Yamaha rider Ben Spies lived up to the hype again in Qatar today, riding an incredible two races to take his second and third consecutive victories in the Losail heat. Dropping to fifth from the start of the first race, the three-time AMA champion moved up to third position on lap four to tuck in behind race leader Max Biaggi and second placed rider Noriyuki Haga for most of the race. The super calm Texan waited for his moment six laps from the end to make his move. As Haga moved out to look up the inside of Biaggi, Spies took the opportunity and passed him on the inside, before taking Biaggi on the next corner as the Italian race leader ran wide. From the moment he took the lead Spies win was never in doubt as he cleanly pulled away from the battle for second. Spies' team-mate Tom Sykes had a frustrating start, dropping several places up to ninth position before fighting his way back through to finish seventh.

Race two saw Spies dominate again, after initially dropping a couple of places from the start line, he moved up behind Haga and Biaggi again before moving out to take the lead on lap seven. The American superstar then put in a sensational performance of perfect laps, increasing the comfort zone until taking the chequered flag in style, comfortably ahead of second place Haga. Spies leaves Qatar in second place in the standings, ten points behind Haga in the championship. Spies also takes the new lap record for the Qatar circuit away with him this weekend.

Tom Sykes got a better start to race two and fought with Yukio Kiyonari and Troy Corser in the opening laps for fifth position. Fighting behind the leading pack Sykes held his own with an impressive race pace, putting in consistent laps to finish the race in fifth position.

Ben Spies, Yamaha World Superbike Team

"It was an extremely tough first race, I got an ok start and got to the back of Nori and Max after a few laps. All three of us were strong in different parts of the track so it was really interesting. It was very hard to pass them both, It was when Nori was looking up the inside of Max, that I had my chance to get inside of him, and then Max ran a bit wide so I got through. Once I got it done I got my head down and kept it clean, it was good enough to win.

In the second race Nori set a really good pace first for a few laps so I just tried to keep the same rhythm. Eventually I managed to get past and just kept my head down and tried to open up a gap. It was a hard race, but a better race for me than first one as I could concentrate on riding my lines. Hopefully when we go to Valencia we'll be up there fighting at the front again! A good weekend for the team, they're not always like that but we'll take them when they come."

Tom Sykes, Yamaha World Superbike Team

"I was very disappointed with race one, I didn't get the best of starts but it was turns one and two that really let me down so I played a lot of catch up and needed to make it happen. In race two we changed a couple of things on the bike and got a decent start. I tried not to get into trouble in the first two corners and got a couple of people in front of me who I didn't want there so put my head down and eventually took them. We got a nice gap behind us and so I was looking ahead and trying to work onto a podium position. At one stage I thought we were there but struggled in a couple of places and had to override the tire so lost a bit of pace. The team has been great, we're taking it step by step so hopefully we'll be on the podium in Valencia!"

Massimo Meregalli, Yamaha World Superbike Team Manager

"The weekend went really well for us, both races were fantastic for Ben and Tom also did a very good job. We are improving and getting closer to the championship lead. Thanks to everyone as what we've done is the result of a really great team; here, the riders, Japan, everyone is working very well together so a big thank you for everybody."


Circuit Length: 5380

Weather: Hot

Lap Record:: 2' 0.061 (Noriyuki Haga, 01/01/2006)

Fastest Lap Ever:: 1' 57.280 (Ben Spies, 14/03/2009)



