The Imola meeting marks a third outing to Italy, following on from Monza and Misano. The current venue winds up and around anti-clockwise, with a plethora of chicanes to be negotiated, and is the closest to the home of Ducati in Bologna. The crowds would certainly be watching for the red bikes to do well, but most neutrals would have had their eyes on the battle of the Australian riders, and their 1000cc four-cylinder Japanese motorcycles.

Vermeulen and Corser featured well up in qualifying, with Chris and the Ten Kate Honda on pole for the second time, and Troy’s Alstare Suzuki starting third. They were split by the works Ducati of Régis Laconi, back from injury, with team-mate James Toseland in fourth. The team’s top performer from the previous round, Lorenzo Lanzi, was back with the Caracchi team, but retained the use of a factory bike. He used it to claim fifth.

Japanese competitors Noriyuki Haga (Yamaha) and Yukio Kagayama (Suzuki) were next, with surprise man Ben Bostrom (eighth) popping up on the second row for the first time with the Renegade Honda. Andrew Pitt was ninth. Injuries came into play for Brits Toseland and Chris Walker. The PSG-1 Kawasaki rider was back from his Assen elbow break, this still not fully mended, while James had bruised his right hand in a practice spill. Fonsi Nieto’s Imola outing saw him now with PSG-1 Kawasaki.

Race one was declared wet, although the rain had actually stopped and the track was drying out as they took the start. The title contenders were ahead from the outset, Corser leading Vermeulen. Kagayama started off third, until Toseland got by at one of the early chicanes. Pitt followed, from Haga, Karl Muggeridge, Laconi, Max Neukirchner, Bostrom, Norick Abe, Steve Martin, Lanzi, Mauro Sanchini, Walker, Sébastien Gimbert, Giovanni Bussei, Nieto and Frankie Chili.

With the racers already having a dry line to follow, Vermeulen took over up front on the way into the Piratella left-hander, which then dives downhill to Acque Minerale. Chris’ intermediate front tyre allowed him to stretch away quickly, until he got a little out of shape touching a slippery white line towards the end of the lap. Kagayama, between Toseland and Pitt, did much the same.

Muggeridge seemed to encounter a technical problem exiting the final turn, and thumped the tank as Haga moved ahead. He was able to continue for the time being, however. The same corner, left-right Variante Bassa, was obviously tricky in the conditions - Chili and Iván Silva came to grief there together soon after.

Vermeulen and Corser made it their own race, with Toseland trying to give chase but having to concentrate on the train of riders that were soon grouping up behind. Despite his injury, Walker was obviously enjoying the conditions as he moved through to join on the rear of Kagayama, Pitt and Haga. Indeed, the Englishman set fastest lap as he got into a tussle with Pitt, this coming after Haga had passed his Yamaha Italia team-mate through the fast right kink running into Bassa.

Vermeulen and Corser continued to set the pace, never too far apart. As the track became drier, approaching half distance, slick shod Troy was able to set a new fastest lap and take over in the lead. It didn’t last, though, as the Honda man’s tyre was obviously not feeling any ill effects yet. Chris was soon on the attack, and he made a pass on the inside for the first left-hander at Rivazza, which involves heavy breaking at the end of a fast downhill stretch.

The pair stayed close, with a small margin between them, but in the closing stages Corser was able to home right in again. He was obviously looking for a way past on the final circuit, but was not quite able to find a gap. The nearest he came was turning into the apex of the final right, but Vermeulen was just first home, for his ninth WSBK victory.

The race for third had evolved into a two man affair. Haga had first passed Kagayama, then got ahead of Toseland into Variante Bassa. James had then lost another spot to Pitt at the first Rivazza, but somehow got back through on both Yamahas following the second one. After this, Kagayama had crashed at the last corner, allowing Abe to mount an attack on Walker as they tailed the other three. Chris had then lost ground by running wide and off track at the second right in the Acque Minerale dip, and later Pitt crashed at the same place.

This left Toseland and Haga to dispute the place, and they lapped fast enough to close the leaders’ gap down to under five seconds, with Noriyuki the quickest man. The issue was resolved when James ran wide at Acque Minerale in much the same way as Walker, rejoining fourth but some way back. Haga therefore secured third, with Toseland next home.

Walker had survived to run fifth after Pitt’s crash, with such as Laconi, Neukirchner, Sanchini, Gimbert and Martin still behind him. Lanzi was another to have crashed out by this stage. Walker was looking good, but in the final stages just lost out to a charging Martin, who secured fifth, and the Foggy Petronas machine’s best result of the year to date.

Neukirchner and Gimbert followed Walker home, with Laconi, Gianluca Vizziello, Bussei, Sanchini, Bostrom and Marco Borciani also going the distance. Kagayama and Pitt had remounted to take the next two spots, whilst Muggeridge and Abe had joined the missing in action list by the flag.

Corser was still on target for his title, but the big drama of the day came as the riders lined up for race two. By this time it was raining heavily, and the track affected with dangerous puddles of standing water. The leading riders, with Régis Laconi first to make his feelings known but the others in much the same mind, were not happy to race in those conditions. A delay was announced as a big discussion got underway on the grid and, with the rain continuing unabated, the ultimate decision was to cancel the race.

For safety reasons it was the right move, even if it also meant that the title was decided in Corser’s favour. With one less race to run, Vermeulen was now out of range of his compatriot’s points total. These developments may have disappointed the fans, but it looked to be a consensus among the riders. It could perhaps be viewed as noble for Chris to support his colleagues over the issue, but surely it was the only reasonable decision.

For his part, Corser was not happy that the championship campaign had ended the way it did, but the 33-year-old could reflect on a season-long job well done, and Vermeulen equally had a lot to be proud of. Troy will go to the next races at Magny-Cours looking to prove his top dog status, but for now he has made history as it is. For one thing, the wholesale return of the Japanese manufacturers, with their 1000cc four-cylinders, has ended the long term period of Ducati dominance. For another, Suzuki have doubled their WSBK wins tally, and also taken their first ever rider title in the category. Their previous best had been fourth in 2000.

Standings after twenty-one races: Corser 409; Vermeulen 354; Haga 255; Toseland 228; Laconi 221; Kagayama 212; Walker 140; Pitt 137; Chili 125; Lanzi 118; Muggeridge 111; Abe 110; Neukirchner 107; Bussei 61.

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