With strong showings by familiar and unfamiliar faces this season, Race 2 at Monza proved to have some excitement up its sleeve. This anticipation proved to be worth it, as crashes took out victory hopefuls, leading to a comfortable finish for one rider, and nail biter for another. With a surprise podium in the mix, there’s a team still partying in Italy as we speak. Find out why after the jump.
We’re only four rounds in for the 2010 World Superbike season, and already there’s increased “talk” about the possibility of Ruben Xaus getting canned by at least the end of the season. After a stellar showing by the BMW crew at Assen (at least for Troy Corser) all eyes are again on Xaus who managed to crash four times (we feel like we’ve heard this before) at the Dutch track.
World Superbike action came to Assen this weekend, and it didn’t take long for the Dutch track to claim it’s first victim. Seeing a rider crash in the first round, and a number of big names lost in the second round shuffle, the Superpole format clearly is still a quagmire for many teams. This didn’t stop a couple familiar names from making it onto the front row, but going into the WSBK round in Holland, you never would have guessed who these riders would have been.
When Ben Spies takes to MotoGP for the 2010 season, it won’t be with the #19 that he has taken to the front of the pack in World Superbike, but instead with the #11 that gave him his good fortune in the AMA. Spies’ number plate has held great personal significance for the Texan, both with the #11 and #19 on it.