Race 2. Max Biaggi fourth in race two gains important points for the world standings. Leon Camier confirms great progress and after race 1 he is also a key player in an unlucky (for him) race 2.
Race 2 in the Dutch World Superbike round also proves itself worthy of the Assen track. Max Biaggi on his Aprilia RSV4 obtains a nice fourth place (behind Rea, Haslam and Toseland) which, together with the sixth place already earned in race 1, allows him to end the Dutch trip with second place and 20 points gap behind Leon Haslam (Suzuki) in the world championship standings.
For Leon Camier it was a difficult weekend to forget: first the podium, the first in his budding career in WSBK in race 1, and then a race 2 once again on the attack, again a key player. Leon battled in the group of leaders without any awe for his world class adversaries, nor intimidated by the track which he rode on for the first time this weekend. Camier crashed, without any physical consequences, in the penultimate lap while defending third place.
With this standing Aprilia jumps ahead of Ducati in the world championship manufacturer standings and lands in second place just 14 points behind Suzuki which is at the top.
At the end of the race Max Biaggi summed up the weekend like this: "I'm going home quite satisfied, especially if I think about how the weekend began, the difficulties we had in the practice sessions and then in the Superpole and - above all - about the fact that I started in eleventh place on a track where it is extremely difficult to overtake. In race 1 I struggled a bit to maintain the pace. In race 2, on the other hand, I got over the problems I had been having up to that point and it went better. But then certain difficulties came up and I want to concentrate precisely on these problems in the next tests in Misano with my RSV4. The season is long and these are important points".
"I'm obviously very pleased with race 1 - commented Leon Camier - my first WSBK podium. But crashing just 2 laps from the end of the second race really disappointed me. In the second part of the race I was very fast, the tyres slipped, but that was the same for everyone. Unfortunately I lost a lot of time behind Toseland; he was riding in strange lines which made him very difficult to overtake. Once in third place I saw the gap with Haslam getting smaller and I wanted to push for it by braking late, but I lost the bike and crashed. Oh well! We'll have to look at the glass as half full: we worked well, growing throughout the weekend, and this can't help but favour us for the next races. This week we have plans to test in Misano and this will allow me increase my familiarity with my Aprilia”.
Race 1. First WSBK podium for Leon Camier, Aprilia Alitalia third place. For Max Biaggi sixth place and important points in the world rankings.
Yet another podium (this is the fifth in a row thanks to the previous two victories, a second and third place all for Max Biaggi) for Aprilia Alitalia Racing Team.
But this time it was Leon Camier coming in third for his first world podium. The young Englishman started off well from the fifth position on the grid sticking close behind Corser (BMW) who led for much of the race. Leon battled in the group of the first seven, immediately on the run. And, in his first race on the Assen circuit, fascinating as it is difficult, he achieved an extremely important podium, coming in just over a second (1.248) behind the winner Rea (Honda) and 142 thousandths behind Toseland, second on his Yamaha.
Max Biaggi raced with great determination, launching forward from the eleventh position and, thanks to a magnificent start, stuck with the leading group of the race always staying in contact with the head of the rankings. Right down to the last lap launching a comeback and finishing just 2 seconds and 8 tenths behind the winner and only 75 thousandths behind Corser's fifth place.
For Max this is all about important points in the world rankings. In fact, thanks to this placing, Biaggi recovers 5 points against the leader, Leon Haslam, reinforcing his world second rank status, and he closes the gap to just 13 points from the lead.
