World Superbikes - Round 1

Japan's Noriyuki Haga (Ducati Xerox) and American Ben Spies (Yamaha WSB) have begun their 2009 Superbike World Championship campaigns in blazing fashion at Phillip Island, sharing victories in the two 22-lap races in front of a record three day crowd of 63,250.

After recent Aussie domination of the local SBK round, there was no repeat this year, with Troy Corser's (BMW Motorrad Motorsport) eighth place in race one the highlight of an otherwise hapless day for the Aussies.

World Superbike - Superpole
An all-new Superpole format debuted this season, and "Mr. Superpole" Troy Corser, was a notable absentee.
In the new system, the individual flying lap for each of the top sixteen riders has been replaced with three separate 12 minute sessions. The fastest 20 riders from regular qualifying are all on the track during this period - Superpole 1, with the fastest 16 from this session progressing through to Superpole 2. The fastest eight from Superpole 2 then go through to Superpole 3. (times aren't transferred from sessions, so for example, the fifth fastest rider from Superpole 2 could go on to record the top time for Superpole 3). The top times from this final session determine the positions on the first two rows of the grid.

Each entrant is allowed two sets of qualifying tyres for the three Superpole sessions, and that's where Corser and the BMW team came unstuck.
Fifth fastest after regular qualifying, BMW elected to save their qualifying tyres for the second and third Superpoles, assuming Corser could easily get into the top 16 for Superpole 2, but Corser's 1m32.873 was only good enough for 17th fastest. It's a blunder that Corser and BMW are unlikely to make again!

No Aussies made it into Superpole 3, where Spies proved the grunt of the new Yamaha R1's 'Big Bang' motor to secure pole position, ahead of Max Biaggi on the Aprilia RSV4. Briton Jonathan Rea (fastest in regular qualifying) and Czech rider for the Guandalini Ducati squad, Jakub Smrz completed the front row.

World Superbike - Superpole
1. B. Spies (USA) Yamaha 1'31.069
2. M. Biaggi (ITA) Aprilia 1'31.402
3. J. Rea (GBR) Honda 1'31.596
4. J. Smrz (CZE) Ducati 1'31.600
5. M. Fabrizio (ITA) Ducati 1'31.837
6. L. Haslam (GBR) Honda 1'32.112
7. C. Checa (ESP) Honda 1'32.537
8. R. Laconi (FRA) Ducati 1'32.649

World Superbike - Race 1
In race one, Haga and Neukirchner were locked together for most of the 22 laps, with no one willing to surrender an inch. The impasse was finally broken when Neukirchner ran wide and nearly crashed at Turn Nine on the final lap, allowing Haga back into the lead. From there, the Japanese star was in the driving seat, and he flashed over the finish line just 0.030secs ahead of Neukirchner, with Kagayama making it two factory Suzukis into the top three.

It was Haga's 34th SBK win, and his first at Phillip Island in 11 years. The victory also took him past Corser on the all-time winners' list.
"I am very happy for the win because I crashed this bike four times in winter testing, but the team has done a great job to make the bike very comfortable for riding," said Haga.
"I tried to put a lot of pressure on Max (Neukirchner) in the last few laps, and I was trying to work out where to try and pass him.
"But on the last lap, he made that mistake and I was able to get past."

The much improved Fabrizio was fourth in race one, with Jonathan Rea (Ten Kate Honda) winning a tight battle from Haslam and Laconi.
After the disappointment of Superpole, Corser's eighth was a respectable result, and he also set the fastest lap of the race - 1:32.726.
Spies ran off the track on lap one after coming off worst in some mid-pack jostling, but fought back to just finish out of the points in 16th.

World Superbike - Race one results
1. N. Haga (JPN) Ducati 34'22.631
2. M. Neukirchner (GER) Suzuki+0.032
3. Y. Kagayama (JPN) Suzuki +5.347
4. M. Fabrizio (ITA) Ducati +6.587
5. J. Rea (GBR) Honda +8.491
6. L. Haslam (GBR) Honda +8.523
7. Laconi (FRA) Ducati +8.766
8. T. Corser (AUS) BMW +11.589
9. J. Smrz (CZE) Ducati +11.721
10. T. Sykes (GBR) Yamaha +11.761
17. B. Roberts (AUS) Ducati +37.348

World Superbike - Race 2
Redemption for Spies was only just a few hours away, and his grinding victory over Haga was reminiscent of his epic battles with Mat Mladin in the American Superbike championship.

