2012 World Superbikes - Round 14 - Biaggi champion

After a season of ups and downs, Aprilia Racing Team's Max Biaggi went into the final round a firm favourite to secure his second Superbike championship. The Italian had a 30.5 point lead over the next best placed rider, Kawasaki Racing Team's Tom Sykes. BMW Motorrad's Marco Melandri was also a mathematical possibility for the title, but being 38.5 points behind Biaggi and carrying injuries into the final round, needed a lot of cards to fall his way.

In qualifying, Sykes, Carlos Checa (Althea Racing Ducati 1098R) and Melandri were the early pacesetters, but come Superpole, Jonathan Rea (Honda World Superbike Team CBR 1000RR) and Biaggi's team mate Eugene Laverty were in the mix, too. Leon Haslam, in his last race on the S 1000RR for BMW Motorrad before moving to Honda in 2013, was also quick, but at the finish of Superpole 3, Sykes had secured pole ahead of Checa, Laverty and Melandri. Biaggi dipped out in Superpole 2, so would start from 10th on the grid.

RACE 1
With the penultimate race for 2012 declared wet, the conditions favoured previous rain-masters like Sylvain Guintoli (PATA Racing Team Ducati 1098R) and Loris Baz (Kawasaki Racing Team ZX-10R). The opening saw Sykes hold off Rea and Checa, while Biaggi threaded his way through the field to be in fourth after two laps. However, disaster struck for the Italian on the next lap, when he crashed while braking into turn 5 and was unable to continue. This opened the door for Sykes, who, if he held his place, could seriously threaten for the championship in race 2.

On the wet track, Chaz Davies (ParkinGO MTC Racing Aprilia RSV4) was another early crasher, as was Lorenzo Zanetti (PATA Racing Team Ducati 1098R), followed by Checa on lap 8. By this stage, Rea had made his way past Sykes to take the race lead, the two Brits holding station throughout the middle section of the race until a crash from Rea on lap 13 enabled Sykes to regain the lead.

Despite being in the box seat for the race win, Sykes' victory was by no means assured. Both Guintoli and Melandri were closing, both passing the Brit on lap 16. Sykes couldn't match the late race pace of the front-running pair, but had a handy buffer over fourth placed Maxime Berger (Red Devils Roma Ducati 1098R).

At the chequered flag, it was Guintoli by over six seconds from Melandri, with Sykes a further ten seconds back. This closed the gap between Biaggi and Sykes to just 14.5 points going into the final race. A win from Sykes and another DNF or finish in the bottom half of top ten, or worse, from Biaggi would give the Brit his first Superbike title, and the first for Kawasaki since 1993. Melandri's strong second-place finish meant he'd also gained ground, and went into race 2 only 18.5 points adrift of Biaggi.

RACE 2
A drier start to the second 23 lap race of the day saw Sykes once again take the early lead, while Biaggi floundered in tenth place. If these positions were unchanged at the chequered flag, Sykes would win the championship. Close behind Sykes on the track were Guintoli, Laverty, Haslam and Rea, little more than a second separating them for the opening half dozen laps.

Melandri's lamentable end to the season continued when he crashed on lap 6 on a track that was still damp in places. Haslam dropped out of the leading pack on the next lap when he misjudged a corner and rejoined the field behind Checa, Biaggi and Davide Giugliano (Althea Racing Ducati 1098R).

At the head of the field, Sykes continued to lead, but couldn't shake off Guintoli. Similarly, Rea was close behind the Frenchman, but most of the crowd were watching Biaggi. Up to seventh my mid-race distance, Biaggi still needed to make up places to take the championship. On lap 15, the Italian moved into fifth, which gave him the narrowest of title leads if he held that position, even if Sykes won the race.

