World Superbike News

Noriyuki Haga - Ducati Xerox 2009

Noriyuki Haga claimed his first victory in four-months in race one at Imola yesterday with Michel Fabrizio taking his maiden win of the championship in race two.

Race One

Noriyuki Haga is back in contention for the championship once again, after winning the first race at the Imola round  for the Ducati Xerox team.

Max Biaggi on the Aprilia RSV4, led the race by the end of the first lap after starting from sixth on the grid, he was  followed by Michel Fabrizio, Jonathan Rea and Haga.  Ben Spies was back in fifth place after making contact with the BMW of Troy Corser as they battled to get ahead in the first corner.

On lap 3, Rea on the Hanspree Ten Kate Honda, made an error heading over the crest leading onto the Rivazza complex.  Unable to stop, he shot across the path of Fabrizio and Haga before going into the gravel trap and dropping his machine, once back on his feet he managed to get his bike back on circuit but was now in last place.

As the leading four headed into the distance, Spies struggled to keep up with the three front runners as Biaggi came under pressure from the Ducati of Fabrizio who had re-taken second position from his team-mate Haga.

Haga took the second place slot back on lap 8 as they went into Rivazza, before making the same move two-laps later on Biaggi, who straight away fought back for his position.  Haga finally made the move stick on lap 18 of the race with Fabrizio finding his way past the Aprilia after getting a better run coming out of the final chicane.

Spies who had now made his way back to the front of the riders, also tried to take advantage of Biaggi by following Fabrizio through but the Aprilia rider had already seen him and shut the door.

On the final lap, Biaggi reclaimed his second position at the final bend as he dived up the inside of Fabrizio and took his place with just a one hundredth of a second.

Spies finished in fourth place, five seconds behind Haga followed by Ryuichi Kiyonari on the Ten Kate Honda racing machine who had started in fourteenth on the grid.

Leon Haslam took fifth place on the Stiggy Honda after starting in tenth ahead of Jonathan Rea in seventh and Jakub Smrz for the Guandalini Racing team in eighth.

In ninth was Tom Sykes on the Yamaha World Superbike followed by Australian rider Broc Parkes for the Kawasaki Superbike Racing Team.

Marco Simoncelli crashed out of his debut race after replacing the injured rider Shinya Nakano at the Imola circuit.  Running in fifth place at the start of the race after a bad start, Simoncelli crashed out on lap 10 after losing the front of his Aprilia and was forced to retire.

Here are the results;

1. Noriyuki Haga JPN Ducati Xerox 1198R 21 laps
2. Max Biaggi ITA Aprilia Racing RSV-4 +2.074s
3. Michel Fabrizio ITA Ducati Xerox 1198R +2.190s
4. Ben Spies USA Yamaha WSB YZF R1 +5.438s
5. Ryuichi Kiyonari JPN Ten Kate Honda CBR1000RR +14.470s
6. Leon Haslam GBR Stiggy Motorsport Honda CBR1000RR +14.685s
7. Jonathan Rea GBR HANNspree Ten Kate Honda CBR1000 +28.822s
8. Jakub Smrz CZE Guandalini Racing Ducati 1098R +32.694s
9. Tom Sykes GBR Yamaha WSB YZF R1 +33.817s
10. Broc Parkes AUS Kawasaki SRT ZX-0R +34.801s
11. Troy Corser AUS BMW Motorrad S1000RR +35.296s
12. Ruben Xaus ESP BMW Motorrad S1000RR +36.442s
13. Karl Muggeridge AUS Alstare Suzuki GSX-R 1000K9 +38.698
14. Matteo Baiocco ITA Guandalini Racing Ducati 1098R +42.147s
15. Yukio Kagayama JPN Alstare Suzuki GSX-R 1000K9 +45.510s

19. Vittorio Iannuzzo ITA SCI Honda CBR1000RR 13 laps completed
20. Marco Simoncelli ITA Aprilia Racing RSV-4 9 laps completed
21. Shane Byrne GBR Sterilgarda Ducati 1098R 8 laps completed
22. Carlos Checa ESP HANNspree Ten Kate Honda CBR1000RR 7 laps completed
23. Fonsi Nieto ESP DFX Corse Ducati 1098R 7 laps completed
24. Makoto Tamada JPN Kawasaki SRT ZX-10R 5 laps completed
25. Luca Conforti ITA Barni Corse Ducati 1098R 5 laps completed
26. Matthieu Lagrive FRA Althea Honda CBR1000RR 3 laps completed
27. Lorenzo Lanzi ITA DFX Corse Ducati 1098R 2 laps completed

Race Two

Michel Fabrizio took to the front of the pack in the second race of the day after starting in pole position, followed by Noriyuki Haga, Max Biaggi, Shane Byrne and Jonathan Rea.

Spies got off to a terrible start and was back in sixth position as the race got underway from second on the grid.  He moved into fifth place after an error by Rea on lap 1.

Haga soon passed his team-mate to take the lead as Biaggi made a move on Fabrizio but only until lap 5 when the Ducati was back in front of the Aprilia.

By lap 11, Fabrizio was all over the back of Haga, apparently ignoring team orders, and took the lead going into turn one on lap 13.

Marco Simoncelli, on his debut weekend in World Superbikes, claimed an impressive third place on the second Aprilia Racing machine.  After closing in on his team-mate Biaggi, Simoncelli made a daring move and passed him at the Variante Bassa with some late braking, forcing Biaggi into the gravel which in turn also took Spies through the gravel trap as he was pushed wide as Biaggi rejoined the circuit.

Spies finished in fifth place ahead of Jonathan Rea in sixth, Shane Byrne on the Sterilgarda Ducati in seventh, Leon Haslam on the Stiggy Honda in eighth, Jakub Smrz on the second Sterilgarda Ducati in ninth and Carlos Checa for the Hanspree Ten Kate Honda team completing the top ten.

Here are the results;

1. Michel Fabrizio ITA Ducati Xerox 1198R 21 laps
2. Noriyuki Haga JPN Ducati Xerox 1198R +3.592s
3. Marco Simoncelli ITA Aprilia Racing RSV-4 +6.510s
4. Max Biaggi ITA Aprilia Racing RSV-4 +7.445s
5. Ben Spies USA Yamaha WSB YZF R1 +14.678s
6. Jonathan Rea GBR HANNspree Ten Kate Honda CBR1000 +16.396s
7. Shane Byrne GBR Sterilgarda Ducati 1098R +17.110s
8. Leon Haslam GBR Stiggy Motorsport Honda CBR1000RR +22.502s
9. Jakub Smrz CZE Guandalini Racing Ducati 1098R +25.268s
10. Carlos Checa ESP HANNspree Ten Kate Honda CBR1000RR +30.203s
11. Lorenzo Lanzi ITA DFX Corse Ducati 1098R +32.649s
12. Tom Sykes GBR Yamaha WSB YZF R1 +36.243s
13. Ruben Xaus ESP BMW Motorrad S1000RR +36.368s
14. Karl Muggeridge AUS Alstare Suzuki GSX-R 1000K9 +38.809
15. Broc Parkes AUS Kawasaki SRT ZX-0R +42.438s

DNS. Makoto Tamada JPN Kawasaki SRT ZX-10R
DNS. Luca Conforti ITA Barni Corse Ducati 1098R