From the World Superbike Championship
The long-awaited return to Imola for the FIM Superbike World Championship produced a magnificent day of racing in glorious weather conditions in front of 67,000 spectators on Sunday.
The wins went to the Ducati Xerox duo of Noriyuki Haga and Michel Fabrizio, with the Japanese rider bouncing back to the top of the table.
The other protagonists in an all-Italian battle for the leading positions were Aprilia, with Max Biaggi and Marco Simoncelli taking a podium apiece.
It was a disappointing day for the former points leader Ben Spies (Yamaha World Superbike), who managed to limit the damage in the title race. Haga now has a three-point lead, with two rounds remaining and 100 points up for grabs.
Haga won a nail-biting first race of the day, which kept the fans glued to their seats right down to the checkered flag, the Japanese rider taking his first win since Kyalami in mid-May. Four laps from the flag Haga passed Biaggi, who had led since the start, to take the win.
Thanks to this result Haga made up 12 points on championship leader Spies, the American only able to finish fourth.
“This is my first win since Kyalami and I am very happy, I really enjoyed that race," Haga said. "This morning we had a little problem and I thought it would be difficult to make good lap times for 21 laps, so for the race we made a modification for the suspension and things were better. I am really happy for the win because my dad came over for this race and I got the win, so I dedicate it to him.”
There was a terrific scrap for the runner-up slot, which went to Biaggi after the Aprilia rider made a superb move on Fabrizio to pass him at the final chicane.
“I am very happy with the result in the last race in Italy before next year," Biaggi said. "In the tests we suffered a bit more than the others but me and my team worked hard and late afternoon yesterday we improved our set-up. This morning was OK, we made some modifications, still there is room to improve but for sure it was a great result.
"In the final chicane with Fabrizio, I thought ‘you never know’, I saw him there a little bit on the side and I stick in my bike, stayed in there. I could pass him and this is a good result.”
Simoncelli’s WSB debut was an unfortunate one, the Italian crashing out from fifth. That place in the end went to Ryuichi Kiyonari (Hannspree Ten Kate Honda), who finished ahead of fellow Honda riders Leon Haslam (Stiggy Racing) and Jonathan Rea (Hannspree Ten Kate), the latter throwing away any chance of a decent result when he went onto the gravel at the Rivazza while trying an overtaking move.
Broc Parkes was the first Kawasaki runner home in 10th, ahead of Troy Corser (BMW).
The spectacle continued in race 2, but this time Fabrizio was unstoppable and he powered away to take his second win of the season.
“Today I really wanted victory in race 2," Fabrizio said. "In the first race unfortunately I had a problem with my arm, and I just missed out on the win. For race 2 I fixed everything, I changed my arm and I changed Nori and went on to win.
"I am happy for the Ducati Xerox team; today all the Ducati top management were here so Nori and I cut a good figure. For sure I think we deserved the renewal of our contract!”
The Italian finished ahead of team-mate Haga, who with this result moved ahead of Spies in the table.
“Congratulations for Michel for winning and for Marco with his first time in Superbike, third position today," Haga said. "For the race, I changed the bike completely from the first race and in this bike we had a few problems. During the race the bike started moving a lot, after Michel passed me I tried to catch him up but he was quite fast today and I couldn’t find where I could pass him…and then I was dead. I think I need more salt, 1 kilo of salt!”
The Texan rookie was not as incisive as in previous races but in the second race had bad luck on his side as he got caught up in the battle for third with the two Aprilias. While making a move on Biaggi and Simoncelli at the final chicane, he was forced to run off the track to avoid Biaggi. He came back on to finish fifth.
The final podium place went to Simoncelli, who immediately made his name in a championship as hard-fought as Superbike.
“If I finish the race in the first five I am very happy," Simoncelli said. "In the first race I was fifth but crashed, while in this race I started better than in the first and after some laps I keep a very good pace.
"In the chicane with my team-mate I didn’t want to pass him, but I braked too hard and I think ‘either I hit him and we crash or I try to pass’. I succeeded and I am very happy, a big thanks to Aprilia and my team. Today was a great big experience for me here in Superbike.”
Rea had another race full of errors, but partially managed to make up for them with sixth place.
BMW had another difficult race, with a DNF for Corser and Ruben Xaus returning after injury to finish 13th.
