SBK

Toseland maintains lead after tough weekend

A tough weekend of racing at the Misano World Circuit concluded today with HANNspree Ten Kate Honda's James Toseland maintaining his lead in the 2007 World Superbike Championship. Team-mate Roberto Rolfo rode well and picked up valuable points to keep eighth place in the standings.
The first race of the day saw Toseland extend his lead despite not finishing on the podium. After a shaky start, the British rider struggled to keep up with the leading pack after experiencing clutch problems on his CBR1000RR. He was running in sixth when a mistake by Max Biaggi in the fight for second position caused both Biaggi and Noriyuki Haga to crash out of the race. This resulted in a fourth place finish for Toseland, who picked up 13 points to remain at the top of the standings.
Rolfo had fought his way from eleventh to seventh at the time of the crash and also benefited from Biaggi's mistake, crossing the finish line in fifth position to collect 11 points.
Despite an admirable fight from Toseland in race two, he was unable to catch the front runners and passed the chequered flag in sixth position. However, the result was more than enough for the British rider to keep his championship lead by a 21 point margin ahead of Troy Bayliss. His tally now stands at 161 points.
Rolfo completed the second race in eighth place after a strong performance of consistently fast laps. The Italian rider now lies in eighth in the standings ahead of the ninth round race at Brno in four weeks time.
Ronald ten Kate:"We've had quite a difficult weekend. The only positive thing about it is that we remain at the top of the championship - we didn't lose too much of the lead in the end. Roby got two good results - he rode well and very consistently in both races. We're going out to Brno for a two day test, which will be really good because we can evaluate the all the data from this weekend. Hopefully we can come back fighting at the next round."
James Toseland:"I knew this round was going to be difficult because it wasn't one of our test tracks and it's a completely new layout. I expected to be coming from behind. We got lucky in the first race when Biaggi took out Haga, but we can't rely on luck for the rest of the season. Needless to say I'm disappointed with the weekend, but I'm looking ahead to Brno and hopefully we can get back on track."
Roberto Rolfo:"I am not completely happy with the results, but I am pleased that we have been able to improve the bike set-up so much this weekend. We worked really hard in qualifying and the bike is feeling very good for me now. I felt like I had a good rhythm in the race and I was making good lap times, but I wasn't with the podium competitors like I wanted to be. I am looking forward to the test in Brno so we can continue the work we have done here and I want to say thanks to the team for their support here in Misano."
Race one results:

1 T. Bayliss 38'52.856

2 T. Corser + 2.374

3 Y. Kagayama + 8.965

4 J. Toseland + 11.110

5 R. Rolfo + 18.709

6 L. Lanzi + 20.467

7 R. Laconi + 22.072

8 R. Xaus + 25.424

9 M. Neukirchner + 30.891

10 J. Smtz + 37.724

FL N. Haga 1'36.356

Race two results:

1 T. Bayliss 38'52.856

2 N. Haga + 2.374

3 M. Biaggi + 8.965

4 Y. Kagayama + 11.110

5 T. Corser + 18.709

6 J. Toseland + 20.467

7 R. Xaus + 22.072

8 R. Rolfo + 25.424

9 L. Lanzi + 30.891

10 M. Neukirchner + 37.724

FL T. Bayliss 1'36.022

Championship standings

1 J. Toseland 237

2 T. Bayliss 214

3 N. Haga 201

4 M. Biaggi 189

5 T. Corser 151

6 L. Lanzi 116

7 R. Xaus 113

8 R. Rolfo 90

9 M. Neukirchner 87

10 Y. Kagayama 62