Assen delivered two great races on a warm spring day, but a mistake by Ben Spies in Race 2 led to a boring procession, with Haga way out in front and in full control. It was a great shame; if Spies hadn't highsided on lap 2, having run fractionally wide onto the astorturf, we would probably have had 3 great races to remember. Race 1 was superb with Spies looking beaten at half distance, but he rallied and forced his way back past Leon Haslam and Haga at the fastest spot on the track. Seeing as Haga looked untouchable through the fifth gear approach to the final chicane throughout the race, this really was a mind-blowingly bold maneuver. What a desperate shame for everyone that another unforced error ultimately spoiled what should have been another belter in Race 2. Leon Haslam finished 3rd and 2nd, best Brit, best Honda and now 3rd in the championship, Haslam has been utterly superb throughout this season so far. Bigger and better things seem destined for him, if he can keep this form up. Jakob Smrz finally bagged a podium in Race 2, to match his consistently top drawer qualifying. Another star of the future perhaps?

Talking of which , the other great race was the World Supersport event, with Crutchlow throwing everything at landing another win, but a three-way barging match at the final chicane concluded with Eugene Laverty emerging to snatch the win, from Crutchlow and Lascorz on the Kawasaki. Heres how Yamaha reported the events...

More points for Spies

It was another mixed weekend's racing for the Yamaha World Superbike Team at the famous TT circuit in Assen. An incredibly close first race Saw Ben Spies take the chequered flag a mere 0.154 seconds ahead of Championship rival Noriyuki Haga. Although initially the race leader, the American Yamaha rider had struggled to find a good race pace for most of the race, dropping back from first to third position on lap 11 behind race leader Haga and second place Leon Haslam.

Spies tucked in and followed the pair until the three laps from the end of the race when he and Haslam spent three corners abreast in a heart stopping battle for second position. There was no daylight between the bikes as they exited turn five, Spies coming out the victor and setting off after Haga as the penultimate lap drew to a close. He attempted a pass on the hairpin where Haga had passed him earlier but failed to take top spot, eventually pulling a daring pass on the last corner he shot through to take the chequered flag.

Tom Sykes enjoyed a good first race, starting from eighth on the grid the British rider made a strong pass up the inside on the first corner to move up into sixth position. The back straight then offered the opportunity to pass again and move up to fifth. Two laps later and another clever move up the inside on turn one saw Sykes into fourth position. He hung on with good race pace and held fourth for the chequered flag. Race two saw a difficult start and a lot of work to do. Sykes fought hard to make up places and briefly fought with Rea for fifth before settling for a sixth position finish.

Spies leaves Assen still second in the championship with 120 points, trailing leader Haga by 60. Team-mate Sykes heads to Monza in sixth place in the standings with 70 points.

Ben Spies, Yamaha World Superbike Team (1st,dnf)

"We got the win in race one and everything was pretty good with that. It took me a while to find a good race pace but as the tyres started to go off I found it and we managed to make some moves, it was pretty exciting at the end, really fantastic racing with both Haslam and Haga. Race two I was feeling good, the bike, even only a lap and a half in, felt better than with the tyres in race one. I was pushing and got out wide in turn one and touched the Astroturf piece and high-sided. It's a shame as I felt really good and the bike felt right. You never know if you can win the race but I felt we could have had a faster race than the first. We'll build on it though, we had a good test in Monza so we're set up for there and I haven't hurt myself today so it's ok."

Tom Sykes, Yamaha World Superbike Team (4th,6th)

"The first race went ok, I was pretty pleased with the results. I managed to make a couple of passes early and move up but then lost some feeling in the front which held me back. Race two was not what I expected. I got a horrendous start and left myself a lot of work to do. I worked hard over the next few laps to make some passes but unfortunately let the front group get away. I was bitterly disappointed with that because I knew I could run with the front. I'd just like to thank all the boys for this weekend putting so much hard work in. We had two offs and I left them with some work to do but they came through and had my bikes ready for me to race."

Massimo Meregalli, Yamaha World Superbike Team Manager

"The first race was unbelievable, Ben was really impressive and deserved the win. In the second race he had a bad high-side, and unfortunately missed the opportunity to challenge Nori for the second win. Tom had a good fourth in the first race and a good sixth in the second. He's coming along really well. I think he'll get the podium he's chasing soon. We're ready for Monza and confident of success."

