2007 SBK Corona Extra World SuperBike Championship Round 5, Assen, Holland, April 29th Race Report

    BAYLISS DENIES TOSELAND THE DOUBLE AT ASSEN

Brilliant weather mirrored in on the track action as Britains James Toseland ( HanspreeTen Kate Honda ) and Troy Bayliss ( Xerox Ducati ) scored one win apiece in the SBK races at Assen, held in frantically hot sunny conditions for the Netherlands in April. Each race was a classic of its kind, with James Toseland winning the first race from Nori Haga ( Yamaha Motor Italia ) after a multi-rider battle for the lead on occasion, while Toseland looked to have all the bases covered after passing Bayliss on the last lap in race two, but went into the final chicane too deep and Bayliss got the better drag out of the corner to take the race win by the narrowest of margins by 0.009 seconds.

Race One. James Toseland led for most of the 22-lap race at Assen, despite a poor showing in morning warn-up, and his determination and speed through the entire first race finally told in the end. Nori Haga was second by just 0.663 seconds, with Ruben Xaus ( Sterilgarda Ducati ) once more on top in third ahead of both factory Ducati's. Troy Corser ( Yamaha Motor Italia ) fell two laps from home, while Max Biaggi ( Alstare Suzuki Corona Extra ) was sixth.

Race Two. Race two was marginally warmer than race one but the final contest between Toseland and Bayliss was white hot, after leading rider Nori Haga ( who set a new lap record of 1min'39.770 on lap two ) had to pull out with mechanical problems on lap 11. Max Biaggi was eventually third, working his way foreward after swamped by more aggressive riders on lap one. Troy Corser, who had severely beaten by his race one crash, was a fighting fourth, while Roberto Rolfo ( Hannspree Ten Kate Honda ) had his best race of the year in fifth, leading a bunch of warring riders which was sometimes seven strong. Ruben Xaus crashed out of contention twice to score no points and go sixth overall in the championship.

WORLD SUPERSPORT CHAMPIONSHIP. KenanSofuoglu ( Hannspree Ten Kate Honda ) once more showed his credentials to be gold plated at a hot and sunny Assen, taking a win that ne eventually made look easy, after some tough early exchanges witha mass of warring riders. He now leads by a massive 53 points over third place Assen rider Fabien Foret ( GIL Motorsport Kawasaki ) who miscounted a couple of laps to go and dropped from second to third. Sofouglu's win was his fourth in five races, with his temporary team-mate Andrew Pitt ( Hannspree Ten Kate Honda ) was second in the race and is now fourth overall in the championship. Sebastien Charpentier ( Hannspree Ten Kate Honda ) was in the podium places but had to settle for sixth as his lack of race conditioning after an injury took its toll. Barry Veneman ( Pioneer Hoegee Suzuki ) was a popular fourth, after the unfortunate broc Parkes ( Yamaha World SSP Racing ) crashed out with two laps to go. In the championship, Sofuoglu has 120 points, Foret has 67 points, Fujiwara has 43 points in third.

ROUND SIX OF THE CORONA EXTRA WORLD SUPERBIKE CHAMPIONSHIP IS AT MONZA IN ITALY FROM 11TH-13TH MAY.