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

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

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

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

Noriyuki Haga 2009

This weekend the World Superbike series heads to Europe for the third round of the championship in Valencia at the Ricardo Tormo circuit.

The Ducati Xerox rider Noriyuki Haga is currently leading the championship after a win and three second places in the first two rounds in Australia and Qatar.  However, this year he has Ben Spies to contend with on the Yamaha World Superbike who has so far won three out of the four races he has taken part in.

Jonathan Rea on the Ten Kate Honda feels confident of a podium finish in Valencia and believes that the tyre problems should improve at the European track.

The Sterilgarda Ducati rider Shane ‘Shakey’ Byrne is hoping to return to the domination he showed in testing after not finishing in either of the races in Australia.  In Qatar Byrne showed his potential finishing inside the top six during race one and also has the advantage of knowing the circuit inside out.

The Japanese rider Makoto Tamada is set to return after missing the last round in Qatar while recovering from injuries he received just before the start of the races.  Although he did break a toe in the accident he hadn’t broken his pelvis which was suspected at the time and is fit enough to get back on the Kawasaki.

Max Neukirchner will be hoping for a good race this weekend for the Suzuki Alstare team after his horrendous crash at the circuit last season.  In the first race, he was in sight of his first ever Superbike win when he was collected by Carlos Checa on the final corner resulting in a smashed bike and a broken collarbone.

The Stiggy Racing Honda team recently had a one day test in Almeria with new parts on the bike and both riders Leon Haslam and John Hopkins are confident of a better race in Valencia after the progress the have made.

Hopkins makes his debut for the team at this round after seven seasons in MotoGP and is aiming for wins.  He was left without a ride in the MotoGP this season after the Kawasaki team withdrew from the series before be signed by the Stiggy team in the WSB Championship.

Max Biaggi on the Aprilia has shown what he is capable of and it’s good to see him back on form, the Italian can still show some impressive riding, given the right machine, and is still a contender for the number one spot.

At their home circuit are the riders Carlos Checa on the Hanspree Ten Kate Honda and fellow Spaniard Ruben Xaus on the BMW, both know the circuit well but neither have shown any threat in the first two rounds.

The first two rounds have so far been dominated by Haga and Spies, will it be the same in Europe?  I think that’s very likely.

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.

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.