Carlos Checa continued to dominate the 2011 World Superbike championship, winning both races at Misano on Sunday — his third double this season — to give him 8 victories in 12 starts and a massive 72 point lead in the standings over defending champion Max Biaggi.
Kawasaki rider Tom Sykes was the surprising pole sitter at Misano, but it was Biaggi, starting in seventh place and hobbled by an ankle injury suffered in a practice session get-off, that dominated in the early stages of race one. By mid race though, Checa clawed his way into contention and then on lap twelve took advantage of Biaggi running slightly wide in a corner to pass and take the lead for rest of the race. Marco Melandri finished third, over 17 seconds behind Checa, while Sykes missed the podium by a second and half. Irishman Eugene Laverty rounded out the top five.
Race two became a shortened fourteen lap affair after Melandri and Leon Haslam both went down separately in turn one on lap ten, oil and debris from the crashes forcing a red flag restart. Again Biaggi led the first half of the contest and again Checa took the lead when the Italian made a mistake and went wide. The battle for third went down to the wire, with Noriyuki Haga prevailing over Ayrton Badovini by just .084 seconds.
The next round of the 2011 WSBK Championship takes place at Motorland Aragon in Spain on June 19.
2011 WSBK Misano Race 1 Results
1 C. CHECA ESP Althea Racing
2 M. BIAGGI ITA Aprilia Alitalia Racing Team +0.984
3 M. MELANDRI ITA Yamaha World Superbike Team +17.124
4 T. SYKES GBR Kawasaki Racing Team Superbike +18.652
5 E. LAVERTY IRL Yamaha World Superbike Team +18.929
6 L. CAMIER GBR Aprilia Alitalia Racing Team +21.003
7 S. GUINTOLI FRA Team Effenbert-Liberty Racing +22.942
8 A. BADOVINI ITA BMW Motorrad Italia SBK Team +23.117
9 J. LASCORZ ESP Kawasaki Racing Team +31.729
10 M. BERGER FRA Supersonic Racing Team +34.466
11 R. XAUS ESP Castrol Honda +36.683
12 M. BAIOCCO ITA Barni Racing Team S.N.C.R +37.692
13 A. POLITA ITA Barni Racing Team S.N.C. +37.984
14 C. VERMEULEN AUS Kawasaki Racing Team +41.016
15 L. LANZI ITA BMW Motorrad Italia SBK Team +43.514
DNF
M. AITCHISON AUS Team Pedercini 4 Laps
R. ROLFO ITA Team Pedercini 14 Laps
L. HASLAM GBR BMW Motorrad Motorsport 15 Laps
T. CORSER AUS BMW Motorrad Motorsport 19 Laps
N. HAGA JPN PATA Racing Team Aprilia 20 Laps
J. SMRZ CZE Team Effenbert-Liberty Racing 21 Laps
M. FABRIZIO ITA Team Suzuki Alstare 23 Laps
2011 WSBK Misano Race 2 Results
1 C. CHECA ESP Althea Racing
2 M. BIAGGI ITA Aprilia Alitalia Racing Team +1.484
3 N. HAGA JPN PATA Racing Team Aprilia +7.772
4 A. BADOVINI ITA BMW Motorrad Italia SBK Team +7.856
5 L. HASLAM GBR BMW Motorrad Motorsport +9.714
6 M. FABRIZIO ITA Team Suzuki Alstare +10.777
7 S. GUINTOLI FRA Team Effenbert-Liberty Racing +10.875
8 R. XAUS ESP Castrol Honda Honda +13.483
9 J. LASCORZ ESP Kawasaki Racing Team +13.576
10 C. VERMEULEN AUS Kawasaki Racing Team +17.962
11 L. LANZI ITA BMW Motorrad Italia SBK Team +22.768
12 R. ROLFO ITA Team Pedercini +24.535
13 E. LAVERTY IRL Yamaha World Superbike Team +51.895
14 T. SYKES GBR Kawasaki Racing Team Superbike +1’04.134
DNF
M. BERGER FRA Supersonic Racing Team 6 Laps
J. SMRZ CZE Team Effenbert-Liberty Racing 9 Laps
M. BAIOCCO ITA Barni Racing Team S.N.C. 11 Laps
2011 WSBK Championship Standings
1 Carlos Checa Ducati 245
2 Max Biaggi Aprilia 173
3 Marco Melandri Yamaha 150
4 Eugene Laverty Yamaha 123
5 Leon Haslam BMW 106
6 Leon Camier Aprilia 101
7 Michel Fabrizio Suzuki 95
8 Jonathan Rea Honda 94
9 Jakub Smrz Ducati 83
10 Sylvain Guintoli Ducati 72
11 Ayrton Badovini BMW 72
12 Noriyuki Haga Aprilia 70
13 Tom Sykes Kawasaki 65
14 Joan Lascorz Kawasaki 53
15 Troy Corser BMW 49
16 Ruben Xaus Honda 44
17 Roberto Rolfo Kawasaki 19
18 Maxime Berger Ducati 18
19 Mark Aitchison Kawasaki 9
20 Chris Vermeulen Kawasaki 8
21 Joshua Waters Suzuki 8
22 Lorenzo Lanzi BMW 6
23 Matteo Baiocco Ducati 4
24 Alessandro Polita Ducati 3
25 Barry Veneman BMW 3
26 James Toseland BMW 3
27 Fabrizio Lai Honda 1
28 Bryan Staring Kawasaki 1
