Lorenzo Lanzi (RG Ducati) and Noriyuki Haga (Yamaha Motor Italia WSB) took the wins in a spectacular day of action at Valencia in front of 60,000 spectators, a record attendance for World Superbikes at the Spanish circuit.

Race 1:
Carlos Checa (HANNspree Ten Kate Honda) and Max Neukirchner (Suzuki Alstare) were the protagonists of the first race. Neukirchner led every lap from pole position until the final corner, when Checa dived inside, but the Spaniard crashed and took his German rival down with him. Neukirchner suffered a broken left collarbone in the incident and failed to take part in race 2, while Checa remounted to finish fifth. The win went to Lorenzo Lanzi, the third in his career, after he passed Troy Bayliss (Ducati Xerox) with one lap to go. Troy Corser (Yamaha Motor Italia) and Fonsi Nieto (Suzuki Alstare) were third and fourth, while Haga crashed out on lap 4 and Max Biaggi (Sterilgarda Go Eleven Ducati) finished out of the points in sixteenth place.

“For me it’s a fantastic result” declared Lanzi. “We worked very well throughout the weekend to get this result. The team is a new one in World Superbikes this year and it’s difficult for us. It was a hard-fought race today, Troy is a world champion and is very fast but you need a bit of good luck in racing and I certainly had it today.”

Race 2:
Bayliss led for seven laps but was passed by Checa. The Honda man then had a electrical problem on lap 12 and both he and Troy were passed by Haga on lap 12. The Japanese rider was able to hold off Bayliss until the end to take his first win of the year. Bayliss’s two second places increased his championship lead to 48 points over Nieto, who could only manage fourth and tenth today. Kiyonari (HANNspree Ten Kate Honda) took his best result of the season in fourth, ahead of Corser, Kagayama, Xaus and Biaggi, who rode a heroic race to finish eighth.

“Of course I am very happy for this result” declared Haga.”It was a fast race and unlike the first I actually had a good feeling with the bike. I lost the front and crashed with my first bike in race 1 and had to use my second bike for this one. Honestly today I was quite surprised for the win, but we know which is our problem and the team improvised and found the solutions to let me take the win.

World Superbike - Valencia Race One Result

1 - Lorenzo Lanzi - R.G. Team - 37'01.894
2 - Troy Bayliss - Ducati Xerox Team - 37'04.881
3 - Troy Corser - Yamaha Motor Italia WSB - 37'09.181
4 - Fonsi Nieto - Team Suzuki Alstare - 37'13.886
5 - Carlos Checa - Hannspree Ten Kate Honda - 37'14.718
6 - Karl Muggeridge - D.F. Racing - 37'15.019
7 - Gregorio Lavilla - Ventaxia VK Honda - 37'15.085
8 - Régis Laconi - Kawasaki PSG-1 Corse - 37'15.800
9 - Makoto Tamada - Kawasaki PSG-1 Corse - 37'19.148
10 - Roberto Rolfo - Hannspree Honda Althea - 37'20.500
11 - Nakatomi Shinichi - YZF Yamaha - 37'21.752
12 - Kenan Sofuoglu - Hannspree Ten Kate Honda Jr. - 37'25.244
13 - Russell Holland - D.F. Racing - Bertocchi - 37'25.471
14 - Jakub Smrz - Guandalini Racing by Grifo's - 37'25.976
15 - David Checa - Yamaha France Ipone GMT 94 - 37'28.505
16 - Max Biaggi - Sterilgarda Go Eleven - 37'43.062
17 - Ayrton Badovini - Team Pedercini - 37'46.299
18 - Luca Morelli - Alto Evolution Honda Superbike - 37'58.939
19 - Ortiz Diego Lozano - Honda Joe Darcey - 38'07.067
20 - Loic Napoleone - Grillini PBR Team - 37'33.689

Not Classified

RT - Max Neukirchner - Team Alstare Suzuki - 35'15.897
RT - Ruben Xaus - Sterilgarda Go Eleven - 17'20.307
RT - Ryuichi Kiyonari - Hannspree Ten Kate Honda - 14'37.577
RT - Michel Fabrizio - Ducati Xerox Team - 6'34.235
RT - Noriyuki Haga - Yamaha Motor Italia WSB - 4'52.502
RT - Yukio Kagayama - Team Suzuki Alstare - 4'54.706
RT - Carmelo Morales - L'Oreal Men Expert Laglisse - 4'58.891
RT - Sébastien Gimbert - Yamaha France Ipone GMT 94 - 1'45.886
RT - Sergio Fuertes - Team Suzuki Motorrad - 1'46.016
RT - Shuhei Aoyama - Alto Evolution Honda Superbike - 1'46.540

World Superbikes – Valencia Race Two Result

Pos – Rider – Team - Time

1- Noriyuki Haga - Yamaha Motor Italia WSB - 37'03.759
2 - Troy Bayliss - Ducati Xerox Team - 37'05.310
3 - Carlos Checa - Hannspree Ten Kate Honda - 37'06.662
4 - Ryuichi Kiyonari - Hannspree Ten Kate Honda - 37'11.036
5 - Troy Corser - Yamaha Motor Italia WSB - 37'11.810
6 - Yukio Kagayama - Team Suzuki Alstare - 37'12.982
7 - Ruben Xaus - Sterilgarda Go Eleven - 37'13.923
8 - Max Biaggi - Sterilgarda Go Eleven - 37'14.373
9 - Régis Laconi - Kawasaki PSG-1 Corse - 37'20.993
10 - Fonsi Nieto - Team Suzuki Alstare - 37'21.859
11 - Gregorio Lavilla - Ventaxia VK Honda - 37'22.047
12 - Lorenzo Lanzi - R.G. Team - 37'22.585
13 - Michel Fabrizio - Ducati Xerox Team - 37'25.529
14 - Jakub Smrz - Guandalini Racing by Grifo's - 37'26.631
15 - Kenan Sofuoglu - Hannspree Ten Kate Honda Jr. - 37'28.983
16 - Shinichi Nakatomi - YZF Yamaha - 37'29.060
17 - Roberto Rolfo - Hannspree Honda Althea - 37'29.268
18 - David Checa - Yamaha France Ipone GMT 94 - 37'29.374
19 - Russell Holland - D.F. Racing - Bertocchi - 37'30.262
20 - Karl Muggeridge - D.F. Racing - 37'38.930
21 – Ayrton Badovini - Team Pedercini - 37'57.383
22 - Ortiz Lozano - Honda Joe Darcey - 37'58.431
23 - Luca Morelli - Alto Evolution Honda Superbike - 38'04.296
24 - Shuhei Aoyama - Alto Evolution Honda Superbike - 38'28.711
25 - Carmelo Morales - L'Oreal Men Expert Laglisse - 37'44.756

Not Classified

RT - Makoto Tamada - Kawasaki PSG-1 Corse - 11'26.235
RT - Loic Napoleone - Grillini PBR Team - 10'55.039

Championship Points After Race Two

1 - T. Bayliss - 128
2 - F. Nieto - 80
3 - T. Corser - 72
4 - C. Checa - 72
5 - R. Xaus - 68
6 - N. Haga - 47
7 - M. Biaggi - 44
8 - L . Lanzi - 42
9 - M. Neukirchner - 39
10 - M. Fabrizio - 37
11 - G. Lavilla - 32
12 - R. Kiyonari - 30
13 - K. Sofuoglu - 22
14 - K. Muggeridge - 20
15 - Y. Kagayama - 18
16 - R. Rolfo - 18
17 - J. Smrz - 17
18 - R. Laconi - 16
19 - M. Tamada - 13
20 - R. Holland - 10

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