Spies and Rea split World Superbike wins

From the World Superbike Championship

Ben Spies (Yamaha World Superbike) and Jonathan Rea (Hannspree Ten Kate Honda) scored the two wins in a memorable day of World Superbike racing at the Misano World Circuit in Italy.

In front of 65,000 spectators Spies took his eighth seasonal win in the first race, while Rea grabbed his maiden Superbike win in the second. The Ducati Xerox pairing of Michel Fabrizio, third and second in the two races, and Noriyuki Haga were also key players in the day’s action, and the Japanese rider now has a 48-point lead over Spies and 55 over his team-mate.

Spies scored the win in the first race of the day, held in flag-to-flag conditions, which saw the riders starting on a wet track but taking the flag in the dry.

Halfway through the 24-lapper, which had been totally dominated by Shane Byrne (Sterilgarda Ducati), the entire field started to pit to change bikes and tires. Spies was the rider who judged things to perfection, the Texan immediately finding the right pace in the dry and going on to win by almost eight seconds from Byrne.

“It was a hard one," said Spies. "We knew from the start it was going to get dry and in that first half hat's off to 'Shakey,' he rode great. I had the feeling in the rain that I wasn’t quite happy but I tried as hard as I could to stay close to Michel. My box showed me that some riders were starting to come in for a change so I said that it was time to get in now. It was a hectic race, pretty eventful, not a great race but I was happy to pull this one off.”

Third place saw a fantastic scrap, with Fabrizio making his 1098 machine as wide as possible on the final lap to hold off the rapidly catching poleman Jakub Smrz (Guandalini Ducati).

Fifth place went to Haga, who limited the damage on a track that is not one of his favourites, the Japanese rider passing his compatriot Yukio Kagayama (Suzuki Alstare) in the final stages.

Rea was the first Honda to the flag in a race that saw him start from the back of the grid and pick up a ride-through penalty.

Tenth place went to Superbike rookie Matthieu Lagrive (Honda Althea), behind Shinya Nakano (Aprilia), while team-mate Max Biaggi was in difficulty in these conditions and could only finish 13th.

The second Superbike race saw talented young Brit Rea take his first ever win after a spectacular scrap with Fabrizio that set the last laps of the race alight.

“To win my first race in Italy here is really special for me before my home round next weekend at Donington," Rea said. "As everybody’s aware we switched suspensions, and tried them for the first time on Monday at Magny-Cours and the team all did a marvelous job to get me to win the race here so this is really special for them as well.

"I got settled into my own rhythm and Michel came past but he couldn’t outbrake me and that spared my bike from doing all the running. I could pass where I wanted to pass and I saved it to the last lap. I’m really over the moon with the win.”

The final podium slot went to points leader Haga, who took advantage of Spies' second race mishap, the Texan only managing ninth after being slowed by a clutch issue.

Smrz picked up another fourth place after passing Carlos Checa (Honda) on the final lap as the Spanish rider's tires went off.

Byrne was once again up among the frontrunners and he finished the second race in sixth place.

The first Yamaha to the finish was the R1 of Tom Sykes, seventh ahead of Leon Haslam (Stiggy Racing Honda).

The Aprilias of Biaggi and Nakano both finished in the points, together with the Suzukis of Kagayama and Nieto, while Xaus and Corser (BMW) and Parkes and Hacking (Kawasaki) all failed to finish in the top 15.

Cal Crutchlow (Yamaha World Supersport) got the better of Eugene Laverty (Parkalgar Honda) in an exciting Supersport clash at Misano. The points leader just had the edge in a two-part race, which was red-flagged due to oil on the track, beating his rival in a sprint to the line.

With his third win of the season Crutchlow has a 14-point lead over Laverty, and the fight now looks to be between these two as Kenan Sofuoglu (Hannspree Ten Kate Honda) picked up a DNF with a crash while running third. The Dutch team’s forgettable weekend was completed with a crash for Andrew Pitt, while the Australian was leading in the early stages.

Massimo Roccoli (Intermoto Honda) rode a great race to step onto the podium on a track where he won in 2006.

Poleman Michele Pirro (Yamaha Lorenzini) had to retire from eighth place with a technical problem.

The fourth round of the Superstock 1000 Championship was dominated by Maxime Berger (Ten Kate Honda), his second win of the season. The Frenchman was quickest off the mark, and he immediately pulled out a decisive margin for the win.

The runner-up slot, his fourth in four races, went to Xavier Simeon (Ducati Xerox), who thanks to this result becomes the new Superstock points leader. The man he knocked off the top, Claudio Corti (Suzuki Alstare), had to settle for fourth and is now six points behind in the standings.

Thanks to his third win of the year Danilo Petrucci (Yamaha Trasimeno) has pulled out a decisive lead in the Superstock 600 championship, a result made even more positive by the eighth place for his closest rival Gino Rea (Ten Kate Honda). The race was decided in the final stages with Petrucci getting the better of his team-mate Marco Bussolotti.

Superbike Race One Results
1. Spies B. (USA) Yamaha YZF-R1 45:02.773 (135.093 km/h)
2. Byrne S. (GBR) Ducati 1098R +7.931
3. Fabrizio M. (ITA) Ducati 1098R +11.836
4. Smrz J. (CZE) Ducati 1098R +11.886
5. Haga N. (JPN) Ducati 1098R +31.670
6. Kagayama Y. (JPN) Suzuki GSX-R1000 K9 +33.241
7. Rea J. (GBR) Honda CBR1000RR +35.772
8. Sykes T. (GBR) Yamaha YZF-R1 +41.931
9. Nakano S. (JPN) Aprilia RSV4 Factory +51.507
10. Lagrive M. (FRA) Honda CBR1000RR +59.921
11. Checa C. (ESP) Honda CBR1000RR +1:04.285
12. Haslam L. (GBR) Honda CBR1000RR +1:04.313
13. Biaggi M. (ITA) Aprilia RSV4 Factory +1:19.822
14. Xaus R. (ESP) BMW S1000 RR +1:22.412
15. Polita A. (ITA) Suzuki GSX-R1000 K9 +1:31.635
16. Hacking J. (USA) Kawasaki ZX-10R +1:39.830

Superbike Race Two Results
1. Rea J. (GBR) Honda CBR1000RR 39:11.204 (155.293 km/h)
2. Fabrizio M. (ITA) Ducati 1098R +0.063
3. Haga N. (JPN) Ducati 1098R +0.457
4. Smrz J. (CZE) Ducati 1098R +3.635
5. Checa C. (ESP) Honda CBR1000RR +4.460
6. Byrne S. (GBR) Ducati 1098R +4.538
7. Sykes T. (GBR) Yamaha YZF-R1 +12.679
8. Haslam L. (GBR) Honda CBR1000RR +12.763
9. Spies B. (USA) Yamaha YZF-R1 +13.237
10. Biaggi M. (ITA) Aprilia RSV4 Factory +14.412
11. Kagayama Y. (JPN) Suzuki GSX-R1000 K9 +20.073
12. Nieto F. (ESP) Suzuki GSX-R1000 K9 +20.239
13. Nakano S. (JPN) Aprilia RSV4 Factory +22.351
14. Kiyonari R. (JPN) Honda CBR1000RR +24.547
15. Lavilla G. (ESP) Ducati 1098R +24.696
16. Xaus R. (ESP) BMW S1000 RR +25.615

World Superbike Points (after 8 of 14 rounds)
1. Haga 292
2. Spies 244
3. Fabrizio 237
4. Rea 167
5. Biaggi 135
6. Haslam 134
7. Sykes 130
8. Checa 109
9. Smrz 108
10. Kiyonari 98