Fabrizio and Haslam on top in Kyalami
Added on Sunday, May 16th, 2010 by Carole Nash Editor | No Comments
Fabrizio and Haslam on top in Kyalami
Michel Fabrizio and Leon Haslam took one win a piece in Kyalami today, with Haslam extending his lead at the top of the championship table.
Race one got underway with Fabrizio launching into the lead from the off, after a superbly good start. after starting second in the grid, James Toseland slotted into second, while Carlos Checa slipped into third. Despite starting on pole position, Cal Crutchlow had a difficult start, which saw him drop down the order to eighth at one point.
Checa was really on a charge, and as the opening lap developed Toseland was demoted to third. Just ahead of this battle Fabrizio was really firing away, setting fastest lap after fastest lap, even beating his own record.
Troy Corser enjoyed a good start, progressing from thirteenth on the grid to ninth in the first few laps. Just ahead of the veteran WSB rider, Leon Camier was keeping teammate Max Biaggi at bay, with the Aprilia Alitalia riders running nose to tail for much of the race.
As the race entered the second half, Biaggi began to pick up the pace, eventually breaking free of Camier. By this stage Toseland was seemingly suffering with his tyres, as he was soon the victim for many of the riders behind him. First it was Haslam who fought his way passed after the Sterilgarda Yamaha rider ran wide. Shortly afterwards Biaggi followed suit, fighting his way passed to ensure he maintained the close gap to championship rival Haslam.
In the closing stages Jonathan Rea had climbed his way through the field after a difficult qualifying session left him further down the grid. He began to pick off his rivals one by one, disposing of the recovering Crutchlow, before moving onto Crutchlow’s team mate Toseland.
As the chequered flag signalled the end of race one, it was Fabrizio who was there to see it first, with Checa 1.098seconds adrift. Haslam fought through to complete the podium, with Biaggi just behind in fourth. Rea eventually finished a strong fifth, with Camier sixth, Toseland being pushed back to seventh and Crutchlow eighth. Jakub Smrz and Sylvain Guintoli rounded out the top ten.
The second race was as much a thriller as ever, with the top five riders covered by less than half a second. After getting a storming start, Jonathan Rea was the man out in front, controlling the pace for the majority of the twenty four laps.
Determined to extend his championship charge that bit more, Haslam exchanged his second place, which he had held for much of the race, to dive passed Rea for the lead on the penultimate lap. Biaggi finished third, trying his best to keep the points gap to Haslam as low as possible.
Behind the lead trio, it was Crutchlow and Checa who right on their tail until the end, however unable to make an impression they were forced to settle for fourth and fifth.
Toseland again had a challenging time, taking the finish in sixth place, quite a way down on the leaders. Corser followed him across the line in seventh, with race one winner Fabrizio eighth, Smrz ninth and Noriyuki Haga making it into the top ten.
Haslam now leads the championship standings with 222 points, while Biaggi still holds second place with 207 points. Rea and Checa are joint third with 141 points each.
The seventh round of the season sees the WSB field head to America next time out, on the 31st May.
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