Biaggi delight at WSB success

Added on Monday, September 27th, 2010 by Carole Nash Editor | No Comments

Max Biaggi could not hide his delight at becoming the first Italian to with the World Superbike Championship after Leon Haslam’s second race retirement meant that he claimed the crown at Imola yesterday.

In the penultimate round of the season, the Aprilia rider could only finish 11^th and 5^th over the two races in Italy but that was enough to open an unassailable 63 point lead over Haslam, who finished fifth in race one following a mistimed attempt to pass race winner Carlos Checa on the final lap and then retired from race two after an eleventh lap engine failure.

Biaggi was understandably delighted at claiming his first WSB title and Aprilia’s first since they returned to superbikes just one year ago.

“I’m so happy; it’s a big emotion through all my body,” he claimed. “This is fantastic. It’s like a dream come true, I never stopped to dream to make it happen. It was always in my mind.

“In fair conditions I expected it myself, OK this year we at Aprilia did a good job, there are tough riders out there, I don’t want to take anything away from them, some are more consistent than others but they are all fast and this championship is very competitive.

“I had so many problems in race one, off the track, on the track, the bike sideways but I didn’t crash. It was very tough, for sure we didn’t get the best set-up here at Imola, it’s not an easy track but I never stopped to try. In race two we changed the bike and I attacked from the first lap.

“This is a really great day for me, for all my team, for Aprilia Alitalia, my sponsors, everyone who supported us to make this dream come true. We really made it happen.”

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