Biaggi fights back with 'ring pole
Max Biaggi claimed his first World Superbike pole of this campaign, letting Marco Melandri know that he's not done with the title race.
Biaggi struggled last time out at the Moscow Raceway and went from a 10.5 point lead to a 18.5 point deficit.
However, the Aprilia rider made it clear at the Nurburgring on Saturday that he was not done with the Championship race.
Despite not setting the pace in the opening two sessions, Biaggi came out firing in the day's final run, posting a 1:53.855, a new Nurburgring pole position record.
Biaggi, though, wasn't alone in breaking the 1:54 barrier as Tom Sykes, the rider who has dominated Superpoles this season, clocked a 1:53.904 while Melandri wasn't far behind, just 0.008s down on the Kawasaki.
The trio will be joined on the front row by Eugene Laverty, who, as Biaggi's teammate, may be called upon to help the Italian similar to his slowing down move in Moscow.
The second row of the grid belongs to Jonathan Rea, reigning World Champion Carlos Checa, Leon Camier and Loris Baz.
Checa could yet lose any chance of retaining his World title this weekend as the Ducati rider rider trails Melandri by 75 points.
TIMES
01. Max Biaggi ITA Aprilia Racing RSV-4 1m 53.855s
02. Tom Sykes GBR Kawasaki Racing ZX-10R 1m 53.904s
03. Marco Melandri ITA BMW Motorrad S1000RR 1m 53.912s
04. Eugene Laverty IRL Aprilia Racing RSV-4 1m 54.148s
05. Jonathan Rea GBR Honda WSBK CBR1000RR 1m 54.300s
06. Carlos Checa ESP Althea Ducati 1098R 1m 54.322s
07. Leon Camier GBR FIXI Crescent Suzuki GSX-R1000 1m 55.165s
08. Loris Baz FRA Kawasaki Racing ZX-10R 1m 55.734s
09. Davide Giugliano ITA Althea Ducati 1098R 1m 54.540s
10. Chaz Davies GBR ParkinGO MTC Aprilia RSV-4 1m 54.800s
11. Lorenzo Zanetti ITA PATA Ducati 1098R 1m 55.671s
12. Leon Haslam GBR BMW Motorrad S1000RR No Time
13. Michel Fabrizio ITA BMW Italia Goldbet S1000RR 1m 56.290s
14. John Hopkins USA FIXI Crescent Suzuki GSX-R1000 1m 56.530s
15. Niccolo Canepa ITA Red Devils Ducati 1098R No Time *
16. David Salom ESP Pedercini Kawasaki ZX-10R No Time
17. Ayrton Badovini ITA BMW Italia Goldbet S1000RR 1m 56.256s
18. Sylvain Guintoli FRA PATA Ducati 1098R 1m 56.465s
19. Hiroshi Aoyama JPN Honda WSBK CBR1000RR 1m 57.101s
20. Lorenzo Lanzi ITA Liberty Effenbert Ducati 1098R 1m 57.504s
21. Maxime Berger FRA Effenbert Liberty Ducati 1098R 1m 57.729s
22. Brett McCormick CAN Effenbert Liberty Ducati 1098R 1m 58.177s
23. Alexander Lundh SWE Pedercini Kawasaki ZX-10R 1m 58.567s
24. Norino Brignola ITA Grillini Progea BMW S1000RR 1m 59.385
