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Did anyone happen to read this one?

Biaggi gets Repsol backing



Max Biaggi could be edging ever closer to full backing from the Honda Racing Corporation (HRC) after his satellite Camel Honda team announced on Monday that the Italian is to receive backing from Repsol, the Spanish oil company that backs the factory Honda team, for the remainder of the season.


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Interestingly, the move comes just tree races into the 2004 season that has seen factory riders Alex Barros and Nicky Hayden produce unsatisfactory results, with neither even getting close to a place on a podium despite possessing the same backing that helped Valentino Rossi dominate the last two season.

It seems that Repsol has lost patience with the factory duo and has turned to Max Biaggi to bring home the results what with Sete Gibernau reported to be already receiving increased backing from HRC thanks to his win at the Jerez Grand Prix earlier in May and his current position of championship leader.

"We are very pleased to announce the renewal of the partnership with Repsol,” said Camel Honda team boss Sito Pons, “which will guarantee the provision of the highest quality racing products, specifically designed for our RC211V, to cover all our technical requirements.”

Further proving that Biaggi is Respol's man for the job, it is believed that the Italian's team-mate Makoto Tamada will not receive the same backing.

The Camel Honda team remained at the Le Mans circuit for an extra day's testing on Monday, where Biaggi is reported to have tested new parts for his RC211V. “We have tried a few different solutions with the electronics which have solved a major part of the problems and, above all, given us better traction,” said the Emperor.

“I have also done some endurance testing, working on the consistency of the bike with different front suspension settings and I am satisfied.”


from eurosport.com