Ben Spies took his ninth World Superbike victory of the season in race one at Donington Park.

Off the starting line Ben Spies race pace was impressive as it was all weekend, but the surprise came from Max Biaggi and his Aprilia. The Roman Emperor stuck to Spies Yamaha for the entire race, almost matching the Texan’s race times. On the final lap Biaggi’s Aprilia slowed and died due to gas pump problems, but he was able to re-fire her up again and crossed the finish line second.

Third place went to point’s leader Noriyuki Haga, who managed to stay with two front runners for a couple of laps but started to fade and finished in a loney third.

Fourth place went to Stiggy Honda’s Leon Haslam who overtook fellow countryman Shane Byrne with seven laps to go and Byrne’s finished his race in 5th just a couple of tenths from Haslam. Biaggi’s teammate Shinya Nakano also gave a strong performance and finished sixth. Jonathan Rea ended up seventh.

John Hopkins climbed to eighth after starting 13th, but still recuperating from his hip injuries. Next came Guandalini Ducati’s Jakub Smrz with Ten Kate Honda’s Ryuichi Kiyonari rounding out the top 10. Carlos Checa fell back to eleventh while Michel Fabrizio, who started from 5th on the grid , fell all the way back to 12th, suffering first gear problems.

Donington wild-card Leon Camier, BSB Championship leader, took 13th after having been 21st at the end of lap one. Other wild card James Ellison also from Airwaves Yamaha got as high as 10th before crashing out on lap 14 .

Tom Sykes, also crashed out of seventh place when he hit a bump at and lost his front and had to go to the medical centre to have his back checked out. Jamie Hacking was 21st on the factory Kawasaki and Alstare Suzuki replacement rider Blake Young finished 23rd in his World Superbike debut.

WSBK Donington Race 1 Results:

1 19 Spies B. (USA) Yamaha YZF R1 34′57.230 (158,831 kph)
2 3 Biaggi M. (ITA) Aprilia RSV4 Factory 7.156
3 41 Haga N. (JPN) Ducati 1098R 10.968
4 91 Haslam L. (GBR) Honda CBR1000RR 18.843
5 67 Byrne S. (GBR) Ducati 1098R 19.125
6 56 Nakano S. (JPN) Aprilia RSV4 Factory 21.286
7 65 Rea J. (GBR) Honda CBR1000RR 23.644
8 121 Hopkins J. (USA) Honda CBR1000RR 32.849
9 96 Smrz J. (CZE) Ducati 1098R 32.904
10 9 Kiyonari R. (JPN) Honda CBR1000RR 33.192
11 7 Checa C. (ESP) Honda CBR1000RR 34.535
12 84 Fabrizio M. (ITA) Ducati 1098R 35.093
13 22 Camier L. (GBR) Yamaha YZF R1 35.441
14 57 Lanzi L. (ITA) Ducati 1098R 39.034
15 111 Xaus R. (ESP) BMW S1000 RR 41.067
16 14 Lagrive M. (FRA) Honda CBR1000RR 46.452
17 71 Kagayama Y. (JPN) Suzuki GSX-R 1000 K9 47.924
18 23 Parkes B. (AUS) Kawasaki ZX 10R 48.246
19 99 Scassa L. (ITA) Kawasaki ZX 10R 50.932
20 117 Andrews S. (GBR) Kawasaki ZX 10R 55.032
21 2 Hacking J. (USA) Kawasaki ZX 10R 55.216
22 53 Polita A. (ITA) Suzuki GSX-R 1000 K9 1′02.758
23 25 Salom D. (ESP) Kawasaki ZX 10R 1′02.977
24 94 Checa D. (ESP) Yamaha YZF R1 1′12.255
25 79 Young B. (USA) Suzuki GSX-R 1000 K9 1′12.531
RET 11 Corser T. (AUS) BMW S1000 RR
RET 27 Ellison J. (GBR) Yamaha YZF R1
RET 88 Resch R. (AUT) Suzuki GSX-R 1000 K9
RET 66 Sykes T. (GBR) Yamaha YZF R1
RET 36 Lavilla G. (ESP) Ducati 1098R
RET 77 Iannuzzo V. (ITA) Honda CBR1000RR

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