WSBK: Spies upbeat despite losing series lead

Yamaha World Superbike rider Ben Spies remains optimistic about his championship chances in spite of the fact that the American lost the series lead to rival Noriyuki Haga.

First and second for Haga in the two races at Imola last weekend were enough for the Japanese rider to wrestle the championship lead away from the Texan, who could only manage fourth and fifth places.

Imola wasn’t kind to Spies, who qualified second for race 1 but finished fourth after struggling with some problems with his bike.

“We had some electronics issues that kept us from running up front,” Spies explained. “I wouldn’t call it a major problem, but it was just enough that I couldn’t ride the bike to its full potential.”

In the second race Spies felt his R1 Superbike was performing better, but he ran off the track twice and had to work hard to minimize the damage and secure a fifth-place result.

“(Marco) Simoncelli came in a little hot and pushed (Max) Biaggi wide,” Spies said. “Max was definitely coming across the track right in my line so I had to run off the track to avoid him. Then I ran off and in the gravel one other time, so all things considered I can’t complain too much about the weekend. Having to deal with two incidents like that, it could have turned out much worse. Fourth and fifth is obviously not where I want to finish, but I survived to come back and fight another day.

“My hat’s off to Nori for making such a strong comeback after his injuries. It’s just a three-point difference, so essentially we’re even going into Magny Cours next weekend. I’m looking forward to the final two rounds. I’ve never been to Magny Cours, so we’ll see how that goes. I’ve been to Portimao and I love that track. The tail end of this championship is going to be interesting that’s for sure.”

Watch highlights of the World Superbike Championship race from Imola on Motors TV (Sky Channel 413, Virgin Media 545) on Thursday 1 October at 9.05pm.