Suddenly the points race in World Superbike has tightened way up. Ben Spies, who trailed factory Ducati rider Nori Haga by over 80 points at one time during the season, has clawed his way back into contention. The Texas Terror, Ben Speed, Elbows, no matter what you call him he is back in this race, now only trailing Haga by 14 points.

Haga, who was desperate to stay close to Spies after losing points in race one, highsided out of the race and lost maximum points to the Yamaha rider. Haga has 308 points, and Spies now has 294.

Spies has been plagued by inconsistent weekends at the races. His Yamaha has had several mechanical errors that have resulted in costly DNF’s.