Story and photo from the World Superbike Championship
Max Biaggi (Aprilia) and Ben Spies (Yamaha) scored a win apiece in round 10 of the Hannspree FIM Superbike World Championship at Brno in front of record 75,000 crowd on Sunday.
In race 1 the 25 points went to Biaggi after Spies had been wiped out by Michel Fabrizio (Ducati Xerox), giving Aprilia its first win in its return season to WSB.
The second race saw Spies take a deserved victory, after the American managed to hold off Biaggi in the final stages (pictured). Fabrizio finished third, while points leader Noriyuki Haga, still not in the best of physical condition, limited the damage and managed to hold on to his championship lead by seven points.
Biaggi scored his first win of the season and his first win since Vallelunga 2007 in the opening race. It was also Aprilia's first win in the category since Régis Laconi's victory at Imola in 2001.
"When I crossed the start-finish I was so happy to be winning this race and I had so many flashbacks of Brno, I can feel that it is one of my favourite circuits," Biaggi said. "Of course I don't want to take anything away from Spies and Fabrizio, they were both very fast, but I remember Barry Sheene used to say 'To finish first, first you have to finish' and this is a part of the deal. I put my head down and did not make any mistake, so a big thanks to all my crew, Aprilia and in particular Gigi Dall'Igna, the 'papa' of our bike."
Second and third went to the Hannspree Ten Kate Honda duo of Carlos Checa and Jonathan Rea.
"It's a good result for the team to get two riders on the podium and I think we did a very good job," Checa said. "At a certain point I thought maybe I could catch Max, but in the end I had to preserve my tires as the right side in particular was not so good, and I could see there was no way. I settled for second as I could see that Johnny was four seconds behind."
Biaggi actually had a lonely run to the chequered flag after the other two favourites Spies and Fabrizio were eliminated when the Italian crashed in a fast left-hander, taking down his American rival with him.
Shane Byrne (Sterilgarda Ducati) got another good result for the Italian team in fourth.
It was a great day also for the other new manufacturer to the series, BMW, who had the satisfaction of seeing Troy Corser lead the opening two laps, the Australian eventually finishing fifth to score the team's best result this season.
It wasn't all good news for BMW however as Ruben Xaus crashed out on the opening lap, fracturing the femur bone in his right leg in the process.
Sixth place went to Czech rider Jakub Smrz (Guandakini Ducati), who recovered well to score a good result in front of his home crowd. Seventh was Leon Haslam (Stiggy Racing Honda) and eighth Haga (Ducati Xerox), who ran a defensive race to try and score as many points as possible.
Makoto Tamada took home a good result for Kawasaki, the Japanese rider finishing in 10th place.
Spies powered into the lead shortly after the start of race 2 to head towards his 11th win of the season. It wasn't easy however as the Texan had to keep Biaggi at bay, and the Italian took second at the end.
"It was a tough race," Spies said. "Fabrizio was there and I had to push and make good lap times. When I saw Max was there, he arrived quite quick and I had to start braking very late and stopping almost in the middle of the corner to get good drive so he couldn't come by me.
"The first race obviously wasn't so good but we rallied together for the second race. That pass attempt was not the best move in the world, but that's how racing goes sometimes. A big thanks also to the Clinica Mobile guys because I wasn't feeling so good this weekend."
Third went to Fabrizio, who lost contact with the leading pair in the last few laps.
Despite his win, Spies was unable to overtake Haga at the top of the table. The Japanese rider ran a heroic second race to finish in sixth place, holding off a trio of Tom Sykes (Yamaha), Byrne and Smrz in the final stages.
Just off the podium were the Ten Kate pairing of Rea and Checa, their positions inverted from race 1.
Once again Corser was up at the front in the early stages, but this time the Australian finished in 10th.
There was a sensational end to the Supersport race as Cal Crutchlow (Yamaha World Supersport) had to retire with a mechanical problem two laps from the flag as he was heading for another dominant victory, thus re-opening the title battle.
His closest rival Eugene Laverty (Parkalgar Honda) had been struggling all weekend and could only finish fifth.
