Toseland wins race one of title decider.
James Toseland will take a 5-point lead over Ducati Fila team-mate Regis Laconi into the final race of the 2004 World Superbike season, after winning a tense race one at Magny Cours, just ahead of Noriyuki Haga, with Laconi third.
Having led for the first few turns, pole sitter Troy Corser faded to the tail of the lead group until eventually retiring wit♔h mechanical problems, while Toseland and Haga exchanged the lead up to the halfway mark, at which point the Brit took control - but was never able to pull more than one-second away from the hard charging Japanese.
James Toseland will take a 5-point lead over Ducati Fila team-mate Regis Laconi into the final race of the 2004 World Superbike season, after winning a tense race one at Magny Cours, just ahead of Noriyuki Haga, with Laconi third.
Having led for the first few turns, pole sitter Troy Corser faded to theꦇ tail of the lead group until eventually retiring with mechanical problems, while Toseland and Haga exchan꧑ged the lead up to the halfway mark, at which point the Brit took control - but was never able to pull more than one-second away from the hard charging Japanese.
Laconi moved steadily through the ord�🔜�er and remained in touch with the top two until the last two laps, when he appeared to settle for third.
Meanwhile, Chris Vermeulen's championship hopes have disapp🌠eared after his Ten Kate Honda suffered mechanical problems just before half race distance, while holding fourth. However, the Australian didn't l♚ook to have the speed to challenge the top three.
The result means that if Laconi wins race two, ജwith Toseland second, the pair will be tied on points - but Laconi will take the title due to more race wins.
However, if the pair finish with Laconi second and Toseland third,🌱 for exam💖ple, Toseland will win the world championship.
Full race one results to follow...
Race one top 10:
1. Toseland
2. Haga
3. Laconi
4. Gimbert
5. Martin
6. Chili
7. Haslam
8. Walker
9. McCoy
10. Duterne
Peter has been in the paddock for 20 years and has s🌼een Valentino Rossi come and go. He is at the forefront of the Suzuki exit story and Marc Marquez’s in🍎jury issues.
