2009 World Superbike Round 10 - Brno, Czech Republic

Noriyuki Haga.  Photo and text sources include Ducati Corse, World Superbike and Yamaha Racing.

Mixed Fortunes at Brno

It was a mixed day of racing at the World Superbike Championship in Brno.  The first race started well with Spies, Biaggi and Fabrizio pulling away at the front but Fabrizio came in too hot three laps in and lost the bike, taking Spies out in the process.

Race two and Spies got straight out in front, leading from the start.  Again followed by Fabrizio and Biaggi, the two Italians fought amongst themselves until the closing laps when Biaggi got past and came after Spies.

Spies adapted his riding and braked later and later into the corners to leave no opportunity for Biaggi to pass, and in doing so took a well earned victory and 25 points to add to his championship challenge.

As they head into the summer break, Spies is just seven points behind leader Haga with eight races left to run.  Team mate Sykes remains in seventh in the standings, 30 points behind sixth placed rider Haslam.

2009 WSB Czech Republic - Brno - July 26, 2009

Circuit Length: 5403. Weather: Sunny

Lap Record: 2'03.747 (Noriyuki Haga, 01/01/2005)

Fastest Lap Ever: 1'58.345 (Troy Bayliss, 20/07/2008)

Last Year's Winner: Troy Bayliss

Race 1 Results

1 Max Biaggi Aprilia ITA 40'18.306

2 Carlos Checa Honda ESP 0'03.631

3 Jonathan Rea Honda GBR 0'09.948

4 Shane Byrne Ducati GBR 0'12.952

5 Troy Corser BMW AUS 0'14.599

6 Jakub Smrz Ducati CZE 0'19.359

7 Leon Haslam Honda GBR 0'19.680

8 Noriyuki Haga Ducati JPN 0'20.731

9 Matthieu Lagrive Honda FRA 0'21.923

10 Makoto Tamada Kawasaki JPN 0'27.807

11 Fonsi Nieto Ducati ESP 0'35.263

12 Broc Parkes Kawasaki AUS 0'36.535

13 Ryuichi Kiyonari Honda JPN 0'38.586

14 Yukio Kagayama Suzuki JPN 0'40.061

15 Vittorio Iannuzzo Honda ITA 0'40.280

18 David Checa Yamaha ESP 1'14.874

Race 2 Results

1 Ben Spies Yamaha USA 40'15.420

2 Max Biaggi Aprilia ITA 0'00.213

3 Michel Fabrizio Ducati ITA 0'00.657

4 Jonathan Rea Honda GBR 0'08.311

5 Carlos Checa Honda ESP 0'08.915

6 Noriyuki Haga Ducati JPN 0'21.175

7 Tom Sykes Yamaha GBR 0'21.384

8 Shane Byrne Ducati GBR 0'21.599

9 Jakub Smrz Ducati CZE 0'21.726

10 Troy Corser BMW AUS 0'25.180

11 Shinya Nakano Aprilia JPN 0'25.612

12 Leon Haslam Honda GBR 0'25.622

13 Ryuichi Kiyonari Honda JPN 0'26.246

14 Matthieu Lagrive Honda FRA 0'31.098

15 Lorenzo Lanzi Ducati ITA 0'32.706

19 David Checa Yamaha ESP 1'00.273

Best Lap

Michel Fabrizio Ducati ITA 2'00.116

Rider Standings as of July 26, 2009

1. Noriyuki Haga Ducati JPN 326

2. Ben Spies Yamaha USA 319

3. Michel Fabrizio Ducati ITA 273

4. Jonathan Rea Honda GBR 206

5. Max Biaggi Aprilia ITA 200

6. Leon Haslam Honda GBR 180

7. Tom Sykes Yamaha GBR 150

8. Carlos Checa Honda ESP 145

9. Shane Byrne Ducati GBR 134

10. Jakub Smrz Ducati CZE 132

11. Ryuichi Kiyonari Honda JPN 119

12. Yukio Kagayama Suzuki JPN 96

13. Shinya Nakano Aprilia JPN 86

14. Regis Laconi Ducati FRA 77

15. Max Neukirchner Suzuki GER 75

21. Leon Camier Yamaha GBR 13

26. James Ellison Yamaha GBR 8

Manufacturer Standings as of July 26, 2009

1. Ducati 412

2. Yamaha 362

3. Honda 306

4. Aprilia 207

5. Suzuki 133

6. BMW 87

7. Kawasaki 53

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Spies on Pole Againn

Having learnt the long complicated Brno track Yamaha World Superbike rider Ben Spies got down to business today in the second qualifying session.

