Karl Muggeridge – Celani Suzuki 2009

The latest casualty of the economic crisis is the Celani Suzuki team, who have decided not to take part in the next round of the World Superbike Championship at Nurburgring on September 6.

The team are planning to make a come-back for the following three rounds at Imola, Magny Cours and Portimao with a more competitive machine after scoring only 5 points so far this season.

Karl Muggeridge was the initial rider for the team, scoring 4 out of the total 5 points before suffering a cracked vertebrae in a crash at Assen.  Alessandro Polita replaced the injured rider after he was left without a ride when the Suzuki Hoegee team pulled out of the Supersport World Championship.

Muggeridge will be riding as a replacement for the injured Alstare Suzuki rider Max Neukirchner.  The team will however have David Giugliano riding for them in the Nurburgring Superstock 1000 FIM cup on the same weekend.

Max Biaggi – Aprilia Racing 2009

This weekend the World Superbike Championship took place at the Brno circuit with race wins going to Max Biaggi and Ben Spies.

Race 1

Max Biaggi took the Aprilia across the line in the first race of the day to take his first victory since 2007 and the teams first win since 2001 when Régis Laconi won at Imola.

In second place was Carlos Checa on the Hanspree Ten Kate Honda, followed in third by his team-mate Jonathan Rea.  Britain’s Shane Byrne on the Sterilgarda Ducati, finished in fourth ahead of Troy Corser on the BMW Motorrad Team Alpha Racing bike in fifth and Jakub Smrz on the Guandalini Racing machine in sixth.

Ben Spies on the Yamaha World Superbike was leading the race on lap 4 ahead of Michel Fabrizio on the Ducati Xerox Team bike and Biaggi.  Fabrizio made a move on Spies but collided with the American ending the race for both of them and passing the reins to Biaggi.

Ruben Xaus, the second BMW rider, had been running in seventh place on the first lap when he went down on the exit of the right-hand hairpin.  The bike and rider were thrown into the gravel trap with the Spaniard receiving a leg injury seeing him being taken to the on-site medical centre.  The injury proved worse than was first though and Xaus had actually suffered a break to the femur in his right leg. Xaus is hoping that the scheduled five-week summer break will give his injury enough time to heal and that he will be back on his BMW by the next round in September.

Leon Haslam on the Stiggy Honda, finished in an impressive seventh after qualifying in seventeenth on the grid while his team-mate John Hopkins, crashed out after losing the front-end of his bike.

Here are the results;

1. Max Biaggi ITA Aprilia Racing RSV-4 20 laps
2. Carlos Checa ESP HANNspree Ten Kate Honda CBR1000RR +3.631s
3. Jonathan Rea GBR HANNspree Ten Kate Honda CBR1000 +9.948s
4. Shane Byrne GBR Sterilgarda Ducati 1098R +12.952s
5. Troy Corser AUS BMW Motorrad S1000RR +14.599s
6. Jakub Smrz CZE Guandalini Racing Ducati 1098R +19.359s
7. Leon Haslam GBR Stiggy Motorsport Honda CBR1000RR +19.680s
8. Noriyuki Haga JPN Ducati Xerox 1198R +20.731s
9. Matthieu Lagrive FRA HANNspree Althea Honda CBR1000RR +21.923s
10. Makoto Tamada JPN Kawasaki SRT ZX-10R +27.807s
11. Fonsi Nieto ESP DFX Corse Ducati 1098R +35.263s
12. Broc Parkes AUS Kawasaki SRT ZX-0R +36.535s
13. Ryuichi Kiyonari JPN Ten Kate Honda CBR1000RR +38.586s
14. Yukio Kagayama JPN Alstare Suzuki GSX-R 1000K9 +40.061s
15. Vittorio Iannuzzo ITA SCI Honda CBR1000RR +40.280s

16. Luca Scassa ITA Team Pedercini Kawasaki ZX-10R +40.641s
17. David Salom ESP Team Pedercini Kawasaki ZX-10R +1min 10.529s
18. David Checa ESP Yamaha France GMT 94 YZF R1 +1min 14.874s
19. Roland Resch AUT TKR Switzerland Suzuki GSX-R1000 +1min 42.979s
20. Milos Cihak CZE ProRace Suzuki GSX-R 1000K9 +1min 43.111s

Not Classified

21. Tom Sykes GBR Yamaha WSB YZF R1 18 laps completed
22. Alessandro Polita ITA Celani Suzuki GSX-R1000 14 laps completed
23. John Hopkins USA Stiggy Motorsport Honda CBR1000RR 10 laps completed
24. Shinya Nakano JPN Aprilia Racing RSV-4 8 laps completed
25. Ben Spies USA Yamaha WSB YZF R1 4 laps completed
26. Michel Fabrizio ITA Ducati Xerox 1198R 4 laps completed
27. Lorenzo Lanzi ITA DFX Corse Ducati 1098R 2 laps completed
28. Ruben Xaus ESP BMW Motorrad S1000RR 0 laps completed

Race 2

In the second race it was Ben Spies that again led the riders to claim his eleventh win of the season, however, this time he had the challenging Max Biaggi to hold back.

Michel Fabrizio took third behind Biaggi, followed by Jonathan Rea in fourth and Carlos Checa in fifth.  An impressive sixth place went to Noriyuki Haga on the Ducati Xerox in sixth position.

Haga is still suffering from injuries received at an earlier round and confirmed that he is frustrated at not being able to ride to his full potential.  The Japanese riders shoulder and wrist are still causing him pain but he somehow managed to finish inside the top ten in both races this weekend, with a sixth and eighth position giving him a lead of 7 points in the championship ahead of Spies.

The Stiggy Honda duo were probably glad to see the back of this weekend with Haslam finishing in twelfth in the second race of the day while Hopkins ended with no points again after suffering technical difficulties on his machine.

Yukio Kagayama on the Suzuki Alstare bike, happened to be behind Hopkins when his troubles began.  As Hopkins slowed going into the right-hander, Kagayama had no where to go and hit the rear of the Americans bike causing him to crash out and  with only a fourteenth in race one, not a good weekend for the Suzuki team either.

Here are the results;

1. Ben Spies USA Yamaha WSB YZF R1 20 laps
2. Max Biaggi ITA Aprilia Racing RSV-4 +0.213s
3. Michel Fabrizio ITA Ducati Xerox 1198R +0.657
4. Jonathan Rea GBR HANNspree Ten Kate Honda CBR1000 +8.311s
5. Carlos Checa ESP HANNspree Ten Kate Honda CBR1000RR +8.915s
6. Noriyuki Haga JPN Ducati Xerox 1198R +21.175s
7. Tom Sykes GBR Yamaha WSB YZF R1 +21.384s
8. Shane Byrne GBR Sterilgarda Ducati 1098R +21.599s
9. Jakub Smrz CZE Guandalini Racing Ducati 1098R +21.726s
10. Troy Corser AUS BMW Motorrad S1000RR +25.180s
11. Shinya Nakano JPN Aprilia Racing RSV-4 +25.612s
12. Leon Haslam GBR Stiggy Motorsport Honda CBR1000RR +25.622s
13. Ryuichi Kiyonari JPN Ten Kate Honda CBR1000RR +26.246s
14. Matthieu Lagrive FRA HANNspree Althea Honda CBR1000RR +31.098s
15. Lorenzo Lanzi ITA DFX Corse Ducati 1098R +32.706s

16. Broc Parkes AUS Kawasaki SRT ZX-0R +33.173s
17. Fonsi Nieto ESP DFX Corse Ducati 1098R +34.953s
18. Vittorio Iannuzzo ITA SCI Honda CBR1000RR +57.751s
19. David Checa ESP Yamaha France GMT 94 YZF R1 +1min 00.273s
20. Roland Resch AUT TKR Switzerland Suzuki GSX-R1000 +1min 29.794s

Not Classified

21. Alessandro Polita ITA Celani Suzuki GSX-R1000 12 laps completed
22. Luca Scassa ITA Team Pedercini Kawasaki ZX-10R 7 laps completed
23. Milos Cihak CZE ProRace Suzuki GSX-R 1000K9 7 laps completed
24. John Hopkins USA Stiggy Motorsport Honda CBR1000RR 6 laps completed
25. Yukio Kagayama JPN Alstare Suzuki GSX-R 1000K9 6 laps completed
26. David Salom ESP Team Pedercini Kawasaki ZX-10R 5 laps completed
27. Makoto Tamada JPN Kawasaki SRT ZX-10R 3 laps completed

DNS Ruben Xaus ESP BMW Motorrad S1000RR

Max Biaggi -Aprilia Racing 2009

Max Biaggi on the Aprilia Racing machine, took provisional pole position today for the Brno round of the World Superbike Championship in the Czech Republic.

