WSBK – Max Biaggi, Emperor of Monza in World Superbike – Second Superbike race

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Max Biaggi, Emperor of Monza in the World Superbike

WSBK - Max Biaggi, Emperor of Monza in World Superbike - Second Superbike race

The Mondial Superbike made its first Tour of Italy this weekend. At home, Max Biaggi and his Aprilia RSV4 took the opportunity to achieve a second double this season while in Supersport, Eugene Laverty won ahead of his two rivals.

Second Superbike race

Again, Max Biaggi takes the best start and heads the chicane. Behind unfortunately, James Toseland, Jonathan Rea and Ruben Xaus are victims of a collective fall. Leon Camier and Michel Fabrizio must trace straight ahead but can resume the track.

Toseland complains about his neck and is evacuated to the hospital where the first scan will not reveal any injuries. Author of his best result on the BMW the previous round (6th), Xaus hoped to do even better this round and makes an appointment with Kyalami. Rea also gets up unharmed … Phew !

Just behind Biaggi, Troy Corser, Tom Sykes, Leon Haslam safely pass this first obstacle and widen a slight gap on their pursuers: Cal Crutchlow, Leon Camier, Michel Fabrizio, Noriyuki Haga, Carlos Checa, Luca Scassa, etc..

It is only at the end of the first loop that the order changes at the outposts: Leon Haslam passes in front of Tom Sykes on the braking of the parabolic and points to 3rd place. Aprilia n ° 3 completes the first lap in the lead but a BMW n ° 11 is in its aspi ‘ !

A few seconds later, in the middle of the first chicane, Michel Fabrizio lost the front end of his 1098 and was forced to retire when he was in 8th place. Fortunately for the Bolognese, Nitro Nori rolls in 7th position, despite his start on the grid in 16th place !

From the first laps, Tom Sykes let Leon Haslam slip away and was quickly joined by Cal Crutchlow. Cal and his Yam ‘make short work of his compatriot and his Kawa’. In front, the pirate Biaggi is already getting rid of Corser…

Aprilia therefore leads, and the BMW struggles, threatened by the Suz ‘of Haslam. Leon was in Troy’s aspiration on the third pass in front of the pits and doubled on the first braking. The two championship leaders are therefore in the first two places of this second round….

Behind them, Troy Corser and his BMW n ° 11 cannot maintain the same pace. The best rookie in the category, Cal Crutchlow, goes back to the expert Corser.

Tom Sykes meanwhile continued to downgrade in the standings: after Crutchlow, it was Leon Camier and then Noriyuki Haga’s turn to overtake the Ninja rider. Sykes therefore falls to 7th place on the 5th lap, but can breathe: Sylvain Guintoli, his closest pursuer, is more than two seconds away.

Haslam goes on the attack in the 2nd chicane of the 5th pro and tries to widen the gap. But Biaggi does not let go and Crutchlow and Corser return to their basques. Biaggi recovers his 1st place at the exit of the parabolic and keeps it without difficulty in the pit line then under braking.

The four leading men are now riding together, and a 5th thief tries to get involved: Camier is only a second away! Haga failed to get rid of Sykes and has to fight with him for 6th place. Guintoli is 7th and lags a straight line behind the leading men.

On the 7th lap, at the end of the straight, Crutchlow brakes Haslam and gets into Biaggi‘s wheel.

Two laps later, as Corser begins to let go, Haslam opens the throttle too wide on exiting the first chicane and goes highside! But Leon desperately clings to his handlebars and manages to stay on his two wheels.

In his cabriole, the pilot Suz ‘must let Corser and his Behème pass. But the Englishman quickly recovers his senses … and his 3rd place on the following lap. "I left the saddle twice in a row in a fraction of a second", remembers Leon who, despite a slight pain in his wrist, continues to put on heavy gas.

Max Biaggi and Cal Crutchlow are now a good second. Haslam wants to catch up with them quickly but Corser seems to be enjoying a second wind by entering this second half of the race. The Australian even allows himself to temporarily get ahead of the Suzuki before permanently abdicating.

"We had the speed the S1000RR was as fast as the others – but it took a while to get used to the brakes", will reveal the Australian Croco, who had asked his team – and rightly! – to modify the braking of his BMW at the end of the first round.

Meanwhile, Haga still has to fight hard against Sykes … and his own Ducati! "We changed a few things in the 2nd round and it improved the situation slightly. The grip was good in the first five laps but at the halfway point it got very hard because the bike was sliding a lot and was hard to control", will summarize the Japanese pilot after the race.

In the 12th lap, bad luck befalls the official Yamaha team again. After completing the podium behind Toseland in the 2nd round, Crutchlow also fell victim in the second round..

In the straight line, the Yam ‘engine spits out a light smoke and oil is sprayed on the left side of the rear tire. Everything is going well in the snitch of the first chicane, but the paf is intractable … Cal must therefore throw in the towel.

"I knew exactly what I was doing and planned to overtake Max on the last lap", Cal will relate,"its rear wheel sprayed me with gravel, I felt impacts on my helmet and unfortunately, a small stone pierced my oil tank". CQFD.

Max Biaggi was then more than four seconds ahead of Haslam and nearly five over Corser. The Aprilia rider thus sees his end of race considerably easier! After that of Portimao, Biaggi and his RSV4 are heading straight for a second double.

"After the 1st round, I wanted to gain a little more feeling. It was risky and normally, we don’t change a winning motorcycle", Max will admit,"but we were right and the changes allowed me to tell the difference".

The BMW clan is not left out: the men of Tardozzi – the defector from Ducati – are crossing their fingers because Troy Corser is able to bring his first podium to the S1000RR! Leon Haslam plays placed: in 2nd position, he is preparing to earn valuable points for the championship.

10 seconds behind his team-mate Biaggi, Leon Camier rolls alone in 4th position. "It’s a shame that there was this contact in the first chicane", explains Aprilia n ° 2,"it made me waste time on the lead group and I made a few mistakes trying to get back up".

Noriyuki Haga and Tom Sykes haven’t left each other for a moment and are still fighting: "Nori did a few big passes, and I let him work a bit", will reveal Tom, then my times improved and I doubled it, but he responded instantly, in pure Nori style". All this under the eyes of Sylvain Guintoli !

Alone in the lead, Biaggi was not content in the end to parade quietly. On the contrary, he continues to push his RSV4 to its limits and begins the last two laps with more than five seconds ahead of Haslam..

The Italian thus signs a masterful double: he is the Emperor of Monza this year, there is no doubt! Leon Haslam and Troy Corser accompany him on the podium. Leon Camier finishes a distant – but solid – 4th place.

Fifteen seconds after Biaggi, Sykes crossed the finish line in 5th position, by far Kawasaki’s best result this season. Noriyuki Haga and Sylvain Guintoli finish in his wheel: the French indeed attempted an attack on the Japanese in the last corner but was unable to keep his trajectory. Next time maybe ?!

In the championship, therefore, Leon Haslam has only three small points ahead of Max Biaggi: 181 points against 178. Jonathan Rea’s counter remains blocked at 110 points, a score that Carlos Checa now equalizes. The two "3rd" in the championship are followed by James Toseland (106) and Noriyuki Haga (100).

Among manufacturers, Aprilia (184 pts) logically takes the lead ahead of Suzuki (181), Ducati (149), Honda (119), Yamaha (113), BMW (95) and Kawasaki (37).

Next meeting: next week in South Africa for the Kyalami test … Provided that the planes can take off from Milan! Case to follow on Site. Stay connected !

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