World Superbike News

Noriyuki Haga - Assen 2009

Ben Spies and Noriyuki Haga yet again dominated the World Superbike Championship races at Assen TT circuit on Sunday.

Race One

In race one Ben Spies on the Yamaha World Superbike took the victory after snatching the lead from the Ducati Xerox rider Noriyuki Haga on the final lap.

As the race got underway, Spies led the pack followed by Max Neukirchner on the Alstare Suzuki and the Ducati of Guandalini Racing rider Jakub Smrz.

Haslam was in fifth place behind Haga at the start and struggled to get past Smrz, with Tom Sykes on the Yamaha WSB right behind him in the slip stream.

Neukirchner crashed out with 15 laps of the race remaining almost collecting Sykes as he went down on the final chicane.

As Haga led the race followed by Spies, Haslam stuck with the pair of them passing Spies with 10 laps to go.  Haslam desperately tried to catch Haga but was unable to match his pace as his rear tyre began to lose grip and letting Spies back through to take second.

Haga was leading the race followed by Leon Haslam on the Stiggy Honda machine but with only 6 laps left to run he was on the tail of Haslam, trying every way he knew how to try and get past.  He finally passed Haslam and set about chasing down Haga.

The Japanese rider desperately tried to create a gap between himself and Spies but was reeled in and passed by the American with only two corners to go before the end of the race.

Spies took the victory as he passed Haga with only two corners of the final lap to go followed in third place by Haslam.  Tom Sykes took fourth ahead of Max Biaggi on the Aprilia in fifth and Smrz in sixth.

Here are the results;

1 1 19 B. SPIES USA Yamaha WSB Yamaha YZF R1 22 1′39.039 279,3 1′37.626 274,3 25 120 2
2 4 41 N.HAGA JPN Ducati Xerox Team Ducati 1098R 22 0.154 1′38.742 275,0 1′38.202 273,5 20 155 1
3 3 91 L. HASLAM GBR Stiggy Racing Honda Honda CBR1000RR 22 0.779 1′38.730 275,0 1′38.072 270,7 16 74 3
4 8 66 T. SYKES GBR Yamaha WSB Yamaha YZF R1 22 8.775 1′39.028 277,1 1′38.790 275,0 13 60 8
5 10 3 M.BIAGGI ITA Aprilia Racing Aprilia RSV4 Factory 22 11.275 1′39.373 281,6 1′38.441 275,7 11 65 6
6 2 96 J. SMRZ CZE Guandalini Racing Ducati 1098R 22 16.126 1′39.655 276,4 1′37.765 275,7 10 28 15
