2007 Superbike World Championship
Round 1, Losail, Qatar
Saturday 24th February
Circuit: 5.380 kms. Conditions: Dry, sunny 25-26 C.
MAX WINS AT THE FIRST ATTEMPT!
 Team
Alstare Suzuki Corona Extra rider Max Biaggi stunned everybody
by winning the opening round of the Superbike World Champion
ship in Qatar today. After a tremendous battle with James
Toseland (Honda), Max took the lead with five laps to go and
then superbly controlled the race from the front. In the end
he ran out the winner by nearly one and a half seconds. Toseland
took runner-up spot, with Lorenzo Lanzi (Ducati) third. By
the time Max returned to the parc fermé, his emotions
had got the better of him, but by the time he sprang up onto
the podium, he had a huge smile on his face. His team mate
Yukio Kagayama had front tyre problems in the race, but managed
to finish a gritty fourth.
Race two was another terrific battle between Max and Toseland,
but this time Toseland emerged the victor, though if the race
had lasted a further three or four laps, it might have been
a different story. Troy Corser took third, with Yukio down
the field in sixth - thanks to tyre problems again, though
this time it was the rear.
Overall though, it was a fantastic start to the season for
Alstare’s new rider - Max Biaggi. A win in his first
ever World Superbike race and a second in race two means that
he leaves Qatar as joint championship leader and goes to the
next round at Phillip Island full of confidence.
MAX Race 1: 1st, Race 2: 2nd
What a fantastic start to my new (Superbike) experience. To
begin with a win is wonderful and I dedicate it to our Team
Boss, Francis Batta, who couldn’t be here with us today.
I’m sure he watched it on TV and it must have made him
wish he was here. This championship is tough and for sure
there are a lot of good riders, so I don’t think it’s
always going to be like this. I want to thank my team for
all their hard work and support over the past few months,
which has made all this possible.
This racing is fun! I wished I had discovered this championship
years ago. In the second race, I was catching James (Toseland)
and I think I could’ve caught him if there had been
three or four more laps. We made a small adjustment to the
bike for the second race and maybe it wasn’t the right
thing, but we still nearly managed to win it! Now we are off
to one of my favourite tracks, Phillip Island. I’m looking
forward to it and having more fun.
YUKIO Race 1: 4th, Race 2: 6th
I am very frustrated today, because I expected to do much
better. But I had tyre problems in both races and I couldn’t
push as hard as I wanted. In race one the problem was the
front tyre and after five laps, I didn’t have a good
feeling, but I kept up quite a good pace. We changed the chassis
set-up a little for the second race, but this time the problem
was at the rear! I suppose, the good news is that I didn’t
crash and I managed to score some good points.
Results
Race 1: 1 MAX BIAGGI (I-Alstare Suzuki Corona
Extra), 2 Toseland (GB-Honda), 3 Lanzi (I-Ducati), 4 YUKIO
KAGAYAMA (J-Alstare Suzuki Corona Extra), 5 Bayliss (Aus-Ducati),
6 Neukirchner (D-Suzuki), 7 Rolfo (I-Honda), 8 Haga (J-Yamaha),
9 Corser (Aus-Yamaha), 10 Xaus (E-Ducati),
Race 2: 1 Toseland, 2 MAX BIAGGI (I-Alstare
Suzuki Corona Extra), 3 Corser, 4 Haga, 5 Nieto (E-Kawasaki),
6 YUKIO KAGAYAMA (J-Alstare Suzuki Corona Extra), 7 Lanzi,
8 Bayliss, 9 Xaus, 10 Neukirchner
Points: 1 Toseland, MAX BIAGGI (I-Alstare
Suzuki Corona Extra) 45, 3 Lanzi 25, 4 Corser 23, 5 YUKIO
KAGAYAMA (J-Alstare Suzuki Corona Extra) 23, 6 Haga 21, 7
Bayliss 19, 8 Neukirchner 16, 9 Xaus 13, 10 Nieto 11,
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