Noriyuki Haga put himself firmly in the World Superbike championship picture with a superb double win at the Nurburgring.

A thrilling battle in the rain between the Japanese rider and his Yamaha team-mate Troy Corser was brought to a premature end by the red flags.

Corser was leading the second race as the flags came out, but with the count-back rule the race was deemed finished after lap 15, at which point Haga was ahead of the Australian rider.

The victory was made even more special by the fact that two weeks ago Haga broke his collarbone in three places in a practice crash in Salt Lake City.

The double win takes Haga's championship points tally to 172 and leaves him 55 shy of leader Troy Bayliss, who came second in race one and fourth in the second outing after making mistakes in both legs.

Bayliss was leading the first race but he ran wide into turn one less than two laps from the end to hand victory to Haga.

In race two he made two mistakes on the fifth lap, dropping from the lead down to fifth before recovering to fourth.

The ever-improving German rider Max Neukirchner, who impressed the home fans by taking superpole in qualifying on Saturday, continued to shine with a pair of third place finishes for Suzuki.

With the top four a good five seconds ahead, Spaniard Carlos Checa led the chasing pack in fifth with the Ducati trio of Michel Fabrizio, Max Biaggi and Ruben Xaus in sixth, seventh and eighth.

Fonsi Nieto and Regis Laconi completed the top 10.

Luckless British rider Tommy Hill suffered a broken leg in a first corner crash in the Supersport race - his first event back after recovering from a serious leg injury sustained during winter testing.

The incident occurred when German wildcard Arne Tode ran into Britain's Craig Jones at the first corner, causing both men to come off and leading to a major pile-up.

Jones managed to make the restart on his spare bike and claimed a gritty fifth place for Parkalgar Honda, while Ten Kate Honda's Jonathan Rea was sixth.

New championship leader Andrew Pitt, Josh Brookes and Broc Parkes completed an Australian 1-2-3 in the podium positions.

RACE ONE

1 - Noriyuki Haga (JPN) Yamaha 39:19.427

2 - Troy Bayliss (AUS) Ducati +2.025

3 - Max Neukirchner (GER) Suzuki +2.792

4 - Troy Corser (AUS) Yamaha +5.458

5 - Carlos Checa (ESP) Honda +10.225

6 - Ruben Xaus (ESP) Ducati +10.462

7 - Michele Fabrizio (ITA) Ducati +17.018

8 - Fonsi Nieto (ESP) Suzuki +20.520

9 - Makoto Tamada (JPN) Kawasaki +21.162

10 - Karl Muggeridge (AUS) Honda +22.650

11 - Jakub Smrz (CZE) Ducati +22.845

12 - Ryuichi Kiyonari (JPN) Honda +25.555

13 - Max Biaggi (ITA) Ducati +25.879

14 - Regis Laconi (FRA) Kawasaki +26.288

15 - Sebastien Gimbert (FRA) Yamaha +32.824

RACE TWO

1 - Noriyuki Haga (JPN) Yamaha 27:26.594

2 - Troy Corser (AUS) Yamaha +0.150

3 - Max Neukirchner (GER) Suzuki +5.316

4 - Troy Bayliss (AUS) Ducati +7.651

5 - Carlos Checa (ESP) Honda +7.951

6 - Michele Fabrizio (ITA) Ducati +9.027

7 - Max Biaggi (ITA) Ducati +9.420

8 - Ruben Xaus (ESP) Ducati +9.916

9 - Fonsi Nieto (ESP) Suzuki +12.862

10 - Regis Laconi (FRA) Kawasaki +13.559

11 - Ryuichi Kiyonari (JPN) Honda +13.960

12 - Karl Muggeridge (AUS) Honda +16.172

13 - Makoto Tamada (JPN) Kawasaki +17.946

14 - Gregorio Lavilla (ESP) Honda +22.815

15 - David Checa (ESP) Yamaha +23.758

SUPERSPORT

1 - Andrew Pitt (AUS) Honda 38:26.584

2 - Josh Brookes (AUS) Honda +0.387

3 - Broc Parkes (AUS) Yamaha +1.379

4 - Fabien Foret (FRA) Yamaha +10.279

5 - Craig Jones (GBR) Honda +11.624

6 - Jonathan Rea (GBR) Honda +19.211

7 - Didier van Keymeulen (BEL) Suzuki +28.775

8 - Arne Tode (GER) Triumph +28.890

9 - Chris Walker (GBR) Kawasaki +28.990

10 - Vesa Kallio (FIN) Honda +37.853

Alex Chick/Sporting Life / Eurosport