2007 Superbike World Championship
Round 2, Phillip Island, Australia
Sunday 4th March
Circuit: 4.445 kms. Crowd: 63,250 (3-day). Conditions: Dry,
sunny/cloudy 21-23 C.
PODIUM FOR MAX IN OPENING RACE. FOURTH IN THE SECOND.
Team Alstare Suzuki Corona Extra Max Biaggi took a superb
third place in the first race at Phillip Island today and
was on course for another podium in the second before losing
out on the very last lap. A third and a fourth means that
Max leaves the Australian circuit in second place in the championship,
16 points behind leader James Toseland (Honda). Max’s
team mate Yukio Kagayama was a non-starter today, due to a
heavy fall yesterday, but the Japanese rider should be fit
for the Valencia tests on March 18th and 19th.
Bayliss (Ducati) and Toseland battled it out for victory
in the first race, with Bayliss taking the win in front of
his home fans by just over two seconds. Max took third after
a tremendous charge up the field in the closing laps after
disposing of both Troy Corser and his Yamaha team mate Noriyuki
Haga. The second race saw yet another Toseland v Bayliss fight,
but this time it was Toseland who took the honours by a narrow
margin. Max had fought both Corser and Yamaha again in the
closing laps and was about to take third, until Haga muscled
past on the last lap and held on by less then a tenth of a
second
MAX Race 1: 3rd, Race 2: 4th
I enjoyed the racing again today, especially getting a podium
in the first race. From Friday until today, I never really
got a good feeling with the front end of the bike and that
probably prevented me from getting two podiums here. Tyre
wear is always a problem at Phillip Island and I think I was
more aggressive in race two and tyre went off more - certainly
more then in race one. Our bike was pretty close today and
now we will work more on set-up details and getting it working
better for the next race at Donington. I am not unhappy today,
though it would’ve been good to take that second podium.
Results
Race 1: 1 Bayliss (Aus-Ducati), 2 Toseland (GB-Honda),
3 Max Biaggi (I-Alstare Suzuki Corona Extra), 4 Haga (J-Yamaha),
5 Troy Corser (Aus-Yamaha Motor Italia), 6 Lanzi (I-Ducati),
7 Xaus (E-Ducati), 8 Neukirchner (D-Suzuki), 9 Nieto E-Kawasaki),
10 Martin (Aus-Honda),
Race 2: 1 Toseland, 2 Bayliss, 3 Haga, 4
Max Biaggi (I-Alstare Suzuki Corona Extra),, 5 Troy Corser
(Aus-Yamaha Motor Italia), 6 Xaus, 7 Lanzi, 8 Fabrizio (I-Honda),
9 Neukirchner, 10 Rolfo (I-Honda),
Points: 1 Toseland 90, 2 Max Biaggi (I-Alstare
Suzuki Corona Extra) 74, 3 Bayliss 64, 4 Haga 50, 5 Troy Corser
(Aus-Yamaha Motor Italia) 45, 6 Lanzi 44, 7 Xaus 32, 8 Neukirchner
31, 9 Yukio Kagayama (J-Alstare Suzuki Corona Extra) 23, 10
Nieto 20,
YUKIO (from the Alfred Hospital in Melbourne)
According to the doctors here, I am recovering very well.
I have had a lot of X-rays and checks and maybe there is one
more check to come. The good news is that I haven’t
broken anything! When I crashed, I was sure that I had broken
my collarbone and maybe some ribs, but I have escaped those
injuries. My crash was a high-side at the second corner and
I went up into the air before coming back down onto the bike.
I must have banged my chest on the fuel tank and that’s
when the damage was done. Then I fell down and my first feeling
was that I had hurt my lung or chest in some way because I
had the same type of pain as when I crashed at Paul Ricard
circuit in 1999. That time I damaged a lung and this time
I felt the same - that is a problem with breathing.
At the moment my shoulder joint is very tender and the doctors
here are advising some sort of surgery - not immediately,
but some time in the future. But I do not want this now, so
I will have to wear very heavy strapping when I am on the
bike again, at the Valencia tests. As for my lung; there had
been some tubes in yesterday, but this morning only one small
tube and that will come out later today, followed by some
more checks. If everything is OK, I can leave the hospital
this evening.
My priority is to get back to Japan as soon as I can, see
my own doctors and then get better quickly. But, my problem
is that sometimes, with this type of lung injury, normally
you are advised not to fly for two weeks! I think I will be
able to fly before that time, but I still will have to stay
in Australia for a week or so. This means lots of rest and
maybe some time on the beach! At the moment, I am positive
that I will be at the Valencia tests (March 18-19) and be
ready to race at Donington at the end of the month. This is
my plan.
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