Indeed, Biaggi had fought his way back into the podium reckoning mid-way through the race before setting a furious pace as he beat down the advantage of the two leaders. Catching them with only two laps remaining, all three riders rode nose-to-tail throughout the final lap, but not one was able to do anything more than a feigned look.
Biaggi's appearance actually allowed Kiyonari to get a little bit of breathing space as he swept over the line for a long-awaited first win around a circuit that has been very kind to him in the past.
“I am really happy to take my first win in World Superbikes,” he said in the ensuing press conference. “There is a big satisfaction to win here. The Honda has a perfect set-up and I have been feeling good this weekend, so I hope I can win again in race two.”
Just behind, Bayliss held off Biaggi by just five hundredths of a second as they crossed the line almost alongside each other.
Five seconds down the road, Suzuki showed an impressive race pace, compared to their speed in qualifying, as Kagayama claimed fourth having come out top in a battle with Alstare team-mate
Fonsi Nieto.
Carlos Checa made it a good day for Ten Kate in sixth after a significant improvement over his qualifying performance, while Max Neukirchner dropped valuable points to Bayliss with a run to seventh place.
Corser was a disappointing eighth after fading quite dramatically from his initial strong start, while Jakub Smrz was ninth after never recovering from a poor getaway off the front row of the grid.
Roberto Rolfo equalled his best result of the season in tenth place, ahead of
Lorenzo Lanzi, who had the fillip of finishing ahead of
Michel Fabrizio on the works Xerox Ducati.
Kenan Sofuoglu made it three Ten Kate bikes in the points, while Gregorio Lavilla and Chris Walker gave Vent Axia VK a double points finish in 14th and 15th places.
