Round 2, Phillip Island (Australia),  Sunday 3rd April 2005, The race
Circuit: 4.45 kms. Weather: Sunny/cloudy/rainy 24-20 C

TROY DOUBLES UP!

Despite mixed conditions, Troy scored a tremendous double at Phillip Island
today and now leads the championship by six points. Troy cleared off in race one
and was similarly in control in race two when the rains came down and the
22-lapper was red-flagged. The conditions were treacherous in the restart, but
Troy kept his head, knowing that he could afford to let his team mate Yukio
cross the line first and still win thanks to the aggregated time. In the end,
Troy’s margin of victory over the two parts was nearly six seconds. In race one,
Kagayama took runner-up spot, with Vermeulen (Honda) third, Neukirchner (Honda)
fourth, Pitt (Yamaha) fifth and Abe (Yamaha) sixth. The second (two-part) race
saw Kagayama once again take runner-up spot, with Neukirchner third. Fourth on
aggregate was Vermeulen, ahead of Nieto (Ducati) and Corradi (Ducati).

TROY - Race 1: 1st, Race 2: 1st

Well, I am wrapped! I was disappointed not to have taken Superpole yesterday,
but this is far more important. The Alstare Suzuki worked really well today and
even when it was wet, it was still the bike to beat. With my team mate Yukio
taking a pair of seconds, this was a perfect day for the team. It is always a
great feeling to win in front of your ‘home’ fans and specially as Phillip
Island is probably my favourite circuit. On the cool-down laps, I could see all
the fans waving flags and hear them cheering and that was a wonderful feeling. I
got a pretty good start in race one and just kept pushing hard throughout the
race. Even when I thought I had eased the pace, I still had a big advantage over
the rest of the pack and ran out a pretty easy winner. It had rained heavily in
the morning, so it was a big relief that the first race was a dry one, but I
guess quite a few of us know that Phillip Island is a strange place for weather
- anything can happen! I was comfortably leading race two when it started
raining. It was very, very slippery and it was the right decision to stop the
race because it was so easy to crash - and nay did! In the second (wet) race,
I Ied for a while and then Yukio came past. There was no point fighting with
him, so I just followed him home knowing that I would be the winner thanks to
the aggregated times. By the time we got on to the podium the sun was shining
again and when our Team Manager Francs Batta joined us for the presentation it
was a lovely moment. I’d like to dedicate my victories today to my friend Kirk
McCarthy who died last year. I’m sure he was watching the action today -
probably with a Corona beer in his hand!

RESULTS

Race 1:
 1 TROY CORSER (Aus-Alstare Suzuki Corona Extra)
 2 Kagayama (J-Suzuki)
 3 Vermeulen (Aus-Honda)
 4 Neukirchner (D-Honda)
 5 Pitt (Aus-Yamaha)
 6 Abe (J-Yamaha)
 7 Laconi (F-Ducati)
 8 Muggeridge (Aus-Honda)
 9 Walker (GB-Kawasaki)
10 Bussei (I-Kawasaki)

Race 2 (aggregate):
 1 TROY CORSER (Alstare Suzuki Corona Extra)
 2 Kagayama (Suzuki)
 3 Neukirchner
 4 Vermeulen
 5 Nieto (E-Ducati)
 6 Corradi (I-Ducati)
 7 Laconi
 8 Abe
 9 Bussei
10 Sanchini (I-Kawasaki)

Points

 1 TROY CORSER (Alstare Suzuki Corona Extra)  91
 2 Kagayama (Suzuki)  85
 3 Laconi             54
 4 Vermeulen          50
 5 Neukirchner        37
 6 Abe                33
 7 Pitt               31
 8 Toseland           22
 9 Bussei             20
 10 Nieto             17

TROY CORSER WEBSITE - http://www.troycorser.com