REIGNING CHAMP OVERCOMES THE RAINS OF ENGLAND Heavy 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.

ROLFO FOURTH ONCE MORE BUT TOSELAND LOSES GROUND 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.

LACONI THE RAIN MASTER GOES FIFTH 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.

XAUS ANOTHER FALLER WHO RESTARTED TO SCORE POINTS 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.

TOSELAND STILL IN CHARGE BUT WITH REDUCED LEAD 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.

POS NO. RIDER BIKE TIME
1 21 Bayliss T. (AUS) Ducati 999 F07 46'02.875 (129,919 kph)
2 41 Haga N. (JPN) Yamaha YZF-R1 2.035
3 11 Corser T. (AUS) Yamaha YZF-R1 4.568
4 44 Rolfo R. (ITA) Honda CBR1000RR 50.039
5 55 Laconi R. (FRA) Kawasaki ZX-10R 1'09.634
6 3 Biaggi M. (ITA) Suzuki GSX-R1000 K7 1'20.982
7 57 Lanzi L. (ITA) Ducati 999 F07 1'33.061
8 52 Toseland J. (GBR) Honda CBR1000RR 1 lap
9 111 Xaus R. (ESP) Ducati 999 F06 1 lap
10 76 Neukirchner M. (GER) Suzuki GSX-R1000 K6 1 lap

WORLD SUPERSPORT - WEST TAKES MAIDEN WSS WIN Anthony West (Yamaha World SSP Racing) handled the poor conditions on raceday 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.

SUPERSTOCK 1000 FIM CUP - ROBERTS TAKES FIRST WIN The first win for Brendan Roberts (Ducati Xerox Junior Team) was the second for the 1098 Ducati, but the race itself - shortened to ten laps because of heavy rains - was of more importance for the championship fight. Sixth in the race, Matteo Baiocco (Umbria Bike Yamaha) lost his lead to second place Silverstone man Mark Aitchison (Celani Suzuki), who now has 78 points to Baiocco’s 70. Matej Smrz (MS Racing Honda) was third at Silverstone, while third in the championship, Niccolo Canepa (Ducati Xerox Junior Team), was only 13th in England. The Superstock 600 race at Silverstone, scheduled in after the Superbike race, was also cancelled.