2009 WSB Qatar - Doha/Losail 14/03/2009

Race 1

Pos. Rider Manu. Nat. Total Time

1 Ben Spies Yamaha USA 36'6.304

2 Noriyuki Haga Ducati JPN 0'1.893

3 Max Biaggi Aprilia ITA 0'2.168

4 Shinya Nakano Aprilia JPN 0'12.061

5 Carlos Checa Honda ESP 0'12.597

6 Shane Byrne Ducati GBR 0'12.971

7 Tom Sykes Yamaha GBR 0'13.570

8 Ryuichi Kiyonari Honda JPN 0'19.306

9 Troy Corser BMW AUS 0'19.388

10 Regis Laconi Ducati FRA 0'20.981

11 Leon Haslam Honda GBR 0'21.164

12 Jonathan Rea Honda GBR 0'21.994

13 Ruben Xaus BMW ESP 0'22.917

14 Broc Parkes Kawasaki AUS 0'27.218

15 Tommy Hill Honda GBR 0'31.602


Race 2

Pos. Rider Manu. Nat. Total Time

1 Ben Spies Yamaha USA 36'2.126

2 Noriyuki Haga Ducati JPN 0'1.274

3 Max Biaggi Aprilia ITA 0'1.622

4 Ryuichi Kiyonari Honda JPN 0'1.845

5 Tom Sykes Yamaha GBR 0'5.117

6 Max Neukirchner Suzuki GER 0'9.512

7 Shinya Nakano Aprilia JPN 0'9.514

8 Jonathan Rea Honda GBR 0'12.621

9 Troy Corser BMW AUS 0'13.842

10 Ruben Xaus BMW ESP 0'13.884

11 Leon Haslam Honda GBR 0'13.888

12 Shane Byrne Ducati GBR 0'14.913

13 Carlos Checa Honda ESP 0'15.762

14 Regis Laconi Ducati FRA 0'15.920

15 Yukio Kagayama Suzuki JPN 0'19.565


Best Lap

Rider Manu. Nat. Total Time

Ben Spies Yamaha USA 1'59.041


Rider Standings 14/03/2009

Pos. Rider Manu. Nat. Points

1. Noriyuki Haga Ducati JPN 85

2. Ben Spies Yamaha USA 75

3. Max Neukirchner Suzuki GER 40

4. Max Biaggi Aprilia ITA 38

5. Leon Haslam Honda GBR 36

6. Tom Sykes Yamaha GBR 32

7. Jonathan Rea Honda GBR 30

8. Regis Laconi Ducati FRA 30

9. Shinya Nakano Aprilia JPN 27

10. Yukio Kagayama Suzuki JPN 25

11. Michel Fabrizio Ducati ITA 24

12. Troy Corser BMW AUS 22

13. Carlos Checa Honda ESP 21

14. Ryuichi Kiyonari Honda JPN 21

15. Jakub Smrz Ducati CZE 16


Manufacturer Standings 14/03/2009

Pos. Manufacturer Points

1. Ducati 85

2. Yamaha 81

3. Honda 51

4. Aprilia 41

5. Suzuki 40

6. BMW 27

7. Kawasaki 2


World Supersport RACE REPORT 14/03/2009
Crutchlow fights it out to put Yamaha on the podium in Qatar

World Supersport rookie Cal Crutchlow put everything into a tough ride for his second race of the championship, fighting with rivals Eugene Laverty, Andrew Pitt and Kenan Sofuoglu for the coveted podium positions. A missed gear in the closing laps cost Crutchlow valuable time, however with tires fading he made it back up and finished the race third following a dramatic pass on Sofuoglu in the final lap. Crutchlow's team-mate Foret had a tricky start, and was then held up to 15th place avoiding trouble on the track. The Frenchman got onto a good race pace but an unfortunate high-side left him out of the race on the 3rd lap.

Cal Crutchlow, Yamaha World Supersport Team

"A bit disappointing for me today, I feel I should have won the race, I think we still need to improve on some areas. I had a couple of moments on the edge of the track at the end, but you've got to put it out there to win! Hopefully when we get to Valencia and more European circuits I'm familiar with I can get closer to a victory."

Fabien Foret, Yamaha World Supersport Team

"Not a great day for me, unfortunately I got caught up on the first lap which pushed me back down quite a few places. I wasn't feeling too comfortable but was pushing to come back up the field. Unfortunately I had a high-side coming out of the corner. I'm a little sore but determined to make up for it at Valencia and get into the top pack for the championship fight."

Wilco Zeelenberg, Yamaha World Supersport Team Manager

"I'm happy we managed to get third and on the podium, we're slowly moving forwards. Fabien had a bad start, got hooked up on the first lap so dropped to fifteenth, and then couldn't find the feeling. He lost the rear tire and crashed out. It was disappointing of course. Cal had a good race, the track conditions were terrible, nearly 48 degrees, so he lost the front a couple of times, and also missed a shift which lost him even more time. He caught up but was unable to slipstream on the straights enough to overtake. He has a decent position in the championship though and everything is still to play for with the rest of the season still to come. Everything is really close together so the championship is still open for those top four or five riders."


Circuit Length: 5380

Weather: Hot


Lap Record:: 2' 3.921 (Sebastien Charpentier, 01/01/2006)

Fastest Lap Ever:: 2' 1.586 (Cal Crutchlow, 14/03/2009)



2009 WSS Qatar - Doha/Losail 14/03/2009

Pos. Rider Manu. Nat. Total Time

1 Eugene Laverty Honda GBR 37'6.285

2 Andrew Pitt Honda AUS 0'0.063

3 Cal Crutchlow Yamaha GBR 0'0.625

4 Kenan Sofuoglu Honda TUR 0'0.711

5 Robbin Harms Honda DNK 0'5.200

6 Matthieu Lagrive Honda FRA 0'5.233

7 Garry McCoy Triumph AUS 0'9.538

8 Massimo Roccoli Honda ITA 0'9.551

9 Anthony West Honda AUS 0'9.616

10 Barry Veneman Suzuki NED 0'12.159

11 Michele Pirro Yamaha ITA 0'15.044

12 Miguel Praia Honda POR 0'17.611

13 Joan Lascorz Kawasaki ESP 0'17.701

14 Gianluca Vizziello Honda ITA 0'19.897

15 Mark Aitchison Honda AUS 0'35.382

20 Doni Tata Pradita Yamaha IDN 0'58.948

21 Yannick Guerra Yamaha ESP 1'1.386



Best Lap

Rider Manu. Nat. Total Time

Andrew Pitt Honda AUS 2'2.577


Rider Standings 14/03/2009

Pos. Rider Manu. Nat. Points

1. Andrew Pitt Honda AUS 40

2. Kenan Sofuoglu Honda TUR 38

3. Eugene Laverty Honda GBR 36

4. Cal Crutchlow Yamaha GBR 29

5. Anthony West Honda AUS 23

6. Massimo Roccoli Honda ITA 15

7. Matthieu Lagrive Honda FRA 15

8. Robbin Harms Honda DNK 12

9. Garry McCoy Triumph AUS 11

10. Joan Lascorz Kawasaki ESP 11

11. Mark Aitchison Honda AUS 11

12. Fabien Foret Yamaha FRA 9

13. Barry Veneman Suzuki NED 9

14. Michele Pirro Yamaha ITA 9

15. Gianluca Nannelli Triumph ITA 6



Manufacturer Standings 14/03/2009

Pos. Manufacturer Points

1. Honda 50

2. Yamaha 29

3. Triumph 15

4. Kawasaki 11

5. Suzuki 9



Yamaha Racing Communications