Haga doubles in Valencia.

Noriyuki Haga

Noriyuki Haga struck a hammer blow in is personal duel with Ben Spies for supremacy in the 2009 World Superbike Championship as the Xerox Ducati ace eased to a masterly double victory at the third round of the season. With WSB rookie Spies on a roll after three race wins from four, Haga took the wind out of the American's sails with a perfect race-day display in Valencia to extend his lead in the riders' standings to 40 points.

Spies claimed pole position for the two races - his Superpole win his third on the spin - but again the race craft of the wily Haga won through as Spies retired from race one before coming a distant second to the Japanese in race two.

Haga's brilliant form at the start of the season has seen the experienced campaigner finish inside the top two at each of the first six races, while Spies will need to iron out some of the inconsistencies in his game, with two failures to score this season already looking costly.

Spies lost out at the start of race one, dropping to fifth place before hauling himself back up to third as the halfway stage approached.

The Yamaha new boy showed searing pace in Superpole qualifying yesterday and more than had the legs to overhaul Max Neukirchner for second, but the American made a hash of his bid to pass as he lost the front of his bike and cartwheeled into the gravel.

Spies' error was good news for Haga, who eased to victory by a margin of 3.677 seconds from team-mate Michel Fabrizio, who claimed his first podium finish of the season after overhauling Alstare Suzuki's Neukirchner, who had to settle for third.

The start of race two again saw Spies lose ground off the start, but this time Haga committed the same error and the title contenders found themselves circulating in fourth and fifth early on, with Haga the first of the two.

The pair did not stay down for long, however, and sliced their way back to the head of the field as the race unfolded, dispatching Regis Laconi (DFX), Fabrizio and Neukirchner before even a handful of laps had been completed.

With order restored at the front, Haga set about stamping his authority on the race and, by the time the chequered flag fell, had established a five-second lead over Spies to take his third win of the season at a canter.

Fabrizio held off Laconi to take his second podium finish of the day with third.