World Superbike Misano Results

Chris McNeil from:motorcycle-usa.com

Sunday, June 21, 2009

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Race 1

Ben Spies (Yamaha World Superbike) scored his eighth win of the season in the first World Superbike race at the Misano World Circuit in San Marino, Italy. Drama unfolded as the race was held in flag-to-flag conditions, all riders starting with their full wet tires and switching mid-way to finish in the dry. Shane Byrne (Sterilgarda Ducati) had a dominate lead over Ruben Xaus, Michel Fabrizio and Spies mid-way through the 24-lap race. Spies and Fabrizio both chose to change to their dry bikes on the 13 lap, which proved the turning point of the race. Equipped with his slick tires the Texan slipped back on the track behind Fabrizio in eighth. By lap 17 he had taken the lead from Xaus and set the pace for the rest of the race, finishing almost eight seconds ahead of runner-up Byrne.

Ben Spies' focus was on getting ahead of Michel Fabrizio, who has been running at a similar pace throughout the weekend and last few rounds of World Superbike.

"I stayed as close as I could to Fabrizio, I couldn’t run Byrne’s pace but wanted to stay with Michel as he was the one who mattered to me in the championship, " explained the rider known as the Texas Terror. "I picked the right moment to come in and get out on dry tires and switch bikes and put in good pace and we managed to win the race."

It took a couple laps for Fabrizio to find feeling with his Ducati 1198, but he was able to hold-off the rapidly charging poleman Jakub Smrz (Guandalini Racing Ducati) in a very close battle for the last podium position. Despite being 20 seconds behind Smrz, Haga managed to garner 11 points as he passed fellow Japanese rider Yukio Kagayama (Suzuki Alstare) to take fifth.

Jonathan Rea (Hannspree Ten Kate) was the first Honda to the checkered-flag despite starting from the back of the grid and also picking up a ride-through penalty. Tom Sykes made up for an average qualifying position to take eight more points for Factory Yamaha, adding to Spies' first-place trophy of 25. Shinya Nakano was the top Aprilia rider in ninth, with Biaggi also collecting three points in 13th. World Superbike rookie Matt Lagrive, who was chosen by the Honda Althea team to permanently replace struggling English racer Tommy Hill in Round 5, scored his first points of the season in tenth.

Ruben Xaus led the race with seven laps to go, but received a 'ride-through' penalty for exceeding the pit lane speed after coming in to switch bikes. Xaus would finish in 14th and take the only points for the BMW team in Round 8, with his teammate Troy Corser sitting out Race 1 after an electronic problem caused him to high-side during the warm-up lap. Fortunately the Australian ride did not further injure his shoulder in the crash. The last point went to Alex Polita, who replaces Celani Suzuki's injured Karl Muggeridge during this round and the next at Donington.

The 2008 British Superbike champion Shane Byrne took his first podium of the 2009 World Superbike season in Race 1.
Ben Spies: "It was a hard one, we knew from the start it was going to get dry and in that first half hats off to Shakey, he rode great. I had the feeling in the rain that I wasn't quite happy but I tried as hard as I could to stay close to Michel. My box showed me that some riders were starting to come in for a change so I said that it was time to get in now. It was a hectic race, pretty eventful, not a great race but I was happy to pull this one off."

Shane Byrne: "That was a fantastic race. It's a shame it didn't stay wet for a little bit longer because I had a really big lead at one point. I wasn't sure what to do with the tyre situation and all the time the lead was going up, and I didn't know whether to stay out or not. I switched bikes with about seven laps to go and the first two laps were really difficult. Ben had done a couple more dry laps than I had, he passed me and there was no way I was going to get him. It was a fantastic result for the team at their home circuit, they've all worked really hard."

Michel Fabrizio: "That's not a bad result, it was a great battle with Jakub for the final podium slot. When I saw that on the big screen that he was getting closer and closer, I knew that I had to invent something special on the last lap. I was unable to find the best possible feeling immediately with the dry tyres and I slipped back a bit but I've had a lot of bad luck in recent years at Misano so I'm very happy to get onto the podium." (worldsbk.com)

