WSBK: Race 2 at Miller Motorsports Park

With Race 1 in the bag, Race 2 might have seemed a little bit more low-key, with no red flagged restart in sight. Beginning much as the previous race had started, Race 2 showed that it would be another decisive moment in the overall World Superbike Championship. Spoilers and race results for Race 2 at Miller Motorsports Park after the jump.

Once again, it was Ben Spies who flew off the starting line, but this time, he had Michel Fabrizio in tow. With the two riders going all out, they had gapped the field by 6 seconds after only 4 laps of racing.

For the majority of the race, Fabrizio was able to keep in touch with Spies, with only 1.5 seconds typically separating the pair. However, as the laps ticked away, Fabrizio couldn’t seem to keep up the 1’49 pace that Spies was consistantly putting down. Eventually, Fabrizio threw in the towel, with a 1’50 then a series of 1’51’s.

Spies ended the day with a double win, and valuable points gain in the Championship standings, closing in on Haga’s points lead.

Behind the race leaders, there was consdierably more action than up front. 

At first, Carlos Checa had been chasing Spies and Fabrizio, but trying to match the leaders’ pace turned out to be a mistake for the Spaniard. Checa crashed out on lap 4, went making castles in the sand trap.

The injured Haga had started well, running in the 4th spot for a while, but his injuries were taking their toll, and he slid back through the field, he would finish 8th in Race 2, a marginal improvement on his Race 1 9th place finish. Unencumbered, Rea made the most of his situation and pulled down a 3rd place finish.

Biaggi would finish 4th, ahead of Kiyonari, Smrz, Nakano and Haga. Biaggi would be one of Miller Motorsports Parks big winners of the weekend, the same however, could not be said of Jamie Hacking.

Following his mistake in Race 1, which cost him a possible podium, Hacking made a real mess of things in Race 2. Jamie asked a bit too much out of a pass around Luca Scassa, and the pair found themselves colliding bikes. Hacking nearly highsided and clipped the Italian, which put the America at the back of the field.

Unlike Hacking, a disappointed Zemke made little impression at all, finishing the race with a solitary point in 15th.

Both Spies and Fabrizio did well as the Rocky Mountain round of World Superbikes, grabbing back a big handful of points from series leader Haga. The injured Haga bled a total of 32 points from his 85 point lead.

With his double, Spies is firmly back in 2nd place, but the championship is shaping up to be a three-way fight between the American and the Xerox Ducati riders. With only half of the season done, we can’t wait to see what the rest of the season is like.

Results from Race 2 of the World Superbike stop at Miller Motorsports Park: