Makoto Tamada – TT Assen 2009

Makoto Tamada, the Kawasaki Superbike Racing Team rider, was back on the grid at the Brno round of the World Superbike Championship after recovering from hand and finger injuries received at Monza.

Tamada was involved in the carnage that took place in race one at the first corner of the Monza circuit, bringing out the red flag.  The Kawasaki rider ran into the back of the Guandanlini Ducati of Brendan Roberts, sending him sliding across the track and into the path of Max Neukirchner on the Suzuki Alstare, who suffered a badly broken leg.

The Japanese rider was thought to have suffered a broken wrist in the accident, but on further investigation it was found that he had also fractured two fingers.  The fingers had wire inserted into them to stabilise the fractures, and giving them a chance to heal, putting Tamada out of action for two months.

Brno, saw the return of the Paul Bird Team rider, who put on an impressive performance seeing him finish in tenth place in race one after starting from eleventh on the grid.  During the race he had ridden has high as sixth, battling with Leon Haslam, Noriyuki Haga and Jakub Smrz for position but after suffering  tyre grip problems, he dropped back down to tenth as the chequered flag was waved.

In the second race, Tamada had a coming-together with the Ducati of  DFX Corse rider Lorenzo Lanzi, sustaining a broken middle finger, a repeat of the injury from Monza.

Tamada will now have a race against fitness as he signed-up as a wild-card rider alongside his team-mate Broc Parkes at the next round of the British Superbike Championship in two-weeks time at Brands Hatch.

Jakub Smrz – Guandalini Racing – Assen 2009

The World Superbike team Guandalini Racing, have announced that they will be racing with only one rider at the coming round of the championship at Brno, Jakub Smrz.

The latest victim of the economic crisis as well as waiting for payments from their sponsor, has seen the team having to scale down their operation.  However, the rumours have been doing the rounds for a while that the Australian rider Brendan Roberts would be ousted from the team.

Roberts suffered an horrific crash at the first corner of the Monza round, when Makoto Tamada ran into the back of him, forcing his Ducati into Max Neukirchner.

It looked likely that the replacement rider Gregorio Lavilla, would be riding until the end of the season after several rides for the team, but sadly not.

Smrz, who is currently standing eighth in the championship, will be riding in front of his home crowd in Brno but admitted it isn’t his favourite circuit.

The Guandalini team confirmed that Smrz will be remaining with them for the 2010 season and issued the following statement;

“Following the results obtained over the course of the season with Jakub Smrz, Guandalini Racing will exercise its option to renew their contract him for the 2010 season.”

Smrz claimed his first pole position at Misano this season, much too every one’s amazement and also took his place on the podium at Assen, a first for him and the Guandalini team.

Noriyuki Haga – Ducati Xerox Team 2009

The next round of the World Superbike Championship takes place at Brno in the Czech Republic on the 26th July, and some of the top riders are set to return after suffering injuries in earlier rounds.

The Xerox Ducati ride Noiryuki Haga, is expected to be on the starting grid after his crash in race 2 at the Donington circuit.  He suffered a fracture to his right arm and cracks to his left scapula and spent the next three days in hospital before returning to his home in Milan.

Haga is leading the Championship ahead of Yamaha World Superbike rider Ben Spies, but by a mere 14 points and is eager to get back on his bike and battle with the American.

Suzuki Alstare rider Max Neukirchner, and Kawasaki Superbike Racing Team rider Makoto Tamada were both injured during the same accident at Monza in April, but are now ready to return to work at Brno.

Neukirchner suffered a broken right femur, a double fracture to the fibula and dislocated his foot.  He had to endure a six-hour operation to have a pin inserted into his right thigh while the fibula was left to heal naturally.  The operation was a success and the German rider eventually returned to his home in the back of a camper-van, propped-up by cushions as he was advised not to fly.

Makoto Tamada received a broken wrist in the carnage at the first corner at Monza, after hitting the back of the Brendan Roberts Guandalini Ducati. After further examinations in Japan, Tamada was also found to have fractures in two of his fingers and had to have a wire inserted to stabilise the fractures.  The Japanese rider is now fully recovered from his injuries and is also eager to get back on the grid.

Brendan Roberts – Guandalini Racing 2009

Gregorio Lavilla will be continuing his ride with the Guandalini Ducati team after it was decided that Brendan Roberts is not back to 100% fitness and will sit out the next two rounds.

The Australian suffered injuries at the Monza circuit when he was hit from behind on the first corner of the first lap, which then pushed his bike into the back of  Max Neukirchner wiping him out with a broken leg.

