner, with Leon Haslam in third from Spies, Kagayama and Michel Fabrizio (Ducati). Corser is the only Australian with points in 11th position.
 
Aside from Corser's promising form, there were a number of other good stories to come out of Phillip Island, all of which promise to make season 2009 one of the most hotly contested on record.

The highlights included Spies' searing debut, the quantum leap in form by Fabrizio, the resurgence of veteran Frenchman Regis Laconi (Ducati), the pace of the new Aprilia V-four, and the inspiring comeback effort by Haslam.

After a four-year exile from permanent WSBK action, Haslam upstaged his more illustrious British counterparts in Jonathan Rea (Honda) and Shane Byrne (Ducati).

Three privateers currently reside in the championship top 10, which is a sign the factory riders won't have things all their own way in 2009.

Meanwhile, Biaggi was circulating at the front in race two before he ran off, but he did enough to suggest Aprilia's WSBK return is going to be a prosperous one.

After promising lead-up form, Australia's second factory rider in 2009, Kawasaki's Broc Parkes, battled set-up woes all weekend at Philip Island, and he now just wants to start afresh in Qatar.

"I want to put Phillip Island behind me and look forward to some progressive improvements for the Qatar race," said Parkes. "We will need to try a few things and we need to make some big changes to the bikes so we can find a good direction and hopefully get within the points which has been my objective since the start of the season.

"The Phillip Island race has highlighted to me that we've still got a lot of work to do, but as a team we will work hard and hopefully start to see some improvements in Qatar."

Adelaide's Brendan Roberts made a solid WSBK debut at Phillip Island, and could well sneak into the top 15 at Losail after more contact hours on his privateer Ducati. That will also be the goal for Karl Muggeridge, who only rode his 2009 Suzuki for the first time in the opening practice session at Phillip Island.

Suzuki has been the dominant manufacturer at Losail since 2005, which will be of some comfort to Muggeridge and the factory pairing of Neukirchner and Kagayama.

Last year's races were won by Bayliss (Ducati) and Fonsi Nieto (Suzuki), who holds the current lap record at 1:59.156.

 In world supersport, the Honda triumvirate of Kenan Sofuoglu, world champion Andrew Pitt and Anthony West slugged it out in a thriller at Phillip Island, and they should resume their battle in Qatar.

Pitt has already lifted his work rate with the return of Sofuoglu into world supersport ranks, and he's also had to brace for the arrival of talented riders like West, Cal Crutchlow (Yamaha) and Eugene Laverty (Honda), with more Aussies in the form of Garry McCoy (Triumph) and Mark Aitchison (Honda) now on competitive machinery too.

"I like the place and got my first world superbike podium here, so it's been good to me - apart from last year, which was a little blip on the start to our season," said Pitt. "I think the tyres will suit the circuit here a little better than they did in Australia, although the result there was pretty good, considering the problems we'd had before the race.

"I'll be looking to go one step higher on the podium this weekend, but I know Kenan will be there and have something to say about that!

Live coverage of round two will begin at 8.00pm Saturday on Fox Sports 3, with a highlights package on SBS at 12.30pm on Sunday, March 22.

CURRENT WORLD SUPERBIKE STANDINGS (AFTER ROUND ONE OF 14)
1 Noriyuki Haga, Japan, Ducati 45pts
2 Max Neukirchner, Germany, Suzuki 30
3 Leon Haslam, Great Britain, Honda 26
4 Ben Spies, America, Yamaha 25
5= Yukio Kagayama, Japan, Suzuki 24
5= Michel Fabrizio, Italy, Ducati 24
7 Regis Laconi, France, Ducati 22
8 Jonathan Rea, Great Britain, Honda 18
9 Jakub Smrz, Czech republic, Ducati 16
10 Tom Sykes, Great Britain, Yamaha 12
11 Troy Corser, Australia, BMW 8

For full standings, click here.