With championships at stake there’s no doubt that this weekend’s World Superbikes from Imola, with just two further rounds to go,was full of action.

In World Superbikes, Ben Spies had pulled out an eighteen point lead over rival and champion-in- waiting Nori Haga. Throw into the mix Jonathan Rea who had been on fire all weekend in qualifying and looked certain to upset the party, and wild card rider for Aprilia, World 250GP champion Marco Simoncelli, plus Italian motorbikes and riders in front of their home crowd and a cracking couple of races were in prospect.

They did not disappoint.

In Race 1 Max Biaggi stormed to the front from 6th on the grid and in commanding form led for most of the race. In contrast Ben Spies got not such a good start and was swallowed up into the pack leaving himself lots of work to do as the two Ducatis of Haga and Fabrizio got hot on the wheels of Biaggi.

Rea never really lived up to his qualifying form and although he battled near the front at the beginning of both races, he seemed too keen to make an impression and appeared to be riding beyond his and the bikes’ capabilities resulting in overbraking and running off the track at several places and frankly making himself a danger to other riders in the race, at one point narrowly missing Nori Haga as he ran off track.

Simoncelli looked challenging on the second Aprilia having ousted some familiar names to further down the grid in qualifying. However, he over cooked it and crashed out whilst in fifth position.

The race turned out to be a three-way Italian dominated battle with Biaggi holding the front for most of the race despite challenges from Ducati riders Haga and Fabrizio. Eventually Haga was able to make a pass on Biaggi stick, just three laps from the end, leaving Biaggi and Fabrizio to battle for the runners up slot. This turned into a real scrap, leaving us on the edge of our seats, which eventually went down to the line after Biaggi passed Fabrizio at the final chicance.

Haga had made his intention to win the race clear beforehand and with Spies finishing a disappointing fourth the championship once again looked within Nori’s grasp as he reduced the points deficit to just six.

Race 2 was eagerly awaited and this time the two Ducatis got away at the front with Biaggi third, Rea fourth and Spies, in a repeat of race one, got swallowed up into the pack, in fifth.

It was obvious that Fabrizio wanted the win, in front of his home crowd, after clinching pole position from Spies by just 0.043 of a second.

Whilst Haga managed to stay with his teammate for most of the race, towards the end the Italian was able to pull a substantial lead. There was speculation that he would be subject to team orders but this turned out not to be the case as he took a commanding win to the delight of the crowd.

Meanwhile Biaggi, Spies and latterly Simoncelli got into a three-way battle for third place after Rea again ran too hot and ran off track, being, it seemed an accident waiting to happen.

In a controversial move, Simoncelli put a hard pass on teammate Biaggi, at the final chicane, forcing him off the track. When he rejoined this left Spies with nowhere to go but to run wide off track too. As a result Simoncelli was able to pull a gap on the other two to finish third.

In the end Spies finished fifth rounding off a disappointing weekend for the American which means he has relinquished the championship lead to Nori Haga, who now leads by three points.

This championship holds all the promise of going to the wire.

For me personally, despite the fact that Spies has had an excellent rookie season, I would like to see Haga win the championship as he has been the bridesmaid too many times.

Race 1 Results:
Results: 1. Haga N. (JPN) Ducati 1098R 38’32.199 (161,388 kph); 2. Biaggi M. (ITA) Aprilia RSV4 Factory 2.074; 3. Fabrizio M. (ITA) Ducati 1098R 2.190; 4. Spies B. (USA) Yamaha YZF R1 5.438; 5. Kiyonari R. (JPN) Honda CBR1000RR 14.470; 6. Haslam L. (GBR) Honda CBR1000RR 14.685; 7. Rea J. (GBR) Honda CBR1000RR 26.822; 8. Smrz J. (CZE) Ducati 1098R 32.694; 9. Sykes T. (GBR) Yamaha YZF R1 33.817; 10. Parkes B. (AUS) Kawasaki ZX 10R 34.801; 11. Corser T. (AUS) BMW S1000 RR 35.286; 12. Xaus R. (ESP) BMW S1000 RR 36.442; 13. Muggeridge K. (AUS) Suzuki GSX-R 1000 K9 38.698; 14. Baiocco M. (ITA) Ducati 1098R 42.147; 15. Kagayama Y. (JPN) Suzuki GSX-R 1000 K9 46.510; 16. Scassa L. (ITA) Kawasaki ZX 10R 46.628

