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Troy Bayliss Qatar Pirelli Test

Makoto Tamada Kawasaki

Ducati Xerox

Ducati Xerox's Michel Fabrizio finished just out of the top ten after Thursday's qualifying session in Qatar.

Alstare Suzuki's Yukio Kagayama enjoyed a good outing during Qatar's qualifying session, finishing fifth-fastest.

Troy Corser snagged the 41st Superpole of his World Superbike career, with the Aussie over a half-second ahead of his nearest competitors, Sterilgarda Go Eleven Ducati's Ruben Xaus and Max Biaggi.

Troy Corser is looking to recapture the world championship he last held in 2005 - Qatar

Troy Bayliss made a move on the final lap to pass Max Biaggi and win the first race of the 2008 World Superbike season.

Bayliss would love to add another championship to his resume.

Fonsi Nieto and his GSX-R were the fastest in Race 2, giving the Spaniard his first World Superbike victory.

Max Biaggi is out of the gate with a bang, claiming a second and third place finish and earning him the second spot in the overall championship point standings.

Sterilgarda Go Eleven's Max Biaggi and Ruben Xaus enjoyed a strong showing in the first World Superbike race of the season, as Biaggi finished second in Race 1 and Xaus finished second in Race 2.

Yamaha Motor Italia's Noriyuki Haga didn't experience the podium results he is accustomed to, tangling with Biaggi in Race 1 which caused him to crash out.

Fonsi Nieto and his GSX-R ran strong in both races and put Nieto on the top spot of the WSBK podium for the first time.

Troy Bayliss got his championship quest off to a positive start.

Gregorio Lavilla rode his Honda to a 13th and 14th-place result - Qatar

Max Neukirchner will be running under the Alstare Suzuki banner for 2008 - Qatar

Max Biaggi will be a strong contender for the 2008 crown - Qatar

Muggas is running 2008 aboard another Honda for D.F. Racing.

Part of the three-pronged Hannspree Ten Kate Honda squad, Carlos Checa brings his GP experience to the SBK paddock.

Fonsi Nieto shocked many with his first career SBK win in Race 2 - Qatar

The 2007 World Supersport Champion, Kenan Sofuoglu is looking to make an impact on SBK.

Michel Fabrizio is getting his factory shot this year aboard the strong 1098R Xerox Ducati.

Spaniard Fonsi Nieto won his first SBK race at Qatar, but can he follow it up with more?

Ruben Xaus knows how to go fast, and could be a major player this season aboard the Go Eleven Sterilgarda Ducati 1098R.

The 2007 World Supersport Champion, Kenan Sofuoglu - Qatar

Ryuichi Kiyonari scored 22nd and 19th-place finishes in his SBK debut - Qatar

Ryuichi Kiyonari brings a pair of British Superbike Championships into the SBK series.

Yukio Kagayama will sit out the next WSBK round at Phillip Island due to a broken collarbone suffered at Qatar.

Suzuki's Yukio Kagayama finished a respectable 8th in Race 1 at Qatar but crashed hard in the second race and DNFed.

Nitro Nori got 2008 off to a rather poor start - Qatar

For 2008 Makoto Tamada is running on the PSG-1 Kawasaki ZX-10R - Qatar

Lorenzo Lanzi is riding 2008 aboard a R.G. Ducati 1098R - Qatar

David Checa is riding for the Yamaha France Ipone GMT 94 team - Qatar

Sebastien Gimbert is rolling in 2008 with the Yamaha Yamaha France Ipone GMT 94 squad - Qatar

Jakub Smrz will be yet another rider donning the Ducati 1098R, with the Czech riding for Guandalini Racing by Grifo's.

Yamaha Motor Italia's Troy Corser sat atop the provisional pole after the first day of qualifying at Phillip Island.

Troy Bayliss nabbed the podium in the first race of the season last week and would love to duplicate that feat at PI.

Alstare Suzuki's Max Neukirchner was about a half-second off of Corser's timesheet-topping pace during Friday's qualifying session.

Troy Bayliss is closing out his SBK career in 2008, a legend for sure.

Yamaha's Noriyuki Haga (41) is hounded by Go Eleven Ducati's Max Biaggi - Phillip Island

Alstare Suzuki's Fonzi Nieto went 5-3 at Phillip Island and is still runner-up to Bayliss in the points chase.

Yamaha's Troy Corser was second in Race 1 so his DNF in Race 2 was very untimely - Phillip Island

Troy Corser celebrates his 2nd in Race 1 - Phillip Island

Xerox Ducati's Troy Bayliss did the double at Phillip Island

Ruben Xaus fared better than his teammate, with a pair of fourth-place finishes - Phillip Island

Max Biaggi was having a great weekend, except for the devastating crashess... Phillip Island.

Michel Fabrizio returned from a nasty starting line crash to finish on the podium with the Xerox Ducati - Phillip Island

Troy Bayliss got the double before the home Australian crowd - Phillip Island

Alstare Suzuki's Max Neukirchner topped the timesheet in Valencia's practice session.

The Alstare Suzuki techs have been on top of their game so far and prepped a 1-2 Valencia practice punch.

