Michel Fabrizio (Ducati Xerox) proves that he has taken a liking to America and the Miller Motorsports Park circuit, scoring two third place finishes here today in impressive style on board his Ducati 1098 F08 machine. A less than perfect start in both of this afternoon's races failed to deter the young Italian rider and he powered his way through the field in Race 1 and again in Race 2 to eventually earn third place finishes in both. Unfortunately the day was not so lucky for fellow Ducati Xerox rider Troy Bayliss who failed to finish Race 1 and completed Race 2 in 22nd position after a technical problem.

Troy Bayliss still leads the championship with 194 points while Michel Fabrizio gains 32 points at Miller today, moving him up to eighth place in the riders classification with 87 points.

Troy Bayliss (Race 1 - DNF, Race 2 - 22nd)

Having made a blistering start to both Race 1 and Race 2, Bayliss unfortunately came off during lap four of the first race and then suffered a technical problem with his 1098 F08's gear lever during the second.

"I am really disappointed with today's results of course. In race 1 I crashed in a similar way to how I went down yesterday, which was a bit strange. Having said that, my weekend had been going ok until Race 1 and I was feeling pretty positive ahead of Race 2. Although I got a good start, after a few laps something came loose with the gear shifter so I had to come in. We sorted it quickly enough that I thought I might as well go out and ride, even if it was impossible to get points. I was going well out there but I was too far behind to make up any places. It goes without saying that after all our hard work this weekend I'm really disappointed that we've given away 50 championship points in one weekend."

Michel Fabrizio (Race 1 - 3rd, Race 2 - 3rd)

In Race 1 Michel found himself going from fourth place on the grid down to fourteenth place before making an exceptional comeback to finish the race on the podium, in third place. Race 2 was almost an exact replica, as Michel once again dropped back to twelfth position before battling back to take an impressive third place on the podium for the second time today.

"Obviously I am extremely happy with today's results. In Race 1 I had a gear problem on the start-line which caused a race restart but thanks to the great work of my team I was able to start (the restarted Race 1) without incident. On the first lap I went right down to fourteenth position but worked my way up the field, stayed calm and was very satisfied to take third. In Race 2 I again had to make up a lot of positions and although I'm happy with third, I was hoping to be able to give Carlos more of a run for his money. It was hard work today, the heat and altitude here makes it a really physical challenge, and the last laps of both races were a struggle."

RESULTS:

Race 1

  • 1 Checa (Honda);
  • 2. Corser (Yamaha);
  • 3. Fabrizio (Ducati Xerox)


Race 2

  • 1. Checa (Honda);
  • 2. Neukirchner (Suzuki);
  • 3. Fabrizio (Ducati Xerox)

 

CHAMPIONSHIP POINTS:

Riders

  • 1. Bayliss (Ducati Xerox) 194 ;
  • 2. Checa (Honda) 166 ;
  • 4. Neukirchner (Suzuki) 144;
  • 5. Nieto (Suzuki) 126;
  • 3. Haga (Yamaha) 122;
  • 6. Corser (Yamaha) 121;
  • 7. Xaus (Ducati) 92;
  • 8. Fabrizio (Ducati Xerox) 87.


Manufacturers

  • Ducati 249;
  • Yamaha 201;
  • Suzuki 191;
  • Honda 185;
  • Kawasaki 51