Ben Spies Takes Race 1 in the Qatari Desert

Ben Spies won his second race of the WSBK season in Qatar on his Yamaha R1, even if he didn’t have a brilliant start from the pole position he obtained yesterday, leaving the lead to an impressive Max Biaggi on an even more impressive Aprilia RSV4, with Haga, Smrz, Spies all Nakano all following the Black Corsair.

On lap 5, the Texan slipstreamed both Jakub Smrz and Shinya Nakano and took third place.
The following 8 laps Spies put in a series of fast laps but never overtaking the two in front of him until on the 13th lap when NitroNori gave up on a pass on Biaggi and found Spies overtaking him, and when Biaggi who made a small error he then found Spies in front of him.

Spies with a clear field in front of him left Biaggi and Haga battling for 2nd place with Haga getting the best of Biaggi on the second to last lap when the Roman ran wide.
On the final lap Biaggi and Haga exchanged places, but it was Haga who crossed the finish line just in front of the Roman Emperor.

Race 1 Results:1 19 Spies B.
(USA) Yamaha YZF R1 36′06.
304 (160,93 kph)2 41 Haga N.
(JPN) Ducati 1098R 1.
8933 3 Biaggi M.
(ITA) Aprilia RSV4 2.
1684 56 Nakano S.
(JPN) Aprilia RSV4 12.
0615 7 Checa C.
(ESP) Honda CBR1000RR 12.
5976 67 Byrne S.
(GBR) Ducati 1098R 12.
9717 66 Sykes T.
(GBR) Yamaha YZF R1 13.
5708 9 Kiyonari R.
(JPN) Honda CBR1000RR 19.
3069 11 Corser T.
(AUS) BMW S1000 RR 19.
38810 55 Laconi R.
(FRA) Ducati 1098R 20.
98111 91 Haslam L.
(GBR) Honda CBR1000RR 21.
16412 65 Rea J.
(GBR) Honda CBR1000RR 21.
99413 111 Xaus R.
(ESP) BMW S1000 RR 22.
91714 23 Parkes B.
(AUS) Kawasaki ZX 10R 27.
21815 33 Hill T.
(GBR) Honda CBR1000RR 31.
60216 31 Muggeridge K.
(AUS) Suzuki GSX-R 1000 K9 33.
93417 99 Scassa L.
(ITA) Kawasaki ZX 10R 47.
49618 25 Salom D.
(ESP) Kawasaki ZX 10R 47.
50519 15 Baiocco M.
(ITA) Kawasaki ZX 10R 59.
27820 77 Iannuzzo V.
(ITA) Honda CBR1000RR 59.
29521 24 Roberts B.
(AUS) Ducati 1098R 59.
33822 71 Kagayama Y.
(JPN) Suzuki GSX-R 1000 K9 1′04.
008RET 86 Badovini A.
(ITA) Kawasaki ZX 10RRET 84 Fabrizio M.
(ITA) Ducati 1098RRET 96 Smrz J.
(CZE) Ducati 1098RRET 76 Neukirchner M.
(GER) Suzuki GSX-R 1000 K9RET 44 Rolfo R.
(ITA) Honda CBR1000RR