Michel Fabrizio wins the 2nd SBK race at Imola and Haga takes back the lead

Today was Ducati’s day in the World Superbike Championship; the Italian bikes were clearly at home, as the second SBK race was won by Michel Fabrizio, with Noriyuki Haga taking over the lead, so for the red bikes it has been a fantastic session.

The World SBK Championship is extremely exciting with only two rounds of the calendar left to run, so anything can happen at the next round, but for now Ducati has been better at Imola, and both Haga and Fabrizio have shown it.

The start of the race was quite similar to that of the first race, as Fabrizio, Haga and Biaggi took the lead and pulled away from Ben Spies, who could not keep the pace on the Italian track nor show his riding.

So the three riders pulled away from the American, but little by little Biaggi also fell back, as the Ducati riders were the only ones able to lap in 1:48, and so the solo breakaway of the Xerox team riders began.

The surprise came with Simoncelli and Spies, who together started hunting Biaggi and his third place on the podium; little by little the gap closed, to the point that the 250cc world champion dived inside the veteran at the last chicane at Imola, which forced Biaggi to change his line, and it was a close call that took out Spies, leaving Simoncelli in third position and riding alone.

Up front, Haga and Fabrizio continued their own private duel, as there were no team orders for the Italian, so on the final push the young rider gave his all and beat his veteran teammate, which sent the Italian fans filling the Imola track into raptures.

Now Haga leads with a three-point advantage over Spies, but there is still a lot of excitement ahead in the two races remaining, and without a doubt this is a spectacular championship we are watching this season between Spies, Haga and Fabrizio.

We will keep a close eye on the SBK.

Source | Motociclismo.es