Round Two Set to be Another Hard Battle
After an intense and entertaining first round at Losail, Qatar, on Saturday 25 February, the 2006 World Superbike championship continues its high speed round the world tour with the Australian round at Phillip Island, on Sunday 5 March.
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 After an intense and entertaining first round at Losail, Qatar, on Saturday 25 February, the 2006 World Superbike championship continues its high speed round the world tour with the Australian round at Phillip Island, on Sunday 5 March. Always a popular and immaculately presented circuit, Phillip Island is frequently quoted by top riders as one of their favourite circuits. With its mix of ultra fast corners, hard braking sections and elevation changes, its 4.445km layout is a worthy challenge for the best of riders. In the opening round at Losail two brilliant 18-lap contests, featuring high-drama climaxes, had fans and teams alike on the edge of their seats, as first James Toseland (Winston Ten Kate Honda) and then Troy Corser (Alstare Corona Extra Suzuki) swept to wins after final lap battles. Despite each taking a victory, they could only manage fourth places in the other Losail races, and thus they share second place in the championship standings, not the lead. With a brace of second place finishes, Troy Bayliss (Ducati Xerox) – another SBK World champion of years gone by – heads for home soil in Australia at the head of the championship, only two points away from the battle for second. Bayliss was in ultimate contention for each Losail race win, turning his strong off-season testing form into repeatable lap times. After two strong rides in Qatar, one of which led to his first SBK podium finish, 2001 World Supersport Champion Andrew Pitt (Yamaha Motor Italia) is another fast Aussie with designs on the top step of the podium ceremonies. Although based in Europe for the majority of the season, like his fellow Aussie racers, Pitt will be willed on by the strong Phillip Island crowd, keen to see their own flag hoisted not once but twice. Pitt’s team-mate, Noriyuki Haga, needs no introduction to World Superbike fans worldwide, and had an overtaking manoeuvre on his countryman Yukio Kagayama (Alstare Corona Extra Suzuki) not resulted in both riders falling from the fight for the lead in race one at Qatar, we may have seen Haga add to his impressive career win total of 19. Losail was particularly cruel to Kagayama, as he also failed to score points in the second race, thus he will be looking to his recent Phillip Island winter test experiences to help him get maximum points on the board in Australia. 2004 season World Supersport Champion Karl Muggeridge (Winston ten Kate Honda) and former MotoGP rider Alex Barros (Klaffi Honda) are just two Honda riders in with a real chance of success in Australia. Muggeridge will have a new bike after his crash-damaged machine held back his performance in Losail, while Barros, about to take part in his third and fourth career World Superbike races, is hoping his hastily prepared machines will have the speed required to stay in contention on the fastest sections of the PI circuit. Former European Superstock Champion, and Supersport rider last year, Michel Fabrizio (DFX Honda) showed the way home to many more experienced riders in his rookie SBK races at Losail, finishing fifth and eight. Startling results from a complete SBK novice, but even more impressive when you consider that he started each race from the fourth row, having only secured 15th out of 16 in Superpole qualifying. Fabrizio’s team-mate, Pierfrancesco Chili, is looking for two good points scoring results in Australia, to help ease the pain of his aching limbs and broken finger, sustained after a race two crash in Qatar. Lorenzo Lanzi (Ducati Xerox) was another high profile faller at Losail, but despite the pain of his first race get off, and a swollen knee, he has an opportunity to take two solid race finishes in Australia. Last year at PI was one for Lanzi to forget, as he was disqualified from race one, and then finished an unhappy 13th in the second race, held in wet conditions. World Superbike has been good for privateer Ducati rider Roberto Rolfo (Ducati SC Caracchi) so far, as this class rookie has shown great pace and quick learning abilities after a career spent mostly on two stoke machinery. An outstanding seventh place in race one at Losail showed his ability, and he is currently ranked as second best Ducati rider in the series, in overall eighth place. A heroic performance last weekend, while still recovering from a leg injury from pre-season, delivered Ruben Xaus (Ducati Sterilgarda Berik) two points scoring finishes, while his team-mate, Marco Borciani is now a very respectable 12th in the championship stakes. Spanish Superstar Fonsi Nieto (PSG-1 Kawasaki Corse) is currently the highest placed Kawasaki rider in the championship stakes, but with mechanical niggles and not enough set-up time on the new 2006 spec Pirelli control tyres, all three top Kawasaki riders struggled in Qatar. Regis Laconi (second in wet qualifying at Losail, before dropping just outside Superpole qualifying in dry conditions) also scored points in Qatar, but for Chris Walker (PSG-1 Kawasaki Corse) the aim for Phillip Island is to get two strong point scoring rides in to make up for the eventual disappointments of the Losail double no-score. Franco Battaini (Kawasaki Bertocchi) will not take possession of his 2006 spec machine until he reaches the first European round at Valencia, but he showed glimpses of his assured talents in the wet at Losail. Well familiarised with Phillip Island, after years of competition in GPs, he may find Australia a more forgiving venue than Qatar. The Petronas FP-1 triple, featuring engine upgrades engineered in over the winter months, performed well in qualifying in the hands of Steve Martin at Losail, but in race conditions, Martin could not get into contention. Another fast Aussie, he loves Phillip Island more than any other circuit, and will be hoping to give useful riding tips to his 21-year-old team-mate, Craig Jones.
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