WSBK- Race results from Donington

Spies closes gap at the top with double triumph at Donington

Sunday, 28 June 2009 19:49worldsbk.com

Ben Spies (Yamaha World Superbike) pulled off another amazing double triumph in the ninth round of the Hannspree FIM Superbike World Championship in front of 61,000 spectators at Donington Park. The Texan has now reduced the 48 point gap at the top of the table to 14 from Noriyuki Haga (Ducati Xerox), who crashed in race 2, picking up a broken vertebra in the process. Haga's Italian team-mate Michel Fabrizio was third in race 2 and is now 51 points behind. Aprilia had a good first race, with Max Biaggi second at the finish, while the best of the numerous British platoon present at Donington was Leon Haslam (Stiggy Racing Honda), who finished second to Spies in race 2.

Race 1

Spies continued to steamroller his way to the wins in World Superbike as he took his ninth victory of the year in the first race. After setting his eighth pole in qualifying, the Texan rider dominated the 23-lap race but was shadowed all the way by Max Biaggi (Aprilia Racing). The Italian ran faultlessly in second until the final lap, when Ben upped the ante to power to the chequered flag, but Biaggi also encountered a fuel problem a couple of hundred metres from the flag and risked losing out on second. This was Biaggi's first podium since Qatar. Third went to points leader Haga, who limited the damage in a race where he was not in a position to challenge for the win. In the all-British battle for fourth place, Haslam got the better of Shane Byrne (Sterilgarda Ducati). Aprilia's excellent performance was completed by a sixth place for Shinya Nakano. Home idol and Misano winner Jonathan Rea (Hannspree Ten Kate Honda) could only finish in seventh, ahead of John Hopkins (Stiggy Racing Honda). Michel Fabrizio (Ducati Xerox) had a gear change problem and could only finish 12th, while Ruben Xaus scored one point for BMW.

Ben Spies: "It was a tough race for us, Max was there the whole time and we were both able to do quick laps. I got a bit of a gap then made a couple of mistakes and he got back on me. The last three laps I rode as hard as I could, we got down to the 30s, then I couldn't hear Max coming into the chicane on the last lap so knew something was wrong and I took the last corners easy. We can't be too conservative now, we have to claw back and get a whole lot of points in a couple of races."

Max Biaggi: "I am very happy with this result after a very hard decision we made in free practice and qualifying. Yesterday we found a way to go fast and we made the right choice in tyres and the balance was correct. In the warm-up we had some problems but for the race we fixed most of them. Just on the last lap at the last chicane we had some trouble, I don't know what, the bike just stopped and then went back again in the last few metres before the flag. I think I deserved second!"

Noriyuki Haga: "I tried to do my best but the front two guys were very fast. I tried to catch up for the victory but I had to settle for third position. Of course during the laps I tried to push and catch them up but it was quite difficult. Our package was quite different but for the next race we try to change something to improve the riding of the bike."

Results: 1. Spies B. (USA) Yamaha YZF R1 34'57.230 (158,831 kph); 2. Biaggi M. (ITA) Aprilia RSV4 Factory 7.156; 3. Haga N. (JPN) Ducati 1098R 10.968; 4. Haslam L. (GBR) Honda CBR1000RR 18.843; 5. Byrne S. (GBR) Ducati 1098R 19.125; 6. Nakano S. (JPN) Aprilia RSV4 Factory 21.286; 7. Rea J. (GBR) Honda CBR1000RR 23.644; 8. Hopkins J. (USA) Honda CBR1000RR 32.849; 9. Smrz J. (CZE) Ducati 1098R 32.904; 10. Kiyonari R. (JPN) Honda CBR1000RR 33.192; 11. Checa C. (ESP) Honda CBR1000RR 34.535; 12. Fabrizio M. (ITA) Ducati 1098R 35.093; 13. Camier L. (GBR) Yamaha YZF R1 35.441; 14. Lanzi L. (ITA) Ducati 1098R 39.034; 15. Xaus R. (ESP) BMW S1000 RR 41.067; 16. Lagrive M. (FRA) Honda CBR1000RR 46.4

