Spies doubles at Donington

From the World Superbike Championship

Ben Spies (Yamaha World Superbike) pulled off another amazing double triumph in the ninth round of the Hannspree FIM Superbike World Championship in front of 61,000 spectators at Donington Park on Sunday.

The Texan has now reduced the 48-point gap at the top of the table to 14 from Noriyuki Haga (Ducati Xerox), who crashed in race two, picking up a broken vertebra in the process. Haga’s Italian team-mate Michel Fabrizio was third in race two and is now 51 points behind.

Aprilia had a good first race, with Max Biaggi second at the finish, while the best of the numerous British platoon present at Donington was Leon Haslam (Stiggy Racing Honda), who finished second to Spies in race 2.

Spies continued to steamroller his way to the wins in World Superbike as he took his ninth victory of the year in the first race. After setting his eighth pole in qualifying, the Texan dominated the 23-lap race but was shadowed all the way by Biaggi (Aprilia Racing).

The Italian ran faultlessly in second until the final lap, when Ben upped the ante to power to the checkered flag, but Biaggi also encountered a fuel problem a couple of hundred metres from the flag and risked losing out on second. This was Biaggi’s first podium since Qatar.

“It was a tough race for us," Spies said. "Max was there the whole time and we were both able to do quick laps. I got a bit of a gap then made a couple of mistakes and he got back on me. The last three laps I rode as hard as I could, we got down to the 30s, then I couldn’t hear Max coming into the chicane on the last lap so knew something was wrong and I took the last corners easy. We can’t be too conservative now, we have to claw back and get a whole lot of points in a couple of races.”

Third went to points leader Haga, who limited the damage in a race where he was not in a position to challenge for the win.

In the all-British battle for fourth place, Haslam got the better of Shane Byrne (Sterilgarda Ducati).

Aprilia’s excellent performance was completed by a sixth place for Shinya Nakano.

Home idol and Misano winner Jonathan Rea (Hannspree Ten Kate Honda) could only finish in seventh, ahead of John Hopkins (Stiggy Racing Honda).

Fabrizio (Ducati Xerox) had a gear change problem and could only finish 12th, while Ruben Xaus scored one point for BMW.

Spies also dominated the second race, but this time without any pressure from his rivals. The Yamaha man immediately pulled away at the start to pick up a seven-second lead, which he controlled easily to pick up his 10th win of the year.

Spies’ double coincided with a disaster for Haga, who crashed out of second place on lap five while trying to make up ground on the leader. The Japanese rider was taken to hospital in Derby with a fractured vertebra and other injuries.

“It was a picture perfect weekend," Spies said. "I know Haga had a big crash and hope he’s OK. That’s not the way you want to do it but you’ve got to capitalize when things go wrong. The track was definitely hot in the second race and a little bit slick so we made some changes to the bike that made it better. Fortunately we didn’t have to push to the absolute limit but it all worked great today.”

Race two saw a British rider on the podium, thanks to Haslam, who held off Fabrizio. With the outcome of this race, the Italian keeps alive his title chances.

“We’ve been struggling for the past few rounds with unknown circuits and I really wanted to get on that podium today," Haslam said. "I feel good, obviously feel sorry for Haga because I was pushing him hard and I was pretty happy to get second. In the first race I was really suffering from chatter but everyone in the team has been behind me all weekend so a big thanks to them.”

Byrne put on another good show, finishing fourth ahead of fellow Brit Tom Sykes.

Xaus again scored points for BMW, this time with a positive ninth place.

Both Aprilia riders crashed out, Biaggi suffering a hairline crack in his right foot in the process, but remounting to finish 21st, while John Hopkins (Stiggy Racing Honda) did not make it to the start of race two, the still-injured American totally exhausted after his race one efforts.

Cal Crutchlow (Yamaha World Supersport) had a terrific homecoming World Supersport race at the Donington circuit as he shrugged off the broken ankle he picked up in qualifying to take a dominant fourth win of the year.

