Phillip Island, Australia, is renowned for throwing up surprises. Whether those surprises come in the shape of kamikaze seagulls, torrential rain, career-ending crashes or unexpected results, the one thing you can normally be sure of is that what you expected to happen...won't.

And this year proved no different. Regis Laconi, you may remember, did spectacularly well in Superpole at Valencia, utterly outclassing the rest of the field before scoring a resounding zero in either race. And James Toseland proved himself pretty well unstoppable in his quest for the championship. Well, we may have to revise a few preconceptions.

Qualifying was dramatic in a few ways, and not all positive. Troy Corser must be in for a shot at the 'biggest crash of the season' award after the gearbox seized on his FP-1. In his own words, it was "One of those long crashes when you don't stop cart-wheeling. I fell in front of the bike and thought it was going to hit me..." Fortunately Corser escaped with little more than a sore shoulder. Team-mate Chris Walker had an equally exciting time, highsiding a few minutes before Superpole started. In his own inimitable style he later commented "I have hurt a few ribs around my back but hopefully I won't be too bruised and adrenaline is normally the best anaesthetic. It was not the ideal preparation for Superpole - it's always better to have a clean visor and not to have straw up your backside! - but it could have been a lot worse as I did move up a row."

In other ways, though, Superpole was great. Laconi snatched pole from new boy Chris Vermeulen at the last second, while Haslam and Haga both put in very creditable performances on their Renegade Ducatis to qualify fourth and fifth, between Steve Martin on the DFX Ducati and James Toseland on the second works bike in a disappointing sixth place.

Race day brought dry and warm conditions, and this time when the lights changed Regis Laconi decided not to throw his bike into the gravel but instead enjoy an early tussle with Toseland before breaking clear and extending a lead, finishing the race something over 7 seconds clear of the second placed rider.

Who was not on a Ducati.

No, local hero Chris Vermeulen brought his Honda Fireblade over the line in second place, his first podium in World Superbikes, and no mean feat for a very young rider in just his third Superbike race and on a non-factory four cylinder bike. That it was also the first podium for the Fireblade was a major bomus, and one that I'm sure will have Honda's marketing people smiling broadly so early in the season.

Last step on the podium was James Toseland who seemed hellbent on resurfacing the racing line with fresh rubber as he snaked and smoked his ill-handling Ducati out of the turns. A tribute to Toseland's ability is that, in spite of the very obvious difficulty he was having with his bike's setup, he was under half a second behind Vermeulen. And, more importantly for his championship hopes, he was nearly a tenth of a second ahead of fourth place Steve Martin, who was himself two tenths ahead of fellow Antipodean Garry McCoy.

A long gap then followed back to the rest of the field, with the biggest surprise being that the pack was led by Mauro Sanchini on the previously unfavoured (and, we believe, slightly feared) Kawasaki ZX10-R. In fact, the next group was also rounded out by his team-mate Ivan Clementi, in 11th place behind battered but game Chris Walker.

Race two showed that it doesn't pay to get complacent, as both Laconi and Toseland decided to play sandcastles instead of racing, and spent the rest of the afternoon on the beach and out of the points. Steve Martin had a lengthy battle with Garry McCoy before his engine let go. Chris Vermeulen proved that he wasn't a one hit wonder, taking second place again. Frankie Chili stormed up through the field from a lowly 10th on the grid to finish third, just over a second behind Honda mounted Vermeulen. Interestingly, Frankie had again ditched his shiny new 999 Ducati in favour of the 998 that is almost as old as he is for the second race.

Fourth place was filled by Marco Borciani, who is maturing into a well rounded rider after some time in the cold, while Troy Corser managed a respectable fifth on the FP-1, having bested Nori Haga in a race long battle. Chris Walker also had a lengthy fight, this time with the Kawasaki pair of Clementi and Sanchini. Sanchini came out a tenth of a second ahead of Walker, who in turn was just over a tenth ahead of Clementi. Some way behind, the top ten was rounded out by Leon Haslam, whose dismal raceday performance must have been hugely disappointing after his front row starts.

Next round is at Misano on 18th April, and the way the championship is going it should be a cracker. Though with Ducati on nearly home ground, the biggest question must be which Ducati is going to win?

Results

Race 1

1 R Laconi, Ducati
2 C Vermeulen, Honda
3 J Toseland, Ducati
4 S Martin, Ducati
5 G McCoy, Ducati
6 M Sanchini, Kawasaki
7 M Borciani, Ducati
8 N Haga, Ducati
9 P-FChili, Ducati
10 C Walker, Foggy-Petronas

Race 2

1 G McCoy, Ducati
2 C Vermeulen, Honda
3 P-F Chili, Ducati
4 M Borciani, Ducati
5 T Corser, Foggy-Petronas
6 N Haga, Ducati
7 M Sanchini, Kawasaki
8 C Walker, Foggy-Petronas
9 I Clementi, Kawasaki
10 L Haslam, Ducati

Championship Positions

61 J Toseland, Ducati
56 P-FChili, Ducati
55 G McCoy, Ducati
55 C Vermeulen, Honda
43 N Haga, Ducati
43 M Borciani, Ducati
39 C Walker, Foggy-Petronas
29 S Martin, Ducati
27 M Sanchini, Kawasaki
25 R Laconi, Ducati