World Superbikes: Round 1, Race 2 Results
Spies Takes 1st Win from Haga who Comfortably Leads the Championship
Series rookie, Ben Spies, made the best possible follow up to his off track excursion in race 1 by winning race 2 in style from factory Xerox Ducati rider Noriyuki Haga. The Texan got a great start to lead the first lap. Although fast starting Haga hunted him down and led for most of the race, Haga’s tires faded with 5 laps to go allowing the Spies through for the win. Leon Haslam (Honda) had a late race charge to take 3rd on the line from Régis Laconi (Ducati) and Michel Fabrizio (Ducati). Shane Byrne crashed out for the second time in 2 races.
Max Biaggi blasted the new Aprilia RSV4 off the line to take the lead into the first turn but Spies was quick to attack and passed him almost immediately. Haga didn’t get as good a start as the first race but nevertheless got himself into 5th as the field shot past the start / finish line for the first time and into the frighteningly fast Doohan corner.
Haga was clearly in a hurry as he set the fastest lap of the race just the second time around moving past his teammate Michel Fabrizio and running up the inside of Biaggi to take second. Nitro Nori closed on Spies but the new Yamaha is clearly not lacking in pace as it could quite easily hold off the 1200cc V-twin in a straight line down the long straight.
On the 6th lap Haga finally made a pass stick, drafting the Yamaha and going around the outside into turn 1. Meanwhile Biaggi, Fabrizio and Leon Haslam were keeping a watching brief as the rest of the field slid back.
For a time, Haga looked like he might do a Troy Bayliss and simply pull away but Spies closed back up and just before half race distance took the lead once again into the first corner. Race pace was slower than might be expected so Troy Corser’s lap record was never in danger. Despite this, Shane Byrne fell again finishing a dismal no points weekend for the Sterilgarda Ducati rider who some commentators believe is a contender for the title this year.
With 10 laps to go, Spies made a small mistake allowing Haga back past. With 4 laps left Spies struck back and was never seriously challenged for the lead again by Haga as the Ducati rider’s rear tire began to suffer from wear. His teammate too, seemed to suffer the same fate dropping from 3rd to 5th over the final laps. Max Biaggi who had been very impressive on the new Aprilia ran wide at Siberia on the very last lap, dropping out of contention for a podium and eventually finishing 15th.
Spies took an impressive first win in only his second attempt, just over a second from Haga with an aggressive Leon Haslam finishing 3rd. Laconi and Fabrizio made it 4th and 5th on their Ducatis. Neither Max Neukirchner nor Yukio Kagayama on their Alstare Suzukis could repeat their race one form finishing 6th and 8th respectively.
Once again the BMW performed best of the new manufacturers, this time in the hands of Ruben Xaus who took 8th place. Max Biaggi scored 15th on the Aprilia RSV4 after running off the track whilst being in contention for a podium position. Tom Sykes brought the second Yamaha Italia machine home in 10th. Ducati riders took 4 positions in the top 10 with Haga 2nd, Laconi 4th, Fabirzio 5th and Smrz 7th.
After the first round Ducati’s Noriyuki Haga leads the championship with 45 points from Max Neukirchner on 30 and Leon Haslam on 26. Spies is 4th with 25 points. The next round of the series is Losail is Qatar in two weeks time. Note that the racing in Qatar will be held on the Satruday.
Ben Spies (Yamaha World Superbike): “The first race was not picture perfect for us. The second one was really tough, we had a couple of goes in the lead and tried to break but couldn’t do it so I sat and watched Nori. We were strong in the first half but really slow in the back two corners and I couldn’t stay with him, then when the tyres went off we just went to the front with four to go and I put my head down. WSB was rough but good in the end, the new R1 was great in the first weekend for the big-bang motor. It’s such a new machine for the team, hopefully we can get more out of it but for sure it’s a front-running bike. WSB is so tight, people don’t understand how many fast riders there are here, and it was really great out there today.”
Noriyuki Haga (Ducati Xerox): “I did a nice start again and then during the race I really enjoyed fighting with Ben. It was hard to pull away from him but in the last five laps my tyres were finished and I couldn’t push anymore and I just kept the second position. I think this weekend we did a good job except for qualifying and now I’m in the lead of the championship.”
Leon Haslam (Stiggy Racing Honda): “It’s a big credit to the team, three months ago they were just building the bike. It’s the first round and we’re already on the podium. There’s been a big effort and we’ve kind of repaid all that effort. There was a bit of argy-bargy with Fabrizio, I had a tyre mark from him from the first lap and later on in the race we had a bit of a tussle but that’s what World Superbike is all about, it’s a fantastic result.”
1 19 Spies B. (USA) Yamaha YZF R1 34’20.457 (170,857 kph)
2 41 Haga N. (JPN) Ducati 1098R 1.286
3 91 Haslam L. (GBR) Honda CBR1000RR 4.213
4 55 Laconi R. (FRA) Ducati 1098 RS 09 4.490
5 84 Fabrizio M. (ITA) Ducati 1098R 6.045
6 76 Neukirchner M. (GER) Suzuki GSX-R 1000 K9 9.947
7 96 Smrz J. (CZE) Ducati 1098R 10.174
8 71 Kagayama Y. (JPN) Suzuki GSX-R 1000 K9 12.100
9 65 Rea J. (GBR) Honda CBR1000RR 12.742
10 66 Sykes T. (GBR) Yamaha YZF R1 20.061
11 111 Xaus R. (ESP) BMW S1000 RR 24.854
12 56 Nakano S. (JPN) Aprilia RSV4 25.192
13 7 Checa C. (ESP) Honda CBR1000RR 27.162
14 33 Hill T. (GBR) Honda CBR1000RR 29.737
15 3 Biaggi M. (ITA) Aprilia RSV4 30.036
16 44 Rolfo R. (ITA) Honda CBR1000RR 38.458
17 100 Tamada M. (JPN) Kawasaki ZX 10R 44.453
18 23 Parkes B. (AUS) Kawasaki ZX 10R 45.486
19 24 Roberts B. (AUS) Ducati 1098R 46.198
20 99 Scassa L. (ITA) Kawasaki ZX 10R 57.921
21 31 Muggeridge K. (AUS) Suzuki GSX-R 1000 K9 57.989
22 11 Corser T. (AUS) BMW S1000 RR 1’00.093
23 9 Kiyonari R. (JPN) Honda CBR1000RR 1’07.820
24 15 Baiocco M. (ITA) Kawasaki ZX 10R 1’21.224
25 25 Salom D. (ESP) Kawasaki ZX 10R 1’21.276
RET 67 Byrne S. (GBR) Ducati 1098R
RET 77 Iannuzzo V. (ITA) Honda CBR1000RR
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