Motorsport: SBK wins for Fabrizio, Haslam

MELBOURNE - Italy's Michel Fabrizio and British rider Leon Haslam have shared victories in round six of the world superbikes championship in South Africa.

But Australian BMW rider Troy Corser was unable to repeat his last-round heroics, finishing 12th and seventh in the two races at the Kyalami circuit.

Fabrizio dominated race one, starting from pole and never being headed as he finished ahead of fellow Ducati rider Carlos Checa and Suzuki pilot Haslam.

Fabrizio slipped all the way to eighth in race two after suffering an inexplicable loss of grip.

The honours went to Honda duo Haslam and Jonathan Rea.

Championship leader Haslam has 222 points after six rounds, 15 clear of Italy's Max Biaggi, with Rea and Checa tied for third on 141.

Corser, who secured a historic third place for BMW last weekend in race two at Monza, is seventh overall on 105 points.

"In the first race I really had zero grip after only five laps," said Corser.

"I had no confidence to attack any more, and I literally just rolled around the track till the end of the race.

"We changed the bike's set-up a little bit between the races ... and the consistency of the tyre was much better than in the first race.

"In the second race I was able to ride the bike."

Corser again fought a lone Australian hand in South Africa, with Chris Vermeulen (Kawasaki) still not up to the rigours of jousting with the championship elite as he continues to make a slow recovery from his Phillip Island knee injury.

Vermeulen went 18-16 at Kyalami, while Newcastle's Broc Parkes (Honda) was 18th in race two after failing to finish the opener.

- AAP