The Texan has now reduced the 48 point gap at the top of the table to 14 from Noriyuki Haga (Ducati Xerox), who crashed in race 2, picking up a broken vertebra in the process. Haga’s Italian team-mate Michel Fabrizio was third in race 2 and is now 51 points behind. Aprilia had a good first race, with Max Biaggi second at the finish, while the best of the numerous British platoon present at Donington was Leon Haslam (Stiggy Racing Honda), who finished second to Spies in race 2.



Race 1

Spies continued to steamroller his way to the wins in World Superbike as he took his ninth victory of the year in the first race. After setting his eighth pole in qualifying, the Texan rider dominated the 23-lap race but was shadowed all the way by Max Biaggi (Aprilia Racing). The Italian ran faultlessly in second until the final lap, when Ben upped the ante to power to the chequered flag, but Biaggi also encountered a fuel problem a couple of hundred metres from the flag and risked losing out on second. This was Biaggi’s first podium since Qatar. Third went to points leader Haga, who limited the damage in a race where he was not in a position to challenge for the win. In the all-British battle for fourth place, Haslam got the better of Shane Byrne (Sterilgarda Ducati). Aprilia’s excellent performance was completed by a sixth place for Shinya Nakano. Home idol and Misano winner Jonathan Rea (Hannspree Ten Kate Honda) could only finish in seventh, ahead of John Hopkins (Stiggy Racing Honda). Michel Fabrizio (Ducati Xerox) had a gear change problem and could only finish 12th, while Ruben Xaus scored one point for BMW.

Ben Spies: “It was a tough race for us, Max was there the whole time and we were both able to do quick laps. I got a bit of a gap then made a couple of mistakes and he got back on me. The last three laps I rode as hard as I could, we got down to the 30s, then I couldn’t hear Max coming into the chicane on the last lap so knew something was wrong and I took the last corners easy. We can’t be too conservative now, we have to claw back and get a whole lot of points in a couple of races.”

Max Biaggi: “I am very happy with this result after a very hard decision we made in free practice and qualifying. Yesterday we found a way to go fast and we made the right choice in tyres and the balance was correct. In the warm-up we had some problems but for the race we fixed most of them. Just on the last lap at the last chicane we had some trouble, I don’t know what, the bike just stopped and then went back again in the last few metres before the flag. I think I deserved second!”

Noriyuki Haga: “I tried to do my best but the front two guys were very fast. I tried to catch up for the victory but I had to settle for third position. Of course during the laps I tried to push and catch them up but it was quite difficult. Our package was quite different but for the next race we try to change something to improve the riding of the bike.”


Race Two

Spies also dominated the second race, but this time without any pressure from his rivals. The Yamaha man immediately pulled away at the start to pick up a seven second lead, which he administered easily to pick up his tenth win of the year. Spies’ double coincided with a disaster for Haga, who crashed out of second place on lap 5 while trying to make up ground on the leader. The Japanese rider was taken to hospital in Derby with a fractured vertebra and other injuries. Race 2 saw a British rider on the podium, thanks to Haslam, who held off Fabrizio. With the outcome of this race, the Italian keeps alive his title chances. Byrne put on another good show, finishing fourth ahead of fellow Brit Tom Sykes. Xaus again scored points for BMW, this time with a positive ninth place. Both Aprilia riders crashed out, Biaggi suffering a hairline crack in his right foot in the process, but remounting to finish 21st, while John Hopkins (Stiggy Racing Honda) did not make it to the start of race 2, the still-injured American totally exhausted after his race 1 efforts

Ben Spies: “It was a picture perfect weekend, I know Haga had a big crash and hope he’s OK. That’s not the way you want to do it but you’ve got to capitalize when things go wrong. The track was definitely hot in the second race and a little bit slick so we made some changes to the bike that made it better. Fortunately we didn’t have to push to the absolute limit but it all worked great today.”

Leon Haslam: “We’ve been struggling for the past few rounds with unknown circuits and I really wanted to get on that podium today. I feel good, obviously feel sorry for Haga because I was pushing him hard and I was pretty happy to get second. In the first race I was really suffering from chatter but everyone in the team has been behind me all weekend so a big thanks to them.”

Michel Fabrizio: “Today Ben was very fast and it was impossible to catch him. In the first race I had a problem with the gear change, while in the second I had a great battle with Haslam. I am very happy with the result, but very sorry for Haga and his crash.”


