World Superbike News

This weekend saw the South African round of the World Superbike championship take place at the Kyalami circuit with Michel Fabrizio taking victory in race one and Leon Haslam winning race two.

Race One

Michel Fabrizio dominated race one as the lights went out from the start of race one at Kyalami for the Ducati Xerox team.

The Italian slotted into the lead at the first bend after qualifying in fourth place on the grid ahead of British rider James Toseland on the Yamaha Sterilgarda machine.

Carlos Checa put his Ducati in front of Toseland before the end of the first lap with Leon Haslam in fourth and the two Aprilia’s of Leon Camier and Max Biaggi in fifth and sixth places.

Biaggi soon passed his team-mate for fifth place before passing Toseland to move into fourth.  Toseland was then passed by Camier, Cal Crutchlow and Jonathan Rea as he drifted backwards on the grid.

Rea was on a mission as he passed Crutchlow, and then made an impressive move on Camier and Toseland at the same time, passing them on the outside of the bend following Mineshaft.

Fabrizio crossed the line to take the fourth World Superbike win of his career followed by Checa in second and Haslam in third.

Here are the results;

1. Michel Fabrizio ITA Ducati Xerox 1198 24 laps
2. Carlos Checa ESP Althea Ducati 1198 +1.098s
3. Leon Haslam GBR Alstare Suzuki GSX-R1000 +5.049s
4. Max Biaggi ITA Aprilia Alitalia Racing RSV-4 +6.974s
5. Jonathan Rea GBR Ten Kate Honda CBR1000RR +13.710s
6. Leon Camier GBR Aprilia Alitalia Racing RSV-4 +13.848s
7. James Toseland GBR Yamaha Sterilgarda YZF R1 +16.064s
8. Cal Crutchlow GBR Yamaha Sterilgarda YZF R1 +16.231s
9. Jakub Smrz CZE PATA B&G Racing Ducati 1198 +16.580s
10. Sylvain Guintoli FRA Alstare Suzuki GSX-R1000 +23.100s
11. Luca Scassa ITA Team Supersonic Ducati 1198 +24.561s
12. Troy Corser AUS BMW Motorrad S1000RR +25.504s
13. Sheridan Morais RSA EmTek Aprilia RSV-4 +27.073s
14. Ruben Xaus ESP BMW Motorrad S1000RR +27.273s
15. Shane Byrne GBR Althea Ducati 1198 +30.692s

16. Tom Sykes GBR Kawasaki SRT ZX-10R +34.008s
17. Noriyuki Haga JPN Ducati Xerox 1198 +35.948s
18. Chris Vermeulen AUS Kawasaki SRT ZX-10R +44.030s
19. Max Neukirchner GER Ten Kate Honda CBR1000RR +48.382s

Not Classified

20. Roger Lee Hayden USA Team Pedercini Kawasaki ZX-10R 13 laps completed
21. Broc Parkes AUS Echo-CRS Honda CBR1000RR 11 laps completed
22. Matteo Baiocco ITA Team Pedercini Kawasaki ZX-10R 6 laps completed

Race Two

Leon Haslam took the second race of the day after passing Jonathan Rea on the penultimate lap of the race in a surprising finish.

Rea moved into the lead of the race after a fantastic start and some impressive moves despite starting from eleventh position on the grid on the Ten Kate Honda machine.

It was Haslam that took to the front of the pack as the race got underway ahead of Max Biaggi, Carlos Checa and Rea.  The Honda rider then passed Checa on the inside before being gifted another place by Biaggi who made a mistake allowing the British rider his position.

Rea then got his head down to chase down the leading man Haslam but had the lead handed to him when Haslam made a mistake at Westbank under braking.

With Rea followed by Haslam and Biaggi, the three remained challengers for the victory while Checa, Fabrizio and Crutchlow had their own race behind.

Haslam attempted to retake the lead on lap 7 but the move only allowed Biaggi to slot into second position and make his own challenge on Rea.  Rea was having none of it and closed the door as the Italian tried to pass at Continental.

On lap 14, Haslam bullied his way back into second place before once again attempting the front place as they entered Continental allowing Rea back in front.

The three continued to race for that number one spot with Haslam succeeding again going into Continental as he squeezed through forcing Rea to sit up on his machine and see the Alstare Suzuki rider cross the line to take the win.

Leon Camier was forced to retire his Aprilia with only four laps of the race remaining after developing problems with his bike.

Here are the results;

1. Leon Haslam GBR Alstare Suzuki GSX-R1000 39mins 52.870s
2. Jonathan Rea GBR Ten Kate Honda CBR1000RR +0.522s
3. Max Biaggi ITA Aprilia Alitalia Racing RSV-4 +0.601s
4. Cal Crutchlow GBR Yamaha Sterilgarda YZF R1 +0.991s
5. Carlos Checa ESP Althea Ducati 1198 +1.479s
6. James Toseland GBR Yamaha Sterilgarda YZF R1 +13.324s
7. Troy Corser AUS BMW Motorrad S1000RR +13.740s
8. Michel Fabrizio ITA Ducati Xerox 1198 +14.250s
9. Jakub Smrz CZE PATA B&G Racing Ducati 1198 +15.190s
10. Noriyuki Haga JPN Ducati Xerox 1198 +16.790s
11. Ruben Xaus ESP BMW Motorrad S1000RR +21.101s
12. Luca Scassa ITA Team Supersonic Ducati 1198 +22.670s
13. Shane Byrne GBR Althea Ducati 1198 +24.506s
14. Tom Sykes GBR Kawasaki SRT ZX-10R +31.301s
15. Sylvain Guintoli FRA Alstare Suzuki GSX-R1000 +31.836s

16. Chris Vermeulen AUS Kawasaki SRT ZX-10R +33.710s
17. Max Neukirchner GER Ten Kate Honda CBR1000RR +35.203s
18. Broc Parkes AUS Echo-CRS Honda CBR1000RR +55.929s
19. Roger Lee Hayden USA Team Pedercini Kawasaki ZX-10R +56.074s
20. Matteo Baiocco ITA Team Pedercini Kawasaki ZX-10R +1min 08.481s

Not Classified

21. Leon Camier GBR Aprilia Alitalia Racing RSV-4 17 laps completed
22. Sheridan Morais RSA EmTek Aprilia RSV-4 10 laps completed