Xerox Ducati's Noriyuki Haga has taken the first race win at Phillip Island, pipping Alstare Suzuki's Max Neukirchner after a race-long battle at the front. Haga, who last won here in 1998, came from the middle of the grid and worked his way through the field very quickly to take the lead at Doohan Corner with only two laps gone.Neukirchner then went with the Japanese and they began to pull away before settling into a rhythm, with Yukio Kagayama in third. The German sat behind Haga until the final lap when he went past into Doohan's but had a huge moment at the top of Lukey Heights, which let Haga back through for the win.
Stiggy Honda's Leon Haslam worked his way up to fourth, catching and passing Jonathan Rea, who got the holeshot, before slipping back to sixth behind the Irishman and Haga's team-mate Michel Fabrizio. Tom Sykes got a poor start and was busted down to 18th before struggling back up and finishing in the top 10.
Tommy Hill, who started from 20th, managed to fight his up to 12th before succumbing to Sykes and Haslam's team-mate Robbie Rolfo and ending the race in 13th with two points. Troy Corser got a spectacular start and pulled himself up into the top 10 in the first dozen laps and got a solid finish in eighth.
Pole-sitter Ben Spies had a nightmare debut race, clashing with Aprilia's Max Biaggi and going off-track across Southern Loop. Hde re-joined and got back up through the order, finishing just outside the points in 16th. Sterilgarda Ducati's Shane Byrne crashed out at the race's mid-point.
By David Miller
