Team Alstare Suzuki Corona Extra rider Max Biaggi charged his way from the third row of the grid to grab second place in race two at the Valencia World Superbike Championship fourth round in Spain this afternoon.
The Italian stormed through the field, lap by lap, to fight the leaders James Toseland (Honda) and Noriyuki Haga (Yamaha) in the closing stages. He dived past Haga on the very last lap and then attacked Toseland in the final few corners, but just couldn t get past the Briton.
His tremendous performance in the second race was the highlight of the day for the team after taking a hard-fought eighth in race one.
Team mate Yukio Kagayama was a low scorer in both 23-lap races due to his injuries and some tyre problems.
Local hero Ruben Xaus (Ducati) won the first race after a terrific battle with Troy Bayliss (Ducati) and then Haga after half distance. The Spaniard dominated proceedings after about 12 laps and took a comfortable win by nearly two seconds. Bayliss took third, with Troy Corser (Yamaha) fourth, Toseland fifth and Lanzi (Ducati) sixth.
Race one winner Xaus was again in contention in the first half of race two but then was passed by Toseland and Haga before succumbing to pressure from Biaggi on lap 16. Once Biaggi passed the Spaniard, he set about reeling in Haga and Toseland and managed to sneak past Haga when the Japanese rider left a small gap three or four turns from the end. He closed in on leader Toseland but the youngster held him off to take the chequered flag by just over two tenths of a second.
Max Biaggi - Race 1: 8th, Race 2: 2nd:
“A mixed day but it is good to finish on an up with a podium in the second race. Valencia is a very difficult track to race at unless it is perfectly dry. When there are damp patches around it is very tricky and you have to concentrate 100% all the time. I didn t have such a good feeling in the first race - some of the problems that we ve had all weekend and also some other minor ones. We made some changes to the bike for the second race - clutch feeling, a few clicks on the suspension - and put on a harder front tyre and certainly the tyres worked better, also possibly because the track was completely dry.
Starting from the third row of the grid is always a challenge and I couldn t attack the first corner because of all the cement dust there from a crash earlier. That had left a lot of oil on the track and it had to be cleaned and then cement dust put down. That meant there was only really one line through the turn so I couldn t use a different line and pass a few people straight away. I got held up by traffic but I was pushing hard right from the start for sure. I kept up a good fast pace and at the end I felt I could get past Nori and that s what I did. I tried to catch James but just ran out of time and laps, but I am happy to get second today after starting from 12th place. “
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