Spies does the double as Haga falls

But it was a bad day at the office for Max Biaggi, Noriyuki Haga, Shinya Nakano, Jonny Rea, Jakub Smrz, Carlos and David Checa, who all crashed out.

Haga suffered a massive highside, as did Nakano, while Biaggi and Rea were both able to pick their machines up and rejoin - although Max ended the race in last place.

But it was a great day for the Brits, who were split only by Fabrizio and Riyuichi Kiyonari.

As Spies cleared-off up front, Haslam spent most of the race battling with Fabrizio and Shane Byrne. Byrne finished fourth with Tom Sykes fifth, Leon Camier sixth, Kiyonari seventh and Camier's Airwaves Yamaha team-mate James Ellison in eighth. Wildcard Simon Andrews was 10th.

Spies, now with his 10th win of the season under his belt, said he'd enjoyed the race. "It was a very good race, but a pity that Haga and Biaggi had big offs. I have to admit it got quite lonely out there after a while.

"Towards the end as I was coming out of the Melbourne Loop I could see Leon and Michel battling and I was thinking 'ooh that looks like fun'. Still, I've got to be pleased with the result.

"We're now much closer in the championship, although it was very unfortunate for Nori today. From here we have a couple of weeks rest and then onto Brno, to see if we can get a jump on him in the points."

Haslam was understandably delighted. "These last few races have been difficult, but I've been looking forward to getting back home and racing here.

"I was struggling a bit with the bike in both races, so to get second, well I'm just over the moon. It was a hard fight, I wasn't concentrating on trying catch Ben, I was concerned with holding off Michel because I knew Shakey was there as well. It was a tough one but a fantastic result."

And Fabrizio, who seemed in joker mood throughout the press conference, was delighted with third. "It was a difficult race, I got a bad start but managed to recover - but not enough to beat Leon," he said.

"I was fighting hard with Leon and Shakey, it was diffifcult as both of these guys are very fast, and were riding hard, but I am very happy to finish third here today."

The result has left the championship wide open. Haga still leads with 308 points, but Spies is now sitting pretty on 294 with Fabrizio third with 257.

WSB Race Two results:

1 19 Spies B. (USA) Yamaha YZF R1 35'14.788 (157,512 kph)
2 91 Haslam L. (GBR) Honda CBR1000RR 6.622
3 84 Fabrizio M. (ITA) Ducati 1098R 6.816
4 67 Byrne S. (GBR) Ducati 1098R 7.349
5 66 Sykes T. (GBR) Yamaha YZF R1 8.145
6 22 Camier L. (GBR) Yamaha YZF R1 13.463
7 9 Kiyonari R. (JPN) Honda CBR1000RR 15.751
8 27 Ellison J. (GBR) Yamaha YZF R1 16.837
9 111 Xaus R. (ESP) BMW S1000 RR 22.891
10 117 Andrews S. (GBR) Kawasaki ZX 10R 30.347
11 57 Lanzi L. (ITA) Ducati 1098R 30.622
12 14 Lagrive M. (FRA) Honda CBR1000RR 31.562
13 71 Kagayama Y. (JPN) Suzuki GSX-R 1000 K9 32.148
14 23 Parkes B. (AUS) Kawasaki ZX 10R 32.607
15 65 Rea J. (GBR) Honda CBR1000RR 32.806
16 99 Scassa L. (ITA) Kawasaki ZX 10R 34.269
17 79 Young B. (USA) Suzuki GSX-R 1000 K9 40.644
18 36 Lavilla G. (ESP) Ducati 1098R 40.956
19 25 Salom D. (ESP) Kawasaki ZX 10R 41.302
20 11 Corser T. (AUS) BMW S1000 RR 42.856
21 3 Biaggi M. (ITA) Aprilia RSV4 Factory 47.769
RET 77 Iannuzzo V. (ITA) Honda CBR1000RR
RET 88 Resch R. (AUT) Suzuki GSX-R 1000 K9
RET 53 Polita A. (ITA) Suzuki GSX-R 1000 K9
RET 7 Checa C. (ESP) Honda CBR1000RR
RET 94 Checa D. (ESP) Yamaha YZF R1
RET 41 Haga N. (JPN) Ducati 1098R
RET 96 Smrz J. (CZE) Ducati 1098R
RET 56 Nakano S. (JPN) Aprilia RSV4 Factory
RET 2 Hacking J. (USA) Kawasaki ZX 10R

*Images by Mic Archbold...not for reproduction without permission