2008 Hannspree World SuperBike Championship Round 7, Nurburgring , Germany , June 15th Race Report
HAGA DOES THE DOUBLE AT THE NURBURGRING
Round seven of the Hannspree World Superbike Championship returned to the Nurburgring in Germany for the first time in ten years. The beautiful fast flowing circuit was a challenge for most of the riders as 90% of them had never been there before. Now back in Europe the series is at the midway point and with riders like Xerox Ducati's Troy Bayliss wanting to forget the last round in the states due to scoring no points and Yamaha Motor Italia's Nori Haga breaking his collarbone and having six pins in his shoulder to repair it, this weekend was all about scoring maximum points infront of the 41,000 strong German crowd.
Race One. Home hero Alstare Suzuki's Max Neukirchner was expected to win after taking Superpole on saturday, but it was the Xerox Ducati of Troy Bayliss that got the holeshot of the line and led into the tight first turn followed by the Yamaha Motor Italia duo of Troy Corser and the injured Nori Haga, but as the race progressed it was The Xerox Ducati of Troy Bayliss and Nori that broke the field and managed to open up a three second lead on Alstare Suzuki's Max Neukirchner who was down in third. Many thought that Troy Bayliss would eventually break away from Nori Haga who was riding with six pins in his shoulder from the previous round in the U.S.A , but the Japanese star matched Bayliss throughout the race until he saw his chance and passed Bayliss and then went on to take the victory ahead of the Xerox Ducati rider with Germany's Max Neukirchner taking a respectable third.
Race Two. After taking the win in the opening race Yamaha Motor Italia's Nori Haga would silence his critics and attempt the double win while riding injured. Once again Xerox Ducati's Troy Bayliss got a great start but this time it was Haga's team-mateTroy Corser that took the lead into turn one followed by race one winner Nori Haga with Troy Bayliss and Alstare Suzuki's Max Neukirchner in toe. For the first few laps it was the quartet of Corser, Haga, Bayliss and Neukirchner all fighting for the lead, but a mistake by Xerox Ducati's Troy Bayliss who missed his braking point going into turn one put him from first to fifth and with this it was Yamaha Motor Italia's Troy Corser who took to the lead with team-mate Nori Haga hot on his heels as the Yamaha duo managed to open up a gap of four seconds on Alstare Suzuki's Max Neukirchner. With Corser and Haga out infront and swapping positions throughout the later stages of the race Haga managed to pass his team-mate with four laps to go, but Corser was not giving in yet and took the lead once again a lap later and was on for his first win of the year until the race was red flagged due to rain, and with the race going two thirds distance the result would be decided from the previous lap where Haga was leading and this gave Nori Hga his second win of the day ahead of a disgruntled Troy Corser with Max Neukirchner taking third ahead of Xerox Ducati's Troy Bayliss.
WORLD SUPERSPORTS CHAMPIONSHIP. After the race was restarted after a crash on the opening lap at turn one it was an Australian one-two-three at the Nurburgring with Hannspree Ten Kate Honda's Andrew Pitt taking victory ahead of Stiggy Motorsports Honda's Josh Brookes and pole sitter Yamaha World Supersports Broc Parkes who led the race with three laps to go until he was passed by his fellow countrymen after leading throughout the race. Britain's riders Craig Jones finished fifth with Johnny Rea sixth and Chris Walker with a season's best in ninth.
