JAMES TOSELAND rose to the biggest challlenge of his racing career by claiming the World Superbike Championship for the second time at Magny-Cours earlier today.
Yamaha's Noriyuki Haga won both races in the final round of the series, giving the gritty Japanese rider second slot in the chamionship and in doing so nudging Max Biaggi down to third place in the final standings. But even though Haga rode two magnificent races it wasn't enough to stop Toseland from taking the title by a mere two points.
Toseland's success wasn't without incident though. The 27-year-old Briton was punted from the track in race one and had to ride his arse off from the tail end of the field to take seventh place at the chequered flag. He played safe in race two, settling for sixth place to give the Ten Kate Honda team their first WSB championship.
Toseland leaves WSB for MotoGP in 2008, joining Tech 3 Yamaha.
Race one results
1 Noriyuki Haga JPN Yamaha Motor Italia YZF R1 38min 33.762 secs
2 Troy Bayliss AUS Ducati Xerox 999F07 +2.77 secs
3 Troy Corser AUS Yamaha Motor Italia YZF R1 +3.735 secs
4 Max Neukirchner GER Alstare Suzuki Corona Extra GSXR1000 K7 +8.57 secs
5 Fonsi Nieto ESP PSG-1 Kawasaki Corse ZX10R +12.925 secs
6 Max Biaggi ITA Alstare Suzuki Corona Extra GSXR1000 K7 +13.283 secs
7 James Toseland GBR Ten Kate Honda CBR 1000RR +16.395 secs
8 Ruben Xaus ESP GMB Racing Ducati 999F06 +22.581 secs
9 Regis Laconi FRA PSG-1 Kawasaki Corse ZX10R +22.828 secs
10 Roberto Rolfo ITA Ten Kate Honda CBR 1000RR +32.729 secs
11 Shinichi Nakatomi JPN Yamaha Motor France-Ipone YZF R1 +38.305 secs
12 Karl Muggeridge AUS Alto Evolution Honda CBR 1000RR +53.685 secs
13 Yoann Tiberio FRA Alto Evolution Honda CBR 1000RR +53.799 secs
14 Michel Fabrizio ITA DFX Treme Honda CBR 1000RR +53.915 secs
15 Dietrich Guillaume FRA Suzuki Germany GSXR1000 K6 +56.474 secs
16 Steve Martin AUS Celani Team Suzuki GSXR1000 K7 +1min 11.402 secs
Race two results
1 Noriyuki Haga JPN Yamaha Motor Italia YZF R1 38min 35.353 secs
2 Max Biaggi ITA Alstare Suzuki Corona Extra GSXR1000 K7 +3.518 secs
3 Fonsi Nieto ESP PSG-1 Kawasaki Corse ZX10R +9.142 secs
4 Troy Corser AUS Yamaha Motor Italia YZF R1 +9.257 secs
5 Troy Bayliss AUS Ducati Xerox 999F07 +12.825 secs
6 James Toseland GBR Ten Kate Honda CBR 1000RR +19.316 secs
7 Roberto Rolfo ITA Ten Kate Honda CBR 1000RR +20.994 secs
8 Regis Laconi FRA PSG-1 Kawasaki Corse ZX10R +22.452 secs
9 Michel Fabrizio ITA DFX Treme Honda CBR 1000RR +22.505 secs
10 Ruben Xaus ESP GMB Racing Ducati 999F06 +28.352 secs
11 Karl Muggeridge AUS Alto Evolution Honda CBR 1000RR +44.333 secs
12 Yoann Tiberio FRA Alto Evolution Honda CBR 1000RR +48.077 secs
13 Guillaume Dietrich FRA Suzuki Germany GSXR1000 K6 +1min 23.307 secs
14 Lorenzo Morelli ITA Team Pedercini Ducati 999RS +1min 23.826 secs
15 Dean Ellison GBR Team Pedercini Ducati 999RS +1min 37.631 secs
Final championship standings
1. James Toseland (GBR) 415pts (8 wins)
2. Noriyuki Haga (JPN) 413 (+2, 6 wins)
3. Max Biaggi (ITA) 397 (+18, 3 wins)
4. Troy Bayliss (AUS) 372 (+43, 7 wins)
5. Troy Corser (AUS) 296 (+119)
6. Ruben Xaus (ESP) 201 (+214, 1 win)
7. Lorenzo Lanzi (ITA) 192 (+225)
8. Roberto Rolfo (ITA) 192 (+225)
9. Max Neukirchner (DEU) 149 (+266)
10. Regis Laconi (FRA) 137 (+278)
11. Michel Fabrizio (ITA) 132 (+283)
12. Fonsi Nieto (ESP) 125 (+290)
13. Yukio Kagayama (JPN) 116 (+299)
14. Jakub Smrz (CZE) 66 (+349)
15. Shinichi Nakatomi (JPN) 66 (+349)
16. Karl Muggeridge (AUS) 62 (+353)
17. Josh Brookes (AUS) 40 (+375)
18. Steve Martin (AUS) 27 (+388)
19. Vittorio Iannuzzo (ITA) 19 (+396)
20. Marco Borciani (ITA) 12 (+403)
21. Giovanni Bussei (ITA) 11 (+404)
22. Luca Morelli (ITA) 11 (+404)
23. Yoann Tiberio (FRA) 10 (+405)
24. Alex Polita (ITA) 8 (+407)
25. Dean Ellison (GBR) 8 (+407)
26. Mauro Sanchini (RSM) 5 (+410)
27. Guillaume Dietrich (FRA) 4 (+411)
28. Jiri Drazdak (CZE) 2 (+413)
29. Robertino Pietri (YVA) 2 (+413)
30. Carmelo Morales (ESP) 2 (+413)
31. Marek Svoboda (CZE) 2 (+413)
32 Marty Nutt (GBR) 1 (+414)
33. Stefano Cruciani (ITA) 1 (+414)
34. Christian Zaiser (AUT) 1 (+414)
