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. 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 2008 Superbike World Championship, which gets underway on February 23rd with the opening round in Qatar, was officially presented this afternoon at Superstudio Più’ in Milan. This year’s edition was presented by representatives of the major partners of the world championship for production-based bikes: Paolo Flammini, CEO of FGSport, Kevin Chang, President of HANNSpree Europe, Sergio Cravero, Marketing Manager of Mondo Alfa Romeo and Alberto Viganò, Marketing Director of Pirelli Tyres (Bike Business Unit).