Corser scores top ten, fastest lap for BMW

BMW have plenty of reasons to be pleased with their maiden weekend in the World Superbike Championship, after Troy Corser not only secured them a top ten finish on their debut, but also won them the fastest lap.

A big improvement on their lowly starting positions, an aggressive first few laps from a determined Corser did the majority of the work, the Aussie delighting the home crowd by working his way up into the top ten from 17th on the grid by the end of lap three.

Getting as high as seventh, Corser's efforts produced a best lap of 1min 32.726secs, a time that wouldn't be bettered for the remainder of the race.

Although his outstanding start would plateau from the mid-way point in the race, Corser was still classified a fine eighth on his debut with team, even if he admits a better qualifying position would have aided his cause.

"I made a good start and just kept at it. It ended up being one of the hardest races of my life, but I was determined to give it everything I had. I think we showed that the S 1000 RR has potential and I'm sure that there is quite a bit more to come, once we have got further along with its development.

"As I said before, the team have done a great job to get the bike where it is now so soon and although there's more work to do, all the signs are good and I am excited about the prospects.

"It's just a shame that I had to start from the fifth row of the grid and fight my way through so much traffic. If I'd been higher up the grid, I'm sure the result would've been even better."

Corser's hopes of a repeat in race two were dashed by a curious tyre problem that left him fighting for grip from the end of the first lap. Gradually dropping down the order, Corser twice had to recover from a high-side as the S1000RR attempted to get away from him.

Indeed, the second high-side occurred on the final lap, with Corser admitting that was expecting the end result to be a painful one.

"Regarding race two: Probably the less said, the better! The tyres were gone after just one lap or so and from then it was just case of hanging on as best I could and not crash. I don't know what the problem was because it was the same bike and the same set-up - the only difference was the tyres.

"I could've pulled in (and probably should've done!) but I wanted to try and finish the 22 laps and give my team as much information and data as possible, so that's what I did.

"The 'moment' on the last lap was a big one! I was out of the saddle, in the air and I thinking that this could end in tears. But I was lucky because the bike was pointing forwards and when I came down the bike was under me somehow. I'm still not sure why I didn't crash, but I'll take that piece of good luck and not worry about it."