While Rea and Guintoli traded places in the race's closing stages, Sykes was on rails at the front of the field. The tyre degradation that had seen him slip from winning positions in the past didn't seem to be apparent in the final race of the 2012 season, with the Kawasaki rider eventually crossing the finish line 1.35 seconds ahead of Rea. Guintoli completed the podium, followed by Laverty, with Biaggi in fifth. This gifted Biaggi the title - but by only half a point! If he had finished sixth, Biaggi would have lost the title by half a point. That half-point winning margin is the narrowest in Superbike history.

Biaggi's 2012 championship means he is now the eighth rider to have won multiple WSBK titles, joining the likes of Carl Fogarty, Colin Edwards, Troy Corser and Troy Bayliss amongst others. Biaggi's five race wins for the season was the lowest number achieved by a championship winner since 2002, but consistency paid off for the Italian, as his retirements and crashes were far fewer than those of his main title rivals, particularly Melandri. In total, the 2012 season produced nine different race winners.

Combined with his four titles in the 250cc Grand Prix class, this second Superbike title makes a total of six championships for the 41-year-old.

"This is the fourth world championship out of six that I've won in the last race. I guess I must like a difficult challenge!" said Biaggi.

"The 2012 season was tight to say the least: we started off well winning at Phillip Island after completely revamping my team, but we also had some difficult moments. We definitely worked for the title and maybe that's why it's an even sweeter victory.

"I'd like to thank the Team, Aprilia and Piaggio Group, from president Colaninno to the last worker because my success is just the tip of a great Italian company's work. I would also like to thank my family, my girlfriend Eleonora and my two children."

For his part, Sykes was philosophical about falling agonisingly short of the ultimate.

"We were on pole, took a new circuit record, got a podium and then a win and pulled back 30pts on Max Biaggi. Not easy against a rider of his level," said Sykes.

"Yes, obviously there is a massive disappointment on one hand because we were only half a point from the world championship. But on the other hand, being realistic, we are very happy and we have -- by far -- overachieved on expectations this year.

"We have been very strong and I think this weekend we have been particularly strong; hopefully next year we can be very consistent from the start."

With this round marking the conclusion of the 2012 World Superbike Championship, speculation has immediately started as to whether Biaggi will return for the 2013 season, or chose to retire as champion. Regardless of Biaggi's decision, all the other teams, riders and fans will be looking forward to the start of the 2013 season, which kicks off at Phillip Island from February 22 - 24.

2012 WORLD SUPERBIKE RESULTS - MAGNY COURS

Race one: 23 laps
1 Sylvain Guintoli Ducati 44'06.299
2 Marco Melandri BMW +6.127
3 Tom Sykes Kawasaki +16.595
4 Maxime Berger Ducati +21.657
5 Leon Haslam BMW +25.149
6 Ayrton Badovini BMW +32.778
7 Eugene Laverty Aprilia +34.311
8 Davide Giugliano Ducati +47.260
9 Claudio Corti Kawasaki +49.720
10 Loris Baz Kawasaki +50.192
Fastest lap: Guintoli - 1:53.143

Race two: 23 laps
1 Tom Sykes Kawasaki 38'15.725
2 Jonathan Rea Honda +1.354
3 Sylvain Guintoli Ducati +2.393
4 Eugene Laverty Aprilia +13.122
5 Max Biaggi Aprilia +13.956
6 Davide Giugliano Ducati +18.229
7 Carlos Checa Ducati +18.430
8 Chaz Davies Aprilia +26.647
9 Ayrton Badovini BMW +33.809
10 Leon Camier Suzuki +39.217
Fastest lap: Giugliano - 1:39.237

FINAL WORLD SUPERBIKE STANDINGS (AFTER 14 OF 14 ROUNDS)
1 Biaggi 358
2 Sykes 357.5
3 Melandri 328.5
4 Checa 287.5
5 Rea 278.5
6 Laverty 263.5
7 Guintoli 213.5
8 Haslam 200
9 Davies 164.5
10 Giugliano 143

Images: 2SNAP, courtesy of IRPR.