Race 2 Results:
Results: 1. Fabrizio M. (ITA) Ducati 1098R 38’23.143 (162,023 kph); 2. Haga N. (JPN) Ducati 1098R 3.592; 3. Simoncelli M. (ITA) Aprilia RSV4 Factory 6.510; 4. Biaggi M. (ITA) Aprilia RSV4 Factory 7.445; 5. Spies B. (USA) Yamaha YZF R1 14.678; 6. Rea J. (GBR) Honda CBR1000RR 16.396; 7. Byrne S. (GBR) Ducati 1098R 17.110; 8. Haslam L. (GBR) Honda CBR1000RR 22.502; 9. Smrz J. (CZE) Ducati 1098R 25.268; 10. Checa C. (ESP) Honda CBR1000RR 30.203; 11. Lanzi L. (ITA) Ducati 1098R 32.589; 12. Sykes T. (GBR) Yamaha YZF R1 36.243; 13. Xaus R. (ESP) BMW S1000 RR 36.368; 14. Muggeridge K. (AUS) Suzuki GSX-R 1000 K9 38.809; 15. Parkes B. (AUS) Kawasaki ZX 10R 42.435: 16. Baiocco M. (ITA) Ducati 1098R 49.349

Points (after 12 of 14 rounds): 1. Haga 391; 2. Spies 388: 3. Fabrizio 330; 4. Rea 263; 5. Biaggi 257; 6. Haslam 219; 7. Checa 183; 8. Sykes 176; 9. Smrz 155; 10: Byrne 149. Manufacturers: 1. Ducati 489; 2. Yamaha 431; 3. Honda 368; 4. Aprilia 267; 5. Suzuki 148; 6. Bmq 113; 7. Kawasaki 63

World Supersport

The supersport racing is always exciting with several riders normally fighting each other for position right the way through the pack. Cal Crutchlow has been leader of the pack this year and attacks his bike racing with as much gusto as a dog with a bone, which makes for exciting viewing.

Going into the Imola round Crutchlow had a 22 point lead over Parkalgar Honda rider Eugene Laverty and it looked as though Crutchlow would be the stronger rider of the two and would open up the lead even more.

Keenan Sofuoglu had a surprising pole position and led from the front before coming under attack from Laverty, Lascorz and latterly Crutchlow who seemed to get his now customary poor start.

However with ten laps remaining and Crutchlow challenging Lascorz for the lead, Lascorz had to retire with a mechanical problem that put oil on the track and caused the race to be red flagged.

The restarted race was a nine lap sprint with Sofuoglu ahead on aggregate and starting from pole position. Crutchlow soon got past Sofuoglu and looked to be headed for his sixth win of the season.

Unfortunately, in a dramatic turn of events, Crutchlow crashed out at the Acque Minerali, gifting the win to Sofuoglu who was now well ahead of Eugene Laverty and the rest of the pack. Laverty took second place with Foret taking third.

Chaz Davies put in an excellent performance on his Supersport debut with Triumph, bringing the British three-cylinder machine home in fourth place in front of team-mate Garry McCoy.

This result has thrown the title fight wide open with only two points now separating Crutchlow and Laverty.

Laverty says he will definitely be pushing for the championship title and hopes to bring it home at Portimao being the home circuit of his team.

Results: 1. Sofuoglu K. (TUR) Honda CBR600RR 35’51.342 (156,936 kph); 2. Laverty E. (IRL) Honda CBR600RR 5.372; 3. Foret F. (FRA) Yamaha YZF R6 6.450; 4. Davies C. (GBR) Triumph Daytona 675 15.847; 5. McCoy G. (AUS) Triumph Daytona 675 15.944; 6. Pitt A. (AUS) Honda CBR600RR 16.001; 7. Fujiwara K. (JPN) Kawasaki ZX-6R 27.097; 8. West A. (AUS) Honda CBR600RR 27.835

Points (after 12 of 14 rounds): 1. Crutchlow 210; 2. Laverty 208; 3. Sofuoglu 153; 4. Lascorz 138; 5. Foret 115; 6. West 104; 7. Pitt 104; 8. McCoy 82; 9. Aitchison 71; 10. Roccoli 62. Manufacturers: 1. Honda 256; 2. Yamaha 251; 3. Kawasaki 158; 4. Triumph 98; 5. Suzuki 30