His speed was never on doubt and as the track knowledge increased so the lap times came down.  He ended the session on the top spot a tenth of a second faster than nearest rival Max Biaggi although overall times put him in second behind the Italian.

Biaggi's claim to the top spot was short-lived as Spies went straight out in the first Superpole session to score the fastest time, without using a qualifying tire.  This was to be repeated in the following two heats as he switched to his two allotted Q tires and again set himself apart from the Superbike pack, the only rider to dip twice below 1.59 seconds.

Ben Spies, Yamaha World Superbike Team (1st,1'58.868):  "It was a good Superpole session for us and it's been a good weekend so far as well with the qualifying.  We've been good with the race set up and we found something in the afternoon practice session that made the bike feel a lot better on race tires.

Superpole was good for us, we really got it together.  I had a small problem in the last session but it was still good enough to get it done today but it was a tough one.

We've got a good start position tomorrow and I think our bike is really good on the tires here after a few laps so I think it's going to be a good race-day.  Michel will definitely be up there tomorrow and I think Max will be too.  I love the circuit, it's really wide, big and fast, it's a beautiful track."

Brno Race Circuit
Circuit Length: 5403 m
Opened 1987
Lap Record: 2'03.747 (Noriyuki Haga, 2005)
Fastest Lap Ever: 1'58.345 (Troy Bayliss, 2008)

Fabrizio Secures Front-Row Spot on Grid
Having been fast in all of the sessions so far, Ducati Xerox rider Michel Fabrizio continued to be a protagonist in today’s spectacle, pushing hard with his Ducati 1198 throughout the three mini-Superpole sessions to secure himself a front row position, second, on tomorrow’s grid.

In this morning’s second qualifying session, and on a cooler track (25°C), the Ducati Xerox riders continued to fight, Michel Fabrizio in close competition against the other front-runners and Noriyuki in a personal battle with the pain in his left scapula.

Nine of the riders who qualified for Superpole managed to improve on the times they set yesterday, but Michel and Nori were not among them; Michel’s fastest lap yesterday was enough for him to conclude qualifying very near the top of the timesheets, in fourth position, less than a tenth of a second from the three fastest riders Biaggi (Aprilia), Spies (Yamaha) and local man Smrz on the Ducati 1198 of privateers Team Guandalini.

Noriyuki continued to experience the same problems as yesterday, suffering pain especially during braking, meaning that he was unable to improve on yesterday’s performance and just qualified for the afternoon’s Superpole in eighteenth position.

Both before and during the free practice Noriyuki was seen by Doctor Corbascio of the Clinica Mobile who administered a local anesthetic to the muscles around the scapula.  The treatment had some effect and in the first phase of the Superpole Noriyuki went straight out on a qualifying tire and was able to register a very fast time, passing easily into the second Superpole session.

Unfortunately stage two was tougher for the Japanese rider and at the end of the twelve minute session, despite having lapped on the second available qualifier, Haga was unable to climb higher than fourteenth on the leader board, thus concluding his Superpole.

Fabrizio meanwhile, very much at ease on the Brno track, passed without difficulty from the first to the second and third mini-Superpoles, exiting in the final phase on the second qualifying tire and lapping fast enough to conclude in second position overall, just 0.082 of a second behind pole-sitter Spies.

Spies and Fabrizio will share the front row tomorrow with Max Biaggi (Aprilia) in third and Jonathan Rea (Honda) in fourth.

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