Reverend
June 1st, 2009, 22:33 PM
Ben Spies annihilated the opposition in the Utah US Round of the Hannspree FIM Superbike World Championship at Miller Motorsports Park, picking up his second double win of the year in his rookie SBK season.
In front of 47,300 spectators the Texan again reopened the title battle in a championship that following Kyalami appeared to be firmly in the hands of Ducati.
Noriyuki Haga, who crashed heavily in practice, ran the two races in a bruised state, finishing ninth and eighth. The Japanese rider lost ground to Spies as well as to his team-mate Michel Fabrizio, who finished third and second. With the season now at its mid-point Haga leads on 265 points, with Spies up to 212 and Fabrizio on 201.
Race 1
Spies dominated the first race to cut the gap at the top of the table, as Haga could only finish in ninth place, losing 18 points in the process. The race was interrupted on lap 7 after a crash involving Australian Karl Muggeridge, who only came away with a few bruises.
Spies powered away again in the second part to win by a comfortable margin on aggregate times. Behind Spies finished Spain's Carlos Checa, last year's double winner, and third place went to Fabrizio who was slowed by two poor starts. It was a good day for Ten Kate Honda as Ryuichi Kiyonari and Jonathan Rea came home in fourth and fifth position respectively.
Max Biaggi started from row 4 but worked his way up to sixth position at the flag on his Aprilia RSV4 machine.
Ben Spies: "We've been working on our starts a bit and this is a long straightaway and I really needed to get a good one here. After the restart it was tough because I really wanted to win on the road and couldn't take too many risks to keep Carlos at bay. I just wanted to cross the line first even though I had a six-second cushion."
Race 2
The second race was similar to the first, with the three-times AMA Superbike champion Spies taking the lead at the first turn and never relinquishing it.
Fabrizio this time got off to an excellent start and was second at the first corner, the Italian managing to keep Spies in his sights for over half the race before settling for the runner-up slot. Checa crashed out on lap 4, leaving the battle for the final podium place to be fought out between Rea, Leon Haslam, who crashed out on the final lap, and Biaggi, competitive in the race after problems in qualifying.
Kiyonari, Jakub Smrz and Shinya Nakano all finished ahead of Haga in eighth. It was an encouraging race for Kawasaki, with Parkes and Hacking often running inside the top 10, but BMW again had a difficult time of things with Xaus and Corser finishing outside the top 15.
Ben Spies: "That was a tough race, I almost feel like I robbed Michel because he rode fantastic. I tried to set a good pace but a pace that was comfortable and every time he took a tenth out I had to put a tenth back to keep him at bay. Then in the last six laps I pulled the pin and held it to the end. It's good to get a double win here, unfortunately we know Haga's not 100% but you've got to capitalize on the weekend and we made up some points."
Race One:
1. Ben Spies (USA) Yamaha
2. Carlos Checa (Esp) Honda
3. Michel Fabrizio (Ita) Ducati
4. Ryuichi Kiyonari (Jpn) Honda
5. Jonathan Rea (GB) Honda
6. Max Biaggi (Ita) Aprilia
7. Jamie Hacking (USA) Kawasaki
8. Jakub Smrz (Cze) Ducati
Race Two:
1. Ben Spies (USA) Yamaha
2. Michel Fabrizio (Ita) Ducati
3. Jonathan Rea (GB) Honda
4. Max Biaggi (Ita) Aprilia
5. Ryuichi Kiyonari (Jpn) Honda
6. Jakub Smrz (Cze) Ducati
7. Shinya Nakano (Jpn) Aprilia
8. Noriyuki Haga (Jpn) Ducati
Championship standings:
1. Noriyuki Haga - Ducati 265pts
2. Ben Spies - Yamaha 212
3. Michel Fabrizio - Ducati 201
4. Jonathan Rea - Honda 133
5. Max Biaggi - Aprilia 126
6. Leon Haslam - Honda 122
7. Tom Sykes - Yamaha 113
8. Ryuichi Kiyonari - Honda 96
Eurosport (http://uk.eurosport.yahoo.com/01062009/32/wsbk-total-domination-spies.html)
In front of 47,300 spectators the Texan again reopened the title battle in a championship that following Kyalami appeared to be firmly in the hands of Ducati.
