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Aprilia has returned to the winners' circle
in the Superbike World Championship after
its new-for-2009 RSV4 machine in the hands
of Max Biaggi at Brno raced to a first
victory for the Italian bike maker in the
series since it quit back in 2001. |
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Aprilia has returned to the winners' circle in
the Superbike World Championship after its
new-for-2009 RSV4 machine in the hands of Max
Biaggi at Brno raced to a first victory for the
Italian bike maker in the series since it quit
back in 2001, last weekend. The team's first
victory since its comeback comes after three
podium visits so far this year with the new RSV4
and Biaggi followed his win in race one up with
a close second place in the second event of the
double-header meeting.
The very first
victory in 2009 to combine the names of Biaggi and Aprilia
has come on the historic and prestigious Brno circuit, home
to the Czech round of the Superbike World Championship. The
Roman rider secured his ninth victory on this track which
saw him triumphant during a period from 1994 to 1996 with
the RSW 250cc and which then led to three world championship
titles. Max Biaggi, started off well, right behind a
phenomenal Corser who took off like a rocket from the second
row. The course of the race changed during the third lap,
with Spies taking the lead followed by the Roman on his RSV4
and Fabrizio’s Ducati. The three stepped up the pace,
leaving their competitors behind. But an episode that would
change the entire race took place during the fifth lap.
Fabrizio, in second position, attempted to pass Spies on the
inside, but about halfway through the turn he lost control
of his front wheel, taking the blameless American down with
him. At that point, Biaggi had the track ahead all to
himself and began to push the pace, given that Checa was
less than a second behind him. Max managed to gain a few
tenths of a second per lap over the Spaniard and his Honda.
Just five laps from the finish, with a two-second difference
by then, Biaggi lost Checa who crossed the finish line with
a time difference of 3:631, ahead of his teammate Rea, who
came in third, 9:948 behind Biaggi. Max Biaggi secured his
fourth SBK victory, bringing Aprilia back to the top of the
podium for the ninth time in the world championships for
production derived bikes, a category from which the company
had been absent since 2001 when Regis Laconi won Race 2 at
Imola with the then two-cylinder RSV1000. It was an unlucky
Race 1 for Shinya Nakano who, starting off from fifteenth
position, managed to reach ninth place but was then forced
to withdraw due to an electrical problem.
"It’s
fantastic,” said Biaggi. “I still can’t believe it, I’m
feeling some indescribable emotions. The last few laps were
a series of flashbacks of my previous eight wins here at
Brno. It was a very, very difficult race. Once I was in the
lead, I pushed really hard but I couldn’t break away from
Checa and Rea who were really quite competitive. I’m sorry
about the accident that Fabrizio caused, but that’s the type
of thing that can happen in a race. I want to thank my
entire team and Aprilia for this victory, especially Gigi
Dall’Igna who is a bit like the father of the RSV4 and who
unfortunately couldn’t be here in Brno this time. I’m very
proud to have been the first to win with this new generation
motorcycle, just like in ’94 with the 250cc when we won the
first championship title together.”
The 75,000
spectators in attendance then watched a spectacular Race 2.
Biaggi re-opened a race that already seemed to be over
during the initial laps, duelling it out with his rivals up
to the very last metre. In the end it was Ben Spies on his
Yamaha who took home the victory with a 0:213 lead over the
Roman driver. Fabrizio finished in third place again,
stopping the clock just 0:675 behind Spies. The start was a
carbon copy of Race 1, with Corser taking off like a
missile, but by the end of the first lap, Spies, Fabrizio
and Biaggi had broken away. The American seemed to have
secured the top position, immediately gaining a one second
lead over his adversaries, who by refusing to give up,
however, managed to shave off a few tenths of a second with
the persistence they displayed lap after lap. During the
seventh lap, an extremely close battle began between
Fabrizio and Biaggi, with the latter attempting to pass his
rival several times, but failing to do so and the Ducati
driver gaining back his position time and again. This
continued up until the fifteenth lap when Biaggi finally
managed to pass Fabrizio and took off after Spies, who in
the meanwhile had managed to pull ahead a few more metres.
However, during the next lap, his advantage had decreased,
thanks to Biaggi’s fastest lap, resulting in a new track
record at 1:59:961 with Biaggi glued right to the back of
the American’s motorcycle, inflaming the race as well as the
public that was watching it. The RSV4 seemed to be getting
the better of the R1, but Spies somehow managed to fight off
Biaggi’s attacks, crossing the finish line first with the
Roman driver right on his tail. Thanks to his victory in
Race 1 and the second place finish in Race 2, Max has moved
into fifth place in the championship classification while
Aprilia consolidates its fourth place position in the
manufacturer’s championship. Nakano finished in eleventh
place, and after a good start managed to keep up with the
group that was battling it out for the seventh position.
“After the
victory in the first race, second place is really a great
result,” declared Biaggi. “I can’t help but be satisfied
with a weekend like this one. I battled it out for a long
time with Fabrizio and it wasn’t easy to pass him. Plus
Spies had set an excellent pace and began pushing ahead
right from the get go. I caught up with him right away, but
unfortunately I wasn’t able to take the victory away from
him, his bike was really stable and he had some great
breakaways. We changed the rear suspension for Race 2 and I
believe it was the right choice. Now after the holidays,
we’ll be going to Germany, where it won’t be easy because
we’re going to have to start from scratch again and I hope
to find myself in the same situation as today and to have
these very same types of races.”
“After the
disappointment of the first race,” declared Nakano, “I
started off rather well in the second race. We had changed
the bike’s settings and it was better, so I was battling it
out for seventh position the whole time. When I would try to
push forward though, I had some problems at the front of the
bike, so I couldn’t force it. Eleventh place is certainly
not a good result, after these three, very difficult days.
I’m going to have to go into the next race at Nürburgring
with a different attitude.”
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