Roberts main problem is a torn quad muscle which is refusing to heal, leaving the rider struggling to walk.   He has been told that if the injury does not heal itself soon he may have to undergo surgery to correct the problem.

Lavilla will once again be on the grid at Misano and Donington before the team decide, in July, if Roberts is fit to return to work.

Gregorio Lavilla

Veteran World Superbike rider Gregorio Lavilla, is to replace Brendan Roberts of the Guandalini team at the next round in Kyalami this weekend.

The Australian, was knocked-out in his last outing at Monza and although he only suffered cuts and bruises, his team do not want to take any chances and have instead drafted in the Italian to ride.

It is the first time that the riders have raced at the South African circuit, situated on the edge of Johannesburg, since 2002.

Troy Corser is another rider being replaced at this round after suffering two horrific crashes at Monza, and will be resting in preparation for the next race, meanwhile Steve Martin, the teams test rider will be on the BMW machine.

Max Neukirchner will of course not be taking part in France after his terrible accident at the Italian round last week where he suffered a broken leg and a dislocated foot .  It is rumoured that the German will be out of the championship for at least the next two months and it has been confirmed that he will be replaced by Fonsi Nieto until he is fit to return.

Sheridan Morais, is riding in place of Makoto Tamada, another rider injured in Monza in that first corner carnage, who suffered a fractured wrist.  The South African champion was to ride as a wild-card in the Supersport series this weekend but has now struck a deal with the Kawasaki team.

Michel Fabrizio

Last weekend, round 5 of the World Superbike Championship took place at Monza in Italy with Michel Fabrizio claiming his debut win of the season in race 1.

Race One

A huge crash brought out the red flag at the first corner in race one as Makoto Tamada on the Paul Bird Kawasaki touched the back of Brendan Roberts Guandalini Ducati.  As Tamada went down, the Guandalini machine and rider went onto the grass before sliding across the track, wiping out Max Neukirchner on the Suzuki Alstare.

Behind this, Tommy Hill on the Hannspree Ten Kate Honda and Troy Corser on the BMW had a coming together with Hill’s bike seen flying up into the air before coming down again in flames.

Neukirchner was taken to hospital with a broken femur and dislocated right foot while Tamada suffered a broken wrist.  Roberts was also taken to hospital as a precaution where he had x-rays taken but was diagnosed with heavy bruising .

Neukirchner has since undergone a six-hour operation to repair the broken bone in his right leg and remains in hospital.

Corser was winded in the carnage on track but eventually made it back to the grid for the restart only to be caught up in a further incident in the restart.  It was decided that he would take no further part in the weekends racing to give his body time to recover.

At the restart, Noriyuki Haga on the Ducati Xerox machine took the lead but by the first corner it was his team-mate Michel Fabrizio that was in front.

Second Ducati rider Ben Spies was in third ahead of Max Biaggi on the Aprilia RSV4 and Yukio Kagayama on the Suzuki Alstare.

On lap 4, Fabizio ran wide allowing Spies and Kagayama through with Spies also passing Haga as he got in his slipstream.  Fabrizio soon re-passed his team-mate with 10 laps still to run and setting a new lap record.

As Fabrizio and Haga continued to race, even making contact in their attempts before Fabrizio passed Spies with three laps remaining, even managing a little wave.  However, a lap later Fabrizio ran wide as he approached turn one, letting Spies and Haga in front.

On the penultimate lap, Fabrizio once again passed Haga as Spies pulled over to the side of the track as he ran out of fuel, finally finishing in fifteenth place.

