The 2009 Yamaha Factory Racing Team World Superbike YZF-R1.

Spanish babes are present at the Valencia round of the 2009 World Superbike Championship.

Max Biaggi is figuring out the all-new 2009 Aprilia RSV4 at Valencia.

Haga-san shredding Pirelli rubber at Valencia.

Hopkins No. 121 up to his usual hijinx at Valencia.

Ben Spies in action at Valencia.

Haga-san shredding Pirelli rubber at Valencia.

Haga was straight thuggin on a Dutch bicycle before the Grand Prix in Assen.

Ben Spies progressed through the bracket-style three-round qualifing system, finally laying down a 1:37.626 on his factory Yamaha R1 to secure the pole on Saturday at Assen.

Spies won Race 1 after making a ballsy move on Haga in the last lap, leaving the Ducati rider trailing by a tenth of a second. Leon Haslam finished out the rostrum half a second behind the front-runners in Assen.

Noriyuki Haga following his victory in Race 2, 'First of all, I’m sorry for Ben and his crash, I hope he is fine. After the first race we changed the suspension a little bit and the bike was really comfortable, so a big thanks to everyone in the team. I think it’s nine years since I won here, in 2000, so I’m very happy and now I’m looking forward to Monza.'

BMW's Troy Corser recieved a small fracture between his hand and wrist from an accident at the Monza tests. Troy could’ve had pain-killing injections before the races, but did not want to loose sensation in the hand.

Nitro Nori keeping it fresh with the Ducati crew before the races in Assen.

Leon Haslam with a Dutch umbrella girl before Race 1 on Sunday. Haslam put in a solid performance for the day, finished third and second in Race 1 and 2, respectively.

Just when it all looked in the bag for the young Texan, having made a final-lap break, his factory Yamaha R1 puffed smoke and lost power going through the final corner, handing the win to Fabrizio, his first of the season and the first of his career at his home race in Italy.

Max Biaggi finished third for Aprilia, however, when he climbed atop the podium, the loudspeaker announced a 20 second penalty for the Roman driver because of a suspected cut at the second chicane in the seventh lap.

In Race 2 Spies took redemption for his bad luck in Race 1. The American was out front by the end of lap one and every lap thereafter. He stretched his lead to over six seconds but then slowed his pace as he short shifted home to ensure he had enough fuel to cross the finish line.

Race 1 got off to a dramatic red-flag start. Kawasaki's Makato Tamada made contact with Ducati privateer Branden Roberts as the riders compressed into the tight first chicane. Robert’s Ducati then skipped across the grass and through the chicane, hitting Max Neukirchner's Suzuki and putting the German on the ground. BMW's Troy Corser, and Honda's Tommy Hill were also taken out.

The Race 2 podium (left to right): Ducati's Michel Fabrizio in second, Yamaha's Ben Spies with the win, with Honda's Ryuichi Kiyonari rounding-out the podium.

Reigning World Superbike Champ Troy Bayliss was on hand at Monza acting as the official ambassador of Team Ducati Xerox.

Noriyuki Haga, a resident of nearby Milan, Italy, was a fan favorite coming into the weekend races in Monza, especially now that he rides for the Italian marque Ducati.

Ducati Privateer Jakub Smrz took a pair of fourth-places at Misano.

Max Neukirchner was out of commission for the Misano round.

Jonathan Rea diced with Noriyuka Haga and Michel Fabrizio in Race 2 of Misano.

Spies was in impeccable form in Race 1 of Misano to take another Victory in a flag-to-flag race.

Shane 'Shakey' Byrne made a stellar ride on the Sterilgada Ducati in Race 1 to score second, his first podium for the season.

Jonathan Rea scored a first career World Superbike victory in Race 2 of Misano, Honda's first for the 2009 season.

Fabrizio continued to outshine his Ducati Xerox teammate for the second round in a row at Misano.

Ben Spies - World Superbike, Donington Park

John Hopkins - World Superbike, Donington Park

Leon Haslam - World Superbike, Donington Park

Leon Haslam - World Superbike, Donington Park

Noriyuki Haga - World Superbike, Donington Park

The BMW S1000R is starting to take flight at Brno WSBK.

Ben Spies took his ninth Superpole trophy at the Saturday Superpole in Brno.

Miss Yamaha Contest

Michel Fabrizio - World Superbike, Brno

Race 1 Podium - World Superbike, Brno

Max Biaggi, Ben Spies and Michel Fabrizio on the Race 2 Podium at Brno WSBK.

Qualifying was held in wet conditions. Ducati's Michel Fabrizio - Nurburgring 2009

Michel Fabrizio (84) said of his Ducati, 'it seemed as I was missing acceleration coming out of the corners'. Nurburgring WSBK

Ben Spies (19) and Jonathan Rea (65) battled it out before Rea put an end to it and took home the win on Race 2 - Nurbringring WSBK

Irishman Jonathan Rea celebrates his win of Race 2 at Nurburgring.

Ben Spies elbowed his way into the points lead with a win in Race 1 and a very solid second-place result in Race 2 at Nurburgring.

Texas Terror Ben Spies, Yamaha (19), lost the points lead to rival Haga at World Superbike in Imola.

Hannspree Ten Kate Honda hottie and her umbrella at Imola World Superbike.

Xerox Ducati's team takes the win at Ducati's home track at Imola World Superbike.

Fabrizio making a move on teammate Haga at World Superbike Imola.

Michel Fabrizio celebrates his and Xerox Ducati's World Superbike win at Imola.

Ben Spies took away a new best lap of 1’37.709 in winning Superpole, and he also joined Doug Polen, his fellow American, on a season best record of ten poles in a single year. Magny-Cours WSBK

Yamaha's Ben Spies earned his 13th win of 2009 at Magny-Cours.

