Biaggi Boosts Title Hopes With Race Two Victory

Max Biaggi got his own back on Marco Melandri by taking victory in their second head-to-head battle of the day at Brno. The race was just as intense as their earlier duel and the finish was equally close, with Biaggi prevailing by two tenths of a second.

The World Champion made another exceptional start from pole position while Eugene Laverty repeated his rocket getaway from the first race to take third behind teammate Melandri. His joy wouldn't last too long though as Carlos Checa retook the position before the end of the first lap.

Michel Fabrizio also found a way past the Irishman on the second lap and the top five quickly began to stretch away from the rest of the field, led by Sylvain Guintoli, with Tom Sykes, Ayrton Badovini, Leon Haslam and Jakub Smrz rounding out the top ten.

As in race one, Biaggi couldn't shake off the relentless pressure from Melandri. In the space of six laps, the gap between the front two didn't stretch beyond 0.3s with Carlos Checa also within a second of the lead. In fact, as half distance approached, Fabrizio and Laverty were the quickest of the leading quintet and trailed Biaggi by two seconds.

Melandri finally hit the front on lap ten as the Yamaha YZF-R1 outdragged the Aprilia RSV4 of Biaggi on the run between turns one & three. The lead lasted barely two laps before Biaggi was back in front but the joy would turn to disappointment for the Alitalia squad on lap 13 when Camier crashed out.

The smiles soon returned though as Biaggi claimed his second win of the year despite a determined challenge from Melandri on the penultimate lap, who briefly held the lead. Carlos Checa was forced to settle for third again as the Ducati 1098R had no answer to the two in front of him, finishing over three seconds behind.

Fabrizio and Laverty also fell back but were still more than quick enough to finish fourth and fifth, while Ayrton Badovini was the top BMW again in sixth. Leon Haslam benefitted from an accident for Jakub Smrz to finish seventh, narrowly piping the Kawasaki of Joan Lascorz.

Sylvain Guintoli faded after his bright start to finish ninth while Noriyuki Haga salvaged tenth after a difficult weekend for the PATA Racing Team. After climbing up to seventh earlier, Tom Sykes fell backwards and ended up down in 14^th while British debutant Alex Lowes couldn't repeat his point-scoring performance from the first race after crashing on lap six.

Biaggi’s win means he has now reduced Carlos Checa’s championship lead to 30 points, with Marco Melandri also bringing himself into contention, 53 points off the lead. The World Superbike Championship resumes at Silverstone in three weeks.

Race Two Result (20 Laps):

Lap Leaders:

Biaggi (1-9, 12-20), Melandri (10-11)

Riders Championship (After Round 8: Czech Republic)