SPOILER - World Superbike at Assen

[russell_bynum]

Now THAT was a motorcycle race!!!

 

Haslam running at the front.

 

Haga coming back from a terrible start to run a very strong race at the front.

 

And Ben Spies pulling a Haga (i.e. "nobody ever passes here around the outsi.....whoa...there he goes.") on Haga.

 

And Biaggi in the top five again on the brand new Aprilia.

 

 

[Tim Yip]

Fantastic race! And didn't Leon Haslam do a bang up job?

 

As for Race 2 . . . owell.

 

Tim

[dhanson]

That was MX style racing, we rubbed elbows on a regular basis, and it was standard deal to put your front wheel on his leg just to be sure he knew you were working nearby.

 

WAY COOL RACE for those 3, Spies, Haslam, and Haga.

 

Then the 2nd race, I go, someone threw their bike over the fence, commentator, no, not Spies. I thought it may be him when I saw him get up, bummer. But that is on the edge, no better than that.

[philbytx]

Two classy competitors...Nori Haga and Ben Spies.

Notice how the first thing Nori mentioned in his post win interview was about Ben's crash and how that he heard he is OK.

 

Great competitive racing........

[Koop]

Great racing...Glad to hear Ben's OK. He said he just barely got it wrong into 1 and clipped the grass. Game over.

 

Can't wait to ride up to Miller.

[russell_bynum]

Man, what a difference from race 1 to race 2.

 

Oh well. Good on Haslam for putting the Stiggy bike in 2nd. I wish we could have seen the last-lap pass between Smrz and Fabrizio.

[Bill_Walker]

Man, what a difference from race 1 to race 2.

 

Oh well. Good on Haslam for putting the Stiggy bike in 2nd. I wish we could have seen the last-lap pass between Smrz and Fabrizio.

 

Yep, from elation to despondency. Spies! Spies???

 

I think that last-lap item was more than a pass. I noticed the time clock showed Fabrizio some seconds behind Smrz. Fabrizio must've had a "moment".

[dhanson]

They seem to have cameras every where, but didn't get that, ha.

 

Think he must have missed a gear or something, he was pretty upset at himself seemed.

 

Super race and coverage, makes me sorta want to stay home and watch Barber on TV instead of running over there,..... not.

[swmckinley]

Man o man....I was jumping up and down in my living room screaming on the last lap of race 1, then sat in my recliner crushed on race 2. What a great race that race 1....then on to Moto GP and to see Nicky get speared on lap one. An up and down day if you are rooting for the Americans.

[russell_bynum]

Man, what a difference from race 1 to race 2.

 

Oh well. Good on Haslam for putting the Stiggy bike in 2nd. I wish we could have seen the last-lap pass between Smrz and Fabrizio.

 

Yep, from elation to despondency. Spies! Spies???

 

I think that last-lap item was more than a pass. I noticed the time clock showed Fabrizio some seconds behind Smrz. Fabrizio must've had a "moment".

 

I was actually referring to the quality of the racing between race 1 and race 2. Spies crashing out of Race 2 sucked, but If we had seen some decent racing anyway, I would have enjoyed it. As it was....it was a snoozer.

 

On the Championship, Haga's lead is now to the point where he's going to have to have some real problems to lose the title. Of course....this is Haga and we've seen him do that before. But...I'm thinking I might have to eat my words ("Ben will win with races to spare.") come Portimao.

[Limecreek]

You gotta love DVRs. I watched it last night and nearly hit my head on the ceiling fan while jumping up and down like a crazy kid. Dang...Ben doesn't leave anything on the track does he. Crazy ass Texan...

[Bill_Walker]

Ben doesn't leave anything on the track does he. Crazy ass Texan...

 

After that multi-turn pass I was thinking somebody was going to have to get Ben a wheelbarrow to carry his..er... equipment. Cause that equipment is clearly very large!

[flars]

It is amazing that Ben had so much trust in Leon when he got along side him - especially since he probably has never been near him on a track before. Normally you see the guy who is behind (Ben in this case) roll off the throttle a bit to ensure the other guy isn't going to squeeze him. That little bit of throttle always kills your drive out of the corner. Beautiful pass. And I loved Leon's gesture to Ben on the cool down lap - Leon knew he had been the victim of an absolutely beautiful, ballsy move.

And yes - Fabrizio missed a shift that cost him 3rd place.