Between his first cautious outing on an '06 GSX-R at Magny-Cours back in October and the buildup to the opening event of the new World Superbike season, we can count at least six separate preseason tests for the winner of Race 1 at Losail, Mr. Max Biaggi. A fair amount of track time, you have to admit, but for a guy who had been arguably run out of the MotoGP paddock and forced to sit out a year of racing, he probably needed every single minute of it to prepare for the World Superbike field this year.And it clearly has worked: On the brand-new '07 Corona Alstare GSX-R1000, Biaggi stunned the World Superbike regulars by winning the first race outright and finishing a strong runner-up in the second.Why did we call him "Mr." Max Biaggi?Simple. We have to argue the case that what Biaggi actually won was more than just a share of the championship lead, as he entered the second weekend of the 13-round SBK championship. He also won back respect from some quarters of the racing world. And we would imagine that this respect is more important to Biaggi than almost any other racer.
His last few MotoGP seasons were not his best. And in terms of fan reaction around the world, pure race results and attempts at projecting a positive public image outside his own loyal fan base, Biaggi had been soundly outmaneuvered by the phenomenon that is Valentino Rossi. In taking an enforced yearlong hiatus (due to burned bridges with nearly every manufacturer), then switching to a different world championship series and winning his first time out, Biaggi has created--if not quite earth-shaking history--the biggest seismic shift in what could have reasonably been expected since...well, since '06 WSB champion Troy Bayliss' cameo victory at the final MotoGP round at Valencia last year. So this game of global rider switcheroo, an exchange program of wonderful strangeness, has shown us a few things. One is that top-class riders from either series, which are run on different tires, on different kinds of bikes and with vastly different budgets, can obviously interchange--if only when given factory support as the backbone of the package. Another is that as a top-level racing force, Biaggi is by no means past his prime. The only thing that matters in racing, really, is results. And "rookie" Biaggi beat the entrenched World Superbike field straight up, no explanation or excuse necessary. This is by no means any small feat, because this season's WSB series is rock-hard in terms of evenly matched talent on increasingly factory-supported bikes. So to win even one race is an achievement worth smiling about.If Biaggi's opening win was impressive, then former WSB Champion James Toseland's start-to-finish victory in Race 2 at Losail can hardly be much less so. Perhaps we should call him Mr. Toseland now as well?
Every time Toseland takes to the track, he seems to be better than the time before. No big-step changes, no sudden epiphanies of heavenly throttle control, but rather gradual and relentless improvements. And he wears his determination this year like an aura. He smiles more frequently than other riders, but with an inner toughness that is visually apparent. Like Nicky Hayden in MotoGP, one minute the young Brit was a good rookie with good bikes, then the next he's a title prospect. Toseland may be the youngest-ever WSB champion (winning the title in 2004 for the Ducati factory in a thin year of works machinery where sheer grit and desire paid off after a wobbly start), but just a couple of years after taking the title he is now a much improved, more well-rounded winner.
But Biaggi and Toseland's achievements may have overshadowed what was arguably the most significant event at Losail. Current WSB Champion Troy Bayliss, an industrial-scale vacuum cleaner for points and race wins last year, was clearly suffering some kind of technical and psychological blockage at the opening race. He can make errors when he tries too hard, as he has done at key points in the past, but in Qatar it looked like self-inflicted technical and mechanical mistakes all 'round in the Ducati camp. The only high point for the team was a battling third for teammate Lorenzo Lanzi in the opening 18-lapper, despite his slide back down the order to seventh in Race 2.