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| Mixed fortunes for Yamaha riders Spies and Sykes in Kyalami | | | The first race saw Yamaha rider Ben Spies drop back to fourth from the pole position start as they left the line. He recovered quickly and took second position back as they turned into the first corner, diving up the inside of Biaggi to tuck up behind championship rival Noriyuki Haga. Halfway round the first lap he was passed by Michele Fabrizio and settled into third position behind the two Ducatis as they battled for the lead for the majority of the race.
With seven laps to go, Spies dived passed Fabrizio on the last corner coming on to the start finish straight to take second. As the lap unfolded Fabrizio passed briefly but was taken straight again by Spies as the powerful Yamaha out dragged the Ducati from the corner. An unfortunate tank slapper coming out of Clubhouse allowed Fabrizio passed again, and as the tyres had now gone off it was impossible for Spies to catch up so he settled for third and a well deserved podium.
Race two saw disaster strike for Spies, having dropped to third off the start, he again passed Biaggi on the inside for the second place spot and coming round for lap three took Haga in a fantastic move for the lead. No sooner had he done this than his shit linkage broke, making it impossible to change gear and forcing him to retire from the race.
Team-mate Tom Sykes had a less than perfect start to race one, dropping from his eighth position start on the grid to 16th as they headed into the first corner. With ten laps to go he'd moved up to 11th position with a steady race pace and then swiftly took Lavilla for the tenth spot. Although maintaining a good race pace he couldn't get up to ninth so settled for 10th. Race two saw a better start, dropping initially to 10th, he worked hard to take two places and move up to the eighth spot which he held until briefly before the finish when Suzuki rider Kagayama took back the spot, relegating him to ninth. |
| Ben Spies, Yamaha World Superbike Team, (3rd,DNF)
"We were struggling to hang in there in race one, it was a good race for all three of us up at the front. When I passed Michel I tried to reel in Nori and then unfortunately made a mistake. I was really strong in parts of the track but giving up too much time in some corners and couldn't get in there. The second race was very unfortunate, I was feeling good and had secured an early lead, then obviously had the technical problem and had to retire, I'm really disappointed about it. I'm looking forward to going home to the USA for the next round and seeing if we can make it up." |
|  | Tom Sykes, Yamaha World Superbike Team, (10th, 9th )
"I got away badly in the first race and initially dropped down to sixteenth which was a shame as I felt I could have been more consistent. The second race I got away ok from the start and was closing in on Checa and a couple of the boys, but the last five laps or so I was really struggling. If we could have found a bit more grip it would have been better. We struggled on the power this weekend as well which was tough on this circuit. I'm looking forward to getting to Miller as I think the track will suit the R1 really well, and I want to close the gap and get up into fourth place as I think it's possible."
Massimo Meregalli, Yamaha World Superbike Team Manager
"Both riders did really well in the first race as we have been having issues here with the tyres, making it hard to be consistent throughout the race. For Ben in race two we had a problem with the shift linkage so he was unable to change gear and had to retire. We knew from practice that it was going to be tough racing here but both Ben and Tom did their best. The Ducati engine was stronger here on the day. " |
| Circuit Length: 4263
