Biaggi stands on the verge of winning his first world championship title in 13 years...
Max Biaggi heads to the penultimate round of the 2010 World Superbike Championship on the cusp of wrapping up the title on home soil at Imola.

The Italian heads to the event with a comfortable 58 point cushion over the only other rider capable of overhauling him, Leon Haslam.

With 100 points available with four races remaining, Biaggi merely needs to finish ahead of Haslam in both races to seal the crown, or at worst ensure the buffer between them stands at no less than 50 points at the end of the weekend.

Should Biaggi go on to secure the title this weekend, it will signal a series of landmarks for himself, his Aprilia team and also the World Superbike Championship as a whole.

Indeed, while he is considered one of the most successful riders of the modern motorcycling era, Biaggi has not won a world title since his 250cc win with Honda back in 1997.

Additionally, Aprilia would be winning its first manufacturers' world title in World Superbikes, becoming only the fifth company to do so in 22 years after Honda, Ducati, Suzuki and Yamaha. It would also be achieving it in only its second season with the RSV-4.

Perhaps the most surprising landmark Biaggi – who would become one of the series' older winners at 39-years-old – is set to reach is the fact he would become the first Italian winner of the World Superbike title. Indeed, only Americans, Britons, Australians and a single Frenchman has won the WSBK riders' title previously.

 

As much as I disliked him during his GP years, i'm rooting for him in WSBK (obvious bias towards the RSV4 too). He seems to have been humbled a bit over the years.

 

^^^+1,000! Apparently he has bad blood with Fabrizio but you could never tell by his attitude these days. And he rides that RSV 4 beautifully so you gotta luv it!

 

I love it he deserves it, but Haslam is trying hard and Rea (not in contention) has been on a tear

 

Funny enough I felt the same way during his GP days......I hope he does win!

 

new guy here. does anyone on this forum cut and paste AND attribute the source of their comment?

Biaggi on the verge of 2010 WSBK title | WSBK News | Sep 2010 | Crash.Net

 

If he wins it, ti will be great to see! I feel bad for Haslam...Factory Suzuki hasn't given his team any new parts since basically the 2nd or 3rd round. Might even be sooner than that.

 

Isn't he 100 years old by now??? I was never a fan even in early MotoGP days ... but damn. Rooting for Aprilia anyways.

 

Hats off to Aprilia for pulling it together this year. They definetly had the best package on the grid.

I'll never be a pirate fan though. There's something lost in the credibility for me when a rider downgrades classes. Kind of like when Lorenzo wins this year. Sure he'll have the title, but everyone will remember this season for Vale not being there to challenge.

 

True 'dat.