Sterilgarda Yamaha's Ben Spies has taken victory in World Superbike race one at Magny-Cours this morning but a big mistake on the final lap almost handed the win to championship rival Noriyuki Haga.
Spies now leads the series by two points from the Xerox Ducati man and had led the race from when the light went out. Haga managed to press the American into an error halfway through the final lap and briefly took the lead, but Spies was straight back past and crossed the line two-tenths in front.
The American was first into turn one and started to make a break through the second and third corners while Aprilia's Max Biaggi, the Ten Kate Honda of Jonathan Rea, Haga, Stiggy Honda's Leon Haslam and Michel Fabrizio all tussled for second.
Rea went past Biaggi into the hairpin as Haga got past Haslam. Fabrizio tried to follow his team-mate past the former British Superbike contender but Haslam was straight back past.
On lap three, Spies was six-tenths in front as his team-mate Tom Sykes lost the front of his YZF-R1 on the fast, downhill section but fortunately walked away from the crash.
Fabrizio finally got past Haslam for fifth with 19 laps to go as Leon Camier hauled his way from 17th to 13th, and was then promoted to 12th when Ryuichi Kiyonari also lobbed it.
Two laps later Rea had dropped Biaggi and Haga, and was all over the back wheel of Spies but was then forced out with a technical problem and cruised up pitlane.
With 14 laps to go, Haslam was riding around in a lonely fifth place as Shane Byrne, on the Sterilgarda Ducati, jumped up to ninth place while Camier began to reel in Jakub Smrz for 11th.
At the front, Haga was all over Biaggi and tried four times in four laps to go past into Adelaide but with no luck as the Italian was very strong on the brakes.
With seven laps left, Biaggi outbraked himself into the same corner and went straight on, handing the second podium spot to Haga who had begun to reel in Spies.
Camier was forced to pull out of the race with a technical problem with only a handful of laps left as Haga blitzed Troy Bayliss's lap record in an attempt to catch Spies.
On the last lap, a mistake by the American allowed Haga to close right in but it wasn't enough. Fabrizio rode to a lonely fourth with Haslam fifth Carlos Checa sixth, Yukio Kagayama seventh and Byrne eighth.
