Leon Haslam (Suzuki) came from behind to dominate the first race of the Valencia doubleheader, extending his lead in the WSBK standings, and Noriyuki Haga (Ducati) took his first victory of the season by the smallest of margins in the second race.

Haslam won the 1st race by almost two seconds, with former GP riders Max Biaggi (Aprilia) and James Toseland (Yamaha) also making the first podium of the day.

Starting fourth, Haslam held onto his position through the opening few corners while pole sitter Cal Crutchlow (Yamaha), by contrast, would find himself seventh by the end of lap one.

By lap 3, Haslam had crucially pushed his way past Biaggi, while Checa had assumed the lead but, soon enough, the Spaniard lost the front-end of his Althea Ducati into turn eight, keeping the bike upright but running off the track in the process.

That left Troy Corser (BMW) back in front until Haslam dipped beneath him under braking for turn one. From that moment on, the Suzuki ace dictated the pace until the end of the race.

In Race 2, 2009 Championship runner-up Noriyuki Haga (Ducati), earned his first victory of the 2010 season despite a poor race start. Fallen riders caused a red flag early in the race, so that it was restarted and decided on aggregate time, causing some extra excitement on the last laps.

At the restart, aggregate time showed that Checa held a 0.658 sec advantage over Jonathan Rea, followed by Max Biaggi, Sylvain Guintoli, Haga and Leon Haslam. On the track, Biaggi went to the front, followed by team-mate Leon Camier, who made an outstanding getaway from seventh to grab the on-track lead into corner three.

Camier’s great start allowed him to jump from seventh to third on aggregate time, although he still remained over a second adrift of leader Checa, who was physically running third on the race track, just behind Biaggi, second on the track and on aggregate time.

Camier's hopes of a dream result came to a sudden halt on lap twelve, when he was lucky to escape injury in high side in turn twelve. His demise opened up the chance for Biaggi and Checa to forge ahead and cement their top two positions. They were now closely followed by a resurgent Haga, who needed to pass the two leaders to claw back his aggregate time disadvantage if he was to win the race overall.

Haga wasted no time in doing just that, making up the 1.2 sec deficit on overall leader Biaggi in three hard laps. The three front runners ran out the last laps without knowing their corrected position, each one pushing as hard as they could and hoping for the best.

Haga thus took the flag followed by Biaggi and Checa in a tight group. The Japanese rider won overall, with Checa second, 0.025 sec behind on aggregate time, and Biaggi a further 0.27 sec behind.

The next round of the World Superbike Championship will take place in legendary Assen, Netherlands, on April 25th.

WSBK Valencia Results Race 1
Pos. Rider Team Gap
1. Leon Haslam Suzuki 23 laps
2. Max Biaggi Aprilia +1.757s
3. James Toseland Yamaha +3.621s
4. Troy Corser BMW +4.209s
5. Noriyuki Haga Ducati 1198 +4.378s
6. Jonathan Rea Honda +9.834s
7. Cal Crutchlow Yamaha +10.466s
8. Etc…

WSBK Valencia Results Race 2
Pos. Rider Team Gap
1. Noriyuki Haga Ducati 23 laps
2. Carlos Checa Ducati +0.025s
3. Max Biaggi Aprilia +0.299s
4. Leon Haslam Alstare +10.100s
5. Jonathan Rea Honda +12.811s
6. Sylvain Guintoli Suzuki +13.459s
7. James Toseland Yamaha +14.845s
8. Etc……..

WSBK Standings – After 3 of 13 rounds
Pos. Rider Bike Points
1. Leon Haslam Suzuki 123
2. Max Biaggi Aprilia 105
3. Carlos Checa Ducati 80
4. Noriyuki Haga Ducati 79
5. Jonathan Rea Honda 60