Troy Corser

Infobox Superbike rider


Name = Troy Corser
Caption =
Nationality = flagicon|AUS Australian
Birthdate = 27 November 1971
Birthplace = Wollongong, New South Wales, Australia
Website = [http://www.troycorser.com troycorser.com]
Current team = Yamaha Motor Italia WSB
Bike number = 11
Championships = 2. SBK|1996, SBK|2005
Race Starts = 283
Race Wins = 33
Podiums = 118
Poles = 41
Fastest laps = 42
Points =
Last season = 2008
Last position = 3rd (72pts)

Troy Gordon Corser (born 27 November 1971 in Wollongong, New South Wales, Australia) is a professional motorcycle road racer, the SBK|1996 and SBK|2005 Superbike world champion.

Having previously won the Australian and AMA Superbike Championship titles, and shone in a handful of wildcard rides in the Superbike World Championship (taking five podiums), he went to the series fulltime in SBK|1995. He was classified 11th in WSBK for SBK|1994, hence his riding #11, which he used for many years. Pole for the first round showed his potential, although he only took one podium until his win at round 5 at the Salzburgring (partly due to collisions with Anthony Gobert and Piergorgio Bontempi at Monza). A strong remainder of the season (including a win at Laguna Seca, one of the few tracks on the schedule that he knew) saw him beat Aaron Slight to 2nd overall.

He won this title in SBK|1996, but 1997 was an unsuccessful and fragmented year in the 500cc World Championship. Back in WSBK for SBK|1998, he came close to retaking the title, helped by a double win at Laguna, the second race by a mere 0.005sec. He lead the standings before the final round, took pole, but crashing and breaking ribs in a warm-up crash. For SBK|1999 he was teamed with Carl Fogarty on Davide Tardozzi's team, the title going to Foggy with Corser again third. In SBK|2000 and SBK|2001 he was on a factory Aprilia. He took their first WSBK wins in 2001, and opened 2001 with a double victory in South Africa, but a double DNF at Monza scuppered his hopes of a championship challenge.

In SBK|2002 he joined Carl Fogarty's Foggy Petronas team, and spent the year developing the bike before racing it in SBK|2003 and SBK|2004. He finished 9th in the 2004 championship, with a best result of 3rd, but chose to leave the team after this.

In SBK|2005 he raced for the Alstare Suzuki Team on the GSX-R1000 which enabled him to regain his position as Superbike World Champion, winning the championship after a run of early-season victories - later in the season Chris Vermeulen and Noriyuki Haga were usually the men to beat.

Troy won two races early in SBK|2006, however a crash at Phillip Island, and a DNF at Silverstone enabled compatriot Troy Bayliss to gain the upper hand in the early stages of the title chase. A double non-finish at Assen with 4 rounds to go left him 5th in the championship, behind Bayliss, James Toseland, Noriyuki Haga and Andrew Pitt. He ultimately overhauled Pitt to finish 4th, through a double podium at the final round. For SBK|2007 he left Suzuki to join Yamaha, however he was outpaced by team-mate Noriyuki Haga and finished 5th overall, with eight podiums but no wins. He remains with the team for SBK|2008.

Troy has been on pole at Philip Island and Valencia four times, equalling a championship record for a single track. Of the eight cases of a rider having 10 or more podium finishes at a particular circuit, Troy has four - 13 at Misano, 11 each at Laguna Seca and Philip Island, and 10 at Donington Park.

For the 2009 WSBK season Corser is to ride for BMW alongside Ruben Xaus on BMW's new superbike [http://www.bikesportnews.com/articles/article.html?id=CORSER_SIGNS_TWO-YEAR_DEAL_WSB_DEAL_WITH_BMW_1] [http://www.troycorser.com/html/detail.asp?PressID=133]

External links

* [http://www.troycorser.com troycorser.com] Official website