Race One Results

1 - Ben Spies - Yamaha WSB - 36'31.338

2 - Noriyuki Haga - Ducati Xerox Team - 36'31.492

3 - Leon Haslam - Stiggy Racing Honda - 36'32.117

4 - Tom Sykes - Yamaha WSB - 36'40.113

5 - Max Biaggi - Aprilia Racing - 36'42.613

6 - Jakub Smrz - Guandalini Racing - 36'47.464

7 - Jonathan Rea - HANNspree Ten Kate Honda - 36'50.893

8 - Régis Laconi - DFX Corse - 36'51.098

9 - Michel Fabrizio - Ducati Xerox Team - 36'54.344

10 - Troy Corser - BMW Motorrad Motorsport - 36'55.623

11 - Shane Byrne - Sterilgarda - 36'57.341

12 - Karl Muggeridge - Celani Race - 36'59.152

13 - Max Neukirchner - Suzuki Alstare BRUX - 37'08.300

14 - Ruben Xaus - BMW Motorrad Motorsport - 37'10.363

15 - Ryuichi Kiyonari - Ten Kate Honda Racing - 37'12.843

16 - Brendan Roberts - Guandalini Racing - 37'13.148

17 - Makoto Tamada - Kawasaki World Superbike R.T. - 37'21.524

18 - Stuart Easton - Kawasaki World Superbike R.T. - 37'26.905

19 - David Checa - Yamaha France GMT 94 Ipone - 37'27.763

20 - David Salom - Team Pedercini - 37'36.507

21 - Roland Resch - TKR Suzuki Switzerland - 38'09.001

Not Classified

RT - Luca Scassa - Team Pedercini - 30'39.445

RT - Shinya Nakano - Aprilia Racing - 22'00.336

RT - Vittorio Iannuzzo - Squadra Corse Italia - 34'26.598

RT - Matteo Baiocco - PSG1-1 Corse - 22'44.351

RT - Carlos Checa - HANNspree Ten Kate Honda - 6'48.009

RT - Yukio Kagayama - Suzuki Alstare BRUX - 1'46.401

RT - Tommy Hill - Honda Althea Racing

World Superbike - Assen Race Two Result

1 - Noriyuki Haga - Ducati Xerox Team - 36'31.712

2 - Leon Haslam - Stiggy Racing Honda - 36'34.390

3 - Jakub Smrz - Guandalini Racing - 36'36.315

4 - Michel Fabrizio - Ducati Xerox Team - 36'40.693

5 - Jonathan Rea - HANNspree Ten Kate Honda - 36'43.816

6 - Tom Sykes - Yamaha WSB - 36'46.287

7 - Carlos Checa - HANNspree Ten Kate Honda - 36'49.161

8 - Shane Byrne - Sterilgarda - 36'49.441

9 - Max Neukirchner - Suzuki Alstare BRUX - 36'49.879

10 - Troy Corser - BMW Motorrad Motorsport - 36'56.768

11 - Ruben Xaus - BMW Motorrad Motorsport - 37'04.329

12 - Yukio Kagayama - Suzuki Alstare BRUX - 37'04.400

13 - Brendan Roberts - Guandalini Racing - 37'09.127

14 - Matteo Baiocco - PSG1-1 Corse - 37'26.800

15 - Luca Scassa - Team Pedercini - 37'27.037

16 - Régis Laconi - DFX Corse - 37'50.226

17 - Roland Resch - TKR Suzuki Switzerland - 38'02.492

Not Classified

RT - Tommy Hill - Honda Althea Racing - 33'46.759

RT - Makoto Tamada - Kawasaki World Superbike R.T. - 17'32.642

RT - Ryuichi Kiyonari - Ten Kate Honda Racing - 11'48.141

RT - David Checa - Yamaha France GMT 94 Ipone - 8'34.217

RT - David Salom - Team Pedercini - 8'48.686

RT - Karl Muggeridge - Celani Race - 5'06.923

RT - Stuart Easton - Kawasaki World Superbike R.T. - 5'11.084

RT - Ben Spies - Yamaha WSB - 1'43.788

RT - Vittorio Iannuzzo - Squadra Corse Italia - 1'50.105

RT - Max Biaggi - Aprilia Racing - 3'01.189



Championship Points

1 - N. Haga - 180

2 - B. Spies - 120

3 - L. Haslam - 94

4 - M. Fabrizio - 80

5 - M. Neukirchner - 75

6 - T. Sykes - 70

7 - M. Biaggi - 65

8 - R. Laconi - 64

9 - J. Rea - 53

10 - J. Smrz - 44

11 - C. Checa - 40

12 - Y. Kagayama - 39

13 - S. Byrne - 39

14 - T. Corser - 35

15 - R. Kiyonari - 33

16 - S. Nakano - 27

17 - R. Xaus - 24

18 - J. Hopkins - 9

19 - B. Parkes - 8

20 - T. Hill - 6