World Superbike: Lausitz Preview -ozzy go- motorycle-usa.com

The chase for the World Super Championship title resumes this
weekend at the Eurospeedway Lausitz in Germany after a month-
long summer break. To refresh your memory, Hannspree Ten
Kate Honda's James Toseland scored his first double podium
victory in the last WSBK race in front of a home crowd at Brand's
Hatch in England. Toseland stands alone atop the championship
point ladder with 355 and has a 66-point advantage over his
nearest competitor, Yamaha Motor Italia's Noriyuki Haga.

Four racers are mathematically still in the title hunt, but no rider
has overcome such an overwhelming deficit this late in the
season. The largest margin a rider has surmounted to claim the
championship is 39 points, achieved by Colin Edwards in 2002.
That year, Edwards was able to overtake the defending World
Superbike champion, Troy Bayliss, and win the title by 11 points.
The way Toseland has been racking up podium finishes this
season, though, it would almost take a small stroke of divine
intervention to prevent the young Brit from bringing the title
home.

Toseland won a thrilling Race 2 last year on the 2.66-mile
German circuit, fending off Haga by 0.210 seconds for the victory.
Beyond that win, Toseland's track record at Lausitz isn't
impressive. In eight starts, the Hannspree ace has seen the
podium only once, that coming in Race 2 of last season.

"We had a great result last year at Lausitz after winning a hard
battle against Haga, so it's a track we know we can do well at. If
we can have a weekend similar to Brands Hatch then it will be
difficult for the rivals to catch us in the championship. However, at
this stage there is still all to play for and 66-points is not a big
enough lead to enable us to relax. We still need to concentrate
and hopefully we can do the job," Toseland said.

The Yamaha Motor Italia team of Haga and Troy Corser are two
of the four riders still capable of tracking Toseland down. Haga
sits second in championship points with 289, while Corser hovers
on the farthest ring of the radar with 227. Haga has an impressive
resume on the German course, with a pair of second place
finishes last year and a second and third in 2005, so it is a track
he could double at if he rode flawlessly. Nitro Nori was only 26
points behind Toseland after Misano, but two fourth-place finishes
at Brno and a seventh-place run in Race 1 at Brands Hatch have
left the Japanese rider on the outside looking in. Haga did snare
second in Race 2 in England and is always a force to be reckoned
with on the track, so don't throw dirt on his coffin yet. click on
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