Yukio Kagayama and Max Neukirchner look to put Alstare Suzuki on Valencia's podium tomorrow.

Ryuichi Kiyonari looked impressive in his first superpole, posting the sixth-fastest time and securing a second row start.

The Alstare Suzuki team has been red-hot this weekend. Even its umbrella girls were smokin'. - Valencia

Ducati Xerox's Troy Bayliss has a comfortable lead in the World Superbike championship point standings and finished second in both races at Valencia.

Sterilgarda Go Eleven's Max Biaggi was a trooper in Valencia and was able to finish eighth in Race 2 despite his injured left arm.

Carlos Checa tried a risky inside move on Alstare Suzuki's Max Neukirchner on the final turn of Race 1 which took both riders out.

Yamaha Motor Italia's Troy Corser fared well at Valencia, scoring a third-place finish in Race 1 and a fifth in Race 2.

Nitro Nori was one of the ten riders who DNFed in Race 1 at Valencia.

Valencia's Race 2 podium - Noriyuki Haga (winner), Troy Bayliss (second) and Carlos Checa (third).

It was a scramble for the holeshot in Race 1 at the Ricardo Tormo Circuit.

Ruben Xaus didn't finish the first race but salvaged a seventh-place finish in Race 2.

Haga does his mental preparations before competing in the World Superbike Valencia races.

Troy Bayliss may have crashed on a bicycle during pre-race training at Monaco, the Aussie has been nothing but fast at Assen claiming Superpole.

Troy Bayliss celebrates a double victory with Ducati's David Tardozzi - Assen

Ducati Xerox's Troy Bayliss won both races at Assen and holds a 70-point lead in the championship point standings. - Assen

Sterigarda Go Eleven's Max Biaggi struggled with grip up front all weekend and could only muster a 10th place finish in Race 1. - Assen

Go,Max,Go. Laconi's trying to close the gap. - Assen

Michel Fabrizio had surgery on his right forearm the day after the Assen round to help with forearm flexor muscle compartment syndrome. - Assen

Yamaha Motor Italia's Noriyuki Haga went down in Race 1 after an incident with Ruben Xaus. - Assen

The Hannspree Ten Kate Honda team had a strong showing in Assen courtesy of Carlos Checa's double podium finish. - Assen

Would you expect anything less than a fair-skinned blonde beauty for a brolly girl in Holland? - Assen

The traditional champange shower goes along with the glory of victory. - Assen

YZF Yamaha's Shinichi Nakatomi was the model of consistency, finishing 15th in both races at Assen. Now if only he can move that consistency into the top ten. - Assen

Troy Bayliss has been dominating so far this season. Are you sure you're thinking about retiring after this year, Super Troy? - Assen

Team Alstare Suzuki's Yukio Kagayama had a strong showing in Holland, capturing 4th and 6th place finishes. - Assen

Yukio Kagayama just finished off the podium in Race 1 on his GSX-R1000. - Assen

The Yamaha umbrella girls always help keep up team morale. - Assen

The Race 2 podium included Haga, double-podium winner Bayliss, and Checa. -

Ducati Xerox's Troy Bayliss won his third Superpole of the season today. - Monza

Noriyuki Haga will start from the third slot on the front row and would love to repeat his double podium performance of last year. - Monza

Troy Bayliss scored a third-place finish in Race 1 but had to retire from Race 2 due to technical problems with his Ducati 1098R - Monza

In Race 1, Alstare Suzuki's Max Neukircher won his first WSBK race, and was joined by Haga and Bayliss on the podium. - Monza

Hannspree Ten Kate Honda's Carlos Checa finished eighth in Race 1 but DNFed in Race 2. - Monza

Championship points leader Troy Bayliss was able to expand his lead despite retiring from Race 2. - Monza

Haga had a rocky start to the World Superbike season, but has been showing the form that we have come to expect from the Yamaha rider the last couple of races. - Monza

Nitro Nori almost duplicated his double from last year, finishing 1-2 in Sunday's races. - Monza

Hannspree Ten Kate's brolly girl provides a little shelter for Kiyonari before the race. - Monza

Ryuichi Kiyonari had an excellent weekend of racing, finishing in sixth during the first race and grabbing a podium position in Race 2. - Monza

Alstare Suzuki's Max Neukirchner scored his first World Superbike victory in Race 1, holding off Fiat Yamaha's Noriyuki Haga at the finish line. - Monza

He may have been denied victory at Valencia but there was no denying Mad Max today, who was victorious in Monza's Race 1. - Monza

Fonsi Nieto rode his GSX-R100 hard in Sunday's races and earned a seventh and fourth place finish. - Monza

Sterilgarda Go Eleven's Ruben Xaus was able to salvage a seventh-place finish in Race 2 after suffering a DNF in Race 1. - Monza

Troy Corser set the pace today during the first qualifying session. - Nurburgring

Ducati Xerox's Troy Bayliss didn't win a race in Germany but still extended his championship point lead to 39. - Nurburgring

The Ducati Xerox team of Troy Bayliss and Michel Fabrizio scrape some knee pucks at Nurburgring. - Nurburgring

