From the World Superbike Championship
Max Biaggi (Aprilia Alitalia) continued along the rich seam of form he has been displaying for the past two rounds of the World Superbike Championship by taking his fourth double win of the year, the Italian utterly dominating at Misano on Sunday and moving further ahead in the championship standings.
In front of 69,000 fans Biaggi was eventually imperious after some early flurries of overtaking activity, but Superpole winner Troy Corser (BMW Motorrad Motorsport) was a co-star in race one, leading for 16 laps before yielding to Max, then finishing third.
Leon Haslam (Suzuki Alstare) fought back from eighth in race one to go second in race two, and keep Biaggi in his sights for the final five rounds of the year. In the overall championship Biaggi has 307 points, Haslam 270 and Carlos Checa (Althea Ducati) 172.
Biaggi took his seventh win of the season in race 1, finally overtaking long time leader Corser and then proving able to hold off Checa’s Ducati in the final laps.
“I'm obviously happy with this victory," Biaggi said, "especially because I didn't expect it and because doing so well in Italy, in front of our supporters has a very special flavour for us.
"The conditions are difficult because of the lack of grip. Already after five or six laps I started to 'drift'. After overtaking Troy I tried to push as hard as possible because I saw that the times were still high, but I couldn't shake him or Checa because the risk for mistakes was too high.”
Checa was second and Corser third, the top three veteran riders covered by only 0.822 secs. at the flag.
“I felt we had a good chance here, we’ve been working very hard," Checa said. "Tires with hotter temperatures mean that the race is not the same for all the riders, but we stayed quicker throughout the race and it was a very close battle with Max at the end, but not close enough and I had to settle for second.”
“I got another good start and dropped back inside Max to get the lead," Corser said. "The track was really slippery compared to this morning, so it took a few laps to get a feel for the tire and get a good rhythm. I made a mistake and Max came past, I tried a bit too hard and that was about it for me. It was positive all the same because we managed to stay in front for a good while.”
Michel Fabrizio (Ducati Xerox) was fourth and Sylvain Guintoli (Suzuki Alstare) fifth. Leon Camier, on the second Aprilia RSV4, was an eventually lonely sixth. Noriyuki Haga (Ducati Xerox) ended race one seventh after working hard at Misano. Haslam was a disappointed eighth, having some technical set-up issues that held back his possible charge. Shane Byrne (Althea Ducati) and James Toseland (Yamaha Sterilgarda) were ninth and 10th respectively.
Biaggi was in unbeatable form in race 2, surviving some hard early passing moves by his main rivals to get clear of the pack and push on to win, easing up across the line, by 4.095 seconds. This was double number four for the season.
"In such a tough and well balanced championship, all of the victories are earned with hard work and sweat," Biaggi said. "In race 2, to be honest, maybe I rode... pushing the envelope a bit, maybe even risking too much. But on the other hand, without risk there is no gain!
"This race represents a crucial moment for us and for our season we are coming out with our heads held high. As always I want to thank everyone from the bottom of my heart: from the guys on the team to our supporters. Victories like this never happen by chance and these ones in particular are well deserved by a large family which works together toward a common goal."
Haslam was a committed second after changing his machine and rear tire as he attempted to halt Biaggi’s championship surge.
“We have had a tough weekend and after the first race eighth was the best we could have done because we had a few issues," Haslam said. "The team came up trumps for me in race two and we finished in second place behind Max in race two. Second is never good for me behind Max as he is the championship leader but today we will take it.”
Fabrizio returned to some of his best form by going third, holding off the determined Cal Crutchlow (Yamaha Sterilgarda).
“In the second race we didn’t win but we got on the podium, which is a good result," Fabrizio said. "It wasn’t easy and once Max passed me, I had no chance of counterattacking him, and I had to do everything possible to hold onto third place with Crutchlow behind me. I’d like to dedicate the podium to my team because every week my engineers are working hard and continuing to believe in me”.
Checa was fifth after being ambushed in the early laps, Guintoli sixth and Byrne seventh. Luca Scassa was an impressive eighth for the local Supersonic Ducati Team, with Haga ninth and early leader Corser 10th after losing 10 seconds in one lap.
