Reigning champ overcomes the rains of EnglandHeavy rains made for an unpredictable first race at Silverstone but at the time of its completion no one knew that race two would also have to be cancelled because of the atrocious weather.
The only eventual race winner
was also the Superpole winner, Troy Bayliss (Ducati Xerox) who took a margin of victory over Noriyuki Haga (Yamaha Motor Italia) of two seconds. Third on the podium was early leader, Troy Corser (Yamaha Motor Italia), four seconds down after some great games of high risk between the leading trio in treacherous conditions.
Roby Rolfo (Hannspree Ten Kate Honda) rode with great style and pace in the wet to score fourth position, but his team-mate James Toseland was not in such a happy condition, crashing on lap three and finishing an eventual eighth. Toseland's recovery from the crash was remarkable in itself, as his throttle side handlebar had come loose, his engine lost all its cooling water immediately and he had rejoined the race down in 18th place.
Regis Laconi (PSG-1 Corse Kawasaki) proved as adept in rain conditions as always, taking fifth place, albeit finishing far from the leading riders. It was his best result of the year. Max Biaggi (Alstare Suzuki Corona Extra) went sixth, unhappy in the rain and experiencing a near high side so violent that he broke his footpeg with his leg when he landed back on his machine. The last rider not to be lapped by the flying Bayliss was his own team-mate, Lorenzo Lanzi (Ducati Xerox), seventh.
Ruben Xaus (Sterilgarda Ducati) fell on lap 24, allowing Toseland through, but he restarted to finish ninth, one place up on Superpole faller from Saturday, Max Neukirchner (Suzuki Germany). Only 13 riders finished the race at Silverstone, not all of them on the same lap totals. Stand-in PSG-1 Kawasaki rider Vittorio Iannuzzo won the battle of the Italian privateers when he outpaced Luca Morelli (Honda DXF Corse) to secure 11th spot.
The last finisher was a brave one, Shinichi Nakatomi (Yamaha YZF Team) who rode with injured toes from a previous crash. He was two laps down on Bayliss but scored points for his persistence in the shockingly wet conditions.
In the current championship chase Toseland is still leading, with 237 points, Haga is second on 214, while Biaggi is now on 201. Bayliss did himself a favour with his maximum points score, and now has 189 points. Corser is fifth, on 151.
WSS - WEST TAKES MAIDEN WSS WIN
Anthony West (Yamaha World SSP Racing) handled the poor conditions on race day with great aplomb, scoring a fabulous win in only his second 2007 season WSS race, proving to be the clear victor by some 33 seconds from Robbin Harms (Stiggy Motorsports Honda). A red flag finally ended the race six laps early, when a fallen machine blocked the racing line.
Katsuaki Fujiwara (Althea Honda) was the final podium finisher after a mid-race tussle with two other riders, and problems with water ingress to his engine and helmet visor. Championship leader Kenan Sofuoglu (Hannspree Ten Kate Honda) fell on lap one and was ruled out of the points for the first time this year.
In a race of attrition, several top riders also failed to finish, but Fabien Foret (GIL Kawasaki) was fourth, and he reduced the advantage of Sofuoglu to 45 points. Sofuoglu now has 145, Foret 100, Fujiwara 69 and Harms 59.
SBK Press Office
