World Superbikes - round one wrap up

Japan’s Nitro Noriyuki Haga and American newcomer Ben Spies were victorious in round one of the WSKB held today at Australia's Phillip Island Circuit in front of a record crowd of 63 250. Haga took the podium in race one after an enthralling battle with German Max Neukirchner which saw Haga's Ducati 1098R cross the line just 32/1000ths of a second ahead of the Suzuki.

Spies, who started from pole but ran off the track during race one, bounced back in style to take race two aboard his Yamaha R1.

Race results from the opening round of the World Superbike Championship in Phillip Island, Australia:

Race 1:
• 1. Noriyuki Haga JPN Ducati Xerox 1098R 34mins 22.631s
• 2. Max Neukirchner GER Alstare Suzuki GSX-R 1000K9 +0.032s
• 3. Yukio Kagayama JPN Alstare Suzuki GSX-R 1000K9 +5.347s

Race 2:
• 1. 19 Spies B. (USA) Yamaha YZF R1 34′20.457 (170,857 kph)
• 2. 41 Haga N. (JPN) Ducati 1098R 1.286
• 3. 91 Haslam L. (GBR) Honda CBR1000RR 4.213

For full results and a complete wrap of the weekend's racing see TheBikerGene.