World Superbike - Donington Park Race One Result

Pos – Rider – Team - Time
1 - Ben Spies - Yamaha WSB - 34'57.230
2 - Max Biaggi - Aprilia Racing - 35'04.386
3 - Noriyuki Haga - Ducati Xerox Team - 35'08.198
4 - Leon Haslam - Stiggy Racing Honda - 35'16.073
5 - Shane Byrne - Sterilgarda - 35'16.355
6 - Shinya Nakano - Aprilia Racing - 35'18.516
7 - Jonathan Rea - HANNspree Ten Kate Honda - 35'20.874
8 - John Hopkins - Stiggy Racing Honda - 35'30.079
9 - Jakub Smrz - Guandalini Racing - 35'30.134
10 - Ryuichi Kiyonari - Ten Kate Honda Racing - 35'30.422
11 - Carlos Checa - HANNspree Ten Kate Honda - 35'31.765
12 - Michel Fabrizio - Ducati Xerox Team - 35'32.323
13 - Leon Camier - Airwaves Yamaha - 35'32.671
14 - Lorenzo Lanzi - DFX Corse - 35'36.264
15 - Ruben Xaus - BMW Motorrad Motorsport - 35'38.297
16 - Matthieu Lagrive - Honda Althea Racing - 35'43.682
17 - Yukio Kagayama - Suzuki Alstare BRUX - 35'45.154
18 - Broc Parkes - Kawasaki World Superbike R.T. - 35'45.476
19 - Luca Scassa - Team Pedercini - 35'48.162
20 - Simon Andrews - MSS Colchester Kawasaki - 35'52.262
21 - Jamie Hacking - Kawasaki World Superbike R.T. - 35'52.446
22 - Alessandro Polita - Celani Race - 35'59.988
23 - avid Salom D- Team Pedercini - 36'00.207
24 - David Checa - Yamaha France GMT 94 Ipone - 36'09.485
25 - Blake Young - Suzuki Alstare BRUX - 36'09.761


Not Classified

RT - Troy Corser - BMW Motorrad Motorsport - 32'35.344
RT - James Ellison - Airwaves Yamaha - 20'05.092
RT - Roland Resch - TKR Suzuki Switzerland - 20'49.270
RT - Tom Sykes - Yamaha WSB - 21'28.747
RT - Gregorio Lavilla - Guandalini Racing - 11'36.524
RT - Vittorio Iannuzzo - Squadra Corse Italia -

World Superbike - Donington Park Race Two Result

Pos – Rider – Team – Time
1 - Ben Spies - Yamaha WSB - 35'14.788
2 - Leon Haslam - Stiggy Racing Honda - 35'21.410
3 - Michel Fabrizio - Ducati Xerox Team - 35'21.604
4 - Shane Byrne - Sterilgarda - 35'22.137
5 - Tom Sykes - Yamaha WSB - 35'22.933
6 - Leon Camier - Airwaves Yamaha - 35'28.251
7 - Ryuichi Kiyonari - Ten Kate Honda Racing - 35'30.539
8 - James Ellison - Airwaves Yamaha - 35'31.625
9 - Ruben Xaus - BMW Motorrad Motorsport - 35'37.679
10 - Simon Andrews - MSS Colchester Kawasaki - 35'45.135
11 - Lorenzo Lanzi - DFX Corse - 35'45.410
12 - Matthieu Lagrive - Honda Althea Racing - 35'46.350
13 - Yukio Kagayama - Suzuki Alstare BRUX - 35'46.936
14 - Broc Parkes - Kawasaki World Superbike R.T. - 35'47.395
15 - Jonathan Rea - HANNspree Ten Kate Honda - 35'47.594
16 - Luca Scassa - Team Pedercini - 35'49.057
17 - Blake Young - Suzuki Alstare BRUX - 35'55.432
18 - Gregorio Lavilla - Guandalini Racing - 35'55.744
19 - David Salom - Team Pedercini - 35'56.090
20 - Troy Corser - BMW Motorrad Motorsport - 35'57.644
21 - Max Biaggi - Aprilia Racing - 36'02.557


Not Classified

RT - Vittorio Iannuzzo - Squadra Corse Italia - 23'44.673
RT - Roland Resch - TKR Suzuki Switzerland - 24'14.199
RT - Alessandro Polita - Celani Race - 9'34.107
RT - Carlos Checa - HANNspree Ten Kate Honda - 7'43.696
RT - David Checa - Yamaha France GMT 94 Ipone - 7'54.236
RT - Noriyuki Haga - Ducati Xerox Team - 6'08.708
RT - Jakub Smrz - Guandalini Racing - 3'09.517
RT - Shinya Nakano - Aprilia Racing - 1'35.100
RT - Jamie Hacking - Kawasaki World Superbike R.T. - 1'41.092


Championship Points after race two


1 - N. Haga - 308

2 - B. Spies - 294

3 - M. Fabrizio - 257

4 - J. Rea - 177

5 - L. Haslam - 167

6 - M. Biaggi - 155

7 - T. Sykes - 141

8 - J. Smrz - 115

9 - C. Checa - 114

10 - S. Byrne - 113

11 - R. Kiyonari - 113

12 - Y. Kagayama - 94

13 - S. Nakano - 81

14 - R. Laconi - 77

15 - M. Neukirchner - 75

16 - R. Xaus - 50

17 - T. Corser - 36

18 - B. Parkes - 27

19 - J. Hopkins - 17

20 - L. Camier - 13