Toseland beats Biaggi for race two win.

James Toseland put in a gritty performance during race two of the first round of the Corona Extra Superbike World Championship in Qatar, taking a dominant lights to flag victory aboard his Hannspree Ten Kate Honda.

Second place went to race one winner Max Biaggi on the Alstare Corona Extra Suzuki who chased Toseland all the way to the line. Troy Corser got his first podium on his new Yamaha by finishing in third place over all.

The Ducati team had a disappointing outing with Lorenzo Lanzi and Troy Bayliss finishing in seventh and eighth respectively. Bayliss dropped as far down the field as eleventh but worked hard to get a top ten finish.

Race two started in a similar manner to race one with Toseland in front of the two Yamahas of Corser and Noriyuki Haga with Biaggi dropping back into fourth place. By the end of the first lap Toseland had pulled a gap of 0.674secs over Haga, as ever the Samurai of Slide wasn't hanging around and he closed the gap down to 0.14secs and tried for the front but Toseland wasn't giving it way.

On lap four Biaggi set the new lap record with a time of 1min 59.194secs and managed to gain a position by passing Corser for third place. One lap later he had dispensed with Haga too, and it wasn't long before Corser also took Haga as the battle for the top three places rolled on.

Lap nine saw Corser push Biaggi out of the way for second place but Biaggi took it back at turn one only to run wide and hand it straight back to Corser. Biaggi then ran wide and lost a place to Haga leaving him back in fourth place exactly where he had started the race!

Not to be out gunned the Roman Emperor showed his true colours and talent by doing away with both the Yamaha riders in one fell swoop. This now left the way clear for him to try and pull in Toseland who was trying to romp away into the distance with the race lead. There was a consistent gap of 1.8secs between Toseland and Biaggi but on lap fourteen Biaggi ran a little wide and over the curbs, this lost him some precious time and the gap extended to 2.12secs. The last lap of the race Biaggi really closed down on Toseland but he wasn't close enough to make a move and he had to settle for second place.

Corser was pleased to be on the podium on his first outing with his new team, he said, "I'm disappointed with race one, I had a tyre problem and the bike was just unrideable. We put the same type of tyre in for race two and it was fine. The bike is a bit slow on the straight when against the Suzuki and Honda. But it is working great and it is good to get a podium for the team. A podium and pole position is good but I'm disappointed with race one. I'm looking forward to Phillip Island, everyone enjoys it there."

Biaggi was also pleased with his day's work, "I'm very happy and satisfied overall. I couldn't close the gap to James, I needed more laps, he made a break and was hard to catch. The bike was good, it was a tough race. The top four are always chasing and I enjoy Superbike, I wish I had discovered this sooner!" he smiled.

Isle of Man based Toseland was happy to get the win, "I wasn't happy with race one, I knew I had a win in me. I just pushed too hard, in race two I conserved my tyres better, they started to go on the last two laps," he said.

He knew he had a bit of a gap when he wasn't able to hear the chasing machines as he went on to explain, "There is a tight hair pin in the middle of the track and you can hear the other bikes, when I got there about half race distance and it was quiet, I knew I was ok!" Toseland went on to thank Honda, Hannspree the new sponsor and all his friends and family who have been supporting him. He is now looking forward to heading to Australia, "I love it down there, I've the joint lead in the championship I just need to stay there."

Toseland and Biaggi are joint leaders in the championship standings with Lanzi in second and Corser in third. Bayliss didn't get his championship defence off to a good start and is currently sixth overall.

WSBK race (2) results - Qatar:

1. James Toseland
2. Max Biaggi
3. Troy Corser
4. Noriyuki Haga
5. Fonsi Nieto
6. Yukio Kagayama
7. Lorenzo Lanzi
8. Troy Bayliss
9. Ruben Xaus
10. Max Neukirchner