Race 2

Spies also dominated the second race, but this time without any pressure from his rivals. The Yamaha man immediately pulled away at the start to pick up a seven second lead, which he administered easily to pick up his tenth win of the year. Spies' double coincided with a disaster for Haga, who crashed out of second place on lap 5 while trying to make up ground on the leader. The Japanese rider was taken to hospital in Derby with a fractured vertebra and other injuries. Race 2 saw a British rider on the podium, thanks to Haslam, who held off Fabrizio. With the outcome of this race, the Italian keeps alive his title chances. Byrne put on another good show, finishing fourth ahead of fellow Brit Tom Sykes. Xaus again scored points for BMW, this time with a positive ninth place. Both Aprilia riders crashed out, Biaggi suffering a hairline crack in his right foot in the process, but remounting to finish 21st, while John Hopkins (Stiggy Racing Honda) did not make it to the start of race 2, the still-injured American totally exhausted after his race 1 efforts.

Ben Spies: "It was a picture perfect weekend, I know Haga had a big crash and hope he's OK. That's not the way you want to do it but you've got to capitalize when things go wrong. The track was definitely hot in the second race and a little bit slick so we made some changes to the bike that made it better. Fortunately we didn't have to push to the absolute limit but it all worked great today."

Leon Haslam: "We've been struggling for the past few rounds with unknown circuits and I really wanted to get on that podium today. I feel good, obviously feel sorry for Haga because I was pushing him hard and I was pretty happy to get second. In the first race I was really suffering from chatter but everyone in the team has been behind me all weekend so a big thanks to them."

Michel Fabrizio: "Today Ben was very fast and it was impossible to catch him. In the first race I had a problem with the gear change, while in the second I had a great battle with Haslam. I am very happy with the result, but very sorry for Haga and his crash."

Results: 1. Spies B. (USA) Yamaha YZF R1 35'14.788 (157,512 kph); 2. Haslam L. (GBR) Honda CBR1000RR 6.622; 3. Fabrizio M. (ITA) Ducati 1098R 6.816; 4. Byrne S. (GBR) Ducati 1098R 7.349; 5. Sykes T. (GBR) Yamaha YZF R1 8.145; 6. Camier L. (GBR) Yamaha YZF R1 13.463; 7. Kiyonari R. (JPN) Honda CBR1000RR 15.751; 8. Ellison J. (GBR) Yamaha YZF R1 16.837; 9. Xaus R. (ESP) BMW S1000 RR 22.891; 10. Andrews S. (GBR) Kawasaki ZX 10R 30.347; 11. Lanzi L. (ITA) Ducati 1098R 30.622;12. Lagrive M. (FRA) Honda CBR1000RR 31.562; 13. Kagayama Y. (JPN) Suzuki GSX-R 1000 K9 32.148; 14. Parkes B. (AUS) Kawasaki ZX 10R 32.607; 15. Rea J. (GBR) Honda CBR1000RR 32.806; 16. Scassa L. (ITA) Kawasaki ZX 10R 34.269

Points (after 9 of 14 rounds): 1. Haga 308; 2. Spies 294; 3. Fabrizio 257; 4. Rea 177; 5. Haslam 167; 6. Biaggi 155; 7. Sykes 141; 8. Smrz 115; 9. Checa 114; 10. Byrne 113. Manufacturers: 1. Ducati 383; 2. Yamaha 337; 3. Honda 273; 4. Aprilia 162; 5. Suzuki 131; 6. Bmw 70; 7. Kawasaki 47

Surgery a success, Haga will return to Italy today

Tuesday, 30 June 2009 11:14 worldsbk.com

At 5pm this afternoon Ducati Xerox rider Noriyuki Haga underwent successful surgery at the Derby City Hospital. Having fractured the ulna in his right arm in Sunday's crash at Donington Park, Noriyuki today had a plate and screws inserted to set the bone. The surgical team deemed the surgery a success and there were no unforeseen complications.

Prior to the operation, medical staff took a closer look at his right shoulder blade and an x-ray unfortunately confirmed that he has multiple fractures to his left scapula. The scapula will not necessitate surgical intervention and the bone should knit itself back together in time; this complication should not prolong Noriyuki's recovery time. The Japanese rider should be discharged from hospital today and he and his family will fly back to Italy so that Noriyuki can begin the necessary physiotherapy treatment.