His chief rival in the title battle Eugene Laverty (Parkalgar Honda), together with Joan Lascorz (Kawasaki Provec) tried hard in the early stages, but the Irishman crashed at the Melbourne Hairpin and the Spaniard had to take second best after Crutchlow upped the pace in the final part.

Laverty rejoined and worked his way back up the field from 22nd place to fifth overall.

It was a great result for veteran Australian Garry McCoy, who gave Triumph its first ever podium in Supersport.

After four second places, Xavier Simeon scored his first win of the season in Superstock 1000 on the Xerox Ducati 1098, the Belgian increasing his lead in the championship to 11 points over his closest rival, Claudio Corti (Alstare Suzuki).

Corti had a great race, recovering to finish second from 22nd on the grid, while Maxime Berger (Ten Kate Honda) also ran well, setting fastest lap in 1:33.516, and taking the final podium slot after also moving up from row six.

The Superstock 600 championship battle was thrown wide-open after points leader Danilo Petrucci (Yamaha Trasimeno) crashed out on the second lap after being taken out by Vincent Lonbois (MTM Yamaha) while in the lead. The Italian remounted to finish ninth, a result that allowed him to maintain his points lead.

Gino Rea (Ten Kate Honda) and Marco Bussolotti (Yamaha Trasimeno) are now four and 11 points down on the leader respectively. The British rider and the Italian fought it out for the win at the end of a terrific scrap, and in the end it was Bussolotti who took the checkered flag for his first win of the year.

Superbike Race One Results
1. Spies B. (USA) Yamaha YZF-R1 34:57.230 (158.831 km/h)
2. Biaggi M. (ITA) Aprilia RSV4 Factory +7.156
3. Haga N. (JPN) Ducati 1098R +10.968
4. Haslam L. (GBR) Honda CBR1000RR +18.843
5. Byrne S. (GBR) Ducati 1098R +19.125
6. Nakano S. (JPN) Aprilia RSV4 Factory +21.286
7. Rea J. (GBR) Honda CBR1000RR +23.644
8. Hopkins J. (USA) Honda CBR1000RR +32.849
9. Smrz J. (CZE) Ducati 1098R +32.904
10. Kiyonari R. (JPN) Honda CBR1000RR +33.192
11. Checa C. (ESP) Honda CBR1000RR +34.535
12. Fabrizio M. (ITA) Ducati 1098R +35.093
13. Camier L. (GBR) Yamaha YZF-R1 +35.441
14. Lanzi L. (ITA) Ducati 1098R +39.034
15. Xaus R. (ESP) BMW S1000 RR +41.067
16. Lagrive M. (FRA) Honda CBR1000RR +46.4

Superbike Race Two Results
1. Spies B. (USA) Yamaha YZF-R1 35:14.788 (157.512 km/h)
2. Haslam L. (GBR) Honda CBR1000RR +6.622
3. Fabrizio M. (ITA) Ducati 1098R +6.816
4. Byrne S. (GBR) Ducati 1098R +7.349
5. Sykes T. (GBR) Yamaha YZF-R1 +8.145
6. Camier L. (GBR) Yamaha YZF-R1 +13.463
7. Kiyonari R. (JPN) Honda CBR1000RR +15.751
8. Ellison J. (GBR) Yamaha YZF-R1 +16.837
9. Xaus R. (ESP) BMW S1000 RR +22.891
10. Andrews S. (GBR) Kawasaki ZX-10R +30.347
11. Lanzi L. (ITA) Ducati 1098R +30.622
12. Lagrive M. (FRA) Honda CBR1000RR +31.562
13. Kagayama Y. (JPN) Suzuki GSX-R1000 K9 +32.148
14. Parkes B. (AUS) Kawasaki ZX-10R +32.607
15. Rea J. (GBR) Honda CBR1000RR +32.806
16. Scassa L. (ITA) Kawasaki ZX-10R +34.269

Superbike Point Standings (after 9 of 14 rounds)
1. Haga 308
2. Spies 294
3. Fabrizio 257
4. Rea 177
5. Haslam 167
6. Biaggi 155
7. Sykes 141
8. Smrz 115
9. Checa 114
10. Byrne 113