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Leon Haslam (Suzuki Alstare) and Carlos Checa (Althea Ducati) took a win apiece at Phillip Island in what was a sensational start to the 2010 WSBK season in Australia. In dry conditions, in front of 65,500 fans, the action was intense in each 22-lap race, with the leading three riders within 0.769 seconds of each other in race one and the leading four within 0.837 seconds in race two.
Race 1
It took a close look at the photo finish images to split Leon Haslam from his race long rival Michel Fabrizio (Ducati Xerox), but by only 0.004 seconds the Alstare Suzuki rider was given the win.
It was the closest ever finish in the WSBK class, as Leon took his first career win in the Superbike World Championship. Fabrizio was originally awarded the victory but before the slow down lap had been completed, Haslam was confirmed as the winner. Noriyuki Haga took his Ducati Xerox machine to third, being part of the leading battle throughout.
Jonathan Rea, Max Biaggi, Sylvain Guintoli and Carlos Checa battled it out over fourth place, with Jakub Smrz, Troy Corser and Lorenzo Lanzi completing the first race top ten.
Leon Haslam: "It's not sunk in just yet, especially as it was such a close finish and not knowing if I had won for a while. That definitely added to the anticipation. I can't thank my team enough they have been solid since day one and to repay them with this is great. I'm a little speechless now. I changed my style towards the end and I rode as smoothly as possible. It worked, but it was close at the end."
Michel Fabrizio: "I thought I had won the race. When I saw the big screen after the finish I saw my family and the crew chief celebrating, so I thought I had it."
Noriyuki Haga: "I did not have any big injury after my crash in morning warm-up but some swelling in my right arm. My personal trainer made a good massage before the race and I took some painkilling injections. The race was tough and I had arm pump, so that made me make some mistakes under braking. But it was fun to race with them at the front."
Race 2
Carlos Checa (Althea Ducati) won a thrilling race two at Phillip Island, by only 0.307 from Leon Haslam, whom he passed on the final section of the track, in convincing style.
Third went to Michel Fabrizio, but a great ride from new SBK rider Sylvain Guintoli put him fourth on his Suzuki Alstare machine in only his fourth ever SBK event.
Noriyuki Haga was fifth, Jonathan Rea heading up a busy and exciting midfield battle in sixth, after losing ten seconds by running wide on lap one, and then fighting through the pack.
Troy Corser took his BMW to seventh in race two.
Carlos Checa: "The plan was to start the second race well and we chose a softer tyre. We changed the bike and we improved in the braking points, so I could overtake people. When you are close to four other riders it is not easy to overtake and make it permanent but I passed in the right time and at the right places. This was one of the best races in my life, so thanks to my new team."
Leon Haslam: "I had a few laps behind Sylvain my team-mate and in some corners I could not stay with him given the grip he had out of the corners. But I got the lead again and it was all going to plan until Carlos managed to come along and nip up the inside to win."
Michel Fabrizio: "We didn't make any changes to the bike between race one and race two. I think it would have been very difficult for me to win, but if Carlos had not been in the mix I may have been able to push in the last three or four laps. I was having some problems by that time so it was very difficult to try and win."
World Superbikes - Phillip Island Race One Result
Pos – Rider- Team – Time
1 - Leon Haslam - Team Suzuki Alstare - 34'13.435
2 - Michel Fabrizio - Ducati Xerox Team - 34'13.439
3 - Noriyuki Haga - Ducati Xerox Team - 34'14.204
4 - Jonathan Rea - HANNspree Ten Kate Honda - 34'23.636
5 - Max Biaggi - Aprilia Alitalia Racing - 34'24.217
6 - Sylvain Guintoli - Team Suzuki Alstare - 34'24.514
7 - Carlos Checa - Althea Racing - 34'24.643
8 - Jakub Smrz - Team PATA B&G Racing - 34'29.957
9 - Troy Corser - BMW Motorrad Motorsport - 34'33.726
10 - Lorenzo Lanzi - DFX Corse - 34'39.787
11 - Leon Camier - Aprilia Alitalia Racing - 34'43.210
12 - Max Neukirchner - HANNspree Ten Kate Honda - 34'43.590
13 - Tom Sykes - Kawasaki Racing Team - 34'45.386
14 - Shane Byrne - Althea Racing - 34'45.392
15 - Andrew Pitt - Team Reitwagen BMW - 35'08.517
16 - Vittorio Iannuzzo - S.C.I. Honda Garvie Image - 35'24.367
17 - Matteo Baiocco - Team Pedercini - 35'24.672
18 - Roger Lee Hayden - Team Pedercini - 35'30.792
19 - Joshua Brookes - ECHO CRS Honda - 35'33.017
Not Classified
RT –Cal Crutchlow - Yamaha Sterilgarda Team - 7'50.271
RT - Chris Vermeulen - Kawasaki Racing Team - 4'46.351
RT - James Toseland - Yamaha Sterilgarda Team - 3'12.765
World Superbikes - Phillip Island Race Two Result
1 - Carlos Checa - Althea Racing - 34'16.428
2 - Leon Haslam - Team Suzuki Alstare - 34'16.735
3 - Michel Fabrizio - Ducati Xerox Team - 34'16.862
4 - Sylvain Guintoli - Team Suzuki Alstare - 34'17.265
5 - Noriyuki Haga - Ducati Xerox Team - 34'19.881
6 - Jonathan Rea - HANNspree Ten Kate Honda - 34'27.958
7 - Troy Corser - BMW Motorrad Motorsport - 34'28.454
8 - Max Biaggi - Aprilia Alitalia Racing - 34'29.496
9 - Cal Crutchlow - Yamaha Sterilgarda Team - 34'30.829
10 - James Toseland - Yamaha Sterilgarda Team - 34'31.135
11 - Leon Camier - Aprilia Alitalia Racing - 34'31.171
12 - Shane Byrne - Althea Racing - 34'31.279
13 - Lorenzo Lanzi - DFX Corse - 34'31.571
14 - Joshua Brookes - ECHO CRS Honda - 34'47.375
15 - Andrew Pitt - Team Reitwagen BMW - 34'58.283
16 - Max Neukirchner - HANNspree Ten Kate Honda - 35'05.272
17 - Vittorio Iannuzzo - S.C.I. Honda Garvie Image - 35'23.294
18 - Roger Lee Hayden - Team Pedercini - 35'24.179
Not Classified
RT - Matteo Baiocco - Team Pedercini - 27'28.333
RT - Tom Sykes - Kawasaki Racing Team - 26'14.248
RT - Chris Vermeulen - Kawasaki Racing Team - 10'58.974
RT - Jakub Smrz - Team PATA B&G Racing - 9'25.547
Championship Points after race two
1 - L. Haslam - 45
2 - M. Fabrizio - 36
3 - C. Checa - 34
4 - N. Haga - 27
5 - S. Guintoli - 23
6 - J. Rea - 23
7 - M. Biaggi - 19
8 - T. Corser - 16
9 - L. Camier - 10
10 - L. Lanzi - 9
11 - J. Smrz - 8
12 - C. Crutchlow - 7
13 - J. Toseland - 6
14 - S. Byrne - 6
15 - M. Neukirchner - 4
16 - T. Sykes - 3
17 - J. Brookes - 2
18 - A. Pitt - 2
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