Noriyuki Haga, who crashed heavily in practice, ran the two races in a bruised state, finishing ninth and eighth. The Japanese rider lost ground to Spies as well as to his team-mate Michel Fabrizio, who finished third and second. With the season now at its mid-point Haga leads on 265 points, with Spies up to 212 and Fabrizio on 201.
Race 1
Spies dominated the first race to cut the gap at the top of the table, as Haga could only finish in ninth place, losing 18 points in the process. The race was interrupted on lap 7 after a crash involving Australian Karl Muggeridge, who only came away with a few bruises.
Spies powered away again in the second part to win by a comfortable margin on aggregate times. Behind Spies finished Spain's Carlos Checa, last year's double winner, and third place went to Fabrizio who was slowed by two poor starts. It was a good day for Ten Kate Honda as Ryuichi Kiyonari and Jonathan Rea came home in fourth and fifth position respectively.
Max Biaggi started from row 4 but worked his way up to sixth position at the flag on his Aprilia RSV4 machine.
Ben Spies: "We've been working on our starts a bit and this is a long straightaway and I really needed to get a good one here. After the restart it was tough because I really wanted to win on the road and couldn't take too many risks to keep Carlos at bay. I just wanted to cross the line first even though I had a six-second cushion."
Race 2
The second race was similar to the first, with the three-times AMA Superbike champion Spies taking the lead at the first turn and never relinquishing it.
Fabrizio this time got off to an excellent start and was second at the first corner, the Italian managing to keep Spies in his sights for over half the race before settling for the runner-up slot. Checa crashed out on lap 4, leaving the battle for the final podium place to be fought out between Rea, Leon Haslam, who crashed out on the final lap, and Biaggi, competitive in the race after problems in qualifying.
Kiyonari, Jakub Smrz and Shinya Nakano all finished ahead of Haga in eighth. It was an encouraging race for Kawasaki, with Parkes and Hacking often running inside the top 10, but BMW again had a difficult time of things with Xaus and Corser finishing outside the top 15.
Ben Spies: "That was a tough race, I almost feel like I robbed Michel because he rode fantastic. I tried to set a good pace but a pace that was comfortable and every time he took a tenth out I had to put a tenth back to keep him at bay. Then in the last six laps I pulled the pin and held it to the end. It's good to get a double win here, unfortunately we know Haga's not 100% but you've got to capitalize on the weekend and we made up some points."
Race One:
1. Ben Spies (USA) Yamaha
2. Carlos Checa (Esp) Honda
3. Michel Fabrizio (Ita) Ducati
4. Ryuichi Kiyonari (Jpn) Honda
5. Jonathan Rea (GB) Honda
6. Max Biaggi (Ita) Aprilia
7. Jamie Hacking (USA) Kawasaki
8. Jakub Smrz (Cze) Ducati
Race Two:
1. Ben Spies (USA) Yamaha
2. Michel Fabrizio (Ita) Ducati
3. Jonathan Rea (GB) Honda
4. Max Biaggi (Ita) Aprilia
5. Ryuichi Kiyonari (Jpn) Honda
6. Jakub Smrz (Cze) Ducati
7. Shinya Nakano (Jpn) Aprilia
8. Noriyuki Haga (Jpn) Ducati
Championship standings:
1. Noriyuki Haga - Ducati 265pts
2. Ben Spies - Yamaha 212
3. Michel Fabrizio - Ducati 201
4. Jonathan Rea - Honda 133
5. Max Biaggi - Aprilia 126
6. Leon Haslam - Honda 122
7. Tom Sykes - Yamaha 113
8. Ryuichi Kiyonari - Honda 96
Eurosport (http://uk.eurosport.yahoo.com/01062009/32/wsbk-total-domination-spies.html)