Haga, Rea win at the Nürburgring

Jonathan Rea (Hannspree Honda) and Noriyuki Haga (Xerox Ducati) each got back to winning ways this weekend in front of a 45,000 crowd at the Nürburgring, as Rea posted his fourth and Haga his second win of the 2010 championship campaign. 

It was a frustrating weekend for the two top riders in the World Superbike Championship, as they had to watch others take the glory, as Max Biaggi (Alitalia Aprilia) had his championship lead over Leon Haslam (Alstare Suzuki) cut, despite Haslam suffering a dislocated thumb and knee injuries. Biaggi now leads the series by a slightly trimmed 58 points, with two full rounds to go.

Rea's win and then a second place, combined with a luckless race two for Carlos Checa (Althea Ducati) sees the Honda man in third overall, 64 points ahead of the Spanish rider. Rea also took a new lap record, 1'55.392, in race one. Cal Crutchlow is only seven points behind Checa, in fifth place, having scored a third and a fourth place in Germany. Haga's win sees him sixth, 15 points clear of James Toseland (Sterilgarda Yamaha) who fell in race one and was only eighth in race two. Strong rides from Sylvain Guintoli (Alstare Suzuki) put him eighth overall, ahead of injured rider Leon Camier and Michel Fabrizio.

Race 1

Jonathan Rea took an early lead in the re-started first race, and rode at full pace to lead Carlos Checa home and record his fourth win of the 2010 season. Third place went to Sterilgarda Yamaha rider Cal Crutchlow, ten seconds back on Rea. Championship leader Max Biaggi was fourth, and Kawasaki rider Tom Sykes was a more than creditable fifth. Leon Haslam, one of the riders involved in the crash that caused the race to be stopped and then completely re-run, was sixth. Ruben Xaus was first BMW rider home in Germany, seventh.

"A great race and a great weekend for the team," said Jonathan Rea. "Already on Friday we were right on the pace, we came out with a bike that was good, really pushed hard, I felt comfortable on it and turned it into a good result so I'm really proud of my team."

"We had a good start and fought with Haga who then fell in front of me," said Carlos Checa. "Then I tried to follow Jonathan but he was very strong and nothing happened to the end. We did our best and are quite satisfied with the pace and the work we did this weekend."

"Nice to be back up here," said Cal Crutchlow. "Tenth on the grid is not so good into the first corner but I did the best job I could for Sterilgarda Yamaha. I thought right through that third place on this track is incredible for our bike and it was going to be difficult."

Race 2

Noriyuki Haga, a race one faller, was an impressive winner of race two, the Japanese rider shining strongly in the German sunshine. He was an eventual 3.061 seconds ahead of Jonathan Rea. Leon Haslam (Alstare Suzuki) rode through the pain barrier to go third, with Cal Crutchlow (Sterilgarda Yamaha) ending up fourth. Max Biaggi (Alitalia Aprilia) managed to keep Sylvain Guintoli (Alstare Suzuki) behind him at the flag for fifth, in a tense 20-lap race for the championship's top men.

"I'm very happy with this result and very sorry for the first race," said Noriyuki Haga. "When I had a crash, I wasn't getting information from the front tyre and for race 2 I made just a little modification for the front suspension and that was working much better. I was able to keep a high pace until the flag. Next round is Imola, our home track and I have much pressure but I hope to do my best."

"The pace was similar to race 1 but Nori was fantastic, he rode an unbelievable race," said Jonathan Rea. "It's quite frustrating when you see someone ride away from you like that. A great job for my team this weekend, 45 points overall and I'm really very happy. I'm very consistent now but it's so frustrating when I see my mid-season form."

"Race 1 was a bit frustrating, it was completely my fault when I high-sided and Troy had nowhere to go, so luckily the race was red-flagged," said Leon Haslam. "In the second race, I only had one bike but the boys did a great job and the Clinica did a fantastic job with my knee and my thumb so thanks to them. Getting on the podium is not exactly what I wanted but we'll take it this weekend. Anything can happen, there are four more races still to go so roll on Imola!"

World Supersport

A close race at the front saw Eugene Laverty (Parkalgar Honda) take a win by only 0.058 seconds from Gino Rea (Intermoto Honda), only for Rea to be disqualified because of a technical infraction with his machine. Laverty set the best time of the race on lap 17 to hold off the battling Rea. Kenan Sofuoglu (Hannspree Honda) was eventually second and thus Sofuoglu leads the championship fight by a still comfortable margin of 12 points. Top Kawasaki rider was the returning Broc Parkes (Motocard Kawasaki) who was finally awarded a podium place, ahead of Fabien Foret (Lorenzini Kawasaki).

Superstock 1000

Ayrton Badovini (Italia BMW) took his eighth successive win of the season at a sunny Nürburgring, posting a perfect 200 points total so far. Winning in BMW's home country, Badovini was almost a second up on Maxime Berger (Ten Kate Honda) with Andrea Antonelli (Lorini) in contact and in the final podium place. Sylvain Barrier (Garnier) won a close fight with Loris Baz (MRS) and Michele Magnoni (Bevilacqua).

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