2009 Hannspree World SuperBike Championship Round 7, Salt Lake City, U.S.A, May 31st Race Report
SPIES DOMINATES ON HOME SOIL
Sterilgarda Yamaha World Superbike rider Ben Spies dominated both races at his home round for round seven of the Hannspree World Superbike Championship at the Miller Motorsports Park in Salt Lake City in the U.S.A. The 24 year-old Texan picked up his double win of the year in front of 47,300 spectators and reopened his battle for the title with Ducati Xerox's Nori Haga who could only finish inth and eighth in both races after riding heavily bruised due to a heavy fall on Friday. The Japanese rider lost out to his team-mate Michel Fabrizio who finished third and second with the Hannspree Ten Kate Honda's also getting in on the action with Carlos Checa taking second in race one and Johnny Rea third in race two. With the season at the mid-way point Haga nows leads on 265 points with Spies up to 212 and Fabrizio on 201.
Race One. Ben Spies dominated the opening race for the first five laps until it was red flagged due to a crash involving Celani Suzuki rider Karl Muggeridge. After a 30 minute delay the second part of the race would be run on aggregated times which saw Spies eventually open up a lead to take his first win of the day by over nine seconds ahead of last year's double race winner Hannspree Ten Kate Honda's Carlos Checa with Ducati Xerox rider Michel Fabrizio in third. It was a good day for the remaing two Hannspree Ten Kate Honda riders as Ryuichi Kiyonari and Johnny Rea came away with a fourth and fifth ahead of Aprilia's Max Biaggi and local rider Jamie Hacking who was replacing the injured Makoto Tamada at the Factory Kawasaki team. Guandalini Racing Ducati rider Jakub Smrz eventually got the better of the factory Ducati of Nori Haga to finsih eighth with Sterilgarda Ducati's Shane Byrne in tenth.
Race Two.Sterilgarda Yamaha World Superbike rider Ben Spies took the lead into turn two and never looked back as the Texan rider was in a class off his own as he was able to take the win by over seven seconds ahead of the Ducati Xerox ofMichel Fabrizio with the battle for third between Hannspree Ten Kate Honda's Johnny Rea and Stiggy Racing Honda's Leon Haslam who would eventually crash out with free corners remaining leaving Rea to take the final place on the podium for a second time this year. Aprilia's Max Biaggi had a strong race in fourth with the Hannspree Ten Kate Honda of Ryuichi Kiyonari in fifth. Sixth was Guandalini Racing Ducati's Jakub Smrz, seventh Biaggi's team-mate Shinya Nakano, eighth Ducati Xerox's Nori Haga with the two Brits of Sterilgarda Yamaha World Superbike's Tom Sykes and Sterilgarda Ducati's Shane Byrne takinf ninth and tenth.
WORLD SUPERSPORT CHAMPIONSHIP
Hannspree Ten Kate Honda rider Kenan Sofuoglu emerged the winner from the thrilling final lap of a race-long battle between four different makes of bikes, Honda, Yamaha and Kawasaki. With just one lap to go the 2007 World Supersport Champion first passed points leader Yamaha World Supersports rider Cal Crutchlow, and then make a move on Parkalgar Honda's Eugene Laverty to take his thirteenth win of his career and sixty seventh for Honda in the Supersport class. At the mid-way point of the season Cal Crutchlow leads with 132 points, 2nd Eugene Laverty 126 points, 3rd Kenan Sofuoglu 108 points with reigning world champion Andrew Pitt in 4th on 73 points.
