A first and a second by Noriyuki Haga and a first and a fourth by Ben Spies at this weekend’s World Superbike round at Magny-Cours have stacked the championship deck of cards in the Japanese rider’s favor. Haga leaves the French circuit with a ten point lead in a title fight that features a final round at Portimao. The task ahead for Spies is clear. Win both races and he wins the title.Haga looked strong in both races, and nearly took the win from Spies on the final lap of race one, "The whole first race had some good parts and bad ones. We made some small mistakes, costing us a tenth here and a tenth there letting the riders come back and not really taking advantage of the lead. I made a mistake on the last lap and let Nori through, so I had to get on the outside and get back past.” Spies win in race one put him back in the championship lead, but Haga was still happy with his effort, “In race one I really enjoyed myself, it was a fantastic race. I didn't make the best start and then it took a lot of laps before I was able to pass Max. Once I got past him I realized I didn't have many laps left in which to catch Ben. If I'd had just one extra lap, I think I'd have won.”
Race two saw Haga jumping out to an early lead, and Spies unable to match the pace of the top three riders, “Honestly I'm just super disappointed with the second race. We made a rear tire choice which was neither better nor worse, but the front tire we had on in the second race was hard to go at a pace with. I was consistently half a second off what we were doing in practice. I'm honestly surprised we didn't finish in tenth with the way the bike felt.” Haga finished first ahead of Max Biaggi and Jonathan Rea, and was in control from start to finish, “In the second race, we made some small changes to my bike and they worked, giving me more confidence. This victory is truly a great result as we have regained a small advantage.”
With the championship coming down to the wire Haga has had the better results in the last four races at Imola and Magny-Cours:
Haga – first, second, second, first
Spies – fourth, fifth, first, fourth
It would be easy to say the difference between the two riders/teams performance is based on one reason or another, but variables like experience, track knowledge, bike characteristics and pressure are all part of the equation. A veteran of championship pressure Spies is keeping things in perspective, “Even if we had won today we would still go to Portimao having to win both races so it doesn't really change too much.", and for his part Haga knows that the championship is far from over, “Now we go to Portimao where Ben and I will fight for the 2009 title. I can't wait." Should be good.
Championship Standings
