World Superbikes: Round 8, Race 2 Results from San Marino
Talented Brit Jonathan Rea, took his first ever World Superbike win in Race 2 of the 8th round of the 2009 World Superbike Championship held at Misano in the Republic of San Marino today. Rea took the lead early in the race from a surprisingly fast starting Noriyuki Haga given his first race performance and had a breathtaking set of dices with Michel Fabrizio in the closing laps of the race. Haga took 3rd and Ben Spies 9th after clutch problems during the race.
Haga led off from the line with Rea, Fabrizio and Spies in pursuit. Almost immediately it was apparent that Spies had some sort of problem as his pace slowed. Rea passed Haga for the lead and the race became processional for awhile although it was clear there are no team orders in the Xerox Ducati squad as Fabrizio forced his way past his more experienced team-mate.
With 10 laps to go, Fabrizio made his first attempt to take the lead but Rea immediately responded and parried him away. Two laps later hi made it stick and Haga tried the same trick a few turns later ut couldn’t complete the move. A lap later Haga got past Rea making it the factory Ducati’s in 1-2 but by the time the re-play had been shown Rea had taken 2nd place back.
As they started the final lap Rea outbraked Fabrizio into the first turn and although the Ducati nipped at the heels of the Ten Kate Honda for the rest of the lap it was Rea who took his victory in style as Valentino Rossi watched on from the sidelines. Haga was 3rd just 4/10th further back from Smrz having another great race who passed Checa for 4th in the dying moments. Ben Spies crossed the line 9th a cruel counterpunch to his victory in race 1 and losing his traditional cool as he punched the tank in frustration.
Haga was pretty happy to finish on the podium with his injury and at a track he openly dislikes. Nori-san’s 3rd was only the 3rd podium visit in 18 appearances at the circuit. Spies was unlucky once again to have yet another mechanical problem with his bike making his tilt at the title all the more difficult and Fabrizio signalled his intent to take it both to Spies and Haga for the championship overall.
Jonathan Rea: “To win my first race in Italy here is really special for me before my home round next weekend at Donington. As everybody’s aware we switched suspensions, and tried them for the first time on Monday at Magny-Cours and the team all did a marvelous job to get me to win the race here so this is really special for them as well. I got settled into my own rhythm and Michel came past but he couldn’t outbrake me and that spared my bike from doing all the running. I could pass where I wanted to pass and I saved it to the last lap. I’m really over the moon with the win!”
Michel Fabrizio: “In race 2 I didn’t have a perfect feeling with the front and Rea’s Honda accelerated better out of the corners than me. It’s a pity I didn’t win today but two podiums are my best result on this track and knowing that I did my best makes me happy. I’m just a few points behind Spies in the table and maybe I can start thinking about the title now although I realize that to be a serious candidate I have to keep on getting good results and even win a few races”.
Noriyuki Haga: “Race 2 was much better than the first one: I got a good start but then Johnny and Michel passed me and it was hard to keep their pace, maybe because they’re much younger than me! Seriously though we have taken home some good points and that’s important because Misano is not one of my favourite tracks. Now I’m looking forward to racing at Donington where in recent years I’ve always had good results.”
link: Official World Superbike Site
Haga continues to lead the series after 8 rounds with 292 points, 48 ahead of Spies who is 7 ahead of Fabrizio. The race win cements Rea’s 4th ahead of Biaggi in 5th. The next race is Donnington Park in the UK on June 28th which is a favorite of Haga’s. I can’t wait.
World Superbike Results: Race 2 from Misano
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
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