Team Alstare Suzuki Corona Extra rider Max Biaggi won the first race at Vallelunga today, much to the delight of his legions of fans who had packed the 4.110 kilometre circuit, then followed that up with a hard-fought for runner-up spot in race two to move into second place in the World Superbike Championship.

Biaggi overtook Bayliss after three laps of the first race and then immediately began to extend his lead lap by lap. He took the chequered flag by a comfortable margin with Troy Bayliss (Ducati) second and James Toseland third.

In race two, the Italian once again battled Bayliss for the lead and looked as if he was going to pass the Australian at the two-thirds distance mark, but he ran wide at one of the turns and lost ground. That was the breathing space Bayliss needed.

In a day of dramatic racing, Yamaha came away with both their rider and manufacturer championship still hopes alive. Haga came third and fourth in today's races with Corser finishing in fifth in the second race after a DNF in race one.

Race one had a spectacular start as Corser lost the front and crashed out on the first lap while Haga almost crashed but managed to move into third in front of Toseland. He then proceeded to take the fastest lap three times to catch Bayliss and Biaggi who were battling for first. Having caught Bayliss, Haga tousled and swapped places with him many times before Bayliss made it stick on lap 17. The battle up front had given Toseland the chance to catch up and challenge Haga for third position; a challenge which he eventually won.

Race two was equally exciting with the usual suspects of Bayliss, Biaggi, Haga, Toseland and Corser up front and challenging for position. Bayliss took an early lead but Haga was quick to chase, along with Biaggi.

Team Alstare Suzuki Corona Extra rider Max Biaggi set the fourth quickest time in Superpole at Vallelunga and will start tomorrow's pair of 24-lap races from the front row of the grid.

His team mate Yukio Kagayama failed to make the 16-rider Superpole shoot-out, due to pain in his right hand and knee - a legacy of his crash just two weeks ago at the Eurospeedway Lausitz. But tomorrow morning he will try and ride in the warm-up and see if it is possible to race.

Superpole was full of drama, with series leader James Toseland (Honda) crashing out when he was on course for the fastest lap. In the end, reigning champion Troy Bayliss (Ducati) just managed to beat his fellow countryman Troy Corser (Yamaha) to take Superpole. Third fastest was Spaniard Ruben Xaus (Ducati), with Biaggi fourth.

Corser will start from second on the grid in tomorrow's races, having been beaten by Bayliss at the last minute to the top slot by 0.126 seconds. His team mate Haga took fifth position in a day of set-up challenges and Superpole drama.

This morning's qualifying session was an unremarkable affair with both riders focusing on finding the best set-up for the race. Corser started top of the leader board and remained there until towards the end of the session. Despite improving his own time by 0.009 seconds he was marginally beaten to the top slot by Bayliss and Xaus. Haga went eighth fastest in qualifying, concerning himself with his settings rather than grid position.

It was in Superpole that events got exciting. Haga was first of the Yamaha Motor Italia riders out of the box and he was the first rider in the session to set a 1'36 time, despite suffering with vision problems caused by his visor.

The first day of qualifying at Vallelunga went well for the Yamaha Motor Italia WSB Team today, with Corser claiming provisional pole and Haga just behind in third.

The day started off wet and quite cool following overnight rain, with temperatures only hitting 19°C compared to the scorching 50°C experienced during testing here in July. The difference in weather conditions meant that the data gathered in the test proved less helpful than hoped during this morning's free practice. But both Corser and Haga didn't let this faze them and got on with the job of finding the best set-up for the conditions. By the end of the session Corser was fastest with Haga in fourth.

This afternoon's qualifying session was a dry affair, giving the team the chance to find a dry set-up.

Team Alstare Suzuki Corona Extra rider Max Biaggi ended the first day of qualifying at Vallelunga in Italy with the fourth fastest time, even though he was not really pushing hard.

He spent most of the day working on a good bike set-up so that he could get comfortable on the bike as team mate Yukio Kagayama was still feeling the effects of his crash in the last round at the Eurospeedway Lausitz where he broke a bone in his right hand. Despite the pain and discomfort, he managed to post the 14th quickest time of the day.

Aussie Troy Corser (Yamaha) set the fastest time in today's qualifying with a lap of 1:37.537 just ahead of his fellow countryman Troy Bayliss (Ducati) and Noriyuki Haga (Yamaha) third.

This Sunday sees the penultimate round take place at Vallelunga, near Rome in Italy and, with only two rounds to go and 41 points separating Haga from first place, this race is key to Yamaha's fight for the championship.

The previous round at Lausitz could well prove to be a corner stone in Haga's title fight as he took a win and second place, cutting the gap between him and first place by 25 points. The impact of this result will only really be understood after this weekend's race.

Vallelunga is a new circuit on the WSB calendar but it won't be totally new to all the riders following a testing session there in July. Built in 1959, the track was originally a sand mile oval but it has been upgraded over the years and is now set to host its first WSB race.

Team Alstare Suzuki Corona Extra head to the 12th round of this year's championship at Vallelunga in Italy anticipating a good result for hometown hero Max Biaggi.

A huge turn out of fans is expected at the track, situated 15 minutes or so from the Italian capital of Rome. Although it will be a 'home race' for Biaggi, he has not raced there for over 10 years; he has tested at Vallelunga two times - once last November and in July this year - but knows that the weekend ahead will not be an easy one, as the other top teams have also tested there. His team mate Yukio also took part in the July tests, but the coming race weekend will be a hard one as he has not yet fully recovered from his recent knee and hand injuries.

Michael Laverty finally confirmed himself as the number one rider in the British Supersport Championship, taking the title for Relentless Suzuki with a penultimate round victory at Donington Park.

Ian Lowry played the perfect wingman's role for his senior team-mate and the 20-year-old Moira rider also hoisted himself back into second place in the championship with his efforts at the Derbyshire venue.

Laverty, who had set the pole position time in Saturday's combined qualifying sessions, only needed a fourth placed finish to secure the title, and in a race that was to run in two parts, the Toomebridge man kept his head while others failed to do so, taking the victory in a re-started eight-lap sprint on his Pirelli-shod GSX-R600.

American Motocross legend Ricky Carmichael ended his career on a high note by taking his Makita Suzuki RM-Z450 to yet another victory and his third team success in the Motocross of Nations.

The 27 year old raced to third and first positions in two hot and fast appearances at a sell-out Budds Creek circuit to assist the United States to their 18th victory in the historic competition that has been running since 1947.

The AMA record-breaker in both Supercross and Motocross disciplines appeared in front of passionate fans numbering 74,000 in his last competitive motocross event. Carmichael was honoured with a lifetime career award prior to race day and demonstrated his phenomenal talent and speed by coming back from the rear of the pack to take third position in the first moto despite a crash on the second corner.