New Yamaha R1 and Ben Spies unstoppable at Phillip Island
World Superbike rookie Ben Spies proved to be an unstoppable combination with the new 2009 YZF-R1, having qualified on pole position yesterday, he powered to a flawless victory in the second race of the opening round at Phillip Island today. Running at the front from the outset and fighting for top position with Ducati rider Noriyuki Haga, Spies rode a perfect race, the new R1 performed impressively as he kept the pace up to the very end for a well deserved victory. Spies goes to Qatar sitting fourth in the championship standings (only a single point from third), after the Phillip Island race weekend, he is also the first American to win a World Superbike race since fellow American Colin Edwards in 2002.It was a dramatic start to the first race when a late entry into turn two by rider Leon Haslam, forced Max Biaggi to sit up, in turn pushing Spies wide and off the track. Having dropped back several positions he then had to again avoid a coming together between Ruben Xaus and another rider, and in doing so went off track again. The American pole position starter found himself in 26th position with a lot of work to do. Spies put his head down and put in consistently fast laps, finishing the race one position off the points in 16th, and lapping at the end of the race at a similar pace to the race leaders Haga and Neukirchner.
Spies team mate Tom Sykes was forced back to 14th in the opening scrum for the first corners of race one but recovered well, making his way up to tenth position. He held the place for the majority of the race and was closing on ninth at the chequered flag. Race two and British rookie Sykes displayed the same consistency that won him the points in race one, dropping initially to 19th before getting his head down and working up steadily to take tenth position and more points for the Yamaha team in his first World Superbike race of 2009.
