Sweet sweep for Spies

From the World Superbike Championship

TOOELE, UTAH -- Ben Spies (Yamaha World Superbike) annihilated the opposition in the Utah round of the Hannspree FIM Superbike World Championship at Miller Motorsports Park, picking up his second double win of the year in his rookie SBK season.

In front of 47,300 spectators the Texan again reopened the title battle in a championship that following Kyalami appeared to be firmly in the hands of Ducati.

Noriyuki Haga (Ducati Xerox), who crashed heavily in practice, ran the two races in a bruised state, finishing ninth and eighth. The Japanese rider lost ground to Spies as well as to his team-mate Michel Fabrizio, who finished third and second. With the season now at its mid-point Haga leads on 265 points, with Spies up to 212 and Fabrizio on 201.

Spies dominated the first race to cut the gap at the top of the table, as Haga could only finish in ninth place, losing 18 points in the process. The race was interrupted on lap seven after a crash involving Australian Karl Muggeridge (Celani Suzuki), who only came away with a few bruises.

Spies powered away again in the second part to win by a comfortable margin on aggregate times.

“We’ve been working on our starts a bit and this is a long straightaway and I really needed to get a good one here," Spies said. "After the restart it was tough because I really wanted to win on the road and couldn’t take too many risks to keep Carlos at bay. I just wanted to cross the line first even though I had a six-second cushion.”

Behind Spies finished Spain’s Carlos Checa (Hannspree Ten Kate Honda), last year’s double winner, and third place went to Fabrizio, who was slowed by two poor starts.

“From the beginning Ben was too strong today," Checa admitted. "I didn’t have so much grip in the first part but then we adjusted the tire pressure and it was better in the second. The Honda is working well here, we have a good base from last year and we used that benefit to get at a certain level and get a good result. We needed this result because it has not been so good for us since the start of the year.”

It was a good day for Ten Kate Honda as Ryuichi Kiyonari and Jonathan Rea came home in fourth and fifth position, respectively. Max Biaggi started from row four but worked his way up to sixth position at the flag on his Aprilia RSV4 machine.

The second race was similar to the first, with three-time AMA Superbike champion Spies taking the lead at the first turn and never relinquishing it.

“That was a tough race, I almost feel like I robbed Michel because he rode fantastic," Spies said. "I tried to set a good pace but a pace that was comfortable and every time he took a 10th out I had to put a 10th back to keep him at bay. Then in the last six laps I pulled the pin and held it to the end.

"It’s good to get a double win here; unfortunately we know Haga’s not 100 per cent but you’ve got to capitalize on the weekend and we made up some points.”

Fabrizio this time got off to an excellent start and was second at the first corner, the Italian managing to keep Spies in his sights for over half the race before settling for the runner-up slot.

“It was a good weekend," Fabrizio said. "I tried every way possible until five or six laps from the end to give some problems to Ben but in my attempt to catch up to him I pushed a bit too hard and finished the front tire so there was nothing I could do.”

Checa crashed out on lap four, leaving the battle for the final podium place to be fought out between Rea, Leon Haslam (Stiggy Racing Honda), who crashed out on the final lap, and Biaggi, competitive in the race after problems in qualifying.

“The guys have put a great bike under me this weekend," Rea said. "We’ve done some good development, but I’ve never had to race as slow as I could for third place because I had a few problems with the front and the front tire. Ben and Michel put on a great run at the front, I couldn’t go with them. I could see a big gaggle of riders behind me, and thought I’d keep something in reserve until the end but I couldn’t see what happened with Leon’s crash. Anyway it was my second podium in two rounds so I’m very happy."

Kiyonari, Jakub Smrz (Guandalini Ducati) and Shinya Nakano (Aprilia Racing) all finished ahead of Haga in eighth.

It was an encouraging race for Kawasaki, with Bric Parkes and Jamie Hacking often running inside the top 10, but BMW again had a difficult time of things with Ruben Xaus and Troy Corser finishing outside the top 15.

