Carlos Checa needed only three more points over the final two rounds of the season to win his first ever World Superbike Championship and the Althea Ducati rider completed the task assuredly today at Magny-Cours by winning both races of the penultimate round, his 13th and 14th victories of the season. As well as being Checa’s first world title, it is the first time a Spaniard has won the World Superbike Championship. For Ducati, it is their 14th WSBK riders’ title, their first since Troy Bayliss won in 2008.
Yamaha’s Marco Melandri, Checa’s only rival (mathematically) going into the weekend, placed second in both races, further solidifying the championship runner-up position in his first WSBK season. Earlier today it was announced that Melandri will be riding for the BMW Motorrad WSBK team beside Leon Haslam in 2012. Yamaha, had announced previously that it was withdrawing from WSBK, making the former MotoGP rider a free agent. Melandri’s future team-mate Haslam had a strong day for his German squad, placing third and fourth in races one and two respectively, while Melandri’s current Yamaha team-mate Eugene Laverty rounded out the podium in race two.
Jonathan Rae, who qualified on pole after gaining his second victory of the season last weekend at Imola, had a hard day. The Castrol Honda rider did not complete either race at Magny-Cours, crashing out of race one on lap three, after trying to make up for a poor start off the line, and retiring from the second contest (as at Imola) because of mechanical issues.
Checa enters the final round at Portimao on October 16 with 467 points while Melandri has 360. Laverty, now with a total of 283 points, moved into third overall today, ahead of 2010 champion Max Biaggi, who missed his third consecutive round due to a slow-healing fractured foot.
2011 Magny-Cours World Superbike Race 1 Results
1 Carlos Checa Althea Racing Ducati –
2 Marco Melandri Yamaha WSBK Team +2.201
3 Leon Haslam BMW Motorrad +3.218
4 Leon Camier Aprilia Alitalia Racing Team +3.796
5 Eugene Laverty Yamaha WSBK Team +5.602
6 Sylvain Guintoli Team Effenbert-Liberty Ducati +9.634
7 Noriyuki Haga PATA Racing Team Aprilia +9.814
8 Joan Lascorz Paul Bird Racing Kawasaki +11.387
9 Troy Corser BMW Motorrad +17.143
10 Tom Sykes Paul Bird Racing Kawasaki +24.523
11 Javier Fores BMW Motorrad Italia +34.532
12 Michel Fabrizio Team Suzuki Alstare +1:19.724
13 Roberto Rolfo Team Pedericini Kawaski 1 Lap
Not Classified
Maxime Berger Supersonic Racing Ducati 13 Laps
Jonathan Rea Castrol Honda 19 Laps
Ayrton Badovini BMW Motorrad Italia 19 Laps
Jakub Smrz Team Effenbert-Liberty Ducati 21 Laps
Mark Aitchison Team Pedericini Kawaski
2011 Magny-Cours World Superbike Race 2 Results
1 Carlos Checa Althea Racing Ducati –
2 Marco Melandri Yamaha WSBK Team +1.267
3 Eugene Laverty Yamaha WSBK Team +2.043
4 Leon Haslam BMW Motorrad +6.506
5 Sylvain Guintoli Team Effenbert-Liberty Ducati +7.843
6 Leon Camier Aprilia Alitalia Racing Team +8.360
7 Joan Lascorz Paul Bird Racing Kawasaki +15.285
8 Aytron Badovini BMW Motorrad Italia +15.549
9 Troy Corser BMW Motorrad +16.278
10 Noriyuki Haga PATA Racing Team Aprilia +22.996
11 Javier Fores BMW Motorrad Italia +43.132
12 Maxime Berger Supersonic Racing Ducati +47.846
Not Classified
Roberto Rolfo Team Pedericini Kawaski 4 Laps
Jonathan Rea Castrol Honda 10 Laps
Mark Aitchison Team Pedericini Kawaski 19 Laps
Michel Fabrizio Team Suzuki Alstare 21 Laps
Tom Sykes Paul Bird Racing Kawasaki
2011 World Superbike Championship
1 Carlos Checa Ducati 467
2 Marco Melandri Yamaha 360
3 Eugene Laverty Yamaha 283
4 Max Biaggi Aprilia 281
5 Leon Haslam BMW 216
6 Leon Camier Aprilia 194
7 Sylvain Guintoli Ducati 179
8 Noriyuki Haga Aprilia 170
9 Ayrton Badovini BMW 155
10 Michel Fabrizio Suzuki 145
11 Joan Lascorz Kawasaki 142
12 Jonathan Rea Honda 138
13 Tom Sykes Kawasaki 133
14 Jakub Smrz Ducati 118
15 Troy Corser BMW 85
16 Ruben Xaus Honda 49
17 Maxime Berger Ducati 49
18 Roberto Rolfo Kawasaki 42
19 Mark Aitchison Kawasaki 36
20 John Hopkins Suzuki 20
21 Chris Vermeulen Kawasaki 14
22 James Toseland BMW 13
23 Javier Fores BMW 12
24 Lorenzo Lanzi BMW 10
25 Joshua Waters Suzuki 8
26 Federico Sandi Ducati 7
27 Alessandro Polita Ducati 5
28 Matteo Baiocco Ducati 4
29 Barry Veneman BMW 3
30 Jon Kirkham Suzuki 3
31 Viktor Kispataki Honda 1
32 Alexander Lowes Honda 1
33 Fabrizio Lai Honda 1
34 Bryan Staring Kawasaki 1
