2009 Imola World Superbike Race 1 Results - Four-Way Fight Keeps Title Tight

Result of the World Superbikes Race 1 at Imola:

Noriyuki Haga won the first Superbike race at Imola this afternoon, and more importantly, he pulled back a lot of points in the championship battle. The race was a thrillingly close affair, with the Ducatis of Noriyuki Haga and Michel Fabrizio matched up against the Aprilia of Max Biaggi. Jonny Rea on the Ten Kate Honda had joined the fray early, but a wildly optimistic passing maneuver saw him run wide and into the gravel.

Biaggi led for most of the race, Haga pushing him all the time, but finding it hard to get past. He managed with three laps to go, and was gone once he was past. Fabrizio and Biaggi continued to duke it out for the final two podium positions, and it looked like Fabrizio had it in the bag after passing Biaggi in Haga's wake. But a tough move in the final chicane gave Biaggi 2nd place back, demoting Fabrizio to 3rd.

Ben Spies finished in 4th, unable to match the pace of the leaders. While Haga, Biaggi and Fabrizio were running 1'49.3s, Spies rarely dipped below the 1'49.7 mark, and the Texan could only run with the front three when they started holding each other up. Special mention to Marco Simoncelli, who was riding a strong race and had just taken 5th place when he crashed out. An impressive debut on a bike he has barely ridden.

Spies' 4th place cuts his championship lead to just 6 points.