the above image shows Troy Corser on the 2004 Foggy Petronas

1996 World Champion Troy Corser had returned to winning ways in Qatar, moving into a clear fourth overall for victorious riders in the history of WSBK, with 24 visits to the top step. Two more Australians had recorded fourth place results in Losail and, with a total of six competitive Aussies in the field, the home fans had plenty of reasons for optimism.

The Phillip Island track is spectacular, rising and falling, and with both tight and flowing corners. It is also exposed to the elements, and tricky crosswinds are not uncommon. A fast motorcycle always helps, but rider talent is always rewarded here, and the racing rarely disappoints. The nature of the circuit was reflected by the line-up of the grid, which saw a few variations from the previous outing.

Pole position went to championship leader Yukio Kagayama, on the Alstare Corona Suzuki - his first in the series, but not his first on the bike. Team-mate Corser, the man with most WSBK poles of all, joined him on the front row, but the two were split by Steve Martin (Foggy Petronas) and impressive newcomer Max Neukirchner, on the Klaffi Honda FireBlade.

The second row was crowded with Australian riders, with Andrew Pitt (Yamaha Italia) leading Karl Muggeridge (Ten Kate Honda) and Garry McCoy, on the second Petronas FP1. The works Xerox Ducati of Régis Laconi was eighth, so that there were five different makes of machine up front. Chris Vermeulen and James Toseland were next, with Giovanni Bussei eleventh on the first of the Kawasaki ZXs, then Chris Walker. A troubled Noriyuki Haga was on row five, while the injured Frankie Chili was a non-starter (see separate report).

Race one saw Corser go straight into the lead, followed by Pitt, Kagayama, McCoy, Neukirchner, Laconi, Norick Abe, Haga, Muggeridge, Vermeulen, Bussei and Walker, whilst Martin was slow away. The action came thick and fast, but Corser was able to creep away from his battling pursuers, and some quick laps eventually gave him a relatively comfortable lead. Kagayama obviously wanted to be challenging for another victory, and he quickly overtook Pitt on the inside at the right-hand Honda hairpin.

The Yamaha riders provided some robust early activity, with Abe moving past Laconi and McCoy, and Haga following Neukirchner past the French rider. McCoy fought back so that the order was now Corser, Kagayama, Pitt, Haga, McCoy, Abe, Neukirchner, Laconi, Muggeridge, Vermeulen, Bussei, Martin, Walker, Toseland and Lorenzo Alfonsi.

As the Suzuki pair began to stretch away, a big pack formed to dispute third behind Pitt. McCoy passed Haga at the fast right-hander at turn one, named for Mick Doohan, then Abe went inside his compatriot to move up at Honda hairpin, although not for long. However, Haga’s spell in the top five was not to last. He now began to drop back, and ultimately had to park up with mechanical troubles.

Muggeridge also had a good spell on his home circuit, taking sixth from 2004 winner McCoy, but it was team-mate Vermeulen that made the big impression, moving up into a strong third place as others fell away. In the race’s closing stages, the leading bikes were arranged in pairs. The Alstare Suzukis of Corser and Kagayama were each out on their own; then came Honda runners Vermeulen and Neukirchner, closely pursued by the place-swapping R1 Yamahas of Abe and Pitt.

Corser and Kagayama duly took the top two spots, but Vermeulen and Neukirchner provided the drama at this stage, with the young German pushing last year’s top rookie for a way past. Max’s attacking ride saw the two touch briefly on the final lap, as he continually tried for an opening, but Chris knew his way around and kept Neukirchner back. Pitt took fifth, with Abe, Laconi, Muggeridge, Walker, Bussei, Sébastien Gimbert, Lorenzo Lanzi, Mauro Sanchini and Ivan Clementi all ahead of title holder Toseland, the last scorer. Non-finishers included both McCoy and Martin.

Race two had more drama, thanks to the intrusion of a heavy rain shower. Corser, Pitt, Kagayama and Neukirchner led away, only for Yukio to lose a few places on the opening lap. Laconi emerged to challenge Pitt for P2, moving to his right as they descended from the crest at Lukey Heights towards the tight right-handed MG hairpin, and getting alongside to take the place. Neukirchner, Abe, Kagayama and Vermeulen followed, but Corser was already getting away up front, and he carried on extending the gap.

As Kagayama battled through to fourth, Laconi and Pitt were able to get clear of the main pack. Yukio now led Neukirchner, Abe, the attacking Vermeulen, Martin, Toseland, McCoy, Walker, Haga, Muggeridge, Alfonsi, Bussei and the rest. Clementi and Gianluca Vizziello were early casualties, thanks to an incident that took them both out.

Behind Corser, who was getting further away, the order resolved itself into two battling groups. Laconi, Pitt and Neukirchner were a little spaced out, with Kagayama, Abe and Vermeulen close behind; and the tighter packed bunch for eighth had Walker, Haga, Muggeridge, Toseland, McCoy and Martin. Toseland’s seemingly belated challenge now took him through to second in the cluster, and ninth overall, but was soon ended when he was collected by Muggeridge. The Honda man was able to rejoin the race, albeit briefly, but James was out on the spot.

It was at this stage that the rain hit, and fourth-placed Pitt was caught out, crashing the Yamaha. The red flag signalled that the race was being stopped, so the field would form up for a re-start, with the final results decided on aggregate timings from the two half-races. The backdated order put Corser on pole, from Laconi, Neukirchner, Pitt (on his second bike), Vermeulen, Kagayama and Abe. With the shower unabated, part two was declared a wet race.

Kagayama hit the front this time, from Neukirchner, the dynamic Walker, Corser and McCoy, with Vermeulen and Haga quickly despatching Clementi to go next. The man of the moment was Chris Walker, on the yellow PSG-1 Kawasaki. Helped out by the conditions, the perennial fast starter now moved into second on the road, at the expense of Neukirchner, to run close to Kagayama at the head of the field. This showing soon placed him fifth on aggregate.

Meanwhile, the conditions at one particular corner were tricky enough to catch out both McCoy and Pitt, who crashed off just moments apart; and Haga’s race ended in the same place not long after. Despite not leading on the road, Corser’s aggregate advantage held, and he was shown ahead of Laconi, Kagayama, Neukirchner, Walker, Martin, Vermeulen, Abe, Sanchini, Fonsi Nieto, Alessio Corradi, Ben Bostrom, Lanzi, wildcard Andrew Stroud, Bussei and Miguel Praia. There were already eleven men out.

With Kagayama and Walker in a race of their own out front, and the Englishman on the attack, now Martin became the next man to go out. Corser went ahead of Neukirchner on the road, drawing the German closer to the pair ahead, and this seemed the moment for Walker to make his move. He overtook Kagayama at Honda, and looked comfortably able to pull away. But it wasn’t to be, and on the same lap he lost control and crashed like so many before him. Chris was visibly frustrated.

With the aggregate timing now showing Corser ahead of Laconi, Kagayama, Neukirchner, Vermeulen, Abe and Nieto, and the rain letting up, the Suzuki pair were together ahead of the field. Corser took the on-track lead when Kagayama ran dangerously wide, and the issue seemed settled. But Yukio regrouped, and showed enough pace to close up again.

Meanwhile, Laconi had a hairy moment when he nearly lost control, and hung on acrobatically until the Ducati eventually went down in the grass. He was able to get the 999 going, and rejoined in search of desperately needed points. With the rain stopped, Kagayama took over from Corser once again, pulling away immediately. He went onto the last lap needing to make up over seven seconds to win, but Corser was comfortable enough to stay behind and take the aggregate win.

Neukirchner finished in a solitary third place, securing this position in the final results, and in only his fourth WSBK start. Bussei was next across the line, but a lap down, yet it was still enough for him to secure P10. Vermeulen was fourth, then came more new boys in the shape of Nieto and Corradi, from Laconi and Abe. Behind Bussei came Sanchini, Bostrom, Stroud, Lanzi and Praia.

Mixed conditions couldn’t deter the Suzuki boys, with Troy Corser and Yukio Kagayama already dangerously far ahead of Régis Laconi and Chris Vermeulen in the points. The latter pair kept up consistent records, but the man of the meeting was surely Supersport graduate Max Neukirchner, ably taking over from team leader Frankie Chili with two strong rides. Elsewhere, Chris Walker had tasted a brief return to his front-running ways, whereas defending champion James Toseland seemed to have lost his way.

Suzuki already look well on their way to securing their best ever results over the course a season of World Superbike racing. Can anyone else’s riders stop them, and which of the other bikes out there has the performance?

Standings after four races: Corser 91; Kagayama 85; Laconi 54; Vermeulen 50; Neukirchner 37; Abe 33; Pitt 31; Toseland 21; Bussei 20; Nieto 17; Haga 16; Muggeridge 15.

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