Xaus seems to have made a habit of qualifying his works Ducati off the first two rows, and this meeting was no exception. He was twelfth, just in front of Chris Walker. Hodgson’s 999 was joined on the front row by the 998s of Frankie Chili and James Toseland, with Vittorio Iannuzzo’s Suzuki fourth.

The second rank had three Ducati runners, with Steve Martin (DFX), Régis Laconi (Caracchi NCR) and Juan Borja (DFX) all starting ahead of Troy Corser on the Foggy FP1. The second Team Alstare Suzuki of Gregorio Lavilla was only ninth. Lorenzo Mauri had been lined up to replace James Haydon on the second Foggy machine, but was highly unfortunate as he suffered a leg breaking accident during practice.

Before race one could start, wildcard rider Christian Zaiser had his Aprilia catch fire, quite dramatically on the parade lap, but this was dealt with efficiently. As they finally set off, Iannuzzo’s GSX-R went straight to the front, from Hodgson, Toseland, Martin and Laconi. Hodgson was not ready to hang about, so he passed the Italian in a left-hander, and was quick to establish an impressive gap. Toseland passed Iannuzzo, and Laconi passed both the Suzuki man and Martin, who he got by at a right-hander. As the lap ended, Iannuzzo was followed by Chili, Xaus, Martin, Lavilla and Walker.

But there was a huge drama early on lap two, as Hodgson’s mount got away from him and tipped itself into the gravel. The points leader was out on the spot, gifting the others an increasingly rare chance at victory. Already the three left in front - Laconi, Toseland and Chili - were starting to draw away from Iannuzzo, who was being closely pursued by Xaus, Martin and Lavilla. Walker and Corser were next. Iannuzzo’s drop through the field was advanced when Xaus overtook him in a straight line, and headed off after Chili. Laconi set the fastest lap at this early stage.

Xaus’ next move came when he passed Chili into a left-hand corner, and now it was a four-way race between Laconi, Toseland, Xaus and Chili. Lavilla and Martin were closing on fifth man Iannuzzo. Laconi’s spell in the lead was ended when Toseland went inside him at the turn one right-hander, and Xaus followed through not long after. Meanwhile, Lavilla had now reached his junior team-mate, and was able to catch up to the four ahead after dispensing with the other Suzuki.

Laconi was passed by Chili next, and a very rapid Xaus finally took over in front when he passed Toseland at the end of the back straight, going into the following left turn. James, however, was able to reciprocate into a tighter left, and adopt a successful defensive line for the time being. Behind the first five, Martin now led the second group, ahead of Iannuzzo, Corser, Walker, Lucio Pedercini, Mauro Sanchini, Ivan Clementi, Marco Borciani, Alex Gramigni and Serafino Foti.

It now looked the four Ducatis at the front were going to pull away from Lavilla’s Suzuki, and even Laconi seemed to start falling back in fourth. Xaus repeated his earlier pass on Toseland, on the brakes, and Chili also looked pretty threatening. After a brief rest, Laconi sped up again, trying to catch the first three. Toseland seemed to be having tyre worries. As he attempted to harry Xaus, the Englishman was demoted by Chili, into the left-hander coming out of the back straight.

While the leaders fought it out, Walker was regaining some lost ground - he passed Corser and Iannuzzo for seventh. Not long after, the latter rider fell when placed only eleventh. With time running low, Chili got himself on the inside of Xaus for a tight left corner, and went ahead. He then seemed to be edging clear, but Xaus’ speed, through the bends onto the back straight, took him back in front in a straight line. Meanwhile, Toseland had a brief twitch in P3, but still kept himself on Chili’s tail. Laconi had been left on his own by now.

While Walker was passing Martin for sixth, it still looked like being a close race for first, with three men still in it on the final lap. Sadly for Chili, a home win was not to be. A highside crash took him right out only a short distance from the flag. This handed Xaus a comfortable lead over Toseland, and he ran out with his first win since 2001. Laconi was now third, from Lavilla, Walker, Martin, Corser, Pedercini, Sanchini, Clementi, Borciani and Gramigni.

At the start of race two, Hodgson held his advantage, ahead of Iannuzzo, Toseland, Laconi, Corser, Chili, Martin, Xaus, Borja, Walker and Lavilla. Corser was quickly pushed back to seventh, while Laconi and Chili both went past Toseland on the first lap. Iannuzzo was looking pretty lively, and his attack on Hodgson yielded the lead for a brief moment, before he once again fell back into the pack. Firstly, Laconi passed the Suzuki off the back straight, leaving him to the attentions of Chili, Toseland, Martin and Xaus. The next group through was headed by Walker, up from tenth, with Corser, Borja, Lavilla, Borciani, Pedercini, Gramigni, Sanchini, Clementi and Bussei tagging along. Once again, as at Monza, the Italians were out-numbering the rest.

Hodgson set an early fast lap, while Chili went inside Laconi at turn one, taking over second. This move was soon replicated by Xaus, putting the Frenchman at the back of the four-way lead group. Toseland led the main pack, before being passed by Lavilla, and Pedercini was the next man to move ahead of Iannuzzo, for seventh place. Changes in the next positions had Martin leading Walker, Corser, Sanchini, Clementi, and Borciani. Borja had been the biggest loser, down to fifteenth from tenth, and he was ahead of Gramigni and Nello Russo. Bussei was out after crashing on the R1 Yamaha.

At the front, Chili took the lead on the inside for a right-hander, and Hodgson now come under fire from team-mate Xaus. Already Laconi was dropping back from the first three. Once again Xaus made a pass through his best section of the track, carrying greater speed onto the back straight, and Chili was soon to succumb at the same place. The Spanish rider was in the lead again. Toseland, unfortunately, was forced to withdraw to the pitlane, his HM Plant machine suffering a misfire.

Xaus now seemed to be about to get away from the others, and this was Hodgson’s cue to get moving. At turn one he went past Chili, and then both Hodgson and Chili went past Xaus in one move! Neil had his turn to pull out a gap, but Rubén made his usual back straight pass on Chili to go 0.7s from his team leader. As they motored away, Chili was unable to match them, and Laconi was similarly alone. Martin’s ownership of eighth place was short lived, as Walker overtook and moved clear, and then Corser started menacing his compatriot.

Xaus was on good form, and he closed up to his team-mate as the race reached its final lap. As ever, the Spaniard was the faster man through the successive left hand bends leading onto the back straight. This time he went to the outside and, as they came to the braking point, this took him around Hodgson to lead again. Neil battled on as the lap unfolded, but he couldn’t find a way though. It was the first WSB double of Xaus’ career.

Chili finished third, from Laconi, Lavilla, Pedercini, Iannuzzo, Walker, Martin, Corser, Sanchini, Borja, Clementi, Borciani and Gramigni. The non-finishes for both Hodgson and Toseland gave Xaus an added bonus in the points table, but he still lies 107 behind. Unless Hodgson has some more retirements, it is still looking a difficult task for his team-mate.

Standings after fourteen races: Hodgson 315; Xaus 208; Toseland 185; Laconi 174; Lavilla 155; Walker 129; Chili 118; Martin 95; Pedercini 85, Borciani 80.

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