Australia’s dual Superbike World Champion Troy Corser was unable to replicate his front-running form at last weekend’s Kyalami round of the series in South Africa, disappointed after scoring a podium finish at Monza one week prior.

Wrestling with a complete lack of grip in the opener, BMW Motorrad’s Corser spent the majority of the 24-lap race in 10th position before eventually slipping to 12th, and in race two – armed with a different spec tyre – he improved five positions to finish a respectable seventh, just behind the Yamaha of James Toseland.

Corser remains seventh in the championship, but now just one point in arrears of struggling Ducati Xerox favourite Noriyuki Haga.

“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 we used the Diablo B rear tyre spec instead of the A spec as we had over the entire weekend. The consistency of this tyre was much better than in the first race.

“In the second race I was able to ride the bike. Unfortunately I lost a little of the initial grip in the middle of the corner. I was really quick in the first sectors, but could not really follow the other bikes at the top of the hill.

“This was a little frustrating. I tried to adjust over the course of the race and rode the bike completely differently to how I had over the whole weekend.”

Corser again fought a lone Aussie 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.