World Superbike veterans
Noriyuki Haga and
Troy Corser were united in their criticism of rising star
Michel Fabrizio, after the young Italian barged his way past for a second place finish in race two at Brno on Sunday.
The DFX Honda rider had earlier claimed his first ever WSBK podium with third in race one, despite recently breaking his collarbone while substituting for the injured
Toni Elias at the British
MotoGP round.
"After five or six laps of race one I had some problems with grip but my race pace was OK, so when I saw the others in front I thought 'let's push to try and take them.' Something just clicked in my head that I could catch them. For my riding style, when the tyres slide it is better for me," said Fabrizio, who finished behind double winner
Yukio Kagayama and
James Toseland. "Same thing happened in race two, but when I saw Corser and Haga in front right at the end I thought it would be possible to overtake them..."
And overtake them he did, but with more than a little controversy: As the last half of the last lap began, reigning champion Corser was crawling all over the back of Haga's Yamaha for second - but as he made his move, Fabrizio lunged for them both.
The trio then fought side-by-side through the final turns, with the Roman just edging out both Haga and Corser in a dramatic race to the flag (pictured).
"I passed Haga to go second briefly, but suddenly Fabrizio appeared and made a couple of desperate moves," said Corser. "If I hadn't picked up my bike when he made his move I would've hit him and we'd both gone down, taking Nori with us as well. There's racing and there's desperation. And that was definitely desperation.
"I know he's a young kid, but it could've all ended very badly. He's lucky that both Nori and I saw him and lifted our bikes up, or it would've been a disaster. That happened in the last two turns of the last lap, so neither Nori nor I had time to respond, but I can tell you that I was gutted. After I had crossed the line I was so frustrated that I was sick - but I managed to get my helmet open first."
