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A look back at 2008 - Portimao

Thursday, 22 October 2009 11:13 GMT
A look back at 2008 - Portimao


Given Bayliss' superiority, the show was behind him and started at the first lap of the first race, when Fabrizio tried to overtake Biaggi, fell and brought down his fellow-countryman. A little fight ensued and continued, verbally, in the paddock. A couple of newcomers, Cal Crutchlow and Jonathan Rea, were able to lead the group of Bayliss' pursuers in the early stages, which also comprised Xaus, Corser, Leon Haslam, Checa and Haga. The changes of positions were countless and things started to settle down only after ten laps, when tyres started to tell: before the race the riders were unsure about which tyre to use, given the frequent presence of rain during the weekend and many choices were made on the starting grid. At this point of the race the riders who had chosen the softer compound fell back and the others were able to keep a reasonable pace. In the second part of the race the ones left in contention for second place were Haga, Corser and Checa, with Haga keeping up despite his softer tyre. The defining moment of the fight for second was the sixteenth lap, when Checa passed Corser and attacked Haga soon afterwards. The Spaniard went wide and lost the position again, but after a couple of turns it was Haga's turn to end up wide and Checa took second. At the beginning of the following lap Corser also passed Haga and now it was clear that the Japanese rider had a mechanical problem and he retired after a couple of laps. The order remained unchanged and Checa finished second in front of Corser.


The start of the second race was not as straightforward as the first one, as Biaggi and Bayliss touched at the first corner, with Bayliss losing some positions. It was clear though that the Australian had the same irresistible pace of race 1 and by the end of the lap he had already recovered all the lost ground and rocketed past Xaus, who was leading, down the main straight, setting off on his own. Xaus and Haga were left battling for second, but after four laps Haga had to pay a ride-through penalty for a jump start and he fell out of contention. The order was then Bayliss, Corser, Rea and Michel Fabrizio, who had recovered from tenth after a poor start. When Haga pulled into the pits, Corser made a move on Xaus, but ended up wide at the first corner. Rea was quick to snatch third, but after a couple of turns Fabrizio passed him and set after Xaus, while behind them Corser was sucked into a group composed of seven riders fighting for fifth. Xaus and Fabrizio fought for the following two laps, swapping places several times until Xaus highsided his Ducati in one of the spectacular downhill turns of the Algarve circuit, slowing down Checa, who was right on his tail. This left Fabrizio with a good margin and gave third to Max Neukirchner. The podium places remained unchanged up to two laps to the end, when Haslam was able to take third from Neukirchner and claimed his second Superbike podium after a four-year wait.