Here are the results;
1 2 84 M.FABRIZIO ITA Ducati Xerox Team Ducati 1098R 18 1′45.336 322,6 1′44.270 319,4 25 105 3
2 5 41 N.HAGA JPN Ducati Xerox Team Ducati 1098R 18 0.239 1′45.522 319,4 1′45.096 311,2 20 200 1
3 3 9 R. KIYONARI JPN Ten Kate Honda Racing Honda CBR1000RR 18 8.175 1′45.671 318,3 1′44.642 318,3 16 49 11
4 8 71 Y. KAGAYAMA JPN Suzuki Alstare BRUX Suzuki GSX-R 1000 K9 18 11.001 1′46.244 321,5 1′45.861 323,6 13 52 10
5 6 65 J. REA GBR HANNspree Ten Kate HondHaonda CBR1000RR 18 12.447 1′45.884 319,4 1′45.170 318,3 11 64 9
6 10 66 T. SYKES GBR Yamaha WSB Yamaha YZF R1 18 13.693 1′46.006 319,4 1′45.383 317,3 10 80 5
7 14 111 R. XAUS ESP BMW Motorrad Motorsport BMW S1000 RR 18 19.172 1′46.363 323,6 1′46.571 316,3 9 33 16
8 12 55 R. LACONI FRA DFX Corse Ducati 1098R 18 24.989 1′46.885 314,2 1′45.663 315,2 8 72 7
9 9 7 C. CHECA ESP HANNspree Ten Kate HondHaonda CBR1000RR 18 26.930 1′46.339 318,3 1′45.166 323,6 7 47 13
10 13 23 B. PARKES AUS Kawasaki World Superbike RK.aTw. asaki ZX 10R 18 27.418 1′46.657 315,2 1′46.368 322,6 6 14 18
11P 7 3 M.BIAGGI ITA Aprilia Racing Aprilia RSV4 Factory 18 27.752 1′46.073 320,4 1′45.605 325,8 5 70 8
12 20 96 J. SMRZ CZE Guandalini Racing Ducati 1098R 18 29.545 1′46.433 321,5 1′46.522 316,3 4 48 12
13 16 56 S. NAKANO JPN Aprilia Racing Aprilia RSV4 Factory 18 30.952 1′47.117 314,2 1′46.928 316,3 3 30 17
14 15 67 S. BYRNE GBR Sterilgarda Ducati 1098R 18 31.414 1′47.113 316,3 1′46.593 316,3 2 41 14
15 1 19 B. SPIES USA Yamaha WSB Yamaha YZF R1 18 36.998 1′45.446 318,3 1′44.073 316,3 1 121 2
16 19 31 K. MUGGERIDGE AUS Celani Race Suzuki GSX-R 1000 K9 18 42.732 1′47.005 310,2 1′46.407 308,2 4 21
17 24 15 M.BAIOCCO ITA PSG-1 Corse Kawasaki ZX 10R 18 48.835 1′47.805 311,2 1′47.220 311,2 2 24
18 25 98 J. ZEMKE USA Stiggy Racing Honda Honda CBR1000RR 18 48.888 1′47.899 306,3 1′47.751 310,2
19 27 25 D.SALOM ESP Team Pedercini Kawasaki ZX 10R 18 50.612 1′47.904 308,2 1′47.963 312,2
20 21 33 T. HILL GBR Honda Althea Racing Honda CBR1000RR 18 51.706 1′47.939 313,2 1′47.032 314,2 6 20
21 28 77 V. IANNUZZO ITA Squadra Corse Italia Honda CBR1000RR 18 55.510 1′48.043 312,2 1′48.063 318,3
22 26 94 D. CHECA ESP Yamaha France GMT 94 IpoYnaemaha YZF R1 18 58.214 1′47.135 305,3 1′47.868 309,2
23 18 99 L. SCASSA ITA Team Pedercini Kawasaki ZX 10R 18 1′01.130 1′46.730 310,2 1′46.372 310,2 1 26
24 29 88 R. RESCH AUT TKR Suzuki Switzerland Suzuki GSX-R 1000 K9 18 1′16.850 1′48.904 306,3 1′48.810 302,5

Not Classified
RET 17 91 L. HASLAM GBR Stiggy Racing Honda Honda CBR1000RR 17 1 Lap 1′46.406 315,2 1′46.250 315,2 94 4
RET 11 11 T. CORSER AUS BMW Motorrad Motorsport BMW S1000 RR 0 1′45.543 318,3 35 15

Race Two

Ben Spies took the victory in the second race of the weekend almost 2 seconds ahead of race one winner Michel Fabrizio and Ryuichi Kiyonari on the Ten Kate Honda in third.

Noriyuki Haga was hit by a bird at the beginning of the race seeing him go down at the Parabolica and suffering  muscle laceration and a badly bruised right arm.

As Spies led the field of riders followed by Fabrizio, Kagayama and Rea, Kiyonari began to close in on the four front runners.  Kiyonari passed his team-mate Jonathan Rea while Kagayama was given a ride-through penalty.

Max Biaggi on the Apilia finally got past Britain’s Tom Sykes on the Yamaha World Superbike after the pair battled for that fifth position with Leon Haslam in seventh, despite starting in seventeenth on the grid.

It has since been announced that Troy Corser will now be replace at the next round of the WSB Championship in Kyalami by Steve Martin.  The team decided that after Corser’s double crash at Monza, it would be better to give his battered and bruised body time to recuperate fully ready for the Miller Motorsport Park race at the end of May.

It has also been revealed that Fonsi Nieto will be the replacement rider in South Africa for the injured Suzuki rider Max Neukirchner.

