Max Biaggi
1998 500cc Catalan GP ’02 MotoGP Spanish GP
The most notorious black flag incident. Max Biaggi took the premier class by storm and was a title contender. However, things changed in Barcelona. Yellow flags were waved at turn one following a three-rider incident, but Biaggi and Alex Barros continued to scrap for
Biaggi’s trip to Donington was a chaotic one. An altercation with Marco Melandri during Superpole ended with the Alitalia Aprilia rider slapping Melandri outside the Yamaha garage. He was given a €3000 fine and a warning for the lead. Both riders were issued a stop-and-go penalty but Biaggi chose to ignore the warning signs and continued. He also refused to pit after being given the black flag, taking a dominating – albeit illegal – victory. Mick Doohan, Biaggi’s title rival, inherited the win.
Four years later Biaggi was blackflagged at Jerez. The Italian jumped the start and was given a stop-andgo penalty. Biaggi, concentrating his race in a typically frantic opening few laps, failed to see any penalty boards around the track or the message on his pit board and was therefore shown the flag of shame. Biaggi’s Marlboro Yamaha team complained to race direction that the stop-and-go signs were too small, something which race officials admitted was true. blocking Melandri on the track. Biaggi finished seventh in race one, but things got worse in race two. He jumped the start and, whilst in a mid-pack battle, failed to notice the ride-through penalty warning on his pit board and was black-flagged.