The win, after the four-way battle for second turned into the fight for first, went to his team-mate Fabien Foret, who returned to the top slot for the first time since last year, the Frenchman thus wiping out all memories of his nasty crash here on this track 12 months ago.
In the sprint finish, the runner-up slot went to Anthony West (Stiggy Racing Honda), who managed to get the better of the two increasingly competitive Kawasakis of Joan Lascorz and Katsuaki Fujiwara.
The Hannspree Ten Kate Honda team again had a disappointing day, their two champions Kenan Sofuoglu and Andrew Pitt only finishing ninth and 10th respectively.
The Superstock 1000 FIM Cup round produced a real thriller. After leading for almost the entire race, Maxime Berger (Ten Kate Honda) crashed two turns from the chequered flag, throwing away a certain victory.
The man who raised the winners' champagne was Belgium's Xavier Simeon (Ducati Xerox), who took his second win in a row and has now increased his overall points lead to 26 over Claudio Corti (Suzuki Alstare). The Italian could only finish sixth, because of vibration problems on his Suzuki right from the start.
The outcome of the Superstock 600 race was decided on the last lap, with a seven-rider sprint to the chequered flag. In the end the win went to Belgium's Vincent Lonbois (MTM Racing Yamaha), who held off points leader Danilo Petrucci (Yamaha Trasimeno).
Superbike Race 1 Results
1. Biaggi M. (ITA) Aprilia RSV4 Factory 40:18.306 (160.863 km/h)
2. Checa C. (ESP) Honda CBR1000RR +3.631
3. Rea J. (GBR) Honda CBR1000RR +9.948
4. Byrne S. (GBR) Ducati 1098R +12.952
5. Corser T. (AUS) BMW S1000 RR +14.599
6. Smrz J. (CZE) Ducati 1098R +19.359
7. Haslam L. (GBR) Honda CBR1000RR +19.680
8. Haga N. (JPN) Ducati 1098R +20.731
9. Lagrive M. (FRA) Honda CBR1000RR +21.923
10. Tamada M. (JPN) Kawasaki ZX-10R +27.807
11. Nieto F. (ESP) Ducati 1098R +35.263
12. Parkes B. (AUS) Kawasaki ZX-10R +36.535
13. Kiyonari R. (JPN) Honda CBR1000RR +38.586
14. Kagayama Y. (JPN) Suzuki GSX-R1000 K9 +40.061
15. Iannuzzo V. (ITA) Honda CBR1000RR +40.280
16. Scassa L. (ITA) Kawasaki ZX-10R +40.641
Superbike Race 2 Results
1. Spies B. (USA) Yamaha YZF-R1 40:15.420 (161.055 km/h)
2. Biaggi M. (ITA) Aprilia RSV4 Factory +0.213
3. Fabrizio M. (ITA) Ducati 1098R +0.657
4. Rea J. (GBR) Honda CBR1000RR +8.311
5. Checa C. (ESP) Honda CBR1000RR +8.915
6. Haga N. (JPN) Ducati 1098R +21.175
7. Sykes T. (GBR) Yamaha YZF-R1 +21.384
8. Byrne S. (GBR) Ducati 1098R +21.599
9. Smrz J. (CZE) Ducati 1098R +21.726
10. Corser T. (AUS) BMW S1000 RR +25.180
11. Nakano S. (JPN) Aprilia RSV4 Factory +25.612
12. Haslam L. (GBR) Honda CBR1000RR +25.622
13. Kiyonari R. (JPN) Honda CBR1000RR +26.246
14. Lagrive M. (FRA) Honda CBR1000RR +31.098
15. Lanzi L. (ITA) Ducati 1098R +32.706
16. Parkes B. (AUS) Kawasaki ZX-10R +33.173
World Superbike Points (after 10 of 14 rounds)
1. Haga 326
2. Spies 319
3. Fabrizio 273
4. Rea 206
5. Biaggi 200
6. Haslam 180
7. Sykes 150
8. Checa 145
9. Byrne 134
10. Smrz 132
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