Resplendent in his white leathers made especially for his home round, representing the Italian flag and the Roma football team, Biaggi came over the line 5.638secs clear of his nearest rival.
With this impressive win and the points that come with it Biaggi has now pulled himself into joint second place in the championship. He is now tied on 347 points along side
Noriyuki Haga.
Troy Bayliss was the second man home on board his Xerox Ducati following a heavy battle with Haga. Completing the rostrum was
James Toseland on the Hannspree Ten Kate Honda who had an eventful race. He had a big moment on the opening lap which dropped him back to fourth place. However he pulled it back and grabbed third place beating Haga who was his main title rival.
The weather picked up for race day but the additional heat on track did give the riders some problems as Biaggi said, “For race one I struggle with rear grip and in race two it will be the same, it won't improve. We are all in the same boat, Troy and James rode a fantastic race. When I was behind Troy I could see he was having the same trouble as me.”
Bayliss agreed with Biaggi's statement saying, “The track is fast in the morning and slower in the afternoon. We can work on the bikes for race two but everyone was struggling for rear grip. I've had a few crashes this weekend and I feel I'm on the limit.”
Toseland was disappointed not to be further up as he said, “When you are fourth and want to be in front it is hard work. The boys were pushing so hard and I was losing the front and the rear everywhere. I'm strong in the first sector so I took advantage of that with Nori. Max rode well I guess because we are near his home town of Rome. Troy had the same problems as me and Haga. I want to be in front but that was the best that I could do but we'll see for the next one.”