Biaggi was the only rider to set a time of under two-minutes, staying ahead of his fellow Italian Michel Fabrizio on the Ducati Xerox Team bike, who finished less than a tenth-of-a-second behind.

Carlos Checa on the Hanspree Ten Kate Honda, finished in third place followed by Ben Spies on the Yamaha World Superbike in  fourth and Lorenzo Lanzi on the DFX Ducati in fifth.

Troy Corser on the BMW Motorrad Team Alpha Racing machine, crossed the line sixth fastest ahead of the second Aprilia Racing bike of Shinya Nakano in seventh.

The second BMW of Ruben Xaus was in eighth place followed by the Kawasaki World Superbike rider Broc Parkes in ninth and Suzuki Alstare rider Yukio Kagayama completing the top ten riders of the day.

Shane Byrne on the Sterilgarda Ducati finished in eleventh ahead of John Hopkins on the Stiggy Honda, who had crashed during the session.

Noriyuki Haga, back on the Ducati Xerox team bike, made steady progress during the session, finishing in fifteenth place overall, a mere 1.080 seconds off the fastest lap set by Biaggi.

Another rider returning to the championship was Makoto Tamada for the Kawasaki Superbike Racing team.  The Japanese rider ended the day in seventeenth place after his final lap, which would have seen him in fourth position, was annulled after it was deemed he had started his fast lap after the chequered flag had been shown.

Here are the results;

1 3 M.BIAGGI ITA Aprilia Racing Aprilia RSV4 Factory 1′59.982
2 84 M. FABRIZIO ITA Ducati Xerox Team Ducati 1098R 2′00.066
3 7 C. CHECA ESP HANNspree Ten Kate Honda Honda CBR1000RR 2′00.205
4 19 B. SPIES USA Yamaha WSB Yamaha YZF R1 2′00.558
5 57 L. LANZI ITA DFX Corse Ducati 1098R 2′00.581
6 11 T. CORSER AUS BMW Motorrad Motorsport BMW S1000 RR 2′00.603
7 56 S. NAKANO JPN Aprilia Racing Aprilia RSV4 Factory 2′00.648
8 111 R. XAUS ESP BMW Motorrad Motorsport BMW S1000 RR 2′00.731
9 23 B. PARKES AUS Kawasaki World Superbike R.T. Kawasaki ZX 10R 2′00.887
10 71 Y. KAGAYAMA JPN Suzuki Alstare BRUX Suzuki GSX-R 1000 K9 2′00.958
11 67 S. BYRNE GBR Sterilgarda Ducati 1098R 2′01.017
12 121 J. HOPKINS USA Stiggy Racing Honda Honda CBR1000RR 2′01.021
13 65 J. REA GBR HANNspree Ten Kate Honda Honda CBR1000RR 2′01.023
14 96 J. SMRZ CZE Guandalini Racing Ducati 1098R 2′01.031
15 41 N. HAGA JPN Ducati Xerox Team Ducati 1098R 2′01.062
16 66 T. SYKES GBR Yamaha WSB Yamaha YZF R1 2′01.070
17 100 M. TAMADA JPN Kawasaki World Superbike R.T. Kawasaki ZX 10R 2′01.385
18 91 L. HASLAM GBR Stiggy Racing Honda Honda CBR1000RR 2′01.403
19 9 R. KIYONARI JPN Ten Kate Honda Racing Honda CBR1000RR 2′01.439
20 14 M. LAGRIVE FRA Honda Althea Racing Honda CBR1000RR 2′01.720
21 99 L. SCASSA ITA Team Pedercini Kawasaki ZX 10R 2′02.155
22 77 V. IANNUZZO ITA Squadra Corse Italia Honda CBR1000RR 2′02.346
23 10 F. NIETO ESP DFX Corse Ducati 1098R 2′02.644
24 25 D. SALOM ESP Team Pedercini Kawasaki ZX 10R 2′02.691
25 94 D. CHECA ESP Yamaha France GMT 94 Ipone Yamaha YZF R1 2′02.785
26 53 A. POLITA ITA Celani Race Suzuki GSX-R 1000 K9 2′02.940
27 88 R. RESCH AUT TKR Suzuki Switzerland Suzuki GSX-R 1000 K9 2′04.041
28 51 M.CIHAK CZE ProRace Suzuki GSX-R 1000 K9 2′04.905

Alessandro Polita – Celani Race Team 2007

The  World Superbike rider Alessandro Polita is to remain with the Celani Team for the rest of the season it has been confirmed today.

The Italian rider was bought in as a replacement for the injured Karl Muggeridge at Misano and Donington and after previously riding for the team in 2007.  Having scored a point while replacing Muggeridge he is now to be a permanent fixture in the team garage.

Muggeridge suffered two broken vertebrae in his back after crashing at Assen and was out for the two next rounds before the team decided along with the rider, that it would be better to give him a few more weeks to recover fully.

However, Polita has now been signed-up.  He was left without a ride when the Supersport team Suzuki Hoegee pulled out of the championship after previously losing his ride with the Sterilgarda Ducati team.

Ben Spies – Donington Park

The Yamaha World Superbike rider Ben Spies, won both races in round nine of the World Superbike Championship at Donington Park on Sunday.

Race 1

Spies dominated the qualifying session on Saturday and continued by winning the race on Sunday shadowed by the Aprilia Racing rider Max Biaggi.

On the final lap of the race it looked like all the hard work from Biaggi had been wasted as his machine came almost to a halt, just a couple of hundred yards from the chequered flag.  However, after a bit of weaving by the Italian he picked up speed and shot across the line to take his place on the podium, it was later confirmed that he had some sort of fuel problem.

Noriyuki Haga on the Ducati Xerox bike took the final step of the podium followed in fourth place by Leon Haslam on the Stiggy Motorsport Honda.

Shane Byrne was right on the tail of Haslam for the Sterilgarda Ducati team ahead of the second Aprilia Racing bike ridden by Shinya Nakano in sixth.

Jonathan Rea on the Hanspree Ten Kate Honda took seventh followed by John Hopkins on the second Stiggy Honda, Jakub Smrz on the Guandalini Racing bike was in ninth and Ryuichi Kiyonari on the Ten Kate Honda Racing bike to complete the top ten riders.

