Thanks to the battling
fifth place finish earned in race two at Imola last
weekend, Aprilia rider Max Biaggi brought the points gap
to 63 points between him and Leon Haslam (Suzuki), who
was the last rider in contention for the 2010 World
Superbike title (413 to 350). A gap impossible to fill
with only the French round at Magny Cours this weekend
to go until the end of the season. Max Biaggi – with his
fifth title after four consecutive world championships,
from 1994 to 1997 in the 250 class – is the first
Italian World Superbike champion.
In the WSBK
manufacturers' standings Aprilia (433 points) is now 41
points ahead of Italian rivals Ducati (392). Nine points
will be enough this weekend for the Veneto-based team to
take the manufacturer championship.
But Imola last Sunday
was not the site of a simple race day: delayed at the
start of race 1, Biaggi had to settle for a placement
(11th). Race 2 was an entirely different story.
Abandoning any use of tactics, Max forced his Aprilia
RSV4 into the front positions, battling for the podium
right from the first turn. The fifth place he ended up
with handed Max the championship title a round early and
evoked an explosion of rejoicing from the thousands of
fans who had come out to the circuit to cheer on the
most famous Corsair in world motorcycle racing.
"This is a grand day,"
commented an exhausted but happy Biaggi at the end of
last Sunday's race at Imola, "a
day which I have greatly desired. I've often felt in
past years like I hadn't been placed in the proper
conditions to be able to express my worth and to achieve
the results that I know I deserve. This is one of the
reasons that, at a certain point in my career, I chose
this world, the SBK championship, and this is why I
wanted to surround myself with the right people for this
adventure – because racing isn't just about speed, tyres
and an engine. It is also about joy and having fun and
with these guys, with this team, I feel at home. I want
to thank everyone: my team, Aprilia, Piaggio Group, the
chairman. It has not been an easy season. Many riders
have won races and if they had been just a bit more
consistent, they would have been able to be more
troublesome for us.
"The greatest moments were the double
victories at Monza and Misano," continued an elated
Biaggi, adding that: "it is something very
special to win in front of my fans. But it isn't over
yet – there is still one goal left – to ride my RSV4 to
the manufacturer title. We'll talk again in a week and
it would be truly fantastic to close out this wonderful
season with another championship."
Roberto Colaninno,
Chairman and CEO of the Piaggio Group (which Aprilia is
part of) was in the pit to experience the triumph of his
team and rider siad: "Today we achieved
an extraordinary result which takes place in the second
year of Aprilia’s participation in World Superbike and,
once again, confirms the technical excellence of the
Noale Racing Division as well as the Piaggio Group in
the two-wheel worldwide scene. It would be impossible to
imagine anything better on a day like today. We won the
World Superbike Championship on an Italian track, with
an Italian bike, an Italian rider and a sponsor –
Alitalia – which takes Italy all over the world. This
has never before happened in Superbike history and this
makes all of us that much more proud."
