Yamaha Motor Italia’s Ben Spies and Xerox Ducati’s Noriyuki Haga both took home wins during Sunday’s World Superbike motorcycle races at the Circuit van Drenthe in Assen, the Netherlands.
In Race 1, Spies started from pole position aboard his 2009 Yamaha YZF-R1 courtesy of Saturday’s Superpole win (his fourth of the year). Spies led the first half of the 22-lap race until Haga and Stiggy Honda CBR1000RR pilot Leon Haslam came flying by pushing him to third. The three riders then began pulling a gap from the rest of the field. As the race wound down to the last few laps, Spies put a move … Details
Jorge Lorenzo emerged victorious from a thrilling Polini Grand Prix of Japan at Twin Ring Motegi, the second win of his MotoGP career and a result that retained his 100% podium record in the 2009 season.
The Fiat Yamaha rider took little time in taking the reigns of the race, having started from the front row and showed no fear when faced with the likes of Dani Pedrosa and Valentino Rossi in front of him. However…Â Details
THE AMERICANS: U.S. riders Nicky Hayden (Owensboro, Ky., Ducati Team) and Colin Edwards (Houston, Yamaha Tech 3) will compete in this race. Edwards is fourth and Hayden 12th in the MotoGP standings after one race this season.
•Nicky Hayden: “My first GP with Ducati didn’t exactly go as I’d hoped, but we took some positives out of it. I lapped quicker in the second half of the race than I had done all weekend, and above all, I felt comfortable on the bike. Hopefully this will help us work out what it is exactly that I need to improve my feeling with the bike because being so far off the pace in practice wasn’t cool! Physically I’m OK. No doubt, the race was tough because I was pretty beaten up, but I’ve recovered well and I don’t expect to have any problems in Japan. I’ll probably go to the Clinica on Thursday to have the stitches removed, and that will be the end of the matter… Details
Italy’s reigning world champion Valentino Rossi clinched pole position for the Japanese Grand Prix after rain forced the cancellation of the qualifying session on Saturday.
The Yamaha ace, who finished second behind 2007 world champion Casey Stoner in the season-opening Qatar Grand Prix two weeks ago, clocked the fastest time in free practice on Friday, 0.056 seconds ahead of his Australian rival…Â Details & Pictures