WSBK: Wet Results at Donington Park

Ducati Xeroxs Bayliss finished on top in race one, which saw more than half of the field fail to reach the finish.

Bayliss started the race at the pole after winning a rain-shortened Superpole. Several riders fell in the opening laps as the track started to dry out. Bayliss lost the lead to wildcard entrant Tom Sykes after nine laps when the race was red flagged due an oil spill.

The race restarted from the grid with Bayliss in second and Suzukis Sykes on the pole. The two riders battled for the lead along with another wildcard entrant, British Superbike rider Leon Haslam competing for Honda.

Three laps into the restart, Bayliss was again on top with Haslam in second, but in the following lap, Haslam fell out of contention in a crash. He was able to remount but could not catch up to the leaders.

Ive been coming to Donington since 1998 and so am pretty happy with that race win, says Bayliss. All weekend everything has been going great, weve had mixed conditions but weve been strong in both dry and wet. I was basically racing my lapboard the whole time because of the aggregate time and could have settled for second but I havent won here before and so really wanted the win

The second race was delayed by more rain but once it began, Bayliss was competing for the lead, this time against Ten Kate Hondas Kiyonari and another wildcard entrant, Honda rider Cal Crutchlow. The rain eased up as the race continued but on lap 11, Bayliss pressed a little too hard, losing traction in the rear and crashing.

Kiyonari, who was one of the first riders to crash out of race one, led every lap in the second race for the win, beating Crutchlow by 2.261 seconds.

Troy Corser finished third to salvage the weekend for the Yamaha Motor Italia team. Corser crashed before the red flag in race one and was not allowed to restart. Meanwhile, his teammate, Noriyuki Haga was penalized in race one for not stopping his machine soon enough after it began to leak oil. In the second race, Haga was blackflagged after mistiming a ride-through penalty.

Corsers podium finish bumped him into second place ahead of Team Alstare Suzukis Max Neukirchner. Bayliss however still holds a commanding lead, 101 points ahead of Corser with six races remaining.

The World Superbike series continues Sept. 21 at the Vallelunga Circuit in Rome, Italy.