Max Biaggi (Aprilia Alitalia) continued along the rich seam of form he has been displaying for the past two rounds by taking his fourth double win of the year, the Italian utterly dominating raceday at Misano and moving further ahead in the championship standings. In front of 69,000 fans Max was eventually imperious after some early flurries of overtaking activity, but Superpole winner Troy Corser (BMW Motorrad Motorsport) was a co-star in race one, leading for 16 laps before yielding to Max, then finishing third. Leon Haslam (Suzuki Alstare) fought back from eighth in race one to go second in race two, and keep Biaggi in his sights for the final five rounds of the year. In the overall championship Biaggi has 307 points, Haslam 270 and Carlos Checa (Althea Ducati) 172.
Race 1
Biaggi took his seventh win of the season in race 1, finally overtaking long time leader Corser and then proving able to hold off Checa’s Ducati in the final laps. Checa was second, Corser third, the top three veteran riders covered by only 0.822 seconds at the flag. Michel Fabrizio (Ducati Xerox) was fourth, Sylvain Guintoli (Suzuki Alstare) fifth. Leon Camier, on the second Aprilia RSV4, was an eventually lonely sixth. Noriyuki Haga (Ducati Xerox) ended race one seventh after working hard at Misano; Haslam a disappointed eighth, having some technical set-up issues that held back his possible charge. Shane Byrne (Althea Ducati) and James Toseland (Yamaha Sterilgarda) were ninth and tenth respectively.
Max Biaggi: “I’m obviously happy with this victory. Especially because I didn’t expect it and because doing so well in Italy, in front of our supporters has a very special flavour for us. The conditions are difficult because of the lack of grip. Already after five or six laps I started to “drift”. After overtaking Troy I tried to push as hard as possible because I saw that the times were still high, but I couldn’t shake him or Checa because the risk for mistakes was too high.”
Carlos Checa: “I felt we had a good chance here, we’ve been working very hard. Tyres with hotter temperatures mean that the race is not the same for all the riders, but we stayed quicker throughout the race and it was a very close battle with Max at the end, but not close enough and I had to settle for second.”
Troy Corser: “I got another good start and dropped back inside Max to get the lead. The track was really slippery compared to this morning, so it took a few laps to get a feel for the tyre and get a good rhythm. I made a mistake and Max came past, I tried a bit too hard and that was about it for me. It was positive all the same because we managed to stay in front for a good while.”
Results (Pirelli Race Tyre Selection – Front/Rear): 1.Biaggi M. (ITA) Aprilia RSV4 Factory 38’59.319 (156,082 kph) (C/A); 2. Checa C. (ESP) Ducati 1098R 0.387 (A/C); 3. Corser T. (AUS) BMW S1000 RR 0.822 (B/C); 4. Fabrizio M. (ITA) Ducati 1098R 4.911 (B/C); 5. Guintoli S. (FRA) Suzuki GSX-R1000 5.916 (B/B); 6. Camier L. (GBR) Aprilia RSV4 Factory 8.658 (C/A); 7. Haga N. (JPN) Ducati 1098R 11.872 (B/C); 8. Haslam L. (GBR) Suzuki GSX-R1000 11.907 (B/A); 9. Byrne S. (GBR) Ducati 1098R 16.490 (A/B); 10. Toseland J. (GBR) Yamaha YZF R1 18.458 (B/C); 11. Scassa L. (ITA) Ducati 1098R 18.646 (B/C); 12. Lanzi L. (ITA) Ducati 1098R 19.315 (B/C); 13. Rea J. (GBR) Honda CBR1000RR 25.405 (B/A); 14. Neukirchner M. (GER) Honda CBR1000RR 31.671 (B/A); 15. Sykes T. (GBR) Kawasaki ZX 10R 39.658 (C/A); 16. Vermeulen C. (AUS) Kawasaki ZX 10R 48.137 (B/B); 17. Hayden R. (USA) Kawasaki ZX 10R 56.316 (A/A); 18. Sandi F. (ITA) Aprilia RSV4 1000 F. 56.667 (C/A); 19. Baiocco M. (ITA) Kawasaki ZX 10R 57.218 (B/B)
Race 2
Max Biaggi (Aprilia Alitalia) was in unbeatable form in race 2, surviving some hard early passing moves by his main rivals to get clear of the pack and push on to win, easing up across the line, by 4.095 seconds. This was double number four for the season. Haslam was a committed second after changing his machine and rear tyre as he attempted to halt Biaggi’s championship surge. Fabrizio returned to some of his best form by going third, holding off the determined Cal Crutchlow (Yamaha Sterilgarda). Checa was fifth after being ambushed in the early laps, Guintoli sixth and Byrne seventh. Luca Scassa was an impressive eighth for the local Supersonic Ducati Team, with Haga ninth and early leader Corser tenth after losing ten seconds in one lap.
