A terrifying accident at the first corner of World Superbike Championship at Monza brought Race 1 to an almost immediate halt with five riders seriously involved.
The first chicane of the Monza circuit is notorious for accidents and hated by all racers because it tightens into a dangerous and tight funnel and it was here that Makoto Tamada clipped the back of Brendan Roberts’ Ducati who then collided into Tommy Hill and Troy Corser with both bikes going down then catching fire.
With Tamada down, Roberts slid off in the gravel, his bike sliding and flying into the pack and wiping out Max Neukirchner, who had entered the corner in the lead.
Neukirchner suffered a broken right femur and a dislocated left foot, while Roberts has a break high on his left femur and also sustained a heavy blow to his throat.
Makoto Tamada suffered a broken left wrist.
A brusied Troy Corser was able to restart the race but then crashed out and Tommy Hill finished his race 20th.
Race 1 was red flagged for over an hour to pick up the pieces and clean up the track from oil spills.
Michel Fabrizio has won his first World Superbike Championship victory at Monza after Ben Spies who was leading slowed through the Parabolica on the final lap of the race, the Texan suddenly sat up, his bike running out of fuel, he then rolled his bike over the the finish line to take 15th.
Fabrizio crossed the line with Noriyuki Haga a close second and Max Biaggi in third.
However Biaggi was penalised with 20 seconds for cutting the Roggia chicane handing an automatic third to Ryuichi Kiyonari.
Spies took the lead from the fifth lap.
Michel Fabrizio rode a superb race even after having a slight gear problem which left him third, shaking off his problem he then took on team-mate Noriyuki Haga passing him and starting chasing Spies and passing him with a little hand wave and with three laps to go, Spies then repassed him with one lap to go and starting pouring on the gas leaving the Ducati duo behind fighting for second and then Spies’ Yamaha R1 ran out of gas.
Race 1 Results:1.
Michel Fabrizio ITA Ducati Xerox 1098R 18 laps2.
Noriyuki Haga JPN Ducati Xerox 1098R +0.
239s3.
Ryuichi Kiyonari JPN Ten Kate Honda CBR1000RR +8.
175s4.
Yukio Kagayama JPN Alstare Suzuki GSX-R 1000K9 +11.
001s5.
Jonathan Rea GBR HANNspree Ten Kate Honda CBR1000RR +12.
447s6.
Tom Sykes GBR Yamaha WSB YZF R1 +13.
693s7.
Ruben Xaus ESP BMW Motorrad S1000RR +19.
172s8.
Regis Laconi FRA DFX Corse Ducati 1098R +24.
989s9.
Carlos Checa ESP HANNspree Ten Kate Honda CBR1000RR +26.
930s10.
Broc Parkes AUS Kawasaki SRT ZX-0R +27.
418s11.
Max Biaggi ITA Aprilia Racing RSV-4 +27.
752s *12.
Jakub Smrz CZE Guandalini Racing Ducati 1098R +29.
545s13.
Shinya Nakano JPN Aprilia Racing RSV-4 +30.
952secs14.
Shane Byrne GBR Sterilgarda Ducati 1098R +31.
414s15.
Ben Spies USA Yamaha WSB YZF R1 +36.
998s16.
Karl Muggeridge AUS Celani Suzuki GSX-R1000 +42.
732s17.
Matteo Baiocco ITA PSG-1 Kawasaki ZX-10R +48.
835s18.
Jake Zemke USA Stiggy Motorsport Honda CBR1000RR +48.
888s19.
David Salom ESP Team Pedercini Kawasaki ZX-10R +50.
612s20.
Tommy Hill GBR HANNspree Althea Honda CBR1000RR +51.
706s21.
Vittorio Iannuzzo ITA SCI Honda CBR1000RR +55.
510secs22.
David Checa ESP Yamaha France GMT R1 +56.
214s23.
Luca Scassa ITA Team Pedercini Kawasaki ZX-10R +1min 01.
130secs24.
Roland Resch AUT TKR Switzerland Suzuki GSX-R1000 +1min 16.
850sNot Classified:25.
Leon Haslam GBR Stiggy Motorsport Honda CBR1000RR 17 laps completed26.
Troy Corser AUS BMW Motorrad S1000RR 0 laps completedDid Not Start:Max Neukirchner GER Alstare Suzuki GSX-R 1000K9Brendan Roberts AUS Guandalini Racing Ducati 1098RMakoto Tamada JPN Kawasaki SRT ZX-10R Roland Resch AUT TKR Switzerland Suzuki GSX-R1000 +1min 16.
850s