Noriyuki Haga stamped his authority on the World Superbike Championship as he scorched to victory in Race Two at Valencia.
After three rounds, Haga and Spies have now taken three wins each, but Haga’s consistency - the Ducati Xerox star has finished first or second in every race - has put the Japanese into a solid 40-point title lead over the AMA champion, who scored no points in race one at Phillip Island in addition to his Valencia DNF.
Haga was only 1.2 seconds ahead of Spies at that stage, but the Japanese edged ever further away from the #19 and - despite a slow final lap - crossed the finish line a distant 5.105sec in front of the Yamaha rider.
Haga - who claimed yesterday that he wasn’t worried by Spies’ huge Superpole advantage - was already two-seconds clear of the field at the time of Spies’ accident. The Ducati Xerox star remained out of touch to the finish, eventually claiming his second win of the season by 3.677 seconds from Fabrizio.
“I decided to go for it from the start of the first lap and was able to keep the pace, but it was not so easy,” reflected Haga claimed after his victory ahead of over team-mate Michel Fabrizio, and t. There was more of the same to come next time out, as Haga again overcame Max Neukirchner early on to ease to victory, by some five seconds next time out, this time ahead of Spies, with Fabrizio third.
Haga now has a commanding lead of the championship on 135, with Spies second on 95 and Neukirchner third with 65.
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