WSBK: 2010 Brno Results

The Aprilia Alitlalia racer has called Brno his favorite track Biaggi ended a two-year winless streak in Race One in 2009 to earn the Aprilia RSV4 its first WSBK victory and having won four consecutive races, Biaggi was favored to win again at Brno.

Race One Highlights

Biaggi got off to a strong start in Race One, taking the holeshot. Shorty after, Ten Kate Honda s Max Neukirchner made contact with Team Pata B&G Aprilias Jakob Smrz, leading to a crash that also took out Paul Bird Kawasaki s Chris Vermeulen.

Back at the front, it was Biaggi battling for the lead with Ten Kate Hondas Jonathan Rea with Superpole winner Cal Crutchlow of Yamaha Sterilgarda and a surprising Ruben Xaus of BMW also challenging for the lead.

Rea eventually separated himself from the other frontrunners while Biaggi was caught up in battles first with Xaus and later with Crutchlow. Rea would continue to win by 2.518 seconds ahead of Biaggi with Crutchlow taking third.

At the start I didnt really know what was going on but I ended up going to the front, says Rea. This race win I'd like to dedicate to my team boss, Ronald ten Kate, who is not here with us this weekend. Today it was like out there on the bike I could do nothing wrong, now Ill go back to the guys and prepare a better bike for race 2 and see what we can do. I just had to capitalize on Maxs weaknesses in some corners, it was a really difficult race out there and very hot.

Race Two Highlights

Xaus took the early advantage in Race Two, building on his season-best fifth place result in Race One. Xaus lead was short-lived however as Rea quickly moved ahead.

Biaggi pushed past the BMW on lap three to move behind Rea. The two riders swapped the lead while Xaus and Michel Fabrizio fought for third behind them. Xaus appeared to be on his way to his first podium appearance on the season before crashing out on lap 15 of 20.

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Back in front, Biaggi had separated himself from Rea and cruised to win by 4.627 seconds. Ducati Xeroxs Fabrizio would finish third.

With the win, Biaggi claims his ninth victory of the season including seven wins in the past ten races.

Knowing the track quite well here and the passion of the fans in the Czech Republic, we tried something really special and made some changes on the bike, weight distribution and gearbox and the result was very good so I'm happy, says Biaggi. For me it's the tenth victory here, and this is my second home country. I love this place!

Biaggi now leads Suzuki Alstaires Leon Haslam by 68 points in the championship standings. Haslam had a disappointing weekend, finishing eighth in Race One and tenth in Race Two. Haslam led after the first five rounds of the season but has just one podium finish in the past five races. The two podium appearances in Brno pushed Rea past Althea Ducatis Carlos Checa into third place.

Xaus had his strongest weekend of the season, being competitive in both races but came away with only 11 points. He was BMWs only entry at Brno as teammate Troy Corser was unable to compete after crashing hard in a practice session.

Vermeulen pulled out of Race Two on the second lap after aggravating an existing knee injury in his Race One crash. Vermeulen will miss the remaining four rounds of the season as he may require surgery to repair his damaged knee ligaments.

Smrz had a disappointing race on his home home circuit. The Czech racer competed in his first race since the Pata B&G Racing Team decided to switch to the Aprilia RSV4 from the Ducati 1098R. Smrz failed to finish a race in the prior two rounds and the new bike made no difference as Smrz crashed out of both races in Brno.

The 2010 WSBK Championship continues Aug. 1 in Great Britain on the newly restructured Silverstone Circuit.