Great racing last weekend

Anyone into either Superbike racing or Aussie V8s must have enjoyed the racing last weekend. Both AMA races, both World SBK races and the 3 V8 races turned out to be real nailbiters.

In WSBK, it did indeed turn out to be a "Battle of the Troys", as in each race Troy Corser ran out to a lead, only to be chased down, terrier-like, by Troy Bayliss, who took both wins. Behind them, Bayliss' Ducati team-mate Lorenzo Lanzi took 3rd both times but had to fight for it. Fonsi Nieto, Nori Haga, Norick Abe, Chris Walker and Yukio Kagayama all ran well, whilst anyone on a Honda was hating life: James Toseland, Alex Barros and Michel Fabrizio all suffered with balance issues.

As I mentioned on Monday, Mat Mladin finally succumbed to the pressure from rising star Ben Spies. Tommy Hayden looked good on the Kawasaki all weekend but was shoved off the track by local yokel Aaron Yates in race 2. Hayden's brother Roger Lee left the track in an ambulance with a broken tib-fib and is out for a few weeks. Neither of the Ducatis did well, with Ben Bostrom suffering from the flu, and Neil Hodgson suffering from not being on a Japanese bike...

We got the first taste of the new reverse grid rules in V8 Supercars at Pukekohe, New Zealand. The first race started with carnage as local boy Greg Murphy was punted into the wall on the first corner. For the reverse grid race 2, there was the predictable chaos, but the real drama was halfway through when John Bowe left the track at such speed that he broke the guardrails. A stuck throttle caused by some carbon fibre debris was apparently the cause. The race was neutralized whilst they banged in some wooden dowls and erected concrete guardwalls. When all was said and done, race 3 ended up being a cracker, as young hotshot Mark Winterbottom mixed it up with Mark Skaife and Craig Lowndes all the way to the end.

Oh yes, and there was Formula 1, as well. As I predicted, tight racing and no passing. Interesting, but the sheer action of the World Superbike races earlier made it look a little dull...

Comments on the BTCC races from Mondello may (or may not) be forthcoming, and a review of the Oregon Trail Rally is on its way, directly from one of the competitors!