Aprilia's Max Biaggi lead the majority of the laps during Race 1, until being challenged by Ducati's Noriyuki Haga in the final stages of the race. With only 4 laps to go, the Japanese rider managed to pass the crowd's favorite and never looked back. He eventually won his first race in more than 4 months (Kyalami) and got closer to championship leader Ben Spies in the standings.
“This is my first win since Kyalami and I am very happy, I really enjoyed that race. This morning we had a little problem and I thought it would be difficult to make good lap times for 21 laps, so for the race we made a modification for the suspension and things were better. I am really happy for the win because my dad came over for this race and I got the win, so I dedicate it to him!” said Haga after the first race.
The second race on Sunday was a whole different story however, with a reloaded Fabrizio powering to the win unchallenged by anyone. With a new arm and an insatiable desire to win, the Italian rider left teammate Haga no chance for a double triumph at Imola, while championship leader Ben Spies was struck by bad luck in the late stages of the race.
While trying to pass Aprilia's Max Biaggi and Marco Simoncelli in the final chicane, the American rider lost control of his bike and went off the track, rejoining it in 5th place. Due to this incident, Spies also lost the lead in the overall classification, where he is now 3 points behind Haga with 2 rounds to go.
“Today I really wanted victory in race 2. In the first race unfortunately I had a problem with my arm, and I just missed out on the win. For race 2 I fixed everything, I changed my arm and I changed Nori and went on to win! I am happy for the Ducati Xerox team, today all the Ducati top management were here so Nori and I cut a good figure! For sure I think we deserved the renewal of our contract!” said an enthusiastic Fabrizio after Race 2.
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