Corser: I nearly crashed!

Alstare Suzuki's Troy Corser narrowly missed out on a double win today at Qatar due to problems with his machine and being caught out by oil on the circuit, in race two of the opening Qatar round of the 2005 World Superbikes championship.

Although he didn't get the best of starts from second on the grid for the second outing of the day, Corser soon had control of the field and was edging out a lead. However, at mid-race distance he almost fell on some oil left from a blown engine, costing him the lead.

"In the second race I was leading and then the oil flags came out on the approach to turn one, so I ran a bit wide and eased off the throttle," commented Corser. "I still nearly crashed, but Yukio dived underneath. I tried to catch him straightaway, but he'd pulled out a bit of a gap."

Following this incident Troy tried to pick up the pace but his rear tyre was not behaving how he wanted on the exit of corners, therefore the Australian rider had to adapt his riding to compensate. Unfortunately this put too much stress on the front meaning he had to back off towards the end of the race.

"My front was a bit chewed up and I knew I couldn't stay ahead of Regis, so I let him past," continued Corser. "But, it's great to win, it's great to be on the podium and a perfect start for our team - a 1-2. The only thing that would have been better is if I had won both races! But my favourite circuit Phillip Island is next, so maybe I can do a double there."

The next race of the World Superbike championship is at Philip Island, Australia, on April 3rd.

Corser sits in second position in the championship, four points behind first placed-man and team-mate Yukio Kagayama.