BMW World Superbike Championship Race Update From Doha, Qatar.
BMW Motorrad Motorsport riders Troy Corser and Ruben Xaus rode superbly in both the two 18-lap races in Doha today and earned themselves three top ten placings. Troy finished ninth in both races and Ruben took 13th in race one and followed that with a hard-fought for tenth in race two.
Today’s tremendous results were all the more spectacular considering that Ruben and Troy had started the races from the fourth row of the grid after a problem in Superpole yesterday. But almost more special than the top ten finishes was the sight of Troy in fourth place after two laps of race two! The Aussie had blasted off the line superbly from 16th on the grid and stunned everybody by crossing the line in fifth place at the end of lap one. By lap two he had stormed into fourth – a position he held until lap four. Although he ended the race in ninth, his spell in fourth place made up for all the disappointment the past two days and gives Troy, Ruben and the whole team a tremendous boost before the next race in three week’s time.
Troy Corser – Race 1: 9th, Race 2: 9th
After practice and qualifying, we were a bit disappointed about our prospects of any good results from the fourth row of the grid. Overnight we found a solution to our top speed problem and that gave me a slim chance today. In race two, I made one of the best starts of my life, saw a gap and just went for it! It felt great to be up front with the race leaders and although I knew it wouldn´t last, it was great while it happened. At the moment, we are about half a second down on bike and chassis set-up and if we could cut that gap we’d be competitive for sure. It certainly doesn’t help starting from row four and, at Qatar, that probably means you lose seven or so seconds on the first lap and you have to spend the rest of the race playing
catch up. To get two top tens today is certainly more than I was expecting before the season started and shows that the bike has real potential. After three weeks or so away, we’ll now be able to return to our workshops, analyse all the info and
get the work started for the next round.
Ruben Xaus – Race 1: 13th, Race 2: 10th
I’m really happy with the races today and although there’s lots of work to do, I think Troy and I did a great job. I’m very happy with race two, because I ended nearly nine seconds closer to the front then in race one. On my sighting lap for race two, I thought it might be better to go longer on the rear sprocket. I knew that it would be a problem on the start, but it was a risk I wanted to take. And it wasn’t a good start, but I soon got into a good rhythm. My biggest surprise was seeing that Troy was fourth! I was jealous because I wanted to be there! I just kept pushing hard and I managed to catch Troy towards the end of the race. I thought about trying to pass him, but thought ‘Ruben don’t do anything stupid’, so I stayed behind. Then Haslam overtook me two laps from the end and pushed me out of the top ten, but I said ‘No, no, no!’ and made sure I got past him before the finish so that Troy and I could both be in the top ten.
Berti Hauser (BMW Motorrad Motorsport Director)
The most important thing this weekend is that we have learnt a lot, but I must also say that the results today make me more than happy. Troy did an amazing job in both races and the great work between the two riders helped us get both in the top ten in race two. Considering that our team is still learning, I think this is a great achievement this early in the championship and I’d like to thank them and riders for all the hard work here and at Phillip Island. Friday was ‘Black Friday’ for us, but today our results mean we can all leave Qatar happy.
Results
Race 1: 1 Spies (USA-Yamaha), 2 Haga (J-Ducati), 3 Biaggi (I-Aprilia), 4 Nakano (J-Aprilia), 5 Checa (E-Honda), 6 Byrne (GB-Ducati), 7 Sykes (GB-Yamaha), 8 Kiyonari (J-Honda), 9 Troy Corser (Aus-BMW Motorrad Motorsport), 10 Laconi (F-Ducati), 13 Ruben Xaus (E-BMW Motorrad Motorsport),
Race 2: 1 Spies, 2 Haga, 3 Biaggi, 4 Kiyonari, 5 Sykes, 6 Neukirchner (D-Suzuki), 7 Nakano, 8 Rea (GB-Honda), 9 Troy Corser (Aus-BMW Motorrad Motorsport), 10 Ruben Xaus (E-BMW Motorrad Motorsport),
Points: 1 Haga 85, 2 Spies 75, 3 Neukirchner 40, 4 Biaggi 38, 5 Haslam 36, 6 Sykes 32, 7 Laconi 30, 8 Rea 30, 9 Nakano 27, 10 Kagayama 25, 12 Troy Corser (Aus-BMW Motorrad Motorsport) 22, 17 Ruben Xaus (E-BMW Motorrad Motorsport) 14
