Motorcycling: Bayliss surges ahead on Toseland's bad day

Troy Bayliss extended his lead at the top of the World Superbike standings after winning both races in Monza, Italy, yesterday.

The fourth round of the series, however, was frustrating for the former champion James Toseland, who did not complete the first race after suffering brake problems and coming off. Toseland was putting in some fine laps, catching the first three riders in the closing stages, but he ran wide on the last corner.

He managed to save himself but the manoeuvre affected his brakes and he ran wide again at the other end of the start/finish straight, lost the front on the grass and landed heavily on his neck. He walked back to the pits looking frustrated.

The Ten Kate Honda rider is still third in the standings but he was also pipped to fourth place on the final lap in the second race by Alex Barros.

Toseland was just holding off Barros until he started to run out of fuel and Barros managed to slip past him. Toseland was able to cross the line but he had to jump on the back of team-mate Karl Muggeridge's bike to get back to the pits.

Bayliss remained on course for the second title of his career after extending his lead to 36 points from the defending champion, Troy Corser.

"It was quite hard, the guys got a bit of a jump on me," said Bayliss, who followed up his recent double win in Valencia for Ducati Xerox to make it four race victories in a row.

"But I've got the best team in the paddock and we got there after cat-and-mouse with Troy."

Corser was third in the first race behind Barros, while in the second race he finished second, with the Japanese rider Noriyuki Haga third.

"I pushed as hard as I could but he just had a gap and I couldn't get it back," Corser said.

"Top speed is pretty much the same with both bikes, we're pretty well matched, but we'll go on to the next one."