Misano World Superbike - Race 1 Results
1. Ben Spies (Yamaha YZF-R1) 45'02.773
2. Shane Byrne (Ducati 1098R) +7.931
3. Michel Fabrizio (Ducati 1098R) +11.836
4. Jakub Smrz (Ducati 1098R) +11.886
5. Noriyuki Haga (Ducati 1098R) +31.670
6. Yukio Kagayama (Suzuki GSX-R 1000 K9) +33.241
7. Jonathan Rea (Honda CBR1000RR) +35.772
8. Tom Sykes (Yamaha YZF-R1) +41.931
9. Shinya Nakano (Aprilia RSV4) +51.507
10. Matthieu Lagrive (Honda CBR1000RR) +59.921
11. Carlos Checa (Honda CBR1000RR) +1'04.285
12. Leon Haslam (Honda CBR1000RR) +1'04.313
13. Max Biaggi (Aprilia RSV4) +1'19.822
14. Ruben Xaus (BMW S1000RR) +1'22.412
15. Alex Polita (Suzuki GSX-R 1000 K9) +1'31.635
16. Jamie Hacking (Kawasaki ZX 10R) +1'39.830
17. Broc Parkes (Kawasaki ZX 10R) +1'42.964
18. Fonsi Nieto (Suzuki GSX-R 1000 K9) +1'43.303
19. Lorenzo Lanzi (Ducati 1098R)
20. Vittorio Iannuzzo (Honda CBR1000RR)
21. David Checa (Yamaha YZF R1)
22. Gregorio Lavilla (Ducati 1098R)
23. David Salom (Kawasaki ZX 10R)
NC. Roland Resch (Suzuki GSX-R 1000 K9)
RET. Luca Scassa (Kawasaki ZX 10R)
RET. Matteo Baiocco (Kawasaki ZX 10R)
RET. Ryuichi Kiyonari (Honda CBR1000RR)
RET. Troy Corser (BMW S1000RR)
NP. John Hopkins (Honda CBR1000RR)

Race 2
(motorcycle-usa.com)
Hannspree Ten Kate Honda rider Jonathan Rea took his maiden World Superbike victory after regaining the lead from Ducati's Michel Fabrizio on the final lap of Race 2, crossing the finish-line just 0.06 of a second ahead of the Italian. Championship leader Noriyuki Haga led the race in the opening laps, but was passed by Rea and then forced to battle with his teammate for second. Fabrizio passed Haga and then Rea to take the lead on the 16th lap, where he remained until Rea's ultimate race winning maneuver. Haga easily took the final spot on the podium as he finished over three seconds ahead of the next group of riders. Fabrizio remains third in the Championship, but narrows Haga's lead by nine points.

Privateer Ducati rider Jakub Smrz converted his pole position into another fourth-place finish when he passed Carlos Checa on the final lap as the tires of the Spaniard's Honda CBR1000RR began to peel off. Finishing just behind Checa in sixth was Shane Byrne, pairing another good run with his Race 1 podium. Tom Sykes was the first of the Yamaha World Superbike riders across the line as he battled with Leon Haslam (Stiggy Racing Honda) to win eighth. Sykes' teammate Spies dropped from second to 17th at the start following a technical issue with his clutch. The 24-year-old sorted the problem and fought his way through the field to take ninth. Although the mechanical failure undoubtedly caused Spies to miss-out on potential points, the American still managed to reduce the points lead of Haga from 53 to 48 points over the weekend.

Max Biaggi broke into the top-ten on his Aprilia RSV4, while his teammate Shinya Nakano also scored three more points for the rookie Aprilia World Superbike team. Yukio Kagayama and Fonsi Nieto each netted points for Suzuki, but the Kawasaki and BMW riders failed to finish in the top 15.

Jonathan Rea takes his first win of the season after scoring podiums in each of the last rounds.
Jonathan Rea: "To win my first race in Italy here is really special for me before my home round next weekend at Donington. As everybody's aware we switched suspensions, and tried them for the first time on Monday at Magny-Cours and the team all did a marvelous job to get me to win the race here so this is really special for them as well. I got settled into my own rhythm and Michel came past but he couldn't outbrake me and that spared my bike from doing all the running. I could pass where I wanted to pass and I saved it to the last lap. I'm really over the moon with the win!"

Michel Fabrizio: "In race 2 I didn't have a perfect feeling with the front and Rea's Honda accelerated better out of the corners than me. It's a pity I didn't win today but two podiums are my best result on this track and knowing that I did my best makes me happy. I'm just a few points behind Spies in the table and maybe I can start thinking about the title now although I realize that to be a serious candidate I have to keep on getting good results and even win a few races".

