BIAGGI 2ND AT DONINGTON WSB
 Team
Alstare Suzuki Corona Extra rider Max Biaggi raced to two
podiums at Donington Park today aboard the new GSX-R1000 as
team mate Yukio Kagayama was forced to sit out the event due
to injury.
In mostly sunny, but very cold, conditions, the Italian took
a hard-fought-for third in the opening race after being ninth
at the end of the first lap. But better was to come in the
second race; he made a better start this time and fought Yamaha
team mates Troy Corser and Noriyuki Haga throughout the 23-lapper
after early leader James Toseland (Honda) went out with a
mechanical problem after two laps.
Biaggi charged into the lead after 14 laps and looked on
course for victory until he made a small error exiting the
final corner on the last lap, allowing Haga to take the chequered
flag instead. But his points tally today moves him to just
five points behind series leader Toseland with third-placed
Haga 12 points behind.
Max Biaggi:
"I'm pretty happy in one way - I got two podiums - and
a little bit disappointed because I should've won the second
race. I led going into the final turn but then ran a little
wide and that was just enough for Haga to slip through and
into the lead. The finish line is very close to the exit of
the corner so there was no chance of me being able to out-drag
him to the line. We all make mistakes and although it cost
me the victory, I still got second place and that, together
with my third in race one, means that overall it was a good
day.
"We didn't make any changes to the bike from the first
race to the second - apart from fresh tyres of course. In
the first race I didn't make a good start so I had a lot of
work to do to catch up the front three. It was about half
race distance by the time I did that and then I had to try
and catch James and Troy. James was too far away but I did
get pretty close to Troy by the end, but not close enough
to get past.
"Race two was a great race. Luckily the weather was
much better today and the fans that were here saw some great
racing. I had a big battle with Nori and Troy and nobody knew
who was going to win. I took the lead and I'm not saying that
it was an easy lead, but I felt pretty comfortable. I knew
that Nori was very close and that Troy was not far behind
either but I was happy to be in front going into the last
lap. Then a bit of a mistake by me in the final corner and
victory became a second! But that's racing! I'm really enjoying
my life here. I like the racing and I like the atmosphere
off the track because it is much more human and also more
relaxed. On the track we riders fight as hard as we can, but
afterwards it's good that we can smile together."
Yukio Kagayama:
"It was very frustrating for me being at the track,
feeling ok and not racing. I don't like it! Maybe the doctors
made the right decision but I still wanted to be out there
fighting, fighting, fighting… But now
I will get ready for the next race in Valencia where I hope
to get two good results because I want them and I need them."
Superbike Results:
Race 1: Toseland (GB-Honda), 2 Corser (Aus-Yamaha
Motor Italia), 3 Max Biaggi (I-Alstare Suzuki Corona Extra),
4 Haga (J-Yamaha), 5 Lanzi (I-Ducati), 6 Nieto (E-Kawasaki),
7 Laconi (F-Kawasaki), 8 Neukirchner (D-Suzuki), 9 Rolfo (I-Honda),
10 Smrz (CZ-Ducati).
Race 2: 1 Haga, 2 Max Biaggi (I-Alstare
Suzuki Corona Extra), 3 Troy Corser (Aus-Yamaha Motor Italia),
4 Xaus (E-Ducati), 5 Lanzi, 6 Laconi, 7 Rolfo, 8 Smrz, 9 Muggeridge
(Aus-Honda), 10 Neukirchner,
Series Points: 1 Toseland 115, 2 Max Biaggi
(I-Alstare Suzuki Corona Extra) 110, 3 Haga 88, 4 Troy Corser
81, 5 Lanzi 66, 6 Bayliss 64, 7 Neukirchner 46, 8 Xaus 45,
9 Rolfo 36, 10 Nieto 30. 12 Yukio Kagayama (J-Alstare Suzuki
Corona Extra) 23.
SUPERSTOCK 1000:
Despite starting in 19th place on the grid, Team Alstare
Suzuki Corona Extra rider Xavier Simeon finished in seventh
place in the first round of the Superstock 1000 FIM Cup at
Donington today.
Simeon made a superb start when the lights turned to green
and was in eighth place at the end of lap one, but there was
too much traffic for him to fight through to be able to advance
much further then seventh in the short eight lap race.
The race itself was won by Nicola Canepa (Ducati) with Claudio
Corti (Yamaha) second and Didier Van Keymeulen (Yamaha) third.
Xavier Simeon - 7th:
"I suppose I should be happy with seventh considering
my starting position on the grid. I suppose I feel a bit frustrated
because if I had been able to qualify higher, then I might
have been able to challenge for a podium place. Starting from
19th was not how I envisaged my debut in this class and I
really wanted to get the season off to a flying start. If
the weather had been better on the first day and I hadn't
had a tyre problem on day two, things might have been quite
different. But that's racing and I have to put today behind
me and concentrate on the next race in Valencia. I hope that
my qualifying goes a lot better there and I can finish on
the podium."
Superstock 1000 Results: 1 Canepa (I-Ducati),
2 Corti (I-Yamaha), 3 Van Keymeulen (NL-Yamaha), 4 Aitchison
(Aus-Suzuki), 5 Baiocco (I-Yamaha), 6 Dionisi (I-Suzuki),
7 Xavier Simeon (B-Alstare Suzuki Corona Extra).
Series Points: 1 Canepa 25, 2 Corti 20,
3 Van Keymeulen 16, 4 Aitchison 13, 5 Baiocco 11, 6 Dionisi
10, 7 Xavier Simeon (B-Alstare Suzuki Corona Extra) 9.
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