World Superbikes: Round 11 from Nürburgring
Haga Loses Championship Lead
Noriyuki Haga lost the lead in the World Superbike Championship for the first time this season after scoring 2nd and a DNF at the 2 races at the Nürburgring Sunday in Germany. Haga rode toe to toe in the late stages of the first race with Ben Spies but was unable to pass the American despite a thrilling series of last laps. In the second race Haga was knocked off by ultimate winner Jonathan Rea while leading. Haga now trails Spies by 18 points with 3 round (6 races) to go.
Race 1
Ben Spies notched up his 12th win this year with a thrilling battle to the line with Noriyuki Haga that was a lot closer than the ultimate margin would suggest. Haga looked dejected as he crossed the line surely believing he could have won. Yet the Texan dug deep to put in 2 scorching laps the last times around the flowing Nüburgring circuit to close within 2 points of the championship lead he so sorely covets. Carlos Checa took 3rd whilst Michel Fabrizio was 7th.
Ben Spies 1st:- “It was a good race, I didn’t get a great start and I lost a little bit of time to get past Rea, while Nori got away a little bit and I really had to move to catch him. When I got Nori we passed and re-passed. It was tough because he was extremely fast in the first section. The bike started moving around quite a bit and then with three laps to go it was time to put the hammers down and go.”
Noriyuki Haga 2nd:- “I’m not so happy, I wanted to win and I felt sure I could win that race. I tried to overtake Ben everywhere but in some parts he was quicker than me and in some parts my bike was quicker than his, but I couldn’t get past him, he was a little faster than me so I had to settle for second place. “
Carlos Checa 3rd:- “Yesterday qualifying wasn’t so good but we knew we had a good pace and a good feeling with the bike. I didn’t feel so well this weekend either. My start wasn’t good, but we had the pace during the race. And starting from behind it was fun, a good fight until the end with Johnny. So it’s quite positive and I’m very happy.”
link: World SBK Official Site
Race 1 Results: 1. Spies B. (USA) Yamaha YZF R1 39’04.818 (157,737 kph); 2. Haga N. (JPN) Ducati 1098R 3.850; 3. Checa C. (ESP) Honda CBR1000RR 6.990; 4. Rea J. (GBR) Honda CBR1000RR 7.109; 5. Biaggi M. (ITA) Aprilia RSV4 Factory 12.825; 6. Haslam L. (GBR) Honda CBR1000RR 13.243; 7. Fabrizio M. (ITA) Ducati 1098R 14.223; 8. Corser T. (AUS) BMW S1000 RR 14.382; 9. Sykes T. (GBR) Yamaha YZF R1 17.206; 10. Byrne S. (GBR) Ducati 1098R 26.547; 11. Lagrive M. (FRA) Honda CBR1000RR 27.388; 12. Muggeridge K. (AUS) Suzuki GSX-R 1000 K9 30.968; 13. Smrz J. (CZE) Ducati 1098R 31.069; 14. Kiyonari R. (JPN) Honda CBR1000RR 31.188; 15. Kagayama Y. (JPN) Suzuki GSX-R 1000 K9 40.165; 16. Scassa L. (ITA) Kawasaki ZX 10R 54.897
Race 2
Spies had a poor start and languished in 7th during the opening laps whilst Haga bolted form the front. This time a trio of Honda were on the pace led by the Ten Kate pair of Carlos Checa and Joanthan Rea. Entering the 1st turn in a breaking duel Rea slipped up the inside of Haga as he ran a little wide t-boning the Ducati and knocking Haga to the ground. Nitro Nori was unable to re-start his bike and walked off the track knowing he would score no points in this most crucial of battles.
Spies eventually came good but could not overcome Rea who took his second victory of the season ahead of Spies and Checa again. As a result, Spies moved into first place in the championship, 18 points clear of Haga. Fabrizio is still 3rd with Rea closing up in 4th.
Jonathan Rea 1st:- “I tried to ride my own race and mind my own business. I got a really bad start and had to get a bit aggressive with people in turn 1 because I had to regroup and come from a long way back. I had to put moves down quick, because I really messed up race 1 which was all my fault. We changed nothing in between, my guys sat me down and explained exactly what I had to do to win. I gave it all today, the package was really strong.”
Ben Spies 2nd:- “The track was a lot cooler and it was definitely much quicker. I didn’t get off the line good and a bunch of people came round me in turn 1 and I lost almost two seconds to the lead. I came up to the front but by the time I got there I just didn’t quite have the rear grip to get out of the corners in the last five laps. Johnny was not making any mistakes so hats off to him for winning. It wasn’t my race, but we’ve got the championship lead now.”
Carlos Checa 3rd:- “I did such a really great start I couldn’t believe it! Then I had a fight with Haga and Johnny passed me, he was quite strong. I tried to follow him until the end when I lost some metres. Ben also had some good pace and I saw that it was impossible to keep his pace but anyway third place is a good result for me and the team.”
link: World SBK Official Site
Noriyuki Haga DNF:- “Before the second race, we made a small suspension modification and I had a better feeling with the rear as the race got underway; I think that would have been of benefit if I had reached the final stages of the race, but unfortunately, just I started to push to catch Checa, Rea came up fast on the straight and hit me. There was nothing I could do and I couldn’t restart the bike. I’m angry as it is the second time this has happened; I guess the only consolation is that I’m not hurt.”
link: Ducati Corse Press
Race 2 Results: 1. Rea J. (GBR) Honda CBR1000RR 39’01.561 (157,956 kph); 2. Spies B. (USA) Yamaha YZF R1 0.786; 3. Checa C. (ESP) Honda CBR1000RR 4.993; 4. Biaggi M. (ITA) Aprilia RSV4 Factory 8.191; 5. Haslam L. (GBR) Honda CBR1000RR 10.907; 6. Corser T. (AUS) BMW S1000 RR 17.152; 7. Kiyonari R. (JPN) Honda CBR1000RR 19.473; 8. Sykes T. (GBR) Yamaha YZF R1 19.721; 9. Fabrizio M. (ITA) Ducati 1098R 22.981; 10. Kagayama Y. (JPN) Suzuki GSX-R 1000 K9 24.161; 11. Smrz J. (CZE) Ducati 1098R 29.367; 12. Nieto F. (ESP) Ducati 1098R 30.007; 13. Parkes B. (AUS) Kawasaki ZX 10R 37.281; 14. Scassa L. (ITA) Kawasaki ZX 10R 47.883; 15. Iannuzzo V. (ITA) Honda CBR1000RR 49.549; 16. Baiocco M. (ITA) Ducati 1098R 49.635
Championship Points (after 11 of 14 rounds): 1. Spies 364; 2. Haga 336; 3. Fabrizio 289; 4. Rea 244; 5. Biaggi 224; 6. Haslam 201; 7. Checa 177; 8. Sykes 165; 9. Byrne 140; 10. Smrz 140.
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