Here are the results:

1 1 19 B. SPIES USA Yamaha WSB Yamaha YZF R1 18 1′45.344 314,2 1′44.073 316,3 1 25 146 2
2 2 84 M.FABRIZIO ITA Ducati Xerox Team Ducati 1098R 18 2.665 1′45.527 320,4 1′44.270 319,4 25 20 125 3
3 3 9 R. KIYONARI JPN Ten Kate Honda Racing Honda CBR1000RR 18 2.810 1′45.532 318,3 1′44.642 318,3 16 16 65 10
4 6 65 J. REA GBR HANNspree Ten Kate HondHaonda CBR1000RR 18 7.706 1′45.876 320,4 1′45.170 318,3 11 13 77 8
5 7 3 M.BIAGGI ITA Aprilia Racing Aprilia RSV4 Factory 18 7.863 1′45.791 325,8 1′45.605 325,8 5 11 81 6
6 10 66 T. SYKES GBR Yamaha WSB Yamaha YZF R1 18 10.383 1′46.036 318,3 1′45.383 317,3 10 10 90 5
7 17 91 L. HASLAM GBR Stiggy Racing Honda Honda CBR1000RR 18 11.586 1′45.602 315,2 1′46.250 315,2 9 103 4
8 20 96 J. SMRZ CZE Guandalini Racing Ducati 1098R 18 21.112 1′46.336 322,6 1′46.522 316,3 4 8 56 11
9 14 111 R. XAUS ESP BMW Motorrad Motorsport BMW S1000 RR 18 22.112 1′46.517 317,3 1′46.571 316,3 9 7 40 15
10 9 7 C. CHECA ESP HANNspree Ten Kate HondHaonda CBR1000RR 18 22.261 1′46.395 321,5 1′45.166 323,6 7 6 53 12
11 12 55 R. LACONI FRA DFX Corse Ducati 1098R 18 23.453 1′46.632 312,2 1′45.663 315,2 8 5 77 7
12 16 56 S. NAKANO JPN Aprilia Racing Aprilia RSV4 Factory 18 32.956 1′46.792 316,3 1′46.928 316,3 3 4 34 17
13 13 23 B. PARKES AUS Kawasaki World Superbike RK.aTw. asaki ZX 10R 18 37.166 1′46.504 318,3 1′46.368 322,6 6 3 17 18
14 18 99 L. SCASSA ITA Team Pedercini Kawasaki ZX 10R 18 43.085 1′47.236 315,2 1′46.372 310,2 2 3 24
15 24 15 M.BAIOCCO ITA PSG-1 Corse Kawasaki ZX 10R 18 43.088 1′47.445 314,2 1′47.220 311,2 1 3 25
16 21 33 T. HILL GBR Honda Althea Racing Honda CBR1000RR 18 43.825 1′47.538 314,2 1′47.032 314,2 6 20
17 8 71 Y. KAGAYAMA JPN Suzuki Alstare BRUX Suzuki GSX-R 1000 K9 18 53.211 1′45.913 321,5 1′45.861 323,6 13 52 13
18P 15 67 S. BYRNE GBR Sterilgarda Ducati 1098R 18 1′00.917 1′46.721 315,2 1′46.593 316,3 2 41 14
19 26 94 D. CHECA ESP Yamaha France GMT 94 IpoYnaemaha YZF R1 18 1′17.915 1′46.967 307,3 1′47.868 309,2
20 25 98 J. ZEMKE USA Stiggy Racing Honda Honda CBR1000RR 18 1′28.545 1′48.319 306,3 1′47.751 310,2
21 27 25 D.SALOM ESP Team Pedercini Kawasaki ZX 10R 18 1′29.016 1′48.348 312,2 1′47.963 312,2

Not Classified
RET 29 88 R. RESCH AUT TKR Suzuki Switzerland Suzuki GSX-R 1000 K9 17 1 Lap 1′48.072 307,3 1′48.810 302,5
RET 28 77 V. IANNUZZO ITA Squadra Corse Italia Honda CBR1000RR 5 13 Laps 1′47.485 295,1 1′48.063 318,3
RET 19 31 K. MUGGERIDGE AUS Celani Race Suzuki GSX-R 1000 K9 3 15 Laps 1′47.727 310,2 1′46.407 308,2 4 21
RET 5 41 N.HAGA JPN Ducati Xerox Team Ducati 1098R 2 16 Laps 1′47.858 296,0 1′45.096 311,2 20 200 1
NS 11 11 T. CORSER AUS BMW Motorrad Motorsport BMW S1000 RR 1′45.543 318,3 35 16

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