Biaggi podium protects HRC status?

It is no secret that Max Biaggi has been under pressure to perform for his new Repsol Honda team after a troublesome end to pre-season testing and then a forgettable performance at the season-opening Spanish Grand Prix, but the Italian's Estoril podium - combined with a DNF for Sete Gibernau and another poor race for team-mate Nicky Hayden - could well have helped restore HRC backing for the Roman.

Hayden, Checa, Bayliss, Portuguese MotoGP Race, 2005
Hayden, Checa, Bayliss, Portuguese MotoGP Race, 2005
© Gold and Goose

It is no secret that Max Biaggi has been under pressure to perform for his new Repsol Honda team after a troublesome end to pre-season testing and then a forgettable performance at the season-opening Spanish Grand Prix, but the Italian's Estoril podium - combined with a DNF for Sete Gibernau and another poor race for team-mate Nicky Hayden - could well have helped restore HRC backing for the Roman.

To be absolutely clear, the issue isn't that Biaggi's ride is at risk - but that he is battling to hold his position as Honda's number one rider, and therefore the man to whom the factory turns when seeking direction for future machine development.

With Sete Gibernau having been given a full factory RCV for the start of this season, as a reward for finishing runner-up to Valentino Rossi for the past two years, and with Hayden entering his third season with the factory team, Biaggi has faced stiff competition to justify HRC's undivided attention - especially as Honda seems more open than ever to the principle of backing Gibernau at least equally should he emerge as the top RCV rider.

Gibernau's performance at round one, when he alone battled with Rossi for race victory while Max finished seventh, looked likely to swing support towards the Catalan's Movistar Honda pits sooner rather than later - but his mistake while leading on Sunday, combined with a distant seventh for Hayden - means that of the 'factory' trio, Biaggi is now the lead Honda in the title chase, holding fourth behind Rossi, Barros and Melandri.

Of course, both Barros and Melandri are also on Hondas, but Barros had his chance of factory support last season - and seems to respond more to having the Pons team around him than the latest parts - while Melandri has only started two races on a Honda and, while impressive, is probably best served at present by continuing to learn his machinery.

All of which means that Biaggi has momentum on his side heading to China - but the pressure is far from off and he needs to at least match Gibernau at the Shanghai event, and is looking for electronic improvements to help him do so.

"Someone has said that today Max Biaggi is back. Let me tell you: Max Biaggi has always been there. But today we also had a very good bike," declared Max. "Even if we can do much, much better. HRC's potential is far higher than that.

"Unfortunately I had to race with the second bike because bike No.1, the machine I had the better feeling with, had a technical problem. Definitely, today's third place leaves us satisfied. I'm happy for me and especially for my team: finally I saw them smiling and I thank them all.

"This podium was really needed to recharge our batteries on the way to China's GP. Our job is not done yet, but we are on the right way: the answer I am looking for is in the electronics," he revealed.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the Repsol pits, Hayden was considering his disappointing seventh:

"I'm not very happy about the race at all or the way the whole weekend went really," admitted Nicky. "We didn't seem to click all weekend and I never felt 100% comfortable on the bike.

"I got good drive at the start but lost places on the first turn. During the first few laps, when the tyres and the track was good, I was making progress. Then things just seemed to go off and I went backwards.

"It's difficult to describe how wet the track was in parts. I just wanted to hang on, get some experience and get some points. There are a lotta' races left and we've gotta' lot of racing left to do," he concluded.

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