World SBK: Highs and lows in Brno as Spies steps closer to the Championship lead

World Superbike Press Release

It was a mixed day for Yamaha World Superbike rider Ben Spies in Brno. The first race started well with Spies, Biaggi and Fabrizio pulling away at the front but Fabrizio came in too hot three laps in and lost the bike, taking Spies out in the process. Race two and Spies got straight out in front, leading from the start. Again followed by Fabrizio and Biaggi, the two Italians fought amongst themselves until the closing laps when Biaggi got past and came after Spies. Spies adapted his riding and braked later and later into the corners to leave no opportunity for Biaggi to pass, and in doing so took a well earned victory and 25 points to add to his championship challenge. As they head into the summer break, Spies is just seven points behind leader Haga with eight races left to run.

"Race two was a tough race, Fabrizio was right there at the start so I had to make the push and put in the lap times to get ahead. Then I saw Max was up there, he arrived really quickly so I had to start braking very late and stopping almost in the middle of the corner and turning and getting a really good drive out so he couldn't come by me, it was a great race. Obviously the first race wasn't so good but we came back well for the second which was good for the points. I need to thank the Clinica Mobile guys, I arrived not feeling 100% this weekend and they looked after me really well and got me going. I want to thank Yamaha too, they gave me a great bike, it's a shame we didn't get to fight for the first race but I guess that's just how it goes sometimes. "