Rea beats out he Ducati factory at their home race
Ben Spies (Yamaha World Superbike) and Jonathan Rea (Hannspree Ten Kate Honda) scored the two wins in a memorable day of racing at the Misano circuit. Spies took his eighth seasonal win in the first race, while Rea grabbed his maiden Superbike win in the second. The Ducati Xerox pairing of Michel Fabrizio, third and second in the two races, and Noriyuki Haga were also key players in the day's action, and the Japanese rider now has a 48 point lead over Spies and 55 over his team-mate.
Spies scored the win in the first race of the day, held in flag-to-flag conditions, which saw the riders starting on a wet track but taking the flag in the dry. Half-way through the 24-lapper, which had been totally dominated by Shane Byrne (Sterilgarda Ducati), the entire field started to pit to change bikes and tyres. Spies was the rider who judged things to perfection, the Texan immediately finding the right pace in the dry and going on to win by almost 8 seconds from Byrne. Third place saw a fantastic scrap, with Fabrizio making his 1098 machine as wide as possible on the final lap to hold off the rapidly catching poleman Jakub Smrz (Guandalini Ducati). Fifth place went to Haga, who limited the damage on a track that is not one of his favourites, the Japanese rider passing his compatriot Yukio Kagayama (Suzuki Alstare) in the final stages. Rea was the first Honda to the flag in a race that saw him start from the back of the grid and pick up a ride-through penalty. Tenth place went to Superbike rookie Matthieu Lagrive (Honda Althea), behind Shinya Nakano (Aprilia), while team-mate Max Biaggi was in difficulty in these conditions and could only finish 13th.
The second Superbike race saw talented young Brit Jonathan Rea take his first ever win after a spectacular scrap with Fabrizio that set the last laps of the race alight. The final podium slot went to points leader Haga, who took advantage of Spies' second race mishap - Spies only managing ninth after being slowed by a clutch issue. Smrz picked up another fourth place after passing Carlos Checa (Ten Kate Honda) on the final lap as the Spanish rider's tyres went off. Byrne was once again up amongst the front-runners and he finished the second race in sixth place. The first Yamaha to the finish was the R1 of Tom Sykes, seventh ahead of Leon Haslam (Stiggy Racing Honda). The Aprilias of Biaggi and Nakano both finished in the points, together with the Suzukis of Kagayama and Nieto, while Xaus and Corser (BMW) and Parkes and Hacking (Kawasaki) all failed to finish in the top 15.
Race 1 Highlights
Race 2 Highlights
Ben Spies - Yamaha WSB - 1st/9th Race one was definitely better than race two! It was good for us, we did what we had to do. I stayed as close as I could to Fabrizio, I couldn't run Byrne's pace but wanted to stay with Michel as he was the one who mattered to me in the championship. I picked the right moment to come in and get out on dry tyres and switch bikes and put in good pace and we managed to win the race. Race two wasn't so great, I had an issue with the clutch on the start, for the first few laps I was short shifting and trying to ride round it. It finally came better but when I got behind Corser and Kagayama and those guys I couldn't get round them easily. The last seven or eight laps it came good and I tried to run everyone down and started picking them off. I got up to Sykes and Haslam and they were having their little battle, we were definitely faster but I needed another lap to get round them which I didn't have. It's frustrating as we've lost good points this year and we'd be leading the championship with them. We'll go to Donington and try to start over again and see what happens.
Jonathan Rea - Hanspree Ten Kate Honda - 7th/1st I just want to thank the whole crew and the Andreani group for working so hard to help make this happen. It really bodes well for us all for the rest of the season. We knew we had the pace this weekend but race one was a pretty bad situation. I needed to start with scrubbed tyres in the wet but the problem on the sighting lap finished that plan. With the penalties and brand new tyres and having destroyed my footrest and rear brake in the crash with Kiyo, it was difficult, so seventh was about as good as we could have hoped for. Race two was great and, as soon as I knew I had the pace to match the two Ducatis I was comfortable. I tried a few different lines in the closing laps to probe and find the best way through. When I got past Fabrizio, it was pretty straightforward. It's really nice to win here in Italy, in Ducati's back yard, where we thought it would be quite hard. But we've come leaps and bounds recently and hopefully we can fight at the front in every race.
Shane Byrne - Sterilgrada Ducati - 2nd/6th I'm very happy with my first podium position with Sterilgarda. After a difficult season start, I improved progressively and today I managed to score a great result on my team's home ground. I had a good feeling with the track when it was still wet and built a pretty good advantage. Once I changed tyres it took me a few laps to get back in rhythm and Spies overtook me. Getting back on the podium gives you a great feeling and boosts your confidence. I also did pretty well in race 2 when the track had completely dried out. I maintained position at the start and was just behind the front runners. Unfortunately, I made a small mistake and lost contact but I'm still happy with my performance because I set the fastest time in the last lap. I'm really in good form and the Donington round couldn't have come in a better moment.
Michel Fabrizio - Xerox Ducati - 3rd/2nd I did my best to stick with Ben in Race 1 but I think the fact that he changed from wet to dry set-up one or two laps before me made the difference, because I took a few laps to get feeling in the dry and then it was too late to catch him or Shane. In the last lap Smrz was right there on my tail and I went wide at one point but luckily he didn't get past me and I finished third. In the second race I struggled a little with the front tyre and it seemed that today Rea's Honda had a little something over us in its acceleration. It's a shame it couldn't be another win but, with two podiums today, I'm very happy, it's my best ever result at this track and I know I did all I could so you can't ask for more than that. I've just a few points behind Ben again now so, yes, I can't help thinking about the title but in order to be a serious contender I know I need to remain consistent and clock up some race wins from here on in.
Noriyuki Haga - Xerox Ducati - 5th/3rd I am a bit disappointed with how Race 1 turned out. While on the wet set-up I was having all kinds of problems with the rear tyre that was sliding all over the place compared to other riders out there so I lost some positions before I came in to change bikes. Then I went back out on an intermediate/slick tyre combination that was perhaps not so suitable because in the final laps I was finding it difficult to maintain my pace and couldn't push as I wanted to. Race 2 went much better, I got a great start but once Johnny, and then Michel, came past me it was hard to keep pace; maybe because they are so much younger than I am! Joking aside, I made good points all things considered, especially seeing as this has never been my favourite track, and now I'm looking forward to the next round at Donington where I've done well over the years.
