The first of the two races was won by Haga, the Yamaha man starting third, but moving into the lead on the second lap. By the ninth lap he was 1.4 seconds up on Bayliss with Hannspree Ten Kate Honda’s Carlos Checa starting to chip away at Bayliss. But Checa wasn’t alone as Bayliss’s Ducati teammate Michel Fabrizio was also there. Ditto for Haga’s teammate Troy Corser and Alstare Suzuki’s Fonsi Nieto, the Spaniard having shown his speed by finishing second in Superpole a day earlier.
Fabrizio was doing his job, passing Checa on lap 13 of 23 to keep himself between Bayliss and the rest. By the 14th lap, Haga had 3.1 seconds on the group behind him. And Max Biaggi was also on the move, closing in on the back of Checa and then doing so on the 17th lap.
It was Nieto, however, doing the most damage as he passed Bayliss on the 19th lap – only to be repassed almost immediately. In his attempts to stay with Nieto, Fabrizio crashed out of the race on the 20th lap. Shortly thereafter, Nieto slipped past Bayliss.
The last two laps went on without incident with Haga taking the win over Nieto and Bayliss rolling across the line in third – with his third World Championship sealed. The Aussie then celebrated on track with a flag that was Australian on one side and Italian on the other as his crew celebrated Ducati’s latest success.
Biaggi ended up fourth with Alstare Suzuki’s Max Neukirchner fifth and Corser. Corser also dropped behind Haga in the championship.
Things started the same in race two, but ended slightly different. Bayliss again got away quickly, but again it was Haga not wasting much time in taking that lead away. But Bayliss was a determined man in this one and he set a new lap record on lap five, a 1:39.818, as he tried to reel-in Haga.
Bayliss overhauled Haga on lap eight, as the first spots of rain started to drop an the skies darkened. Corser took his chance to pass Haga, and opened up the battle for a podium place as Checa started closing in.
With the rain not doing anything much to the track, Haga re-passed Corser. And he wasn’t finished as he passed Bayliss on the 12th lap. Corser also tried to pass his countryman, but he lost the front, ran wide and allowed Checa to move in behind him.
Haga was a second up on Bayliss on lap 16, although Corser was lapping faster than them both – albeit 1.7 off the lead. Bayliss, urged on by his team, attempted a pass on Haga into Adelaide on lap 17, but the Japanese fended him off. Haga and Bayliss were replaying many of their old duels, this time each having the advantage at one spot on the track, while the other had enough of an answer to allow them to stay together.
Bayliss steamed past Haga on lap 22 and headed off at a pace that none of the others could match. He almost broke into the 1:39s with his final lap and won the race by almost a second, with Haga second, Corser third, Checa fourth, Ruben Xaus fifth and his teammate Biaggi sixth. Yukio Kagayama, Nieto and Neukirchner completed a Suzuki flush from seventh to ninth.
Australian Andrew Pitt rode his Hannspree Ten Kate Honda to victory in the World Supersport race at Magny Cours and with it earned the World Championship. Pitt beat Barry Veneman by 1.2 seconds with Josh Brookes finishing third on his Honda.
American Josh Hayes finished ninth in his second race aboard the Parkalgar Honda.
Race One Results
1. Noriyuki Haga (Yamaha)
2. Fonsi Nieto (Suzuki)
3. Troy Bayliss (Ducati)
4. Max Biaggi (Ducati)
5. Max Neukirchner (Suzuki)
6. Troy Corser (Yamaha)
7. Carlos Checa (Honda)
8. Yukio Kagayama (Suzuki)
9. Kenan Sofuoglu (Honda)
10. Gregorio Lavilla (Honda)
Race Two Results
1. Troy Bayliss (Ducati)
2. Noriyuki Haga (Yamaha)
3. Troy Corser (Yamaha)
4. Carlos Checa (Honda)
5. Ruben Xaus (Ducati)
6. Max Biaggi (Ducati)
7. Yukio Kagayama (Suzuki)
8. Fonsi Nieto (Suzuki)
9. Max Neukirchner (Suzuki)
10. Roberto Rolfo (Honda)
