MotorcyclesWorld Superbike

Biaggi Boosts Title Hopes With Race Two Victory

3 Mins read

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 14th 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):

Pos Rider Nat Bike Team Time/Gap Pts
1 Max Biaggi ITA Aprilia Aprilia Alitalia Racing Team 40:21.646 25
2 Marco Melandri ITA Yamaha Yamaha World Superbike Team +0.222 20
3 Carlos Checa SPA Ducati Althea Racing +3.558 16
4 Michel Fabrizio ITA Suzuki Team Suzuki Alstare +7.863 13
5 Eugene Laverty IRL Yamaha Yamaha World Superbike Team +8.534 11
6 Ayrton Badovini ITA BMW BMW Motorrad Italia SBK Team +18.085 10
7 Leon Haslam GBR BMW BMW Motorrad Motorsport +21.650 9
8 Joan Lascorz SPA Kawasaki Kawasaki Racing Team +21.862 8
9 Sylvain Guintoli FRA Ducati Team Effenbert-Liberty Racing +25.306 7
10 Noriyuki Haga JAP Aprilia PATA Racing Team Aprilia +27.366 6
11 Roberto Rolfo ITA Kawasaki Team Pedercini +33.716 5
12 Mark Aitchison AUS Kawasaki Team Pedercini +36.549 4
13 Lorenzo Lanzi ITA BMW BMW Motorrad Italia SBK Team +37.468 3
14 Tom Sykes GBR Kawasaki Kawasaki Racing Team +46.878 2
15 Viktor Kispataki HUN Honda Prop-tech Ltd. +1:38.074 1
Not Classified  
  Maxime Berger FRA Ducati Supersonic Racing Team +5 Laps  
  Leon Camier GBR Aprilia Aprilia Alitalia Racing Team +6 Laps  
  Jakub Smrz CZE Ducati Team Effenbert-Liberty Racing +8 Laps  
  Matteo Baiocco ITA Ducati Barni Racing Team +11 Laps  
  Alex Lowes GBR Honda Castrol Honda +15 Laps  
Did Not Start
  Chris Vermeulen AUS Kawasaki Kawasaki Racing Team    
  Ruben Xaus SPA Honda Castrol Honda    

 

Lap Leaders:

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

 

Riders Championship (After Round 8: Czech Republic)

Pos Rider Nat Bike Team Wins Points
1 Carlos Checa SPA Ducati Althea Racing 8 293
2 Max Biaggi ITA Aprilia Aprilia Alitalia Racing Team 2 263
3 Marco Melandri ITA Yamaha Yamaha World Superbike Team 3 240
4 Eugene Laverty IRL Yamaha Yamaha World Superbike Team 2 168
5 Leon Haslam GBR BMW BMW Motorrad Motorsport   137
6 Leon Camier GBR Aprilia Aprilia Alitalia Racing Team   134
7 Michel Fabrizio ITA Suzuki Team Suzuki Alstare   134
8 Ayrton Badovini ITA BMW BMW Motorrad Italia SBK Team   106
9 Noriyuki Haga JAP Aprilia PATA Racing Team Aprilia   99
10 Jonathan Rea GBR Honda Castrol Honda 1 94
11 Sylvain Guintoli FRA Ducati Team Effenbert-Liberty Racing   89
12 Jakub Smrz CZE Ducati Team Effenbert-Liberty Racing   88
13 Joan Lascorz SPA Kawasaki Kawasaki Racing Team   88
14 Tom Sykes GBR Kawasaki Kawasaki Racing Team   84
15 Troy Corser AUS BMW BMW Motorrad Motorsport   55
16 Ruben Xaus SPA Honda Castrol Honda   44
17 Roberto Rolfo ITA Kawasaki Team Pedercini   31
18 Maxime Berger FRA Ducati Supersonic Racing Team   24
19 Mark Aitchison AUS Kawasaki Team Pedercini   18
20 Chris Vermeulen AUS Kawasaki Kawasaki Racing Team   14
21 Lorenzo Lanzi ITA BMW BMW Motorrad Italia SBK Team   10
22 Josh Waters AUS Suzuki Yoshimura Suzuki Racing Team   8
23 Matteo Baiocco ITA Ducati Barni Racing Team   4
24 Alessandro Polita ITA Ducati Barni Racing Team S.N.C   3
25 Barry Veneman NED BMW BMW Motorrad Italia SBK Team   3
26 James Toseland GBR BMW BMW Motorrad Italia SBK Team   3
27 Viktor Kispataki HUN Honda Prop-tech Ltd.   1
28 Alex Lowes GBR Honda Castrol Honda   1
29 Fabrizio Lai ITA Honda Echo Sport Racing Company   1
30 Bryan Staring AUS Kawasaki Team Pedercini   1
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