The Ducati Xerox rider will not participate in the next tests at Imola but it is foreseen that he will compete in the next round at Brno.

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

Super Six for Spies in Superpole

Ben Spies (Yamaha World Superbike) powered to his sixth successive Superpole triumph at the Kyalami circuit in South Africa, equaling the long-standing record set by his fellow Texan Doug Polen (Ducati) in 1991. The session at Kyalami was one of the most exciting seen so far this season, with a two-way battle between the two Monza winners, Spies and Michel Fabrizio (Ducati Xerox). The outcome was decided in the final seconds, when the Texan responded to his Italian rival with quickest time by just one-thousandth of a second, the smallest margin ever recorded in Superpole.

Third and fourth places on the front row went to Max Biaggi (Aprilia Racing) and Noriyuki Haga (Ducati Xerox). The Italian, who also recorded the top speed of the day at 251.8 km/h on his RSV4, capitalized on his final run to jump up from seventh to third. For points leader Haga, fourth place can be considered an excellent result: the Japanese rider was almost eliminated in the second knock-out phase, but just managed to make the cut by a whisker from Shinya Nakano (Aprilia Racing).

The second row line-up saw an impressive performance from Jonathan Rea (Hannspree Ten Kate Honda), who will be flanked by the best of the privateers, Jakub Smrz (Guandalini Ducati), Hannspree Ten Kate team-mate Carlos Checa and Tom Sykes (Yamaha World Superbike). South African rider Sheridan Morais put in a good performance for eleventh place on the Kawasaki ZX-10R machine vacated temporarily by Tamada, while Suzuki and BMW struggled, with Yukio Kagayama and Ruben Xaus down on the fourth row of the grid.

1 19 Spies B. (USA) Yamaha YZF R1 1'37.288
2 84 Fabrizio M. (ITA) Ducati 1098R 1'37.289
3 3 Biaggi M. (ITA) Aprilia RSV4 Factory 1'37.466
4 41 Haga N. (JPN) Ducati 1098R 1'37.544
5 65 Rea J. (GBR) Honda CBR1000RR 1'37.634
6 96 Smrz J. (CZE) Ducati 1098R 1'37.677
7 7 Checa C. (ESP) Honda CBR1000RR 1'37.940
8 66 Sykes T. (GBR) Yamaha YZF R1 1'38.241
9 56 Nakano S. (JPN) Aprilia RSV4 Factory 1'37.935
10 91 Haslam L. (GBR) Honda CBR1000RR 1'37.988
11 132 Morais S. (RSA) Kawasaki ZX 10R 1'38.013
12 9 Kiyonari R. (JPN) Honda CBR1000RR 1'38.081
13 71 Kagayama Y. (JPN) Suzuki GSX-R 1000 K9 1'38.130
14 67 Byrne S. (GBR) Ducati 1098R 1'38.171
15 111 Xaus R. (ESP) BMW S1000 RR 1'38.194
16 36 Lavilla G. (ESP) Ducati 1098R 1'38.733
17 23 Parkes B. (AUS) Kawasaki ZX 10R 1'38.766
18 99 Scassa L. (ITA) Kawasaki ZX 10R 1'38.779
19 25 Salom D. (ESP) Kawasaki ZX 10R 1'38.880
20 33 Hill T. (GBR) Honda CBR1000RR 1'39.001
21 10 Nieto F. (ESP) Suzuki GSX-R 1000 K9 1'39.831
22 31 Muggeridge K. (AUS) Suzuki GSX-R 1000 K9 1'39.852
23 17 Martin S. (AUS) BMW S1000 RR 1'41.227
24 49 Whyte S. (RSA) Yamaha YZF R1 1'41.737

WSBK Magnificent 7 take to the water in offshore powerboats+ resolts from day 1

Update: March 11, 2009, 17.15 PM ET

from http://www.worldsbk.com

The second round of the Hannspree FIM Superbike World Championship, due to take place in Qatar this weekend, had a watery prologue today as seven top riders took to offshore boats of the Qatar Powerboat Team around the Corniche bay area of the capital, Doha.

