Max Biaggi did the double last night. OK, it wasn’t in Rome, it was closer to Milan, but Max himself is from Rome, so a bit of poetic licence doesn’t hurt, does it? Biaggi was simply peerless, recording Aprilia’s first pole in WSBK and reeling off two uncontested wins and setting some awesome speed trap times into the bargain. Despite continuing rumblings about the RSV4’s eligibility, the fact remains that Monza has proved which bike is the fastest and it’s the Italian bike.
330km/h in the speed trap??? How amazing is that? And, for us non-metricated persons, that equates to 206mph! Max showed how valuable pole position was last night and showed that the Aprilia is going to be a force. Biaggi’s team mate, Leon Camier, underlined the bike’s speed and potential by getting a 4th and a 5th in the two races.
And the fast-but fragile Reuben Xaus actualy managed to stay on and finish in the top 10 (6th and ahead of Troy Corser 8th, in Race 1.) However, it was Corser who lifted BMW’s spirits with a 3rd and their first podium in Race 2. Even allowing for the fact that he benefitted from the demise of other riders after the traditional Monza T1 bingle, it was still a great ride and only 5 seconds away from the leader. Big props to the Aussie 2x World Champ.
Johnny Rae continues to exhibit a lack of consistency and must be starting to frustrate the Ten Kate management. A double at Assen and 2 DNF’s at Monza isn’t the way to win a championship. And, sneaking along, just under the radar, Suzuki’s Leon Haslam banked a good bag of points again to maintain his slender lead in the overall championship (now just 3 points over Biaggi and 71 ahead of the next challenger, the erstwhile Rae)
Regarding Ten Kate, the team must be wondering if the bubble has finally burst with their colours being lowered yet again by a privateer bike in Supersport, the Honda of Ireland’s Eugene Laverty. Laverty just cleared off and TK’s Kenan Sofoglu, while finishing 2nd, was well back, Laverty having a 1.7 second lead at the end of Lap 2, unheard of at Monza and in Supersport circles.
sanoptic says
Nice to see Ben Spies in the pit garage as well & doing a bit of commentating,he was probably there to gee up the Yamaha guys. [bleeding obvious as Bas would have said]
I’ve always been a Biaggi fan,the guy is a real character off the track ,aloof but super talented in all the classes he has raced.Still remember that almost back flip wheelstand in the 500 class.
A great weekends racing from the superbike guys as per usual.
cheers
Phil Hall says
Funny, but I’ve always been very ambivalent about Max. He’s fouled his nest with every team he’s raced with by criticising the mechanics, complaining about preferential treatment that he perceives his team mate has been receiving and generally not endearing himself to the people he works with. No denying his talent, but, all I can say is that the APrilia people must have short memories. When he left Aprilia under acrimonious circumstances last time, they swore they’d never employ him again. No doubt he’s moderated his behaviour and mellowed considerably since then; quite the model rider now in the twilight of his career.
sanoptic says
Like i said he’s a real Character ,when you see him in the pits these days he looks calm .
Imagine a fiery Italian racer in an all [of what i can see] Italian team, i would think the goings on after the garage door closes would be very animated to say the least.
Aprilia would be VERY happy with Max this year.
Phil Hall says
He’d be their hero, no doubt about that.