Biaggi on fire at Misano

Italian Max Biaggi pulled the trigger on his 2012 World Superbike campaign with a brilliant clean sweep at Misano overnight.

Ultra consistent without being a show-stopper in the opening six rounds, the veteran finally opened his shoulders and his stunning double victory on the factory Aprilia now has him leading the championship by 38.5 points at the halfway mark in proceedings, ahead of Jonathan Rea (Honda) and Tom Sykes (Kawasaki). Defending champion Carlos Checa (Ducati) is back in fifth position.

Biaggi has now won four of the last six races at Misano, and finished second in the other two. And his WSBK race winning tally now stands at 19.

“It was an unbelievable weekend; such a long time since my first win in Australia in February,” said Biaggi. “I chose a tyre which wasn't the fastest as far as lap times go, but it was one which gave me more confidence.

“In any case I had to take some risks because there are very few places to overtake here, but in the end I was successful and I'm leaving Misano with an incredible double win.”

After issues in Superpole on Saturday, Biaggi was forced to start from the third row of the grid in both 24-lap races, and in the opener he was immediately amongst it, although not at the really sharp end of the pack as Rea led the first 16 laps with polesitter Sykes and Leon Haslam (BMW) close behind.

But as tyre wear became critical in the Misano heat, a number of riders really began to labour in the last third of the race, and it finally became a three-way fight between Biaggi, Checa – who started further back than Biaggi on row four -- and Italian Davide Giugliano, Checa’s rookie teammate.

Giugliano initially assumed top spot from Rea, but then dropped from first to third on lap 22 as Biaggi made his way to the front with Checa in tow.

Biaggi won by 0.305 seconds from Checa, the new lap record holder, with Giugliano an excellent third from Sykes and Rea. Of the top brass, Melandri’s tyre difficulties were the most acute, and he eventually pulled into the pits.

In race two, Checa only lasted three laps before going down the road after contact with Melandri, while Giugliano also bit the dust a few laps later while holding down third position.

Meanwhile, Sykes led from the start before Biaggi was in front by lap four, where he remained to eventually secure one of the biggest wins of the year -- 5.355 seconds over Rea, with Haslam in third. Melandri and Italian Ayrton Badovini (BMW) completed the top five.

Melandri slipped from equal second to fourth in the championship at Misano, and he’s now 9pts behind third-placed Sykes.

WORLD SUPERSPORT
Australian duo Broc Parkes (Honda) and Jed Metcher (Yamaha) finished fifth and seventh respectively at Misano, with Turkey’s Kenan Sofuoglu (Kawasaki) winning a close won from Jules Cluzel (Honda). Alex Baldolini (Triumph) was an impressive third.

Parkes’ hopes of successive wins at the San Marino imploded from the start when he was forced wide at turn one, which dropped him down to 13th on the first lap. Then as he battled his way back towards the front, two riders crashed in front of him, forcing him wide.

“I felt pretty comfortable on the bike and didn’t have any big issues but I had to work hard to get back to the guys in front,” said Parkes. “A podium was what we’d all hoped for, but after that it was out of reach. We’ve got a test at Assen in the week, though, and a few things to try, so we’ll come back strong at Aragon (in Spain), which is a track I really like.”

Meanwhile, Metcher’s seventh place was the high point of his rookie World Supersport season.

Sofuoglu now leads Cluzel, 106pts to 84, ahead of Sam Lowes (Honda, 76), Baldolini (54) and Parkes (53).

MISANO WORLD SUPERBIKE RESULTS
Race one: 24 laps
1 Max Biaggi, Italy, Aprilia
2 Carlos Checa, Spain, Ducati
3 Davide Giugliano, Italy, Ducati
4 Tom Sykes, Great Britain, Kawasaki
5 Jonathan Rea, Great Britain
6 Chaz Davies, Great Britain, Aprilia
7 Eugene Laverty, Great Britain, Aprilia
8 Sylvain Guintoli, France, Ducati
9 Jakub Smrz, Czech Republic, Ducati
10 Leon Camier, Great Britain, Suzuki

Fastest lap and new record: Checa – 1:36.080 (previous record: Biaggi – 1:36.344, 2011)

Race two: 24 laps
1 Biaggi
2 Rea +5.355
3 Leon Haslam, Great Britain, BMW +5.731
4 Marco Melandri Italy, BMW +7.004
5 Ayrton Badovini, Italy, BMW +7.921
6 Michel Fabrizio, Italy, BMW +17.291
7 Sykes +17.351
8 Loris Baz, France, Kawasaki +17.630
9 Smrz +18.211
10 Matteo Baiocco, Italy, Ducati +28.131

Fastest lap: Biaggi – 1:36.557

CURRENT WORLD SUPERBIKE STANDINGS (AFTER SEVEN OF 14 ROUNDS):
1 Biaggi 210.5
2 Rea 172
3 Sykes 164.5
4 Melandri 155.5
5 Checa 150.5
6 Haslam 123
7 Guintoli 103
8 Laverty 95
9 Giugliano 80
10 Smrz 75.5

Next round: Motorland Aragon, Spain, July 1