7 11 65 J. REA GBR HANNspree Ten Kate HondHaonda CBR1000RR 22 19.555 1′39.232 278,6 1′38.510 274,3 9 42 9
8 12 55 R. LACONI FRA DFX Corse Ducati 1098R 22 19.760 1′39.604 275,0 1′38.521 270,7 8 64 7
9 5 84 M.FABRIZIO ITA Ducati Xerox Team Ducati 1098R 22 23.006 1′39.505 279,3 1′38.215 276,4 7 67 5
10 15 11 T. CORSER AUS BMW Motorrad Motorsport BMW S1000 RR 22 24.285 1′39.908 269,4 1′38.906 272,1 6 29 14
11 14 67 S. BYRNE GBR Sterilgarda Ducati 1098R 22 26.003 1′39.942 272,8 1′38.811 272,1 5 31 13
12 13 31 K. MUGGERIDGE AUS Celani Race Suzuki GSX-R 1000 K9 22 27.814 1′39.612 269,4 1′38.802 268,7 4 4 21
13 6 76 M.NEUKIRCHNER GER Suzuki Alstare BRUX Suzuki GSX-R 1000 K9 22 36.962 1′39.085 277,9 1′38.353 277,1 3 68 4
14 20 111 R. XAUS ESP BMW Motorrad Motorsport BMW S1000 RR 22 39.025 1′40.564 271,4 1′39.643 270,7 2 19 17
15 16 9 R. KIYONARI JPN Ten Kate Honda Racing Honda CBR1000RR 22 41.505 1′39.926 277,1 1′39.079 276,4 1 33 11
16 18 24 B. ROBERTS AUS Guandalini Racing Ducati 1098R 22 41.810 1′40.218 270,0 1′39.390 270,0
17 25 100 M.TAMADA JPN Kawasaki World Superbike RK.aTw. asaki ZX 10R 22 50.186 1′40.581 276,4 1′41.057 270,7 2 23
18 23 32 S. EASTON GBR Kawasaki World Superbike RK.aTw. asaki ZX 10R 22 55.567 1′41.059 278,6 1′40.608 274,3
19 21 94 D. CHECA ESP Yamaha France GMT 94 IpoYnaemaha YZF R1 22 56.425 1′40.856 269,4 1′40.496 264,6
20 22 25 D.SALOM ESP Team Pedercini Kawasaki ZX 10R 22 1′05.169 1′40.958 268,7 1′40.572 269,4
21 28 88 R. RESCH AUT TKR Suzuki Switzerland Suzuki GSX-R 1000 K9 22 1′37.663 1′42.528 267,3 1′41.978 265,3
Not Classified
RET 27 99 L. SCASSA ITA Team Pedercini Kawasaki ZX 10R 18 4 Laps 1′40.909 268,7 1′41.085 264,0
RET 19 56 S. NAKANO JPN Aprilia Racing Aprilia RSV4 Factory 13 9 Laps 1′40.464 269,4 1′39.569 272,8 27 16
RET 24 77 V. IANNUZZO ITA Squadra Corse Italia Honda CBR1000RR 13 9 Laps 1′41.825 270,0 1′41.014 267,3
RET 26 15 M.BAIOCCO ITA PSG1-1 Corse Kawasaki ZX 10R 12 10 Laps 1′41.505 270,0 1′41.062 270,0
RET 7 7 C. CHECA ESP HANNspree Ten Kate HondHaonda CBR1000RR 4 18 Laps 1′39.550 272,8 1′38.640 273,5 31 12
RET 9 71 Y. KAGAYAMA JPN Suzuki Alstare BRUX Suzuki GSX-R 1000 K9 1 21 Laps 260,7 1′38.288 276,4 35 10
RET 17 33 T. HILL GBR Honda Althea Racing Honda CBR1000RR 0 266,0 1′39.387 270,7 6 20

