Barros takes win, Bayliss claims title.

Troy Bayliss has taken his second World Superbike Championship at Imola in Italy during the eleventh round of the Corona Extra Superbike World Championship.

He came over the line in fifth place but that was sufficient points for him to take the title, "That was a long race!" he said, "I was thinking a lot, and a lot of people have been telling me all weekend what I need to do. I did what I needed to. I finished fifth and that was enough. So good luck to everyone for race two."

The race win went to Alex Barros on the Klaffi Honda giving him his first win of his rookie World Superbike season. "The race was tight for me as I get a terrible start," said Barros, "I lost some time so I got my head down and got it back. I saw where I could pass and I was able to over take the guys."

Once he got into his rhythm he was able to pull a gap on the others, "I got a bit of an advantage and pulled away, once I got the gap I just kept it there. Thanks to my team, the bike was very consistent and very good. I hope to do the same in the second race," he concluded.

Britan's James Toseland took a hard fought second place and did lead the race for a number of laps before the hard riding Barros got the better of him. Toseland explained what happened, "It was a pretty good race, I had a small problem half way through. We will get it sorted out for the second race and I hope to run at the front again."

Andrew Pitt rounded out the podium with a superb ride, he also lead the race briefly but dropped back after a huge moment on the run into Variante Alta. "I saw a few Aussie fans out there today and they will be glad that Troy won. I tried at the start but didn't have the tyre and I nearly had an off. I got into a rhythm that carried me forward and I'm happy to be on the podium. It is our teams home race so it is good to be on the podium at home," he said.

The Alstare Corona Extra Team had a bad race one with none of their riders finishing the race. Yukio Kagayama and Max Neukirchner got tangled up with one another in the chicane on the first lap and crashed out. Troy Corser also had bad luck when a suspected gearbox problem saw him run on into the gravel on lap three and then retire.

WSBK race results (1) - Imola:

1. Alex Barros
2. James Toseland
3. Andrew Pitt
4. Noriyuki Haga
5. Troy Bayliss
6. Lorenzo Lanzi
7. Fonsi Nieto
8. Karl Muggeridge
9. Norick Abe
10. Regis Laconi