Haslam and Haga share the spoils
Added on Sunday, April 11th, 2010 by Carole Nash Editor | No Comments
Haslam and Haga share the spoils
Leon Haslam and Noriyuki Haga scored one win a piece in Valencia this afternoon, after two more exciting races for this 2010 season.
Carlos Checa gained the advantage early on, however when a technical problem brought his race to an abrupt end Brit Haslam inherited the victory, which he took comfortably.
Front runner, Max Biaggi tried his best to make an impression on Haslam as the laps ticked downwards, but to no avail. The podium was completed in true Brit style, with James Toseland stepping up the take the third step and his best finish of the season so far, on his return to the series.
There was more to celebrate just behind Toseland, with veteran Troy Corser fighting his way through to a strong fourth place finish, giving the BMW Motorrad Motorsport outfit their best finishing position since joining the series in 2009.
Strong contender for the 2009 title, Haga, tried his hardest to steal fourth away from Corser, but despite his best efforts had to settle for fifth, just ahead of Jonathan Rea in sixth. Pole sitter Cal Crutchlow was muscled back through the field, eventually crossing the line seventh, with Lorenzo Lanzi, Sylvain Guintoli and Jakub Smrz completing the top ten.
Haslam said: “To make the break was a bit of a surprise, because I felt we could race the other guys, but for sure it would be a big battle to the end. But when I got to the lead I saw the lap times I was doing were not so great and I knew that Max and the others guys could go quicker, it had been proven. But I kept my rhythm and when I saw a small gap behind I pushed again and the gap became bigger and bigger. It’s great to win another race and leave with the championship lead.”
Commenting on his podium, Toseland said: “I think Max was slightly faster than me after half race distance in race one, but I was stronger where you can pass another rider, and that made it difficult for him to overtake. Once he did get past, he helped me take a couple of tenths of a second from my lap times and I kept ahead of Corser and Haga. I couldn’t do any more but we are getting better all the time.”
In a race that could not have been more different to race one, the second outing of the day saw Haga triumph in what was made into an aggregate race.
The race was made into a two part aggregate affair after a crash on lap four brought out the red flags, signalling a race stoppage. Simon Andrews and Vittorio Iannuzzo both suffered high speed crashes on the pit straight, which brought the first heat to a temporary end.
With Haga taking the flag, the positions behind were left to be fought out. After a technical issue in race one, Checa made ammends, crossing the finish line second this time out, while Biaggi made it to another podium finish in third.
Race one winner Haslam was awarded fourth this time around, with Rea fifth and Guintoli sixth. Another strong finish for Toseland saw him take seventh at the chequered flag, followed by two fellow Brits, Shane Byrne and Toseland’s Yamaha Sterilgarda teammate Crutchlow eighth and ninth, respectively. Smrz finished in another strong tenth place finish, rounding out the top ten for the second time today.
Leon Camier and Michel Fabrizio were forced to retire from this second outing due to individual issues. It was also reported afterwards that Simon Andrews was left with two fractures to his left foot and heel, but is otherwise well.
Commenting on his victory, Haga said: “I like Valencia a lot. I am Mr Valencia! Before the red flag in race two I made a good start and was in fifth position. In the restart I started from fifth and I kept a good pace. It was not easy to catch and pass the top two riders but in the last few laps I pushed hard and took the win. I was not thinking about the time difference I just knew I had to go at the front.”
The next round of WSB is at Assen in two weeks time, with Haslam arriving at the venue with an extended championship lead.
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