2009 World Superbike - Miller Photo Gallery

Salt Lake City World Superbike Parade (Ben Spies, Noriyuki Haga, Max Biaggi, Yukio Kagayama, Carlos Checa, Jamie Hacking, Troy Corser and Jake Zemke)

An interesting view of the different front-end aerodynamics from the manufacturers. Compare the newer split-front of the Aprilia and BMW to the classic Japanese bikes.

Warning: This is a staged demonstration by professionals, Superbikes do not actually go this slow in real life.

World Superbike riders advocating for excessive speed in front of the Utah State Capital. WSBK is contracted to continue at Miller Motorsports Park through 2013.

Weather caused plenty of drama on Superpole Saturday, with Haga being the most notable rider to take a tumble.

Yamaha's Ben Spies took pole position on Saturday.

MotorcycleUSA editor Steve Atlas attempting a back-flip while visiting gear bag designer OGIO in Salt Lake City.

Michel Fabrizio comes to Miller Motorsports Park second in the World Superbike Championship standings, with two podium finishes in the previous round at the American venue.

Championship points leader Noriyuki Haga broke his collar bone last time he visited Miller. Crashing on Saturday was an ominous sign that more bad luck was in store for the Ducati Xerox rider.

Jake Zemke was replacing John Hopkins for the last round. The injured Stiggy Honda rider is expected to return at Misano on June 21.

Although Team Suzuki Alstare Brux rider Yukio Kagayama had two broken bones in his right foot and ankle, a damaged shoulder and thigh, he defied the pain and hauled his bruised and battered body onto his bike for both races at Miller Motorsports Park.

American rider Ben Spies was the man to beat at Miller, where he won five out of the six races that he ran while in American Superbike.

Spies was wearing a one off helmet for the races at Miller Motorsports Park designed by legendary helmet artist Aldo Drudi. It incorporated the flag of the Lone Star State with the slogan 'Texan Terror' on the back.

Spies also had a special pair of boots from Drudi to pair with his new helmet.

The ‘Texas Terror’ headed into race day at Miller Motorsports having set a new record for most consecutive World Superbike poles, having taken pole in the first seven races of the series. Fellow Texan Doug Polen held the previous record over a decade ago.

Michael Jordan was in Utah to root for Spies and check out WSBK.

The visit to Miller Motorsports Park was definitely designed to showcase all that World Superbike has to offer America.

Attendance at Miller was lackluster at best.

BMW's Troy Corser was back after sitting out the last round in Kyalami, South Africa.

Tom Sykes might have been overshadowed by his American teammate Spies, but the British Superbike rider was still treated like royalty at Miller. Cold towel? Juice Popsicle? A friend of Spies is a friend of ours.

So if I move to Texas do I have the right to sport the Texas Terror helmet? I am guessing the answer is no.

There were plenty of photographers to capture the event for fans all over the world.

Spies scored a big lead from the start of Race 1, setting the lap record on Lap 2. The race was restarted following a crash by Karl Muggeridge on lap five, but the Texan powered back toward the front of the pack on the restart.

Honda's Carlos Checa lead Spies for the rest of Race 1, but the six second advantage Spies had amassed prior to the restart meant the Texas Terror took the win.

Ducati riders Michel Fabrizio and Noriyuki Haga did not make the strongest starts and found themselves in eleventh and eighth place respectively at the end of the first lap.

Michel made a great recovery after the restart, fighting his way through the pack from eleventh to fourth, which meant third place according to the aggregate race results.

Honda's Ryuichi Kiyonari got a good start to the second part of race one and took the holeshot and despite have problems with tire traction took fourth with his aggregate times for the race.

Qualifying 11th in Superpole, Jonathan Rea (Hannspree Ten Kate Honda) made an excellent charge through the field to take fifth.

American wild-card Jamie Hacking (No. 2) had an outstanding Race 1, taking Kawasaki's best result for the season with a seventh-place finish behind Aprilia's Max Biaggi.

Starting from their lowest grid positions this season made it a hard weekend for the two BMW riders Troy Corser and Ruben Xaus. Troy Corser was able to bring his BMW S1000RR over the line in fifteenth in Race 1, the only point the team garnered for the round.

Troy Corser took a single point in 15th for BMW.

With two strong starts and record breaking laps, Yamaha's Spies ensured that Checa wouldn't go three in a row at Miller.

The presence of Checa and Fabrizio on the Race 1 podium was not entirely a surprise, since both riders stood on the box in last year's two races at Miller Motorsports Park.

