Adversarial Italians Marco Melandri and Max Biaggi traded victories during the seventh round of the 2011 World Superbike Championship at Motorland Aragon in Spain on Sunday. Melandri converted his first ever WSBK superpole into his second win of the season when he passed his fellow countryman with just four laps remaining and opened up a 1.572 second margin to win race one. Biaggi led the race from early on, but Melandri’s relentless tailing of the defending champion forced the Roman Emperor into making an overbraking error late in the race which the Yamaha rider capitalized on. Biaggi’s Aprila team-mate Leon Camier finished a strong third, less than a second back. Meanwhile, championship points leader Carlos Checa had his first DNF of the season, crashing out on lap seven, after pressuring hard to move up on Melandri.
Race two began as a repeat of the first contest, Biaggi once again taking the lead early with Melandri in hot pursuit. But this time it would be the Yamaha rider making a cornering error late in the race, allowing Biaggi to pull away to an almost five-second cushion at the checkered flag for his first win of 2011. Checa also redeemed himself in race two, taking the final podium spot and thereby hampering Biaggi from making an even larger dent in his substantial championship lead. After seven of thirteen rounds, Checa now holds a 48 point advantage (down from 72) over Biaggi in the standings, while Melandri remains in third, another 13 behind.
The next round of the 2011 WSBK Championship takes place July 10 at Brno in the Czech Republic.
Aragon WSBK Race 1 Results
1. M. MELANDRI ITA Yamaha World Superbike Team
2. M. BIAGGI ITA Aprilia Alitalia Racing Team +1.572
3. L. CAMIER GBR Aprilia Alitalia Racing Team +2.432
4. E. LAVERTY IRL Yamaha World Superbike Team +10.799
5. T. SYKES GBR Kawasaki Racing Team Superbike +10.847
6. N. HAGA JPN PATA Racing Team Aprilia +11.931
7. J. LASCORZ ESP Kawasaki Racing Team +12.591
8. A. BADOVINI ITA BMW Motorrad Italia SBK Team +16.954
9. L. HASLAM GBR BMW Motorrad Motorsport +24.205
10. T. CORSER AUS BMW Motorrad Motorsport +24.694
11. S. GUINTOLI FRA Team Effenbert-Liberty Racing +24.731
12. C. VERMEULEN AUS Kawasaki Racing Team +30.407
13. M. BERGER FRA Supersonic Racing Team +34.107
14. R. ROLFO ITA Team Pedercini +37.233
15. M. AITCHISON AUS Team Pedercini +43.004
16. R. XAUS ESP Castrol Honda +3 Laps
DNF
M. FABRIZIO ITA Team Suzuki Alstare 9 Laps
C. CHECA ESP Althea Racing 7 Laps
J. SMRZ CZE Team Effenbert-Liberty Racing 5 Laps
L. LANZI ITA BMW Motorrad Italia SBK Team 2 Laps
Aragon WSBK Race 2 Results
1. M. BIAGGI ITA Aprilia Alitalia Racing Team
2. M. MELANDRI ITA Yamaha World Superbike Team Yamaha +4.809
3. C. CHECA ESP Althea Racing +6.944
4. M. FABRIZIO ITA Team Suzuki Alstare +9.001
5. J. LASCORZ ESP Kawasaki Racing Team +11.562
6. E. LAVERTY IRL Yamaha World Superbike Team +14.288
7. N. HAGA JPN PATA Racing Team Aprilia +15.138
8. L. CAMIER GBR Aprilia Alitalia Racing Team +17.660
9. L. HASLAM GBR BMW Motorrad Motorsport +4.184
10. A. BADOVINI ITA BMW Motorrad Italia SBK Team +24.676
11. S. GUINTOLI FRA Team Effenbert-Liberty Racing +29.300
12. M. AITCHISON AUS Team Pedercini +33.163
13. R. ROLFO ITA Team Pedercini +38.080
14. C. VERMEULEN AUS Kawasaki Racing Team +49.042
15. L. LANZI ITA BMW Motorrad Italia SBK Team +53.156
DNF
R. XAUS ESP Castrol Honda Honda CBR1000RR 10 Laps
T. SYKES GBR Kawasaki Racing Team Superbike Kawasaki ZX-10R 6 Laps
J. SMRZ CZE Team Effenbert-Liberty Racing Ducati 1098R 4 Laps
M. BERGER FRA Supersonic Racing Team Ducati 1098R 0
T. CORSER AUS BMW Motorrad Motorsport BMW S1000 RR 0
2011 World Superbike Championship Standings
Carlos Checa Ducati 261
Max Biaggi Aprilia 218
Marco Melandri Yamaha 195
Eugene Laverty Yamaha 146
Leon Camier Aprilia 125
Leon Haslam BMW 120
Michel Fabrizio Suzuki 108
Jonathan Rea Honda 94
Noriyuki Haga Aprilia 89
Ayrton Badovini BMW 86
Jakub Smrz Ducati 83
Sylvain Guintoli Ducati 82
Tom Sykes Kawasaki 76
Joan Lascorz Kawasaki 73
Troy Corser BMW 55
Ruben Xaus Honda 44
Roberto Rolfo Kawasaki 24
Maxime Berger Ducati 21
Chris Vermeulen Kawasaki 14
Mark Aitchison Kawasaki 14
Joshua Waters Suzuki 8
Lorenzo Lanzi BMW 7
Matteo Baiocco Ducati 4
Alessandro Polita Ducati 3
Barry Veneman BMW 3
James Toseland BMW 3
Fabrizio Lai Honda 1
Bryan Staring Kawasaki 1
