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| Spies on the podium in Valencia | | | It was a mixed day for the Yamaha World Superbike Team in Valencia today. Race one saw Ben Spies fall going into turn one on the ninth lap as he moved in to take Neukirchner (Suzuki) for second position. Team-mate Tom Sykes faired better, having started in 16th position following an unlucky tyre decision in Superpole yesterday, he steadily worked his way through the field to finish seventh with an impressive display of consistent race pace.
Race two saw Spies touch with Haga (Ducati) on the opening laps, bending his brake lever in the process. Undaunted he stayed on the pace, and although unable to catch Haga he put in consistent fast laps to finish in second position, taking valuable championship points away with him. For Sykes race two was equally impressive, after starting in 16th position he fought his way up to ninth, passing Biaggi and Hopkins in the process. Sitting up to avoid a late braking rider in front he ran wide five laps from the end allowing Biaggi back through and leaving Sykes in tenth position for the end of the race.
Spies remains second in the championship with 95 points, trailing leader Haga by 40. Team-mate Sykes leaves Valencia with 47 points, sitting eighth in the championship as they head to Assen for round four. |
| Ben Spies, Yamaha World Superbike Team, (DNF, 2nd)
"Race one was unfortunate for me, I was pushing really hard to make up for an electrical issue going into the corner and crashed. We tried as hard as we could in race two to make it up. For the first couple of laps I had a couple of small problems and just didn't quite get rolling and by the time we got into second position I would have needed to be right on the back of Nori to challenge for it as he was riding at a very good pace. I guess I just didn't have the speed today. We'll come back at Assen and try to step it up. " |
|  | Tom Sykes, Yamaha World Superbike Team, (7th, 10th)
"I got a good start in race one and got past a few in turn one. It was a fairly decent race in the end, I think I could have gone for fifth but Leon Haslam had done a good job in the last few laps and made a big gap. I think we could have been in the top five otherwise. For me it was very difficult in race two, I had a good start, but going into turn two I was held and others came round the outside and went through. I worked my way back up to ninth and was looking good and catching up with Neukirchner but unfortunately got so close to Biaggi and just as we were going into turn one I ran wide a bit and let two or three past. I've learnt from my mistakes this weekend, I messed up in qualifying and potentially cost myself two very good results. With the R1 working so well round here it's a lesson learnt and hopefully won't let it happen again!"
Massimo Meregalli, Yamaha World Superbike Team Manager
"We lost points during race one however in the second race we came back to achieve second position which is good for championship points. We've learnt from the mistakes of race one. In the end we had a strange weekend with good and less good results on both sides. Both races were tough for Tom from the start, starting from the fifth row meant he had a lot of hard work to do. This gives us more experience for the upcoming rounds, as Ben said, in Assen we will be ready to step it up." |
