Lausitzring is the only German round of the championship, but that does not make it as easy to get to seeing as it is not in erm, well Lausitz! So, do not do what we did and drive all the way to Lausitz from Berlin to discover that you have to drive half way back to Berlin again as actually it's rather annoying. Arriving on Saturday morning, we discovered that the pleasant conditions on Friday had changed a bit, and it was now really rather wet. However, there was some wind meaning that the track often ended up drying for a while before it started raining again. This meant that the tyre choice would be difficult for the riders because if the track is dry when they first start the session they would need to go out on slicks, however the possibility that it might start raining meant that they had to decide whether to risk it with slicks or start out on wets just in case, which could cause them to not have the vital good start. Another thing is the fact that it is windy. Something like a fifteen mile an hour tail wind meant that they could be going fifteen miles an hour faster than they expect at the end of the long straights...which is not that great when they are already doing about two hundred, in fact it is so hard on the brakes that they had to change the brake pads from the Friday.

Friday practice and first qualifying did not go too well for the likely World Champion of the season, James Toseland. Fifth place, though something that many people would be delighted with, is rather below his exacting standards. Although this was bad for him it would make it more entertaining for the rest of the season if the championship was open until the last wire. Bayliss was the man of the moment, qualifying first and was shortly followed by Corser and his former team mate Yukio Kagayama. Haga rounded off the top four. Xaus managed to qualify six, Biaggi seventh, Fabrizio eighth, Muggeridge ninth and Nieto tenth. Saturday qualifying was, in every sense, a total washout as the dreadful conditions meant that nobody was able to build on their Friday times, and with no perceived benefit and lots of risk man riders elected to simply stay in their pit boxes.

Superpole ended up being declared wet. There was a period of several minutes beforehand when it actually appeared that the threatening rain would hold off. Indeed, the sky lightened considerably and the track dried out fast in a warm breeze. But when the session actually started there was around thirty seconds of sunshine before the heavens opened again.

Now, wet superpole is different to the normal routine of everybody going out separately trying to get the best time. Basically, they all go out at once, ride twelve laps and the person with the fastest time by the end of it grabs pole, with the second fastest second on the grid and so on...

However, the promising conditions at the start meant that most riders had chosen slicks, and this proved a catastrophe when it suddenly was not dry anymore and many fell off. Troy Bayliss had been very lucky in the fact that his bike had technical difficulties and when he started he could take the first lap easy and then come back in to change straight to wets, without very muddy leathers. Michel Fabrizio, however, was not so lucky as he fell off three times during the superpole laps, one crash resulting in his sliding on his stomach through a whole lot of water...which I cannot stop thinking looked quite a laugh, considering that I used to do that on those water slides when I was younger! Kagayama had problems getting into gear and therefore never ended up finishing a superpole lap, positioning him sixteenth on the grid. Most of the riders by now were riding with lots of mud and water on their leathers, in fact Biaggi was the only person in the whole day not to fall off his bike, on the Saturday alone there were sixty-four crashes in total. But Biaggi was not the only lucky person for Saturday, as Fonsi Nieto managed to ride the whole thirty seconds of dryness and ended up four seconds ahead of everybody else for Superpole, taking pole position for the first time in his career. His team mate, Regis Laconi, managed second, Bayliss third and Corser finishing off the first row of the grid. Biaggi qualified fifth, Xaus sixth and Toseland seventh with Haga rounding up the second row of the grid at eighth.

Race one started with Bayliss taking the lead followed by Haga and Nieto. Toseland did not get the best start and ended up fifth. By lap three Bayliss had taken off leaving a big gap behind him, making it seem that he would have to fall off to lose. Nori Haga, however, would not settle for that and immediately started making up time to catch up. Biaggi overtook Nieto into third place. On lap five Xaus lowsided and, though he rejoined the race, it was too late to get back into the top ten. Things soon started getting better for Toseland when he overtook Fonsi Nieto, giving hope that there would be more overtaking to come from him. It all ended for the Germans when Max Neukirchner crashed on lap seven, and hope started to fade for Toseland when Troy Corser overtook him and held it, then Laconi took him and held it, and then Rolfo also took him. Fabrizio had a chance as well, but that was ended when his bike broke down on lap eleven. By this stage Haga had started to catch Bayliss up, and on the start finish straight of lap fifteen Haga took first place.

