Spies battles to race 1 win from Haga
Sunday, 6 September 2009 11:53 GMT
Ben Spies (Yamaha World Superbike) notched up his 12th win of the season at the end of a nail-biting scrap with his championship rival Noriyuki Haga (Ducati Xerox), reducing the gap at the top to two points. The Japanese rider powered away to the best possible start, but Spies managed to recover by the mid-point, when he took over at the front. With a couple of laps to go before the chequered flag, Haga made a slight error and the Texan was able to cut loose to take the win. Third place went to Carlos Checa (Hannspree Ten Kate Honda), who held off his team-mate Jonathan Rea for the final podium slot. There was another terrific battle for fifth place, between Max Biaggi (Aprilia Racing), Leon Haslam (Stiggy Racing Honda) and Michel Fabrizio (Ducati Xerox), who finished in that order. Troy Corser scored a positive eighth place for BMW, with the Australian running in fourth for much of the race before dropping away in the final stages. Stand-in rider Karl Muggeridge brought the first Suzuki Alstare BRUX machine home in 12th, but both Kawasaki riders were forced into retirement. Makoto Tamada was involved in an incident shortly after the start together with John Hopkins (Stiggy Racing Honda), and they were both taken to Adenaiu hospital with concussion.
