WSB - Biaggi win makes history

MAX BIAGGI sealed a thrilling championship win this weekend at Magny-Cours, beating nearest rival Tom Sykes by just 0.5 points overall.

Sykes put in a strong performance to finish third in the first race and first in the second race - sadly it was not enough.

Despite crashing during a wet race one, Aprilia Racing Team's Max Biaggi secured a fifth-place finish in race 2. The Italian was left with an overall margin of just 0.5 of a point, just sufficient to seal his second World Superbike title. Marco Melandri also started the final race challenging for the title, but he crashed out early leaving a two horse race for the championship.

With the season at a close, speculation has already begun surrounding next season. 41 year-old Biaggi hinted at retirement earlier this year. John Hopkins (Crescent Suzuki) has announced he will take a year off to recover from a string of injuries, while Leon Camier has commited himself to the team with a new contract. Meanwhile, Brit Leon Haslam has parted company with BMW after a frustrating couple of seasons, he will ride for PATA Honda in 2013.