Here are the results;

1  19 Spies B. (USA) Yamaha YZF R1 34′57.230 (158,831 kph)
2   3 Biaggi M. (ITA) Aprilia RSV4 Factory 7.156
3  41 Haga N. (JPN) Ducati 1098R 10.968
4  91 Haslam L. (GBR) Honda CBR1000RR 18.843
5  67 Byrne S. (GBR) Ducati 1098R 19.125
6  56 Nakano S. (JPN) Aprilia RSV4 Factory 21.286
7  65 Rea J. (GBR) Honda CBR1000RR 23.644
8 121 Hopkins J. (USA) Honda CBR1000RR 32.849
9  96 Smrz J. (CZE) Ducati 1098R 32.904
10   9 Kiyonari R. (JPN) Honda CBR1000RR 33.192
11   7 Checa C. (ESP) Honda CBR1000RR 34.535
12  84 Fabrizio M. (ITA) Ducati 1098R 35.093
13  22 Camier L. (GBR) Yamaha YZF R1 35.441
14  57 Lanzi L. (ITA) Ducati 1098R 39.034
15 111 Xaus R. (ESP) BMW S1000 RR 41.067
16  14 Lagrive M. (FRA) Honda CBR1000RR 46.452
17  71 Kagayama Y. (JPN) Suzuki GSX-R 1000 K9 47.924
18  23 Parkes B. (AUS) Kawasaki ZX 10R 48.246
19  99 Scassa L. (ITA) Kawasaki ZX 10R 50.932
20 117 Andrews S. (GBR) Kawasaki ZX 10R 55.032
21   2 Hacking J. (USA) Kawasaki ZX 10R 55.216
22  53 Polita A. (ITA) Suzuki GSX-R 1000 K9 1′02.758
23  25 Salom D. (ESP) Kawasaki ZX 10R 1′02.977
24  94 Checa D. (ESP) Yamaha YZF R1 1′12.255
25  79 Young B. (USA) Suzuki GSX-R 1000 K9 1′12.531
RET  11 Corser T. (AUS) BMW S1000 RR
RET  27 Ellison J. (GBR) Yamaha YZF R1
RET  88 Resch R. (AUT) Suzuki GSX-R 1000 K9
RET  66 Sykes T. (GBR) Yamaha YZF R1
RET  36 Lavilla G. (ESP) Ducati 1098R
RET  77 Iannuzzo V. (ITA) Honda CBR1000RR

Race 2

The second race was again dominated by the American rider Ben Spies, who started the race as he meant to go on, creating a gap from the off, and claiming his tenth win of the 2009 season.

Noriyuki Haga crashed out from second place on lap 5 of the race while trying to bridge the gap between himself and Spies.  The Ducati rider was taken to a Derby hospital and was treated for a fracture to the ulna in his right arm.  Haga today underwent surgery to insert a plate and screws to the ulna which has been deemed a success, the multiple fractures discovered to his left shoulder will heal on their own and did not need intervention.  The team believe it would still be possible for Haga to ride at the next round at Brno but he will not take part in the test due at Imola.

British rider Leon Haslam, took the Stiggy bike across the line to claim the second step of the podium, after battling for the position with Michel Fabrizio on the Ducati Xerox and Shane Byrne on the Sterilgarda machine.  Haslam finally made his move stick with three laps of the race remaining and said that he had been spurred on by the British fans at his home track.

Fabrizio finished in third ahead of Byrne in fourth after suffering technical problems in race one.  The Italian had broken the lap record during qualifying but a gear problem saw him sliding backwards to finally finish in twelfth position, but he was back on the podium in the second race after jumping on his spare bike.

Neither of the Aprilia Racing riders finished the second race with Biaggi crashing out on lap 4 at the Melbourne hairpin.  The Italian got back on his machine only to make contact again with another rider and later x-rays showed he had received a hairline fracture to his right foot.  Fortunately, with the three week break now before Brno, Biaggi is expected to be fit to ride in the next round.

Shinya Nakano, on the second Aprilia, amazingly walked away without injury when he crashed at high speed just after the opening lap of race two.

John Hopkins was not on the grid for the second race despite finishing the first race in eighth place from thirteenth in qualifying.  Hopkins apologised to his fans and supporters for not taking part but was said to be suffering so much pain from the first race that he could not carry on.

Simon Andrews, riding as a wild-card, achieved his aim of a top ten finish in race two for the Kawasaki team after qualifying in twenty-sixth position.

Leon Camier was another wild-card rider this weekend, claiming sixth in race two after starting in twenty-second place.  The Airwaves Yamaha rider demolished his number one bike during provisional qualifying and on the spare could only manage seventeenth position.  In both races he made a terrible start but fought his way back to the top in race two.  His team-mate James Ellison, crashed out in the first race but finished an impressive eighth in race two.

Here are the results;

1 19 Spies B. (USA) Yamaha YZF R1 35′14.788 (157,512 kph)
2 91 Haslam L. (GBR) Honda CBR1000RR 6.622
3 84 Fabrizio M. (ITA) Ducati 1098R 6.816
4 67 Byrne S. (GBR) Ducati 1098R 7.349
5 66 Sykes T. (GBR) Yamaha YZF R1 8.145
6 22 Camier L. (GBR) Yamaha YZF R1 13.463
7 9 Kiyonari R. (JPN) Honda CBR1000RR 15.751
8 27 Ellison J. (GBR) Yamaha YZF R1 16.837
9 111 Xaus R. (ESP) BMW S1000 RR 22.891
10 117 Andrews S. (GBR) Kawasaki ZX 10R 30.347
11 57 Lanzi L. (ITA) Ducati 1098R 30.622
12 14 Lagrive M. (FRA) Honda CBR1000RR 31.562
13 71 Kagayama Y. (JPN) Suzuki GSX-R 1000 K9 32.148
14 23 Parkes B. (AUS) Kawasaki ZX 10R 32.607
15 65 Rea J. (GBR) Honda CBR1000RR 32.806
16 99 Scassa L. (ITA) Kawasaki ZX 10R 34.269
17 79 Young B. (USA) Suzuki GSX-R 1000 K9 40.644
18 36 Lavilla G. (ESP) Ducati 1098R 40.956
19 25 Salom D. (ESP) Kawasaki ZX 10R 41.302
20 11 Corser T. (AUS) BMW S1000 RR 42.856
21 3 Biaggi M. (ITA) Aprilia RSV4 Factory 47.769
RET 77 Iannuzzo V. (ITA) Honda CBR1000RR
RET 88 Resch R. (AUT) Suzuki GSX-R 1000 K9
RET 53 Polita A. (ITA) Suzuki GSX-R 1000 K9
RET 7 Checa C. (ESP) Honda CBR1000RR
RET 94 Checa D. (ESP) Yamaha YZF R1
RET 41 Haga N. (JPN) Ducati 1098R
RET 96 Smrz J. (CZE) Ducati 1098R
RET 56 Nakano S. (JPN) Aprilia RSV4 Factory
RET 2 Hacking J. (USA) Kawasaki ZX 10R

Jonathan Rea 2009

Sunday saw round eight of the World Superbike Championship take place at the Misano Adriatico circuit in Italy with Ben Spies and Jonathan Rea sharing the wins.

Race One

On his first visit to the Misano circuit Ben Spies on the Yamaha World Superbike claimed his eighth win of the season in a flag-to-flag race.

Due to bad weather in the qualifying session, none of the riders were able to improve on their times in Q2 so the times remained the same as Q1.

Jakub Smrz on the Guandalini Racing Ducati, qualified in pole position during Superpole with an impressive time of 1:35.434 ahead of Jonathan Rea on the Hanspree Ten Kate Honda and Ben Spies on the Yamaha World Superbike.

Starting with a wet track the first half of the race was dominated by the Sterilgarda Ducati rider Shane Byrne until the riders re-entered the pits to swap bikes for a rapidly drying circuit.

