Biaggi - reasons to love him or hate him

Yet again, Max has behaved like a ... and should've known better. This was being discussed in the Doni WSB thread, and Cankles was querying an incident with Hodgson - (Christ, there have been that many over the years) Anyway, I thought I'd post this in the GP forum, because really, that's where we remember him most fondly - or rather the reverse where most are concerned - including a score of team managers, and practically every factory race team.

The original point; I can't remember where, but when Neil rode for Dantin Ducati, Max, as he is very fond of doing, obstructed him during qualifiying - for no reason, it wasn't even as though it was towards the end of the session or he was on a hot lap. It was so serious, and so dangerous, Hodgson went straight for his garage, and was an inch away from his face, and by all accounts about to batter him, but was ushered out by the HRC mechanics. The Nicky incident was a near collision in pit lane as I remember. Max's whole career is replete with crap like this. If you read "What if I'd never tried it" it mentions him riding in the paddock on his scooter into other 'peds, broadsiding people and locking on to them like an exocet missile. He's even been known to pull practice starts during qualifying, when other riders are still on a live lap.

O.K, off the top of my head - 10 reasons not to like Max Biaggi:

1/ The ludicrously and meticulously sculptured perfectly symmetrical beard.
2/ He supposedly once had tea with the Pope.
3/ As fellow Roman, he was good friends with Michael Fabrizio, which is bad enough in itself, but he dropped him like a stone after the crash at Misano. Then there was his affected liking for Makoto Tamada, not, as one would assume because they were teammates, but purely it would seem because he managed to beat Rossi twice in one season.
4/ Talking of crashes at Misano - the Haga incident, and to cap it all, he did it in front of a visibly amused Rossi, who was trackside on a scooter.
5/ The smart car adorned with Camel and Max logo's, the purpose of which being purely to expedite his motor home driver to and from his hotel. That'll be the same one that was inverted at Mugello and spun around on it's roof by a shitfaced Kurtis Roberts.
6/ He once dated Naomi Campbell
7/ He's managed to fall foul of practically every factory he's ever been in the service of - the recent return to Aprilia is as much about clever marketing as it is repairing an old fued.
8/ His red Marlborough Yamaha one piece was right up his crust. The spray on red leather effect was perhaps not as becoming as the formerly more comforting and aesthetic 'chesterfield' leather - which perhaps afforded more comfort in the 'seat' of his arse (Not that I made a point of looking mind)
9/ Talking of Crust..he never got on with him - nor did he make any attempt to ingratiate himself with the Brit run factory Yam squad - and Geoff was a good guy. Checa meanwhile, moved to Yorkshire to be close to the team, and even started drinking Tetleys.
10/ The absurd advertisement for Alpinestars, when he was dancing in his motorhome in a towel in the company of a couple of hot blonde chicks. Nothing wrong with that you may say - only it clearly wasn't his motorhome, they were a couple of hired models, and he uses Dianese kit!!!
11/ He retained the number 3 because his marketing company hopelessly overestimated his popularity, and produced far too much merchandise in one season. They then wanted to use it the following year - straight up.
12/ His favorite band is Queen. Again, nothing wrong with that, I love 'A Day at the Races' but come 'race day' you really want something slightly more cathartic to psyche you up Wayne Rainey style. Or even Gary McCoy, who drowned the paddock out with Slayer and Megadeth, so did Hopper...(although McWilliams said that they used to call him D.J. John on account of his very, very .... taste in music). Meanwhile, you can picture Max, in his motorhome, shaking his head, but not to something that kicks ...., like 'Tie Your Mother Down' but effing 'I want to break free' 'Radio Ga Ga' or 'It's a Kind of Magic'

Reasons to like Max Biaggi:

None.

No, I'm sure I can think of some. O.K he definitely won the pre podium bust up at Catalunya on points, and that was with that .... Badioli holding his hands behind his back while Rossi punched him in the face. Extra points awarded for his flippant remark in the press conference when asked about the cut on his face - "a mosquito bit me". Then there was that wheelie across the line in Brno. I liked the way he took a win on his maiden outing on the Suzuki in WSB at Qatar - add to this his win first time out on a 500 in '98 was it? - in fact his entire rookie campaign that year was impressive. Oh, and while we're at it, I suppose it's quite hard to ignore those four 250cc world championships.

