Max Biaggi clinched his maiden World Superbike Championship title in the penultimate round at Imola on Sunday.
Veteran Italian clinches crown after Haslam suffers engine failure
Max Biaggi clinched his maiden World Superbike Championship title in the penultimate round at Imola on Sunday.
The former MotoGP star came into the weekend with a 58-point lead over Leon Haslam and was guaranteed the title after the Briton's retirement from race two left him with an unassailable lead.
The final round of the season is at Magny-Cours in France next weekend.
Biaggi was running ahead of Haslam when the latter suffered an engine failure in the second race, leaving the veteran Italian to cruise to fifth place aboard his Aprilia.
Carlos Checa was the other rider with much to celebrate after claiming victory in both races on the weekend he penned a new two-year contract with Althea Racing Ducati.
The wins were the Spaniard's first since the opening round of the season in Australia back in February, and lift him to fourth place in the riders' standings.
Pressure
Checa was forced to fight for his first win after coming under sustained pressure from Haslam in the closing laps, but the Briton ran wide at Rivazza on the final lap and could only manage fifth.
Lorenzo Lanzi (DFX Corse Ducati) finished second while Noriyuki Haga (Ducati Xerox) completed the race-one podium in third.
Jakub Smrz (Pata B&G Aprilia) snatched fourth from Haslam while surprise pole-sitter Tom Sykes (Kawasaki Racing Team) came home in sixth.
Biaggi could manage only 11th in race one, a result which left Haslam with a slim chance of taking the title race to a decider in France.
Race two was less frenetic, with Checa setting a new lap record as he comfortably led home from Haga and Cal Crutchlow (Yamaha Sterilgarda).
Sykes finished fourth with fellow Briton Shane Byrne (Althea Racing Ducati) coming home sixth just behind Biaggi, whose title was confirmed when Haslam's engine blew on lap 11.