Spies was on the ball immediately with his dry set-up and went on to take the victory with a gap of nearly eight seconds from second place man Byrne.

Michel Fabrizio on the Ducati Xerox machine finished in third after fighting off Smrz who was also aiming for that final step on the podium.  In fifth place was Noriyuki Haga on the second Ducati Xerox after passing Yukio Kagayama on the Suzuki Alstare in the closing laps of the race.  Haga admitted to struggling with his tyre choice during the race meaning he was unable to push as much as he wanted to.

Jonathan Rea finished in seventh place after starting from the pit lane after developing fuel problems on his sighting lap.  He was followed by Tom Sykes on the second Yamaha World Superbike, Shinya Nakano on the Aprilia Racing machine and Matthieu Lagrive on the Althea Honda completing the top ten.

Rea and Ryuichi Kiyonari on the Ten Kate Honda Racing machine were both given a drive-through penalty after the Japanese rider gave Rea a lift back to the pits during the sighting lap.

Leon Haslam on the Stiggy Motorsport bike blamed himself for his dismal twelfth place finish in the first race after making a bad decision to stay out longer than he should have on wet tyres leaving him too short of time to challenge the front runners.

Here are the results:

1 19 Spies B. (USA) Yamaha YZF R1 45′02.773 (135,093 kph)
2 67 Byrne S. (GBR) Ducati 1098R 7.931
3 84 Fabrizio M. (ITA) Ducati 1098R 11.836
4 96 Smrz J. (CZE) Ducati 1098R 11.886
5 41 Haga N. (JPN) Ducati 1098R 31.670
6 71 Kagayama Y. (JPN) Suzuki GSX-R 1000 K9 33.241
7 65 Rea J. (GBR) Honda CBR1000RR 35.772
8 66 Sykes T. (GBR) Yamaha YZF R1 41.931
9 56 Nakano S. (JPN) Aprilia RSV4 Factory 51.507
10 14 Lagrive M. (FRA) Honda CBR1000RR 59.921
11 7 Checa C. (ESP) Honda CBR1000RR 1′04.285
12 91 Haslam L. (GBR) Honda CBR1000RR 1′04.313
13 3 Biaggi M. (ITA) Aprilia RSV4 Factory 1′19.822
14 111 Xaus R. (ESP) BMW S1000 RR 1′22.412
15 53 Polita A. (ITA) Suzuki GSX-R 1000 K9 1′31.635
16 2 Hacking J. (USA) Kawasaki ZX 10R 1′39.830
17 23 Parkes B. (AUS) Kawasaki ZX 10R 1′42.964
18 10 Nieto F. (ESP) Suzuki GSX-R 1000 K9 1′43.303
19 57 Lanzi L. (ITA) Ducati 1098R
20 77 Iannuzzo V. (ITA) Honda CBR1000RR
21 94 Checa D. (ESP) Yamaha YZF R1
22 36 Lavilla G. (ESP) Ducati 1098R
23 25 Salom D. (ESP) Kawasaki ZX 10R
NC 88 Resch R. (AUT) Suzuki GSX-R 1000 K9
RET 99 Scassa L. (ITA) Kawasaki ZX 10R
RET 15 Baiocco M. (ITA) Kawasaki ZX 10R
RET 9 Kiyonari R. (JPN) Honda CBR1000RR
RET 11 Corser T. (AUS) BMW S1000 RR
NP 121 Hopkins J. (USA) Honda CBR1000RR

Race 2

A fantastic battle took place during the second race of the day between Irish rider Jonathan Rea, Michel Fabrizio and Noriyuki Haga.

Rea started from second on the grid he had passed race leader Haga on lap four to take the lead and continued to swap the lead with the Japanese rider and Fabrizio several times before making it stick on the final lap to claim his first WSB victory.

Fabrizio finished in second ahead of championship leader Haga in third and Jakub Smrz in fourth.  Carlos Checa on the second Hanspree Ten Kate Honda finished in fifth place after being passed by Smrz on the final lap followed by Shane Byrne in sixth.

Here are the results;

1 65 Rea J. (GBR) Honda CBR1000RR 39′11.204 (155,293 kph)
2 84 Fabrizio M. (ITA) Ducati 1098R 0.063
3 41 Haga N. (JPN) Ducati 1098R 0.457
4 96 Smrz J. (CZE) Ducati 1098R 3.635
5 7 Checa C. (ESP) Honda CBR1000RR 4.460
6 67 Byrne S. (GBR) Ducati 1098R 4.538
7 66 Sykes T. (GBR) Yamaha YZF R1 12.679
8 91 Haslam L. (GBR) Honda CBR1000RR 12.763
9 19 Spies B. (USA) Yamaha YZF R1 13.237
10 3 Biaggi M. (ITA) Aprilia RSV4 Factory 14.412
11 71 Kagayama Y. (JPN) Suzuki GSX-R 1000 K9 20.073
12 10 Nieto F. (ESP) Suzuki GSX-R 1000 K9 20.239
13 56 Nakano S. (JPN) Aprilia RSV4 Factory 22.351
14 9 Kiyonari R. (JPN) Honda CBR1000RR 24.547
15 36 Lavilla G. (ESP) Ducati 1098R 24.696
16 111 Xaus R. (ESP) BMW S1000 RR 25.615
17 23 Parkes B. (AUS) Kawasaki ZX 10R 31.887
18 57 Lanzi L. (ITA) Ducati 1098R 34.751
19 11 Corser T. (AUS) BMW S1000 RR 38.061
20 99 Scassa L. (ITA) Kawasaki ZX 10R 47.717
21 14 Lagrive M. (FRA) Honda CBR1000RR 48.973
22 2 Hacking J. (USA) Kawasaki ZX 10R 51.027
23 53 Polita A. (ITA) Suzuki GSX-R 1000 K9 52.526
24 77 Iannuzzo V. (ITA) Honda CBR1000RR 57.589
25 88 Resch R. (AUT) Suzuki GSX-R 1000 K9 1′36.359
RET 25 Salom D. (ESP) Kawasaki ZX 10R
RET 94 Checa D. (ESP) Yamaha YZF R1
RET 15 Baiocco M. (ITA) Kawasaki ZX 10R

Noriyuki Haga 2009

Last weekend round 6 of the World Superbike Championship took place at the Kyalami circuit in South Africa with Noriyuki Haga winning the double.

Race One

In race one Noriyuki Haga on the Ducati Xerox took the win ahead of his team-mate Michel Fabrizio in second and Yamaha World Superbike rider Ben Spies.

Haga was the fastest off the line as the lights turned to green alongside the two Ducati Xerox riders Spies and Fabrizio.

Behind the top three were the next group of riders consisting of Carlos Checa on the Hanspree Ten Kate Honda, Sheridan Morais, replacement rider for the injured Kawasaki rider Makoto Tamada and Leon Haslam on the Stiggy Motorsport Honda.

Spanish rider Ruben Xaus on the BMW Motorrod Team Alpha Racing machine crashed out on the second lap as Fabrizio passed his team-mate to take the lead.  He stayed at the front until 13 laps left to run when Haga retook the lead and held on to take the chequered flag.

Jonathan Rea on the second Hanspree Ten Kate Honda was fighting Max Biaggi on the Aprilia RSV4 for that fourth place but Rea held on to take the position.

Carlos Checa then held-up Biaggi, as Leon Haslam went down and was out of the race with 10 laps of the race remaining.

Biaggi finished in fifth place followed by Checa in sixth and Shinya Nakano on the second Aprilia in seventh.  In eighth position was Yukio Kagayama on the Suzuki Alstare ahead of Shane Byrne on the Ducati Sterilgarda and Tom Sykes on the second Yamaha World Superbike to complete the top ten.

