CARL Fogarty missed out on extending his winning start to the World Superbike Championship by the thickness of his racing leathers.

Fogarty was pipped by Ducati team-mate Troy Corser by just 0.005 seconds in a sensational second race at the Phillip Island second round in Australia.

And Corser also beat Foggy in the first race but the 32-year-old Blackburn ace remains four points in front in the title race as he heads for his home race, the British round at Donington Park on May 2.

In the second race, after Castrol-Honda rider Aaron Slight had again made a super start, Corser, heading for the fourth winning double of his career, soon moved ahead.

Fogarty, a slow starter, quickly came through to challenge. The defending triple world champion moved ahead with six laps remaining and looked set for a third win of the season, but Corser reeled him in and regained the lead on the final lap.

But the Aussie made an error as he ran wide and Fogarty was back in front only for a sensational end as Corser scorched through the final left-hand bend to win in a dash to the line. Fogarty said: "I could easily have had two wins here, but instead took two second places.

"I'm not happy with two second places. I don't think about championship points because I just want to win races.

"Twice I didn't get away well at the start and this meant that I had to ride hard to get back close to Troy, who had a chance to increase his lead.

"In race two, when I took the lead on lap 16, I had a few problems seeing the pitwall information, Troy repassed me and, at curve 10, I took the lead again but it wasn't enough to win the race."

Corser, who had claimed a record 18th pole start, led throughout the 22-lap first race, with Fogarty, overcoming a slow start, powering through into second place but three seconds down.

"That second race was one of the hardest races of my life," said Corser.

"I kept on the gas and managed to drift past him coming out of the long left-hander before passing him on the finishing line."

First race result: 1 Troy Corser, Australia (Ducati) 34m 28.167s, 2 Carl Fogarty, GB (Ducati) 34m 31.968s, 3 Colin Edwards, USA (Castrol Honda) 34m 46.436s, 4 Aaron Slight, New Zealand (Castrol Honda) 34m 46.705s, 5 Akira Yanagawa, Japan (Kawasaki) 34m 46.725s, 6 Noriyuki Haga, Japan (Yamaha) 34m 46.731s, 7 Doriano Romboni, Italy (Ducati) 35m 06.851s, 8 Craig Connell, Australia (Ducati) 35m 14.955s, 9 Katsuaki Fujiwara, Japan (Suzuki) 35m 23.207s, 10 Andy Meklau, Austria (Ducati) 35m 26.644s. Second race result: 1 Troy Corser, Australia (Ducati) 34m 24.328s, 2 Carl Fogarty, GB (Ducati) 34m 24.333s, 3 Colin Edwards, USA (Castrol Honda) 34m 39.575s, 4 Aaron Slight, New Zealand (Castrol Honda) 34m 39.655s, 5 Noriyuki Haga, Japan (Yamaha) 34m 39.658s, 6 Akira Yanagawa, Japan (Kawasaki) 34m 53.678s, 7 Steve Martin, Australia (Ducati) 35m 00.691s, 8 Doriano Romboni, Italy (Ducati) 35m 01.219s, 9 Craig Connell, Australia (Ducati) 35m 07.570s, 10 Katsuaki Fujiwara, Japan (Suzuki) 35m 15.488s.

Championship points after two of 13 rounds: 1 Fogarty 90, 2 Corser 86, 3 Slight 61, 4 Edwards 56, 5 Yanagawa 42, 6 Haga 34, 7 Romboni 31, 8 Fujiwara 24, 9 Pier-Francesco Chili, Italy (Suzuki) 20, 10 Gregorio Lavilla, Spain (Kawasaki) 18.

Next round: Sunday May 2 - Donington Park.

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