Race Two

The second race was dominated by Noriyuki Haga from the start finishing the race 3 seconds of second place man Leon Haslam, who claimed his second podium of the day.

Ben Spies crashed out on lap 2 of the race going into turn one as the front of his machine went from under him.  Haga got on with the job in hand opening a gap between himself and the likes of Haslam, Neukirchner, Michel Fabrizio on the second Ducati Xerox and Smrz to battle for the final two podium places.

Haslam battled to pass Fabrizio and finally managed the task on lap 12 staying in front of Fabrizio, who should have been in third.  He unfortuantley made a small mistake with Smrz taking full advantage of his error and passing to take the final step of the podium.

The battle for fifth was going on behind the front group with the position finally going to Jonathan Rea who snatching out of the hand of Tom Sykes.

Stuart Easton was the replacement rider for the injured Broc Parkes on the Paul Bird Kawasaki but was said to be disappointed with his weekend.  After concern that he hadn’t pushed hard enough in race one, he over did it in race two and lost the front of his machine.

The BMW rider Troy Corser managed two tenth places for his team this weekend despite riding with a broken hand.  Only days earlier new x-rays had shown the fracture which hadn’t previously been noticed, but he rode through the pain barrier to earn points for his team.

Here are the results;

1 4 41 N.HAGA JPN Ducati Xerox Team Ducati 1098R 22 1′38.680 275,0 1′38.202 273,5 20 25 180 1
2 3 91 L. HASLAM GBR Stiggy Racing Honda Honda CBR1000RR 22 2.678 1′39.135 274,3 1′38.072 270,7 16 20 94 3
3 2 96 J. SMRZ CZE Guandalini Racing Ducati 1098R 22 4.603 1′39.104 275,0 1′37.765 275,7 10 16 44 10
4 5 84 M.FABRIZIO ITA Ducati Xerox Team Ducati 1098R 22 8.981 1′38.885 279,3 1′38.215 276,4 7 13 80 4
5 11 65 J. REA GBR HANNspree Ten Kate HondHaonda CBR1000RR 22 12.104 1′39.027 275,7 1′38.510 274,3 9 11 53 9
6 8 66 T. SYKES GBR Yamaha WSB Yamaha YZF R1 22 14.575 1′39.322 276,4 1′38.790 275,0 13 10 70 6
7 7 7 C. CHECA ESP HANNspree Ten Kate HondHaonda CBR1000RR 22 17.449 1′39.152 272,1 1′38.640 273,5 9 40 11
8 14 67 S. BYRNE GBR Sterilgarda Ducati 1098R 22 17.729 1′39.394 272,8 1′38.811 272,1 5 8 39 13
9 6 76 M.NEUKIRCHNER GER Suzuki Alstare BRUX Suzuki GSX-R 1000 K9 22 18.167 1′39.255 274,3 1′38.353 277,1 3 7 75 5
10 15 11 T. CORSER AUS BMW Motorrad Motorsport BMW S1000 RR 22 25.056 1′39.654 270,7 1′38.906 272,1 6 6 35 14
11 20 111 R. XAUS ESP BMW Motorrad Motorsport BMW S1000 RR 22 32.617 1′40.072 269,4 1′39.643 270,7 2 5 24 17
12 9 71 Y. KAGAYAMA JPN Suzuki Alstare BRUX Suzuki GSX-R 1000 K9 22 32.688 1′39.694 274,3 1′38.288 276,4 4 39 12
13 18 24 B. ROBERTS AUS Guandalini Racing Ducati 1098R 22 37.415 1′40.411 268,7 1′39.390 270,0 3 3 22
14 26 15 M.BAIOCCO ITA PSG1-1 Corse Kawasaki ZX 10R 22 55.088 1′40.709 270,7 1′41.062 270,0 2 2 24
15 27 99 L. SCASSA ITA Team Pedercini Kawasaki ZX 10R 22 55.325 1′41.109 266,0 1′41.085 264,0 1 1 26
16 12 55 R. LACONI FRA DFX Corse Ducati 1098R 22 1′18.514 1′39.501 273,5 1′38.521 270,7 8 64 8
17 28 88 R. RESCH AUT TKR Suzuki Switzerland Suzuki GSX-R 1000 K9 22 1′30.780 1′42.468 267,3 1′41.978 265,3
Not Classified
RET 17 33 T. HILL GBR Honda Althea Racing Honda CBR1000RR 20 2 Laps 1′40.510 272,1 1′39.387 270,7 6 20
RET 25 100 M.TAMADA JPN Kawasaki World Superbike RK.aTw. asaki ZX 10R 10 12 Laps 1′40.750 272,1 1′41.057 270,7 2 25
RET 16 9 R. KIYONARI JPN Ten Kate Honda Racing Honda CBR1000RR 7 15 Laps 1′39.413 266,0 1′39.079 276,4 1 33 15
RET 21 94 D. CHECA ESP Yamaha France GMT 94 IpoYnaemaha YZF R1 5 17 Laps 1′40.677 264,0 1′40.496 264,6
RET 22 25 D.SALOM ESP Team Pedercini Kawasaki ZX 10R 5 17 Laps 1′41.840 265,3 1′40.572 269,4
RET 13 31 K. MUGGERIDGE AUS Celani Race Suzuki GSX-R 1000 K9 3 19 Laps 1′39.772 266,6 1′38.802 268,7 4 4 21
RET 23 32 S. EASTON GBR Kawasaki World Superbike RK.aTw. asaki ZX 10R 3 19 Laps 1′40.644 270,0 1′40.608 274,3
RET 1 19 B. SPIES USA Yamaha WSB Yamaha YZF R1 1 21 Laps 272,1 1′37.626 274,3 25 120 2
RET 24 77 V. IANNUZZO ITA Squadra Corse Italia Honda CBR1000RR 1 21 Laps 247,3 1′41.014 267,3
RET 10 3 M.BIAGGI ITA Aprilia Racing Aprilia RSV4 Factory 1 21 Laps 103,2 1′38.441 275,7 11 65 7