Ben Spies (Yamaha World Superbike) scored his eighth win of the season in the first Superbike race of the day, held in flag-to-flag conditions, which meant the riders started on a wet track but took the flag in the dry. Half-way through the 24-lap race, which at that point 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 produced a fantastic scrap, with Michel Fabrizio (Ducati Xerox) 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 championship leader Noriyuki Haga (Ducati Xerox), 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. Jonathan Rea (Hannspree Ten Kate) 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.
Source: http://www.worldsbk.com
Source: http://www.worldsbk.com