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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. 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 2, picking up a broken vertebra in the process. Haga’s Italian team-mate Michel Fabrizio was third in race 2 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.

Race 1

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 rider dominated the 23-lap race but was shadowed all the way by Max Biaggi (Aprilia Racing). The Italian ran faultlessly in second until the final lap, when Ben upped the ante to power to the chequered 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. 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). Michel Fabrizio (Ducati Xerox) had a gear change problem and could only finish 12th, while Ruben Xaus scored one point for BMW.

Ben Spies: “It was a tough race for us, 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.”

Max Biaggi: “I am very happy with this result after a very hard decision we made in free practice and qualifying. Yesterday we found a way to go fast and we made the right choice in tyres and the balance was correct. In the warm-up we had some problems but for the race we fixed most of them. Just on the last lap at the last chicane we had some trouble, I don’t know what, the bike just stopped and then went back again in the last few metres before the flag. I think I deserved second!”

Noriyuki Haga: “I tried to do my best but the front two guys were very fast. I tried to catch up for the victory but I had to settle for third position. Of course during the laps I tried to push and catch them up but it was quite difficult. Our package was quite different but for the next race we try to change something to improve the riding of the bike.”

Results: 1. Spies B. (USA) Yamaha YZF R1 34’57.230 (158,831 kph); 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

Race 2

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 administered easily to pick up his tenth win of the year. Spies’ double coincided with a disaster for Haga, who crashed out of second place on lap 5 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. Race 2 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. 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 2, the still-injured American totally exhausted after his race 1 efforts

Ben Spies: “It was a picture perfect weekend, 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.”

Leon Haslam: “We’ve been struggling for the past few rounds with unknown circuits and I really wanted to get on that podium today. 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.”

Michel Fabrizio: “Today Ben was very fast and it was impossible to catch him. In the first race I had a problem with the gear change, while in the second I had a great battle with Haslam. I am very happy with the result, but very sorry for Haga and his crash.”

Results: 1. Spies B. (USA) Yamaha YZF R1 35’14.788 (157,512 kph); 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-R 1000 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

Points (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. Manufacturers: 1. Ducati 383; 2. Yamaha 337; 3. Honda 273; 4. Aprilia 162; 5. Suzuki 131; 6. Bmw 70; 7. Kawasaki 47

World Supersport

Coventry man Cal Crutchlow (Yamaha World Supersport) had a terrific homecoming 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. Kenan Sofuoglu (Hannspree Ten Kate Honda) could only finish fourth and is now 64 points away from the top of the standings, while team-mate Andrew Pitt fared even worse to finish in tenth. Gianluca Vizziello (Stiggy Racing Honda) scored his best result of the year in seventh behind Barry Veneman (George White Ten Kate Honda).

Results: 1. Crutchlow C. (GBR) Yamaha YZF R6 34’15.876 (154,981 kph); 2. Lascorz J. (ESP) Kawasaki ZX-6R 5.391; 3. McCoy G. (AUS) Triumph Daytona 675 14.918; 4. Sofuoglu K. (TUR) Honda CBR600RR 22.248; 5. Laverty E. (IRL) Honda CBR600RR 37.054; 6. Veneman B. (NED) Honda CBR600RR 39.079; 7. Vizziello G. (ITA) Honda CBR600RR 39.978; 8. Nannelli G. (ITA) Triumph Daytona 675 42.733

Points (after 9 of 14 rounds): 1. Crutchlow 185; 2. Laverty 157; 3. Sofuoglu 121; 4. Lascorz 106; 5. Pitt 79; 6. West 75; 7. Foret 63; 8. Aitchison 61; 9. McCoy 55; 10. Pirro 49. Manufacturers: 1. Honda 191; 2. Yamaha 185; 3. Kawasaki 117; 4. Triumph 69; 5. Suzuki 30

Superstock 1000

After four second places, Xavier Simeon scored his first win of the season on the Xerox Ducati 1098, the Belgian increasing his lead in the championship to 11 points over his closest rival, Claudio Corti (Alstare Suzuki). The Belgian led the race from lights to flag, gradually easing off towards the end. 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 6. Fourth place went to Javi Fores (Kawasaki Pedercini), who finished ahead of the two Frenchmen Sylvain Barrier (Garnier) and Loris Baz (MRS), both on Yamahas, and Daniele Beretta (Ducati Xerox) in seventh.

Results: 1. Simeon X. (BEL) Ducati 1098R 18’54.713 (153,161 kph); 2. Corti C. (ITA) Suzuki GSX-R 1000 K91.600; 3. Berger M. (FRA) Honda CBR1000RR 2.110; 4. Fores J. (ESP) Kawasaki ZX 10R 2.522; 5. Barrier S. (FRA) Yamaha YZF R1 3.433; 6. Baz L. (FRA) Yamaha YZF R1 5.596; 7. Beretta D. (ITA) Ducati 1098R 9.556; 8. Schouten R. (NED) Yamaha YZF R1 10.646

Points (after 5 of 10 rounds): 1. Simeon 105; 2. Corti 94; 3. Berger 82; 4. Fores 64; 5. Barrier 54; 6. Beretta 45; 7. Baz 33: 8. Jezek 32; 9. Magnoni 19; 10. Burrell 19. Manufacturers: 1. Ducati 105: 2. Suzuki 94; 3. Honda 92; 4. Kawasaki 64; 5. Yamaha 62; 6. MV Agusta 18; 7. Aprilia 8

Superstock 600

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. The chasing riders Gino Rea (Ten Kate Honda) and Marco Bussolotti (Yamaha Trasimeno) are now 4 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 chequered flag for his first win of the year. Third place went to Frenchman Jeremy Guarnoni (MRS Yamaha), while Eddi La Marra (Lorini Honda) missed a good chance by crashing out on lap 6 while in the lead of the race. The Italian recovered to finish 12th.

Results: 1. Bussolotti M. (ITA) Yamaha YZF R6 16’18.425 (148,022 kph); 2. Rea G. (GBR) Honda CBR600RR 0.213; 3. Guarnoni J. (FRA) Yamaha YZF R6 2.126; 4. Guittet B. (FRA) Honda CBR600RR 6.948; 5. Kerschbaumer S. (AUT) Yamaha YZF R6 11.136; 6. Morelli N. (ITA) Honda CBR600RR 14.695; 7. Chmielewski A. (POL) Yamaha YZF R6 14.780 8. Lonbois V. (BEL) Yamaha YZF R6 16.782

Points (after 5 of 10 rounds): 1. Petrucci 82; 2. Rea 78; 3. Bussolotti 71; 4. Guarnoni 70; 5. Lonbois 64; 6. Kerschbaumer 43; 7. Guittet 40; 8. La Marra 39; 9. Litjens 38; 10. Chmielewski 30

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