August 2009
Report
Mihir Gadre
The 2009 WSBK season is turning out to be a real 2006 to 2008. He filled up the seat vacated by Haga at
scorcher with 2-way fight for the title between Ben Yamaha Italia and is making a strong bid for the title in
The spectacle of MotoGP has never been so good, doubt about his competence. The Repsol Honda duo
Spies and Noriyuki Haga. Haga now in his 10th season his rookie season. He took pole position at his very first
thanks to awesome dogfights between the Fiat Yama- of Pedrosa and Dovisioso haven’t been able to mount
of full time racing in WSBK has twice been runner-up race meeting and a perfect weekend at the second round
ha team-mates Valentino Rossi and Jorge Lorenzo. a consistent challenge for the title so far. Marco Me-
and has finished 3rd in the championship four times. in Losail, Qatar by taking pole, the fastest lap, both the
Rossi’s 4 victories put him in the championship lead landri has been the surprise of the season with some
Haga switched to Ducati Xerox this year filling up the races, and breaking the outright circuit lap record. He
with 176 points followed by Lorenzo with 2 victo- unbelievable performances on the sole Hayate racing
seat vacated by Troy Bayliss and is hungrier than ever broke the long-standing record of 6 consecutive poles
ries and 162 points. World champion Casey Stoner Kawasaki. Colin Edwards has turned out to be the
to win the title this year. Haga has won 6 races and has set in 1991 by Doug Polen by securing 7 consecutive
has maintained his blinding pace astride the Ducati best-of-the-rest with consistent points-scoring finish-
been atop the podium 13 times so far this season. He pole positions. Spies has won 10 out of the18 races so
and with victories at Losail and Mugello. He stands es in all the races. Sete Gibernau meanwhile has had
currently leads the championship by 14 points, with a far this season, collecting 294 points. Will the lethal
third in the title fight with 148 points and still has a dismal comeback to MotoGP, with his sponsors
tally of 308 points. combination of the crossplane R1 and Spies be able to
a fighting chance to claim the title. While Casey has announcing their withdrawal from MotoGP leaving
But the sensation of the 2009 season has to be snatch the title from Ducati? Let’s wait n watch.
been able to channel the Ducati’s fury in the right him in a fix.
Ben Spies. The Yankee from Tennessee has won the Next race: 26 July 2009, Brno
direction Nicky Hayden has struggled at getting with Next Race 26 July 2009, Donnington Park.
AMA Superbike Championship, 3 years in a row, from
grips with the scarlet bike. The former world cham-
pion’s performance on the Ducati has raised serious
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