After a stirring fight, Spies moved into the lead for the last time with four laps to run, and then slowly edged clear to secure a 1.286sec victory, with Haslam a strong third from Laconi and Fabrizio.
"The first race was tough and we just were at a bad spot at the wrong time," said Spies.
"In race two the battle with Nori was great. We kept the pace high and kept it between us.

Spies is the first American to win a SBK race at Phillip Island since Colin Edwards in 2001. It also gave Yamaha a first-up victory with its all-new YZF-R1.
Neukirchner, Jakub Smrz (Guandalini Ducati) and Kagayama filled positions 6-8, while Biaggi was running in fifth on the last lap before running off the track. He rejoined to claim the last championship point in 15th.

One of the stars of pre-season testing, Shane Byrne (Sterilgarda Ducati), crashed out of both races - the worst possible SBK debut for the British gun.
Broc Parkes (Kawasaki WSB) was 18th following his race one DNF, ahead of Adelaide's Brendan Roberts (19th), Karl Muggeridge in 21st and an ailing Corser in 22nd.
Roberts (Ducati) was 17th in race one, while Muggeridge's Suzuki expired with mechanical problems.

World Superbike - Race two results
1. B. Spies (USA) Yamaha 34'20.457
2. N. Haga (JPN) Ducati +1.286
3. L. Haslam (GBR) Honda +4.213
4. R. Laconi (FRA) Ducati +4.490
5. M. Fabrizio (ITA) Ducati +6.045
6. M. Neukirchner (GER) Suzuki +9.947
7. J. Smrz (CZE) Ducati +10.174
8. Y. Kagayama (JPN) Suzuki +12.100
9. J. Rea (GBR) Honda +12.742
10. T. Sykes (GBR) +20.061
18. B. Parkes (AUS) K'saki +45.486
19. B. Roberts (AUS) Ducati +46.198
21. K. Muggeridge(AUS) Suz+57.989
22. T. Corser (AUS) BMW +1'00.093

Three way battle for Supersport win
In World Supersport, Aussies Andrew Pitt (Ten Kate Honda) and Anthony West (Stiggy Motorsports Honda) battled hard throughout, but they were eventually upstaged by Pitt's Ten Kate team mate, Kenan Sofuoglu. It was Sofuoglu's 12th world supersport win, with just 0.153secs separating the trio after 21 hard fought laps.
"I am really happy because this track is not easy, and Andrew (Pitt) was very fast from the beginning," said Sofuoglu.
Pitt was a little bemused by how the event played out.

"It was a strange old race. We rode at such a slow pace for most of the race, and it's hard when you know you can go faster and you want to go faster at the start, but the tyres aren't going to last until the end of the race.
"I thought I'd saved enough rubber and had enough at the end, but I got caught in the wrong spot around the last lap."
After running as high as fourth, Mark Aitchison (HANNSpree Honda Althea) finished sixth, behind World Supersport rookies, Cal Crutchlow (Yamaha) and Eugene Laverty (Honda).
Garry McCoy (ParkinGO Triumph BE1) ran his Daytona 675 briefly inside the top 10, but eventually finished 14th. Russell Holland (Echo CRS GP Honda) and Shaun Geronimi (Hoegee Suzuki) were 19th and 23rd.

World Supersport - Race results
1. K. Sofuoglu (TUR) Honda 170.857
2. A. Pitt (AUS) Honda +1.060
3. A. West (AUS) Honda +0.153
4. C. Crutchlow (GBR) Yamaha +1.097
5. E. Laverty (IRL) Honda +1.098
6. M. Aitchison (AUS) Honda +3.631
7. F. Foret (FRA) Yamaha +5.023
8. J. Lascorz (FRA) Kawasaki +9.540
9. M. Roccoli (ITA) Honda +14.099
10. G. Nannelli (ITA) Honda +14.202
14. G. McCoy (AUS) Triumph+26.607
19. R. Holland (AUS) Honda +42.324
23. S. Geronimi (AUS) Suz +1'09.839