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Aprilia\'s Troy Corser sped from his pole position to take the first leg of the World Superbike race at Misano, Italy,
Corser\'s big wheelie at the start meant Haga got to the first corner in front, but Corser muscled his way back into the lead as they came around for the 2nd lap.Once there he set about opening a gap.On the 2nd lap when Aaron Slight and Colin Edwards were running in eighth and ninth place, disaster struck, when Edwards ran into the back of Slight on the brakes, causing both of them to crash.
\"I was lining up to pass Akira Yanagawa and he sat up to brake earlier than I thought he would,\" Edwards said in a Castrol Honda press release. \"I grabbed all the brake I had but it wasn\'t enough and I went sideways. I could see I was going to hit Yanagawa so I moved away from him but Aaron (Slight) was right in front of me.
\"I couldn\'t do anything about it, I just hit Aaron and the pair of us went down. Aaron just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time - it was my mistake entirely.\"
Slight said, \"I haven\'t a clue what happened. The first I knew was when I was hit on the back and off I went. It\'s a shame, the machine felt good and I was watching the battle for second place afterwards that I felt I could\'ve been a part of.\"
With Corser out in front the battle for second place was between Haga, Borja, Fujiwara, Bayliss and Chili. Until Chili was forced to retire the Suzuki with what appeared to be a rear tyre/suspension problem just ten laps later.
Borja eventually took second place, only to have Bayliss take it from him. Haga, Borja, Fujiwara,all wanted the third place- but so did Yanagawa and Bostrom who caught them and made a race of it for third.
Haga, was caught and dealt to by Borja as Haga\'s tyres appeared to be going off, in the closing stages of the race. Borja going really hard, wanting to make sure he also finished in front of Bostrom.
Haga\'s tyre problems got worse and he was pushed by to seventh by the group moving forward looking for the third place on the rostrum
At the flag it was Corser (.843 seconds ahead of Bayliss, with Fujiwara third, Borja fourth, (finally getting ahead of Bostrom), Yanagawa fifth, Bostrom sixth and Haga seventh. Peter Goddard, riding in place of injured Gregorio Lavilla, brought the Kawasaki ZX-7RR home in eighth place.
Misano Race one
1. Troy Corser (Aprilia)
2. Troy Bayliss (Ducati)
3. Katsuaki Fujiwara (Suzuki)
4. Juan Borja (Ducati)
5. Akira Yanagawa (Kawasaki)
6. Ben Bostrom (Ducati)
7. Noriyuki Haga (Yamaha)
8. Peter Goddard (Kawasaki)
9. Alessandro Antonello (Aprilia)
10. Haruchika Aoki (Ducati)
Misano Race two
Borja jumped the start on the red and out came the red flags to signal a false start. Back on the grid the officials declared a 23 lap race, reduced for reasons of fuel.
Corser once out in front his only serious opposition was Haga but he crashed out, sending a shower of dust and rubbish across the track, most of the following riders took to the grass but Chilli was caught up and lost it big time with his bike flipping end over end. Chill has a broken collarbone which means he will almost certainly miss the next round.
A fair old tussle developed between Bayliss and Fujiwara with Bostrom and Borja for the other places. Bostrom makng some brave moves with the NCR Ducati bike sliding and snaking under brakes, shut out Fujiwara to take the third spot at the flag. Borja, on the Infostrada Factory Ducati was in 5th.
On returning to the pits the NCR Team were all over their man Ben, That will be the biggest party in Misano tonight, even bigger I think than the Aprilia party for Corser\'s double.
Slight and Edward\'s finished 9th and 10th, both on their spare machines.
Misano race two
1) 3 CORSER Aprilia RSV1000 1\'38.209
2) 21 BAYLISS Ducati 996 4.776
3) 155 BOSTROM Ducati RS996 5.538
4) 9 FUJIWARA Suzuki GSX-R750 6.529
5) 19 BORJA Ducati 996 7.091
6) 4 YANAGAWA Kawasaki ZX-7RR 11.122
7) 30 ANTONELLO Aprilia RSV1000 17.304
8) 14 GODDARD Kawasaki ZX-7RR 18.962
9) 111 SLIGHT Honda VTR1000 19.138
10) 2 EDWARDS Honda VTR1000 32.461
World Superbike Championship points after seven of 13 rounds
1. Edwards 208; 2. Corser 170; 3. Pier-Francesco Chili 162: 4. Haga 146; 5. Yanagawa 120, 6. Bayliss 104; 7. Bostrom 84; 8. Fujiwara 79, 9. Gregorio Lavilla 71; 10. Slight 65.
These points may yet change if Haga has his appeal allowed and his South African round points are reinstated.
