Magny Cours WSB: Haga wins, Bayliss crowned champion

Yamaha Italia rider Noriyuki Haga has won the first superbike race at Magny Cours, while Troy Bayliss brought it home in third to become the 2008 World Superbike champion.

Bayliss got the holeshot from the beginning, but Haga soon caught up to Bayliss and once passed stretched out a commanding lead to cruise to the finish.

Troy said: “It’s been a great experience for me. This last championship’s been up and down and I’ve been a bit inconsistent. It wasn’t a case of winning the championship it was a case of losing the championship. Now I can go out and have a bit of fun.”

Carlos Checa and Fonsi Neito then battled it out for third, with Carlos Checa pulling away from the rest of the pack. Checa’s pace then dropped drastically and on lap 13 Michel Fabrizio passed Checa to move in to third, after charging through the grid from being outside the top eight at the beginning of the race.

On lap 15 Sterilgarda rider Ruben Xaus retired in to the pits with Robbie Rolfo following on lap 19.

Nieto then pushed back up to third spot ahead of Fabrizio, who crashed on lap 20.

Nieto then started to hassle Bayliss and eventually got passed cleanly. Troy Bayliss then cruised comfortably in third place to bring it home for the championship.