In World Supersport action, Kenan Sofuoglu (Hannspree Ten Kate Honda) emerged the winner from the thrilling final lap of a race-long battle between four riders and three different makes: Honda, Yamaha and Kawasaki. With just one lap to go the 2007 champion first passed points leader Cal Crutchlow (Yamaha World Supersport), and then three turns from the checkered flag made a decisive move on Eugene Laverty (Parkalgar Honda), who had led from the start.

For the Turkish rider it was the 13th win of his career, and the 67th for Honda in Supersport. The Ten Kate Honda rider is now back in contention in the points standings, third on 108 points behind leader Crutchlow on 135 and Laverty on 126.

Kawasaki Provec scored a good fourth place with Joan Lascorz, who started from pole. Gianluca Nannelli (ParkinGO Triumph ) crashed out of the battle for fifth, which eventually went to Fabien Foret (Yamaha World Supersport), but Garry McCoy held the Triumph flag high with a positive sixth place.

Seventh went to 2008 champion Andrew Pitt (Hannspree Ten Kate Honda), who started from the final row of the grid.

Kars, ON's Andrew Nelson finished 25th on his Nelson Racing Yamaha YZF-R6. Fellow Canucks Marie-Josee Boucher of Montreal and Lethbridge, AB's Ryan Taylor failed to qualify.

Superbike Race One Results
1. Spies B. (USA) Yamaha YZF-R1 38:30.945 (160.527km/h)
2. Checa C. (ESP) Honda CBR1000RR +9.394
3. Fabrizio M. (ITA) Ducati 1098R +12.742
4. Kiyonari R. (JPN) Honda CBR1000RR +14.276
5. Rea J. (GBR) Honda CBR1000RR +14.915
6. Biaggi M. (ITA) Aprilia RSV4 Factory +15.461
7. Hacking J. (USA) Kawasaki ZX-10R +22.901
8. Smrz J. (CZE) Ducati 1098R +25.425
9. Haga N. (JPN) Ducati 1098R +25.870
10. Haslam L. (GBR) Honda CBR1000RR +26.093
11. Byrne S. (GBR) Ducati 1098R +26.181
12. Kagayama Y. (JPN) Suzuki GSX-R1000 K9 +29.275
13. Sykes T. (GBR) Yamaha YZF-R1 +38.365
14. Lavilla G. (ESP) Ducati 1098R +39.454
15. Corser T. (AUS) BMW S1000 RR +39.513
16. Nieto F. (ESP) Suzuki GSX-R1000 K9 +48.889

Superbike Race Two Results
1. Spies B. (USA) Yamaha YZF-R1 38:25.391 (160.914km/h)
2. Fabrizio M. (ITA) Ducati 1098R +9.080
3. Rea J. (GBR) Honda CBR1000RR +14.357
4. Biaggi M. (ITA) Aprilia RSV4 Factory +15.636
5. Kiyonari R. (JPN) Honda CBR1000RR +17.156
6. Smrz J. (CZE) Ducati 1098R +17.546
7. Nakano S. (JPN) Aprilia RSV4 Factory +19.659
8. Haga N. (JPN) Ducati 1098R +23.455
9. Sykes T. (GBR) Yamaha YZF-R1 +30.489
10. Byrne S. (GBR) Ducati 1098R +31.775
11. Parkes B. (AUS) Kawasaki ZX-10R +33.246
12. Kagayama Y. (JPN) Suzuki GSX-R1000 K9 +36.758
13. Nieto F. (ESP) Suzuki GSX-R1000 K9 +36.887
14. Lanzi L. (ITA) Ducati 1098R +37.290
15. Zemke J. (USA) Honda CBR1000RR +42.639
16. Xaus R. (ESP) BMW S1000 RR +42.777

Superbike Point Standings (after 7 of 14 rounds)
1. Haga 265
2. Spies 212
3. Fabrizio 201
4. Rea 133
5. Biaggi 126
6. Haslam 122
7. Sykes 113
8. Kyonari 96
9. Checa 93
10. Smrz 82