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (heng47 @ Jun 30 2009, 08:44 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}><div class='quotemain'>I like the way he rides, wish he would be more aggressive sometimes but it's really nice to watch.
Granted. They always say, if you want a lesson in how to ride a bike smoothly just watch Max. Currently, he's sublime on that Aprilia. I'd also say the same about Corser, and Dani - technically, the way his body position and his inputs so meticulously influence the bike, I find utterly stunning. Problem is, smooth or not, none of the aforementioned trio seem to have any fight anymore. IMO. riders who are so smooth, frequently either struggle when it comes to exchanging paint schemes, or like Biaggi and Corser in particular, find it difficult to ride around problems. Corser is renowned for his set up/developmental skills, but like Max, if something's not right, and they can't get the bike within 99% of how they like it, they can't ride it.

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Jumkie @ Jun 30 2009, 09:53 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}><div class='quotemain'> Your knowledge of the sport and ability to compose is awesome my friend, some day we will meet over a brew and talk shop. You know, I think I wrote something similar but my premise was rather opposed to yours, as I vaguely recall, I wrote a post proposing reasons why he was unjustly hated. I can't really be bothered to look for it (maybe Roger remembers it), but I contend that he was hated because a rivalry (real or imagined) spawn between him and Rossi. I have felt he was a misunderstood character and that this stemmed much from being abandoned at a young age from his mother (which seriously, would have a devastating effect on anybody). I think he is a hasty driven man, some of which has manifested as arrogance but in other instances has manifest as brilliant racing. I for one don't hate the guy, though your post went a long way in second guessing myself.
I'd forgotten the hair transplant Stevo

Max's childhood is in all seriousness a very, very, good point.

Firstly, Max is renowned for a great deal of charity work, and much of this is covertly behind the scenes and so is not done for effect. He's always been brilliant at The Day of Champions, and Randy mentioned on air, on a great many occasions, the tireless charity work that he does, and the interest and time that he's devoted to Riders For Health.

This is so significant what you say here Jum, because I remember several years ago at Welkom, some orphaned children were brought to the circuit, and Max devoted all his spare time when he wasn't on the bike towards making sure they had the best weekend possible. I put two and two together at the time, but recently, I'd completely overlooked his experiences as a child.

I also remember, one year at the Day of Champions, his motorhome, which was parked a few bays from Rossi's was besieged. I mean there were hundreds of people, hanging off both Max's and Vale's. Personally I don't even think Rossi was there, but Max came out and allowed himself to be mobbed, signed autographs, and was generally and genuinely cordial. To be honest, it was too much. The day is supposed to be about Riders For Health, not some human zoo. I remember that year people shoving cameras through a window in the Ducati hospitality while Loris and Ingrid were having their pasta lunch...(I mean have some respect), and the brigade of yellow regaled families all cussing Vale, because he hadn't come out to sign autographs for the kids - Jeez, like a say, he probably wasn't even at the circuit until auction time in the evening. Actually that was the best time to catch the riders, just before they took to the stage. Previously, they came into the back of the exhibition hall behind the stage. One year, my daughter, who was only 11 at the time, slipped through the barrier, the security took pity on her, and she waited two hours - eventually getting Valentino and Sete's autograph on a post race handshake poster. (Thinking about it, where he hell is that now?). They were only too willing because of the way she went about it, and because it hadn't been reduced to a rugby scrum. I certainly wouldn't have expected either of them to have hung around in the paddock all afternoon, or to have poked their heads out of the motorhome to have done this. That said, Max did, and he certainly didn't have to. Shame he often doesn't acquit himself so well on a race bike.

I don't hate Max, but I hate some of the bonehead things he's done - and it's quite easy to lampoon him, perhaps in the process, losing site of the real man.

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (roger-m @ Jun 30 2009, 10:39 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}><div class='quotemain'>when i went to valencia i was talking to a couple in a bar. The woman was telling me about there pit lane experience, the one thing i never forgot was how freaked out she was by biaggi's dad. she said he was just lurking around the garage looking at women rubbing himself through his trousers. She said he was like a grubby dirty old man. The look on her face while she was telling me convinced me she was quite disturbed by it, altho i laughed when being told. Now every time i see max that storys comes to mind
It could very well have been his Uncle, the guy that I was on about on the Superbike thread, who vaulted the barrier in Pac Ferme at Assen and attempted to throttle Marco. He was banned from the paddock, and tellingly, Max was later to be exiled.