Double triumph for Ducati

From the World Superbike Championship

KYALAMI, SOUTH AFRICA -- Noriyuki Haga and Michel Fabrizio made it a triumphant day for Ducati Xerox in the sixth round of the Hannspree FIM Superbike World Championship at Kyalami on Sunday. On the championship’s return to South Africa for the first time in seven years, 53,000 spectators witnessed two 1-2 wins for the Japanese rider and his Italian team-mate.

It was a day of misfortune once again for Ben Spies (Yamaha World Superbike), who had to retire in race two after claiming a podium in the first encounter. The races also saw Jonathan Rea (Hannspree Ten Kate Honda) take his first WSBK podium, while Max Biaggi and Shinya Nakano gave Aprilia an overall good result with two fifths and two sevenths respectively.

Haga clinched his fifth win this year with a commanding performance in race one. After two days in the shadows, the points leader came good in the race and from the mid-point onwards ran towards the chequered flag with ease.

“On Friday and Saturday we had quite a big problem but we tried to fix the suspension and couldn’t find a solution," Haga said. "This morning we found a little better feeling but it was not perfect. My feeling was that it would be difficult to win, but in the end I am very satisfied with the victory. During the race my arm was not giving any problems, only my leg! On the last lap I saw a small bird, it looked like a pigeon and I was a bit worried because I didn’t want to see any birds here!”

Fabrizio and Spies had to settle for the other two podium slots, in that order, after a mid-race battle that was decided when the American made a slight mistake, his foot slipping off the pegs.

“We were kind of struggling to hang in there," the Texan explained. "It was a good race for all three of us and we were all three together. I passed Michel and had bit of a go to get past Nori but made a mistake and had to settle for third. We were really strong in a couple of points of the track, but giving away too much time in a couple of corners, and I couldn’t get up there with them.”

Rea and Biaggi had quite a scrap for fourth place, with the British rider getting the nod over the Italian. Biaggi once again showed he had the speed and the pace to fight for the podium, but he lost contact with the leading trio when he got stuck behind Carlos Checa (Hannspree Ten Kate Honda) for a couple of laps, the Spaniard eventually finishing sixth overall.

Nakano took the second Aprilia to seventh ahead of Yukio Kagayama (Suzuki Alstare), while BMW had a difficult race, with Ruben Xaus crashing out and Steve Martin the final finisher.

Haga led home Fabrizio to the flag in race two, giving the Ducati Xerox team a perfect weekend. This time round the Japanese rider led for 23 of the 24 laps and he has now pulled out a large lead in the points table. Fabrizio was again the man on his tail, the Italian livening up proceedings on the final lap with a couple of passes on his team-mate, but twice Haga came back to clinch his sixth win of the season.

“We get some good points this weekend and I really enjoyed battling with Michel in the second race," Haga said. "We changed a little bit the setting from the first race and that feeling was a bit better, but at some point it got worse. On the last lap I saw Michel do harder braking than me, and of course I took the wrong line but I was able to open the gas and get to the line first.”

Lap three saw the demise of Spies, whose R1 machine entered the pits with a gearshift problem. The Texan has now been overtaken in the championship by Fabrizio and is 88 points behind Haga.

Rea scored his first WSBK podium, the youngster from Northern Ireland ending a positive weekend in third. Rea calmly held off the pressure from fellow Brit Leon Haslam (Stiggy Racing Honda), who had crashed out of race one but who in turn managed to keep Biaggi at bay. The Italian RSV4 machine again showed no lack of top speed, Biaggi clocking 255 km/h in the race.

Nakano picked up another seventh on the second Aprilia, behind Checa and ahead of Kagayama. A ninth place for Yamaha was earned by Tom Sykes, while South African Sheridan Morais took the leading Kawasaki to 11th place in front of his home crowd.

BMW had a another race to forget, with no points recorded by either Xaus or Martin. 

Eugene Laverty stormed to a third World Supersport win of the year at Kyalami after a dominating performance on his Parkalgar Honda machine. The Irishman pulled out a commanding four-second lead in the early laps and from that moment on could administer his advantage until the flag.

With this win, Laverty managed to gain five points in the championship battle on Cal Crutchlow (Yamaha World Supersport), whose lead has been cut to 13 points. Crutchlow was held up by a six-rider battle in the early laps and was unable to latch onto Laverty, then when he finally broke through he had to settle for second as the two were lapping at the same pace in the final laps.

The battle for the final podium place produced a real surprise, as Kenan Sofuoglu (Hannspree Ten Kate Honda) and Joan Lascorz (Kawasaki Motocard.com), scrapping for third, obstructed each other at the final corner and were edged out by Mark Aitchison (Honda Althea), who got on to the Supersport podium for the first time.

Superbike Race One Results
1. Haga N. (JPN) Ducati 1098R 39:47.436 (153.66 km/h)
2. Fabrizio M. (ITA) Ducati 1098R +0.950
3. Spies B. (USA) Yamaha YZF-R1 +3.391
4. Rea J. (GBR) Honda CBR1000RR +8.914
5. Biaggi M. (ITA) Aprilia RSV4 Factory +9.019
6. Checa C. (ESP) Honda CBR1000RR +14.812
7. Nakano S. (JPN) Aprilia RSV4 Factory +14.971
8. Kagayama Y. (JPN) Suzuki GSX-R1000 +15.723
9. Byrne S. (GBR) Ducati 1098R +21.529
10. Sykes T. (GBR) Yamaha YZF-R1 +21.795
11. Lavilla G. (ESP) Ducati 1098R +29.872
12. Kiyonari R. (JPN) Honda CBR1000RR +34.216
13. Morais S. (RSA) Kawasaki ZX-10R +34.275
14. Smrz J. (CZE) Ducati 1098R +38.280
15. Parkes B. (AUS) Kawasaki ZX-10R +40.885
16. Nieto F. (ESP) Suzuki GSX-R1000 +44.841

Superbike Race Two Results
1. Haga N. (JPN) Ducati 1098R 39:45.027 (153.816 km/h)
2. Fabrizio M. (ITA) Ducati 1098R +0.322
3. Rea J. (GBR) Honda CBR1000RR +8.936
4. Haslam L. (GBR) Honda CBR1000RR +10.561
5. Biaggi M. (ITA) Aprilia RSV4 Factory +10.767
6. Checa C. (ESP) Honda CBR1000RR +12.413
7. Nakano S. (JPN) Aprilia RSV4 Factory +12.616
8. Kagayama Y. (JPN) Suzuki GSX-R1000 +14.878
9. Sykes T. (GBR) Yamaha YZF-R1 +16.225
10. Smrz J. (CZE) Ducati 1098R +18.197
11. Morais S. (RSA) Kawasaki ZX-10R +20.629
12. Lavilla G. (ESP) Ducati 1098R +24.320
13. Kiyonari R. (JPN) Honda CBR1000RR +24.564
14. Parkes B. (AUS) Kawasaki ZX-10R +38.747
15. Nieto F. (ESP) Suzuki GSX-R1000 +50.045
16. Salom D. (ESP) Kawasaki ZX-10R +57.999

World Superbike Points (after 6 of 14 rounds)
1. Haga 250
2. Fabrizio 165
3. Spies 162
4. Haslam 116
5. Rea 106
6. Biaggi 103
7. Sykes 103
8. Laconi 77
9. Neukirchner 75
10. Checa 73