Here are the results;

1 4 41 N.HAGA JPN Ducati Xerox Team Ducati 1098R 24 1′38.622 251,2 1′37.544 247,8 25 225 1
2 2 84 M.FABRIZIO ITA Ducati Xerox Team Ducati 1098R 24 0.950 1′38.548 250,7 1′37.289 249,5 20 145 3
3 1 19 B. SPIES USA Yamaha WSB Yamaha YZF R1 24 3.391 1′38.674 247,8 1′37.288 247,8 16 162 2
4 5 65 J. REA GBR HANNspree Ten Kate HondHaonda CBR1000RR 24 8.914 1′38.827 250,7 1′37.634 248,9 13 90 7
5 3 3 M.BIAGGI ITA Aprilia Racing Aprilia RSV4 Factory 24 9.019 1′38.875 256,0 1′37.466 252,4 11 92 6
6 7 7 C. CHECA ESP HANNspree Ten Kate HondHaonda CBR1000RR 24 14.812 1′38.851 249,5 1′37.940 245,5 10 63 11
7 9 56 S. NAKANO JPN Aprilia Racing Aprilia RSV4 Factory 24 14.971 1′39.102 250,1 1′37.935 247,2 9 43 15
8 13 71 Y. KAGAYAMA JPN Suzuki Alstare BRUX Suzuki GSX-R 1000 K9 24 15.723 1′39.037 253,6 1′38.130 251,2 8 60 12
9 14 67 S. BYRNE GBR Sterilgarda Ducati 1098R 24 21.529 1′38.983 249,5 1′38.171 248,9 7 48 14
10 8 66 T. SYKES GBR Yamaha WSB Yamaha YZF R1 24 21.795 1′39.354 254,2 1′38.241 248,4 6 96 5
11 16 36 G.LAVILLA ESP Guandalini Racing Ducati 1098R 24 29.872 1′39.262 246,7 1′38.733 242,8 5 5 21
12 12 9 R. KIYONARI JPN Ten Kate Honda Racing Honda CBR1000RR 24 34.216 1′39.619 247,2 1′38.081 245,0 4 69 10
13 11 132 S. MORAIS RSA Kawasaki World Superbike RK.aTw. asaki ZX 10R 24 34.275 1′39.176 250,7 1′38.013 246,1 3 3 23
14 6 96 J. SMRZ CZE Guandalini Racing Ducati 1098R 24 38.280 1′39.463 250,7 1′37.677 247,8 2 58 13
15 17 23 B. PARKES AUS Kawasaki World Superbike RK.aTw. asaki ZX 10R 24 40.885 1′39.998 247,8 1′38.766 245,5 1 18 18
16 21 10 F. NIETO ESP Suzuki Alstare BRUX Suzuki GSX-R 1000 K9 24 44.841 1′39.543 241,7 1′39.831 242,2
17 18 99 L. SCASSA ITA Team Pedercini Kawasaki ZX 10R 24 49.075 1′40.142 241,2 1′38.779 239,5 3 26
18 22 31 K. MUGGERIDGE AUS Celani Race Suzuki GSX-R 1000 K9 24 49.702 1′40.101 244,4 1′39.852 243,9 4 22
19 20 33 T. HILL GBR Honda Althea Racing Honda CBR1000RR 24 50.065 1′40.708 247,8 1′39.001 246,7 6 20
20 19 25 D.SALOM ESP Team Pedercini Kawasaki ZX 10R 24 50.391 1′40.468 243,3 1′38.880 242,2
21 24 49 S. WHYTE RSA Yamaha France GMT 94 IpoYnaemaha YZF R1 23 1 Lap 1′42.224 243,9 1′41.737 240,1
22 23 17 S. MARTIN AUS BMW Motorrad Motorsport BMW S1000 RR 22 2 Laps 1′41.715 244,4 1′41.227 241,7

Race Two

Once again it was Haga and Spies dominating race two with Haga claiming his sixth win of the season for the Ducati Xerox team.

Haga led for all but one of the laps in his second race of the day with Fabrizio again on his tail seeing the two swapping places on the final lap a couple of times.

Spies was out of contention by lap 3, after returning to the pits with a gearbox problem leaving Jonathan Rea to take his first podium position of the season for third.

Leon Haslam took the fourth place for the Stiggy Honda team ahead of Max Biaggi on the Aprilia and Carlos Checa in sixth.

In seventh place was Shinya Nakano followed by Yukio Kagayama in eighth, Tom Sykes in ninth and Jakub Smrz in tenth.

Here are the results;

1 4 41 N.HAGA JPN Ducati Xerox Team Ducati 1098R 24 1′38.577 248,9 1′37.544 247,8 25 25 250 1
2 2 84 M.FABRIZIO ITA Ducati Xerox Team Ducati 1098R 24 0.322 1′38.669 248,4 1′37.289 249,5 20 20 165 2
3 5 65 J. REA GBR HANNspree Ten Kate HondHaonda CBR1000RR 24 8.936 1′38.778 248,9 1′37.634 248,9 13 16 106 5
4 10 91 L. HASLAM GBR Stiggy Racing Honda Honda CBR1000RR 24 10.561 1′38.637 246,7 1′37.988 245,0 13 116 4
5 3 3 M.BIAGGI ITA Aprilia Racing Aprilia RSV4 Factory 24 10.767 1′38.717 254,8 1′37.466 252,4 11 11 103 6
6 7 7 C. CHECA ESP HANNspree Ten Kate HondHaonda CBR1000RR 24 12.413 1′39.133 249,5 1′37.940 245,5 10 10 73 10
7 9 56 S. NAKANO JPN Aprilia Racing Aprilia RSV4 Factory 24 12.616 1′39.055 250,7 1′37.935 247,2 9 9 52 14
8 13 71 Y. KAGAYAMA JPN Suzuki Alstare BRUX Suzuki GSX-R 1000 K9 24 14.878 1′39.404 252,4 1′38.130 251,2 8 8 68 12
9 8 66 T. SYKES GBR Yamaha WSB Yamaha YZF R1 24 16.225 1′38.957 253,0 1′38.241 248,4 6 7 103 7
10 6 96 J. SMRZ CZE Guandalini Racing Ducati 1098R 24 18.197 1′39.195 251,2 1′37.677 247,8 2 6 64 13
11 11 132 S. MORAIS RSA Kawasaki World Superbike RK.aTw. asaki ZX 10R 24 20.629 1′39.312 251,2 1′38.013 246,1 3 5 8 21
12 16 36 G.LAVILLA ESP Guandalini Racing Ducati 1098R 24 24.320 1′39.441 245,5 1′38.733 242,8 5 4 9 19
13 12 9 R. KIYONARI JPN Ten Kate Honda Racing Honda CBR1000RR 24 24.564 1′39.506 247,8 1′38.081 245,0 4 3 72 11
14 17 23 B. PARKES AUS Kawasaki World Superbike RK.aTw. asaki ZX 10R 24 38.747 1′39.229 250,7 1′38.766 245,5 1 2 20 18
15 21 10 F. NIETO ESP Suzuki Alstare BRUX Suzuki GSX-R 1000 K9 24 50.045 1′39.843 246,7 1′39.831 242,2 1 1 29
16 19 25 D.SALOM ESP Team Pedercini Kawasaki ZX 10R 24 57.999 1′40.799 242,2 1′38.880 242,2
17 20 33 T. HILL GBR Honda Althea Racing Honda CBR1000RR 24 1′05.973 1′40.017 247,8 1′39.001 246,7 6 22
18 23 17 S. MARTIN AUS BMW Motorrad Motorsport BMW S1000 RR 24 1′28.685 1′41.986 243,3 1′41.227 241,7
19 24 49 S. WHYTE RSA Yamaha France GMT 94 IpoYnaemaha YZF R1 23 1 Lap 1′41.907 240,6 1′41.737 240,1

Noriyuki Haga – Assen 2009

Ben Spies and Noriyuki Haga yet again dominated the World Superbike Championship races at Assen TT circuit on Sunday.

