Haga managed to grab the lead in the race and was in pole position for grabbing the season opener until the final lap, when the German rider from Suzuki made a pass on him and got into 1st place. However, a late mistake from Neukirchner gave Haga back the lead, which he never let go until the finish line. Third place belonged to another Suzuki rider, Yukio Kagayama.
“I'm very happy for the win, I have just switched to Ducati, I already had four crashes with the bike, but our team did a great job. In the last two laps it started to rain a bit then on the last lap Max passed me but I put big pressure on him thinking where to pass him. He made a mistake and I won,” said Haga after the race.
Newcomers Aprilia – debuting their brand new Aprilia RSV4 – finished the race on 7th place, through former Suzuki rider Max Biagi. BMW also did a good job at their debut in the series, with veteran Troy Corser set the fastest time of Race 1 and eventually finished 8th overall.
In the second race of the day, rookie rider Ben Spies – who had finished 16th in the first race due to a crash in the first lap – managed to hold Haga back in the final laps of the race to record his first Superbike win for Yamaha. After a dwelling battle between the two riders, the Texan built a comfortable margin in the last 4 laps of the race and eventually crossed the finish line in first place.
“We were strong in the first half but really slow in the back two corners and I couldn't stay with him, then when the tires went off we just went to the front with four to go and I put my head down,” explained Spies his strategy for the final laps of Race 2.
Thanks to his win & podium performance at Phillip Island, Haga is now leader of the overall classification, followed by Suzuki's Neukirchner and Great Britain's Leon Haslam (Stiggy Racing Honda).
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