BIAGGI TAKES PHILLIP ISLAND PODIUM
Team Alstare Suzuki Corona Extra Max Biaggi and his GSX-R1000K7
raced to third place in the first World Superbike race at
Phillip Island today and was on course for another podium
in the second before losing out on the very last lap.
 Biaggi
leaves the Australian circuit in second place in the Championship,
16 points behind leader James Toseland (Honda).
Biaggi'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.
Troy 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. Biaggi 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. Biaggi 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 Biaggi - 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.
WSB 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).
Championship 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 Kagayama (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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