Noriyuki Haga (Ducati), Ben Spies (Yamaha), Max Biaggi (Aprilia), Max Neukirchner (Suzuki), Troy Corser (BMW), Jonathan Rea (Honda) and Broc Parkes (Kawasaki) were all invited by Sheikh Hassan Al Thani, Qatar Marine Sports Federation President and Class 1 offshore champion on board two Nor-Tech Mercury 36' catamarans for a different kind of speed trip, this time on water, in the build-up to this Saturday's WSBK round.

"It wasn't my first time onboard this kind of boat but it was quite exciting", declared Phillip Island race 1 winner Noriyuki Haga (Ducati Xerox). "I'm thinking I want to buy this kind of boat but it's just to throw away for the money and I need to check with my wife first!. As for this weekend's race, Ducati have good experience and settings for here, now I have started the season well from the first round so we will see from here in the next races."

"We knew we had the pace to battle at Phillip Island, not necessarily to win, but it was important to get the first win out of the way" commented Ben Spies (Yamaha World Superbike). "I've kind of been like trying to prove myself on Superbikes for quite a long time, so my win in Australia felt like it had been a long time coming. Qatar is a track where I've never turned a wheel on, it seems OK, I'll just have to go out and learn it. 110 mph on water is a different feeling totally, but luckily we survived that and now I can go to work tomorrow!"

"Phillip Island was high performance on qualifying, nobody expected to see us on the front row and fighting for pole position until the end" said Max Biaggi (Aprilia Racing). "But something at the moment is still a bit ‘raw' and we need to find the right conditions to make it ‘well done' and explore different ways to go for development. At the moment we're in early stages. This morning was a completely new way to go for me, we went fast on the speedboats. It was interesting to see the steering round the buoy, they go very quick and this type of boat is very stable, almost double the speed on the tarmac!"

On TV: Eurosport (pan-European): Sunday 15 March, 08.30 race 1 (delayed), 09.15 race 2 (delayed).

The Qatar Round of the HANNspree Superbike World Championship takes place from Thursday 12 thru Saturday 14 March. World Supersport and World Superbike free practice and qualifying takes place on both days, with WSBK Superpole scheduled for Friday at 15.00. The two 18-lap Superbike races are scheduled to run on Saturday at 12.00 and 15.30, with the 18-lap Supersport race at 13.25 local time.

First strike for Spies (Yamaha) in Qatar

Ben Spies (Yamaha) set the quickest time on the opening day of qualifying action at the Losail circuit in Qatar. The three-times AMA Superbike champion - and race 2 winner at Phillip Island - dominated qualifying, ending the one-hour session with a time of 1 minute 58.886 seconds, eight-tenths of a second off the best time set by Troy Corser (Yamaha) last year.

"Today went pretty good, the result will be more important Saturday but every time I come to the track with Yamaha the bike is getting better and it's already such a fun bike to ride" declared Spies. "The team's working really good, but there are so many people that are fast out there that if you have just an OK session you end up behind. It's going to be a tough year, but we're clicking off session by session and we'll see where we're going to end up."

Spies, the only rider to lap below the 1'59" mark, was close to a second quicker than almost all his rivals, with the exception of Jonathan Rea (Hannspree Ten Kate Honda), three-tenths behind. The young rider from Northern Ireland was the spearhead in the competitive three-rider Ten Kate Honda attack, with Carlos Checa and Ryuichi Kiyonari placing third and fifth respectively. The latter two were separated by Max Biaggi,who took his Aprilia RSV4 to a provisional front-row grid slot thanks to a quick lap at the end of the session.

In sixth place was the first Ducati, the Sterilgarda machine of Shane Byrne, while the factory 1098R machines are so far down in eighth (Michel Fabrizio) and eleventh (Noriyuki Haga) respectively. Last year's winner Suzuki are so far struggling, with Max Neukirchner only down in thirteenth place, and Yukio Kagayama fifteenth, approximately 1.5 seconds off the pace. The two BMWs of Troy Corser and Ruben Xaus were right behind the Japanese rider in sixteenth and seventeenth.

