Aragon WSB Race One: Biaggi secures classy win ahead of Melandri

Max Biaggi extended his lead at the top of the WSB championship standings with another race win at Aragon. His victory made it three in a row for the 41 year old Italian after his impressive double at Misano last time out.

Biaggi had to fight hard with fellow Italian Marco Melandri but ultimately looked to have more grip at the end of the race. He was able to soak up the pressure from the BMW man and after numerous changes of the lead was in control throughout the final lap of the race.

Biaggi said: “It was a very tough race and anything could have happened. Braking for the hairpin is where you could win or lose the race. I was able to not make any mistakes and get the 25 points.”

It was a brilliant race by Melandri and a result that boosts his championship aspirations considerably.

He said: “I really love this track and the result is good. It was a difficult race because I didn’t get a very good start. It took me a long time to pass Sykes and Laverty and catching Biaggi put a lot of stress on my rear tyre. In the end I could not match Biaggi’s speed on the last lap.”

Carlos Checa ended the race in third place but his podium finish was the result of a crash on the final lap which saw him climb to places.

Kawasaki man Tom Sykes looked set to secure an impressive podium until Ayrton Badovini attempted an overzealous pass at the fast turn four which ultimately took both men out of the race.

Chaz Davies secured his best ever WSB result with a brilliant fourth place, but was disappointed not to have been able to pass Checa into the final hairpin.

Eugene Laverty looked set for a good result before running in to similar electronic problems that have plagued him in the previous three rounds of the series and dropped to fifth.

Both Leon Haslam and Leon Camier opted for the harder ‘D’ compound tyre while he majority of the rest of the grid wen for the slightly softer ‘C’ compound. It proved the wrong decision with the two men finishing seventh and ninth respectively.

Jonathan Rea made a poor start from the second row and then crashed out at turn one. He remounted to finish 16th place.

 

Aragon – FIM Superbike World Championship – Race 1

 

1. Max Biaggi (Aprilia Racing Team) Aprilia RSV4 Factory 39’51.188

2. Marco Melandri (BMW Motorrad Motorsport) BMW S1000 RR 39’51.466

3. Carlos Checa (Althea Racing) Ducati 1098R 40’00.650

4. Chaz Davies (ParkinGO MTC Racing) Aprilia RSV4 Factory 40’02.015

5. Eugene Laverty (Aprilia Racing Team) Aprilia RSV4 Factory 40’06.896

6. Michel Fabrizio (BMW Motorrad Italia GoldBet) BMW S1000 RR 40’18.785

7. Leon Haslam (BMW Motorrad Motorsport) BMW S1000 RR 40’20.220

8. Davide Giugliano (Althea Racing) Ducati 1098R 40’30.562

9. Leon Camier (FIXI Crescent Suzuki) Suzuki GSX-R1000 40’32.075

10. Maxime Berger (Team Effenbert Liberty Racing) Ducati 1098R 40’32.628

11. Niccolò Canepa (Red Devils Roma) Ducati 1098R 40’33.244

12. Sylvain Guintoli (Team Effenbert Liberty Racing) Ducati 1098R 40’33.557

13. Lorenzo Zanetti (PATA Racing Team) Ducati 1098R 40’33.857

14. Hiroshi Aoyama (Honda World Superbike Team) Honda CBR1000RR 40’39.198

15. John Hopkins (FIXI Crescent Suzuki) Suzuki GSX-R1000 40’40.940

16. Jonathan Rea (Honda World Superbike Team) Honda CBR1000RR 40’45.778

17. Norino Brignola (Grillini Progea Superbike Team) BMW S1000 RR 41’50.841

RT. Tom Sykes (Kawasaki Racing Team) Kawasaki ZX-10R 37’59.942

RT. Ayrton Badovini (BMW Motorrad Italia GoldBet) BMW S1000 RR 38’00.256

RT. David Salom (Team Pedercini) Kawasaki ZX-10R 37’42.556

RT. Leandro Mercado (Team Pedercini) Kawasaki ZX-10R 20’25.914

RT. Loris Baz (Kawasaki Racing Team) Kawasaki ZX-10R 17’07.882

RT. Jakub Smrz (Liberty Racing Team Effenbert) Ducati 1098R