Lorenzo Lanzi (RG Ducati) and Noriyuki Haga (Yamaha Motor Italia WSB) took the wins in a spectacular day of action at Valencia in front of 60,000 spectators, a record attendance for World Superbikes at the Spanish circuit.
Race 1:Carlos Checa (HANNspree Ten Kate Honda) and Max Neukirchner (Suzuki Alstare) were the protagonists of the first race. Neukirchner led every lap from pole position until the final corner, when Checa dived inside, but the Spaniard crashed and took his German rival down with him. Neukirchner suffered a broken left collarbone in the incident and failed to take part in race 2, while Checa remounted to finish fifth. The win went to Lorenzo Lanzi, the third in his career, after he passed Troy Bayliss (Ducati Xerox) with one lap to go. Troy Corser (Yamaha Motor Italia) and Fonsi Nieto (Suzuki Alstare) were third and fourth, while Haga crashed out on lap 4 and Max Biaggi (Sterilgarda Go Eleven Ducati) finished out of the points in sixteenth place.
“For me it’s a fantastic result” declared Lanzi. “We worked very well throughout the weekend to get this result. The team is a new one in World Superbikes this year and it’s difficult for us. It was a hard-fought race today, Troy is a world champion and is very fast but you need a bit of good luck in racing and I certainly had it today.”
Results: 1. Lanzi L. (ITA) Ducati 1098 RS 08 37'01.894 (149,248 kph)
2. Bayliss T. (AUS) Ducati 1098 F08 2.987
3. Corser T. (AUS) Yamaha YZF-R1 7.287
4. Nieto F. (ESP) Suzuki GSX-R1000 11.992
5. Checa C. (ESP) Honda CBR1000RR 12.824
6. Muggeridge K. (AUS) Honda CBR1000RR 13.125
7. Lavilla G. (ESP) Honda CBR1000RR 13.191
8. Laconi R. (FRA) Kawasaki ZX-10R 13.906
9. Tamada M. (JPN) Kawasaki ZX-10R 17.254
10. Rolfo R. (ITA) Honda CBR1000RR 18.606
Race 2: Bayliss led for seven laps but was passed by Checa. The Honda man then had a electrical problem on lap 12 and both he and Troy were passed by Haga on lap 12. The Japanese rider was able to hold off Bayliss until the end to take his first win of the year. Bayliss’s two second places increased his championship lead to 48 points over Nieto, who could only manage fourth and tenth today. Kiyonari (HANNspree Ten Kate Honda) took his best result of the season in fourth, ahead of Corser, Kagayama, Xaus and Biaggi, who rode a heroic race to finish eighth.
“Of course I am very happy for this result” declared Haga.”It was a fast race and unlike the first I actually had a good feeling with the bike. I lost the front and crashed with my first bike in race 1 and had to use my second bike for this one. Honestly today I was quite surprised for the win, but we know which is our problem and the team improvised and found the solutions to let me take the win.
Results 1. Haga N. (JPN) Yamaha YZF-R1 37'03.759 (149,123 kph)
2. Bayliss T. (AUS) Ducati 1098 F08 1.551
3. Checa C. (ESP) Honda CBR1000RR 2.903
4. Kiyonari R. (JPN) Honda CBR1000RR 7.277
5. Corser T. (AUS) Yamaha YZF-R1 8.051
6. Kagayama Y. (JPN) Suzuki GSX-R1000 9.223
7. Xaus R. (ESP) Ducati 1098 RS 08 10.164
8. Biaggi M. (ITA) Ducati 1098 RS 08 10.614
9. Laconi R. (FRA) Kawasaki ZX-10R 17.234
10. Nieto F. (ESP) Suzuki GSX-R1000 18.100
Rider points: 1. Bayliss 128
2. Nieto 80
3. Corser & Checa 72
5. Xaus 68
6. Haga 47
7. Biaggi 44
8. Lanzi 42..etc
Manufacturer points: 1. Ducati 14
2. Yamaha 95
3. Suzuki 86
4. Honda 73
5. Kawasaki 22
World Supersport Joan Lascorz (Glaner Motocard.com Honda) scored a lights-to-flag win in front of his home crowd, his first victory in the championship. The 23-year-old from Barcelona now has a 16 point lead over Broc Parkes (Yamaha World Supersport), who finished fourth. After poleman Andrew Pitt (HANNspree Ten Kate Honda) had crashed out on lap 5, the battle for the runner-up slot was between Fabien Foret (Yamaha World Supersport) and Craig Jones (Parkalgar Racing Honda), with the Frenchman getting the edge. Gianluca Nannelli (HANNspree Honda Althea) rode to fifth place with an injured shoulder, while points leader Joshua Brookes (HANNspree Stiggy Motorsport) had to retire with a tyre problem.
Superstock 1000
Brendan Roberts (Ducati Xerox Junior Team) proved to have a superior pace to the rest of the field as he powered to the win in the Superstock race. Davide Giugliano (Cruciani Moto Suzuki Italia) was right behind him until the very end, while Xavier Simeon from Belgium (Alstare Suzuki) took the final podium slot after a last-lap battle with Alessandro Polita and Claudio Corti. Simeon was then hit from behind by an over-enthusiastic Chris Seaton on the cool-down lap and limped up to the podium, while the Australian was taken to the Clinica Mobile with concussion.
Superstock 600 - Baz Takes First 600 WinThe European Superstock season got underway in dramatic fashion on Saturday with the 11 lap-race eventually decided on aggregate, after a machine went on fire on the track in the first running. The restart was led by the first leg top rider, Loris Baz (Yamaha YZF Junior Team), who went on to score the 25 points ahead of warring factions Daniel Arcas (Honda Merson), Danilo Petrucci (Team Trasimeno) and Dan Linfoot (Beowulf Yamaha). Arcas was disqualified for a technical irregularity.