FIM Supersport World Championship

The first day of Supersport action at Losail bore the mark of Yamaha as the two factory riders powered to the top two positions in qualifying. Cal Crutchlow from the UK set the provisional pole in a time of 2 minutes 02.634 seconds, with his French team-mate Fabien Foret just over a tenth behind. Crutchlow's performance was even more impressive seeing as it was the first time he had raced on this track. The rest of the top 15 runners were all within 1 second, and they were headed by Phillip Island winner Kenan Sofuoglu (Hannspree Ten Kate Honda), in front of Hannspree Honda Althea's Matthieu Lagrive, three-tenths off the pace. The provisional second row is led by the young Australian Mark Aitchison (Hannspree Honda Althea) ahead of Spain's Joan Lascorz (Kawasaki Motocard.com), who is proving to be extremely rapid around this track. Triumph also had a positive qualifying hour, with Garry McCoy and Gianluca Nannelli eight and eleventh on the ParkinGo BE1 675 machines.

Superbike - Free Practice 1st Session

Update: March 12, 2009, 09.45 PM ET

1 76 Neukirchner M. (GER) Suzuki GSX-R 1000 K9 2'00.486
2 19 Spies B. (USA) Yamaha YZF R1 2'00.514
3 65 Rea J. (GBR) Honda CBR1000RR 2'00.676
4 9 Kiyonari R. (JPN) Honda CBR1000RR 2'00.744
5 96 Smrz J. (CZE) Ducati 1098R 2'00.770
6 71 Kagayama Y. (JPN) Suzuki GSX-R 1000 K9 2'00.945
7 56 Nakano S. (JPN) Aprilia RSV4 2'01.162
8 11 Corser T. (AUS) BMW S1000 RR 2'01.234
9 41 Haga N. (JPN) Ducati 1098R 2'01.261
10 66 Sykes T. (GBR) Yamaha YZF R1 2'01.280
11 67 Byrne S. (GBR) Ducati 1098R 2'01.457
12 44 Rolfo R. (ITA) Honda CBR1000RR 2'01.464
13 91 Haslam L. (GBR) Honda CBR1000RR 2'01.658
14 7 Checa C. (ESP) Honda CBR1000RR 2'01.698
15 23 Parkes B. (AUS) Kawasaki ZX 10R 2'01.755
16 3 Biaggi M. (ITA) Aprilia RSV4 2'01.783
17 100 Tamada M. (JPN) Kawasaki ZX 10R 2'02.204
18 84 Fabrizio M. (ITA) Ducati 1098R 2'02.317
19 33 Hill T. (GBR) Honda CBR1000RR 2'02.529
20 111 Xaus R. (ESP) BMW S1000 RR 2'02.587
21 55 Laconi R. (FRA) Ducati 1098R 2'02.642
22 25 Salom D. (ESP) Kawasaki ZX 10R 2'03.075
23 31 Muggeridge K. (AUS) Suzuki GSX-R 1000 K9 2'03.363
24 77 Iannuzzo V. (ITA) Honda CBR1000RR 2'03.580
25 24 Roberts B. (AUS) Ducati 1098R 2'03.757
26 99 Scassa L. (ITA) Kawasaki ZX 10R 2'03.773
27 86 Badovini A. (ITA) Kawasaki ZX 10R 2'03.941
28 15 Baiocco M. (ITA) Kawasaki ZX 10R 2'06.136