Noriyuki Haga: "Race 2 was much better than the first one: I got a good start but then Johnny and Michel passed me and it was hard to keep their pace, maybe because they're much younger than me! Seriously though we have taken home some good points and that's important because Misano is not one of my favourite tracks. Now I'm looking forward to racing at Donington where in recent years I've always had good results."(worldsbk.com)

Misano World Superbike - Race 2 Results
1. Jonathan Rea (Honda CBR1000RR) 39'11.204
2. Michel Fabrizio (Ducati 1098R) +0.063
3. Noriyuki Haga (Ducati 1098R) +0.457
4. Jakub Smrz (Ducati 1098R) +3.635
5. Carlos Checa (Honda CBR1000RR) +4.460
6. Shane Byrne (Ducati 1098R) +4.538
7. Tom Sykes (Yamaha YZF-R1) +12.679
8. Leon Haslam (Honda CBR1000RR) +12.763
9. Ben Spies (Yamaha YZF-R1) +13.237
10. Max Biaggi (Aprilia RSV4) +14.412
11. Yukio Kagayama (Suzuki GSX-R 1000 K9) +20.073
12. Fonsi Nieto (Suzuki GSX-R 1000 K9) +20.239
13. Shinya Nakano (Aprilia RSV4) +22.351
14. Ryuichi Kiyonari (Honda CBR1000RR) +24.547
15. Gregorio Lavilla (Ducati 1098R) +24.696
16. Ruben Xaus (BMW S1000RR) +25.615
17. Broc Parkes (Kawasaki ZX 10R) +31.887
18. Lorenzo Lanzi (Ducati 1098R) +34.751
19. Troy Corser (BMW S1000RR) +38.061
20. Luca Scassa (Kawasaki ZX 10R) +47.717
21. Matthieu Lagrive (Honda CBR1000RR) +48.973
22. Jamie Hacking (Kawasaki ZX 10R) +51.027
23. Alex Polita (Suzuki GSX-R 1000 K9) +52.526
24. Vittorio Iannuzzo (Honda CBR1000RR) +57.589
25. Roland Resch (Suzuki GSX-R 1000 K9) +1'36.359
RET. David Salom (Kawasaki ZX 10R)
RET. David Checa (Yamaha YZF R1)
RET. Matteo Baiocco (Kawasaki ZX 10R)

Misano- WSBK- Day 1

WSBK: Fabrizio edges out Spies

At end of Misano Q1( moto-live.com)

