Max Biaggi - Photo Credit: OctanePhotos.co.uk
Max Biaggi completely dominated the second race of the day at Misano to extend his World Superbike Championship lead. The Aprilia rider was forced to start from tenth once again but made even more rapid progress than he had earlier, making his way to the front within four laps and disappearing into the distance.
Biaggi was up to fifth by the first corner with Tom Sykes converting pole position into the lead at turn one. Jonathan Rea slotted in behind as the pair got ready to resume their race one battle with Leon Haslam and Davide Giugliano between them and Biaggi. Their fight for third would send them both wide at Tramanto though, handing third on a plate for Max.
Rea's pace didn't seem to be there in the early stages as Sykes edged away while Biaggi deprived him of second at the start of lap three. Giugliano followed the Aprilia through shortly afterwards but the race fell apart from there for Althea Ducati as Carlos Checa dropped out on lap four. The reigning champion had climbed up to seventh but a forceful move from Marco Melandri unseated him, resulting in his fifth DNF of the season. Althea couldn't even take solace from the performance of his younger teammate as Giugliano's aggression finally led to a crash on lap six.
By this point, Biaggi had made short work of Sykes at the Quercia bend and the Kawasaki rider was leading a queue of riders with their eyes on second. Rea had now found his rhythm and with half distance approaching, dived past Sykes into turn four. Leon Haslam wasn't going to let the Honda escape as Biaggi had and was through into third within half a lap. The British pair would run nose to tail throughout the second half of the race but Rea hung on by 0.376s.
Tom Sykes couldn't keep up with his compatriots and slipped back behind the BMWs of Marco Melandri, Ayrton Badovini and Michel Fabrizio, leaving him a disappointed seventh. His young teammate Loris Baz put in a terrific ride to finish right on his tail with Jakub Smrz and Matteo Baiocco completing the top ten. The Italian wildcard profited from a crash for Chaz Davies as the Welshman surrendered tenth spot eight laps from home.
