Laconi closes gap on Corser with double victory in sweltering heat

Régis Laconi scored back-to-back victories in the San Marino round of World Superbikes yesterday. The French Ducati rider, who was runner-up last year, proved unbeatable in sweltering conditions at Misano where the air temperature hit 35C.

Régis Laconi scored back-to-back victories in the San Marino round of World Superbikes yesterday. The French Ducati rider, who was runner-up last year, proved unbeatable in sweltering conditions at Misano where the air temperature hit 35C.

"We worked really well on the race set-up all weekend and everything looked good for the races," Laconi said. "The choice of tyre was fine and the feeling from the bike was good, so I was sure I was going to get a couple of good results."

The French rider beat Honda's Chris Vermeulen into second place - and the championship leader, Troy Corser of Suzuki, into third - in both races. It was Laconi's third win in the last four championship races.

The Australian Corser still leads the riders' standings with 254 points after six rounds. Compatriot Vermeulen moves up from third to second with 181 points and Laconi goes up a place to third with 162. Toseland finished fourth in both races and is fifth overall with 12 races to go.

In the first race, Laconi clocked a winning time of 39min 7.157sec to beat Vermeulen by four seconds. Corser, who started from pole, trailed Laconi by eight seconds on aggregate time after oil on the track forced a restart, which had to be aborted once due to faulty lights.

The Frenchman took the second race in 40min 46.26sec with Vermeulen 1.5sec further back.

The British rider Chris Walker managed eighth in the first and 11th in the second race on his Kawasaki, leaving him seventh in the standings.

In the Netherlands, Italy's world MotoGP champion, Valentino Rossi, held off his compatriot Marco Melandri on a Honda to win the Dutch TT in Assen on Saturday for his fifth successive victory of the season. Rossi's Yamaha team-mate, the American Colin Edwards, finished third, more than seven seconds behind.

In the 250cc class, the Welshman Chaz Davies scored points for finishing 14th on his Aprilia Germany bike.