Edwards makes Bayliss pay for untimely slip up

Colin Edwards won for the seventh straight time on Sunday to move into the lead in the Superbike World Championship after Troy Bayliss, the previous leader and defending champion, went out of the second race.

Edwards won both races on his Castrol Honda after a dramatic second leg saw Bayliss crash out and hand the championship lead to the American, who holds a one-point advantage with two races to go.

Edwards expects a tough battle with Bayliss in the last round at Imola, and admitted that he had not thought he would be going to Italy leading the series.

"We are going out there to duke it out and it's going to be a great race," Edwards said. "We knew coming here it would be hard, I didn't really expect this to happen. I thought we might be 10 or 15 points behind Bayliss. That's seven [wins] in a row, so if anybody has an edge it's me."

British rider James Toseland finished third to take his first podium place in race two after his HM Plant Ducati team-mate Neil Hodgson had been rammed by the Playstation Aprilia of Noriyuki Haga.

Hodgson recovered to take fourth after retiring from race one with an electrical problem. Despite keeping a grip on third spot in the championship, Hodgson had some harsh words for Haga.

"Haga's dangerous, he always has been," Hodgson said. "I wasn't surprised when he rammed me. At the start of the last lap I realised James was third and I was pleased for him. James has worked incredibly hard the last two seasons and he deserves it."