Race One

In race one Ben Spies on the Yamaha World Superbike took the victory after snatching the lead from the Ducati Xerox rider Noriyuki Haga on the final lap.

As the race got underway, Spies led the pack followed by Max Neukirchner on the Alstare Suzuki and the Ducati of Guandalini Racing rider Jakub Smrz.

Haslam was in fifth place behind Haga at the start and struggled to get past Smrz, with Tom Sykes on the Yamaha WSB right behind him in the slip stream.

Neukirchner crashed out with 15 laps of the race remaining almost collecting Sykes as he went down on the final chicane.

As Haga led the race followed by Spies, Haslam stuck with the pair of them passing Spies with 10 laps to go.  Haslam desperately tried to catch Haga but was unable to match his pace as his rear tyre began to lose grip and letting Spies back through to take second.

Haga was leading the race followed by Leon Haslam on the Stiggy Honda machine but with only 6 laps left to run he was on the tail of Haslam, trying every way he knew how to try and get past.  He finally passed Haslam and set about chasing down Haga.

The Japanese rider desperately tried to create a gap between himself and Spies but was reeled in and passed by the American with only two corners to go before the end of the race.

Spies took the victory as he passed Haga with only two corners of the final lap to go followed in third place by Haslam.  Tom Sykes took fourth ahead of Max Biaggi on the Aprilia in fifth and Smrz in sixth.

Here are the results;

1 1 19 B. SPIES USA Yamaha WSB Yamaha YZF R1 22 1′39.039 279,3 1′37.626 274,3 25 120 2
2 4 41 N.HAGA JPN Ducati Xerox Team Ducati 1098R 22 0.154 1′38.742 275,0 1′38.202 273,5 20 155 1
3 3 91 L. HASLAM GBR Stiggy Racing Honda Honda CBR1000RR 22 0.779 1′38.730 275,0 1′38.072 270,7 16 74 3
4 8 66 T. SYKES GBR Yamaha WSB Yamaha YZF R1 22 8.775 1′39.028 277,1 1′38.790 275,0 13 60 8
5 10 3 M.BIAGGI ITA Aprilia Racing Aprilia RSV4 Factory 22 11.275 1′39.373 281,6 1′38.441 275,7 11 65 6
6 2 96 J. SMRZ CZE Guandalini Racing Ducati 1098R 22 16.126 1′39.655 276,4 1′37.765 275,7 10 28 15
7 11 65 J. REA GBR HANNspree Ten Kate HondHaonda CBR1000RR 22 19.555 1′39.232 278,6 1′38.510 274,3 9 42 9
8 12 55 R. LACONI FRA DFX Corse Ducati 1098R 22 19.760 1′39.604 275,0 1′38.521 270,7 8 64 7
9 5 84 M.FABRIZIO ITA Ducati Xerox Team Ducati 1098R 22 23.006 1′39.505 279,3 1′38.215 276,4 7 67 5
10 15 11 T. CORSER AUS BMW Motorrad Motorsport BMW S1000 RR 22 24.285 1′39.908 269,4 1′38.906 272,1 6 29 14
11 14 67 S. BYRNE GBR Sterilgarda Ducati 1098R 22 26.003 1′39.942 272,8 1′38.811 272,1 5 31 13
12 13 31 K. MUGGERIDGE AUS Celani Race Suzuki GSX-R 1000 K9 22 27.814 1′39.612 269,4 1′38.802 268,7 4 4 21
13 6 76 M.NEUKIRCHNER GER Suzuki Alstare BRUX Suzuki GSX-R 1000 K9 22 36.962 1′39.085 277,9 1′38.353 277,1 3 68 4
14 20 111 R. XAUS ESP BMW Motorrad Motorsport BMW S1000 RR 22 39.025 1′40.564 271,4 1′39.643 270,7 2 19 17
15 16 9 R. KIYONARI JPN Ten Kate Honda Racing Honda CBR1000RR 22 41.505 1′39.926 277,1 1′39.079 276,4 1 33 11
16 18 24 B. ROBERTS AUS Guandalini Racing Ducati 1098R 22 41.810 1′40.218 270,0 1′39.390 270,0
17 25 100 M.TAMADA JPN Kawasaki World Superbike RK.aTw. asaki ZX 10R 22 50.186 1′40.581 276,4 1′41.057 270,7 2 23
18 23 32 S. EASTON GBR Kawasaki World Superbike RK.aTw. asaki ZX 10R 22 55.567 1′41.059 278,6 1′40.608 274,3
19 21 94 D. CHECA ESP Yamaha France GMT 94 IpoYnaemaha YZF R1 22 56.425 1′40.856 269,4 1′40.496 264,6
20 22 25 D.SALOM ESP Team Pedercini Kawasaki ZX 10R 22 1′05.169 1′40.958 268,7 1′40.572 269,4
21 28 88 R. RESCH AUT TKR Suzuki Switzerland Suzuki GSX-R 1000 K9 22 1′37.663 1′42.528 267,3 1′41.978 265,3
Not Classified
RET 27 99 L. SCASSA ITA Team Pedercini Kawasaki ZX 10R 18 4 Laps 1′40.909 268,7 1′41.085 264,0
RET 19 56 S. NAKANO JPN Aprilia Racing Aprilia RSV4 Factory 13 9 Laps 1′40.464 269,4 1′39.569 272,8 27 16
RET 24 77 V. IANNUZZO ITA Squadra Corse Italia Honda CBR1000RR 13 9 Laps 1′41.825 270,0 1′41.014 267,3
RET 26 15 M.BAIOCCO ITA PSG1-1 Corse Kawasaki ZX 10R 12 10 Laps 1′41.505 270,0 1′41.062 270,0
RET 7 7 C. CHECA ESP HANNspree Ten Kate HondHaonda CBR1000RR 4 18 Laps 1′39.550 272,8 1′38.640 273,5 31 12
RET 9 71 Y. KAGAYAMA JPN Suzuki Alstare BRUX Suzuki GSX-R 1000 K9 1 21 Laps 260,7 1′38.288 276,4 35 10
RET 17 33 T. HILL GBR Honda Althea Racing Honda CBR1000RR 0 266,0 1′39.387 270,7 6 20

Race Two

The second race was dominated by Noriyuki Haga from the start finishing the race 3 seconds of second place man Leon Haslam, who claimed his second podium of the day.

Ben Spies crashed out on lap 2 of the race going into turn one as the front of his machine went from under him.  Haga got on with the job in hand opening a gap between himself and the likes of Haslam, Neukirchner, Michel Fabrizio on the second Ducati Xerox and Smrz to battle for the final two podium places.

Haslam battled to pass Fabrizio and finally managed the task on lap 12 staying in front of Fabrizio, who should have been in third.  He unfortuantley made a small mistake with Smrz taking full advantage of his error and passing to take the final step of the podium.

The battle for fifth was going on behind the front group with the position finally going to Jonathan Rea who snatching out of the hand of Tom Sykes.

Stuart Easton was the replacement rider for the injured Broc Parkes on the Paul Bird Kawasaki but was said to be disappointed with his weekend.  After concern that he hadn’t pushed hard enough in race one, he over did it in race two and lost the front of his machine.

