Biaggi does the Monza double

Biaggi does the Monza double
Sun, 09 May 16:00:32 2010


Max Biaggi has moved to within three points of the World Superbike Championship lead after scoring a superb double on home ground, while his rivals fells by the wayside.
The Italian was duelling for the lead with Cal Crutchlow when the Yamaha rider suffered a technical problem and came down at the start of lap 13.
It left Biaggi free to complete his second double victory of the season, following on from his Portimao triumphs, but with Haslam maintaining his consistency in second, he retains his advantage in the overall standings by a slim three points.
Following an exciting four-way fight for the win in the first race, the anticipation of a repeat in race two quickly came undone when a handful of riders, including race one podium winner James Toseland, were involved in a nasty accident.
While the field had avoided contact through the Prima Variante, which has been revised for 2010 following a first corner pile-up last season, during the first race, there was no such luck on this occasion.
Tightness in the mid-field between a number of riders would prompt Toseland to get sandwiched between Jonathan Rea and Michel Fabrizio. It was contact enough for him to fall from his Yamaha, Toseland unlucky to then get caught up between his spiralling bike and the Aprilia of Leon Camier.
Sending both rider and bike somersaulting across the grass, Toseland, who has only just recovered from a wrist injury, has duly been taken to the medical centre. He will be joined there by Rea, who proceeded to come down too and spear Ruben Xaus’ BMW, the pair retiring on the spot. Rea’s retirement completes a disastrous day for his title hopes following his failure to finish in race one.
With the field fragmented by the accident, Biaggi emerged out front, followed by Troy Corser – who got another excellent start to go from 12th to second – and Tom Sykes, the Briton avoiding the carnage to get his green bike into an unfamiliar position.
With Sykes being disposed of by Haslam and Crutchlow shortly afterwards, the battle for the lead was coming down to a four-way tussle between the two Britons, Biaggi and Corser.
Just as he did in the first race, Haslam wasted no time in announcing his presence as he snatched the lead off Biaggi into the Roggia chicane. However, in another repeat of the opening encounter, he would simply be overtaken again down the home straight.
Crutchlow swiftly followed through into second position, the Yamaha man determined to go better than his third place in the first race as he tailed Biaggi.
His cause was certainly helped on lap nine when Haslam effectively ruled himself out of contention with a major moment out of the first turn chicane, the championship leader being thrown off his Suzuki briefly. Prompting him to kick the floor as he regained his balance and controlled the bucking GSX-R1000, while it was certainly a ‘save’ to be proud of, it did cost both himself and Corser – who was forced to back off in avoidance – precious time.
It meant Crutchlow was now alone in challenging Biaggi and while he didn’t have the measure of the Aprilia down the straights, his ability to close on the Italian through the corners suggested he could well be in contention for a maiden WSBK win.
As it happens, Crutchlow’s race would end in the gravel trap, his Yamaha expiring at the end of the home straight on lap 13, the reigning World Supersport champion realising just that bit too late when he turned out of the corner with fluid on his tyres and subsequently came down.
With Haslam and Corser still sparring for what was now second, Biaggi was left to cruise home for his fourth victory of the season, the former GP star crossing the line 4.5secs ahead of Haslam, who in turn fended off the close attentions of Corser.
Although Haslam’s presence ensures the Briton retains the lead he has held since the start of the season, Biaggi – along with Camier in fourth place – have helped put Aprilia on top in the manufacturer’s standings for the first time.
Almost as delighted as the Aprilia crew, BMW celebrated its first WSBK podium in third with Corser, the Australian shrugging off a relatively high attrition rate with a series of lap times that would have seen him challenging at the front regardless. He is now up to seventh in the standings, just 18 points off third overall.
Despite being caught up in the first corner chaos, Camier came home for fourth to record his best WSBK points haul yet and contribute greatly to Aprilia’s new place at the top of the manufacturer pile.
There were also smiles all round down at Kawasaki after Sykes followed up his first top ten finish of the season in race one with a fighting ride to fifth.
Despite falling away from the lead pack, Sykes dug deep to take on and beat Noriyuki Haga, the pair swapping place continuously before the Briton emerged in front. A better result than Kawasaki achieved throughout 2008 and 2009, you have to go back to Regis Laconi’s fifth place finish at Silverstone in 2007 for the manufacturer’s previous best performance.
Haga held onto a still unsatisfying sixth place after Sylvain Guintoli’s last gasp move at the final bend saw him run wide, the Frenchman settling for seventh. Still, Haga fared better than team-mate Fabrizio, who crashed out of the race on lap two at the first corner chicane.
With several front runners sidelined, Ducati’s privateer contingent – struggling this weekend with a lack of straight line speed – would emerge further up the field, Jakub Smrz leading Shane Byrne, Luca Scassa and Carlos Checa. Interestingly, despite easily his worst weekend of the season so far, Checa has improved his position to joint third in the standings…
Max Neukirchner’s troublesome time at Honda continued with a quiet run to 12th, ahead of Chris Vermeulen on the second Kawasaki, while Roger Lee Hayden and Broc Parkes made the most of only 15 riders reaching the finish line as they scored their first points of the season in 14th and 15th.