Superbike - Qualifying 1st Session

Update: March 12, 2009, 13:33 PM ET

1 19 Spies B. (USA) Yamaha YZF R1 1'58.886
2 65 Rea J. (GBR) Honda CBR1000RR 1'59.177
3 7 Checa C. (ESP) Honda CBR1000RR 1'59.731
4 3 Biaggi M. (ITA) Aprilia RSV4 1'59.826
5 9 Kiyonari R. (JPN) Honda CBR1000RR 1'59.937
6 67 Byrne S. (GBR) Ducati 1098R 1'59.980
7 96 Smrz J. (CZE) Ducati 1098R 2'00.024
8 84 Fabrizio M. (ITA) Ducati 1098R 2'00.101
9 55 Laconi R. (FRA) Ducati 1098R 2'00.232
10 56 Nakano S. (JPN) Aprilia RSV4 2'00.238
11 41 Haga N. (JPN) Ducati 1098R 2'00.254
12 66 Sykes T. (GBR) Yamaha YZF R1 2'00.283
13 76 Neukirchner M. (GER) Suzuki GSX-R 1000 K9 2'00.345
14 44 Rolfo R. (ITA) Honda CBR1000RR 2'00.374
15 71 Kagayama Y. (JPN) Suzuki GSX-R 1000 K9 2'00.398
16 11 Corser T. (AUS) BMW S1000 RR 2'00.455
17 111 Xaus R. (ESP) BMW S1000 RR 2'00.610
18 23 Parkes B. (AUS) Kawasaki ZX 10R 2'00.769
19 91 Haslam L. (GBR) Honda CBR1000RR 2'00.799
20 100 Tamada M. (JPN) Kawasaki ZX 10R 2'01.222
21 31 Muggeridge K. (AUS) Suzuki GSX-R 1000 K9 2'01.224
22 33 Hill T. (GBR) Honda CBR1000RR 2'01.336
23 25 Salom D. (ESP) Kawasaki ZX 10R 2'01.464
24 77 Iannuzzo V. (ITA) Honda CBR1000RR 2'01.560
25 99 Scassa L. (ITA) Kawasaki ZX 10R 2'01.607
26 24 Roberts B. (AUS) Ducati 1098R 2'01.779
27 86 Badovini A. (ITA) Kawasaki ZX 10R 2'02.272
28 15 Baiocco M. (ITA) Kawasaki ZX 10R 2'02.917

Get to know the grid: WSBK- NORIYUKI HAGA 41

Today and in the next few weeks I will post every day about 2 riders, one from MotoGP and one from WSBK.

About each rider I will go over his raiding career, successes and failures, facts and rumors, to help you all to get to know the grid better.

I will go by teams

And the first team is Ducati

WSBK

NORIYUKI HAGA #41 Team: Ducati Xerox Team, Bike: Ducati 1098R

Pic: Tim Keeton/Raymonds Press Agency. 3/5/04.
British Superbikes. Round 4, Oulton Park, Cheshire.
British Superbikes Race 1. Vince Whittle's Ducati RS explodes in a fireball as Noriyuki Haga tries to take evasive action.

Stats from WorlsSBK.com

TITLES	FAST L.	3RD PL.	2ND PL.	WINS	PODIUM	RACES	POLE	YEARS
0	46	25	30	34	89	0	0
Position	FAST L.	3RD PL.	2ND PL.	WINS	PODIUM	RACES	POLE	YEARS
1	1	0	1	1	2	2	0	2009 SBK

3	4	0	4	7	11	28	1	2008 SBK
2	12	3	6	6	15	25	2	2007 SBK
3	3	5	5	1	11	24	1	2006 SBK
3	6	5	3	2	10	23	0	2005 SBK
3	7	1	2	6	9	22	0	2004 SBK
4	4	4	3	0	7	26	1	2002 SBK
2	3	3	4	4	11	24	0	2000 SBK
7	0	1	0	1	2	0	0	1999 SBK
6	4	2	0	5	7	0	1	1998 SBK
13	1	1	1	1	3	0	0	1997 SBK
22	1	0	1	0	1	0	0	1996 SBK

Opinion: He is a strong rider, now raiding retired world champion Troy Byless old Bick, he is a strong contender for the 2009 wsbk champion title.

Bio

From: his official web site: http://www.nki41.com/home.html

Born: 02/03/1975 Nagoya

Team 2009: Ducati Xerox Racing Team

Bike 2009: Ducati 1198

Career:

2000 - 2007 - 2008: 2' World SBK

2004 - 2005 - 2006: 3' World SBK

2002: 4' World SBK - 1999: 7' World SBK

Poles: 5

Races: 230

Podium: 87

Wins: 33

Fast Lap:45

Favourite circuits: Laguna Seca, Suzuka, Brands Hatch, Assen

Hobbies: Aquatic sports, golf, hangin' out with family and friends

He likes: Happy people and ...

