page_title: 2009 Superbike World Championship
hierarchical_section_title: 2009 Superbike World Championship
caption_attribution_description: 26 april Assen 2009 round 4 WSBK
context_page_description: The 2009 Superbike World Championship was the twenty-second season of the Superbike World Championship. It was the second season in which HANNspree had been the title sponsor of the championship. The South African round returned on 15–17 May at Kyalami for first time since the 2002 season that the Superbike World Championship had raced there; other changes in the calendar were the return of Imola after a two-season absence as the replacement for Vallelunga and the discontinuation of Brands Hatch as one of the British venues.
  The season saw the revision of the Superpole system, as the single-lap format was replaced by a three-part knockout system: after two timed qualifying sessions, the twenty fastest riders were admitted to Superpole 1, then the first sixteen SP1 riders progressed to Superpole 2 and the first eight SP2 riders contested Superpole 3, which finally awarded the pole position. In addition, changing bike during a race was allowed in order to avoid interruptions caused by variable weather conditions.
  Ben Spies won the championship in his rookie season, bettering Noriyuki Haga in a final round decider.
context_section_description: The 2009 Superbike World Championship was the twenty-second season of the Superbike World Championship. It was the second season in which HANNspree had been the title sponsor of the championship. The South African round returned on 15–17 May at Kyalami for first time since the 2002 season that the Superbike World Championship had raced there; other changes in the calendar were the return of Imola after a two-season absence as the replacement for Vallelunga and the discontinuation of Brands Hatch as one of the British venues.
  The season saw the revision of the Superpole system, as the single-lap format was replaced by a three-part knockout system: after two timed qualifying sessions, the twenty fastest riders were admitted to Superpole 1, then the first sixteen SP1 riders progressed to Superpole 2 and the first eight SP2 riders contested Superpole 3, which finally awarded the pole position. In addition, changing bike during a race (also known as flag-to-flag) was allowed in order to avoid interruptions caused by variable weather conditions.
  Ben Spies won the championship in his rookie season, bettering Noriyuki Haga in a final round decider. Ducati were the winners of the manufacturers' championship, winning eleven races.
caption: Series rookie Ben Spies held off veteran Noriyuki Haga to win the title by six points. Spies did not defend his title in 2010, as he replaced James Toseland at the Tech 3 team in MotoGP.
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