IN
THE
WIND
P26
BIAGGI BACK
FOR LOSAIL
M
ax Biaggi's proposed ride in Losail, Oc-
tober 18, at the final round of the World
Superbike Championship, has been confirmed
in all regards now, having been reported as a
fixed plan but only very recently given the 100%
go-ahead.
He will make two, two-day tests before the
race itself at Losail, so that he can be as pre-
pared as possible for race weekend.
Having said he would be the "oldest racer on
the couch," not the oldest rider on the podium in
WSB after his most recent outing in Sepang, he
has had a change of heart. Via his own funding,
from his own backers, he will be out at Losail for a
full weekend of race action.
Gordon Ritchie
ALEX DE ANGELIS CRITICALLY INJURED
AT MOTEGI
F
ormer MotoGP podium finish-
er and current Ioda team rider
Alex de Angelis will be held un-
der close observation following a
serious crash during Free Prac-
tice 4 at the Japanese MotoGP.
De Angelis received lengthy
medical treatment at the scene
of his crash and was helicop-
tered to the Dokkyo Medical
University Hospital in Utsunomi-
ya, where doctors reported the
next day they were investigating
"intracranial bleeding." This is
bleeding on the brain, a poten-
tially very serious condition. He
was also diagnosed with a lung
contusion; several rib fractures,
as well as fractures to the T7-T8-
T9 vertebrae, a body fracture to
L4 and transversal process frac-
tures to T2, T4 and T8.
"There's a thoracic
trauma with bilateral ribs
fracture, on the left and
the right," MotoGP medi-
cal director, Michele
Macchiagodena, said in
a statement: "The early
checks also report five
fractured vertebrae, from
which three seem to affect the
body of the vertebrae. As of now
there's no neurological dam-
age but we'll have to make sure
those fractures are stable so the
medulla isn't affected. For now
it needs to be observed closely
in order to determine if surgery
can be avoided."
De Angelis, who has won four
GPs in the 250/Moto2 classes,
was struggling at the back of the
MotoGP field riding an obsolete
ex-CRT ART Aprilia for the E-
Motion Ioda team. He spoke re-
cently of the difficulties of having
to over-ride an underpowered
and overweight machine in the
premier class. CN
Max Biaggi will once again be on the WSB grid this year.
PHOTOGRAPHY
BY
GOLD
&
GOOSE
The popular Sammarinese rider has a
long road to recovery ahead of him.
