Italy’s Max Biaggi has one hand on the Superbike World Championship title for 2012.

Biaggi will take a comfortable 30.5 point lead over Britain’s Tom Sykes into the final round of the 2012 World Superbike Championship after his two solid finishes at Portimao, in Portugal, at the weekend were boosted by misfortune for his main rivals.

The Italian came into the weekend with a slender 9.5 point lead over Marco Melandri in the standings, but always stood to increase his advantage when the BMW rider crashed on the opening lap after making contact with Biaggi.

Though Biaggi stayed upright, the ensuing melee behind not only eliminated the injured Melandri from race one, but would also prevent him from even making the start of race two.

With this in mind, Biaggi opted for relative caution for the remainder of the day, holding on for a fourth place finish in an interrupted first race before claiming third in the second race in the wake of Sykes’s technical-induced retirement.

Indeed, Sykes now stands as Biaggi’s biggest rival with just the final round at Magny-Cours to come, but with only 50 points now available, the Aprilia rider knows a pair of top five finishes in France would be enough to claim a second world title.

Even so, despite the positive circumstances, Biaggi is remaining focused on the job in hand ahead of the critical French event.

“Two really hard races, strange from certain points of view,” he said. “In race one the conditions were completely different from the practice sessions and even in race two on a dry track the grip wasn’t the best.

“Considering these difficulties and a lot of contact with the other riders, I’m happy with a fourth and third place which reconfirm my lead in the standings. Now we’ll begin preparations for the last round in Magny Cours, as always putting forth our best effort.”

Despite his good results, Biaggi did have to part with 5,000 Euros after failing to pull in when the red flag was deployed in race one. No time penalty was imposed.

Results:

RACE ONE:

1. Tom Sykes GBR Kawasaki Racing ZX-10R 31m 42.011s
2. Carlos Checa ESP Althea Ducati 1098R +0.300s
3. Sylvain Guintoli FRA PATA Ducati 1098R +2.732s
4. Max Biaggi ITA Aprilia Racing RSV-4 +11.564s
5. Brett McCormick CAN Effenbert Liberty Ducati 1098R +11.771s
6. Jonathan Rea GBR Honda WSBK CBR1000RR +11.792s
7. Loris Baz FRA Kawasaki Racing ZX-10R +28.683s
8. Hiroshi Aoyama JPN Honda WSBK CBR1000RR +29.581s
9. Ayrton Badovini ITA BMW Italia Goldbet S1000RR +31.507s
10. Michel Fabrizio ITA BMW Italia Goldbet S1000RR +31.587s
11. Leon Camier GBR Crescent Fixi Suzuki GSX-R1000 +31.710s
12. John Hopkins USA Crescent Fixi Suzuki GSX-R1000 +33.167s
13. Eugene Laverty IRL Aprilia Racing RSV-4 +37.843s
14. Alexander Lundh SWE Pedercini Kawasaki ZX-10R +37.993s
15. Matteo Baiocco ITA Red Devils Ducati 1098R +39.397s

16. Lorenzo Zanetti ITA PATA Ducati 1098R +39.667s
17. Norino Brignola ITA Grillini Progea BMW S1000RR +42.434s
18. Lorenzo Lanzi ITA Liberty Effenbert Ducati 1098R +1m 00.356s
19. Leon Haslam GBR BMW Motorrad S1000RR +1 lap

Not Classified

20. David Salom ESP Pedercini Kawasaki ZX-10R 4 laps completed

Unable to start

Marco Melandri ITA BMW Motorrad S1000RR
Chaz Davies GBR ParkinGO MTC Aprilia RSV-4
Davide Giugliano ITA Althea Ducati 1098R

Fastest lap
Carlos Checa ESP Althea Ducati 1098R 1m 56.477s

RACE TWO:

1. Eugene Laverty IRL Aprilia Racing RSV-4 38m 35.105s
2. Jonathan Rea GBR Honda WSBK CBR1000RR +0.162s
3. Max Biaggi ITA Aprilia Racing RSV-4 +3.786s
4. Sylvain Guintoli FRA PATA Ducati 1098R +10.440s
5. Carlos Checa ESP Althea Ducati 1098R +20.153s
6. Ayrton Badovini ITA BMW Italia Goldbet S1000RR +23.152s
7. Loris Baz FRA Kawasaki Racing ZX-10R +27.314s
8. Michel Fabrizio ITA BMW Italia Goldbet S1000RR +35.682s
9. Brett McCormick CAN Effenbert Liberty Ducati 1098R +35.786s
10. Lorenzo Lanzi ITA Liberty Effenbert Ducati 1098R +38.311s
11. John Hopkins USA Crescent Fixi Suzuki GSX-R1000 +47.814s
12. Lorenzo Zanetti ITA PATA Ducati 1098R +57.539s
13. David Salom ESP Pedercini Kawasaki ZX-10R +1m 11.035s
14. Alexander Lundh SWE Pedercini Kawasaki ZX-10R +1m 28.197s
15. Norino Brignola ITA Grillini Progea BMW S1000RR +1m 42.589s

Not Classified

16. Leon Camier GBR Crescent Fixi Suzuki GSX-R1000 21 laps completed
17. Davide Giugliano ITA Althea Ducati 1098R 10 laps completed
18. Hiroshi Aoyama JPN Honda WSBK CBR1000RR 9 laps completed
19. Matteo Baiocco ITA Red Devils Ducati 1098R 8 laps completed
20. Chaz Davies GBR ParkinGO MTC Aprilia RSV-4 4 laps completed
21. Tom Sykes GBR Kawasaki Racing ZX-10R 3 laps completed
22. Leon Haslam GBR BMW Motorrad S1000RR 2 laps completed

Did Not Start

Marco Melandri ITA BMW Motorrad S1000RR

Fastest lap
Eugene Laverty IRL Aprilia Racing RSV-4 1m 44.578s