Melandri and Checa share Donington spoils

From Pirelli

DONINGTON PARK, UK - The two riders who won the World Superbike races at Donington Park on Sunday, Carlos Checa and Marco Melandri, are the two who leave at the head of the championship chase, with Checa now on 91 points and Melandri on 72.

Superpole winner Checa (Althea Racing Ducati) used his experience to change his rear tire choice for race two and improve from a third place to be a clear winner, while Melandri (Yamaha World Superbike Team) made two great recoveries from a third row start to post a win and a second place.

Jakub Smrz (Effenbert Liberty Racing Ducati) nearly won the first race, with the local fans having something to cheer about as Leon Camier (Aprilia Alitalia) went third in race two, to make up for a hard first round in Australia that was badly affected by illness. 2010 World Champion Max Biaggi (Aprilia Alitalia) had his drama-laden weekend turn into a mini-crisis as he finished only seventh in race one, and was excluded from race two after jump starting and failing to come in for a ride-through penalty.

In the overall championship third place belongs to Leon Haslam (BMW Motorrad Motorsport) on 53 points after two fourths on Sunday, while Biaggi has 49 points in fourth overall.

New World Superbike rider Melandri took only three races to record his first win, finally overhauling long time leader Smrz to take the first race by 2.455 seconds.

The last podium place went to Checa after he passed local hero Haslam with two corners to go.

Jonathan Rea (Castrol Honda) scored fifth and Noriyuki Haga (Pata Racing Aprilia) was sixth, one place up on the factory bike of Biaggi.

A potentially great finish for Tom Sykes and his Kawasaki Racing Team Superbike machine ended in a crash at the redesigned Esses section.

“It has been an awesome race for me, very tough and at the start many guys were very aggressive,” said Melandri. “I kept my rhythm and when I got on my own I caught Camier and some others then it took some time to get to Haslam. After that it was only a few laps to go and 'Kuba' was pretty far ahead. I just kept the best pace I could and in the end Smrz’s pace was gone and I passed him. We missed a little bit of top speed but the package was very balanced, we won and I had a lot of fun.”

Checa controlled race two from the early laps and won by 3.397 seconds from race one victor Melandri. Camier was a contender for second for long periods, before Melandri upped the pace and left him behind.

Another Leon, this time Haslam went fourth for the second time, despite running off track at one point. Joan Lascorz (Kawasaki Racing Team) was a great fifth on the new ZX-10R machine, despite not yet being at full fitness.

With Rea sixth for Honda and race one retiree Michel Fabrizio (Suzuki Alstare) seventh in race two there were seven different manufacturers represented in the top seven places, proving how competitive the 2011 season is after only two rounds.

“It is a fantastic beginning to the season, especially this victory in Donington, which is something special,” said Checa. “Basically we decided to put on a different tire with better grip at the beginning, so now I was stable and had good grip. At the end the tire dropped down a little but it was good enough. Everybody knows what happened here to me many years ago, when I lost something so now I’m quite satisfied to win at Donington!”

Yamaha ParkinGO riders Luca Scassa and Chaz Davies contested the win in the 22-lap Supersport race, with Davies 0.270 seconds down at the flag. Gino Rea took the final podium place for his Step Racing Honda team, as Robbin Harms (Harms Benjan Racing Honda) went fourth and Kawasaki Motocard.com rider Broc Parkes secured fifth place.

Superbike Race 1 Results
1. Melandri M. (ITA) Yamaha YZF-R1 34:33.189 (160.673km/h)
2. Smrz J. (CZE) Ducati 1098R +2.455
3. Checa C. (ESP) Ducati 1098R +5.839
4. Haslam L. (GBR) BMW S1000RR +6.176
5. Rea J. (GBR) Honda CBR1000RR +9.039
6. Haga N. (JPN) Aprilia RSV4 Factory +9.215
7. Biaggi M. (ITA) Aprilia RSV4 Factory +9.960
8. Camier L. (GBR) Aprilia RSV4 Factory +14.860
9. Corser T. (AUS) BMW S1000RR +14.877
10. Lascorz J. (ESP) Kawasaki ZX-10R +16.182
11. Guintoli S. (FRA) Ducati 1098R +25.820
12. Xaus R. (ESP) Honda CBR1000RR +28.378
13. Badovini A. (ITA) BMW S1000RR +31.869
14. Rolfo R. (ITA) Kawasaki ZX-10R +40.015
15. Aitchison M. (AUS) Kawasaki ZX-10R +1:00.128

Superbike Race 2 Results
1. Checa C. (ESP) Ducati 1098R 34:21.537 (161.581km/h)
2. Melandri M. (ITA) Yamaha YZF-R1 +3.397
3. Camier L. (GBR) Aprilia RSV4 Factory +5.902
4. Haslam L. (GBR) BMW S1000RR +13.842
5. Lascorz J. (ESP) Kawasaki ZX-10R +14.253
6. Rea J. (GBR) Honda CBR1000RR +19.413
7. Fabrizio M. (ITA) Suzuki GSX-R1000 +20.278
8. Smrz J. (CZE) Ducati 1098R +21.160
9. Badovini A. (ITA) BMW S1000RR +24.298
10. Xaus R. (ESP) Honda CBR1000RR +24.907
11. Guintoli S. (FRA) Ducati 1098R +32.440
12. Sykes T. (GBR) Kawasaki ZX-10R +32.679
13. Corser T. (AUS) BMW S1000RR +34.070
14. Laverty E. (IRL) Yamaha YZF-R1 +36.418
15. Rolfo R. (ITA) Kawasaki ZX-10R +44.037
16. Aitchison M. (AUS) Kawasaki ZX-10R +52.412

Pirelli Best Lap Awards:
SBK Race 1 – Noriyuki Haga (PATA Racing Team Aprilia), 1:29.137 (Lap 3)
SBK Race 2 – Carlos Checa (Althea Racing, 1:28.988 (Lap 8)

World Superbike Points
(after 2 rounds of 13)
1. Checa 91
2. Melandri 72
3. Haslam 53
4. Biaggi 49
5. Smrz 42
6. Rea 38
7. Camier 37
8. Fabrizio 27
9. Haga 26
10. Sykes 19