Brno - A look back at 2009
At the first corner of the first race Troy Corser was able to take briefly the lead in front of Rea, Biaggi and Spies, but it was only a matter of time before Ben worked his way to the front after a couple of failed attempts. Spies took the lead at the third lap and the front group quickly stretched out, with Biaggi able to stay close to the American, Corser a few meters behind and then Fabrizio, who passed the Australian and at the beginning of the fourth lap closed on Biaggi. Fabrizio passed Max on the last Esses (a spot where in the past he was able to snatch several important places, notably in the final laps) and recorded the fastest lap in the process, a clear indication of his strength on the Czech track. Michel however overdid things on the following lap and tried the same move on Spies, who was already turning in on the left hander, the Ducati rider fell and collected the American. He immediately went to Spies to apologize, but the damage for Spies was done and Haga, Fabrizio's team-mate, could enjoy an immediate gain of two places. This was a dramatic turn of events for the championship, as with the positions on the fourth lap Spies would have gained 19 points over Haga, on the other hand, with Haga eighth and Spies sidelined by Fabrizio the Japanese rider gained 8 points on the Texan. From that point on the race was pretty much processional, with Biaggi already with more than one and a half seconds clear of the rest: on his favourite track Max had only to control the gap over second placed Checa and take his first win after nearly two years, as his last success was in Vallelunga, 2007.
In race 2 Corser was able to enjoy a good start again and took the lead, but that lasted only a few laps like in race 1, then Spies, Fabrizio and Biaggi took command and pulled away from the rest. Biaggi seemed increasingly tired of sitting behind Fabrizio and tried every lap to pass him between turn three and four, every time ending up wide. Biaggi only managed to claim second on lap 15, at his sixth attempt, and recorded the fastest race lap, setting his sights on Spies. Four laps from the end Max made a couple of attempts and lined up Ben, but every time he had to give up: Spies after the race admitted he was braking later than usual to avoid possible attacks by Max, but this nearly ended in tears when he nearly high-sided his Yamaha in the middle of the Esses which make up turn 3 and 4. This enabled Biaggi to close in on the uphill section, but Spies was able to brake very late and keep a tight line on the final Esses to emerge as the winner.
