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2023 Author: Nicholas Abramson | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-05-21 14:58
The Italian pilot Max biaggi has achieved the double in the Grand Prix of Portugal of the Superbike World Championship held today at the Portimao circuit. The pirate took the victory after a beautiful fight with what will undoubtedly be the man to beat this year, Leon Haslam, second in both races.
Jonathan Rea in the first and Cal Crutchlow in the second, would take the third box of the podium while Carlos Checa he would make two quarters and a surprising Leon Camier with the other Aprilia, who would finish both races in fifth position.
First Race
With the traffic light off, Max biaggi he shot out of second position and took the lead, closely followed by Leon Haslam and Troy Corser. Troy would not last long in that position and would quickly be overtaken by Jonathan Rea, who would not be able to keep up with the Italian and the English.
As the laps went by. Max Biaggi was still in the lead although at no time was he able to outrun Haslam. From behind the differences between the riders were reduced, with Rea, Checa and Leon Camier riding very close together to dispute the third step of the box.
In the last two laps, expected an attack from Leon Haslam to Max Biaggi, but he perfectly knew how to defend the first position and crossed the finish line first with just two tenths of a second ahead of Haslam.
From behind, cakes were distributed until the end, although Rea managed to hold third with Carlos Checa less than four tenths and Leon Camier with the second Aprilia just seven thousandths behind the Spanish.
Noriyuki Haga was eighth, in a bad race for the official Ducati team since both Checa's private bike and Shane Byrne's finished later than the black leg. That if, he could disguise a little the horrible classification that he had made and that made him start from eighteenth position. Troy Corser was finally tenth, just ahead of his teammate Rubén Xaus.
Second race
The second race had a very similar development to the first. Max biaggi He was back in the lead followed by Leon Haslam. The Brit would try to make the Italian nervous in the first laps as they swapped positions a couple of times. However, Max would take the lead again and do what he knows how to do better than anyone: impress a strong rhythm forcing Haslam to go hook.
The British could do nothing to avoid the second victory of Max Biaggi and although he managed to overcome it, he could not prevent it from hitting him and he returned to recover the first position in the last corner. From behind, the thing was entertained again and the third box of the podium was played much closer to the head of the race. Cal Crutchlow was able to make good his pole obtained yesterday and rose with the third position while Carlos Checa repeated the fourth position.
Again Aprilia's teammate and winner last year of the British, Leon camier, finished in fifth position. Be very careful with him who does not know half the circuits and has jumped from a Yamaha to an Aprilia but is already getting good results.
Noriyuki Haga was repeating eighth place, again with two satellites ahead of him but having recovered ten places in the race. Troy Corser also repeated tenth place and Rubén Xaus was twelfth.
In the provisional classification of the World Superbike Championship, Leon haslam maintains the first position with 85 points. Max biaggi climbs to second position with 65 points while Carlos Checa he is third with 60 points.