Racing: Haga roars back into the WSBK lead

Japan’s Noriyuki Haga has seized back the lead in the 2009 world superbike title from American Ben Spies as the championship made its return to the historic Imola circuit in Italy.

Haga was magnificent, claiming victory for the first time in over four months in race one after passing long-time leader Max Biaggi (Aprilia) late in the piece, and then backing up with a second place in race two behind his factory Ducati teammate Michel Fabrizio.

While Haga was pushing hard at the front, the unlucky Spies was seemingly a magnet for trouble, and could only manage four and fifth places in the two 21-lappers.

As a result, Haga turned around an 18pt deficit into a 3pt lead with four races still remaining, starting at Magny-Cours in France next Sunday.

“Over this weekend we have gradually improved and I am especially happy with the result because my father has travelled to Europe for the first time to see me race,” said Haga.

“For race two, I unfortunately had to go out on the second bike as we had problems with the first and we couldn’t get it fixed in time. It was a hard race and I am very tired at the end of it all.

“We are now back in the lead with a 3pt advantage, but there’s still a fight ahead. We need the best possible bike for Magny-Cours and Portimao!”

Haga’s win in race one was his 40th in world superbike, with only Carl Fogarty (59) and Troy Bayliss (53) ahead of him.

And he has the chance to push closer towards the top two in 2010, having re-signed with Ducati for another year – just as

Spies appears destined to make a switch to MotoGP a year earlier than expected.

Australia’s Troy Corser (BMW) suffered brake problems at Imola, dropping down the order to finish 11th in race one before pulling out of the finale altogether after just four laps.

Broc Parkes (Kawasaki) was 10th and 15th, with Karl Muggeridge (Suzuki) 13th and 14th.

Meanwhile, Spies branded his second race at Imola “messy”, and also had a dig at Honda’s Jonathan Rea for some over exuberance.

“In race one we ruined our chances with the electronic side of the bike, we didn't have enough power coming out of the bike and we struggled with grip a bit as well, it was a rough race,” said Spies.

“The second race we had the pace for sure to battle for the lead, but a combination of things held us up. Rea got pretty greedy early in the race, passing me in the gravel trap three different times.

“I felt bad for him as I knew he had the pace to run up front, but you've got to know when to calm down and when to take it easy for a couple of laps and let the race come in; you can't push on every corner.

“I had a couple of laps where I wasn't riding well at all then I got myself together and caught up to (Marco) Simoncelli and Biaggi. They bumped and Biaggi ran off the track, when he came back on it was either hit him or go off into the gravel. I got back on and caught up to (Shane) Byrne and then almost ran into the back of him and had to run off the track again.

“There were a lot of mistakes, a couple from me and some from others. If you would have told me after the first race that we would only be losing the championship by 3pts I'd be happy because there were a lot of guys who could beat me this weekend.”

Fabrizio, who started from pole position, was a one-man show in race two with a resounding 3.592sec victory over Haga. It completed a superb weekend for Ducati, whose headquarters are just up the road from Imola at Bologna.

Fabrizio was a close third in race one, while world superbike debutante Marco Simoncelli, deputising for Shinya Nakano at Aprilia, magnificently filled the same position in race two.

The 2008 world 250 GP champion, who will go MotoGP racing next year, was also on the pace in race one before sliding down the road.

Fabrizio still remain in the world title hunt on 350pts, behind Haga (391) and Spies (388). A maximum of 100pts remain in the final four races.

Meanwhile, the battle for the supersport title has been thrown wide open after Cal Crutchlow (Yamaha) crashed while he was heading towards his sixth win of the season.

The British rider’s lead in the table is now 2pts over Eugene Laverty (Honda), who finished runner-up behind Kenan Sofuoglu (Honda), while the final podium slot went to Fabien Foret (Yamaha).
Sofuoglu’s victory was his 14th in the class, which is now an all-time record.

The race was a two-part affair after the red flags came out following Joan Lascorz’s engine failure on his Kawasaki on lap 11, which left oil on the 4.93km circuit.

Australia’s Garry McCoy (Triumph) was fifth on aggregate, behind new teammate Chaz Davies.

Andrew Pitt and Anthony West were sixth and eighth respectively, while Mark Aitchison continued his lean trot with a crash on lap one.

IMOLA SUPERBIKE RESULTS
Race one: 21 laps
1 Noriyuki Haga, Japan, Ducati 38:22.199
2 Max Biaggi, Italy, Aprilia +2.074
3 Michel Fabrizio, Italy, Ducati +2.190
4 Ben Spies, America, Yamaha +5.438
5 Ryuichi Kiyonari, Japan, Honda +14.470
6 Leon Haslam, UK, Honda +14.685
7 Jonathan Rea, UK, Honda +26.822
8 Jakub Smrz, Czech Republic, Ducati +32.694
9 Tom Sykes, UK, Yamaha +33.817
10 Broc Parkes, Australia, Kawasaki +34.801
11 Troy Corser, Australia, BMW +35.286
13 Karl Muggeridge, Australia, Suzuki +38.698

18 finishers, 9 DNFs
Fastest lap and founding record: Fabrizio – 1:49.282

Race two: 21 laps
1 Fabrizio
2 Haga +3.592
3 Marco Simoncelli, Italy, Aprilia +6.510
4 Biaggi +7.445
5 Spies +14.678
6 Rea +16.396
7 Byrne +17.110
8 Haslam +22.502
9 Smrz +25.268
10 Carlos Checa, Spain, Honda +30.203
14 Muggeridge +38.809
15 Parkes +42.435
DNF Corser +17 laps

18 finishers, 7 DNFs, 1 DNS
Fastest lap and new record: Haga – 1:48.982

Superbike standings (after round 12 of 14):
1 Haga 391
2 Spies 388
3 Fabrizio 350
4 Rea 263
5 Biaggi 257
6 Haslam 219
7 Checa 183
8 Sykes 176
9 Smrz 151
10 Byrne 149
15 Corser 76
18 Parkes 41
25 Muggeridge 13

IMOLA SUPERSPORT RESULT
1 Kenan Sofuoglu, Turkey, Honda
2 Eugene Laverty, Ireland, Honda
3 Fabien Foret, France, Yamaha
4 Chaz Davies, Great Britain, Triumph
5 Garry McCoy, Australia, Triumph
6 Andrew Pitt, Australia, Honda
7 Katsuaki Fujiwara, Japan, Kawasaki
8 Anthony West, Australia, Honda
9 Miguel Praia, Portugal, Honda
10 Danilo Dell’Omo, Italy, Honda
DNF Mark Aitchison, Australia, Honda

Current supersport standings (after round 11 of 13)
1 Cal Crutchlow, UK, Yamaha 210
2 Laverty 208
3 Sofuoglu 153
3 Joan Lascorz, Spain, Kawasaki 138
5 Foret 115
6= West 104
6= Pitt 104
8 McCoy 82
9 Aitchison 71
10 Massimo Roccoli, Italy, Honda 62

Next round: Magny-Cours, France, October 2-4