19/06/09 19:16

Michel Fabrizio Michel Fabrizio (Ducati Xerox) slammed in two quick laps in rapid succession at the end of today's Misano Q1 to end up with the provisional pole at the Misano World Circuit. The Italian's time of 1 minute 37.016 seconds was good enough to edge out Ben Spies (Yamaha World Superbike) from the top slot, after the Texan rookie had headed the standings almost throughout. Third and fourth on the provisional front row of the grid went to the still injured Yukio Kagayama (Suzuki Alstare) and British rider Jonathan Rea (Hannspree Ten Kate Honda). The top 19 positions in today's standings are all contained within one second, confirming the current equilibrium reigning in Superbike. The provisional front row is also made up of four different manufacturers - Ducati, Yamaha, Suzuki and Honda – with a fifth, Kawasaki, opening up the second row following a superb performance by Broc Parkes. The session also confirmed the constant improvement of the Ten Kate Honda team, with Ryuichi Kiyonari and Carlos Checa in sixth and seventh position respectively, ahead of points leader Noriyuki Haga (Ducati Xerox), four-tenths of a second down on his team-mate. After two difficult events, BMW have bounced back into the top 10, with Troy Corser running well throughout and ending up tenth overall. This time round BMW went better than Aprilia, as Shinya Nakano could only manage 11th and Max Biaggi 16th, eight-tenths off the polesitter. For the moment John Hopkins (Stiggy Racing Honda) is outside the Superpole top 20, the American down in 26th position on his return to action following his Assen crash. Misano Superbike - Free Practice 1st Session (worldsbk.com) 1 19 Spies B. (USA) Yamaha YZF R1 1'38.049 284 Fabrizio M. (ITA) Ducati 1098R 1'38.154 3 65 Rea J. (GBR) Honda CBR1000RR 1'38.591 4 36 Lavilla G. (ESP) Ducati 1098R 1'38.616 5 9 Kiyonari R. (JPN) Honda CBR1000RR 1'38.645 6 41 Haga N. (JPN) Ducati 1098R 1'38.746 7 7 Checa C. (ESP) Honda CBR1000RR 1'38.750 8 91 Haslam L. (GBR) Honda CBR1000RR 1'38.935 9 3 Biaggi M. (ITA) Aprilia RSV4 Factory 1'39.043 10 56 Nakano S. (JPN) Aprilia RSV4 Factory 1'39.047 11 11 Corser T. (AUS) BMW S1000 RR 1'39.095 12 10 Nieto F. (ESP) Suzuki GSX-R 1000 K9 1'39.154 13 96 Smrz J. (CZE) Ducati 1098R 1'39.155 14 67 Byrne S. (GBR) Ducati 1098R 1'39.165 15 57 Lanzi L. (ITA) Ducati 1098R 1'39.181 16 71 Kagayama Y. (JPN) Suzuki GSX-R 1000 K9 1'39.302 17 111 Xaus R. (ESP) BMW S1000 RR 1'39.590 18 23 Parkes B. (AUS) Kawasaki ZX 10R 1'39.659 19 121 Hopkins J. (USA) Honda CBR1000RR 1'39.814 20 14 Lagrive M. (FRA) Honda CBR1000RR 1'39.863 21 66 Sykes T. (GBR) Yamaha YZF R1 1'39.907 22 2 Hacking J. (USA) Kawasaki ZX 10R 1'39.978 23 15 Baiocco M. (ITA) Kawasaki ZX 10R 1'40.196 24 53 Polita A. (ITA) Suzuki GSX-R 1000 K9 1'40.297 25 99 Scassa L. (ITA) Kawasaki ZX 10R 1'40.305 26 77 Iannuzzo V. (ITA) Honda CBR1000RR 1'40.385 27 94 Checa D. (ESP) Yamaha YZF R1 1'40.443 28 25 Salom D. (ESP) Kawasaki ZX 10R 1'40.772 29 88 Resch R. (AUT) Suzuki GSX-R 1000 K9 1'42.365 Misano Superbike - Qualifying 1st Session (worldsbk.com) 1 84 Fabrizio M. (ITA) Ducati 1098R 1'37.016 2 19 Spies B. (USA) Yamaha YZF R1 1'37.102 3 71 Kagayama Y. (JPN) Suzuki GSX-R 1000 K9 1'37.209 4 65 Rea J. (GBR) Honda CBR1000RR 1'37.238 5 23 Parkes B. (AUS) Kawasaki ZX 10R 1'37.281 6 9 Kiyonari R. (JPN) Honda CBR1000RR 1'37.396 7 7 Checa C. (ESP) Honda CBR1000RR 1'37.441 8 41 Haga N. (JPN) Ducati 1098R 1'37.451 9 91 Haslam L. (GBR) Honda CBR1000RR 1'37.490 10 11 Corser T. (AUS) BMW S1000 RR 1'37.503 11 56 Nakano S. (JPN) Aprilia RSV4 Factory 1'37.630 12 57 Lanzi L. (ITA) Ducati 1098R 1'37.702 13 96 Smrz J. (CZE) Ducati 1098R 1'37.710 14 111 Xaus R. (ESP) BMW S1000 RR 1'37.773 15 36 Lavilla G. (ESP) Ducati 1098R 1'37.786 16 3 Biaggi M. (ITA) Aprilia RSV4 Factory 1'37.813 17 67 Byrne S. (GBR) Ducati 1098R 1'37.898 18 10 Nieto F. (ESP) Suzuki GSX-R 1000 K9 1'37.979 19 66 Sykes T. (GBR) Yamaha YZF R1 1'37.992 20 2 Hacking J. (USA) Kawasaki ZX 10R 1'38.441 21 25 Salom D. (ESP) Kawasaki ZX 10R 1'38.522 22 14 Lagrive M. (FRA) Honda CBR1000RR 1'38.671 23 99 Scassa L. (ITA) Kawasaki ZX 10R 1'38.755 24 15 Baiocco M. (ITA) Kawasaki ZX 10R 1'38.827 25 94 Checa D. (ESP) Yamaha YZF R1 1'38.828 26 121 Hopkins J. (USA) Honda CBR1000RR 1'38.856 27 77 Iannuzzo V. (ITA) Honda CBR1000RR 1'39.067 28 53 Polita A. (ITA) Suzuki GSX-R 1000 K9 1'39.308 29 88 Resch R. (AUT) Suzuki GSX-R 1000 K9 1'40.489 Hopkins is back on track At Misano 19/06/09 15:51 (moto-live.com) American John Hopkins makes his return to the series this weekend for a second chance to show how well he can fare on the Stiggy Racing Honda Superbike. The high profile entrant to the Superbike series made a promising start with his new team at Valencia, but had to back down only two weeks later, after a horrific crash in the opening practice at Assen sidelined the ex-MotoGP rider for four rounds. A tough and determined John Hopkins has recuperated from his injuries in just six weeks time though, and is eager to hunt down the front runners of the Superbike field once again at one of his favourite tracks this weekend. " Misano is a track I do like a lot. I had some decent results there in the past, and got on the podium in the 2007 MotoGP race. It is a circuit I enjoy well, and the audience is always great. People really take a liking towards the World Superbike series, and I expect the atmosphere to be similar to the one we received at the MotoGP races”, he said. “It is going to be an exciting race and hopefully I can be out there from the start. Right now, I am not going to make any promises of running at the front of the field. I am just taking it step-by-step and focus on getting a good feeling with the bike again and set the best possible results for the team and myself." In the remaining seven rounds and 14 races of the championship there are another 350 points to divide, before the new World Superbike champion will be crowned. Ben Spies Ben Spies, Yamaha World Superbike Team (2nd, 1'37.102) "It was a good first day for us, the second session we opted to run race set up and we never put any new tyres on. A race is 22 laps around here, on the 22nd lap today we were half a second off the fastest lap done here. I'm pleased with that and we ran our whole race simulation in the 37's. I'm ecstatic about the bike and tomorrow if it stays dry we know we've got a good package. We know if we put sticky tyres on it's definitely going to go fast. If it rains, I guess we get some good rain time and go play in the rain. It's still tough for us coming and learning these new tracks so I'm glad we picked it up as quickly as we did. There is still some more settings to find to be more comfortable but the speed is there. If it is wet then I hope we'll be up there too, I don't have as much time on this bike in the wet but I like riding in the rain." Tom Sykes Tom Sykes, Yamaha World Superbike Team (19th, 1'37.992) "I think today we've made big improvements, this morning we lost a bit of track time with a couple of things but this afternoon we went from a high 39 to a 37.9 so we've found two seconds. I'm only eight or nine tenths of the front guys which is not a lot and considering it's my first time here it's not bad. We can still make improvements over the weekend and hopefully we'll make it work and see what tomorrow brings." yamaha-racing.com

