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showed well early in each race but could not get into the top five positions on race setup, especially in race two, when his back brake failed on the start line and he had no anti-wheelie device left. He scored a seventh and an eighth. Klaffi Honda's Alex Barros had to fight back from lowly first-lap positions, after qualifying only 18th, to score one eighth place and one ninth, suffering from prob- lems with his quick-shifter in race two, and setup issues on a track he enjoyed racing around and at which he hated rac- ing for no results. Winston Ten Kate Honda's Karl Muggeridge appeared to be capable of a top-five finish in each race, but he fell in peculiarly similar circumstances, when his machine clipped the trackside curbing in each race; bizarre in the extreme - and his fault, it has to be said - but it was an unfortunate indication of how his luck has been of late. It was a cruel trick to play on himself after he had qualified third. "I'm really disappointed to have crashed twice in the same way, when the bike hit the rumple strips," Muggeridge said. "We all worked very hard this week- end, so thanks to the team for making the bike go so well that we could qualify on the front row. I'm just looking to Assen now to make up for this race day in the best way we can." Sterilgarda Berik Ducati's Ruben Xaus completed the first-race top 10, as he did in race two, with Laconi ninth in the opener, having meddled with his settings after warmup, and regretting it - tem- porarily. Wild-card rider Tommy Hill, on his Virgin Mobile Yamaha, scored an impres- sive top-11 finish, after a battle with five other riders in race one. He was forced out in race two when his machine lost for- ward drive for reasons unknown until internal inspections had been carried out. Behind Hill in the opener came such regular World Superbike luminaries as Lorenzo Lanzi, Norick Abe, Fonsi Nieto and final point scorer Sebastien Gimbert. In the second race, the last points were taken by Lanzi (in 11th), first-race crasher Michel Fabrizio (with a pushing front all weekend), Abe, Gimbert and Suzuki pri- vateer Vittorio Iannuzzo. Pier-Francesco Chili failed to score finishes in either race, but he made a final lap to wave goodbye to his British fans, in what will be his last World Superbike race at this venue; leathers, boots - they all went into the crowd, as applause rang out. Steve Martin missed out on a single point for the Foggy Petronas team by finishing 16th in race two - another racer who deserved a lot more. American Kurtis Roberts was out of both races early after hurting his ankle in a pre-race crash. He wants to carry on to the end of the season on the Pedercini team, but it wasn't a happy welcome to World Superbike racing, despite his pleas- ure at being there and riding a bike again. "I had to pull in because of the pain in my ankle, but I like the team, I like the bike, and I would like to see the season out with them," Roberts said. After the dust had settled, and the rid- ers had gone through the trap door that led to the podium at the peculiarly appointed and simply cramped Brands Hatch pit-lane complex, the reality dawned that Bayliss, who had been gently seeping points away from himself in the last three races, did his championship prospects a world of good, as he now has a total of 307. Haga has 230, Toseland 219, Corser 193, Barros 166 and Pitt 157. "That was a very frustrating day today, and I'm not at all happy," Corser said at the end of the day. "In the first race, the rear tire went off after 10 laps, and all I could do was to try and hold on as best as I could. I was pretty happy with the front tire, so we stayed with that one for race two. For the second race, we chose the hardest rear we could, and although it was better, it wasn't good enough to keep up with the pace of the leaders. James [Toseland] was a problem in both races, because he is always so difficult to pass, and when you are fighting like that, you lose time. I'm frustrated because, like Brno, I felt that I could've gone quicker, but the bike wasn't up to it. I'm going to use the break to do double training and AUGUST 16, 2006 • C Y C L E N E W S 34 Kurtis Roberts had a little trouble adapting to the Ducati. Noriyuki Haga (41) has been the only rider to truly challenge Troy Bayliss (21) this season. Alex Barros (4) pulls away from Lorenzo Lanzi (57) late in the first race. The field disappears over the turn- two crest at Brands Hatch at the start of the second race. Brands Hatch Circuit Kent, England Round 8 August 6, 2006 World Superbike Championship