WSBK Imola 09 *Spoilers*

[White trash]

Now, is it just me or did Spies bike look like the anti-wheelie needed to be reset?

Poor bastard seemed to be climbing all over the front of it and not being able to drive off the turns.

Brilliant, well deserved win to Haga though. Very weel ridden race as was Biaggi's effort.

Roll on race 2 :2thumbsup

[sidwyz]

How about that run from Simoncelli until he lost it!!
Not bad for someone thats never raced 4 strokes.
Great race
GO NITRO!!!

[R6_kid]

Both races were tightly contested which made 40 odd laps of great racing.

The championship is wide open so that should help to make for interesting racing for the remainder of the season :2thumbsup

[NZsarge]

I hate it when you get mop headed muppets (Simoncelli) come in and and nearly take people off with half baked passing moves, he's not in the championship and near screwed it all up for Spies (and Baiggi for that matter) and he seems to be making a bit of a habit of it in his own racing class..

[rachprice]

Even though I dont much like Simoncelli, I kind of liked that he passed Biaggi
And Im pretty sure it was Biaggi that almost caused Spies to crash!

Maybe the track was well suited to the twins? 1st through 4th were Ducatis and Aprilias!

[R6_kid]

Maybe the track was well suited to the twins? 1st through 4th were Ducatis and Aprilias!

The Aprilia is a V4 ;)

[rachprice]

The Aprilia is a V4 ;)

Oh haha my bad...

[R6_kid]

It was an Italian romp though. The Ducati's are made just down the road, I don't think the Aprilia is too far away either, and Ben Spies team is based in Italy which is where all the tuning and development is done on his bike!

[NZsarge]

Even though I dont much like Simoncelli, I kind of liked that he passed Biaggi
And Im pretty sure it was Biaggi that almost caused Spies to crash!

Maybe the track was well suited to the twins? 1st through 4th were Ducatis and Aprilias!
I may have to go back and have another look at it but from memory it was Simoncelli's pass that started the event by nerfing Biaggi wide and causing him to stand up his bike and take a straight line over the chicane. If i'm wrong some one will be along shortly to correct me and I appologise in advance if I have my wires crossed but I was absolutely knacked when I was watching the race and might not have given the particular incident quite the attention it deserved to comment here but it made me a little annoyed etc etc...

It was an Italian romp though. The Ducati's are made just down the road, I don't think the Aprilia is too far away either, and Ben Spies team is based in Italy which is where all the tuning and development is done on his bike!

I'm pretty sure I heard the commentator mention that the Yamaha's were built just down the road too so...

[TonyB]

I may have to go back and have another look at it but from memory it was Simoncelli's pass that started the event by nerfing Biaggi wide and causing him to stand up his bike and take a straight line over the chicane. If i'm wrong some one will be along shortly to correct me and I appologise in advance if I have my wires crossed but I was absolutely knacked when I was watching the race and might not have given the particular incident quite the attention it deserved to comment here but it made me a little annoyed etc etc...


I'm pretty sure I heard the commentator mention that the Yamaha's were built just down the road too so...

You are not wrong. Simoncelli's dodgy pass meant that Biaggi had to pick the bike up, and when he tried to carry on round the chicane he couldn't- ran across the exist and in front of Spies. Admittedly Biaggi may have been better off running it straight through, but I'd be avoiding the gravel trap too if I were him. Both Biaggi and Spies did well not to crash

Kind of ironic that it’s the only European track that Spies has had any experience at prior to race weekend, and he had two very average races.

The last race made me realise that I'm a hypocrite- I've always thought that team orders suck, and should be banned, but I can't help being pissed off that Fabrizio didn't help Haga's championship hopes along by settling for second.

[Wingnut]

Simmochelli!!!!!!!!!!! Brilliant - rock up for a spin on the Aprillia and end up beating Biaggi in race 2 - Couldn't think of a better dick for him to beat. Loved it.

Those Dukes were on the money in the second race! Brmmm Brmm - Bring on the last two rounds - its gonna be a good end to the season. Go Haga go.

[BIG DOUG]

if you looked at race 1 before he binned it simmochelli passed quite a few people in that corner looked fair to me.

[NZsarge]

The last race made me realise that I'm a hypocrite- I've always thought that team orders suck, and should be banned, but I can't help being pissed off that Fabrizio didn't help Haga's championship hopes along by settling for second.

I agree, from what I gather Fabrizio can't really win the championship from here on out so being a team player would have been the better move but it's an age old debate I guess.

[TonyB]

From crash.net

Hailing his superb debut Superbike performance as a 'great experience', Simoncelli admits his pass on Biaggi actually came after an error into the corner left him with no choice but to either complete a scruffy move or collide with his team-mate.

“If I finish the race in the first five I would have been very happy. In the first race I was fifth but crashed, while in this race I started better than in the first and after some laps I kept a very good pace.

“In the chicane with my team-mate, I didn't want to pass him, but I braked too hard and I thought 'either I hit him and we crash or I try to pass'. I succeeded and I am very happy, a big thanks to Aprilia and my team. Today was a great big experience for me here in Superbike.”