PIRELLI - RACING

World Championships Standings

Rider	Bike	Team	Point
Ben Spies	Yamaha YZF R1	Yamaha WSB	462
Noriyuki Haga	Ducati 1098R	Ducati Xerox Team	456
Michel Fabrizio	Ducati 1098R	Ducati Xerox Team	382

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ROUND 14 - Portimao Portugal - 25 October 2009

The final race of the 2009 FIM Superbike World Championship was blessed with resplendent weather, a contrast to last year’s debut of the Portuguese circuit. Three new champions were crowned at the final round of the championship including the Superbike title, decided by the very final race of the season, an excitement seen during the Pirelli’s first year of involvement in the series when Laconi and Toseland entered the Magny-Cours race separated by just four points.

The Portuguese crowd of 86,000 witnessed the crowing of the 2009 Superbike World Champion Ben Spies on his Yamaha YZF-R1 in his debut season, 2009 World Supersport Champion Cal Crutchlow on his Yamaha YZF-R6 and European Superstock 600 Champion Gino Rea on his Honda CBR600RR. Ben Spies makes the sixth American every to win the Super World Championship and the first for a Yamaha rider. The impressive effort by Yamaha to take these two season titles was reminiscent of the 2007 season of the Ten Kate Honda squad of James Toseland and Kenan Sofuoglu.

The fortune seemed to be on the side of the American going into the final round, as Haga was not in top form for the Superpole, having not made the cut for the third session. Spies’ time on the DIABLO SUPERBIKE qualifying session tyres of 1’42.412 was a second below Bayliss from 2008 and half of a second in front of Shane Byrne, whose front row start was a likeness of Misano.

Pirelli made available a diversity of tyre options for this race weekend: four front and five rear solutions for Superbike as well as well as three front and two rear solutions for Supersport. The newness of the track, change in temperature from last year and the need to make a final confirmation of data earned throughout season’s 14 races left Pirelli with nearly 6000 tyres to service the paddock for the weekend.

Pirelli congratulates this year’s champions as well as the members of each team who offer such valuable feedback in order to continue developing performance tyres for this production-based championship.

RACE 1


AIR HUMIDITY	41%	AIR TEMPERATURE	28°C
TRACK TEMPERATURE	33°C	TRACK CONDITION	Dry

With just ten points separating the two houses of Ducati and Yamaha, every technical aspect of the weekend had to be in good order, including the choice of DIABLO SUPERBIKE tyres. For the first race, Spies and Haga made radically different solutions, with Spies opting for a soft “A” front and mid-soft “D” rear, whereas Haga and Fabrizio went with the mid-soft “C” front and rear tyres.

Shane Byrne and Ben Spies throttled down the hill into the first corner with Biaggi (Aprilia) and Rea (Honda) in tow. Spies turned on the gas and blazed a trail which only Biaggi seemed to keep up with for the next half of the race. Unfortunately, Haga’s poor qualifying position did not give him much chance for a good start, and after the first lap could only gain back three positions. His pace was strong though, and managed to gain two additional spots before carrying too much speed down the centre straight and suffered a crash attempting to make the corner. Haga’s bike was damaged and was unable to continue the race.

Spies focused his attention on a good rhythm and at the half-way point, it looked as if only Biaggi or Rea could make the push and challenge for the lead. Their changes of position pushed both of their lap times near the 1’45s, with Rea finding his way around Biaggi for the second place finish. Shane Byrne’s (Ducati) front row start resulted in a fourth place and Michel Fabrizio (Ducati Xerox) took the fifth spot and set a lap record of 1’43.529, slightly lower than Troy Bayliss’s time from 2008. British Superbike Champion Leon Camier demonstrated an easy jump onto the Aprilia with a sixth place, facilitated by his experience with PIRELLI in this year’s championship.

Spies’ 25 points and Haga’s zero left a 15 point gap between the two going into Race 2, leaving the final race of the year to decide the champion for 2009.

Race Standings

Rider	Bike	Team	Race time
B. Spies	Yamaha YZF R1	Yamaha WSB	38'15.390
J. Rea	Honda CBR1000RR	HANNspree Ten Kate Honda	+1.697
M. Biaggi	Aprilia RSV4 Factory	Aprilia Racing	2.113
S. Byrne	Ducati 1098R	Sterilgarda	2.757
M. Fabrizio	Ducati 1098R	Ducati Xerox Team	14.753

RACE 2


AIR HUMIDITY	34%	AIR TEMPERATURE	28°C
TRACK TEMPERATURE	41°C	TRACK CONDITION	Dry

The standings of Race 2 left the championship decided by just six points with the Superbike World Championship going to Yamaha World Superbike’s Ben Spies in his debut season. His win ratio of nearly 50% was particularly impressive, drawing every bit of grip from the DIABLO SUPERBIKE tyres in each race.

The intensity of this race was increased when Shane Byrne (Ducati) and Jonathan Rea (Honda) took the early lead, urging Spies (Yamaha) and the two Ducatis of Haga and Fabrizio to pick up their paces. The popular rear tyre solutions were split between the “D” option, selected by Spies, Rea, Biaggi (Aprilia) and Haga, and the “C” option, which was preferred by Byrne and Fabrizio.

Jonathan Rea (Honda) stole the lead away from Byrne on lap 11 and a melee ensued at the front with the Ducati of Fabrizio during the second half of the race, with Fabrizio squeezing out the last bit of performance to take his third win of the season. Haga made a late break for the lead and managed to pass Spies, Byrne and Rea before finishing in second behind his teammate. Biaggi and Spies swapped spots several times behind the leaders, but since Spies new that a position better than sixth would give him the title, he maintained his slightly calmer pace and finished just ahead of Biaggi.

Ducati Xerox’s Noriyuki Haga goes home with 2^nd place in the championship ahead of his teammate Michel Fabrizio (3^rd). The new Aprilia RSV4 Factory piloted by Max Biaggi can be very satisfied with a 4^th place finish, and HANNspree Ten Kate Honda’s Jonathan Rea (5^th) has proven that he will be a force to be reckoned with in 2010.

Race Standings

Rider	Bike	Team	Race time
M. Fabrizio	Ducati 1098R	Ducati Xerox Team	38'23.143
N. Haga	Ducati 1098R	Ducati Xerox Team	+1.195
J. Rea	Honda CBR1000RR	HANNspree Ten Kate Honda	1.494
S. Byrne	Ducati 1098R	Sterilgarda	5.553
B. Spies	Yamaha YZF R1	Yamaha WSB	5.842

Last Revised: 22/11/2009