World Superbike News

Noriyuki Haga - Race 1 - Phillip Island 2009

Yesterday saw the opening round of the World Superbike 2009 season get underway at the Phillip Island circuit in Australia with Noriyuki Haga and Ben Spies both taking a win.

Race One

Noriyuki Haga had qualified in thirteenth place but by lap two of the first race of the year he was up into second place for the Ducati Xerox team behind the Hanspree Ten Kate Honda rider Jonathan Rea.

Once Haga had sailed past Rea he had to contend with the German rider Max Neukirchner on the Suzuki.  Haga was passed by Neukirchner and sat on his tail for several laps until a shower began to fall on the final lap, causing the Suzuki rider a huge rear end slide giving Haga the chance he needed to retain his place at the front of the pack.

Neukirchner finished in second place ahead of Yukio Kagayama on the Alstare Suzuki in third and Michel Fabrizio on the second Ducati Xerox in fourth.

Britain’s Jonathan Rea took the fifth slot followed by the Stiggy Honda rider Leon Haslam in sixth, Regis Laconi on the DFX Corse Ducati in seventh and Troy Corser for the new BMW team in eighth place.

Ben Spies on the Yamaha WSB was forced off the track on the first corner and struggled to keep up with the pack finally finishing his first race in sixteenth place.

Here are the results for Race One;

1. Noriyuki Haga JPN Ducati Xerox 1098R 34mins 22.631s
2. Max Neukirchner GER Alstare Suzuki GSX-R 1000K9 +0.032s
3. Yukio Kagayama JPN Alstare Suzuki GSX-R 1000K9 +5.347s
4. Michel Fabrizio ITA Ducati Xerox 1098R +6.587s
5. Jonathan Rea GBR HANNspree Ten Kate Honda CBR1000RR +8.491s
6. Leon Haslam GBR Stiggy Motorsport Honda CBR1000RR +8.523s
7. Regis Laconi FRA DFX Corse Ducati 1098R +8.766s
8. Troy Corser AUS BMW Motorrad S1000RR +11.589s
9. Jakub Smrz CZE Guandalini Racing Ducati 1098R +11.721s
10. Tom Sykes GBR Yamaha Italia YZF R1 +11.761s
11. Max Biaggi ITA Aprilia Racing RSV-4 +12.609s
12. Carlos Checa ESP HANNspree Ten Kate Honda CBR1000RR +19.096s
13. Roberto Rolfo ITA Stiggy Motorsport Honda CBR1000RR +24.149s
14. Tommy Hill GBR HANNspree Althea Honda CBR1000RR +27.416s
15. Shinya Nakano JPN Aprilia Racing RSV-4 +28.173s
16. Ben Spies USA Yamaha Italia YZF R1 +28.235s
17. Brendan Roberts AUS Guandalini Racing Ducati 1098R +37.348s
18. Makoto Tamada JPN Kawasaki SRT ZX-10R +37.401s
19. Ruben Xaus ESP BMW Motorrad S1000RR +42.614s
20. Luca Scassa ITA Team Pedercini Kawasaki ZX-10R +1mi 03.794s
21. David Salom ESP Team Pedercini Kawasaki ZX-10R +2 laps

Race Two

Ben Spies steered clear of the middle of the pack in race two after the incident in the first race and set an impressive pace with the Yamaha from the off.

The race saw Haga at the front of the pack followed by Spies until a few laps from the end of the race when Spies passed the Japanese rider who was struggling with his tyres.

Haga took the second place on the podium, seeing him leading the points after the first round of the WSB Championship.  In third place was the Stiggy Honda rider Haslam, claiming his first podium of the year after beating the two Ducati riders for the position.

Max Biaggi on the Alstare Ducati had been running in third spot for most of the race until the final lap when he slid off the track into the gravel after almost running into the back of Fabrizio.

Here are the results for Race Two;

1. Ben Spies USA Yamaha Italia YZF R1 34mins 20.457s
2. Noriyuki Haga JPN Ducati Xerox 1098R +1.286s
3. Leon Haslam GBR Stiggy Motorsport Honda CBR1000RR +4.213s
4. Regis Laconi FRA DFX Corse Ducati 1098R +4.490s
5. Michel Fabrizio ITA Ducati Xerox 1098R +6.045s
6. Max Neukirchner GER Alstare Suzuki GSX-R 1000K9 +9.947s
7. Jakub Smrz CZE Guandalini Racing Ducati 1098R +10.174s
8. Yukio Kagayama JPN Alstare Suzuki GSX-R 1000K9 +12.100s
9. Jonathan Rea GBR HANNspree Ten Kate Honda CBR1000RR +12.742s
10. Tom Sykes GBR Yamaha Italia YZF R1 +20.061s
11. Ruben Xaus ESP BMW Motorrad S1000RR +24.854s
12. Shinya Nakano JPN Aprilia Racing RSV-4 +25.192s
13. Carlos Checa ESP HANNspree Ten Kate Honda CBR1000RR +27.162s
14. Tommy Hill GBR HANNspree Althea Honda CBR1000RR +29.737s
15. Max Biaggi ITA Aprilia Racing RSV-4 +30.036s
16. Roberto Rolfo ITA Stiggy Motorsport Honda CBR1000RR +38.458s
17. Makoto Tamada JPN Kawasaki SRT ZX-10R +44.453s
18. Broc Parkes AUS Kawasaki SRT ZX-0R +45.486s
19. Brendan Roberts AUS Guandalini Racing Ducati 1098R +46.198s
20. Luca Scassa ITA Team Pedercini Kawasaki ZX-10R +57.921s
21. Karl Muggeridge AUS Celani Suzuki GSX-R1000 +57.989s
22. Troy Corser AUS BMW Motorrad S1000RR +1min 0.093s
23. Ryuichi Kiyonari JPN Ten Kate Honda CBR1000RR +1min 7.820s
24. Matteo Baiocco ITA PSG-1 Kawasaki ZX-10R +1min 21.224s
25. David Salom ESP Team Pedercini Kawasaki ZX-10R +1min 21.276s