Max Biaggi, Italian motorcycle racer
Massimiliano "Max" Biaggi (Italian pronunciation: [ˈmaks ˈbjaddʒi]; born 26 June 1971) is an Italian retired professional Grand Prix motorcycle road racer who is a 13-time Premier Class race winner. He is a 4-time 250 cc World Champion, 2-time World Superbike Champion and 3-time runner-up in the Premier Class in 1998, 2001 and 2002.
After winning 4 consecutive 250 cc titles in 1994, 1995, 1996 and 1997 Biaggi moved to the 500 cc class in 1998 and immediately finished runner-up to Mick Doohan with 2 victories with Honda. This earned him a move to the Factory Yamaha Team in 1999. In his 4 seasons with Yamaha Biaggi collected 8 victories and finished runner-up to Valentino Rossi in 2001 and 2002. Then he moved to Camel Honda in 2003. But only managed third place in the championship in 2003 and 2004 beaten by not only Valentino Rossi but also Gresini Honda rider Sete Gibernau. A sole winless season followed in 2005 with Factory Honda Team and Biaggi was replaced by Dani Pedrosa for 2006 even though he got 4 podiums and a 5th place in the championship. This proved to be Biaggi's final season in MotoGP.
In 2007 Biaggi switched to the Superbike World Championship finishing third overall as a rookie and earned his first Superbike World Championship in 2010 becoming only the second European from outside the United Kingdom after Raymond Roche to do so.After winning a second Superbike World Championship in 2012 at the age of 41, Biaggi retired from racing. But he came back in 2015 in Malaysia as a wildcard to get a podium at the age of 44.
A consistent rider, In all of his 8 seasons with MotoGP/500 cc Biaggi finished inside the top 5 in the championship standings and 3 times as championship runner-up in 1998, 2001 and 2002. Winning a race for 7 consecutive seasons in the Premier Class from 1998 to 2004. Biaggi's 13 wins, 58 podiums and 23 Pole Positions in the Premier Class makes him one of the most accomplished riders to not win the MotoGP World Championship.
He is nicknamed 'il Corsaro' ('the Corsair') and 'the Roman Emperor'. In 2020, Biaggi was named a FIM Road Racing Legend.