Max Biaggi: “In such a tough and well balanced championship, all of the victories are earned with hard work and sweat. In race 2, to be honest, maybe I rode… pushing the envelope a bit, maybe even risking too much. But on the other hand, without risk there is no gain! This race represents a crucial moment for us and for our season we are coming out with our heads held high. As always I want to thank everyone from the bottom of my heart: from the guys on the team to our supporters. Victories like this never happen by chance and these ones in particular are well deserved by a large family which works together toward a common goal”
Leon Haslam: “We have had a tough weekend and after the first race eighth was the best we could have done because we had a few issues. The team came up trumps for me in race two and we finished in second place behind Max in race two. Second is never good for me behind Max as he is the championship leader but today we will take it.”
Michel Fabrizio: “In the second race we didn’t win but we got on the podium, which is a good result. It wasn’t easy and once Max passed me, I had no chance of counterattacking him, and I had to do everything possible to hold onto third place with Crutchlow behind me. I’d like to dedicate the podium to my team because every week my engineers are working hard and continuing to believe in me”.
Results: 1. Biaggi M. (ITA) Aprilia RSV4 Factory 38’58.149 (156,16 kph); 2. Haslam L. (GBR) Suzuki GSX-R1000 4.095; 3. Fabrizio M. (ITA) Ducati 1098R 4.631; 4. Crutchlow C. (GBR) Yamaha YZF R1 5.014; 5. Checa C. (ESP) Ducati 1098R 6.256; 6. Guintoli S. (FRA) Suzuki GSX-R1000 7.677; 7. Byrne S. (GBR) Ducati 1098R 10.144; 8. Scassa L. (ITA) Ducati 1098R 10.942; 9. Haga N. (JPN) Ducati 1098R 13.640; 10. Corser T. (AUS) BMW S1000 RR 16.279; 11. Camier L. (GBR) Aprilia RSV4 Factory 17.799; 12. Rea J. (GBR) Honda CBR1000RR 22.793; 13. Lanzi L. (ITA) Ducati 1098R 24.131; 14. Neukirchner M. (GER) Honda CBR1000RR 28.212; 15. Vermeulen C. (AUS) Kawasaki ZX 10R 36.551; 16. Sykes T. (GBR) Kawasaki ZX 10R 49.636; 17. Parkes B. (AUS) Honda CBR1000RR 50.041; 18. Hayden R. (USA) Kawasaki ZX 10R 51.246; 19. Baiocco M. (ITA) Kawasaki ZX 10R 58.174; 20. Sandi F. (ITA) Aprilia RSV4 1000 1’10.588
Pirelli Race Tyre Selection – Front/Rear: All riders on same solutions with the exception of Guintoli, Haslam, Byrne and Baiocco who chose the “C” rear, Vermuelen and Scassa who chose the “A” rear and Sandi who chose a “B” front for Race 2.
Points (after 8 rounds of 13): 1. Biaggi 307; 2. Hslam 270; 3. Checa 172; 4. Rea 158; 5. Haga 151; 6. Corser 149; 7. Toseland 138; 8. Fabrizio 131; 9. Camier 130 70; 10. Crutchlow 120. Manufacturers: 1. Aprilia 313; 2. Suzuki 283; 3. Ducati 250; 4. Yamaha 177; 5. Honda 169; 6. BMW 152; 7. Kawasaki 47
World Supersport
Eugene Laverty (Parkalgar Honda) got the better of his peers at Misano and in taking another win he went back into the lead in the championship. Pole man Michele Pirro (Hannspree Ten Kate Honda) crashed out of contention early on, leaving Joan Lascorz (Kawasaki Motocard.com) to finish second. Kenan Sofuoglu (Hannspree Ten Kate Honda) could have taken that runner-up position but ran off line or off track on several occasions, and finished third. Britain’s Gino Rea had an awesome start on the Intermoto Czech Honda machine but was taken out in the collision with Pirro. In the championship Laverty now has 161 points, Sofuoglu has 158, and Lascorz 148.
