Despite his top speeds at Monza, a win was not in the cards for 2010 champ Max Biaggi.
At the end of Superpole on Saturday it would have taken a brave man to bet against reigning world champion Max Biaggi from taking two race wins at Monza. The factory Alitalia Aprilia rider had decimated the opposition to secure pole and had also blasted his RSV4 through the speed trap at an incredible 208mph – a new outright top speed in World Superbike.
So not only did he have a speed advantage over his rivals, he also had his Aprilia well dialed into the 3.58-mile circuit and this combined with his pedigree at the track (he won both races in 2010) made him a dead cert for the win. The problem was that no one in Italy explained the script to WSB rookie and factory Yamaha rider Eugene Laverty.
While there was no question that Laverty was in good shape for the races – he’d qualified in second and had illustrated his pace on worn tires all weekend – he wasn’t expected to trouble Biaggi.
Having got to the front in Race 1 the calm Irishman went about his business of fast consistent laps, while his vastly more experienced rival, Biaggi floundered. A series of mistakes by the Aprilia man meant he ran wide at the slow chicanes and as a result was immediately attacked by Marco Melandri and Leon Haslam. The fact that he was battling meant that Laverty was able to ease away at the front to secure his first ever WSB podium with a comfortable 1.575-second race win.
In the second race it was clear Biaggi was going all out to make amends. By the end of Lap 1 he was in the lead and with a clear track ahead of him. With a clear top speed advantage, Biaggi stretched his lead and looked set for his first win in 2011. But it all went wrong on Lap 14 of 18 when an easily rectifiable mistake turned into a catastrophe.
A ride-through penalty in Race 2 dealt Biaggi a big hit in the points, sending Max back to third place in the overall.
Braking for the first chicane Biaggi locked the rear of his Aprilia and was forced to go straight on. It was an easy mistake to make but as long as he did not gain an advantage and rejoined the track in the correct place he would not be penalized. But despite having a comfortable 5.4-second lead and plenty of time to follow the correct procedure, he failed to rejoin the circuit between the designated lines marked on the track and was subsequently given a costly ride through penalty. The result was that instead of taking an almost guaranteed victory, Biaggi rejoined the race in ninth and finished eighth.
Both Biaggi and his team were distraught about the decision to penalize, but WSB race direction explained that Biaggi knew what he should have done when he over shot the chicane and that the decision was unanimous along with the FIM (sport’s governing body) that Biaggi had to receive a ride through penalty.
His mistake blew the race wide open but it was that man again, Laverty, that was the star of the show. Having got a disastrous start from the front row, he had to take evasive action at Turn 1 after Jonathan Rea (Castrol Honda), Leon Haslam (BMW Motorrad) and Jakub Smrz (Effenbert Ducati) crashed, he was as low as 13th place. But with each lap Laverty clawed his way toward the front despite over shooting one of the chicanes himself when he lost the front of his R1 under braking.
It ended up being a viscous fight for the win between Laverty and his factory Yamaha teammate Marco Melandri. Despite Melandri’s superior experience, it was clear that his bike wasn’t set-up as well as Laverty’s and after a game of cat and mouse on the final lap, Laverty held his nerve at the final corner, while Melandri braked late ran wide he held the inside line.
“To win one race is incredible but to win two after a fight like that with Marco is unbelievable. The Parabolica is the best part of the track for us. The bike works well there and it’s the type of corner I like riding. I get the thing stood up, on the fat part of the tire to get some grip and drive.
Laverty (58) outpaced the Monza competition in Race 1, but Race 2 featured a battle of the factory Yamahas as the Irishman battled with Marco Melandri (33) for the win.
We made a big break through with the bike at Assen with the set-up and even though the results weren’t great I left there really happy. Now it feels like it’s my bike which is vital when you’re racing at this level.”
Tires were once again a huge talking point at Monza. Throughout practice and qualifying the WSB riders had two potential options the SC0 and the harder SC1. The SC0 was the tire of choice to set fast lap times, over 0.5-seconds faster than the SC1 but on Saturday (in hotter conditions 41degree Celsius, 106 Fahrenheit, track temperatures) teams began to run into acute wear problems whenever teams tried to complete longer runs. The problems manifested themselves with the tire blistering after anything from between six to 12 laps, and in some cases the tire actually began to break up on the edge making it un-rideable and potentially dangerous.
While most teams were already working on using the harder SC1 tire for the races, some riders including Eugene Laverty and championship leader Carlos Checa, were convinced that they could make the softer SC0 tire last and with it have an advantage on their lap times. But on Saturday night Pirelli boss Giorgio Barbier called a meeting where he informed teams that they would not make the SC0 tire available for the race, meaning that for the first time every rider on the grid used the same SC1 tire.
In Supersport former AMA rider Chaz Davies continued his winning ways by securing his second win in a row to move to equal first at the top of the championship standings with Yamaha ParkinGO team-mate Luca Scassa. Davies topped every session throughout the weekend including pole, race win and fastest lap.
Chaz Davies took top honors in the World Supersport race at Monza, ahead of teammate Luca Scassa.
“Same setup since Donington. The weekend started on the right foot and we’ve been able to keep the momentum going. I don’t think I’ve ever had a weekend go as perfectly as this. To be honest I thought the win would have had a bigger effect than they have. I didn’t do anything different to what I have in the last two years; it’s just that now things are all coming together. For sure it lifts you a bit, but I didn’t approach this weekend any different. I’ve only won two races – I’m in no place to get complacent. I’m just trying to do the same thing as I’ve always done and keep focused.”
The Monza WSB race also attracted some big name MotoGP stars, who visited the circuit to take a look. Factory Yamaha rider Ben Spies made it onto the grid on Sunday. The Texan lives close to the Italian circuit and his team’s workshop is based literally meters away from the historic Monza circuit. He was joined by fast Italian Marco Simoncelli, who spent two days at the track with Honda and even tried Castrol Honda rider Ruben Xaus’s CBR1000RR Superbike for size.
