Superbike Rookie shows the way!

Having qualified on pole position, he powered to a flawless victory in the second race of the opening WSB round at Phillip Island. Running at the front from the outset and fighting for top position with Ducati rider Noriyuki Haga who won the first race, Spies rode a perfect race, the new R1 performed impressively as he kept the pace up to the very end for a well deserved victory. Spies goes to Qatar sitting fourth in the championship standings (only a single point from third), after the Phillip Island race weekend, he is also the first American to win a World Superbike race since fellow Texan Colin Edwards in 2002.

It was a dramatic start to the first race when a late entry into turn two by rider Leon Haslam, forced Max Biaggi to sit up, in turn pushing Spies wide and off the track. Having dropped back several positions he then had to again avoid a coming together between Ruben Xaus and another rider, and in doing so went off track again. The American pole position starter found himself in 26th position with a lot of work to do. Spies put his head down and put in consistently fast laps, finishing the race one position off the points in 16th, and lapping at the end of the race at a similar pace to the race leaders Haga and Neukirchner. Spies team mate Tom Sykes was forced back to 14th in the opening scrum for the first corners of race one but recovered well, making his way up to tenth position. He held the place for the majority of the race and was closing on ninth at the chequered flag. Race two and British rookie Sykes displayed the same consistency that won him the points in race one, dropping initially to 19th before getting his head down and working up steadily to take tenth position and more points for the Yamaha team in his first World Superbike race of 2009. For Troy Corser his first competitve outing on the BMW S 1000RR was encouraging, with an impressive 8th in race 1, having started on the fifth row of the grid.

WSB Points: Haga 45, Neukirchner 30, Haslam 26, Spies 25, Kagayama 24, Fabrizio 24, Laconi 22, Rea 18, Smrz 12, Sykes 12, Corser 11.

Team Joe Rocket wins Aussie Superbike Round
Team Joe Rocket Suzuki rider Josh Waters kicked off his 2009 season with the overall win at the 2009 Superbike World Championship round at Phillip Island on 27 February-1 March. Commencing his first full season of Superbike racing with Team Joe Rocket Suzuki, Waters had a perfect start to his title assault with victory in the opening race of the 2009 championship. The 22-year-old backed up with a hard-fought third in race two to finish the round with 43pts and the championship lead aboard his TJRS GSX-R1000. Waters' 43pt tally across the two races gives last year's Australian Supersport runner-up a narrow one-point lead over defending Superbike champion Glenn Allerton, with Wayne Maxwell third on 39pts. Team Joe Rocket Suzuki rider Shawn Giles finished fourth overall on 33pts in his comeback ride from serious injuries received last year. Hampered by a lack of strength in his left ankle, the three-time Australian Superbike champion carded fifth and fourth placings on his TJRS GSX-R1000 to lie just 10pts off the championship lead.The opening 10-lap Australian Superbike Championship race on Sunday morning saw Superbike newcomer Waters master wet conditions to take a 6.855sec win over the more experienced Stauffer, with Maxwell third.