Noriyuki Haga survived intermittent clouds of smoke from his Yamaha R1 to overtake countryman
Ryuichi Kiyonari for victory on the very last turn of a dramatic, incident packed, second race at Monza.
Just 0.051secs separated Haga from WSBK rookie Kiyonari at the flag - with debut race one winner Max Neukirchner sandwiched between them, just 0.009secs behind Nitro Nori!
As in race one, Neukirchner had battled for the lead with Haga for much of the race - then, having been caught and passed by Kiyonari late in the race, the top three were almost side-by-side as they entered the final turn.
Kiyonari, just ninth at the end of lap one, had charged forwards to take the lead of a WSBK race for the first time halfway through the last lap, then kept the advantage on the brakes into the last corner. But Kiyonari was then forced to sit up when Haga launched his Yamaha Italia neatly inside the Hannspree Ten Kate Honda rider at the apex of the famous Parabolica.
That interruption was enough to prevent Kiyonari from repassing Haga on the run to the line, while a clean exit for Neukirchner saw the Suzuki rider sweep past Kiyo and get within a fraction of a second of Haga and a dream Monza double.
Reigning BSB champion Kiyonari, who had finished sixth in race one, was clearly disappointed to see victory snatched away, but at least secured his first WSBK podium in only his fifth event.
Haga had achieved the double at Monza one year ago, but looked set to join the likes of
Troy Bayliss,
Yukio Kagayama,
Carlos Checa and Max Biaggi on the race two DNF list when clouds of smoke became spewing from the rear of his R1 just after the midway mark.
Fortunately, it was tyre smoke - apparently caused by bodywork coming loose - and not engine oil. It continued off and on for the rest of the race, surely causing those behind - and watching in the pits - to fear the worst, but Haga appeared oblivious and it certainly didn't slow his pace.
