World Superbike News

Max Biaggi got his season off to a terrible start last week at Phillip Island after two crashes left him with a broken wrist and no points.

It started badly when Biaggi’s gear-lever broke in Superpole and he had to leave the grid from sixteenth place. He did at one time look like the only man on the track who could match the awesome pace of Bayliss but he pushed too hard going into MG corner in race one and lost the front end. He then went on to do the same in race two but this time at the super-fast turn one where he crashed out at 170mph.

Biaggi said “The problem with starting from 16th on the grid was that I had to overtake riders continuously and push so hard. In the first race I just lost the front at MG corner. In the second one I braked very hard and the rear of the bike whipped sideways and threw me off the side of the bike.”

Biaggi was lucky to get off so lightly as the Ducati 1098RS came dangerously close to landing on top of him as it flipped end over end. He was treated at the track by the Clinica Mobile where his broken wrist was diagnosed. He will probably be in a cast for up to 21 days but is expected to be fit for the Valencia race at the beginning of April.