Carlos Checa, 2nd in Race 1: 'Race one was good, after all that has happened earlier this year. We made progress and were on the pace and now we have a test in France to keep working, and be fast in Misano.'

Michel Fabrizio, 3rd in Race 1: 'Well Race 1 was quite hard, because after the restart I felt like a ping-pong ball, there were three or four guys coming at me from all directions causing me to lose some positions. I had to push hard to pass them again and it wasn’t easy but my desire to be up on the podium gave my the strength I needed and so I’m happy with the result.'

Ben Spies, 1st: 'After the restart it was tough because I really wanted to win on the road and couldn’t take too many risks to keep Carlos at bay. I just wanted to cross the line first even though I had a six-second cushion.'

In Race 2, Spies used his pole position to grab the holeshot and open a gap on the other riders.

Up toward the front Checa crashed out while running third. He would not finish the race, but still gians one place in the championship standings.

Carlos Checa, DNF: 'In race two maybe I went in with too much angle and hit the curbstone at the top of the hill, and that curb is so high, we already complained about it last year. It was a shame because I knew I had good pace for the second race as well.'

Fabrizio refused to let Spies run away up front – keeping within 2 seconds of the leader.

As Spies began to slightly pull away from Fabrizio, the best racing on the track was over the final rostrum position. Rea led, with fellow Brit and Honda rider Haslam in the mix, as well as Kyonari, Biaggi, Ducati privateer Jakub Smrz and Haga.

Like Race 1, Haga, began falling back as the laps wore on – the Japanese rider seemingly fatigued from his qualifying crash and Race 1 performance.

In the closing laps, Spies motored ahead with Fabrizio unable to catch - with the American garnering his seventh SBK victory in his impressive rookie season.

Despite being unable to track down Spies, Fabrizio finished a clear five seconds ahead of thrid-placed Rea.

Ben Spies: 'That was a tough race, I almost feel like I robbed Michel because he rode fantastic. I tried to set a good pace but a pace that was comfortable and every time he took a tenth out I had to put a tenth back to keep him at bay. Then in the last six laps I pulled the pin and held it to the end.'

Rea held on to third ahead of Biaggi and Kiyonari to take his second podium for the season.

Yukio Kagayama finished 12th twice for the weekend, a remarkable feat considering the Suzuki rider would not even walk without crutches.

Jake Zemke: 'The biggest problem I had in qualifying was with turning in the middle of the corners, but we improved it in race one and then again in race two and we got a point because of it. Obviously I have to thank the team and John Hopkins for getting this opportunity, and we made some progress, so I wish the team success for the rest of the season.'

Haga had a tough weekend in Salt Lake City, which is exactly what Spies needed to chip away at his Championship lead.

Ruben Xaus: 'My bike didn’t feel right in race one, but it felt better in race two, but my grid position held me up. Between race one and race two my mechanics did a superb job by changing engines in such a short time and I want to thank them for the good and fast work - especially because the bike ran perfectly.'

Troy Corser: 'There’s no disguising that this has been a hard weekend for us all here at Miller. Although we had some difficulties during the weekend, my main problem today was my right shoulder. I damaged the ligament between the shoulder and the collarbone in the Monza crash and it has not recovered yet. Race one was hard enough, but I just ran out of strength in race two and had a hard time keeping going.'

Ben Spies improved his championship hopes with a dominating double victory performance at Utah's Miller Motorsports Park.

Jonathan Rea: 'Getting a podium was good for the team and we have definitely made real improvements. Every lap I was watching the big screen out of the last turn to see who it was behind me. I knew I had a little bit of a gap, but for me I had to ride as slow as I could for third place. We’ve been on the podium now two weeks on the run, so it’s almost enough for us.'

Miller Race 2 Podium (left to Right): Honda's Rea with third, Yamaha's Spies taking his second win for the weekend, and Ducati's Fabrizio in a strong second.

Spies leaves Miller in second place in the championship on 212 points, 53 points behind leader Haga. Fabrizio drops to third with 201, while Rea moves into fourth with 133.

Ben Spies: 'It’s great to get a double win here, unfortunately we all know Haga is not 100% but you got to capitalize on the weekends when you can. I think Misano is going to be another track the R1 is going to excel it so we’re going to go over there with an open mind and see what we can get away with.'

Rea, Fabrizio and Spies were the overall winners for weekend at Miller.

Noriyuki Haga: 'I am not 100% of course after my crash yesterday and I didn’t expect to win here today but I am happy to have taken points all the same, important points for the championship. I’ll get back in shape before Misano where I want to be back fighting for the win.'