Melandri and Biaggi on top at Brno
Added on Sunday, July 10th, 2011 by Carole Nash Editor | No Comments
Melandri and Biaggi on top at Brno
Marco Melandri and Max Biaggi were the men to beat at Brno today, after each scored an impressive win following two exciting races.
The first race was a frought affair right down to the wire, with three riders all within touching distance of tasting victory. After starting from pole position, Biaggi soon lots the advantage to a charging Melandri, however he never lost touch with his fellow Italian rider.
By the time the chequered flag fell, Melandri may have had the lead, but Biaggi and championship leader Carlos Checa were breathing down the neck of his Yamaha World Superbike machine every step of the way. As the lead trio swept across the finish live there was just a minute 0.436 seconds separating them.
Michel Fabrizio swapped his sixth place grid start for fourth at the chequered flag. It had looked as though the Suzuki Alstare rider would potentially make an appearance on the podium at one stage, however after suddenyl slowing he steadily took a fourth place finish.
As the twenty lap race progressed some riders suffered a more difficult outing than others. Despite starting on the front row of the grid, Eugene Laverty was ushered down the order to fifth at the chequered flag. Behind, Ayrton Badovini rocketed through the pack to move up a number of places, as he weaved his BMW Motorrad Italia SBK machine to a strong yet lonely sixth place finish.
Leon Camier was next up in seventh place, on the second Aprilia Alitalia bike, inches ahead of the pursuing Leon Haslam. The Leon duo were harrassed all the way to the closing stages by Joan Lascorz and Tom Sykes, with the latter two rounding out the top ten.
Race two was another very close affair, with the win being decidedly open right until the very last second. After watching his countryman take the victory first time around, Biaggi decided it was his turn to taste honours in race two, however it was not an easy fight.
The Aprilia Alitali rider was hounded all the way to the chequered flag by Melandri, with the pair eventually crossing the finish line just 0.222 seconds apart. In a battle even closer than that of race one it was another thriller for the crowds at Brno.
Again strengthening his stake to the 2011 crown, Checa completed the podium once again to claim another strong batch of useful points. The Althea Racing rider now has 293 points to his name, ahead of Biaggi on a total of 263 points. A positive weekend has enabled Melandri to catch up in the standings, he now has 240 points.
With the top three positions taken care of, Fabrizio again enjoyed a strong showing to finish fourth, with Laverty not far behind in fifth. Badovini again completed a good run to pass the chequered flag in sixth place, however quite a way down on fifth place.
Haslam and Lascorz battled to a close finish, with Haslam taking seventh ahead of the latter. This time around it was Sylvain Guintoli and Noriyuki Haga who rounded out the top ten. A number of retirements were seen in this second race, with Brits Camier and Alex Lowes among them.
The next round of WSB excitement takes place at Silverstone, on the 31st July. Checa will be keen to extend his lead at the top of the standings, however Biaggi and Melandri will be right there with him.
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