 | ROUND TEN - ASSEN |
James Toseland was beaten on a thrilling last lap by Chris Vermeulen in race two at Assen but ended the day on top of the Superbike standings. The Yorkshireman won race one on his Ducati Fila to take the championship lead from team-mate Regis Laconi.
But Ten Kate Honda's Vermeulen, one of four locked in a tense title battle, denied the Briton his first double.
Toseland's one-two moves him three points clear of Vermeulen, with Laconi now 10 points off the pace in third.
Toseland roared to the head of the riders' table with a masterful display in race one, coming out on top from a five-way battle to win from PSG Ducati's Pierfrancesco Chili after a tense scrap.
Taking advantage of Chili's slow getaway, Toseland led from the start and never relinquished that advantage.
Race two saw Chili take full advantage of his pole spot to lead through the first corner from Toseland and Renegade Ducati's Noriyuki Haga.
 Vermeulen is pushing Toseland all the way in the title race |
But Toseland had found his form and within half a lap he pushed through to take the lead, pursued by Haga.
Vermeulen, who had been dropped off the leading pack in race one, did not make the same mistake again and he quickly stormed through to put pressure on Toseland.
With seven laps remaining, he sneaked past and withstood a determined Toseland fightback to hold on.
Toseland was able to creep ahead in turn one on several laps but could not hold on, setting up an exciting finish.
He and Vermeulen swapped places on the last lap, but the Australian was in front at the chequered flag to win by just 0.037 seconds.
Derbyshire's Leon Haslam took a pair of sixth places for Renegade Ducati while Nottingham's Chris Walker was 10th and 12th on his Foggy Petronas Racing machine.
Race one results (Sun):
1 James Toseland (GB) Ducati 33mins 30.741secs
2 Pierfrancesco Chili (Ita) Ducati 33:32.879
3 Regis Laconi (Fr) Ducati 33:33.191
4 Noriyuki Haga (Jpn) Ducati 33:33.307
5 Chris Vermeulen (Aus) Honda 33:39.785
6 Leon Haslam (GB) Ducati 33:46.626
7 Steve Martin (Aus) Ducati 33:47.579
8 Garry McCoy (Aus) Ducati 33:47.729
9 Marco Borciani (Ita) Ducati 33:48.932
10 Troy Corser (Aus) Petronas 33:50.099
Race Two results:
1 Chris Vermeulen (Aus) Honda 33mins 31.968secs
2 James Toseland (GB) Ducati 33:32.005
3 Noriyuki Haga (Jpn) Ducati 33:32.085
4 Pierfrancesco Chili (Ita) Ducati 33:35.873
5 Regis Laconi (Fr) Ducati 33:38.548
6 Leon Haslam (GB) Ducati 33:50.141
7 Troy Corser (Aus) Petronas 33:55.064
8 Marco Borciani (Ita) Ducati 34:05.239
9 Ivan Clementi (Ita) Kawasaki 34:05.484
10 Chris Walker (GB) Petronas 34:05.783
Championship Standings:
1 James Toseland (GB) 255pts
2 Chris Vermeulen (Aus) 252
3 Regis Laconi (Fr) 245
4 Noriyuki Haga (Jpn) 241
5 Pierfrancesco Chili (Ita) 213
6 Garry McCoy (Aus) 163
7 Steve Martin (Aus) 144
8 Leon Haslam (GB) 140
9 Troy Corser (Aus) 127
10 Marco Borciani (Ita) 114
Constructors Standings:
1 Ducati 430pts
2 Honda 259
3 Petronas 173
4 Kawasaki 106
5 Suzuki 84
6 Yamaha 60
MMIX
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