Australian Troy Bayliss made a fighting return to the World Superbike arena in Valencia on April 15, although it wasn’t enough to stop local hero Ruben Xaus and James Toseland sharing wins in the two 23-lap races.

Bayliss, riding with 15 stitches in his right hand after a nasty crash at Donington on April 1 forced the partial amputation of his little finger, finished third in race one after starting from pole position, and was sixth in the second instalment after running into the gravel while trying to make his way past Xaus.

Despite the pugilistic effort, the 38-year-old was still unhappy with his performance after clean sweeps in his previous two visits ­ plus victory in last year’s final MotoGP round at the tight and twisty circuit.

"I'm a little bit disappointed actually because I've been feeling quite good all weekend,"  declared Bayliss, who rode with a cricket ‘box’ in final qualifying to protect his groin, which was also battered in the Donington off. "My injuries are not that big, they haven't hurt me all weekend and they haven't been a factor in me not doing so well."

"The first race was okay, but the second was a bit disappointing. We really struggled with the setting and it worked the tyres too much."

"I lost 10pts on James (Toseland) but the whole plan was to make up points on him not to lose them. That's the way it is sometimes. Now I'm looking forward to going to Assen (on April 29), it's a great track and it should be fun."

Toseland (Honda), chasing a second world title, is now 61pts (138 to 90) clear of Bayliss after four of 13 rounds.

History suggests that it’s possible to neutralise such a margin with 18 races remaining, although the likes of Max Biaggi (Suzuki, 138pts), Haga (Yamaha, 124pts) and Australian Troy Corser (Yamaha, 101pts) certainly won’t make it easy.

Corser, 35, couldn’t quite maintain a front-running pace at Valencia, where he had won five times previously. He was fourth in the opener, and then fell back to ninth in race two with a severe lack of rear wheel grip.

However, Corser’s countryman Josh Brookes (Honda) finally showed the type of brilliant form that was his stock-in-trade in Australia before leaving for Europe. The 23-year-old signed off on 9-7 results after starting from the front row of the grid with Bayliss, Xaus and Corser.

"We only made small changes to the bike between race one and race two but we had a much better result,"  said Brookes. "When you are in the right area then small changes can make a big difference."

"The first race I had a better start but made a worse finish, but in race two I got baulked a bit off the start and still made a better finish. I made a good fight back and passed people, and the team worked great this weekend."

Brookes picked off a number of riders in race two, as did Biaggi, who rallied from a lowly 12th on the grid.

The Italian finally latched onto the front-running duo of Toseland and Haga after a spirited charge, with the trio running line astern heading into the final lap.

With Toseland’s defence remaining rock solid en route to his fourth win of the season, Biaggi passed Haga with half a lap to run to annex second place. Xaus and Lorenzo Lanzi (Ducati) were fourth and fifth, followed by the Aussie connection of Bayliss and Brookes.

"I am just so happy to have got the win in Valencia,"  said Toseland. "Last year I was ninth and 11th here, so I was determined to do better this time."

"It really was a great race and I had to give it everything to hang in there until the end, but I did it and I leave here the leader."

In race one, which was run in the dry but featured a number of damp patches after early morning rain, Corser led early before Xaus, Haga and Bayliss commandeered the front running.

Xaus finally pushed aside Haga after a spirited mid-race scuffle, and motored to his 10th World Superbike win, and his first since October 2003. The Spaniard finished second in that year’s title behind Neil Hodgson.

Bayliss, Corser and Toseland completed the top five in race two.

Meanwhile, it was bitter disappointment for Karl Muggeridge and Steve Martin at Valencia, with either failing to finish a race due to crashes and mechanical gremlins respectively.

In world Supersport, Australian Kevin Curtain (Yamaha) was involved in a collision with Kawasaki's Pere Riba, with Japan’s Katsuaki Fujiwara (Honda) caught up in the collateral damage.

With three big guns out of the equation, Turkey’s Kenan Sofuoglu (Honda) did as he pleased, stretching his world title lead to nearly double that of second-placed Fabien Foret (Kawasaki).

Aussie Andrew Pitt (Honda), now a free agent after his 2007 MotoGP ride evaporated, deputised for injured world champion Sebastien Charpentier at Valencia and finished an excellent second, ahead of Ducati’s Gianluca Nannelli.

Sofuoglu now has 95pts, ahead of Foret (51pts) and Fujiwara (43pts). Broc Parkes (Yamaha, 27pts) is the best of the Australians in sixth.

In the FIM Superstock Cup, which is contested alongside the European rounds of WSBK, Australian Suzuki rider Mark Aitchison broke through for his maiden international victory, and is now just 3pts behind leader Niccolo Canepa (Ducati) in the 11-round title.

Aitchison finished second in last year’s Australian Supersport Championship.