Haga forges ahead in WSBK

Australia's Troy Corser has cast aside some pre-event apprehension and a cracked wrist to score two excellent top 10 finishes in round four of world superbike title at Assen, as Japan's Noriyuki Haga continues to dominate the championship on his Ducati.

Corser was concerned that his all-new BMW may have struggled with the tighter Assen layout and, despite more lean pickings in the revised Superpole format, he rallied in the two 22-lap races.

"That was one of our most consistent race days this season and, although I'm never happy with 10th place, I think that is about the best we could've done today," said Corser. "Maybe if we hadn't started the races from the fourth row, I could've challenged for sixth or seventh place, but until we qualify better, it's always going to be a case of playing 'catch-up'.

"My hand wasn't too bad in race one, but it was definitely more sore in race two. The crack is right where you put pressure on the handlebars, so it's not something that I could avoid. So, all in all, I think it is pretty good to get two 10ths today."

Corser, who cracked his wrist in a testing crash at Monza prior to Assen, is now 14th overall on 35pts, only just outside the top 10.

At the front of the pack, American Ben Spies (Yamaha), Haga and British privateer Leon Haslam (Honda) were the pacesetters at Assen.

After a thrilling last corner pass on Haga, the polesitter Spies scored his fourth win of the year in race one, but then high-sided out of the second after just one lap.

That left Haga with free reign, and he set a new lap record in a 2.678sec victory over Haslam, with the impressive Jakub Smrz (Ducati) third.

Haga and Spies now have four wins apiece in 2009, although Haga leads the championship by virtue of his unrivalled consistency - podiums in all eight races.

"It's been a great day for us, and after nine years I have finally won again at Assen; I am very happy," said Haga. "In race one I was a little disappointed to just lose out on the win on the very last lap, but it was a great race.

"I set off strong but Spies and Haslam rode so hard today. First I had to push hard to catch Spies which was quite difficult as my bike was still not working perfectly, and then to hold the lead was not easy either as the two of them were breathing down my neck.

"We changed the setting of the bike slightly for race two and I was extremely comfortable on it. I'm sorry that Ben fell as I think we would have had another good battle, but for me and my team it's been a very good day. Now we head to Monza for the next challenge."

Hags now has a 60pt (180 to 120) lead over Spies, with Haslam (94), Ducati's Michel Fabrizio (80) and Suzuki's Neukirchner (75) completing the top five.

Spies was extremely disappointed with his crash in race two, as he felt he had an even better set-up than the opener.

"In race two I was feeling good, and the bike… felt better than with the tyres in race one," said Spies. "I was pushing and got out wide in Turn One and touched the Astroturf piece and high-sided. It's a shame as I felt really good and the bike felt right.

"You never know if you can win the race, but I felt we could have had a faster race than the first. We'll build on it though, we had a good test in Monza so we're set up for there and I haven't hurt myself today so it's okay."

Spies was among a glut of retirements in race two, and the list also included Aprilia's Max Biaggi (mechanical) and Australia's Karl Muggeridge (crash).

Biaggi was fifth in race one, behind Yamaha's Tom Sykes, while Fabrizio and Jonathan Rea (Honda) completed the top five in race two.

Muggeridge was 12th in race one on his Suzuki, while Adelaide's Brendan Roberts went 16-13 at Assen on his Ducati - although he was upstaged by his teammate, Smrz.

Newcastle's Broc Parkes didn't compete on his factory Kawasaki after a pre-event testing crash in the UK damaged his shoulder. Parkes was replaced by UK rider Stuart Easton, who struggled to fill the Australian's void.

Parkes was joined as a non-starter by highly rated American John Hopkins (Honda), who has broken his hip and returned to America for treatment.

In supersport, resurgent Australian Andrew Pitt (Honda) was challenging for victory before crashing out, with the chequered flag going to Eugene Laverty (Honda) in a thrilling finish.

Just 0.178secs separated Laverty from third placed Joan Lascorz (Kawasaki), with championship leader Cal Crutchlow (Yamaha) sandwiched between the two.