He hates: People don't ask "sorry" when mistake ...

Noriyuki Haga also known as Nitro-Nori...

He won the Suzuka 8 Hours endurance race in 1996 with American Colin Edwards as his teammate.

He was the Japanese Superbike Champion in 1997, coupled with four top-five finishes in World Superbike (WSBK) while filling in for the injured Edwards.

In 1998 N-N was racing WSBK full-time, adopting the number 41 he has used ever since.

He won five races (including 3 of the first 4) and finished sixth in the championship, despite lacking knowledge of most circuits on the calendar. He also scored an unexpected third place podium in a 500cc wild-card ride at his home race at Suzuka. Haga finished seventh in the WSBK standings in 1999 on the new R7 Yamaha.

As Akira Yanagawa came 5th, he was not the highest placed Japanese rider, something which has never happened since.

Nori improved his performance to challenge for the title in 2000.

Many race fans feel he would have won the 2000 championship had he not been disqualified for testing positive for a banned substance. It was later learned that the banned substance was ephedrine, which occurs naturally in herbs used in the Ma Huang supplement Haga had been taking during the off-season to lose weight. As a result, Haga was stripped of his race win points at the opening round in Kyalami, South Africa, and was forced to sit out a 2-race weekend as punishment.

Noriyuki raced in MotoGP on a WCM Red Bull-sponsored Yamaha 500cc motorcycle in 2001, and on MS Racing's MotoGP Aprilia in 2003. He finished a disappointing fourteenth in the championships both years. 2002 was a winless season in WSBK, but in 2004 he returned to the series with Renegade on a Ducati and was in contention for the championship until the final round. For 2005 Haga has led Yamaha's factory team, finishing third in the championship and becoming the first rider to win a dry weather race having failed to lap fast enough to qualify for 'Superpole'.

In 2006 he is again Yamaha's leading man. After 7 rounds he lies 2nd in the championship to Troy Bayliss, despite not having won a race. At round 7 in Brno he took pole, but finished third and fourth in the two races, having been passed by Michel Fabrizio on the last lap of both. At round 8 in the UK, he won a race for the first time of the year. At Round 9 at Lausitzring in Germany Nori picked up two second places after battling for the win in both races, the first race was won by his good friend Yukio Kagayama of Alstare Corona Suzuki and the second race was won by Brit James Toseland of Winston Ten Kate Honda who had been his main rival for 2nd place in the year's championship. For the third season in a row, Haga came third.

Troy Corser joined the Yamaha team for 2007, and together they brought Yamaha the manufacturer's championship. Haga finished 2nd in the riders championship, only 2 points behind James Toseland.

In 2008 Noriyuki continued on with the Yamaha Motor Italia team for the fourth consecutive year, and a strong set of results that included a double win at Nurburgring and Vallelunga meant that he closed the year in third position behind second-placed man and team-mate Troy Corser, and Troy Bayliss (Ducati Xerox), crowned World Champion in 2008 for the third time. Noriyuki replaces the now retired Troy Bayliss in the Ducati Xerox Team in 2009 and is hungry for a championship title, having finished second or third in the standings for the last five years.

Clips- A walk down memory lane

some videos of memorable moments in Motorbike racing over the years

Video: the Yamaha boys (Rossi, Lorenzo, Edwards and Toseland) star in hilarious 'The Office’ spoof

Motogp catalunya 2009 and a few other famous Rossi's wins

Rossi vs. Stoner - Laguna

Seca 2008 - The Best Video

Or if you prefer a different sing...

Doohan and Crivi after race

(Australia 96)

Nicky Hayden - Assen 2006

SUPERBIKE chili vs. fogarty

Edwards vs. Bayliss WSBK

2002 with Satriani

Biaggi Haga crash - Misano

2008 WSBK Losail (Qatar)

Alex Barros MotoGP 2002

Laverty and Pitt crash SBK

Vallelunga 2008

1991 WGP suzuka Final lap

Alex Barros in Jacarepagua

Schwantz-Rainey Hockenheim

91

500cc 1991 Assen Final Lap

MotoGP. Misano 2007.

Paddock girls