Results: 1. Laverty E. (IRL) Honda CBR600RR 36’46.369 (151,697 kph); 2. Lascorz J. (ESP) Kawasaki ZX-6R 3.876; 3. Sofuoglu K. (TUR) Honda CBR600RR 6.557; 4. Davies C. (GBR) Triumph Daytona 675 12.815; 5. Tamburini R. (ITA) Yamaha YZF R6 12.927; 6. Harms R. (DEN) Honda CBR600RR 14.248; 7.Roccoli M. (ITA) Honda CBR600RR 19.641; 8. Foret F. (FRA) Kawasaki ZX-6R 24.360; 9. Praia M. (POR) Honda CBR600RR 36.260; 10. Salom D. (ESP) Triumph Daytona 675 36.598;
Points (after 8 rounds of 13): 1. Laverty 161; 2. Sofuoglu 158; 3. Lascorz 148; 4. Davies 97; 5. Salom 64; 6.Harms 61; 7. Pirro 58; 8. Rea 54; Manufacturers: 1. Honda 195; 2. Kawasaki 148; 3. Triumph 107; 4. Yamaha 11
Superstock 1000
Ayrton Badovini (BMW Motorrad Italia STK) set a new track best and lap record of 1’39.189 on his way to the race win at Misano, in a race which was red-flagged after 11 laps of the scheduled 14. This was his fifth win in five starts this year, and he now has 125 points to second place rider Maxime Berger’s 66. The Ten Kate Junior Race rider was also second in the race today, ahead of local man Michele Magnoni (Team Shiner Honda). Magnoni is now third in the overall rankings, on 63 points.
Results: 1. Badovini A. (ITA) BMW S1000 RR 18’21.537 (151,924 kph); 2. Berger M. (FRA) Honda CBR1000RR 2.576; 3. Magnoni M. (ITA) Honda CBR1000RR 2.807;4. Antonelli A. (ITA) Honda CBR1000RR 3.872;5. Bussolotti M. (ITA) Honda CBR1000RR 15.071; 6. Baz L. (FRA) Yamaha YZF R1 16.266; 7. La Marra E. (ITA) Honda CBR1000RR 16.449; 8.Giugliano D. (ITA) Suzuki GSX-R 100016.721; 9. Barrier S. (FRA) BMW S1000 RR 17.043; 10. Petrucci D. (ITA) Kawasaki ZX 10R 19.830;
Points (after 5 rounds of 10): 1. Badovini 125; 2. Berger 66; 3.Magnoni 63; 4.Giugliano 53; 5. Barrier 47; 6. Antonelli 41; 7.Baz 37; 8. Bussolotti 37; Manufacturers: 1. BMW 125; 2. Honda 93; 3. Suzuki 60; 4. Yamaha 39; 5. Kawasaki 36; 6. Ducati 26; 7. KTM 25; 8. Aprilia 13.
Official Tyre Supplier
“Pirelli’s weekend at Misano opened with success starting from Corser’s pole position of 1’35.001 on his BMW, their first in WSBK, on Superpole tyres whose personalized labels feature the flag of San Marino as a celebration of the host of this round. Pirelli offered 1 brand new ‘A’ rear and 2 front (‘A’ and ‘C’) tyre solutions for Superbike, as well as 1 front and 1 rear performance option for Supersport, along with reference tyres for both classes. Fantastic performances from the Diablo Superbike and Diablo Supercorsa tyres were absolute, having seen 12 different riders set fast times in R1 and R2 below last years lap record of Noriyuki Haga (Ducati); the final time and Pirelli BEST LAP of 1’36.546 was recorded by Cal Crutchlow (Yamaha) on the new ‘A’ rear tyre solution. The two SBK races saw a 12 and 13 second overall race time improvement over last year’s dry Race 2, respectfully, and nearly a 5 second improvement in SSP. With these new solutions at hand, an incredible podium diversity saw 4 manufactures and 5 different riders on the podium, confirming the new solutions which have been developed for Misano. After next week’s testing at Imola, we are confident to continue deliver tyre grip and stability to teams and riders for faster and more exciting racing.” – Giorgio Barbier, Racing Director, Pirelli Moto
SBK Race 1 – Pirelli BEST LAP
Carlos Checa (Althea Racing), 1’36.670 (Lap 2)
SBK Race 2 – Pirelli BEST LAP
Cal Crutchlow (Yamaha World Superbike), 1’36.546 (Lap 4)
Total BEST LAP (SBK): Checa C. (Althea Racing): 6, Rea J. (HANNspree Ten Kate Honda): 3, Biaggi M. (Aprilia Alitalia Racing): 2, Crutchlow C. (Yamaha World Superbike): 2, Haslam L. (Suzuki Alstare): 1, Guintoli S. (Suzuki Alstare): 1, Fabrizio M. (Ducati Xerox Team): 1
WSS – Pirelli BEST LAP
Kenan Sofuoglu (HANNspree Ten Kate Honda), 1’39.239 (Lap 6)
Total BEST LAP (WSS): Sofuoglu K. (HANNspree Ten Kate Honda): 4, Laverty E. (Parkalgar Honda): 2, Pirro M. (HANNspree Ten Kate Honda): 1, Lascorz J. (Kawasaki Motocard.com): 1
Stk1000 – Pirelli BEST JUMP FORWARD
Marco Bussolotti (All Service System by QDP), From 13th to 5th (8 positions)
