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.

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

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.

Ben Spies

Ben Spies, was yet again the man on a mission after dominating the two races at the Miller Motorsport Park circuit on Sunday.

Race One

The Sterilgarda Yamaha rider Ben Spies set the pole position record in qualifying on Saturday, his seventh consecutive pole position.

The first race was stopped on lap 7 after the Celani Race Suzuki rider Karl Muggeridge crashed out and was left lying in the middle of the circuit, bringing out the red flag.  He eventually walked away and suffered only bruising.

At the restart the Ten Kate Honda rider Ryuichi Kiyonari beat Spies into the first corner but only held it until turn three when Spies took the lead.

Spies disappeared into the distance and finished the race nearly 10 seconds ahead of the rest of the field on a race was being run on aggregate times.

The Hanspree Ten Kate Honda rider Carlos Checa finished in second place followed by Ducati Xerox rider Michel Fabrizio in third.

Ryuichi Kiyonari finished in fourth place ahead of Jonathan Rea on the second Hanspree Ten Kate Honda and Max Biaggi on the Aprilia Racing machine.

Noriyuki Haga, who is currently leading the championship, had a huge crash during practice and suffered a bruised back, seeing him finish the first race back in ninth place.

Tom Sykes, team-mate of Spies, was still struggling with his machines set-up and managed only a thirteenth place in the first race.

Hanspree Honda Althea rider Tommy Hill, didn’t make the starting grid after an accident in the second qualifying session on Saturday entering  ‘Attitude’ corners.  The British rider was soon back at the circuit after being checked over at the hospital but the team decided it would be better for Hill to rest after suffering bad bruising and taking a hit to the head.

Here are the results;

1. Ben Spies USA Yamaha WSB YZF R1 21 laps
2. Carlos Checa ESP HANNspree Ten Kate Honda CBR1000RR +9.394s
3. Michel Fabrizio ITA Ducati Xerox 1098R +12.742s
4. Ryuichi Kiyonari JPN Ten Kate Honda CBR1000RR +14.278s
5. Jonathan Rea GBR HANNspree Ten Kate Honda CBR1000RR +14.915s
6. Max Biaggi ITA Aprilia Racing RSV-4 +15.461s
7. Jamie Hacking USA Kawasaki SRT ZX-10R +22.901s
8. Jakub Smrz CZE Guandalini Racing Ducati 1098R +25.425s
9. Noriyuki Haga JPN Ducati Xerox 1098R +25.870s
10. Leon Haslam GBR Stiggy Motorsport Honda CBR1000RR +26.093s
11. Shane Byrne GBR Sterilgarda Ducati 1098R +28.181s
12. Yukio Kagayama JPN Alstare Suzuki GSX-R 1000K9 +29.275s
13. Tom Sykes GBR Yamaha WSB YZF R1 +38.365s
14. Gregorio Lavilla ESP Guandalini Racing Ducati 1098R +39.454s
15. Troy Corser AUS BMW Motorrad S1000RR +39.513s

DNS. Tommy Hill GBR HANNspree Althea Honda CBR1000RR

Race Two

The second race was merely a repeat of the first with Spies yet again taking the win after leading from the first corner.

Fabrizio followed in second place after an excellent start ahead of Jonathan Rea who took the final step of the podium.

Spanish rider Carlos Checa crashed out on lap 4 after clipping the kerb on entering the ‘Attitude’ chicane while running in third position, ending his race.

Luca Scassa high sided off his Team Pedercini machine after he was clipped by Jamie Hacking on the Kawasaki bike.   Hacking who was using his second bike and battling for thirteenth place when he was hit by Hacking, the replacement rider for the injured Makoto Tamada, at high speed and suffered a broken metatarsus of his left foot.

Leon Haslam had a disappointing weekend after a tenth place in the first race and a DNF in race two.  Haslam on the Stiggy Motorsport Honda had qualified in twelveth on the grid for the second race, before working his way up to fourth and then third as he briefly passed Rea.  Rea took back the position as he got into the slip stream of the Stiggy on the long straight, but before long Haslam was once again on his tail, desperate for that final podium position.  As he lined up Rea on the final lap, Haslam clipped a kerb at the problematic ‘Attitude’ chicane and down he went, ending his chances.

Here are the results;

1. Ben Spies USA Yamaha WSB YZF R1 21 laps
2. Michel Fabrizio ITA Ducati Xerox 1098R +9.080s
3. Jonathan Rea GBR HANNspree Ten Kate Honda CBR1000RR +14.357s
4. Max Biaggi ITA Aprilia Racing RSV-4 +15.636s
5. Ryuichi Kiyonari JPN Ten Kate Honda CBR1000RR +17.156s
6. Jakub Smrz CZE Guandalini Racing Ducati 1098R +17.545s
7. Shinya Nakano JPN Aprilia Racing RSV-4 +19.659s
8. Noriyuki Haga JPN Ducati Xerox 1098R +23.456s
9. Tom Sykes GBR Yamaha WSB YZF R1 +30.489s
10. Shane Byrne GBR Sterilgarda Ducati 1098R +31.775s
11. Broc Parkes AUS Kawasaki SRT ZX-0R +33.246s
12. Yukio Kagayama JPN Alstare Suzuki GSX-R 1000K9 +36.758s
13. Fonsi Nieto ESP Alstare Suzuki GSX-R 1000K9 +36.857s
14. Lorenzo Lanzi ITA DFX Corse Ducati 1098R +37.290s
15. Jake Zemke USA Stiggy Motorsport Honda CBR1000RR +42.639s

DNS Karl Muggeridge AUS Celani Suzuki GSX-R1000
DNS. Tommy Hill GBR HANNspree Althea Honda CBR1000RR

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

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.

Gregorio Lavilla

The former British Superbike rider Gregorio Lavilla, has been released from his Pro-Ride Honda contract before he’s even started a race.

The Pro-Ride Honda team were left with problems after a major sponsor withdrew their backing at the last-minute and with no further sponsorship in the pipe line they were forced to withdraw from the first two races of the season due to a lack of finances.

The Honda team have now decided to to enter just the three Italian rounds of the championship at Monza, Misano and Imola and some of the European rounds with the riders David Checa and Roland Resch.

This had left Lavilla without a ride for this season but now that the contract has ended he is free to seek a ride with other teams and if rumours are to be true, he could be riding for the Sterilgarda Ducati team alongside Shane Byrne.

Gregorio Lavilla returns to the World Superbike series after five years, four of which were in the British Superbikes, where he claimed the title in 2005.  All Lavilla needs to do is to secure some sponsorship to take with him to the team and the ride is likely to be his.

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

Gregorio Lavilla - Pro-Ride Honda

The boss of the Pro-ride Honda team has said that the they will be on the grid for their first round of the World Superbike Championship in Valencia on April 5th.

Amid rumours that the team are in financial difficulty, Marco Nicotari stated that they had the same economic problems that everyone else was suffering with and that it would not make economic sense to go to the Phillip Island or the Qatar round.

On November 9th 2008, the Spanish rider Gregorio Lavilla signed for the Pro-Ride Honda team and will be aboard the CBR 1000RR in Spain for their first race.

Lavilla moved to the World Superbike Championship in 2008 where he reached for the Paul Bird team Ventaxia VK Honda, where he scored points in all but two rounds of the season, unfortunately the team were never at the front of the running.