Edwards takes home victory for Honda.

Castrol Honda SP-2 rider Colin Edwards and Troy Bayliss won a race each in a thrilling ninth round of the World Superbike championship at Laguna Seca,
USA on Sunday to send a partisan, record crowd of 98,000 fans home happy.

Edwards won the second race and, but for a slide while leading the opening race, may well have been a double winner. That opening race victory went the
way of Bayliss as the Australian championship leader took advantage of Edwards' trouble to secure his 14th win of the season.

Bayliss and his team-mate Ruben Xaus both got the better of the stricken Edwards on lap 24 of the 28-lap opening race. That left Edwards to cross the
finish line in third place.

"We always knew that 28 laps was going to be hard on the tyres and it started taking its toll towards the end there," said Edwards. "And, following the slide at turn six, all I could do was hold on for third. I
just couldn't ride any harder. I was doing everything I could while I was leading then, when they got by, I had no reply. We've got the machine set up
as good as it could be but I was just missing a tiny bit more grunt out of the corners."

American Honda's Nicky Hayden leader of the AMA Superbike championship and a wild card rider for the World Superbike round took an impressive fourth
place on his World Superbike debut.

"I did what I could and I was just happy been out there with those guys and learning," said Hayden. "It took me a little while to get going but I'm really pleased to get a fourth on my first ride in this series."

British private Ducati rider Neil Hodgson took fifth with Kawasaki's Eric Bostrom sixth ahead of wild card Suzuki rider Aaron Yates.

Edwards in determined mood rocketed to victory in the second race aboard his SP-2 machine completing the race distance four seconds faster than
Bayliss's race-winning time earlier in the day.

The 28-year-old from Conroe, Texas took the lead from Eric Bostrom on the fourth lap and held onto the lead in one of the most exciting World
Superbike races for many years.

As Bayliss closed on Edwards in the last five laps the Australian made his move but Edwards immediately hit back each time to retain his lead and secure his third win of the year.

"I don't know what was going on behind me but it was some race at the front. I was pretty determined to win that race," said Edwards. "After the first
race I felt like I going home. I've never won at Laguna and I knew the crowd wanted to see my "stars and stripes" machine take the chequered flag. It's always a hard battle when you're on the race track with Troy (Bayliss) but it was time to dig deep."

He added: 'I don't think I could have gone any harder. It was a relief to start the last lap having got a signal with a +0.6s gap to whoever was behind. It's been a long time since I've won and with half of Texas here to see me and a team that wanted a win badly I'm pleased to give them something to cheer about tonight."

Edwards' victory also extended his record of successive podium finishes, taking the tally to 17 in a row. He won the race by a second from Bayliss
who won a gripping last lap battle with Hodgson as the pair clashed fairings in three corners of the final 2.24-mile lap.

Runner-up place for Bayliss handed the Australian a bonus, extending his lead over Edwards in the championship by four points after Laguna but
Edwards maintained: "I know what's happening at HRC in Japan and there's no way anyone at Honda is giving up on the 2002 title. If Troy's going to win
it he'll have to work hard."

Early leader Eric Bostrom finished a career-best fourth with his brother Ben improving from eighth in the opening race to secure fifth. James Toseland
took advantage of a last corner, lap 14 crash involving Hayden and Aprilia's Noriyuki Haga to take sixth. Hayden remounted to finish 13th while Haga was forced to retire.