WSBK – Change of leader in World Superbike! – Second Superbike race

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Change of leader in World Superbike !

WSBK - Change of leader in World Superbike! - Second Superbike race

The 2009 World Superbike season keeps all its promises: rookies take control in the race as well as in the championship, while veterans bring new bikes to the forefront. And the Supersport is not left out ! Reports.

Second Superbike race

Haga got off to the best start again, was the first to brake and kept the advantage coming out of the pif-paf. He is followed by Checa, Corser, Haslam, Fabrizio, Rea and Spies. In the first portion, Nitro Nori manages to widen a slight gap but sees Carlos come back on him in the second.

Carlos even manages to steal the head from Haga at the end of the straight line, but the Japanese quickly regain control of a race which he must win at all costs. Behind, Rea’s Honda Ten Kate takes up residence – for good – in front of Fabrizio’s official Ducati.

Jonathan Rea is also the fastest on the track and easily gets over his teammate Carlos Checa. A superb battle then opposes the three leading men: Nori, Carlos and Johnny compete for 1st place … and allow Leon Haslam to come back on them, while Spies takes a little longer to get into the rhythm of the race.

In the first corner of the 5th lap, an incident disrupts the joyous ballet of the leading men: Rea, by sliding his Honda under Haga’s Ducati, makes the Japanese fall! Despite the low speed of his fall, the n ° 41 must retire…

"There was nothing to do and I was unable to restart the motorcycle", will regret – long? – Noriyuki,"I’m angry because this is the second time this has happened. I guess the only consolation is the fact that I didn’t hurt myself".

Rea continues his race as if nothing had happened: "Haga widened slightly, I placed myself inside. I did not see him, I felt a big boom and it was only after the race that I learned that he had fallen", will declare in turn the young Irishman who pleads not guilty and is sorry for Nori.

Ben Spies will therefore be able to take control of the championship! The American is in 4th place in the race but seems capable of getting even bigger points … The Honda of Haslam, Checa and Rea are only a few lengths away from the Yamaha n ° 19.

On the 7th lap, Leon passed Carlos and chased his compatriot Jonathan. Behind, Ben stumbles on the Spanish and his CBR n ° 7 and we have to wait for the following lap to see him take the third step of the podium..

A little further on, Michel Fabrizio, Max Biaggi and Troy Corser are fighting for 5th place but are unable to get the podium. Because in front, Rea, Haslam and Spies maintain a pace that ex-MotoGP star Carlos Checa Himself struggles to maintain.

At the halfway point, Rea and his No.65 Honda have a half second lead over Haslam and his No.91 Honda and Spies and his No.19 Yam ‘. Two laps later, the American goes on the attack and takes the 2nd place of the English with authority. Leon, jostled in his routine, must step aside and lose his pace. Carlos Checa takes the opportunity to take the 3rd step of the podium.

As Spies tries his best to get back in contact with Rea – he hardly manages to do it – his teammate Sykes draws attention to him by shooting up like an arrow at Fabrizio. No.6 overtook No.84 in the 14th lap. : Tom is therefore in 7th place, less than 2 seconds from a Troy Corser delighted with his Behème who appears at home in the Top 6 !

Five seconds ahead of the Australian, Max Biaggi puts pressure on Leon Haslam. Despite "jolts at the start of a curve "from his Aprilia, Max manages to steal from Leon lsa 4th place on the 17th lap. With less than three laps to go, Carlos Checa is guaranteed to climb to the third step of the podium.

As for Ben Spies, he would like to get on the first but Johnny Rea prevents him from completely making the junction: a few tenths of a second always separate the Yam ‘from the Honda and, on the very last lap, this gap widens slightly..

Indeed, Jonathan Rea posted the fastest time in the race in this final loop – in 1 ‘56.234, better than Haga in the 1st round – pushing Spies to his limits. "I knew I had to make no mistakes on the last lap because Ben was so close so breaking the lap record was awesome", admits the Honda rider.

The American loses contact by widening in a curve and has to settle for 2nd place while Jonathan Rea offers himself his second victory this season: not bad for a beginner in the SBK World Cup! "I used up my tires a lot as I put the pack together and started to slip a bit towards the end so I made sure", will signal Ben Spies…

On the French side, we look gray: Matthieu Lagrive had to give up on a mechanical glitch and David Checa returned without scoring a point: "We will still have three events to try to reach this objective so difficult this year", notes Team GMT 94, which we will find in better elm next weekend at the Bol d’Or !

The championship is therefore now led by a "beginner": Ben Spies has 364 points, 18 more than Noriyuki Haga (346). Jonathan Rea (244) and Max Biaggi (224) as for them approach the 3rd place of Michel Fabrizio (289). The Ducati rider should also be wary of Haslam and Checa who scored more points than him in Germany.

As for manufacturers, Ducati (439) remains in the lead but has only 32 points ahead of Yamaha (407). Honda had a good weekend (347), Aprilia consolidated its 4th place (231) while Suzuki (143) saw BMW (105) come back up dangerously for three events. Kawasaki brings up the rear with 56 points.

Next meeting for the World Superbike: September 27 in Imola. Stay connected !

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