Now that Ben Spies has taken the points lead in the World Superbike Championship, Yamaha feels comfortable releasing the secrets behind “Elbowz’s” success on tracks he’s never seen before.
Walking us through his process, this is a rare insight into the mind of a motorcycle legend in the making. Check the video after the jump for the interview with Spies, and comments from his fellow Yamaha riders from the MotoGP series.
Race 2 continues World Superbike’s tour of Germany and the Nürburgring. With the balance of the Championship standings still tipping precariously after Race 1, Ben Spies and Noriyuki Haga were both looking for a victory that would give them a sure lead in the Championship points.
With the long summer break, everyone in World Superbike was waiting to see what would happen to the Championship Standings while at Germany. With two races on each race day, Ben Spies would have two chances to chip away at Noriyuki Haga’s 7 point lead, and finally take control of the series. With Haga still on the mend, the Nürburgring seemed like it would be hostile ground for the Xerox Ducati rider, but any thoughts of Haga being a push-over were quickly dispelled by his lightning Superpole performance.
It’s official, Yamaha announced today that Ben Spies will remain in World Superbike with the Yamaha factory team for the 2010 season. However in 2011, Spies will move up to MotoGP series, where he’ll join a Yamaha satellite team (likely Tech3 Yamaha).
We called it . Time will tell whether we were right about that one, but you can make the call for yourselves as to whether you think its possible to surf a sliding R1. We gave Ben a C-.
This isn’t the first time Fabrizio has collided with a competitor while passing. Last year he took out Max Biaggi…twice (Misano then later Portimao). Fabrizio, in his garage before race 2, displayed a little note to the cameras apologizing for the incident, it read, “I’m realy sorry. I love you Ben”, clearly feeling bad about the incident.
Spies wasn’t feeling the love though, writing on his site that “it was not the best move in the world, but that’s how racing goes sometimes. Michel was trying to apologize to me after the crash and I didn’t want to hear it. I was trying to tell him to use his head. Obviously I was not happy at the time.”
Source: YouTube via TwoWheelsBlog
Continuing on our Eastern European tour, Race 2 had a number of riders with something to prove on two wheels. With teams on a more level playing field after the recent test at the Brno venue, Race 2 proved to be an opportunity for the diamonds in the rough to shine, and for old rivals to get some payback.
Brno has a variety of meanings to different people. To the Old Czech, the words means muddy, to the Slavs it means to fortify, to men aged 16-55 it means rail thin supermodels, but to motorcycle race fanatics, the city should take on the meaning of unpredictable racing action. You’ll have to continue after the jump to see why Race 1 proves this theory.
Despite being 6th fastest in today’s World Superbike testing at Imola, Italy, John Hopkins may not be at Brno in two weeks, when WSBK takes up racing again. After yesterday’s off, Hopkins was in pain through out the night, and after this mornings testing session, the American had some X-rays taken of his leg.
After looking at the results of his X-ray, doctors here in the US determined that Hopkin’s bones were not developing calcium deposits properly, and diagnosed him with osteoporosis. This finding leaves some doubt as to whether Hopper will be on his Honda at Brno, since a crash there would likely have dire consequences on his body in its current state.
Michael Fabrizio was the fastest man of the day while testing at Imola today for World Superbike. He was followed closely by Ben Spies, who was just a tenth of second behind the Italian rider.
Notably absent from the testing day was the injured Noriyuki Haga, who isn’t expected to be back to WSBK until the race at Brno, which is in two weeks.
However, noticably present near the top of the leaderboard was Ruben Xaus, with the BMW squad clearly making some progress with their $13,800 motorcycle.
If the close racing of Race 1 wasn’t enough drama for the fans at Donington Park, Race 2 provided it in full. Another breakaway start, and a couple key crashes, lead to a shake up in the finishing results, and one rider was rushed off to the hospital for a suspected fractured vertabrae that might change the course of the season. Continue reading for spoilers.
World Superbike came to Donington Park this weekend, and in Race 1 three riders broke away from the pack at blistering speed. With only two riders capable of pushing further, it looked like the race victory would be decided on the very last lap. Coming into the last few corners, a fuel issue upset what could have been a great finish. Continue reading for the spoilers.