Weather: Sunny Lap Record: 1'42.178 (Noriyuki Haga, 01/01/2002)
Fastest Lap Ever: 1'37.288 (Ben Spies, 17/05/2009)
| | | 2009 WSB South Africa - Kyalami 17/05/2009 | | Pos. | Rider | Manu. | Nat. | Total Time | | 1 | Noriyuki Haga | Ducati | JPN | 39'47.436 | | 2 | Michel Fabrizio | Ducati | ITA | 0'00.950 | | 3 | Ben Spies | Yamaha | USA | 0'03.391 | | 4 | Jonathan Rea | Honda | GBR | 0'08.914 | | 5 | Max Biaggi | Aprilia | ITA | 0'09.019 | | 6 | Carlos Checa | Honda | ESP | 0'14.812 | | 7 | Shinya Nakano | Aprilia | JPN | 0'14.971 | | 8 | Yukio Kagayama | Suzuki | JPN | 0'15.723 | | 9 | Shane Byrne | Ducati | GBR | 0'21.529 | | 10 | Tom Sykes | Yamaha | GBR | 0'21.795 | | 11 | Gregorio Lavilla | Ducati | ESP | 0'29.872 | | 12 | Ryuichi Kiyonari | Honda | JPN | 0'34.216 | | 13 | Sheridan Morais | Kawasaki | RSA | 0'34.275 | | 14 | Jakub Smrz | Ducati | CZE | 0'38.280 | | 15 | Broc Parkes | Kawasaki | AUS | 0'40.885 |
| Pos. | Rider | Manu. | Nat. | Total Time | | 1 | Noriyuki Haga | Ducati | JPN | 39'45.027 | | 2 | Michel Fabrizio | Ducati | ITA | 0'00.322 | | 3 | Jonathan Rea | Honda | GBR | 0'08.936 | | 4 | Leon Haslam | Honda | GBR | 0'10.561 | | 5 | Max Biaggi | Aprilia | ITA | 0'10.767 | | 6 | Carlos Checa | Honda | ESP | 0'12.413 | | 7 | Shinya Nakano | Aprilia | JPN | 0'12.616 | | 8 | Yukio Kagayama | Suzuki | JPN | 0'14.878 | | 9 | Tom Sykes | Yamaha | GBR | 0'16.225 | | 10 | Jakub Smrz | Ducati | CZE | 0'18.197 | | 11 | Sheridan Morais | Kawasaki | RSA | 0'20.629 | | 12 | Gregorio Lavilla | Ducati | ESP | 0'24.320 | | 13 | Ryuichi Kiyonari | Honda | JPN | 0'24.564 | | 14 | Broc Parkes | Kawasaki | AUS | 0'38.747 | | 15 | Fonsi Nieto | Suzuki | ESP | 0'50.045 |
| Rider | Manu. | Nat. | Total Time | | Michel Fabrizio | Ducati | ITA | 1'38.548 |
| Rider Standings | 17/05/2009 | | Pos. | Rider | Manu. | Nat. | Points | | 1. | Noriyuki Haga | Ducati | JPN | 250 | | 2. | Michel Fabrizio | Ducati | ITA | 165 | | 3. | Ben Spies | Yamaha | USA | 162 | | 4. | Leon Haslam | Honda | GBR | 116 | | 5. | Jonathan Rea | Honda | GBR | 106 | | 6. | Max Biaggi | Aprilia | ITA | 103 | | 7. | Tom Sykes | Yamaha | GBR | 103 | | 8. | Regis Laconi | Ducati | FRA | 77 | | 9. | Max Neukirchner | Suzuki | GER | 75 | | 10. | Carlos Checa | Honda | ESP | 73 | | 11. | Ryuichi Kiyonari | Honda | JPN | 72 | | 12. | Yukio Kagayama | Suzuki | JPN | 68 | | 13. | Jakub Smrz | Ducati | CZE | 64 | | 14. | Shinya Nakano | Aprilia | JPN | 52 | | 15. | Shane Byrne | Ducati | GBR | 48 |
| Manufacturer Standings | 17/05/2009 | | Pos. | Manufacturer | Points | | 1. | Ducati | 275 | | 2. | Yamaha | 203 | | 3. | Honda | 170 | | 4. | Aprilia | 106 | | 5. | Suzuki | 105 | | 6. | BMW | 59 | | 7. | Kawasaki | 27 |
| Crutchlow maintains championship lead in South Africa | | | Yamaha World Supersport rider Cal Crutchlow had a tough race in Kyalami today missing out on the race win after being held up by the pack at the start of the race. The British rider initially dropped to sixth position from the start, behind team-mate Fabien Foret. The pair stayed together, following Sofuoglu until a mistake by the Honda rider on the 3rd lap allowed Crutchlow past. He then passed his team-mate on the fifth lap, before swiftly taking Lascorz and Pitt to move into second behind race leader Laverty. By this point Laverty had extended a considerable lead, and although Crutchlow worked hard to close the gap he had to settle for a second place finish and another podium.
Team-mate Fabien Foret had a better start and lead Crutchlow for a while before following him through to take up third place. He gradually built up a good lead over fourth placed rider Lascorz but a momentary lapse of concentration going into a corner too hot four laps from the end saw the French rider lose the front end and crash out.
