Works Yamhaha rider Marco Melandri took the first World Superbike race win at Motorland Aragon this morning, waiting for Max Biaggi to make a mistake before snatching the lead while Carlos Checa crashed out at half distance.
Melandri shadowed Biaggi for most of the race, pressuring the Roman Emperor until he ran wide on the brakes from the long back straight, diving underneath and then pulling an immediate gap.
Leon Camier got another podium finish in third and, in his usual style, looked to be catching the leaders as the race wore on but ran out of laps. He lost the initial tow after scrapping with Noriyuki Haga in the opening minutes which allowed Melandri and Biaggi to get away.
Eugene Laverty and Tom Sykes has a terrific battle for fourth place which the young Irishman won by less than a tenth of a second as they crossed the line pretty much together. Haga brought his Pata Aprilia home in sixth with Joan Lascorz in seventh.
Ayrton Badovini led a trio of BMWs across the line in eighth. Leon Haslam and Troy Corser rode around together for the whole race with the Derbyshireman just pipping the Wollongong veteran with only a handful of laps to go.