The battle for the World Supersport title has been thrown wide-open again as a result of a crash by points leader Cal Crutchlow (Yamaha World Supersport), while he was heading towards his sixth win of the season.
The British rider crashed out at the Acque Minerali, and his lead in the table is now two points over Eugene Laverty (Parkalgar Honda), who finished runner-up.
The win went to Kenan Sofuoglu (Hannspree Ten Kate Honda) for the third time this year, while the final podium slot went to Fabien Foret (Yamaha World Supersport), who closed up on Laverty in the final stages but was unable to take away precious points.
Chaz Davies put in an excellent performance on his Supersport debut with Triumph, bringing the British three-cylinder machine home in fourth place in front of team-mate Garry McCoy.
After taking the pole, wild-card Ayrton Badovini (Aprilia) went on to repeat the same form in the Superstock 1000 race, taking a lights-to-flag victory. In post-race scrutineering however all the Aprilias were found to have a technical irregularity and Badovini was disqualified.
As a result the win went to Xavier Simeon (Ducati Xerox), his fourth in a row, and the Belgian is now easily on the way towards the title.
The Supersport 600 battle remains to be decided after Danilo Petrucci (Yamaha Trasimeno) wasted a chance to clinch the title. The Italian was in the lead at the final chicane, but came under attack from Eddi La Mara (Honda Lorini), who took his first win, and also from Gino Rea (Ten Kate Honda) and Marco Bussolotti (Yamaha Trasimeno), who finished on the podium.
Superbike Race 1 Results
1. Haga N. (JPN) Ducati 1098R 38:32.199 (161.388 km/h)
2. Biaggi M. (ITA) Aprilia RSV4 Factory +2.074
3. Fabrizio M. (ITA) Ducati 1098R +2.190
4. Spies B. (USA) Yamaha YZF-R1 +5.438
5. Kiyonari R. (JPN) Honda CBR1000RR +14.470
6. Haslam L. (GBR) Honda CBR1000RR +14.685
7. Rea J. (GBR) Honda CBR1000RR +26.822
8. Smrz J. (CZE) Ducati 1098R +32.694
9. Sykes T. (GBR) Yamaha YZF-R1 +33.817
10. Parkes B. (AUS) Kawasaki ZX-10R +34.801
11. Corser T. (AUS) BMW S1000 RR +35.286
12. Xaus R. (ESP) BMW S1000 RR +36.442
13. Muggeridge K. (AUS) Suzuki GSX-R1000 K9 +38.698
14. Baiocco M. (ITA) Ducati 1098R +42.147
15. Kagayama Y. (JPN) Suzuki GSX-R1000 K9 +46.510
16. Scassa L. (ITA) Kawasaki ZX-10R +46.628
Superbike Race 2 Results
1. Fabrizio M. (ITA) Ducati 1098R 38:23.143 (162.023 km/h)
2. Haga N. (JPN) Ducati 1098R +3.592
3. Simoncelli M. (ITA) Aprilia RSV4 Factory +6.510
4. Biaggi M. (ITA) Aprilia RSV4 Factory +7.445
5. Spies B. (USA) Yamaha YZF-R1 +14.678
6. Rea J. (GBR) Honda CBR1000RR +16.396
7. Byrne S. (GBR) Ducati 1098R +17.110
8. Haslam L. (GBR) Honda CBR1000RR +22.502
9. Smrz J. (CZE) Ducati 1098R +25.268
10. Checa C. (ESP) Honda CBR1000RR +30.203
11. Lanzi L. (ITA) Ducati 1098R +32.589
12. Sykes T. (GBR) Yamaha YZF-R1 +36.243
13. Xaus R. (ESP) BMW S1000 RR +36.368
14. Muggeridge K. (AUS) Suzuki GSX-R1000 K9 +38.809
15. Parkes B. (AUS) Kawasaki ZX-10R +42.435
16. Baiocco M. (ITA) Ducati 1098R +49.349
World Superbike Points (after 12 of 14 rounds)
1. Haga 391
2. Spies 388
3. Fabrizio 330
4. Rea 263
5. Biaggi 257
6. Haslam 219
7. Checa 183
8. Sykes 176
9. Smrz 155
10. Byrne 149
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