Spies double blows title race wide open
Added on Monday, June 29th, 2009 by Carole Nash Editor
Spies cuts the gap to 14 points.
Ben Spies moved to within fourteen points of Ducati’s Noriyuki Haga with a comprehensive double victory at Donington Park.
The American rookie closed the gap on Haga at the top of the championship after the Japanese veteran crashed out after four just laps of race in the British round of the World Superbike Championship.
The result means that the Yamaha rider is right behind Haga with just five rounds of the season remaining although crucially Haga, who seemingly walked away unharmed, now has four weeks to recuperate from the knock as the WSB championship heads into the summer break.
In truth, it was a comfortable weekend for Spies as he romped home 7.156 seconds ahead of Max Biaggi in race one, with Haga third.
It was a similar story in race two although Biaggi finished a lowly 21st after an early crash. This time, Spies finished 6.622 seconds ahead of Haslam, with Michel Fabrizio taking third.
There were strong performances from the British riders, with four regular riders and three wildcards all three wildcards taking to the grid.
Haslam’s fourth and second place finishes were the highlight whilst Shane Byrne secured fifth and fourth place finishes. Spies’ teammate Tom Sykes retired in race one but recovered to finish fifth in race two whilst Jonathan Rea finished seventh in race one before a disappointing 15th in race two.
Of the wildcards, Leon Camier finished 13th and 6th on his BSB-spec Airwaves Yamaha, teammate James Ellison was two places behind in race two whilst Kawasaki’s Simon Andrews earned a top ten finish in race two.
But the centre of attention was Spies with the title race now blown wide open ahead of the summer break.
“It was a picture perfect weekend,” said Spies. “It was a tough race, Max was there the whole time but we were able to do quick laps to stay ahead, the last three laps I rode as hard as I could just to make sure of the win.
“In the second race I knew Nori had a big crash and I hope he’s OK. It’s not the way we want to win it but you have to take the points when you can. It was a good second race for us though.”
Spies also paid tribute to home favourite Leon Haslam, who was cheered on by the Donington crowd as he crossed the line in second.
“The track was hot and a bit slick so we made some changes to the bike which made it better from race one. It was a good job for Leon, getting on the podium at his home round was great, I know how that feels.
“It was tough being out on my own, I had to focus lap to lap to make sure I didn’t make any mistakes. I can’t thank the Yamaha guys enough we changed a lot of things around and they came and delivered me two really good bikes to win on.”
In the World Supersport, Cal Crutchlow increased his lead in the championship with a win on his home circuit.
