After dominating the SBK race from start to finish, it was Michel Fabrizio who passed the checkered flag 1st. This was his 1st victory this season and for his Xerox Ducati team this was the 2nd win of the season. 

 

Fabrizio took the lead immediately at the start with Carlos Checa and James Toseland behind him. Checa tried to catch Fabrizio for a few laps, but the Italian driver was able to stay 1 to 1,5 second ahead of him. Fabrizio’s lead was never actually threatened, which gave him a glorious victory in this 1st race. 

 

Most of the action took place behind the leading pair. During the early laps the field had split into pairs with Toseland leading Leon Haslam and Leon Carnier staying ahead of his Alitalia Aprilia teammate Max Biaggi. Toseland was unable to catch up with Checa and Fabrizio as he was struggling to keep Haslam behind him. Carnier found it hard to close on Haslam but held Biaggi off until lap 9. Once Biaggi passed he was free to try to pass Haslam. But unfortunately for him he did not succeed. Haslam had already passed Toseland and while Toseland was struggling to stay ahead of Biaggi, Haslam was building up enough of a gap to secure himself of 3rd place. 

 

Biaggi tried several times to pass Toseland and as Toseland’s defense tactic was failing, Biaggi passed him on lap 16. Driver Jonathan Rea was also joining this battle ahead of him and in a brilliant outside move around the Continental Hairpin he took over 5th place from both Toseland and Carnier. Carnier eventually passed Toseland, which made him finish 6th and Toseland 7th. 

 

There was disappointment for BMW driver Troy Corser, who finished 12th and his teammate Ruben Xaus who finished 14th. The biggest disappointment was to Noriyuki Haga. Last year’s double winner on Kyalami was passed by many drivers and finally finished 17th. 

 

From a very tight three-way scrap in the 2nd race on Kyalami, it was Leon Haslam who emerged victorious after passing Jonathan Rea. Haslam had taken the lead on the 1st lap, leaving Max Biaggi behind him. Biaggi had bumped Carlos Checa from the lead before that. 

 

A group of 6 riders formed early in the race. Haslam’s lead was taken over after 1 lap by Rea. Though Rea’s pass was comfortable, he could not shake off Haslam’s pursuit. While Michel Fabrizio, Carlos Checa and Cal Crutchlow were only on a 10th of a second gap, Rea led from Haslam with Max Biaggi close behind. 

 

While the front 3 riders were struggling, there were a lot of changes in the groups behind them. Fabrizio had the upper hand at first. Crutchlow passed Checa before passing the Xerox Ducati driver a few laps later. This left Checa and Fabrizio struggling behind him. Because Checa took too long to pass Fabrizio, he had lost touch with the leaders. Crutchlow was on the back of Rea, Biaggi and Haslam. Despite of that, he could not really get in the mix of the leaders. Checa joined Crutchlow later on. 

 

Despite having Crutchlow and Checa on their tail, the front 3 drivers were assured of a place on the podium. While Rea held the lead, Biaggi and Haslam struggled for 2nd place. Haslam was leading first, but he was overtaken by Biaggi in the middle part of the race. The Brit retook his position in the last part of the race. 

 

With 5 laps to go Haslam stepped up the pressure on Rea, with Biaggi following behind. Haslam was breathing down Rea’s neck before passing him at the hairpin and leaving him with no space to come back. Haslam gained significant points over Biaggi, who finished 3rd behind Rea.