Monday, September 28, 2009

Spies fights hard in Imola to keep championship title in sight

Yamaha Racing

RACE REPORT 27/09/2009
Spies fights hard in Imola to keep championship title in sight
Ben Spies
Ben Spies

It was never going to be easy for Yamaha World Superbike rider Ben Spies at Imola. Race one saw Spies in fifth off the start line, chasing Haga, Fabrizio, Rea and Biaggi. As the second lap drew to a close Rea over shot the corner, narrowly missing Haga as he headed off into the gravel. As the Italian bikes continued to fight for the lead, Spies was left with a two second gap to close. He managed to close down to 1.4 seconds, but was unable to stay with the front runners, holding on to fourth for the chequered flag. Changes in the set up to the bike saw Spies hit race two with a faster pace and a consistent speed to challenge the leaders. Rea again ran wide on a couple of occasions, causing Spies to pull up for safety, however he was soon back on the pace. He caught and took Byrne on lap 10 for fifth and started closing down on Simoncelli and Biaggi. Unfortunately as he caught them on the last chicane before the start line, Simoncelli took Biaggi, forcing him wide and into the path of Spies, taking him off track. He rejoined but was again forced wide to avoid an early braking Byrne and had to settle for fifth at the flag.

Race one was a mixed one for Sykes, having had a good start he continued to struggle for grip, but still managed to fight through the pack from his 16th position grid start to take ninth at the chequered flag, holding off Australian riders Parkes and Corser for his top ten finish. Race two saw some changes to the bike which provided more grip and consistency however as a number of riders cut the chicane at the end of the lap, they pushed Sykes wide, losing him valuable time. By the end of the race he had made up four places to take 12th at the flag.

Spies now heads to Magny Cours next weekend again in second place chasing the championship lead, separated from Haga at the top by a mere three points, with four races and hundred possible points still on the table. Team mate Tom Sykes remains in eighth position with two rounds to go, sitting just behind Checa with a seven point difference.

Ben Spies, Yamaha World Superbike Team (4th, 5th)
"In race one we ruined our chances with the electronic side of the bike, we didn't have enough power coming out of the bike and we struggled with grip a bit as well, it was a rough race. The second race we had the pace for sure to battle for the lead but a combination of things held us up. Rea got pretty greedy early in the race, passing me in the gravel trap three different times. I felt bad for him as I knew he had the pace to run up front but you've got to know when to calm down and when to take it easy for a couple of laps and let the race come in, you can't push on every corner. I had a couple of laps where I wasn't riding well at all then I got myself together and caught up to Simoncelli and Biaggi. They bumped and Biaggi ran off the track, when he came back on it was either hit him or go off into the gravel. I got back on and caught up to Bryne and then almost ran into the back of him and had to run off the track again. It was a messy race. There were a lot of mistakes, a couple from me and some from others. If you would have told me after the first race that we would only be losing the championship by three points I'd be happy because there were a lot of guys who could beat me this weekend."

Tom Sykes
Tom Sykes

Tom Sykes, Yamaha World Superbike Team, (9th, 12th)
"I had a good start in race one but still struggled for grip as we have been all weekend with the rear of the bike. We improved it a bit for warm up this morning but in the race I still struggled. We made a change for race two but I got a bad start. The bike felt faster and more consistent though but unfortunately I kept getting caught up by a few riders cutting the chicane and I ended up losing a second here and there. Towards the end I had one lap where I was having huge slides so I was looking back at the tyre to see if there was anything on it and lost maybe two and a half seconds."

Massimo Meregalli, Yamaha World Superbike Team Manager
"it's been a very tough day for the team. We definitely came here with a different goal, but racing doesn't always go as you plan it. During the second race, despite a bad start Ben was really pushing, but unfortunately he was in the wrong place at the wrong time which cost him a podium finish. We didn't give up when the championship gap was 88 points, for sure we will be trying just as hard now to take back the three we lost today. Our bike has always worked well at Magny Cours so we are going there confident that we can have success. After Tom's big crash on Friday we lost a whole day so the bike set up was not perfect for today's races. Starting from 16th, especially here where it's not easy to pass, it was a good achievement to get into the top ten with a ninth place finish."

