Tipped Toseland on another thread earlier this week and suggested Max would be the dark horse if he got a good start, but never thought we'd get the result we got. Brilliant to see Max come back like that after a year off. I know a lot of people will slag him off, but when he just sat there on his bike at the end of Race 1, obviously overcome by it all, probably just the fact that he knew he could still hack it. No win for 3 years, dropped by MotoGP, no ride for a year, then come back and win! You can't get a bigger confidence boost than that. Good to see a different type of rider in WSB, (even if it was great to see Jim and others backing it in last year), his tidy lines make him so quick in mid corner. I know he's done a lot of testing, but he's never ridden a bike that heavy before.
As for Jim Toseland, unbelievable, he was so far in front of last year's field, just him and Max in latter half of each race. Think Max got it on pure adrenaline in Race 1, but what a ride from Jim in the 2nd Race. Backed off a bit mid race to save his tyres, got it almost perfect and they only went off in last couple of laps but had enough to keep Max out of it.
Who was that Aussie bloke, who used to ride the Duke last year anyway.
OK so the two Troys will be a lot harder to beat next week at Phillip Island, but Toseland can take the championship this year, as long as he can handle Max.
Just great to have racing back again, and thanks again Eurosport, cos nobody else could be bothered.
Ah well. They did better in race 2!