Things went from bad to worse for Toseland, as Fonsi Nieto passed him. Biaggi and Corser had now started gaining speed on Troy Bayliss, and after the race it was easy to see that both Bayliss and Toseland had tyre problems, causing them to go backwards through the places instead of forwards. On lap twenty-one Biaggi and Corser both took Bayliss into second and third places, and things stayed that way until the end of the race, leaving the podium standings as Nori Haga first, Max Biaggi second and Troy Corser third. Lorenzo Lanzi also overtook Toseland on the last lap, leaving the probable World Champion in ninth place, just ahead of his former team-mate Karl Muggeridge who was truly flying on the Alto Evolution Honda. Talking of Alto Evolution, we can't go without mentioning the newest permanent addition to the SBK paddock - Yoann Tiberio who has taken over from Josh Brookes (who ironically has taken Tiberio's ride in Supersport) and who, in his first ever SBK race, scored a point in fifteenth place.

Race two started the same as race one, with Bayliss taking the lead again. By lap two Haga had started the chase and had overtaken Toseland into fourth, immediately starting to catch Biaggi. By lap three Haga had already taken Biaggi and had started to close down Bayliss again. Toseland improved on his last race by overtaking Xaus and making it stick to take fourth, with Corser soon following. Throughout the rest of the race Toseland kept blocking fourth from Corser, but sadly the battle was not as entertaining as usual. Lausitzring doesn't really promote good races as the long straights tend to separate riders and the overtaking opportunities aren't as frequent as they might be.

Lap ten started with a bang as Haga had caught up with Bayliss and the battle for first commenced. At first Bayliss would not let him through, but on lap fourteen the Australian had a big wobble at the end of the back straight, causing him to slow down momentarily - but a moment is all that is needed for Nitro Nori. It was looking like race one would repeat itself for a while as Haga immediately extended a lead, but by lap twenty Bayliss had regrouped and was able to take the lead back, holding it until the flag. So Bayliss got a well deserved first, Haga second and then a gap until Biaggi rounded off the podium. Toseland proved that he could ride this track by securing a sound fourth place ahead of Troy Corser, a far happier Xaus and Roby Rolfo. Fonsi Nieto managed an eighth place from his pole start, while Max Neukirchner kept the local fans happy with a ninth place, ahead of Karl Muggeridge who, for the second time this weekend, rounded out the top ten.

So we go to Vallelunga with a reduced, but still huge, lead for James Toseland. But he can' afford to DNF at all now as newly promoted second place man Nori Haga is just forty one points shy of the Englishman and leading Max Biaggi by twelve points. With a hundred points left on offer, Bayliss is the last rider with a mathematical chance of lifting the title, but he'd need to be incredibly lucky as well as incredibly skilled. But whatever happens, this weekend has made sure the championship stays interesting for at least one more round.

Oh, and the title of this article? Well there were these ponchos available at the circuit for when it rained. As stylish as only something that cost five Euros and is made of bright yellow PVC can be. And our editor was wearing one...

Race One

1 Nori Haga (Yamaha)
2 Max Biaggi (Suzuki)
3 Troy Corser (Yamaha)
4 Troy Bayliss (Ducati)
5 Roberto Rolfo (Honda)
6 Regis Laconi (Kawasaki)
7 Fonsi Nieto (Kawasaki)
8 Lorenzo Lanzi (Ducati)
9 James Toseland (Honda)
10 Karl Muggeridge (Honda)

Race Two

1 Troy Bayliss (Ducati)
2 Noriuki Haga (Yamaha)
3 Max Biaggi (Suzuki)
4 James Toseland (Honda)
5 Troy Corser (Yamaha)
6 Ruben Xaus (Ducati)
7 Roberto Rolfo (Honda)
8 Fonsi Nieto (Kawasaki)
9 Max Neukirchner (Suzuki)
10 Karl Muggeridge (Honda)

Championship Standing after eleven rounds:

1 James Toseland 375
2 Nori Haga 334
3 Max Biaggi 322
4 Troy Bayliss 296
5 Troy Corser 254
6 Ruben Xaus 177
7 Lorenzo Lanzi 173
8 Roby Rolfo 166
9 Max Neukirchner 130
10 Yukio Kagayama 116

LB