Statistics: From Kyalami to Miller
SPIES GOES DOWN IN HISTORY: Six straight poles for the American, who equalled his compatriot Doug Polen for the longest ever all-time sequence. Polen recorded his streak in 1991, from Osterreichring to Hockenheim. Spies obtained his record by a whisker, since his gap to second qualified Fabrizio was only 0"001, the smallest in history, beating the 0"002 recorded between Akira Yanagawa and Wataru Yoshikawa at Sugo, 1997.
11 OUT OF 12: After the Kyalami races, Noriyuki Haga counts eleven podiums in twelve races, his only retirement being the second race at Monza. In championship history the riders who managed to score eleven or more podiums in twelve races were always crowned champions at the end of the season. This is the list: Carl Fogarty, 12 podiums out of 12 races in 1995, 11 out of 12 in 1999; Colin Edwards in 2002 (11 podiums); Neil Hodgson in 2003 (12); Troy Corser in 2005 (12). Also the riders with ten podiums out of twelve races were crowned champions: Raymond Roche in 1990 and Troy Bayliss in 2006.
HAGA'S ADVANTAGE: 85 points over the second classified in the championship is a safe margin towards the world title. That's what the statistics say. Only three times in history after twelve races has the championship leader managed to have a larger advantage, and in all cases he was crowned champion: in 2003, Neil Hodgson had 130 points over James Toseland; in 1995, Carl Fogarty, 114 points advantage over Aaron Slight; in 2006, Troy Bayliss, 94 points over Haga. The "safety margin" after the twelfth race goes down to 34 points. With this advantage or more, all the riders managed to secure the title. This is the list: Corser in 2005 (73), Doug Polen in 1991 (50), Carl Fogarty in 1999 (45), Colin Edwards in 2000 (42), James Toseland in 2007 (35), Raymond Roche in 1990 (34). Haga at Kyalami set a milestone related to number of points gained: in his career he racked up 3049 points, the third all-time rider to pass the 3000 mark. The other two are Carl Fogarty (3020) and Troy Corser (3708.5).
STEVE MARTIN: Thanks to his participation with the BMW squad, Steve Martin extended his longevity records in the World Superbike Championship: he is the only rider who has participated in eighteen different seasons, keeping the distance to Corser, who at the moment counts fifteen, and he is the rider with the longest timespan between his first and last race: 19 years, 6 months and 5 days. His first race was at Oran Park in 1989. The second in this ranking is always Troy Corser, with 16 years, 6 months and 22 days separating Phillip Island 1992 and Monza 2009.
NATIONS: Noriyuki Haga at Kyalami scored the 58th win for Japan, which now needs only one win to reach Italy at the fourth place all-time. The current ranking is Australia with 119 wins, USA with 109, Great Britain 98, Italy 59 and Japan 58. Sheridan Morais was the eighth South African rider to take part in a World Superbike race and the first to score points since Lance Isaacs at Oschersleben, 2000 (14th). Shaun Whyte was the first Zimbabwean rider in World Superbike history.
KYALAMI RACE NOTES
Maiden podium for Jonathan Rea, the thirteenth youngest in history with 22 years, 3 months and 15 days;
Ducati set its 20th straight front row. The absolute record belongs to the Italian manufacturer, with 71 straight front rows from USA 1991 to Australia 1996;
First Supersport podium for Mark Aitchison.
MILESTONES IN THE UNITED STATES: (from 1989 to 1991 the race was held at Brainerd, from 1995 to 2004 at Laguna Seca)
1989: first win for the future World Champion Raymond Roche;
1990: first win for Doug Chandler, who in qualifying scored the first Kawasaki pole;
1995: another milestone for Kawasaki, which scored its 25th win with Anthony Gobert;
1997: tenth win for John Kocinski;
1999: first win for Ben Bostrom;
2000: tenth win for Noriyuki Haga, first pole position for Troy Bayliss;
2001: 150th win for Troy Corser;
2002: 100th race for Noriyuki Haga;
2008: first pole and win for Carlos Checa, 100th win for Honda.