A look back at 2008 - Nurburgring
At the start of race 1 the unpredictable weather was back again, a downpour with some hail fell on the track and the start had to be delayed, but by the time the riders were back on the grid after they repeated the start procedure, the sun was out... Polesitter Max Neukirchner was not the fastest off the line in race 1, and Bayliss took the lead. Max followed, then Corser and Haga. Soon afterwards Max lost his place to the Yamaha riders and by the end of lap 1 the aforementioned riders plus Michel Fabrizio were pulling away from the rest. On lap 2 Bayliss went wide at turn 1, the first of many mistakes by the Australian rider, who at the end of the day had lost several positions and precious World Championship points. Haga then took the lead, but wasn't able to pull away, and the leading group remained the same until Fabrizio lost contact around lap 5, then Corser followed the same destiny. It didn't take long also before Neukirchner followed suit on lap 9, leaving Haga and Bayliss to fight for the win. On lap 14 Bayliss made his first attempt to pass at turn 1 ending wide once again, with Haga quickly recovering his lost position. The Australian then opted for another place to pass the Japanese rider, the Veedol chicane, and managed to grab the lead on lap 16, but next time around at the first turn went wide once again. Haga wasn't able to pass, but on the following lap Haga attacked hard under braking and Bayliss to defend his position ended up in the gravel trap, recovering just before Neukirchner arrived on the scene. This gave Haga a four second advantage two laps to the end and it was easy for the Japanese rider to take the win.
In race 2 Bayliss pipped Neukirchner a few meters after the start and the German then fell into the clutches of the two Yamaha riders, who by turn 1 were already past him. On lap 2 Bayliss was again wide at turn 1 after an attack by Corser and the Yamaha rider was able to hit the front, while Neukirchner passed Haga for third. On lap 3 there were more position changes as Neukirchner tried to attack Bayliss at his weak spot - turn 1 - but went wide and Haga was able to pass him. Before the end of the lap, at the Veedol chicane, Bayliss and Haga were able to pass Corser, so the race order changed dramatically as Bayliss was in the lead, followed by Haga, then Corser and Neukirchner. After a couple of laps Bayliss, under attack from Corser, messed up things again at turn 1, went wide, and Corser, on the outside, had to go round him losing considerable time. The result was that Haga took the lead, but it was not over yet: at the following turn Bayliss, slow due to his mistake, had to take evasive action to avoid a contact and lost another position to Checa, so that at the end of the lap Haga was in the lead, Neukirchner behind him, Corser closing the gap to the German, and then Checa and Bayliss. That was a good scenario for the Yamaha riders, as two laps later Corser was able to pass Neukirchner and started to attack his team-mate, but instead of losing time, they were pulling away from the rest of the field at a phenomenal pace, so that by lap 8 they were on their own to fight for the win. They swapped places on lap 10, 12 and 13 (twice), with Haga keeping the lead. The situation remained unchanged until the sixteenth lap, when Corser passed Haga with a remarkable move on the outside on turn 1 to take the lead, but his moment of glory was short lived because, as they approached the hairpin, Corser and Haga noticed that the rain was starting to fall and they signalled for the race to be stopped. The red flag was soon out but since the classification had to be taken two laps before the interruption, Haga won, scoring the double.