| | 2009 WSB Spain - Valencia 05/04/2009 | | Pos. | Rider | Manu. | Nat. | Total Time | | 1 | Noriyuki Haga | Ducati | JPN | 36'44.766 | | 2 | Michel Fabrizio | Ducati | ITA | 0'03.677 | | 3 | Max Neukirchner | Suzuki | GER | 0'03.959 | | 4 | Regis Laconi | Ducati | FRA | 0'04.210 | | 5 | Leon Haslam | Honda | GBR | 0'13.824 | | 6 | Yukio Kagayama | Suzuki | JPN | 0'14.562 | | 7 | Tom Sykes | Yamaha | GBR | 0'15.155 | | 8 | Max Biaggi | Aprilia | ITA | 0'16.316 | | 9 | Shane Byrne | Ducati | GBR | 0'20.361 | | 10 | Broc Parkes | Kawasaki | AUS | 0'23.878 | | 11 | John Hopkins | Honda | USA | 0'30.902 | | 12 | Ryuichi Kiyonari | Honda | JPN | 0'31.298 | | 13 | Ruben Xaus | BMW | ESP | 0'32.660 | | 14 | Makoto Tamada | Kawasaki | JPN | 0'42.156 | | 15 | Tommy Hill | Honda | GBR | 0'43.040 |
| Pos. | Rider | Manu. | Nat. | Total Time | | 1 | Noriyuki Haga | Ducati | JPN | 36'46.927 | | 2 | Ben Spies | Yamaha | USA | 0'05.105 | | 3 | Michel Fabrizio | Ducati | ITA | 0'06.386 | | 4 | Regis Laconi | Ducati | FRA | 0'06.573 | | 5 | Leon Haslam | Honda | GBR | 0'14.075 | | 6 | Carlos Checa | Honda | ESP | 0'17.333 | | 7 | Max Neukirchner | Suzuki | GER | 0'19.207 | | 8 | Max Biaggi | Aprilia | ITA | 0'20.697 | | 9 | Ryuichi Kiyonari | Honda | JPN | 0'21.015 | | 10 | Tom Sykes | Yamaha | GBR | 0'22.581 | | 11 | Shane Byrne | Ducati | GBR | 0'22.604 | | 12 | John Hopkins | Honda | USA | 0'23.952 | | 13 | Jonathan Rea | Honda | GBR | 0'29.082 | | 14 | Jakub Smrz | Ducati | CZE | 0'29.277 | | 15 | Troy Corser | BMW | AUS | 0'32.384 | | 20 | David Checa | Yamaha | ESP | 0'49.904 |
| Rider | Manu. | Nat. | Total Time | | Noriyuki Haga | Ducati | JPN | 1'34.862 |
| Rider Standings | 05/04/2009 | | Pos. | Rider | Manu. | Nat. | Points | | 1. | Noriyuki Haga | Ducati | JPN | 135 | | 2. | Ben Spies | Yamaha | USA | 95 | | 3. | Max Neukirchner | Suzuki | GER | 65 | | 4. | Michel Fabrizio | Ducati | ITA | 60 | | 5. | Leon Haslam | Honda | GBR | 58 | | 6. | Regis Laconi | Ducati | FRA | 56 | | 7. | Max Biaggi | Aprilia | ITA | 54 | | 8. | Tom Sykes | Yamaha | GBR | 47 | | 9. | Yukio Kagayama | Suzuki | JPN | 35 | | 10. | Jonathan Rea | Honda | GBR | 33 | | 11. | Ryuichi Kiyonari | Honda | JPN | 32 | | 12. | Carlos Checa | Honda | ESP | 31 | | 13. | Shinya Nakano | Aprilia | JPN | 27 | | 14. | Shane Byrne | Ducati | GBR | 26 | | 15. | Troy Corser | BMW | AUS | 23 |
| Manufacturer Standings | 05/04/2009 | | Pos. | Manufacturer | Points | | 1. | Ducati | 135 | | 2. | Yamaha | 110 | | 3. | Honda | 73 | | 4. | Suzuki | 65 | | 5. | Aprilia | 57 | | 6. | BMW | 31 | | 7. | Kawasaki | 8 |
| Crutchlow Dominates in sensational Valencia debut | | | Cal Crutchlow left no questions unanswered today in the Spanish sunshine. The British rider looked confident from the start and was rarely out of the lead as he powered his R6 to victory. A brief rain shower before the start of the Supersport race meant the first couple of laps got underway slowly with cautious riders looking to avoid a spill. Cal picked up the pace quickly however, fighting with Lascorz and Pirro for the top spot before taking the lead on lap five. He held on until lap 12 when Honda rider Anthony West overtook. Crutchlow then tucked up behind before re-taking the lead in a stunning pass on the first corner of the last lap and taking the chequered flag for his first World Supersport Championship race win.
Crutchlow's team-mate Foret had a difficult start in the slippery conditions, initially dropping down to 20th position. The Frenchman found his race pace six laps in and steadily worked his way back up to tenth position, taking ten places along the way but too late to climb any higher.