Eugene Laverty (Parkalgar Honda) got the better of his peers at Misano and in taking another World Supersport win he went back into the lead in the championship.
Poleman Michele Pirro (Hannspree Ten Kate Honda) crashed out of contention early on, leaving Joan Lascorz (Kawasaki Motocard.com) to finish second.
Kenan Sofuoglu (Hannspree Ten Kate Honda) could have taken that runner-up position but ran off line or off track on several occasions, and finished third.
Britain’s Gino Rea had an awesome start on the Intermoto Czech Honda machine but was taken out in the collision with Pirro.
In the championship Laverty now has 161 points, Sofuoglu has 158, and Lascorz 148.
Ayrton Badovini (BMW Motorrad Italia STK) set a new track best and lap record of 1:39.189 on his way to the Superstock 1000 race win at Misano, in a race which was red-flagged after 11 laps of the scheduled 14. This was his fifth win in five starts this year, and he now has 125 points to second place rider Maxime Berger’s 66.
Superbike Race 1 Results
1.Biaggi M. (ITA) Aprilia RSV4 Factory 38:59.319 (156.082 km/h)
2. Checa C. (ESP) Ducati 1098R +0.387
3. Corser T. (AUS) BMW S1000RR +0.822
4. Fabrizio M. (ITA) Ducati 1098R +4.911
5. Guintoli S. (FRA) Suzuki GSX-R1000 +5.916
6. Camier L. (GBR) Aprilia RSV4 Factory +8.658
7. Haga N. (JPN) Ducati 1098R +11.872
8. Haslam L. (GBR) Suzuki GSX-R1000 +11.907
9. Byrne S. (GBR) Ducati 1098R +16.490
10. Toseland J. (GBR) Yamaha YZF-R1 +18.458
11. Scassa L. (ITA) Ducati 1098R +18.646
12. Lanzi L. (ITA) Ducati 1098R +19.315
13. Rea J. (GBR) Honda CBR1000RR +25.405
14. Neukirchner M. (GER) Honda CBR1000RR +31.671
15. Sykes T. (GBR) Kawasaki ZX-10R +39.658
16. Vermeulen C. (AUS) Kawasaki ZX-10R +48.137
17. Hayden R. (USA) Kawasaki ZX-10R +56.316
18. Sandi F. (ITA) Aprilia RSV4 1000 F. +56.667
19. Baiocco M. (ITA) Kawasaki ZX-10R +57.218
Superbike Race 2 Results
1. Biaggi M. (ITA) Aprilia RSV4 Factory 38:58.149 (156.16 km/h)
2. Haslam L. (GBR) Suzuki GSX-R1000 +4.095
3. Fabrizio M. (ITA) Ducati 1098R +4.631
4. Crutchlow C. (GBR) Yamaha YZF-R1 +5.014
5. Checa C. (ESP) Ducati 1098R +6.256
6. Guintoli S. (FRA) Suzuki GSX-R1000 +7.677
7. Byrne S. (GBR) Ducati 1098R +10.144
8. Scassa L. (ITA) Ducati 1098R +10.942
9. Haga N. (JPN) Ducati 1098R +13.640
10. Corser T. (AUS) BMW S1000RR +16.279
11. Camier L. (GBR) Aprilia RSV4 Factory +17.799
12. Rea J. (GBR) Honda CBR1000RR +22.793
13. Lanzi L. (ITA) Ducati 1098R +24.131
14. Neukirchner M. (GER) Honda CBR1000RR +28.212
15. Vermeulen C. (AUS) Kawasaki ZX-10R +36.551
16. Sykes T. (GBR) Kawasaki ZX-10R +49.636
17. Parkes B. (AUS) Honda CBR1000RR +50.041
18. Hayden R. (USA) Kawasaki ZX-10R +51.246
19. Baiocco M. (ITA) Kawasaki ZX-10R 58.174
20. Sandi F. (ITA) Aprilia RSV4 1000 +1:10.588
World Superbike Points (after 8 rounds of 13)
1. Biaggi 307
2. Hslam 270
3. Checa 172
4. Rea 158
5. Haga 151
6. Corser 149
7. Toseland 138
8. Fabrizio 131
9. Camier 130
10. Crutchlow 120
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