Max Biaggi Talks Day One At Sepang
Gordon Ritchie | July 31, 2015
PHOTOGRAPHY BY GOLD & GOOSE
SEPANG, MALAYSIA, JULY 31—Aprilia Racing Team’s Max Biaggi belted out the fastest lap of day one in Sepang, leading riders half his age as he did on day one at Misano.
But he was not overly optimistic of his race day chances despite his fine early showing and having taken part in a Sepang test a few days before.
“Before I came here I was more optimistic. I am first in the time sheets, I am more optimistic now,” said the double World Superbike Champion. “The last day of my test I was not that optimistic. Any advantage I had is finished because I did not so many laps anyway. Already by tomorrow it should be equal. But do not forget that these guys are used to going hard on the brakes, going in side-by-side with each other. This is what I miss (out on) the most. This is something you do not take in one day of testing; you need to have more races. At Misano the track was so tight so it was much more difficult to overtake there. Here, it is maybe double the width, so maybe there is some chance.”
When quizzed about the possibility that he may inadvertently change the championship outcome if he has strong races at Sepang, Biaggi shot back, “I have taken the wildcard because I know the championship is already compromised,” he said. “So I do not make a problem to nobody. In the championship Jonathan [Rea] is the leader. If he was side-by-side with 10, maybe 20 points, it can be a problem. But it is more than 100 points ahead. Johnny is sleeping in good hands. He can be safe and all the others cannot regret anything because he has dominated.”
Gordon Ritchie | World Superbike Editor
You may not understand Ritchie and his Scottish accent if you had him on the phone, but you can definitely understand what he writes as our World Superbike editor.