Crutchlow leaves South Africa still leading the championship on 119 points, 13 ahead of second placed Laverty. Foret is in eighth on 44 points. |
| Cal Crutchlow, Yamaha World Supersport Team (2nd)
"It was a really tough race, the beginning was a proper dog fight. It took me a long time to get through the pack and start working on breaking down Laverty's lead. By the time I got clear in second he had a big gap and I just couldn't keep it consistently quick enough to catch him. I made a couple of small mistakes which cost me some time so had to settle for the second spot on the podium. A big thank you to the Yamaha team again for working so hard this weekend." |
| Fabien Foret, Yamaha World Supersport Team, (DNF)
"I'm really disappointed with myself. It was a big fight at the beginning of the race and I did well to get through. I had a really good race pace and was feeling confident to keep pushing on. I had built up a good lead in third but just lost a moment's concentration going into the corner and went down on the front."
Wilco Zeelenberg, Yamaha World Supersport Team
"We lost the fight for the race win two seconds into the first lap when both riders got held up by the main pack, by the second lap Eugene was too far away to challenge. Cal was looking like he was able to catch him but he had to push hard and made one or too small mistakes. At the moment the championship lead is very close and podiums are very important. It was very disappointing not to have two podiums, Fabien had a good pace and was as fast as Cal but was a bit too hot into the corner and crashed. It was a shame as he had a good lead and didn't need to push so hard." |
| Circuit Length: 4263
Weather: Sunny Lap Record: 1'46.975 (James Whitham, 01/01/2002)
Fastest Lap Ever: 1'40.634 (Cal Crutchlow, 17/05/2009)
| | | 2009 WSS South Africa - Kyalami 17/05/2009 | |
| Pos. | Rider | Manu. | Nat. | Total Time |
| 1 | Eugene Laverty | Honda | GBR | 39'06.061 |
| 2 | Cal Crutchlow | Yamaha | GBR | 0'02.546 |
| 3 | Mark Aitchison | Honda | AUS | 0'17.358 |
| 4 | Joan Lascorz | Kawasaki | ESP | 0'17.454 |
| 5 | Kenan Sofuoglu | Honda | TUR | 0'18.221 |
| 6 | Andrew Pitt | Honda | AUS | 0'20.561 |
| 7 | Garry McCoy | Triumph | AUS | 0'33.141 |
| 8 | Anthony West | Honda | AUS | 0'37.326 |
| 9 | Michele Pirro | Yamaha | ITA | 0'37.728 |
| 10 | Matthieu Lagrive | Honda | FRA | 0'37.939 |
| 11 | Michael Laverty | Honda | GBR | 0'38.782 |
| 12 | Massimo Roccoli | Honda | ITA | 0'39.198 |
| 13 | Katsuaki Fujiwara | Kawasaki | JPN | 0'40.386 |
| 14 | Doni Tata Pradita | Yamaha | IDN | 0'46.386 |
| 15 | Danilo Dell'omo | Honda | ITA | 0'46.794 |
| 22 | Yannick Guerra | Yamaha | ESP | 1'24.481 |
| Rider | Manu. | Nat. | Total Time |
| Eugene Laverty | Honda | GBR | 1'41.053 |
| Rider Standings | 17/05/2009 |
| Pos. | Rider | Manu. | Nat. | Points |
| 1. | Cal Crutchlow | Yamaha | GBR | 119 |
| 2. | Eugene Laverty | Honda | GBR | 106 |
| 3. | Kenan Sofuoglu | Honda | TUR | 83 |
| 4. | Andrew Pitt | Honda | AUS | 64 |
| 5. | Joan Lascorz | Kawasaki | ESP | 60 |
| 6. | Anthony West | Honda | AUS | 60 |
| 7. | Mark Aitchison | Honda | AUS | 50 |
| 8. | Fabien Foret | Yamaha | FRA | 44 |
| 9. | Michele Pirro | Yamaha | ITA | 40 |
| 10. | Matthieu Lagrive | Honda | FRA | 31 |
| 11. | Garry McCoy | Triumph | AUS | 29 |
| 12. | Barry Veneman | Suzuki | NED | 28 |
| 13. | Katsuaki Fujiwara | Kawasaki | JPN | 26 |
| 14. | Massimo Roccoli | Honda | ITA | 24 |
| 15. | Robbin Harms | Honda | DNK | 23 |
| 19. | Franco Battaini | Yamaha | ITA | 5 |
| 22. | Doni Tata Pradita | Yamaha | IDN | 3 |
| Manufacturer Standings | 17/05/2009 |
| Pos. | Manufacturer | Points |
| 1. | Honda | 133 |
| 2. | Yamaha | 119 |
| 3. | Kawasaki | 71 |
| 4. | Triumph | 36 |
| 5. | Suzuki | 28 |
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