The BMW rider Troy Corser managed two tenth places for his team this weekend despite riding with a broken hand.  Only days earlier new x-rays had shown the fracture which hadn’t previously been noticed, but he rode through the pain barrier to earn points for his team.

Here are the results;

1 4 41 N.HAGA JPN Ducati Xerox Team Ducati 1098R 22 1′38.680 275,0 1′38.202 273,5 20 25 180 1
2 3 91 L. HASLAM GBR Stiggy Racing Honda Honda CBR1000RR 22 2.678 1′39.135 274,3 1′38.072 270,7 16 20 94 3
3 2 96 J. SMRZ CZE Guandalini Racing Ducati 1098R 22 4.603 1′39.104 275,0 1′37.765 275,7 10 16 44 10
4 5 84 M.FABRIZIO ITA Ducati Xerox Team Ducati 1098R 22 8.981 1′38.885 279,3 1′38.215 276,4 7 13 80 4
5 11 65 J. REA GBR HANNspree Ten Kate HondHaonda CBR1000RR 22 12.104 1′39.027 275,7 1′38.510 274,3 9 11 53 9
6 8 66 T. SYKES GBR Yamaha WSB Yamaha YZF R1 22 14.575 1′39.322 276,4 1′38.790 275,0 13 10 70 6
7 7 7 C. CHECA ESP HANNspree Ten Kate HondHaonda CBR1000RR 22 17.449 1′39.152 272,1 1′38.640 273,5 9 40 11
8 14 67 S. BYRNE GBR Sterilgarda Ducati 1098R 22 17.729 1′39.394 272,8 1′38.811 272,1 5 8 39 13
9 6 76 M.NEUKIRCHNER GER Suzuki Alstare BRUX Suzuki GSX-R 1000 K9 22 18.167 1′39.255 274,3 1′38.353 277,1 3 7 75 5
10 15 11 T. CORSER AUS BMW Motorrad Motorsport BMW S1000 RR 22 25.056 1′39.654 270,7 1′38.906 272,1 6 6 35 14
11 20 111 R. XAUS ESP BMW Motorrad Motorsport BMW S1000 RR 22 32.617 1′40.072 269,4 1′39.643 270,7 2 5 24 17
12 9 71 Y. KAGAYAMA JPN Suzuki Alstare BRUX Suzuki GSX-R 1000 K9 22 32.688 1′39.694 274,3 1′38.288 276,4 4 39 12
13 18 24 B. ROBERTS AUS Guandalini Racing Ducati 1098R 22 37.415 1′40.411 268,7 1′39.390 270,0 3 3 22
14 26 15 M.BAIOCCO ITA PSG1-1 Corse Kawasaki ZX 10R 22 55.088 1′40.709 270,7 1′41.062 270,0 2 2 24
15 27 99 L. SCASSA ITA Team Pedercini Kawasaki ZX 10R 22 55.325 1′41.109 266,0 1′41.085 264,0 1 1 26
16 12 55 R. LACONI FRA DFX Corse Ducati 1098R 22 1′18.514 1′39.501 273,5 1′38.521 270,7 8 64 8
17 28 88 R. RESCH AUT TKR Suzuki Switzerland Suzuki GSX-R 1000 K9 22 1′30.780 1′42.468 267,3 1′41.978 265,3
Not Classified
RET 17 33 T. HILL GBR Honda Althea Racing Honda CBR1000RR 20 2 Laps 1′40.510 272,1 1′39.387 270,7 6 20
RET 25 100 M.TAMADA JPN Kawasaki World Superbike RK.aTw. asaki ZX 10R 10 12 Laps 1′40.750 272,1 1′41.057 270,7 2 25
RET 16 9 R. KIYONARI JPN Ten Kate Honda Racing Honda CBR1000RR 7 15 Laps 1′39.413 266,0 1′39.079 276,4 1 33 15
RET 21 94 D. CHECA ESP Yamaha France GMT 94 IpoYnaemaha YZF R1 5 17 Laps 1′40.677 264,0 1′40.496 264,6
RET 22 25 D.SALOM ESP Team Pedercini Kawasaki ZX 10R 5 17 Laps 1′41.840 265,3 1′40.572 269,4
RET 13 31 K. MUGGERIDGE AUS Celani Race Suzuki GSX-R 1000 K9 3 19 Laps 1′39.772 266,6 1′38.802 268,7 4 4 21
RET 23 32 S. EASTON GBR Kawasaki World Superbike RK.aTw. asaki ZX 10R 3 19 Laps 1′40.644 270,0 1′40.608 274,3
RET 1 19 B. SPIES USA Yamaha WSB Yamaha YZF R1 1 21 Laps 272,1 1′37.626 274,3 25 120 2
RET 24 77 V. IANNUZZO ITA Squadra Corse Italia Honda CBR1000RR 1 21 Laps 247,3 1′41.014 267,3
RET 10 3 M.BIAGGI ITA Aprilia Racing Aprilia RSV4 Factory 1 21 Laps 103,2 1′38.441 275,7 11 65 7

Ben Spies

This weekend the World Superbike Championship took place at Qatar with Ben Spies setting a new track record of 1.57.280 to take Superpole.

Spies beat Jakub Smrz by just a tenth of a second to take Superpole with Max Biaggi in third place.  Noriyuki Haga qualified in fourth followed by Tom Sykes in fifth and Shinya Nakano in sixth.

Race 1

Ben Spies on the factory Yamaha took the win in the first of Saturday’s 18 lap race’s ahead of Noriyuki Haga on the Ducati Xerox and Max Biaggi on the Aprilia Racing machine.

As the riders took the first corner, Spies had moved back to fourth place after a terrible start but he played the waiting game taking the three riders ahead of him as the race progressed.

He moved into third place with 14 laps to go passing the Aprilia of Shinya Nakano and then began chasing down the leading pair, first taking Haga and then Biaggi as the Italian run slightly wide of the mark.

As Spies disappeared into the distance, the battle continued with Biaggi and Haga, both fighting for the second step on the podium with Haga finally taking Biaggi with only 2 laps to go.

Nakano finished in fourth place in only his third World Superbike race followed by Hanspree Ten Kate Honda rider Carlos Checa in fifth, Shane Byrne on the Sterilgarda Ducati in sixth and Tom Sykes, team-mate of Spies, in seventh.

Max Neukirchner on the Alstare Suzuki crashed out on lap six after only managing a 19th grid position in Superpole while Jakob Smrz who had gone well all weekend crashed on lap 13 while battling for fourth spot with Nakano.

Here are the results;

1 19 Spies B. (USA) Yamaha YZF R1 36′06.304 (160,93 kph)
2 41 Haga N. (JPN) Ducati 1098R 1.893
3 3 Biaggi M. (ITA) Aprilia RSV4 2.168
4 56 Nakano S. (JPN) Aprilia RSV4 12.061
5 7 Checa C. (ESP) Honda CBR1000RR 12.597
6 67 Byrne S. (GBR) Ducati 1098R 12.971
7 66 Sykes T. (GBR) Yamaha YZF R1 13.570
8 9 Kiyonari R. (JPN) Honda CBR1000RR 19.306
9 11 Corser T. (AUS) BMW S1000 RR 19.388
10 55 Laconi R. (FRA) Ducati 1098R 20.981
11 91 Haslam L. (GBR) Honda CBR1000RR 21.164
12 65 Rea J. (GBR) Honda CBR1000RR 21.994
13 111 Xaus R. (ESP) BMW S1000 RR 22.917
14 23 Parkes B. (AUS) Kawasaki ZX 10R 27.218
15 33 Hill T. (GBR) Honda CBR1000RR 31.602
16 31 Muggeridge K. (AUS) Suzuki GSX-R 1000 K9 33.934
17 99 Scassa L. (ITA) Kawasaki ZX 10R 47.496
18 25 Salom D. (ESP) Kawasaki ZX 10R 47.505
19 15 Baiocco M. (ITA) Kawasaki ZX 10R 59.278
20 77 Iannuzzo V. (ITA) Honda CBR1000RR 59.295
21 24 Roberts B. (AUS) Ducati 1098R 59.338
22 71 Kagayama Y. (JPN) Suzuki GSX-R 1000 K9 1′04.008
RET 86 Badovini A. (ITA) Kawasaki ZX 10R
RET 84 Fabrizio M. (ITA) Ducati 1098R
RET 96 Smrz J. (CZE) Ducati 1098R
RET 76 Neukirchner M. (GER) Suzuki GSX-R 1000 K9
RET 44 Rolfo R. (ITA) Honda CBR1000RR

Race 2

Ben Spies completed his first double win for the Yamaha World Superbike team for 2009 after claiming first place in the second race of the day after he was once again beaten off the line by both Haga and Biaggi.

