A SMILE was back on the face of Carl Fogarty last night.

After a traumatic couple of months for his fledgling Foggy Petronas Racing team, the Blackburn bike ace finally had something to celebrate as Troy Corser secured two top 10 finishes in track-side temperatures touching 50 degrees at Misano.

Suddenly, all the heartache of Friday's practice session, which had seen wild card rider Lorenzo Mauri end up in hospital with a shattered knee, was temporarily forgotten.

Against all the odds, the whole team had showed indomitable spirit to bounce back from a catalogue of setbacks.

And no-one epitomised those fighting qualities more than Corser himself, who gave every last drop of effort in guiding the FP1 to seventh and tenth place finishes at the climax of two thrilling races.

That was the first top ten double for a Foggy Petronas rider but the Australian didn't hang about to join in the celebrations afterwards as he jumped aboard a helicopter and flew straight back to Monaco where fiance Sam Davies was in hospital expecting their first child.

For Foggy and the rest of the team, however, it was time for a well-earned beer in the chic neighbouring resort of Cattolica on the Adriatic coast.

There have been some low points during the last year or so but the feeling is they might just have turned the corner.

"This is probably the best weekend we've had this year, to be honest - even better than Valencia when we first came onto the scene," said Foggy, looking relaxed in his private bunker in the team's hospitality area after the races.

"We've had a lot of bad weekends but I thought Troy rode really hard today. I don't think anyone else could have done any better on that bike than he did.

"We're still way down on power but he did the best he possibly could in getting two results, so I'm pleased for the team. Everyone will be lifted by this now. Until now, it's been down, down, down due to all the bad luck we've had.

"When Lorenzo got injured on Friday I thought 'here we go again.' But things can change quickly in racing, or any other sport for that matter. One minute you are down, the next you are upy."

The situation had looked bleak on Friday night.

Mauri's injury was a real kick in the teeth and the whole incident had a damaging effect on team morale.

Once again, Corser found himself out on his own, as at Silverstone the week before, and a series of technical problems with his own bike had done little to improve his demeanour. Tension filled the air.

But Saturday's practice sessions were a sign of better things to come. The moody Aussie qualified for superpole, then a flying lap secured him eighth place on the grid for both of yesterday's races.

In the first, he capitalised on mistakes by Neil Hodgson, Vittorio Ianuzzo and Frankie Chili to make steady progress through the field for his best finish since the second round at Phillip Island.

Then in race two he was narrowly pipped for ninth spot following a long battle with fellow countryman Steve Martin.

Nevertheless, Foggy was delighted with both results, especially given all the recent problems with the engine overheating, and he hopes they represent another small but significant step forward in what is proving to be a long and testing journey.

"This is what our bike is capable of at the moment if it keeps going," said Foggy.

"We know the engine is nowhere near good enough but we think we know what we need to do to make it very, very fast and more reliable.

"That might not be this year but then Rome wasn't built in a day. It's a brand new bike whereas the likes of Ducati have been around for 40 or 50 years.

"So I don't think we are doing too badly when you think about what we've achieved so far.

"But with me being me, I just want to win as soon as possible.

"I just guess I'll have to try my best to be patient for now."