Ben Spies has taken the 2009 World Superbike Championship in his rookie year after finishing race two at Portimao in fifth place this afternoon.

Spies was the third Yamaha rider that took a championship title today; Valentino Rossi in MotoGP, Cal Crutchlow in Supersport and Spies’ win is also a first for the Japanese manufacturer at the World Superbike level.

The Texan won the championship separated by just six points ahead of Noriyuki Haga.

Michel Fabrizio won the race itself after an incredible and exciting dash through the field after another of his terribile starts. Team mate Noriyuki Haga took second, while Jonathan Rea was third after leading the race until the final laps when he went wide letting through Fabrizio and a few turns later Haga. Rea would finish third and Shane Byrne on his private Ducati impressed the field with his fourth place. Max Biaggi was sixth after putting on another fantastic race with his Aprilia but going wide too many times suffering from arm problems picked up in yesterday’s crash. BSB champion Leon Camier was seventh, while Jakub Smrz finished in eighth. Troy Corser took ninth and Sylvain Guintoli finished a solid tenth in his Superbike debut after pulling out of race 1 due to mechanical difficulties.

Spies now will head to MotoGP to take part in the final race at Valencia with his new Yamaha Tech 3 team with a another championship title in his pocket.

After the jump Race 2 results and final championship standings:

Portimao Race 2 Results:

1 84 Fabrizio M. (ITA) Ducati 1098R 38′19.654 (158,148 kph)
2 41 Haga N. (JPN) Ducati 1098R 1.195
3 65 Rea J. (GBR) Honda CBR1000RR 1.494
4 67 Byrne S. (GBR) Ducati 1098R 5.553
5 19 Spies B. (USA) Yamaha YZF R1 5.842
6 3 Biaggi M. (ITA) Aprilia RSV4 Factory 7.374
7 22 Camier L. (GBR) Aprilia RSV4 Factory 9.658
8 96 Smrz J. (CZE) Ducati 1098R 10.434
9 11 Corser T. (AUS) BMW S1000 RR 17.010
10 50 Guintoli S. (FRA) Suzuki GSX-R 1000 K9 24.509
11 71 Kagayama Y. (JPN) Suzuki GSX-R 1000 K9 27.195
12 23 Parkes B. (AUS) Kawasaki ZX 10R 34.825
13 14 Lagrive M. (FRA) Honda CBR1000RR 35.135
14 99 Scassa L. (ITA) Kawasaki ZX 10R 1′01.842
15 94 Checa D. (ESP) Yamaha YZF R1 1′09.782
16 100 Tamada M. (JPN) Kawasaki ZX 10R 1′30.818
17 25 Salom D. (ESP) Kawasaki ZX 10R

RET 15 Baiocco M. (ITA) Ducati 1098R
RET 91 Haslam L. (GBR) Honda CBR1000RR
RET 7 Checa C. (ESP) Honda CBR1000RR
RET 111 Xaus R. (ESP) BMW S1000 RR
RET 10 Nieto F. (ESP) Ducati 1098R
RET 77 Iannuzzo V. (ITA) Honda CBR1000RR

Final 2009 WSBK Standings:

1 Ben SPIES USA 462 2009 World Champion
2 Noriyuki HAGA JPN 456 -6
3 Michel FABRIZIO ITA 382 -80
4 Max BIAGGI ITA 319 -143
5 Jonathan REA GBR 315 -147
6 Leon HASLAM GBR 241 -221
7 Carlos CHECA ESP 209 -253
8 Shane BYRNE GBR 192 -270
9 Tom SYKES GBR 176 -286
10 Jakub SMRZ CZE 169 -293
11 Ryuichi KIYONARI JPN 141 -321
12 Yukio KAGAYAMA JPN 128 -334
13 Troy CORSER AUS 96 -366
14 Shinya NAKANO JPN 86 -376
15 Régis LACONI FRA 77 -385
16 Max NEUKIRCHNER GER 75 -387
17 Ruben XAUS ESP 74 -388
18 Broc PARKES AUS 51 -411
19 Matthieu LAGRIVE FRA 34 -428
20 Leon CAMIER GBR 32 -430
21 Fonsi NIETO ESP 22 -440
22 Karl MUGGERIDGE AUS 21 -441
23 John HOPKINS USA 17 -445
24 Matteo BAIOCCO ITA 17 -445
25 Marco SIMONCELLI ITA 16 -446
26 Lorenzo LANZI ITA 15 -447
27 Makoto TAMADA JPN 12 -450
28 Gregorio LAVILLA ESP 12 -450
29 Luca SCASSA ITA 11 -451
30 Jamie HACKING USA 9 -453
31 James ELLISON GBR 8 -454
32 Sheridan MORAIS RSA 8 -454
33 Sylvain GUINTOLI FRA 6 -456
34 Simon ANDREWS GBR 6 -456
35 Tommy HILL GBR 6 -456
36 David SALOM ESP 5 -457
37 David CHECA ESP 4 -458
38 Brendan ROBERTS AUS 3 -459
39 Roberto ROLFO ITA 3 -459
40 Vittorio IANNUZZO ITA 2 -460
41 Alessandro POLITA ITA 1 -461
42 Jake ZEMKE USA 1 -461

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