Carlos Checa captured the pole position with a new lap record at Donington Park on Saturday. But the Spaniard had to fight hard during race one on the following day to place third — lack of rear tire feeling was his explanation afterwards. The Althea Ducati team seemed to have resolved the tire issue by race two though, as Checa handily won the second contest of the day by 3.4 seconds, moving him 19 championship points ahead of Marco Melandri, the man who put on an impressive show in race one to win his first ever World Superbike race after starting from ninth position on the grid. The WSBK newcomer then placed second in race two and moved into second overall.
Defending champion Max Biaggi had a dismal weekend, both on and off the track. The Aprilia Alitalia displayed questionable conduct during Superpole qualifying, where he was seen intentionally blocking both Melandri and Noriyuki Haga, and then physically accosting his fellow countryman in the pits, (see video below) saying Melandri was to blame for Biaggi’s lowly 6th place qualifying result (the Yamaha rider did retaliate with his own block pass on Biaggi). Both riders were later fined €3,000 for their unsportsmanlike behaviour. But where the altercation seemed to have put rocket fuel in Melandri’s tank, Biaggi finished just seventh in race one and was then disqualified from race two, after ignoring the order to serve drive-through penalty for a jump start. Afterward the Roman Emperor admitted he realized he’d “moved on the grid,” but claimed he didn’t see the boards telling him to serve a penalty.
Biaggi’s black flag result at Donington Park — his first DNF since Assen in 2009 — leaves him in fourth position, 42 points adrift of Checa, after only two rounds. The Aprilia rider apologized to his team for his disappointing performance: “I’m extremely sorry for the team [after] two results below expectations, but it must not ruin the good that has been done thus far. To the contrary, this is the time when we need to be united, learning even from these bad days. The season is long, we’ll have the opportunity to make amends.”
The next round of the 2011 WSBK Championship takes place at Assen on April 17.
2011 Donington Park WSBK Race 1 Results
1. Marco Melandri ITA Yamaha WSBK YZF R1 34mins 33.189secs
2. Jakub Smrz CZE Effenbert Liberty Ducati 1098R +2.455s
3. Carlos Checa ESP Althea Ducati 1098R +5.839s
4. Leon Haslam GBR BMW Motorrad S1000RR +6.176s
5. Jonathan Rea GBR Castrol Honda CBR1000RR +9.039s
6. Noriyuki Haga JPN PATA Aprilia RSV-4 +9.215s
7. Max Biaggi ITA Aprilia Alitalia Racing RSV-4 +9.960s
8. Leon Camier GBR Aprilia Alitalia Racing RSV-4 +14.860s
9. Troy Corser AUS BMW Motorrad S1000RR +14.877s
10. Joan Lascorz ESP Kawasaki Racing ZX-10R +16.182s
11. Sylvain Guintoli FRA Effenbert Liberty Ducati 1098R +25.820s
12. Ruben Xaus ESP Castrol Honda CBR1000RR +28.278s
13. Ayrton Badovini ITA BMW Italia S1000RR +31.869s
14. Roberto Rolfo ITA Pedercini Kawasaki ZX-10R +40.015s
15. Mark Aitchison AUS Pedercini Kawasaki ZX-10R +1min 00.126s
DNF
16. Tom Sykes GBR Kawasaki RTS ZX-10R 17 laps completed
17. Michel Fabrizio ITA Suzuki Alstare GSX-R1000 14 laps completed
18. Maxime Berger FRA Supersonic Ducati 1098R 5 laps completed
19. Eugene Laverty IRL Yamaha WSBK YZF R1 3 laps completed
DNS
Chris Vermeulen AUS Kawasaki Racing ZX-10R
2011 Donington Park WSBK Race 2 Results
1. Carlos Checa ESP Althea Ducati 1098R 23 laps
2. Marco Melandri ITA Yamaha WSBK YZF R1 +3.397s
3. Leon Camier GBR Aprilia Alitalia Racing RSV-4 +5.902s
4. Leon Haslam GBR BMW Motorrad S1000RR +13.842s
5. Joan Lascorz ESP Kawasaki Racing ZX-10R +14.253s
6. Jonathan Rea GBR Castrol Honda CBR1000RR +19.413s
7. Michel Fabrizio ITA Suzuki Alstare GSX-R1000 +20.278s
8. Jakub Smrz CZE Effenbert Liberty Ducati 1098R +21.160s
9. Ayrton Badovini ITA BMW Italia S1000RR +24.298s
10. Ruben Xaus ESP Castrol Honda CBR1000RR +24.907s
11. Sylvain Guintoli FRA Effenbert Liberty Ducati 1098R +32.440s
12. Tom Sykes GBR Kawasaki RTS ZX-10R +32.679s
13. Troy Corser AUS BMW Motorrad S1000RR +34.070s
14. Eugene Laverty IRL Yamaha WSBK YZF R1 +36.418s
15. Roberto Rolfo ITA Pedercini Kawasaki ZX-10R +44.037s
16. Mark Aitchison AUS Pedercini Kawasaki ZX-10R +52.412s
17. Noriyuki Haga JPN PATA Aprilia RSV-4 +56.634s
DNF
18. Maxime Berger FRA Supersonic Ducati 1098R 2 laps completed
DQ Max Biaggi ITA Aprilia Alitalia Racing RSV-4
DNS
Chris Vermeulen AUS Kawasaki Racing ZX-10R
2011 World Superbike Championship Standings
1. Carlos Checa Althea Ducati 91 points
2. Marco Melandri Yamaha SBK72
3. Leon Haslam BMW Motorrad 53
4. Max Biaggi Aprilia Alitalia49
5. Jakub Smrz Effenbert-Liberty Ducati 42
6. Jonathan Rea Castrol Honda 38
7. Leon Camier Aprilia Alitalia 37
8. Michel Fabrizio Suzuki Alstare 27
9. Noriyuki Haga PATA Aprilia 26
10. Tom Sykes Kawasaki RTS 19
11. Joan Lascorz Kawasaki Racing 17
12. Eugene Laverty Yamaha SBK16
13. Troy Corser BMW Motorrad 16
14. Ruben Xaus Castrol Honda 16
15. Ayrton Badovini BMW Italia 12
16. Roberto Rolfo Pedercini Kawasaki 12
17. Sylvain Guintoli Effenbert-Liberty Ducati 10
18. Josh Waters Yoshimura Suzuki 3
19. James Toseland BMW Italia 2
20. Bryan Staring Pedercini Kawasaki 1
21. Mark Aitchison Pedercini Kawasaki 1
