Biaggi searching for grip

Max Biaggi claims a lack of traction is preventing him from running at the front in WSB and that his team has to focus more on electronics.

So far this season Biaggi has won one race and holds second in the championship standings.

Although there is no doubting the Italian’s race pace, Biaggi always has to come from behind because of his apparent lack of confidence in tyre grip during the opening laps.

Biaggi said: “The qualifying tyre offers a lot of grip and we’ve seen that when both myself and Yukio use a qualifier we can make big steps.

“For the other bikes and riders the difference in their lap times is not so big so for me this is a signal that we need more traction with a race tyre. I think we must find more mechanical traction.”

The 35-year-old also sights his Mitsubishi electronics package as an area which needs to improve before he can run at the front week in week out.

Since Biaggi first got on the bike the Alstare Suzuki squad has been testing a new Magneti Marelli system as used by Ducati and Yamaha in WSB. The Italian has so far not used the new system in any races but is hoping to make the switch by the end if the year.

He said: “Electronics are an area where we need to focus because at the moment it is not our strong point. We have done what we can with our current system and it is what it is.

And the Italian added: “To develop a new system you need time and you need experience but it is not so easy to swap. When we go testing I’m working hard, 50–60 laps of data each day to give to my crew.

“They have no data to work with; they’re starting with a blank sheet.”