Fogarty retains title

Motorcycling

Britain's Carl Fogarty retained the World Superbike Championship yesterday with a double victory at Assen in the Netherlands, which made his lead in the competition unassailable. However, a serious crash in the second race marred the event.

Yasutomo Nagai was taken to hospital unconscious after he lost control when his bike hit a patch of oil on the penultimate lap. He was trapped under the sliding machine and the Yamaha rider was last night in a coma.

The 29-year old Fogarty, from Blackburn, has now amassed 420 points on his factory Ducati in the WSB series, 162 ahead of his nearest rival, the Australian Troy Corser, who failed to complete the second race after colliding with Simon Crafar. Fogarty won the first race in 33:55.88 and completed the second in 29:38.34.

Results, Sporting Digest, page 21