World Superbikes: Round 2, Race 2 Results
Spies Does the Double in the Desert
Yamaha Italia’s Ben Spies made it 3 victories in the same number of races as he took victory in the race 2 of the second round of the World Superbike Championship in Losail, Qatar. In taking the double at Losail, Spies moved into 2nd place in the championship, just 10 points behind factory Xerox Ducati rider Noriyuki Haga. Haga battled valiantly to take another 2nd place, no doubt happy to head to Europe leading the championship after competing at 2 circuits he doesn’t traditionally do well at and are not particularly well suited to the desmo twin.
The race start began like race 1, with Biaggi leading Haga off from the flag. Troy Corser blasted the BMW off from the 4th row of the grid into 5th place as Haga took the lead. As they crossed the line for the first time it was Haga, Biaggi, Spies with a much better start for Byrne in 4th with Corser in 5th. On the 3rd lap, Haga set a new lap record and Spies, sensing perhaps that Haga might get away, moved past Biaggi into 2nd place.
Kiyonari moved the Ten Kate Honda into 4th and began to close on the leaders. Although Haga seemed ahead in the infield the superior horsepower of the Yamaha and Aprilia made it easy for Spies and Biaggi to close on the straight and on the 5th lap Spies easily past Haga for the lead. Haga made a little mistake running wide and onto the front straight and Biaggi pounced powering the Aprilia ahead just as Spies set a new lap record. Kiyonari’s bike was certainly fast as he clocked 197mph down the straight just ahead of Spies teammate, Tom Sykes on the second R1 with Corser performing well on the BMW in 6th.
At half distance Haga managed to slip past Biaggi on the brakes into the first turn for 2nd position whilst Spies remained comfortably in the lead. After retiring in the first race, Michel Fabrizio rode back into the pits in this race with the team looking at the rear tire, but he chose to rejoin, obviously now well down the order.
The race became largely processional as Spies did a, well, Bayliss, and took off into the distance. Despite being up to 6 mph (10 km/h) slower down the straight, Haga continued to hold Biaggi off, although both of them were almost 4 seconds behind. Meanwhile, Haga’s teammate returned to the pits and called it a day this time. Spies headed into the last lap comfortably ahead and Biaggi once again put a move on Haga into the first turn. Kiyonari was well placed in third to pick up the pieces if anything untoward were to happen. However Nori wanted 20 points, not 16 and went back around the outside of the Aprilia. So it was a repeat of Race 1, with Spies by 1.2 seconds from Haga and Biaggi ahead of Kiyonari, Sykes and Neukirchner.
Ben Spies showed he was the real deal but Ducatisti should remain confident for the season.
Noriyuki Haga should be happy to have such a great points haul heading into the first of the European rounds. In the first 4 races of last season he finished 13th, 14th, 7th and 8th, making him 9th in the championship standings, in marked contrast to this year where he has a win and 3 seconds to his name and leads the World Championship. Last year after two round he was languishing down in 9th place.
Haga continues to lead the championship on 85 points (for reference Bayliss had 88 points at the same time last season) with Ben Spies 10 points behind in second place. Max Neukirchner is 3rd on 40 points with the other Max (Biaggi) 2 points further behind in 4th. The next round of the championship is Valencia, Spain on April 5th.
Ben Spies (Yamaha World Superbike): “Nori set a really good pace the first few laps. We were lacking just a little in acceleration and it was hard to race with him, but I put my head down and closed up, kept the same rhythm and passed him. It was a better race for me than the first one because I could concentrate on my lines, but it’s going to be hard making up points on him if he keeps finishing second. It was a perfect weekend, they’re not always going to be like that but we’ll take them when we can.”
Noriyuki Haga (Ducati Xerox): “I am really tired but happy for the result in race 2. When Ben passed me, I tried to stay with him but he is very fast. In one second he was going to 100 metres so I could not catch him! We made a good job, and I am leading the championship. Today, for me, Ben is ten years younger than me so that’s why I lose!”
Max Biaggi (Aprilia Racing): “It was a great race, we confirmed our potential and the feeling we have on this track, which has always been good to me. I think the bike works well, we still have to improve but we are very pleased with the result. For sure we know these guys are a little bit quicker, they run hard and deserve what they did, but I am confident to improve during the season and get some good points.”
link: Spies (Yamaha) does Qatar double at Losail :: SBK – Official Site ::
Results: Race 2, Round 2 – Losail, Qatar
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
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