Circuit Length: 4959
Crowd: 67000
Weather: Hot

Lap Record: 1'50.266 (Alex Barros, 01/01/2006)
Fastest Lap Ever: 1'47.735 (Michel Fabrizio, 27/09/2009)
2009 WSB Italy - Imola 27/09/2009
Race 1
Pos. Rider Manu. Nat. Total Time
1 Noriyuki Haga Ducati JPN 38'32.199
2 Max Biaggi Aprilia ITA 0'02.074
3 Michel Fabrizio Ducati ITA 0'02.190
4 Ben Spies Yamaha USA 0'05.438
5 Ryuichi Kiyonari Honda JPN 0'14.470
6 Leon Haslam Honda GBR 0'14.685
7 Jonathan Rea Honda GBR 0'26.822
8 Jakub Smrz Ducati CZE 0'32.694
9 Tom Sykes Yamaha GBR 0'33.817
10 Broc Parkes Kawasaki AUS 0'34.801
11 Troy Corser BMW AUS 0'35.286
12 Ruben Xaus BMW ESP 0'36.442
13 Karl Muggeridge Suzuki AUS 0'38.698
14 Matteo Baiocco Kawasaki ITA 0'42.147
15 Yukio Kagayama Suzuki JPN 0'46.510
17 David Checa Yamaha ESP 1'16.121


Race 2
Pos. Rider Manu. Nat. Total Time
1 Michel Fabrizio Ducati ITA 38'23.143
2 Noriyuki Haga Ducati JPN 0'03.592
3 Marco Simoncelli Aprilia ITA 0'06.510
4 Max Biaggi Aprilia ITA 0'07.445
5 Ben Spies Yamaha USA 0'14.678
6 Jonathan Rea Honda GBR 0'16.396
7 Shane Byrne Ducati GBR 0'17.110
8 Leon Haslam Honda GBR 0'22.502
9 Jakub Smrz Ducati CZE 0'25.268
10 Carlos Checa Honda ESP 0'30.203
11 Lorenzo Lanzi Ducati ITA 0'32.589
12 Tom Sykes Yamaha GBR 0'36.243
13 Ruben Xaus BMW ESP 0'36.368
14 Karl Muggeridge Suzuki AUS 0'38.809
15 Broc Parkes Kawasaki AUS 0'42.435


Best Lap
Rider Manu. Nat. Total Time
Michel Fabrizio Ducati ITA 1'49.282

Rider Standings 27/09/2009
Pos. Rider Manu. Nat. Points
1.Noriyuki HagaDucatiJPN391
2.Ben SpiesYamahaUSA388
3.Michel FabrizioDucatiITA330
4.Jonathan ReaHondaGBR263
5.Max BiaggiApriliaITA257
6.Leon HaslamHondaGBR219
7.Carlos ChecaHondaESP183
8.Tom SykesYamahaGBR176
9.Jakub SmrzDucatiCZE155
10.Shane ByrneDucatiGBR149
11.Ryuichi KiyonariHondaJPN141
12.Yukio KagayamaSuzukiJPN104
13.Shinya NakanoApriliaJPN86
14.Regis LaconiDucatiFRA77
15.Troy CorserBMWAUS76
25.Leon CamierYamahaGBR13
30.James EllisonYamahaGBR8

Manufacturer Standings 27/09/2009
Pos. Manufacturer Points
1.Ducati489
2.Yamaha431
3.Honda368
4.Aprilia267
5.Suzuki148
6.BMW113
7.Kawasaki63

RACE REPORT 27/09/2009
Foret takes a podium while Crutchlow strikes out
Fabien Foret
Fabien Foret

It was a bitter sweet Supersport race for the Yamaha team at Imola today, a hotly contested first ten laps were brought to an abrupt halt when Kawasaki rider Lascorz developed an engine fault, spraying oil across the track and across the front of Crutchlow's bike as he followed close behind in second place. The restart with just nine laps to go saw Crutchlow move quickly up to take Laverty and then Sofuoglu for the lead before a false neutral going into a fast right hander caused him to crash out, ending his race.

Team mate Foret was on form, grabbing fifth off the line from the restart then quickly passing Gary McCoy for fourth on the second lap. The French rider then kept up a fast consistent pace for the remaining laps, holding onto his position then getting an automatic move to third and a podium finish after team mate Crutchlow crashed out.

