Haga clean sweeps at Valencia

What's changed in Ducati's factory world superbike team in 2009? Apart from replacing Troy Bayliss with Japan's Noriyuki Haga, very little else judging by the results in round three of the Superbike World Championship at Valencia.

In a mixed day for the Aussies in Spain - Broc Parkes' 10th place in race one was the highlight - Haga powered to a clean sweep and new lap record, with his championship lead now out to a commanding 40pts.

At the same period last year, Bayliss was 48pts in front before eventually wrapping up his third world title in the penultimate round.

"We did a great job today and took two great results," said Haga. "It is very satisfying to take 50pts and increase my advantage in the classification. Unfortunately I didn't make the best start in race one, but I made up time and once I got to the front I was able to build up a bit of an advantage.

"We didn't change much for the second race and I was again very comfortable on my 1198. I've had good feeling with my bike all weekend and I said yesterday that my plan was to win both races so I'm very happy to have done that! I thank my team, who have been fantastic, Ducati and Xerox and I now look forward to Assen!"

While Haga had his Ducati at the front of the pack, there was plenty going on behind, particularly in race one when a number of riders crashed, including polesitter Ben Spies (Yamaha), Australia's Troy Corser (BMW) and British hotshot Jonathan Rea (Honda). Spaniard Carlos Checa (Honda) also removed himself from calculations when he ran of the track.

After a brilliant start, Corser was circulating in fourth and set to spend some time battling at the front. But the five-time winner at Valencia then hit a false neutral and, is so often the case in that situation, he crashed.

In race two, Corser was 15th - lean pickings after the BMW showed such strong form in regular qualifying.

"When the bike found a false neutral, that was that for that one," said Corser. It's a big shame, because I had made a pretty good start and was fourth at the end of the first lap. We changed the gearing for race two and maybe it was just a bit too short because I had grip problems with the rear tyre.

"It wasn't working well and spinning quite a lot. I nearly crashed a couple of times and was over the front of the bars once, but I was determined to finish the race and that's what I did. It was a bit frustrating today because although I knew I was in for a tough time (because of our grid position) I really felt I was going to get a couple of good top 10 finishes."

Following Corser's demise, Parkes was circulating as high as fifth on his rapidly improving Kawasaki before slipping through the pack to finish 10th. He then struggled with grip in race two, but he was more encouraged by what took place in the opener.

"I had a pretty big crash on Friday but thankfully I wasn't hurt," said Parkes. "On Saturday, the bike performed well during qualifying and I felt we'd made some big steps forward since Phillip Island and Qatar

"I am also feeling a lot more comfortable on the bike and I'm finding it easier to ride over a distance which showed in race one. I got a good start and was really happy to be in fifth position at one stage and to battle with the front guys. The bike felt the best it has been all year and it was awesome for the team and I to get in the top 10.

"Race two was a different story however and I struggled with front grip from the start, making it impossible for me to move up any places as there wasn't much I could do. Overall the weekend was a success and I'm really looking forward to Assen."

Meanwhile, Spies' crash in race one proved the Texan is indeed fallible after he had won three of the opening four races. The 24-year-old rookie blamed his spill on pushing hard too hard to compensate for an electrical problem, but rebounded to finish second in race two, ahead of the rider who filled that spot in the opener - Haga's teammate Michel Fabrizio.

German Max Neukirchner (Suzuki) was third in race one, while privateers Regis Laconi (Ducati) and Leon Haslam (Honda) were fourth and fifth in both 23-lappers.

Australians Karl Muggeridge (Suzuki) and Brendan Roberts (Ducati) again failed to score points, with Roberts another to part company with his machine.

After finishing on the podium in all six races this year, Haga is on 135pts out of a maximum 150, well ahead of Spies (95). The battle for third is a tight one between Neukirchner (65), the resurgent Fabrizio (60), Haslam (58), Laconi (56) and Max Biaggi (54), who could only manage a pair of eighths at Valencia after a strong showing in Qatar.

World supersport was more successful for the Australian connection, with Anthony West (Honda) leading 13 of the 23 laps before losing out in a thrilling finish against Yamaha's Cal Crutchlow.

"The first few laps were a bit dodgy with the wet track so I took it easy until Cal came past and then started following him," said West. "I came here wanting to win this race, and led most of it, and only got passed on the last lap. I had no chance to get him back but I am happy with the race after the result we had in Qatar.

"We had a new bike this weekend and it was a big step forward, so I am pretty happy and we can improve a lot on what we have already."

Kenan Sofuoglu fought his way through the field to finish third, but his Honda teammate Andrew Pitt was a lowly 13th after a set-up gamble backfired.

Newcastle's Mark Aitchison (Honda) was a strong fourth from Japanese veteran Katsuaki Fujiwara (Kawasaki), while three Australians failed to finish - Garry McCoy (Triumph), Shaun Geronimi (Suzuki) and Russell Holland (Honda).

Crutchlow and Sofuoglu share the lead on 54pts, from a trio on 43 - Irishman Eugene Laverty (Honda), Pitt and West.

For full results and standings, click here.

The next round will be held at Assen from April 24-26.