WSBK : Haga dominates at Valencia

from: http://www.moto-live.com

Noriyuki Haga (Ducati Xerox) dominated both races in round 3 of the Hannspree FIM Superbike World Championship at the Ricardo Tormo circuit in Valencia.

In front of 65,000 spectators the Japanese rider notched up wins number 35 and 36 in his ten-year long World Superbike career to lead the table with 135 points.

Team-mate Michel Fabrizio also had a positive weekend, the young Italian taking second and third while the remaining podium places went to Max Neukirchner (Suzuki Alstare) in race 1 and rookie Texan Ben Spies (Yamaha World Superbike) in the second encounter.

Race 1

Haga led virtually from lights to flag after moving past early leader Neukirchner at the start of lap 3, the championship leader adding a chunk of points to his advantage over Spies, who then crashed out while fighting with the German. Fabrizio took the second slot to give the factory Ducati team a 1-2 finish. Front-row man Regis Laconi (Ducati DFX) finished just one place away from the podium, while Leon Haslam (Stiggy Racing) was the first Honda rider to the flag ahead of Yukio Kagayama (Suzuki Alstare).

Yamaha's race was saved with the positive form of Tom Sykes in seventh ahead of Max Biaggi (Aprilia Racing), who recovered well from a lowly grid position. Broc Parkes finished an encouraging tenth for Kawasaki, with Superbike rookie John Hopkins (Stiggy Racing Honda) one place behind. Riders who crashed out included Troy Corser (BMW), who was running fourth in the early laps, and Carlos Checa (Hannspree Ten Kate Honda), who remounted but retired.

Noriyuki Haga: “Not so bad! Anyway I had a good feeling this weekend, bike and the team have both been working well. At the start it was good but I had already decided I would go into the lead in the early laps. Finally I kept my own race. Of course I want to win both races today but it's not so easy. I now have a very good feeling with this bike, it is so easy to ride, that's why I was able to push, also I did very consistent laps with this tyre.”

Michel Fabrizio: “For me Valencia is very difficult but this result is fantastic. I grew a beard to bring me good luck, and it worked so maybe I will keep it now! It's a great result for the team, we have worked very well from Friday after the first disappointing couple of races.”

Max Neukirchner: “Even for us it was really hard. We were always in the top 10 this weekend but didn't find perfect set-up. But during the practices we changed some things and in the end we found a very good way and I am so happy to finish on the podium. I was in second place for so long, but even with this result I'm so glad for my team and our new sponsor.”

Race 2

Haga dominated the second race in a similar fashion, this time taking the lead on lap 5. He then pulled out to win by over five seconds, taking a new lap record in 1 minute 34.618 seconds in the process. Spies managed to prevent a second Ducati 1-2 of the day with the runner-up slot but never managed to challenge Haga for the win. Third went to Fabrizio, who again had to hold off Laconi throughout the 23 laps for the final podium slot.

Haslam scored another fifth place, again the best Honda rider to the flag, ahead of Checa and Neukirchner, who faded away with tyre problems after starting off well. Biaggi came home in eighth place again, after prevailing in a five-way battle with Ryuichi Kiyonari (Ten Kate Honda), Sykes, Shane Byrne (Ducati Sterilgarda) and Hopkins. The final point went to Corser, while Parkes failed to get into the top 15.

Noriyuki Haga: “We did a great job this weekend. I think one of the reasons is that after Qatar I did some ‘age training! But anyway today 50 points is a great advantage over Ben and I'm very happy with this double win.”

