Sunday, March 15, 2009

Spies cleans up with sensational double win in Qatar

Yamaha Racing

RACE REPORT 14/03/2009
Spies cleans up with sensational double win in Qatar

Yamaha rider Ben Spies lived up to the hype again in Qatar today, riding an incredible two races to take his second and third consecutive victories in the Losail heat. Dropping to fifth from the start of the first race, the three-time AMA champion moved up to third position on lap four to tuck in behind race leader Max Biaggi and second placed rider Noriyuki Haga for most of the race. The super calm Texan waited for his moment six laps from the end to make his move. As Haga moved out to look up the inside of Biaggi, Spies took the opportunity and passed him on the inside, before taking Biaggi on the next corner as the Italian race leader ran wide. From the moment he took the lead Spies win was never in doubt as he cleanly pulled away from the battle for second. Spies' team-mate Tom Sykes had a frustrating start, dropping several places up to ninth position before fighting his way back through to finish seventh.

Race two saw Spies dominate again, after initially dropping a couple of places from the start line, he moved up behind Haga and Biaggi again before moving out to take the lead on lap seven. The American superstar then put in a sensational performance of perfect laps, increasing the comfort zone until taking the chequered flag in style, comfortably ahead of second place Haga. Spies leaves Qatar in second place in the standings, ten points behind Haga in the championship. Spies also takes the new lap record for the Qatar circuit away with him this weekend.

Tom Sykes got a better start to race two and fought with Yukio Kiyonari and Troy Corser in the opening laps for fifth position. Fighting behind the leading pack Sykes held his own with an impressive race pace, putting in consistent laps to finish the race in fifth position.

Ben Spies
Ben Spies

Ben Spies, Yamaha World Superbike Team
"It was an extremely tough first race, I got an ok start and got to the back of Nori and Max after a few laps. All three of us were strong in different parts of the track so it was really interesting. It was very hard to pass them both, It was when Nori was looking up the inside of Max, that I had my chance to get inside of him, and then Max ran a bit wide so I got through. Once I got it done I got my head down and kept it clean, it was good enough to win.

In the second race Nori set a really good pace first for a few laps so I just tried to keep the same rhythm. Eventually I managed to get past and just kept my head down and tried to open up a gap. It was a hard race, but a better race for me than first one as I could concentrate on riding my lines. Hopefully when we go to Valencia we'll be up there fighting at the front again! A good weekend for the team, they're not always like that but we'll take them when they come."

Tom Sykes
Tom Sykes

Tom Sykes, Yamaha World Superbike Team
"I was very disappointed with race one, I didn't get the best of starts but it was turns one and two that really let me down so I played a lot of catch up and needed to make it happen. In race two we changed a couple of things on the bike and got a decent start. I tried not to get into trouble in the first two corners and got a couple of people in front of me who I didn't want there so put my head down and eventually took them. We got a nice gap behind us and so I was looking ahead and trying to work onto a podium position. At one stage I thought we were there but struggled in a couple of places and had to override the tire so lost a bit of pace. The team has been great, we're taking it step by step so hopefully we'll be on the podium in Valencia!"

Massimo Meregalli, Yamaha World Superbike Team Manager
"The weekend went really well for us, both races were fantastic for Ben and Tom also did a very good job. We are improving and getting closer to the championship lead. Thanks to everyone as what we've done is the result of a really great team; here, the riders, Japan, everyone is working very well together so a big thank you for everybody."

Circuit Length: 5380
Weather: Hot

Lap Record:: 2' 0.061 (Noriyuki Haga, 01/01/2006)
Fastest Lap Ever:: 1' 57.280 (Ben Spies, 14/03/2009)
Last Years Winner:: Shuhei Aoyama
2009 WSB Qatar - Doha/Losail 14/03/2009
Race 1
Pos. Rider Manu. Nat. Total Time
1 Ben Spies Yamaha USA 36'6.304
2 Noriyuki Haga Ducati JPN 0'1.893
3 Max Biaggi Aprilia ITA 0'2.168
4 Shinya Nakano Aprilia JPN 0'12.061
5 Carlos Checa Honda ESP 0'12.597
6 Shane Byrne Ducati GBR 0'12.971
7 Tom Sykes Yamaha GBR 0'13.570
8 Ryuichi Kiyonari Honda JPN 0'19.306
9 Troy Corser BMW AUS 0'19.388
10 Regis Laconi Ducati FRA 0'20.981
11 Leon Haslam Honda GBR 0'21.164
12 Jonathan Rea Honda GBR 0'21.994
13 Ruben Xaus BMW ESP 0'22.917
14 Broc Parkes Kawasaki AUS 0'27.218
15 Tommy Hill Honda GBR 0'31.602


Race 2
Pos. Rider Manu. Nat. Total Time
1 Ben Spies Yamaha USA 36'2.126
2 Noriyuki Haga Ducati JPN 0'1.274
3 Max Biaggi Aprilia ITA 0'1.622
4 Ryuichi Kiyonari Honda JPN 0'1.845
5 Tom Sykes Yamaha GBR 0'5.117
6 Max Neukirchner Suzuki GER 0'9.512
7 Shinya Nakano Aprilia JPN 0'9.514
8 Jonathan Rea Honda GBR 0'12.621
9 Troy Corser BMW AUS 0'13.842
10 Ruben Xaus BMW ESP 0'13.884
11 Leon Haslam Honda GBR 0'13.888
12 Shane Byrne Ducati GBR 0'14.913
13 Carlos Checa Honda ESP 0'15.762
14 Regis Laconi Ducati FRA 0'15.920
15 Yukio Kagayama Suzuki JPN 0'19.565


