Courtesy of Aprilia

THE PORTIMAO ROUND STARTS OFF WELL FOR THE APRILIA ALITALIA RACING TEAM

One month after the first race of the season, the Superbike circus returns to Europe with the Portuguese round at Portimao. The excellent weather conditions and the track allowed drivers and their teams to work under optimum conditions, with Leon Haslam registering the top qualifying time of 1:43:476.

Max Biaggi finished in fourth place with a time of 1:43:688, just 0:212 behind the English driver on his Suzuki. Following the problems encountered at Phillip Island, the Roman driver was quite fast from the outset at the practice rounds that were held during the morning as he concentrated on his RSV4’s alignment.

It was ninth place for Leon Camier with a time of 1:44:041, with a difference of  0:565 with respect to his fellow countryman Haslam. The young British driver, who had his second race here last year with the 5-stroke 4 cylinder Aprilia achieving an excellent sixth place result in Race 1, tried out a different alignment on his RSV4 with respect to the winter tests.

"The bike is the same one that I used at Phillip Island,” said Biaggi. “No updates were made, but the situation has improved because the problems with vibrations and skipping that we had in Australia are much less noticeable. We tried a new setup with the suspension, which was studied at home by our technicians in the Racing Department, but it didn’t work, so tomorrow we’ll go back to the set-up that we’re familiar with in order to continue to progress.”

“We used the same suspension here as we did in the last race,” said Camier. “It was very different from the one used for the tests we did here and we got some results, even if we didn’t have any reference data. The pace of the race is good, even though I still have to find the single lap. The suspension still needs a lot of work, but I’m happy with what’s been done up to this point, considering that the others aren’t far behind.”

EXCELLENT SUPERPOLE FOR BIAGGI AND HIS APRILIA RSV4

The Superpole of the Portuguese round of the SBK took place today with excellent weather and track conditions at Portimao, which led to an exciting duel, with Crutchlow taking first place with the top time of 1:42:092, a new record for this track, ahead of Max Biaggi on his Aprilia RSV4 and Spaniard Carlos Checa.

Max Biaggi will start of from second place tomorrow after having stopped the clock at 1:42:513, just 0:421 behind the English driver on his Yamaha. The Roman driver, who, along with Smerz, had the best time from the qualifying round this morning, moved into Superpole 1 in third place using racing tyres. During the second stage he changed to his first qualifying tyre and passed the round in second position. In Superpole 3 Max battled it out until the end for pole position, but surrendered to Crutchlow who managed to set a new record thanks to a perfect, final intermediate time.

Leon Camier finished in eleventh place with a time of 1:43:039 who was not able to qualify for the final stage. The young British driver finished Superpole 1 in twelfth position with the first qualifying tyre. During the successive phase, he used the second one as well and stayed in the race for the Final 8 up until the last few seconds.

"I’m very happy,” said Biaggi. “This first row is the result of the excellent work that’s been done in recent days. After the problems we had in Australia, the situation here has improved a lot and we’ve returned to the competitive levels that we had during the final races of last year. The classification is quite a short list, we’re all very close, so it’s important to start off in front and this makes me optimistic about the two races tomorrow. I want to thank my team and the Aprilia technicians for the great work that’s been done up until now.”

“I’m a bit disappointed about this qualifying round,” said Camier. Unfortunately, once again I wasn’t able to find a good lap. On the other hand, I have an excellent rhythm and this is what keeps me calm for tomorrow’s races. It will be important to start off well and make a lot of passes during the first few laps in order to be able to keep up with the lead group from the outset and it will also be important not to make mistakes”.

RACE 1: BIAGGI DELIVERS VICTORY TO THE APRILIA ALITALIA RACING TEAM

It was a cut and dry victory, resulting from impeccable conduct by Max Biaggi on his Aprilia RSV4, who climbed atop the highest step of the podium following Race 1 of the Superbike Portimao round. Starting off from second position on the grid, the Roman champion immediately took the lead and set the pace for the rest of the race. Only Leon Haslam, on his Suzuki, was able to keep up with him. By the second lap, the two drivers had already broken away from the rest of their competitors and Haslam had even managed to move into first place during the eighth lap, trying to break away completely. However, Biaggi would not give up and the two continued to fight it out until the bitter end. Just six laps from theend of the race, Biaggi launched his final attack by taking advantage of a moment of indecision on the part of Haslam, who refused to let go, but was ultimately left inBiaggi’s wake. The final lap was breathtaking, with Biaggi closing off all opportunities for the Brit to attack and crossing the finish line in first place with a 0:200lead. Rea finished third after taking advantage of a slip by an aggressive Crutchlow during the final laps.

Leon Camier turned in an excellent fifth place result after starting off in a bottleneck and then managing a nice recovery. The young Englishman moved into tenth position during the first lap and began to regain ground thanks to an excellent pace from about mid-race on, recording the same times as Biaggi and catching up to Rea’s group during the last few laps. He lost the battle for fourth place to Checa by just a few hundredths of a second.

“Yesterday I had already said that the bike was working a lot better compared to the Phillip Island race,” stated Biaggi. “And considering last year’s results as well, I was aware of the fact that we would be able to have a good race. In the past few days, we worked very well and I was certain that I would finish in the top three. I mustthank my team and all of the Aprilia technicians who work here and at Noale. I’d like to dedicate this victory to my daughter Inès Angelica and to Eleonora“.

TRIUMPH FOR BIAGGI, WINNER IN RACE 1 AND 2!

Max Biaggi’s first dual victory in the Superbike World Championships arrived after a tense and exciting Race 2 that saw the Roman champ duel it out with his proud and speedy rival, Leon Haslam on his Suzuki. So it was a repeat of the first race won today by Max, in which he also beat out Haslam for the victory.

Jumping into the lead from the start, Biaggi was pursued by Haslam, but unlike in the first race, they were unable to break away from the rest of the crowd: Cal Crutchlow (Yamaha), Carlos Checa (Ducati) and up until the point when his engine failed, Jonathan Rea (Honda) remained close behind the two leaders, making the race even more uncertain.

A mistake just four laps before the end of the race seemed to have compromised Biaggi’s run. Biaggi, in the span of a curve, found himself relegated to third place, having been passed by both Haslam and Crutchlow. The Roman’s will to win was exceptional, and he immediately regained ground over the Brit on his Yamaha and took off after Haslam, who he managed two pass just two laps before the end of the race. Resisting the Suzuki bishop’s attempt to regain the lead, Biaggi crossed the finish line in first place.

Not since 1998 has an Italian driver (Pierfrancesco Chili at Kyalami) won a dual victory on an Italian motorcycle. With this double win Biaggi moves up to second place in the world classification with 69 points, behind his rival Haslam (85 points).

Aprilia Alitalia Racing Team’s triumphant day was completed by two fifth place finishes from the English driver, Leon Camier, who seemed to be improving continuously, and is by now quite comfortable on his Aprilia RSV4 and able to race for extended periods with the leaders.

“It’s a pleasure to be back on top after the problems we had in Australia,” said Biaggi. “We’ve improved with respect to last year. The pace was a bit slower in Race 2 and we were all quite close. It was really a great battle with a lot of passes and a few mistakes. I’m really very happy for this dual victory because it is truly a great outcome, both for me and my team, as well as Aprilia, which is really doing a great job.”

“I am very happy,” said Camier. “We did well in both races and set excellent paces. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to find my rhythm during the initial laps and this penalized me quite a bit. Now I also need to make improvements in this area. The familiarity with my RSV4 is improving with this new suspension and we’ve got a lot of work to do to keep moving forward.”

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