In Race 1, Spies and Haga battled it out in the final lap for the win at Magny-Cours.

Nitro Nori takes the checkers in Race 2 at Magny-Cours.

Noriyuki Haga (41) and The Emperor Max Biaggi (3) at Magny-Cours.

Noriyuki Haga chases Ben Spies but couldn't make the pass during Portimao.

Ben Spies wins his eleventh superpole start for the final round at World Superbike.

Michel Fabrizio finished ahead of teammate Haga for the second time at Portimao - the first was Imola.

Ben Spies takes care of what little tire may remain after he clinched the win of the 2009 World Superbike title at Portimao.

Michel Fabrizio has 26 podium wins out of 105 races in his superbike career at Portimao.

Ben Spies takes the 2009 World Superbike championship title aboard the Sterilgarda Yamaha at Portimao.

Ben Spies - Losail Superpole

Ben Spies sets the World Superbike grid up AMA style with a Superpole victory at Phillip Island.

Ben Spies - Phillip Island

Ben Spies - Portimao Test

Max Biaggi - Phillip Island Test

Broc Parkes - Phillip Island Test

Broc Parkes - Phillip Island Test

Broc Parks - Portimao Test

Broc Parkes - Portimao Test

Shane Byrne - Portimao Test

Cal Crutchlow - Valencia

Former Alstare Suzuki team member Fonsi Nieto takes the place of injured Max Neukirchner's place at Kyalami - 2009 World Superbike - Kyalami

Gregorio Lavilla - Portimao Test

Even the lower brackets got umbella girls in Assen.

Jakub Smrz

Jonathan Rea - World Superbike Imola Test

Karl Muggeridge - Phillip Island

Xerox Ducati's Noriyuki Haga scored double wins at Kyalami.

Xerox Ducati's Noriyuki leads teammate Michel Fabrizo and Ben Spies in Race 1 at Kyalami.

Kyalami Race 2 podium consisted of Michel Fabrizio (left), Noriyuki Haga (center), and Jonathan Rea (right).

Yamaha's Ben Spies recorded his sixth consecutive Superpole at Kyalami.

Spies wins another heavy piece of glass in South Africa.

Leon Camier on the Aprilia World Superbike at the Portimao circuit.

Makoto Tamada - Phillip Island Test

Makoto Tamada - Phillip Island Test

Makoto Tamada - Portimao Test

Makoto Tamada - Portimao Test

Max Neukirchner - Phillip Island Qualifying

Max Neukirchner - Portimao Test

Max Neukirchner - Portimao Test

Max Neukirchner started to work with the all-new 2009 GSX-R1000 Suzuki at the demanding circuit and understand the new bike.

'I have enjoyed being back on the bike after some weeks off and the test has gone really well so far, I’m very happy. I hadn’t seen this track before of course and I really like it, it’s fun to ride. We haven’t yet tried any qualifiers and I think I may be able to go a touch faster with those tyres but we’ll see tomorrow, with this heat it’s hard to go extremely fast. I’d like to improve even further tomorrow, I’ll see what I can do.'

Michel Fabrizio - World Superbike - Imola Test

Michel Fabrizio - Losail

Michel Fabrizio - Phillip Island Qualifying

Michel Fabrizio - Portimao Test

Noriyuki Haga - Losail

Noriyuki Haga - Phillip Island Qualifying

Noriyuki Haga - Phillip Island Test

Noriyuki Haga - Portimao Test

Noriyuki Haga took the Race 1 victory.

Ben Spies took the Race 2 win, pulling away from Haga in the final laps - Phillip Island

Régis Laconi - Phillip Island

'I am happy with our progress and happy that I finished without any crashes and now can enjoy Christmas fit and healthy and ready for next year.' - Ruben Xaus

'Of course, I would've liked to have gone faster at the end, but that wasn't the reason we came here. We came here to try and understand the bike and get it to do what we wanted it to do.' - Ruben Xaus

Ruben Xaus - Phillip Island Qualifying

Ruben Xaus - Phillip Island Test

Ruben Xaus and Troy Corser at the Pirelli test in Kyalami, South Africa.

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.

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.

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

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.'

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.'

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

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

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

Miller Motorsports Park

Michael Schumacher, seen here chatting with retired SBK champion Troy Bayliss, spent time on the factory R1 during a media test held after the Portimao circuit in Portugal.

Ben Spies claimed the double at Qatar.

The Yamaha factory team for 2009 supports a pair of young stars, Tom Skyes and AMA Superbike sensation Ben Spies.

Ben Spies figures to be a strong contender in the veteran-filled SBK ranks.

Ben Spies - Valencia

British rider Tom Skyes.

Tom Sykes - Portimao Test

Troy was happy that his fastest lap, on race rubber, was not far off the pace and a sign that there is still more to come.

Troy Corser - Phillip Island Qualifying

Troy Corser - Phillip Island Test

Troy Corser - Phillip Island Test

Kawasaki's Makoto Tamada aboard his Kawasaki ZX-10R at Valencia.

Kawasaki Racing Team preparing for World Superbike.

Team owner, Paul Bird oversees efforts of development.

Kawasaki Racing support vehicles for World Superbike Racing Team.

Photo of Kawasaki Racing Team's paddock area shows they mean business.

Xerox Ducati - Portimao Test

The factory Yamaha R1. The team is still testing the 2008 spec R1 as it gets up to speed.

Yukio Kagayama - Phillip Island Qualifying

Yukio Kagayama - Phillip Island Qualifying

Yukio Kagayama - Phillip Island Qualifying

As the bike is new, there is much work to do as you can imagine. I managed to do a short shakedown test in Japan before the bikes were sent to Phillip Island, so these tests were my second time on the bike. My first impression of the new bike is that it handles better than before.

Yukio Kagayama - Portimao Test