With two second places at Valencia, Ducati Xerox star
Troy Bayliss increased his lead over closest rival
Fonsi Nieto to 48 points - almost two races wins.
But while it is tempting to attribute the Australian's solid title advantage to his new 1200cc 1098R, the reality is that the next best Ducati - of
Ruben Xaus - is only fifth in the championship.
For that reason, there will be no extra handicap applied to the twin-cylinder 1200s for the next three rounds, as the event average difference between the two types of machines - twins and fours - has so far proved to be insufficient to warrant a change.
At Valencia the twins appeared to struggle against the fours, despite a Ducati one-two and a fortuitous win by
Lorenzo Lanzi in race one. Three riders representing three different manufacturers -
Noriyuki Haga (Yamaha Motor Italia WSB),
Carlos Checa (Hannspree Ten Kate Honda) and Max Neukirchner (Alstare Suzuki) - looked to have the better of the 1098s.
However, the Spaniard and the German had their infamous last-lap, last-corner clash in race one, which eliminated both riders from the top slots, before Haga - who also fell in race one - took his first victory of the season by beating Bayliss in race two.
Second place in the championship is still in the hands of Neukirchner's team-mate Nieto, but the Alstare Suzuki rider has not had another result to match his Losail win and is coming under pressure from third and fourth placed men,
Troy Corser (Yamaha Motor Italia WSB) and Checa, both equal on 72 points.
The Aussie has been on the podium three times this year already, but Assen is somewhat of a jinx for Corser, who is still looking for his first win there and his first win since Phillip Island in 2006. Meanwhile Checa continues to make his mark in Superbike, his CBR rapidly becoming a front-running machine, and both are competitive enough to take their first win this year at Assen.
