Troy Corser finished eighth in the first race of the final round of the World Superbike championship at Magny-Cours to enter the top ten of the rider standings.

But there was more misfortune for his Foggy PETRONAS Racing team-mate James Haydon who was taken out at the fast Estoril corner by Kawasaki rider Ivan Clementi on the first lap of the race.

Troy finished just a tenth of a second behind fellow Aussie Steve Martin but the eight points were enough to draw level with Lucio Pedercini and close the gap on ninth-placed rider Marco Borciani to just two points with this afternoon’s final race of the season remaining.

He said: “I just worked on catching and catching Martin and, when I did, I tried to save my tyres to have a go at him on the last lap. I tried to set it up to block him off at the last corner but couldn’t quite manage it and I wanted to make sure I finished the race. I had a few problems with the rear spinning on the right hand side but at least the tyre was consistent.”

James said: “I was right behind Leon Haslam going through the long sweeping corner after an awesome start. There is just no over-taking line at that part of the circuit. Then I was just hit from the side by Clementi, wiping me out. He tried to go through a gap that just wasn’t there. I am so annoyed.”

Race one results, World Superbike championship round 12, Magny Cours, France: 1 Hodgson (Ducati Fila); 2 Xaus (Ducati Fila) 0.348; 3 Walker (HM Plant Ducati) 13.711; 4 Lavilla (Alstare Suzuki) 13.950; 5 Toseland (HM Plant Ducati) 21.480; 6 Laconi (NCR) 32.420; 7 Martin (DFX) 41.098; 8 Corser (Foggy PETRONAS Racing) 41.204; 9 Borja (DFX Racing) 1:18.737; 10 Sanchini (Kawasaki Bertocchi) 1:30.317; 11 Fuertes (MIR Racing) 1:46.534; 12 Zaiser (Team Zaiser Racing) 1:48.154; 13 Stey (White Endurance) one lap; 14 Protat (UnionBike GI Motorsport) one lap; 15 Saiger (Remus Racing Austria) one lap

Race warm-up times: 1 Walker 1:43.039; 2 Toseland 1:43.637; 3 Gimbert 1:43.776; 4 Lavilla 1:44.362; 5 Laconi 1:44.368; 6 Martin 1:44.601; 7 Pedercini 1:44.995; 8 Haslam 1:45.092; 9 Sanchini 1:45.119; 10 Xaus 1:45.658; 12 Corser 1:46.167; 17 Haydon 1:48.208