The World Superbike contingent was in Brno this weekend, with Troy Bayliss on the Xerox Ducati taking a double victory.
The series points leader took his seventh and eighth wins of the season in front of 63,000 spectators, the 15th time the Australian has picked up the "double."
The ninth round of the season also saw great performances by his team-mate Michel Fabrizio, twice on the podium, and by Max Biaggi (Sterilgarda Go Eleven Ducati), third in race 2, while Troy Corser (Yamaha Motor Italia WSB) was also in good form in the two races.
In Race 1, after starting from pole, Bayliss took the lead on lap 12 and then powered to the chequered flag after setting the fastest lap of the race three from the end. Second was Troy Corser after a great race in which he kept Bayliss under pressure until the final stages. The final podium slot went to Fabrizio, who passed Biaggi on the last lap after a great duel with his fellow Italian.
Ryuichi Kiyonari (Hannspree Ten Kate) brought the first Honda home, the Japanese rider confirming his excellent Superpole performance with fifth place. Noriyuki Haga (Yamaha Motor Italia WSB) managed to salvage a good result with sixth place after a difficult two days, finishing ahead of two other riders fighting for the title, Max Neukirchner (Alstare Suzuki) and Carlos Checa (Hannspree Ten Kate Honda).
Bayliss’ second-race win increased the Australian’s championship lead to 79 points over Neukirchner, fifth at the flag. Fabrizio and Biaggi put on a terrific battle for the runner-up slot, which eventually went to the Xerox team rider with another passing move on the last lap. Fourth went to Corser after the Australian had led for the first half of the race, and Kiyonari again had another good run to finish sixth.
Checa retired with a mechanical problem, while Haga finished in seventh place after starting last from the pit lane on his second R1 machine.
