2011 World Superbike Championships News and Discussion

[Mothers Worry]

Checa stakes his claim

From worldsbk.com:

Checa stakes his claim

Friday, 25 February 2011   

Carlos ChecaResults of first qualifying at Phillip Island saw Carlos Checa (Ducati Althea Racing) stake his claim as number 1 favourite for the Superbike wins in the opening round on Sunday. The Spaniard stopped the clocks with a time of 1 minute 31.577 seconds, a tenth quicker than his free practice time of the morning. Another man on the move was Sylvain Guintoli (Ducati Effenbert - Liberty Racing), the Frenchman doing exceptionally well to come within three-tenths of Checa.


An impressive sub-1m32s time was set by Eugene Laverty (Yamaha World Superbike Team) in had the satisfaction of finishing ahead of 2010 world champion Max Biaggi (Aprilia Alitalia) in fourth. Michel Fabrizio (Suzuki Alstare) had a harmless crash towards the end and finished seventh, while Marco Melandri (Yamaha World Superbike Team) also finished in the gravel, ending up twelfth.
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[Mothers Worry]

Checa takes Superpole with record lap

From worldsbk.com:

Checa takes Superpole with record lap

Saturday, 26 February 2011   

Carlos Checa (Althea Racing) set the quickest lap ever recorded around Phillip Island on a Superbike machine when he powered his Ducati 1098R to a time of 1 minute 30.882 seconds, thus grabbing the first Superpole trophy of the year.


Checa, one of last year's winners in Australia, was just a fraction ahead of Max Biaggi (Aprilia Alitalia) who put in a quick lap towards the end but who was edged off the top slot by 0.013 seconds. Sylvain Guintoli gave the Effenbert - Liberty Racing team a great championship baptism with third place on the grid, after another good run at Phillip Island for teh Frenchman.


Leon Haslam (BMW Motorrad) made a great effort to take his S1000 RR machine to the fourth slot, just managing to hold off a last-minute attempt by Eugene Laverty (Yamaha World Superbike Team). Jakub Smrz (Effenbert - Liberty Racing) was next up followed by Troy Corser (BMW Motorrad), while Marco Melandri concluded his first Superpole with eighth place.

[WilliamsF1]

Awesome ride from Checa to win both races