The rookie AMA Superbike Champion took the win with a gap of 1.2 seconds from second placed man Noriyuki Haga, who was again followed by the Italian Max Biaggi.

Ryuichi Kiyonari on the Ten Kate Honda took fourth place ahead of Britain’s Tom Sykes in fifth.  Max Neukirchner finished in sixth followed by Shinya Nakano in seventh and Jonathan Rea in eighth.

Rea looked set to take a top position after setting a blistering pace early on in the race but by midway he appeared to have lost tyre grip moving him back to eighth.

Tommy Hill suffered with some sort of technical problems in race two which saw him returning to the pits and retiring from the race with 12 laps left to run on the Honda Althea.

Here are the results;

1 19 Spies B. (USA) Yamaha YZF R1 36′02.126 (161,241 kph)
2 41 Haga N. (JPN) Ducati 1098R 1.274
3 3 Biaggi M. (ITA) Aprilia RSV4 1.622
4 9 Kiyonari R. (JPN) Honda CBR1000RR 1.845
5 66 Sykes T. (GBR) Yamaha YZF R1 5.117
6 76 Neukirchner M. (GER) Suzuki GSX-R 1000 K9 9.512
7 56 Nakano S. (JPN) Aprilia RSV4 9.514
8 65 Rea J. (GBR) Honda CBR1000RR 12.621
9 11 Corser T. (AUS) BMW S1000 RR 13.842
10 111 Xaus R. (ESP) BMW S1000 RR 13.884
11 91 Haslam L. (GBR) Honda CBR1000RR 13.888
12 67 Byrne S. (GBR) Ducati 1098R 14.913
13 7 Checa C. (ESP) Honda CBR1000RR 15.762
14 55 Laconi R. (FRA) Ducati 1098R 15.920
15 71 Kagayama Y. (JPN) Suzuki GSX-R 1000 K9 19.565
16 23 Parkes B. (AUS) Kawasaki ZX 10R 21.759
17 96 Smrz J. (CZE) Ducati 1098R 28.523
18 31 Muggeridge K. (AUS) Suzuki GSX-R 1000 K9 40.499
19 24 Roberts B. (AUS) Ducati 1098R 43.761
20 99 Scassa L. (ITA) Kawasaki ZX 10R 44.669
21 77 Iannuzzo V. (ITA) Honda CBR1000RR 48.955
22 15 Baiocco M. (ITA) Kawasaki ZX 10R
RET 44 Rolfo R. (ITA) Honda CBR1000RR
RET 84 Fabrizio M. (ITA) Ducati 1098R
RET 25 Salom D. (ESP) Kawasaki ZX 10R
RET 33 Hill T. (GBR) Honda CBR1000RR
RET 86 Badovini A. (ITA) Kawasaki ZX 10R

Ben Spies – Phillip Island Qualifying

Rookie World Superbike rider Ben Spies, on the YXF R1, claimed the first Superpole of the season today, while smashing the lap record held by Troy Bayliss at the opening round at Phillip Island in Australia for the Yamaha team.

Spies set a time of 1:31.069 in the new style knock-out Superpole followed by Max Biaggi on the Aprilia, his best ever result ahead of the Hanspree Ten Kate Honda rider Jonathan Rea in third and Jakub Smrz for the Ducati Guandalini team completing the front row of the grid.

Xerox Ducati rider Michel Fabrizio starts the second row alongside British rider Leon Haslam on the Stiggy Honda, Carlos Checa on the second Hanspree Ten Kate Honda and Regis Laconi on the Ducati.

The new Superpole formula saw four of the top riders eliminated early in the session.  Troy Corser for the new BMW team was knocked out in the first round alongside Roberto Rolfo on the Stiggy Honda, Ruben Xaus on the second BMW and Tommy Hill for the Hanspree Ten Kate Honda team.

The second elimination session, saw Shinya Nakano on the brand new Aprilia, Ryuichi Kiyonari on the Ten Kate Honda, Yukio Kagayama on the Alstare Suzuki, Tom Sykes on the Yamaha, Noriyuki Haga on the Ducati Xerox, Max Neukirchner for Suzuki Alstare, Shane Byrne on the Sterilgarda Ducati, Broc Parkes on the Kawasaki and Noriyuki Haga on the Ducati Xerox all excluded.

Here are the results;

1 19 Spies B. (USA) Yamaha YZF R1 1′31.069
2 3 Biaggi M. (ITA) Aprilia RSV4 1′31.402
3 65 Rea J. (GBR) Honda CBR1000RR 1′31.596
4 96 Smrz J. (CZE) Ducati 1098R 1′31.600
5 84 Fabrizio M. (ITA) Ducati 1098R 1′31.837
6 91 Haslam L. (GBR) Honda CBR1000RR 1′32.112
7 7 Checa C. (ESP) Honda CBR1000RR 1′32.537
8 55 Laconi R. (FRA) Ducati 1098 RS 09 1′32.649
9 56 Nakano S. (JPN) Aprilia RSV4 1′31.843
10 9 Kiyonari R. (JPN) Honda CBR1000RR 1′31.860
11 71 Kagayama Y. (JPN) Suzuki GSX-R 1000 K9 1′31.867
12 66 Sykes T. (GBR) Yamaha YZF R1 1′31.881
13 41 Haga N. (JPN) Ducati 1098R 1′31.907
14 76 Neukirchner M. (GER) Suzuki GSX-R 1000 K9 1′31.916
15 67 Byrne S. (GBR) Ducati 1098R 1′32.119
16 23 Parkes B. (AUS) Kawasaki ZX 10R 1′32.719
17 11 Corser T. (AUS) BMW S1000 RR 1′32.873
18 44 Rolfo R. (ITA) Honda CBR1000RR 1′32.997
19 111 Xaus R. (ESP) BMW S1000 RR 1′33.152
20 33 Hill T. (GBR) Honda CBR1000RR 1′33.363
21 24 Roberts B. (AUS) Ducati 1098R 1′33.588
22 100 Tamada M. (JPN) Kawasaki ZX 10R 1′33.709
23 86 Badovini A. (ITA) Kawasaki ZX 10R 1′34.174
24 25 Salom D. (ESP) Kawasaki ZX 10R 1′34.194
25 31 Muggeridge K. (AUS) Suzuki GSX-R 1000 K9 1′34.341
26 99 Scassa L. (ITA) Kawasaki ZX 10R 1′34.390
27 77 Iannuzzo V. (ITA) Honda CBR1000RR 1′35.767
28 15 Baiocco M. (ITA) Kawasaki ZX 10R 1′36.363