Fila Ducati 1-2 in Race 1

Neil Hodgson and Ruben Xaus dominated the first race of the WSB season taking their Ducati 999’s to first and second place. Hodgson with a total time of 36:56.205 and Xaus four seconds behind at 37:00.905.

HM Plant Ducati riders Chris Walker and James Toseland came in third and fourth meaning three out of the top four rider were British. Walker took the last podium place 12 seconds behind Hodgson with Toseland fourth just 3/10 of a second behind Walker after a close battle between the two team-mates.

Regis Laconi took fifth place on his NCR Ducati 998 with a time of 37:20.273, with DFX Ducati rider Steve Martin following in 3 seconds behind at 37:23.211.

The first non Ducati to finish the race was Alstar Suzuki rider Gregorio Lavilla on his GSX-R1000 who finished in 7th with a time of 37:35.997.

Seven riders retired from the race with nearly all of them Italian. The only exception was Foggy Petronas Rider Troy Corser on the FP1. After qualifying in fourth position on the grid his tyre began to deflate and he locked his back wheel twice on the same corner and slid out in to the gravel trap on lap 9.

Corser’s team-mate James Haydon managed to move up from his 14th place starting position to finish in 12th leaving the Petronas team with a good result for their first ever race.

To comment on this story click on the link on the right to visit our WSB discussion board.