Texan Ben Spies (Yamaha) wins the 2009 World Superbike title in Portimao, Portugal
Brilliant American Ben Spies has completed a remarkable season by winning the world superbike title on debut, as his chief rival Noriyuki Haga blew a great chance of taking the battle which went down to the wire.
Spies rose to the occasion in the final round in Portugal, dominating race one from start to finish on his Yamaha, while Haga lost the front-end and crashed on lap seven while making up time in fifth place.
That allowed Spies to head into the final race of the year with a handy 15pt margin over Haga, requiring only a finish of sixth or better even if his arch-rival greeted the chequered flag.
So began a monitoring exercise for the whole 22-lap race, with Spies’ vigilant fifth place in front of 80,000 Portimao spectators more than enough to win the world title from Haga, who was a close second behind his Italian Ducati teammate, Michel Fabrizio.
“First I’ve got to thank Yamaha for giving me everything I needed to win,” said Spies. “It was really good, we did what we had to do and it was difficult to do that because the pace was quite fast and I saw that there were a couple of people behind me.
“I knew that if Nori won I had to be sixth, so I tried to stay out of trouble. It was spectacular, and I can’t thank Yamaha enough and everyone who’s been behind me for my first year here. It’ll sink in during the next couple of days!”
Spies’ final winning margin was 6pts (462 to 456), with the top five completed by Fabrizio (382), Aprilia’s Max Biaggi (319) and Honda’s Jonathan Rea (315). Australia’s Troy Corser was 13th on 96pts after a rollercoaster debut year on the BMW.
Spies’ rookie campaign has been phenomenal, as he set a new record for the most pole positions in a year, and followed it up with 14 stirring victories – six more than Haga.
It was also Yamaha’s first individual title win since the championship began in 1988.
Spies, the sixth American to win the world superbike title, will now compete in the final round of this year’s MotoGP title at Valencia as a wildcard, ahead of a permanent move in 2010.
For Haga, it’s now the second time in three years that he’s been the championship runner-up by only a few points. But the 34-year-old from Nagoya was magnanimous in defeat.
“My compliments go to Ben who has been such a strong rival this year and even though he is going to MotoGP next year, I am sure we will remain friends,” said Haga.
“All weekend I have had problems with set-up, mainly with the tyres that didn’t give me total confidence. In race one we mounted two hard tyres and they didn’t perform as we’d hoped… and unfortunately I fell even though I wasn’t pushing so hard.
“We changed bikes for race two, just to be sure, as well as changing tyres of course. This time I had more grip and was able to make a good race. Unfortunately second in the race was not enough to take the title and it’s a real pity, but I must say that I have had a great first year with this fantastic team that always provides me with a good bike.
“This year was a new adventure with Ducati and we’ll continue to give 100 per cent in 2010.”
After a few bursts at leading race two, Rea eventually finished on the bumper of Haga in third, following on from his second place in the opener. Biaggi was third in race one.
Meanwhile, Newcastle’s Broc Parkes completed his Kawasaki tenure with 11th and 12th places – and 18th place overall in the championship, while Corser was ninth in race two after technical problems sabotaged his race one assault to finish the year in 13th place.
WORLD SUPERSPORT – CAL CRUTCHLOW WINS WSS CHAMPIONSHIP ..GARRY MCCOY FINISHES YEAR ON A HIGH WITH 3RD PLACE IN WSS RACE
In world supersport it was mission accomplished for another debutante, Cal Crutchlow, completing a remarkable double for Yamaha – the first time a manufacturer has claimed both production-based titles in the same year since Honda in 2002.
The Portimao victory went to his major rival Eugene Laverty (Honda) who did what he had to do and won, but Crutchlow was nerveless in fourth and took home a well-deserved title.
Kenan Sofuoglu (Honda) was second at Portimao and finished the championship in third place, a result was made easier by the retirement of Joan Lascorz (Kawasaki).
Aussie Garry McCoy (Triumph) finished the year on a high in third position, two spots ahead of countryman Mark Aitchison (Honda).
Andrew Pitt (Honda) was a distant 11th and sixth in the final standings in a title defence that never really got off the ground.
SBK Championship 1. Spies 462 Manufacturers: | SS Championship 1. Crutchlow 243 Manufacturers |