Crutchlow leaves Valencia leading the World Supersport Championship with 54 points, team-mate Foret is currently 12th with 15 points. |
| Cal Crutchlow, Yamaha World Supersport Team, (1st)
"I knew where we were strongest into turn one and out on the back straights, however West was really strong in the places where we were a bit weaker. We've been chasing a perfect set-up all weekend and luckily we found it for the race. It was dodgy conditions for the start but we got through it and got on the pace. The team have put in such a lot of effort since the last race. To come here and win is really good for me and really good for Yamaha." |
|  | Fabien Foret, Yamaha World Supersport Team, (12th)
"For me it was a very frustrating race, the slippery conditions made it hard to get a good start and by the time I'd found a good rhythm and pace I was back down the field. I worked hard though and found a good pace and stuck to it and was happy to make up some of those places and get back up to tenth for the end. I'm looking forward to getting to Assen and fighting for a podium."
Wilco Zeelenberg, Yamaha World Supersport Team Manager
"It's great to be back on top of the podium as it's been a while! We've been working really hard to get back here so the team deserve it. We are leading the championship with Cal, he worked really hard all weekend and followed a superb pole position and lap record with a fantastic win. So one side of the box is really happy as you can imagine. For Fabien it's a little disappointing, the rain just before the race meant he couldn't get onto the pace straight away. Six or seven laps in he was as fast as the leading group but it was too late. For Cal it was an amazing job, taking over Anthony on the last lap was fantastic. I'm very happy!" |
| | 2009 WSS Spain - Valencia 05/04/2009 | |
| Pos. | Rider | Manu. | Nat. | Total Time |
| 1 | Cal Crutchlow | Yamaha | GBR | 38'15.613 |
| 2 | Anthony West | Honda | AUS | 0'00.171 |
| 3 | Kenan Sofuoglu | Honda | TUR | 0'08.408 |
| 4 | Mark Aitchison | Honda | AUS | 0'12.421 |
| 5 | Katsuaki Fujiwara | Kawasaki | JPN | 0'16.529 |
| 6 | Matthieu Lagrive | Honda | FRA | 0'19.242 |
| 7 | Michele Pirro | Yamaha | ITA | 0'26.124 |
| 8 | Barry Veneman | Suzuki | NED | 0'34.525 |
| 9 | Eugene Laverty | Honda | GBR | 0'35.436 |
| 10 | Fabien Foret | Yamaha | FRA | 0'38.337 |
| 11 | Gianluca Vizziello | Honda | ITA | 0'39.759 |
| 12 | Robbin Harms | Honda | DNK | 0'39.970 |
| 13 | Andrew Pitt | Honda | AUS | 0'50.532 |
| 14 | Massimo Roccoli | Honda | ITA | 0'51.506 |
| 15 | Doni Tata Pradita | Yamaha | IDN | 1'02.755 |
| Rider Standings | 05/04/2009 |
| Pos. | Rider | Manu. | Nat. | Points |
| 1. | Cal Crutchlow | Yamaha | GBR | 54 |
| 2. | Kenan Sofuoglu | Honda | TUR | 54 |
| 3. | Anthony West | Honda | AUS | 43 |
| 4. | Eugene Laverty | Honda | GBR | 43 |
| 5. | Andrew Pitt | Honda | AUS | 43 |
| 6. | Matthieu Lagrive | Honda | FRA | 25 |
| 7. | Mark Aitchison | Honda | AUS | 24 |
| 8. | Michele Pirro | Yamaha | ITA | 18 |
| 9. | Barry Veneman | Suzuki | NED | 17 |
| 10. | Massimo Roccoli | Honda | ITA | 17 |
| 11. | Robbin Harms | Honda | DNK | 16 |
| 12. | Fabien Foret | Yamaha | FRA | 15 |
| 13. | Katsuaki Fujiwara | Kawasaki | JPN | 11 |
| 14. | Joan Lascorz | Kawasaki | ESP | 11 |
| 15. | Garry McCoy | Triumph | AUS | 11 |
| 19. | Doni Tata Pradita | Yamaha | IDN | 1 |
| Manufacturer Standings | 05/04/2009 |
| Pos. | Manufacturer | Points |
| 1. | Honda | 70 |
| 2. | Yamaha | 54 |
| 3. | Kawasaki | 22 |
| 4. | Suzuki | 17 |
| 5. | Triumph | 15 |
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