Ben Spies: “I was trying as hard as we could in the first couple of laps, but had a couple of problems and didn't quite get rolling. By the time we got into second, I would have needed to be right on the back of Nori to stay with him because he was riding at a really good pace. I just didn't quite have those 3 or 4 tenths today so I will come back at Assen and try to step it up.”

Michel Fabrizio: “I didn't expect these results here at Valencia, at the most a top 5 position, because it's a difficult track for me. I'm really happy, the team gave me a lot of confidence. It was a really tough battle with Laconi, who was right behind me throughout the race. He brakes really late, I'm amazed he never managed to pass me!”

from: http://eurosport.yahoo.com

Full World Superbike Championship rider standings (After 3 rounds of 14 - Previous position in brackets)

1. (1) Noriyuki Haga Ducati Xerox 135 points

2. (2) Ben Spies Yamaha WSB 95

3. (3) Max Neukirchner Suzuki Alstare Brux 65

4. (11) Michel Fabrizio Ducati Xerox 60

5. (5) Leon Haslam Stiggy Honda 58

6. (7) Regis Laconi DFX Ducati 56

7. (4) Max Biaggi Aprilia 54

8. (6) Tom Sykes Yamaha WSB 47

9. (10) Yukio Kagayama Suzuki Alstare Brux 35

10. (8) Jonathan Rea Ten Kate Honda 33

11. (13) Ryuichi Kiyonari Ten Kate Honda 32

12. (14) Carlos Checa Ten Kate Honda 31

13. (9) Shinya Nakano Aprilia 27

14. (16) Shane Byrne Sterilgarda Ducati 26

15. (12) Troy Corser BMW Alpha 23

16. (15) Jakub Smrz Guandalini Ducati 18

17. (17) Ruben Xaus BMW Alpha 17

18. (-) Roberto Rolfo Stiggy Honda 9

19. (20) Broc Parkes Kawasaki WSB 8

20. (18) Tommy Hill Althea Honda 6

21. (19) Roberto Rolfo Stiggy Honda 3

22. (-) Makoto Tamada Kawasaki WSB 2

Full World Superbike Championship rider standings (After 3 rounds of 14 - Previous position in brackets)

1. (1) Ducati 135 points

2. (2) Yamaha 110

3. (3) Honda 73

4. (5) Suzuki 65

5. (4) Aprilia 57

6. (6) BMW 31

7. (7) Kawasaki 8

Fri+Sat news from WSBK- Round 3 - Valencia

Ben Spies took anther pole, after a slow start for the weekend he found his pas on Saturday where he took his 3rd pole out of 3 rounds.
As I predicted the other day, laconi is improving every round and today he proved me right by qualifying second. So well done Laconi.
Shinya Nakano had a bad crash this morning, broke his left collarbone in Saturday morning’s second qualifying session. Hope he gets well soon.
Haga is needs to win at least one of the races tomorrow, British Eurosport presenter Tony Carter believes this weekend's WSB outing is a crucial one for Noriyuki Haga and the Xerox Ducati campaign for 2009.
More details bellow:

Spies (Yamaha) powers to Superpole hat-trick at Valencia

Saturday, 04 April 2009 17:36 from: worldsbk.com

Ben Spies (Yamaha World Superbike) powered to his third Superpole position in three races at the Valencia track, the 24 year-old Texan once again proving to be the master of the new format. Spies, who had to switch to his second R1 machine in Superpole 2 after his first one developed a technical fault, set a record-breaking time of 1 minute 33.270 seconds, over half-a-second quicker than Neukirchner's best mark from last year. Flanking Spies on the front row will be a trio of Ducati 1098 machines, headed by the surprising Regis Laconi, who won on this track back in 1999 with a Yamaha 500. The two factory Ducati Xerox riders Noriyuki Haga and Michel Fabrizio are in third and fourth place respectively.

Ben Spies (Yamaha World Superbike): "I was a bit worried about having to change bikes, we had an OK second Superpole but coming in we had a problem with the bike and had to revert back to the other one. It had a bit of a different set-up and I didn't get to try it in the morning practice, but luckily the change worked out well."

Regis Laconi (Ducati DFX): "I'm very happy because the bike is working really good on this track and we are ready. I won my first race in GP ten years ago and it's just a pleasure to be up here one more time. A big thanks to DFX and Ducati for giving me a great bike. I have had a couple of difficult years but I am happy now that I am back on a Ducati"

Noriyuki Haga (Ducati Xerox): "I'm very happy for the front row. In the weekend I find a good solution for the race and I've already decided for the tyre. And I am feeling confident, so tomorrow I will try to do my best and win twice and that is my target"

Michel Fabrizio (Ducati Xerox): "I've come from two races where I haven't had very good results, but we found our way already on the Friday and I'm hoping for two good results tomorrow. We made a change on the bike and the feeling is much better now, similar to what it was like in pre-season testing."