With two races remaining, Crutchlow heads to Magny Cours next week still leading the championship with a two point advantage over rival Eugene Laverty. Team mate Foret remains in fifth position, 23 points behind fourth position rider Joan Lascorz.

Fabien Foret, Yamaha World Supersport Team (3rd)
"I'm really happy to be on the podium again. It's great to be back up near the front and taking points, it's really good for my head. I'm enjoying the racing and looking forward to racing at home next week. The team worked really hard this weekend so I want to thank them for everything."

Cal Crutchlow
Cal Crutchlow

Cal Crutchlow, Yamaha World Supersport Team (DNF)
"I'm really disappointed, we've lost 50 points over the year for two DNFs. It's nobody's fault, I hit a false neutral and went in way too fast and just couldn't stop. I couldn't get it round the corner and crashed. We still have a small lead though so we'll take it to Magny Cours and give it everything we've got."

Wilco Zeelenberg, Yamaha World Supersport Team Manager
"Cal found four false neutrals after the restart so we need to check exactly what happened. Normally it can be ridden round but if you're in the wrong place and can't shift back then you run in too hot and are going to crash which is what happened. The championship is open again, he's leading by two points so he really has to fight for it at Magny Cours and Portimao. I was very happy for Fabien to get third and be on the podium, a great result for him. A disappointing result for us today but we haven't lost yet, well put our heads together this week before Magny Cours, Cal is still fast so we will work it out."

Circuit Length: 4959
Crowd: 67000
Weather: Hot

Lap Record: 1'53.388 (Sebastien Charpentier, 01/01/2006)
Fastest Lap Ever: 1'50.680 (Cal Crutchlow, 27/09/2009)
2009 WSS Italy - Imola 27/09/2009


Race 1
Pos. Rider Manu. Nat. Total Time
1 Kenan Sofuoglu Honda TUR 35'51.342
2 Eugene Laverty Honda GBR 0'05.372
3 Fabien Foret Yamaha FRA 0'06.450
4 Chaz Davies Triumph GBR 0'15.847
5 Garry McCoy Triumph AUS 0'15.944
6 Andrew Pitt Honda AUS 0'16.001
7 Katsuaki Fujiwara Kawasaki JPN 0'27.097
8 Anthony West Honda AUS 0'27.835
9 Miguel Praia Honda POR 0'32.846
10 Danilo Dell'omo Honda ITA 0'33.315
11 Michele Pirro Yamaha ITA 0'33.576
12 Cristiano Migliorati Kawasaki ITA 0'44.958
13 Olivier Four Honda FRA 0'59.645
14 Barry Veneman Honda NED 1'06.270
15 Flavio Gentile Honda ITA 1'14.735
17 Emanuele Russo Yamaha ITA 1'25.012


Best Lap
Rider Manu. Nat. Total Time
Cal Crutchlow Yamaha GBR 1'51.645

Rider Standings 27/09/2009
Pos. Rider Manu. Nat. Points
1.Cal CrutchlowYamahaGBR210
2.Eugene LavertyHondaGBR208
3.Kenan SofuogluHondaTUR153
4.Joan LascorzKawasakiESP138
5.Fabien ForetYamahaFRA115
6.Andrew PittHondaAUS104
7.Anthony WestHondaAUS104
8.Garry McCoyTriumphAUS82
9.Mark AitchisonHondaAUS71
10.Massimo RoccoliHondaITA62
11.Katsuaki FujiwaraKawasakiJPN61
12.Michele PirroYamahaITA54
13.Barry VenemanHondaNED51
14.Matthieu LagriveHondaFRA38
15.Gianluca NannelliTriumphITA31
21.Sheridan MoraisYamahaRSA10
24.Doni Tata PraditaYamahaIDN8
25.Franco BattainiYamahaITA5
31.Hudson KennaughYamahaRSA2
34.Yannick GuerraYamahaESP1

Manufacturer Standings 27/09/2009
Pos. Manufacturer Points
1.Honda256
2.Yamaha251
3.Kawasaki158
4.Triumph98
5.Suzuki30



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