Hannspree Ten Kate Honda's Carlos Checa couldn't duplicate his Miller heroics, but still finished in fifth-place in both races. - Nurburgring

Carlos Checa still sits in second place in the championship point standings, but he did fall further behind Bayliss. - Nurburgring

Yamaha Motor Italia's Noriyuki Haga was the man in Germany, scoring the double victory. - Nurburgring

Hannspree's Ryuichi Kiyonari rides the Honda CBR1000RR hard around the German circuit. - Nurburgring

Shinichi Nakatomi might not have been fast, but at least he was consistent, placing 18th in both races. - Nurburgring

Alstare Suzuki's Max Neukirchner grabbed the pole and finished both races on the podium in third place. - Nurburgring

Fonsi Nieto registered an eighth-place finish in Race 1 and a ninth-place in Race 2. - Nurburgring

Race 1 was run in dry conditions, but rain shortened Race 2. - Nurburgring

Misano babes.

Ducati Xerox's Troy Bayliss was always near the front and finished third in both races at San Marino. - Misano

Carlos Checa was the fastest Honda rider of the day, finishing fifth in Race 1 and eighth in Race 2. - Misano

Yamaha Motor Italia's Troy Corser duels with Alstare Suzuki's Max Neukirchner for the lead. - Misano

David Checa opens up the throttle on his YZF-R1. - Misano

Ducati Xerox's Michel Fabrizio DNFed in Race 1 but weathered the storm to an 11th-place finish in Race 2. - Misano

Alstare Suzuki's Yukio Kagayama may not have had the results he wanted but rode consistently, finishing 11th in Race 1 and 12th in Race 2. - Misano

Gregorio Lavilla rode his CBR1000RR to an eighth-place finish in Race 1. - Misano

The Race 2 podium was dominated by the Sterilgarda Go Eleven Ducati team, led by Ruben Xaus' winning efforts. - Misano

Max Neukirchner and Troy Bayliss would battle it out all day long. - Misano

Ruben Xaus looked good in qualifying and backed that up with a victory in Race 2. - Misano

Nitro Nori struggled in Race 1 but looked much better in Race 2 and finished in fourth place. - Misano

Ducati wildcard rider Niccolo Canepa continues to look impressive and qualified in sixth place. - Brno

Michel Fabrizio had his best outing of the season and will start tomorrow from the front row. - Brno

Neukirchner scored a lackluster 7-5 byline, holding second in the points, but giving ground to Corser - Brno

Troy Corser had a double podium day and gained ground on Neukirchner for second in the points - Brno

Corser was able to match Bayliss for a time, but eventually the Ducati pulled away - Brno

Bayliss doesn't really need a spark for the title this season - Brno

As impressive as Bayliss was, scoring the Double, his teammate Fabrizio pulled a double-podium performance - Brno

Ducati Xerox's Troy Bayliss not only won Race 2, but rode home with the title of World Superbike champion for 2008. - Magny Cours

Sterilgarda Go Eleven's Max Biaggi just missed a podium position in Race 1, finishing in 4th place. - Magny Cours

Yamaha Motor Italia's Troy Corser rode to a third-place finish in Race 2. - Magny Cours

Nitro Nori lit it up in France, winning Race 1 and grabbing second in Race 2. - Magny Cours

Alstare Suzuki's Fonsi Nieto posted his best results since the first race, finishing second in Race 1. - Magny Cours

Nitro Nori Haga celebrates his dominating effort at Vallelunga 2008.

Noriyuki Haga on the top of the Vallelunga podium.

Troy Bayliss closed out his impressive SBK career is style.

Bayliss walks away from the racing on a high note.

Winning three SBK titles with three different Ducatis, Bayliss will be remember as one of the best to ever compete in the World Superbike Championship.

Yamaha Motor Italia's Noriyuki Haga had a rough go of it at Portimao, scoring a DNF in Race 1 and finishing back in 14th place in Race 2.

Yamaha's Troy Corser appears to be racing out of the clouds on his way to second place in the final WSBK Championship standings.

Troy Bayliss ended his World Superbike career in grand fashion, scoring the double podium victory in Portugal.

Hannspree Ten Kate Honda's Carlos Checa rode to a second place finish in Race 1 and placed fourth in the final point standings.

Hannspree Honda's wildcard rider, Johnathan Rea, rode a strong Race 1 and finished in fourth place.

Alstare Suzuki's Yukio Kagayama gets a little encouragement from his No. 1 fan.

Honda's wildcard riders had an impact in Portugal as Leon Haslam earned a third-place podium position in Race 2.

Fonsi Nieto charged from the back of the pack to finish in the top five of both races.

Suzuki's Max Neukirchner just missed a podium spot in Race 2, losing out to Leon Haslam by 0.627 seconds.

Ducati Xerox's Michel Fabrizio made it a 1-2 finish for the factory Ducati team after snaring second place in the final race of the season in Portimao.

Troy Bayliss already had the 2008 World Superbike title under wraps but still went out and opened up a can of a@#-whooping Sunday while scoring a double victory.