CARL Fogarty's hopes of retaining his World Superbike crown are now just a mathematical pipedream.

Australian Ducati rider Troy Corser scored a double victory at Albacete in Spain on Sunday to take a 26-point lead to the 12th and final round at Phillip Island, Australia on October 27.

With just 50 points on offer, the Blackburn rider trails by a massive 45 points.

Fogarty qualifed fourth but suffered with rear tyre trouble in both races finishing fifth and seventh after the track temperature dropped from 38 degrees in last week's tests to 20 degrees for race day.

"I did all I could but at the end of the day my results were determined by the tyres," said Fogarty.

"I'm going to Phillip Island to win and we'll see where that leaves me in the championship."

Burnley's Neil Hodgson finished eighth in both races and in the second race had to switch bikes after his racing machine was badly damaged in a shunt as he moved off for the warm-up lap.

Corser led both races from start to finish and now needs just fourth and fifth places from the final two races of the year at Phillip Island. "I've still got two races to go and I'm taking nothing for granted," said Corser. "I had to win today and I have. It's made life easier for me in Australia but we'll wait and see what happens there."

In the opening race Corser led home hard-charging Colin Edwards with John Kocinski third. Race two was a repeat performance for former Australian and American superbike champion Corser with Kocinski second and Edwards third.

Castrol Honda's Aaron Slight led the championship before Albacete but qualified in 11th place after suffering with a flu virus throughout the weekend.

New Zealander Slight finished ninth and sixth. "There's not a lot I could have done today. In the end it didn't matter whether I'd qualified in 11th or first - I'd have probably still finished in the same places," said Slight. First race results: 1 Troy Corser, Australia (Ducati) 43m 31.166s; 2 Colin Edwards, USA (Yamaha) 43m 37.625s; 3 John Kocinski, USA (Ducati) 43m 38.235s; 4 Simon Crafar, New Zealand (Kawasaki) 43m 41.639s; 5 CARL FOGARTY, GB (Castol Honda) 43m 45.634s; 6 Wataru Yoshikawa, Japan (Yamaha) 43m 47.734s; 7 John Reynolds, GB (Suzuki) 43m 51.254s; 8 NEIL HODGSON, GB (Ducati) 43m 55.336s; 9 Aaron Slight, New Zealand (Castol Honda) 43m 57.052s; 10 Mike Hale, USA (Ducati) 43m 57.287s.

Second race result: 1 Troy Corser, 40m 19.125s; 2 John Kocinski 40m 26.146s; 3 Colin Edwards 40m 29.123s; 4 Simon Crafar 40m 30.033s; 5 Wataru Yoshikawa 40m 30.403s; 6 Aaron Slight 40m 34.665s; 7 CARL FOGARTY 40m 34.886s; 8 NEIL HODGSON 40m 43.712s; 9 John Reynolds 40m 43.841s; 10 Jochen Schmid 40m 48.871s.

Points after 22 of 24 races: Corser 353, Slight 327, Kocinski 317, Fogarty 308, Edwards 212, Pier-Francesco Chilli, Italy (Ducati) 208, Crafar 175, Yoshikawa 144, Hodgson 118, Anthony Gobert, Australia (Kawasaki) 117.

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