From a press release issued by Honda Racing:

Max Biaggi aiming for top step on Mugello podium

The magnificent 5.24km Mugello circuit, in Toscana Northern Italy, plays host to the Italian Grand Prix on the weekend of June 4-6. Toscana so popular with Italians and tourists alike for the peace and tranquility of its rolling hills and long winding valleys will show its other face when the MotoGP circus arrives for the weekend. The race is bound to attract spectators in their scores of thousands to watch their hero’s battle it out in round four of the 16 round MotoGP word championship.

Mugello brings out the very best in all GP riders, a superb mixture of tight slow corners, fast sweeping curves and a long front straight form the perfect package that almost guarantees close high-speed racing. The stars of MotoGP are household names in Europe, Rossi, Biaggi, Capirossi and Gibernau chief among them and few will look beyond the four for a likely winner at Mugello.

Sete Gibernau, Telefonica MoviStar Honda, leads the series by virtue of two brilliant victories and a third place but the majority of the expected crowd of 75,000 will be cheering for one or other of the three Italians.

Of the three only Max Biaggi has yet to win his home GP. The Roman Emperor as he is known to his legion of fans, goes into Mugello with his best chance ever of securing the one race win he most wishes to have on his CV. He sits in second place in the championship ten points behind Gibernau having taken podium places in each of the three previous grands prix.

Biaggi won three consecutive 250cc grands prix at Mugello, but the big prize has eluded him. Max has raced in the leading group in MotoGP races at Mugello on several visits but a second place and two third place finishes from his last three appearances at Mugello have left him more determined than ever to win this time round.

The Camel Honda rider said of Mugello. “Of course Mugello is very special to me. First of all I love the track. Even if it was not my home grand prix I would love it, the layout is one of the best on the calendar…the long fast main straight, corners such as ‘Bucine,’ the section from which leads from ‘Casanova Savelli,’ to the two ‘Arrabiatta’ are poetry for the riders. And I also like the downhills so much; they give you a real thrill when you ride. Last but not least there are the fans, they really make you feel supported, they push you to give your best. With four Italians riders in MotoGP, with Ducati in search of revenge, and all the other riders keen to show they can also run at the front I can predict a new record number of spectators at the track.”

Biaggi refuses to be drawn into pre-race predictions but following the successful Camel Honda post race test at Le Mans the Italian was in buoyant mood on return to his home in Monaco.

“I prefer to approach this race as any other race. I feel in good shape, the bike is performing very well indeed so far, even with a few problems at Le Mans we got on the podium. I’m second in the championship. It’s only the fourth race; it’s not a case to make too much strategy. We did some good set up tests at Le Mans and we’ll see if they also prove useful for Mugello. Anyway, things have not been so bad so far, have they?” Said a very relaxed Biaggi.

Biaggi is not one for TV and lazy down time between races. In his free time since Le Mans Max has been actively supporting his favourite charities and was also a guest of the Renault team at Monte Carlo to watch his friend Jarno Trulli take pole position then go on to win the Monaco Grand Prix.

“Mama mia, no I don’t watch too much TV especially reality shows such as Grande Fratello (Big brother) I prefer to live my day rather than watch others doing it. It’s like a transfer, like switching on the TV and switching off yourself.” He said. “No, I like to follow he news, the sports programmes and a good movie. I like a lot of action movies. ”

Biaggi a passionate soccer fan has dedicated a lot of his free time to charity work over the years and is deeply involved in work for Solidarity. “It’s ten years already that I’ve been playing in the F1 soccer team for Solidarity. The idea appealed to me immediately because of its total transparency and immediacy, given that it wasn’t the normal way of doing things. It was more of an impersonal way to do something for good causes, but it required a direct and long-term involvement, and the results were there to see. They were tangible and concrete, and at the end of every evening you knew that a certain amount would be passed on to various charities. Also it involved my second greatest passion after motorcycles, soccer. We had a match on the Tuesday before Monaco F1 GP and it was a good way to relieve the tension of the Le Mans race. On Saturday I went to visit the F1 paddock and was happy watching Jarno getting his first pole from his pit garage. He made a perfect lap on Saturday and a perfect race on Sunday. In the paddock I met an idol of mine, Emerson, who plays for AS Roma, my favourite soccer team.”

His record of 41 GP wins, 55 pole positions and 101 podium places speaks volumes, Max has the ability and the equipment to achieve his goals at Mugello next Sunday. The Camel Honda team is working well, his confidence is high, and he will not lack support from his legion of very vocal fans, the rest lays in his hands.