Best Lap
Rider Manu. Nat. Total Time
Ben Spies Yamaha USA 1'59.041

Rider Standings 14/03/2009
Pos. Rider Manu. Nat. Points
1.Noriyuki HagaDucatiJPN85
2.Ben SpiesYamahaUSA75
3.Max NeukirchnerSuzukiGER40
4.Max BiaggiApriliaITA38
5.Leon HaslamHondaGBR36
6.Tom SykesYamahaGBR32
7.Jonathan ReaHondaGBR30
8.Regis LaconiDucatiFRA30
9.Shinya NakanoApriliaJPN27
10.Yukio KagayamaSuzukiJPN25
11.Michel FabrizioDucatiITA24
12.Troy CorserBMWAUS22
13.Carlos ChecaHondaESP21
14.Ryuichi KiyonariHondaJPN21
15.Jakub SmrzDucatiCZE16

Manufacturer Standings 14/03/2009
Pos. Manufacturer Points
1.Ducati85
2.Yamaha81
3.Honda51
4.Aprilia41
5.Suzuki40
6.BMW27
7.Kawasaki2

RACE REPORT 14/03/2009
Crutchlow fights it out to put Yamaha on the podium in Qatar

World Supersport rookie Cal Crutchlow put everything into a tough ride for his second race of the championship, fighting with rivals Eugene Laverty, Andrew Pitt and Kenan Sofuoglu for the coveted podium positions. A missed gear in the closing laps cost Crutchlow valuable time, however with tires fading he made it back up and finished the race third following a dramatic pass on Sofuoglu in the final lap. Crutchlow's team-mate Foret had a tricky start, and was then held up to 15th place avoiding trouble on the track. The Frenchman got onto a good race pace but an unfortunate high-side left him out of the race on the 3rd lap.

Cal Crutchlow
Cal Crutchlow

Cal Crutchlow, Yamaha World Supersport Team
"A bit disappointing for me today, I feel I should have won the race, I think we still need to improve on some areas. I had a couple of moments on the edge of the track at the end, but you've got to put it out there to win! Hopefully when we get to Valencia and more European circuits I'm familiar with I can get closer to a victory."

Fabien Foret
Fabien Foret

Fabien Foret, Yamaha World Supersport Team
"Not a great day for me, unfortunately I got caught up on the first lap which pushed me back down quite a few places. I wasn't feeling too comfortable but was pushing to come back up the field. Unfortunately I had a high-side coming out of the corner. I'm a little sore but determined to make up for it at Valencia and get into the top pack for the championship fight."

Wilco Zeelenberg, Yamaha World Supersport Team Manager
"I'm happy we managed to get third and on the podium, we're slowly moving forwards. Fabien had a bad start, got hooked up on the first lap so dropped to fifteenth, and then couldn't find the feeling. He lost the rear tire and crashed out. It was disappointing of course. Cal had a good race, the track conditions were terrible, nearly 48 degrees, so he lost the front a couple of times, and also missed a shift which lost him even more time. He caught up but was unable to slipstream on the straights enough to overtake. He has a decent position in the championship though and everything is still to play for with the rest of the season still to come. Everything is really close together so the championship is still open for those top four or five riders."

Circuit Length: 5380
Weather: Hot

Lap Record:: 2' 3.921 (Sebastien Charpentier, 01/01/2006)
Fastest Lap Ever:: 2' 1.586 (Cal Crutchlow, 14/03/2009)
Last Years Winner:: Josep Pedro Subirats
2009 WSS Qatar - Doha/Losail 14/03/2009


Race 1
Pos. Rider Manu. Nat. Total Time
1 Eugene Laverty Honda GBR 37'6.285
2 Andrew Pitt Honda AUS 0'0.063
3 Cal Crutchlow Yamaha GBR 0'0.625
4 Kenan Sofuoglu Honda TUR 0'0.711
5 Robbin Harms Honda DNK 0'5.200
6 Matthieu Lagrive Honda FRA 0'5.233
7 Garry McCoy Triumph AUS 0'9.538
8 Massimo Roccoli Honda ITA 0'9.551
9 Anthony West Honda AUS 0'9.616
10 Barry Veneman Suzuki NED 0'12.159
11 Michele Pirro Yamaha ITA 0'15.044
12 Miguel Praia Honda POR 0'17.611
13 Joan Lascorz Kawasaki ESP 0'17.701
14 Gianluca Vizziello Honda ITA 0'19.897
15 Mark Aitchison Honda AUS 0'35.382
20 Doni Tata Pradita Yamaha IDN 0'58.948
21 Yannick Guerra Yamaha ESP 1'1.386


Best Lap
Rider Manu. Nat. Total Time
Andrew Pitt Honda AUS 2'2.577

Rider Standings 14/03/2009
Pos. Rider Manu. Nat. Points
1.Andrew PittHondaAUS40
2.Kenan SofuogluHondaTUR38
3.Eugene LavertyHondaGBR36
4.Cal CrutchlowYamahaGBR29
5.Anthony WestHondaAUS23
6.Massimo RoccoliHondaITA15
7.Matthieu LagriveHondaFRA15
8.Robbin HarmsHondaDNK12
9.Garry McCoyTriumphAUS11
10.Joan LascorzKawasakiESP11
11.Mark AitchisonHondaAUS11
12.Fabien ForetYamahaFRA9
13.Barry VenemanSuzukiNED9
14.Michele PirroYamahaITA9
15.Gianluca NannelliTriumphITA6

Manufacturer Standings 14/03/2009
Pos. Manufacturer Points
1.Honda50
2.Yamaha29
3.Triumph15
4.Kawasaki11
5.Suzuki9



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