Troy Corser on the podium again in The Italian Misano Round of the 2010 World Superbike Championship
27/06/2010 20:45:34

After dominating Superpole, Troy started race one from pole position, led for the first sixteen laps and looked on course for his maiden win with BMW. But the smallest of errors cost him dearly and, in the end, he had to be satisfied with third place - repeating the result he had in Monza last month. Even though he wasn’t able to win today, he showed that he and the BMW are now genuine podium contenders, thanks in part to the big improvements to the bike made recently. Troy’s team marginally changed the set-up of the bike to improve rear grip, but the plan didn’t work.

Although Troy led the first six laps, he struggled to stay in front because he was having difficulty getting the bike to turn and stop in the corners. He kept going and ended 10th.

Local favourite Max Biaggi (Aprilia) won both races to increase his championship lead over Leon Haslam (Suzuki) to 37 points. In race one, he narrowly beat Carlos Checa (Ducati) with Troy third, but race two was much more comfortable. He took his second chequered flag of the day, over four seconds ahead of Haslam, with Michel Fabrizio (Ducati) third.

Troy - Race 1: 3rd, Race 2: 10th

I should have won the first race and the only reason I didn’t was because I made two small mistakes. This series is so hard that it only takes the smallest of mistakes or errors to lose a win and that’s what happened today. The bike has come on a lot recently and most of it is to do with a new set-up at the rear. It’s something that I’ve wanted to try for some time, but it’s not something that we felt we could try during a race weekend. We tried it at the recent Mugello tests and now I have bike I can ride easily without thinking about it - and that’s a great feeling. Now the bike is probably the best it has ever been at any stage and I felt comfortable leading the first race. I made a small mistake on lap seventeen when I went a bit wide at a left-hander and had to go on the grass. I couldn’t get my normal drive out of the turn as a result and Max (Biaggi) overtook me. On the next lap, I left a bit too much space going into another left-hander and Carlos (Checa) dived underneath me. From then on in, I matched them for lap times but just couldn’t pass them.

Because it now takes such a long time for the interviews in parc fermé, the podium ceremony and the interviews in the Paddock Show, I wasn’t able to have a proper debrief with my team. We spoke briefly when I got back to the parc fermé and I told the boys that I was pretty happy with the bike and if they wanted to make some small adjustments they could do so. They wanted to improve the rear grip, so changed the front forks a little, but the plan didn’t work and the bike was actually harder to stop in the corners and this is why I started going backwards. It was a shame, because otherwise I felt that another podium was on the cards. Our tyres don’t like it when the track temperature goes over 30C, but I think that’s probably the same for everybody. Today Max and the Aprilia were a good package. They can be beaten, but our bike needs to be perfect to do it. As I said, I’m really happy with the bike now and I am enjoying leading races and challenging at the front. My goal is to try and finish third in the championship. I don’t know if that’s realistic, but that’s what I’m aiming for.

See ya,

Troy

Results and points

Race 1: 1 Max Biaggi (ITA-Aprilia), 2 Carlos Checa (ESP-Ducati), 3 TROY CORSER (AUS-BMW), 4 Michel Fabrizio (ITA-Ducati), 5 Sylvain Guintoli (FRA-Suzuki), 6 Leon Camier (GBR-Aprilia), 7 Nioriyuki Haga (JPN-Ducati), 8 Leon Haslam (GBR-Suzuki), 9 Shane Byrne (GBR-Ducati), 10 James Toseland (GBR-Yamaha).

Race 2: 1 Max Biaggi (ITA-Aprilia), 2 Leon Haslam (GBR-Suzuki), 3 Michel Fabrizio (ITA-Ducati), 4 Cal Crutchlow (GBR-Yamaha), 5 Carlos Checa (ESP-Ducati), 6 Sylvain Guintoli (FRA-Suzuki), 7 Shane Byrne (GBR-Ducati), 8 Luca Scassa (ITA-Ducati), 9 Noriyuki Haga (JPN-Ducati), 10 TROY CORSER (AUS-BMW).

Points: 1 Biaggi 307, 2 Haslam 270, 3 Checa 172, 4 Rea 158, 5 Haga 151, 6 CORSER 149.