The second row sees a double pairing, with Suzuki ahead of Honda. Yukio Kagayama took fifth from Max Neukirchner, while Jonathan Rea was seventh ahead of Carlos Checa. The Spanish rider just managed to avoid being eliminated in Superpole 2, setting his best time despite a fall. Broc Parkes again put in a positive performance for Kawasaki, setting 13th quickest time on his ZX-10R machine, just ahead of the BMW of Troy Corser, who had been expecting to go better in Superpole after a positive qualifying session. Once again the first knock-out phase saw some illustrious victims with Tom Sykes (Yamaha World Superbike) and Max Biaggi (Aprilia), one of the quickest riders throughout the day, not making the cut. The other Aprilia rider Shinya Nakano missed the Superpole after breaking his left collarbone in a crash in the morning. He was operated on today with the aim of being ready for the next round at Assen.

Times: 1. Spies B. (USA) Yamaha YZF R1 1'33.270; 2. Laconi R. (FRA) Ducati 1098R 1'33.955; 3. Haga N. (JPN) Ducati 1098R 1'34.082; 4. Fabrizio M. (ITA) Ducati 1098R 1'34.259; 5. Kagayama Y. (JPN) Suzuki GSX-R 1000 K9 1'34.755; 6. Neukirchner M. (GER) Suzuki GSX-R 1000 K9 1'34.903; 7. Rea J. (GBR) Honda CBR1000RR 1'35.056; 8. Checa C. (ESP) Honda CBR1000RR 1'35.346 9. Kiyonari R. (JPN) Honda CBR1000RR 1'34.536; 10. Haslam L. (GBR) Honda CBR1000RR 1'34.655; 11. Smrz J. (CZE) Ducati 1098R 1'34.684; 12. Byrne S. (GBR) Ducati 1098R 1'34.742; 13. Parkes B. (AUS) Kawasaki ZX 10R 1'34.823; 14. Corser T. (AUS) BMW S1000 RR 1'34.863; 15. Roberts B. (AUS) Ducati 1098R 1'35.082; 16. Hopkins J. (USA) Honda CBR1000RR 1'35.251; 17. Sykes T. (GBR) Yamaha YZF R1 1'35.203; 18. Biaggi M. (ITA) Aprilia RSV4 Factory 1'35.204; 19) Xaus R. (ESP) BMW S1000 RR 1'35.806; 20. Nakano S. (JPN) Aprilia RSV4 Factory 1'35.416

FYI- Motogp rider casey Stoner pole time in Valencia in 2008 was 1'31.502 and Marco melendis qualifying time (last on the grid) was 1'34.174 (that means he would have finished 5th in WSBK.

Nakano hurt at Valencia.

Sat 04 Apr, 06:00 PM from http://eurosport.yahoo.com/

Shinya Nakano will take no further part in the Valencia World Superbike weekend after breaking his left collarbone in Saturday morning’s second qualifying session.

The WSBK rookie, ninth in the championship with a best finish of fourth in the opening two rounds, was thrown from his Aprilia RSV4 after a mechanical failure.

The former MotoGP rider, eleventh in Friday’s first qualifying, underwent surgery afterwards and now faces a race against time to be fit for round four of the 2009 championship, at Assen on April 24-26.

Team-mate Max Biaggi will thus be the lone Aprilia rider in Sunday’s Valencia WSBK races. The Roman, fastest in Friday qualifying and Saturday free practice, was caught out in Superpole and will start just 18th.

Carter: Crucial weekend for Haga

Eurosport - Sat, 04 Apr 15:39:00 2009 from: http://eurosport.yahoo.com

British Eurosport presenter Tony Carter believes this weekend's WSB outing is a crucial one for Noriyuki Haga and the Xerox Ducati campaign for 2009.

Actually, scrub that - it's the most significant weekend for Haga for this year.

I'll explain. If Haga doesn't take the top spot in Valencia this weekend, at a circuit where he's constantly been a podium finisher, and multiple winner, over the years then he will struggle to dominate Ben Spies and the Yamaha anywhere else.

If Spies gets out on Sunday afternoon and finds his way to the top of the podium then it's hard to see how he will be stopped. He's not raced at Valencia before, he's still getting to grips with the Yamaha and he's undoubtedly going to get bumped and barged around Valencia's tough turns.

All things that could and should slow him down, or at the very least allow the other riders out there to close the gap up to the flying American on the growling Yam.

It's more about the mental game this weekend. If Spies wins another race then he's taken four from five, and five from six if he does the double.