Laszorz had led into the final lap, but was unable to put up the shutters to keep his pursuers at bay.

The leading Australian was Mark Aitchison in sixth, one spot ahead of fellow Honda rider Anthony West, who recovered from a mid-race off-track excursion.

Meanwhile, Garry McCoy (Triumph) was lumped with a ride-through penalty after jumping the start. He was 15th, with Russell Holland (Honda) 17th.

Crutchlow leads on 74pts from Laverty (68), Honda's Kenan Sofuoglu (65), West (52) and Pitt (43).

Round five will be held at Monza, Italy, on from May 8-10.

ASSEN SUPERIKE RESULTS

Race one: 22 laps
1 Ben Spies, America, Yamaha 36:31.338
2 Noriyuki Haga, Japan, Ducati +0.154
3 Leon Haslam, Honda, Great Britain +0.779
4 Tom Sykes, Great Britain, Yamaha +8.775
5 Max Biaggi, Italy, Aprilia +11.275
6 Jakub Smrz, Czech Republic, Ducati +16.126
7 Jonathan Rea, Great Britain, Honda +19.555
8 Regis Laconi, France, Ducati +19.760
9 Michel Fabrizio, Italy, Ducati +23.006
10 Troy Corser, Australia, BMW +24.285
12 Karl Muggeridge, Australia, Suzuki +27.814
16 Brendan Roberts, Australia, Ducati +41.810

21 finishers, 7 DNFs
Fastest lap and new record: Haslam - 1:38.730 (Previous record: Max Neukirchner, 1:39.395, 2008)

Race two: 22 laps
1 Haga 36:31.712
2 Haslam +2.678
3 Smrz +4.603
4 Fabrizio +8.981
5 Rea +12.104
6 Sykes +14.575
7 Carlos Checa, Spain, Honda +17.449
8 Shane Byrne, Great Britain, Ducati +17.729
9 Max Neukirchner, Germany, Suzuki +18.167
10 Corser +25.056
13 Roberts +37.415
DNF Muggeridge +19 laps

17 finishers, 10 DNFs
Fastest lap and new record: Haga - 1:38.689 (Previous record - Haslam, 1:38.730, race one)

Superbike standings (after round 4 of 14):
1 Haga 180
2 Spies 120
3 Haslam 94
4 Fabrizio 80
5 Neukirchner 75
6 Sykes 70
7 Biaggi 65
8 Laconi 64
9 Rea 53
10 Smrz 44
15 Corser 35
19 Broc Parkes, Australia, Kawasaki 8
21 Muggeridge 4
22 Roberts 3

Supersport race: 21 laps
1 Eugene Laverty, Ireland, Honda 35:45.160
2 Cal Crutchlow, Great Britain, Yamaha +0.107
3 Joan Lascorz, Spain, Kawasaki +0.178
4 Fabien Foret, France, Yamaha +1.777
5 Kenan Sofuoglu, Turkey, Honda +1.901
6 Mark Aitchison, Australia, Honda +5.492
7 Anthony West, Australia, Honda +12.552
8 Barry Veneman, Netherlands, Suzuki +12.845
9 Robbin Harms, Denmark, Honda +13.567
10 Michele Pirro, Italy, Yamaha +19.657
15 Garry McCoy, Australia, Triumph +44.902
17 Russell Holland, Australia, Honda +52.959
DNF Andrew Pitt, Australia, Honda + 6 laps

23 finishers, 8 DNFs
Fastest lap and new record: Crutchlow - 1:40.836 (Previous record: Sofuoglu - 1:42.096, 2007)

Current supersport standings (after round 4 of 13)
1 Crutchlow 74pts
2 Laverty 68
3 Sofuoglu 65
4 West 52
5 Pitt 43
6 Aitchison 34
7 Foret 28
8 Lascorz 27
9= Matthieu Lagrive, France, Yamaha 25
9= Veneman 25
15 McCoy 12

For full results and standings, click here.