Portimao, October 16th, 2011 – The last two races of the 2011 Superbike season were full of comebacks and overtaking for the Team Aprilia Alitalia riders. Max Biaggi, who started from the fifth row, made his ambitions clear immediately: as soon as the red lights went out in Race 1, the Corsair rocketed from the seventeenth spot on the grid to eighth place with a lightning fast start. His comeback led him to recover ground on the riders in front of him lap after lap with consistent progress right up to the final passes (overtaking Melandri and Lascorz) which earned him a fourth place finish. His team mate, Leon Camier, got off to a good start, but was penalised when he overshot a turn in the first laps of the race. From twentieth position he fought his way back to a final twelfth place.

The script for Race 2 could have read similarly for Max had it not been for an imperfect start. The comeback staged by the five time world champion stopped at seventh place this time, right behind Leon Camier who rode a flawless race.

Max's less than perfect physical conditions due to the fractured metatarsus which kept him from competing in three rounds, certainly played an important role. In any case the Corsair is satisfied with his performance today: “It's a shame about the start in the second race, decidedly worse than the first. During both comebacks I obviously stressed the tyres quite a bit, but in any case I was able to bring a fourth and seventh place home after starting from the seventeenth block on the grid. Lap times were good, but unfortunately in Race 2 I began to feel my lack of physical preparation. It was a positive weekend because, having taken third place in the overall standings, I'll be able to keep the number 3 on my fairing for the 2012 season".

Leon Camier bids the Aprilia Alitalia Team farewell with two excellent performances, marred only slightly by his start from a less than optimum position on the grid.

“Two odd races for me – said Leon – because for long sections of the race I was among the fastest on the track. Unfortunately, starting from behind it’s always difficult to recover positions, especially in Race 1 because in the first stages I lost time going wide. I would have liked to end this experience on the podium. Unfortunately we weren’t able to demonstrate our true potential this year. I’d like to thank everybody anyway: my team for their constant support and Aprilia Racing for giving me the opportunity to race in World Superbike”.

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RACE 1 
1- C.Checa (Ducati)
2- S.Guintoli (Ducati)
3- J.Rea (Honda)
4- M.Biaggi (Aprilia)
5- J.Lascorz (Kawasaki)
6- M.Melandri (Yamaha)
7- M.Berger (Ducati)
8- T.Sykes (Kawasaki)
9- L.Haslam (BMW)
12- L.Camier (Aprilia)
 

RACE 2 
1- M.Melandri (Yamaha)
2- E.Laverty (Yamaha)
3- J.Rea (Honda)
4- C.Checa (Ducati)
5- S.Guintoli (Ducati)
6- L.Camier (Aprilia)
7- M.Biaggi (Aprilia)
8- J.Lascorz (Kawasaki)
9- A.Badovini (BMW)
10- M.Berger (BMW)