There will be many in the paddock who will rue that if he hadn't been forced to take a close-up inspection of the gravel trap in race one in Phillip Island then Spies would, right now, be most likely sitting on four race wins from four races.

So for this weekend Haga has it all to do. He knows the bike, he clearly gets on well with it too. He knows the track and knows how to get a fast lap and a good result there. He is as aggressive as any of them on track and will, without hesitation, be more than up for the job in hand when Sunday's races come round.

But this will be a telling raceday. In previous years people have levelled the criticism at Haga that he only comes good towards the second half of the season. Well that might be true, but he's leading the championship going into Valencia so by anyone's standards he's had a strong start to his 2009 campaign.

But given how Spies performed in Qatar a couple of weeks ago, and the fact that he seems so very strong right now, I wouldn't bet on him getting out there and just wiping the floor with people again.

I can't tell you how much I don't want that to happen. With all the respect in the world for Spies and his Yamaha crew I am so very keen to see someone who is not either Haga or Spies taking the win and we will have to see how it plays out. The beauty of Valencia is that, as we have seen over the years, it can throw up the odd curveball.

Haga will want to leave the track on Sunday evening leading the world, yet Spies must be convinced that he can get the upper hand this weekend.

But don't discount the other front men. Strange things have happened at the Spanish track and we all know how well a certain Carlos Checa goes when he's got a home crowd to play in front of.

Providing he doesn't skittle another rider off on the last corner of the last lap again...

Oh and we have a certain Mr Hopkins joining us too. Keen to prove a point or two, the Stiggy Honda man is.

Tony Carter / Eurosport

Get to know the grid: WSBK- Yukio Kagayama #71

Date of birth: 7th May 1974
Place of birth: Yokohama
Residence: Yokohama and Liège
Marital status: Married to Kyomi, with two daughters – Sakura and Nana
Height: 1.68m
Weight: 67kg
Hobbies: golf, go-karting
Website: http://www.kagayama.com/

Team 2009: Suzuki Alstare BRUX
Bike 2009: Suzuki GSX-R 1000 K9

Yukio Kagayama wins in Brno

Yukio Kagayama wins in Lausitz

from: http://www.alstare.net/index.php/eng/Riders/Yukio-Kagayama

• 2008
  11th - World Superbike Championship
• 2007
  13th - World Superbike Championship
• 2006
  7th - World Superbike Championship (3 wins)
• 2005
  5th - World Superbike Championship (1 win)
• 2004
  3rd - British Superbike Championship (3 wins) // Ran two races in MotoGP for the Suzuki squad
• 2003
  British Superbike Championship (3 wins)
• 2002
  3 wins in the All Japan Superbike Championship with a prototype Suzuki GSV-R
• 2001
  4th - All Japan Superbike Championship
• 2000
  7th - All Japan Superbike Championship
• 1999
  7th - All Japan Superbike Championship
• 1998
  6th - Japanese 250 GP // 6th - Malaysian 500 GP
• 1997
  3rd - All Japan Championship // 6th - Japanese 250 GP // 7th - Australian 500 GP
• 1996
  11th - All Japan 250cc Championship
• 1995
  11th - All Japan Championship
• 1993
  Suzuki test rider (500 GP)
• 1990
  First race

Yukio was born on the 7th of May in Yokohama, Japan and it is still his hometown today - apart from his European base in Belgium during the race season. His family live there and Yukio is happy to spend his life there when he’s not racing.

His passion for motorcycle racing started when he was in elementary school and he watched GPs on TV. His passion soon turned into an addiction and, at about eight years old, he ‘stole’ his mother’s scooter and went out for a ride! As he grew up, he spent more and more time with his older brother because he found his peers a bit immature. It was his older brother who got Yukio more and more involved with motorcyles, and it wasn’t too long before Yukio went on the track for the first time - age 15 - on a 50 cc roadbike.

That was the start of a life in racing and although Yukio experienced the usual financial problems, he showed his skill and determination right from the start. After progressing through the ranks of national racing, Yukio decided that his future lay outside of his homeland and so he moved to England to race in the highly-competitive and well regarded British Superbike Championship with Suzuki. In 2003, a crash at Cadwell Park nearly took his life, but Yukio returned to action in less than a year and finished third in the series - despite being very much injured. The highlight of the year was winning at Cadwell and doing a burn-out in front of the crash barrier where he had suffered his near-fatal crash!

Yukio joined the Alstare team in 2005 and tasted WSBK success in the first round in Qatar, before going on to finish fifth in his debut year. Off the track, Yukio is one of the most light-hearted and popular guys in the paddock and has built up a huge fan-base worldwide. For him racing is not just a job, it is a passion!