Corser looking to make up lost ground

BMW rider Troy Corser will be looking to ignite a lacklustre world Superbike season when the championship visits the popular Misano circuit on Italy’s Adriatic Coast this weekend.

Last year at Misano, Corser set BMW’s first ever pole position in WSBK, and then went onto score a podium position on race day. It’s that positive performance, plus some gains made in a recent test session, which has Corser in a positive frame of mind.

“I like Misano, and have always had good results here,” said Corser. “We tested here after Monza (round four), which was very encouraging. We found a good set-up, so I am looking forward to the race weekend. I think Leon (Haslam) and I should have a pretty strong race.”

Corser believes staying power will be a key factor on Sunday, especially as the weather starts to heats up in Europe.

“The track in Misano is pretty fast, with the back straight being very important. The grip is quite good, but I think the temperature will be high at this time of year, so it could physically be a tough race.

“You don’t get much rest except on the back straight, where you have about four seconds before turning in again. The rest of the track consists of a combination of corners, so you need to be very fit. But I am fit enough and the bike works well here, so I think we should get a good result.”

Corser, who scored a winning double at Misano way back in 2000, is coming off a poor last round in America, which has him well back in the standings in 14th place after five of 13 rounds – foreign territory for the WSBK warhorse.

While Corser is a race-winning aspirant at Misano, his countryman Chris Vermeulen (Kawasaki) will return after electing to sit out the American round in lieu of more testing in Europe. The sabbatical also gave him some more time to recover from an injured elbow sustained in a high-speed crash at Monza.

“The elbow is still a bit sore, but it’s healing slowly and the knee is improving all the time,” said Vermeulen. “At the test, I managed to double the amount of time I've spent on the race bike since last July, and I’m now starting to feel more comfortable and understand the bike.

“I’m under no illusions that we are still a bit off the pace, but we’re improving all the time and I hope I can get the bike closer to the front at Misano.”

The championship’s currently being dominated by Carlos Checa, whose Ducati has a 61pt buffer over Marco Melandri (Yamaha), followed by world champion Max Biaggi (Aprilia), rookie Eugene Laverty (Yamaha), Leon Haslam (BMW) and Jonathan Rea (Honda).

Biaggi was a double winner at the 4.226km Misano layout last year, but the way that Checa has turned the championship on its head so far in 2011 – six wins from 10 races – has him down as the clear favourite. And Misano also flows beautifully and places a premium on good acceleration, both qualities which should suit his Ducati.

“Misano is a strong track for us. We carried out testing here after the Monza race and the results were very positive, very constructive,” said Checa. “During those tests we made some improvements to the bike and so I’m feeling very confident ahead of this next race.

“We know who will be strong; it’s a track where Melandri, Biaggi and Corser go very well – it will undoubtedly be a close race! I’m hoping for good weather as, after the unstable conditions at Miller, it would be nice to race in the sun.”

Meanwhile, after not being on the undercard in America, the world Supersport title resumes at Misano, with Australian Broc Parkes (Kawasaki) in third place behind Yamaha team-mates Luca Scassa and Chaz Davies.

Parkes is lightning fast around Misano, and holds the best lap benchmark, as well as the official lap record.

There will be live coverage of the action on SPEED from 7:30pm this Sunday.

1 Carlos Checa, Spain, Ducati 195
2 Marco Melandri, Italy, Yamaha 134
3 Max Biaggi, Italy, Aprilia 133
4 Eugene Laverty, Great Britain, Yamaha 109
5 Leon Haslam, Great Britain, BMW 95
6 Jonathan Rea, Great Britain, Honda 94
7 Leon Camier, Great Britain, Aprilia 91
8 Michel Fabrizio, Italy, Suzuki 85
9 Jakub Smrz, Czech Republic, Ducati 83
10 Sylvain Guintoli, France, Ducati 54
14 Troy Corser, Australia, BMW 49
19 Mark Aitchison, Australia, Kawasaki 9
20 Josh Waters, Australia, Suzuki 8