Max Biaggi ruled out of WSBK Qatar finale

Max Biaggi’s attempt to rewrite his own record as the oldest rider to ever win a World Superbike race—three years after the last time he stepped on top of the podium—has been put indefinitely on old. The Italian was scheduled to make his third and final appearance of the year in the season finale in Qatar, for which he duly prepared with four days of night testing at the Losail circuit last week. Just before flying back to Qatar, however, Biaggi sustained an injury while training on his mountain bike, straining his left leg abductor and abdomen.

“I'm sorry but I won't be able to ride in the last WSBK round,” Biaggi stated. “I crashed badly during one of my usual training session on the hills of Montecarlo, compromising my participation. This is the news I wish I'd never I have to tell. Me and Aprilia were ready to do great things, I'm really disappointed.”

In a dark twist of irony, Biaggi is only the last in a long list of riders who recently sustained injuries while training. For example, only a few weeks ago, Marc Marquez fractured his left hand riding a bycicle, while Jorge Lorenzo dislocated his shoulder on a pocket bike.

“It's a difficult moment,” he added. “I would take the risk and still ride only if a title was on the line. It's impossible to race in my current condition.”

Biaggi may possibly have another chance next year. However, Aprilia's future in WSBK is still blurry and, as negotiations with the Abraham team to join forces in the production-based championship stall, the chance not to see any RSV4 on the grid in 2016 is ever more likely.