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 In front of 77.000 people, Max Biaggi (Aprilia Alitalia) won each 22-lap race at Portimao today to go second in the championship rankings, behind the rider who took two second places, Leon Haslam (Alstare Suzuki). The margin of victory for Biaggi was 0.200 seconds in race one, and 0.191 seconds in race two, as Max took his career win total to six. He scored his first SBK double win today, having started the race second on the grid. Haslam now has 85 points, Biaggi 69.
Race 1
Max Biaggi held off Haslam for the race one win but only after a strong man-to-man fight throughout. Jonathan Rea went third for Hannspree Ten Kate Honda, when Cal Crutchlow fell off his Sterilgarda Yamaha late in the race, remounting to go 14th.
Carlos Checa (Althea Ducati) had to work hard to keep Leon Camier (Aprilia Alitalia) behind as he scored fourth place. Shane Byrne (Althea Ducati) rode through the pain of a big crash on Saturday to take sixth. Noriyuki Haga recovered from his fifth row start to take eighth and the first BMW Motorrad machine home belonged to Troy Corser, ninth.
Results:
1 3 Biaggi M. (ITA) Aprilia RSV4 1000 F. 37'59.283 (159,562 kph)
2 91 Haslam L. (GBR) Suzuki GSX-R1000 0.200
3 65 Rea J. (GBR) Honda CBR1000RR 6.901
4 7 Checa C. (ESP) Ducati 1098R 7.457
5 2 Camier L. (GBR) Aprilia RSV4 1000 F. 7.564
6 67 Byrne S. (GBR) Ducati 1098R 11.420
7 52 Toseland J. (GBR) Yamaha YZF R1 18.391
8 41 Haga N. (JPN) Ducati 1098R 18.536
9 11 Corser T. (AUS) BMW S1000 RR 24.514
10 111 Xaus R. (ESP) BMW S1000 RR 32.427
11 84 Fabrizio M. (ITA) Ducati 1098R 35.045
12 57 Lanzi L. (ITA) Ducati 1098R 36.816
13 50 Guintoli S. (FRA) Suzuki GSX-R1000 36.841
14 35 Crutchlow C. (GBR) Yamaha YZF R1 44.678
15 66 Sykes T. (GBR) Kawasaki ZX 10R 44.942
16 31 Iannuzzo V. (ITA) Honda CBR1000RR 59.135
17 32 Morais S. (RSA) Honda CBR1000RR 59.852
18 95 Hayden R. (USA) Kawasaki ZX 10R 1'00.097
19 15 Baiocco M. (ITA) Kawasaki ZX 10R 1'10.151
20 99 Scassa L. (ITA) Ducati 1098R
RET 88 Pitt A. (AUS) BMW S1000 RR
RET 96 Smrz J. (CZE) Ducati 1098R
RET 49 Tamada M. (JPN) BMW S1000 RR
RET 76 Neukirchner M. (GER) Honda CBR1000RR
Race 2
A close four-rider fight for the win went to Biaggi again, from Leon Haslam, who was not quite able to overtake Biaggi and make it stick, as Max used his superior drive out of the final corner to pass Leon when it mattered. Cal Crutchlow scored his second career SBK podium, and his first as a series regular, running his Yamaha to third. Carlos Checa was fourth - and only 1.015 seconds covered the whole top four after another tense race. In the championship Haslam leads with 85 points, Biaggi is second on 69 and Checa third with 60.
Results:
1 3 Biaggi M. (ITA) Aprilia RSV4 1000 F. 38'06.128 (159,084 kph)
2 91 Haslam L. (GBR) Suzuki GSX-R1000 0.191
3 35 Crutchlow C. (GBR) Yamaha YZF R1 0.658
4 7 Checa C. (ESP) Ducati 1098R 1.015
5 2 Camier L. (GBR) Aprilia RSV4 1000 F. 3.123
6 52 Toseland J. (GBR) Yamaha YZF R1 9.131
7 67 Byrne S. (GBR) Ducati 1098R 11.033
8 41 Haga N. (JPN) Ducati 1098R 13.452
9 50 Guintoli S. (FRA) Suzuki GSX-R1000 13.964
10 11 Corser T. (AUS) BMW S1000 RR 16.377
11 84 Fabrizio M. (ITA) Ducati 1098R 26.351
12 111 Xaus R. (ESP) BMW S1000 RR 27.964
13 66 Sykes T. (GBR) Kawasaki ZX 10R 33.566
14 57 Lanzi L. (ITA) Ducati 1098R 33.823
15 76 Neukirchner M. (GER) Honda CBR1000RR 37.372
16 99 Scassa L. (ITA) Ducati 1098R 45.611
17 95 Hayden R. (USA) Kawasaki ZX 10R 56.512
18 15 Baiocco M. (ITA) Kawasaki ZX 10R 58.980
19 49 Tamada M. (JPN) BMW S1000 RR 1'15.819
20 88 Pitt A. (AUS) BMW S1000 RR 1'41.672
RET 32 Morais S. (RSA) Honda CBR1000RR
RET 96 Smrz J. (CZE) Ducati 1098R
RET 65 Rea J. (GBR) Honda CBR1000RR
RET 31 Iannuzzo V. (ITA) Honda CBR1000RR
Four manufacturers in each top four
In each race today there were four different manufacturers in the top four - Aprilia, Suzuki, Honda and Ducati in race one, and Aprilia, Suzuki, Yamaha and Ducati in race two. The second race saw a vee-four, a conventional ‘screamer' four, a cross-plane crankshaft four and a 1200cc vee-twin fill the top four places - all the engine configurations competing in SBK this year within a second of each other after 22 laps and almost 160km of close racing.
Vast improvement
It was only last October that the previous Portimao round was run, but in those short months the progress has been amazing. Race one today was 16 seconds faster than it's equivalent in October and race two was 13 seconds faster this year compared to last.
Riders talk:
Max Biaggi: "It is great to get my first double win in World Superbike. The feeling is great and the first double win of anybody this year so I feel confident and we are in a good rhythm. We go to Valencia next and we will ask very much of ourselves there as well. We had good speed down the straight today but if you saw how fast we could exit the last corner then you would know it was not just the engine. Our bike is fast but other bikes are also fast."
Leon Haslam: "I was trying everything to pass Max and in race two I timed it so I could be in the lead with a few laps to go and make a break, but Max came back past me on the straight. It was hard racing today from lap one right to the end. We got two podiums and although I was disappointed not to get another win, we are still leading the championship. That puts a smile back on my face."
Jonathan Rea: "Somebody ran me a bit wide on the first turn of race one and I was held up a lot after that, so when I picked up some pace it opened my eyes to what I could do. In race one I think I made one mistake and had to catch up quite a few riders, but I still finished third."
Cal Crutchlow: "The places where I was losing time where the places I was using the tyre a lot, and I was making a few small mistakes as well. I had Carlos right behind me for most of the second race and that kept me on my toes. Fortunately Max and Leon made a few little mistakes running wide and that allowed me to hang on in there until the end."
Performance Awards:
SBK Race 1 - Pirelli Best Lap
Max Biaggi (Aprilia Alitalia Racing), 1'42.774 (Lap 4)
SBK Race 2 - Pirelli Best Lap
Carlos Checa (Althea Racing), 1'43.285 (Lap 2)
Total Best Lap (SBK): Haslam L. (Suzuki Alstare): 1, Guintoli S. (Suzuki Alstare): 1, Biaggi M. (Aprilia Alitalia Racing): 1, Checa C. (Althea Racing): 1
Source: WorldSBK.com
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