Marco Melandri and Eugene Laverty made sure that their factory Yamaha team is withdrawing from World Superbike competition on a high note, after the team-mates gave their squad a 1-2 finish in the final race of the 2011 season today at Portimao. Polesitter Jonathan Rea (Castrol Honda) settled for third after failing to make a last lap pass on Laverty stick. The top three were separated by only 1.363 seconds and Melandri took his fourth victory of the season by passing Laverty on lap 19 and then holding the Irishman off for the remaining three laps. Both Yamaha riders had impressive maiden WSBK seasons. Melandri finished second overall, while Laverty finished fourth, tied at 303 points with Max Biaggi. The Italian takes third due to his higher number of second place results.
No surprise then that the now former Yamaha riders (Yamaha announced its withdrawal in late August) have been snapped up by other factory teams for 2012. Melandri has signed with BMW, replacing the retiring Troy Corser, and Aprilia today announced that they’ve signed Laverty to a two-year deal to take Leon Camier’s spot.
Carlos Checa, who clinched the title two weeks ago at Magny Cours, placed fourth in season finale, but won the first race of the day. The Althea Ducati rider took the lead from Sylvain Guintoli (Effenbert Liberty Racing Ducati) with two laps remaining, to post his 15th victory of his championship-winning year.
Checa’s final points total is 505, Melandri’s 395, while Biaggi and Laverty finish, as mentioned, tied at 303. Ducati took top spot in the manufacturer standings.
Portimao World Superbike Race 1 Results
1 Carlos Checa Althea Racing Ducati
2 Sylvain Guintoli Team Effenbert-Liberty Ducati +2.860
3 Jonathan Rea Castrol Honda +8.481
4 Max Biaggi Aprilia Alitalia Racing Team +11.963
5 Joan Lascorz Paul Bird Racing Kawasaki +13.333
6 Marco Melandri Yamaha WSBK Team +18.960
7 Maxime Berger Supersonic Racing Ducati +20.489
8 Tom Sykes Paul Bird Racing Kawasaki +25.320
9 Leon Haslam BMW Motorrad +26.695
10 Jakub Smrz Team Effenbert-Liberty Ducati +26.801
11 Michel Fabrizio Team Suzuki Alstare +27.115
12 Leon Camier Aprilia Alitalia Racing Team +28.563
13 Ayrton Badovini BMW Motorrad Italia +31.765
14 Troy Corser BMW Motorrad +31.822
15 Noriyuki Haga PATA Racing Team Aprilia +31.866
16 Davide Giugliano Althea Racing Ducati +47.694
17 Mark Aitchison Team Pedericini Kawaski +47.737
18 Karl Muggeridge Castrol Honda +1:06.213
19 Eugene Laverty Yamaha WSBK Team 2 Laps
20 Santiago Barragan Team Pedericini Kawasaki 3 Laps
21 Josh Waters Yoshimura Suzuki 4 Laps
Not Classified
112 Javier Fores BMW Motorrad Italia
Portimao World Superbike Race 2 Results
1. Marco Melandri ITA Yamaha WSBK YZF R1
2. Eugene Laverty IRL Yamaha WSBK YZF R1 +1.075s
3. Jonathan Rea GBR Castrol Honda CBR1000RR +1.363s
4. Carlos Checa ESP Althea Ducati 1098R +2.648
5. Sylvain Guintoli FRA Effenbert Liberty Ducati 1098R +3.355s
6. Leon Camier GBR Aprilia Alitalia Racing RSV-4 +4.709s
7. Max Biaggi ITA Aprilia Alitalia Racing RSV-4 +6.514s
8. Joan Lascorz ESP Kawasaki Racing ZX-10R +14.441s
9. Ayrton Badovini ITA BMW Italia S1000RR +19.128s
10. Maxime Berger FRA Supersonic Ducati 1098R +25.527s
11. Noriyuki Haga JPN PATA Aprilia RSV-4 +26.400s
12. Davide Giugliano ITA Althea Ducati 1098R +26.646s
13. Jakub Smrz CZE Effenbert Liberty Ducati 1098R +26.963s
14. Michel Fabrizio ITA Suzuki Alstare GSX-R1000 +30.209s
15. Leon Haslam GBR BMW Motorrad S1000RR +30.951s
16. Troy Corser AUS BMW Motorrad S1000RR +31.057s
17. Karl Muggeridge AUS Castrol Honda CBR1000RR +57.941s
18. Josh Waters AUS Yoshimura Alstare GSX-R1000 +58.577s
19. Javier Fores ESP BMW Italia S1000RR +1m 04.011s
20. Mark Aitchison AUS Pedercini Kawasaki ZX-10R +1m 04.397s
Not Classified
21. Tom Sykes GBR Kawasaki RTS ZX-10R 17 laps completed
22. Santiago Barragan ESP Pedercini Kawasaki ZX-10R 9 laps completed
Final 2011 World Superbike Championship rider standings
1. Carlos Checa Althea Ducati 505 points
2. Marco Melandri Yamaha SBK 395
3. Max Biaggi Aprilia Alitalia 303
4. Eugene Laverty Yamaha SBK 303
5. Leon Haslam BMW Motorrad 224
6. Sylvain Guintoli Effenbert-Liberty Ducati 210
7. Leon Camier Aprilia Alitalia 208
8. Noriyuki Haga PATA Aprilia 176
9. Jonathan Rea Castrol Honda 170
10. Ayrton Badovini BMW Italia 165
11. Joan Lascorz Kawasaki Racing 161
12. Michel Fabrizio Suzuki Alstare 152
13. Tom Sykes Kawasaki RTS 141
14. Jakub Smrz Effenbert-Liberty Ducati 127
15. Troy Corser BMW Motorrad 87
16. Maxime Berger Supersonic Ducati 64
17. Ruben Xaus Castrol Honda 49
18. Roberto Rolfo Pedercini Kawasaki 42
19. Mark Aitchison Pedercini Kawasaki 36
20. John Hopkins Samsung Crescent Suzuki 20
21. Chris Vermeulen Kawasaki Racing 14
22. James Toseland BMW Italia 13
23. Javier Fores BMW Italia 12
24. Lorenzo Lanzi BMW Italia 10
25. Josh Waters Yoshimura Suzuki 8
26. Federico Sandi Althea Ducati 7
27. Alessandro Polita Barni Ducati 5
28. Matteo Baiocco Barni Ducati 4
29. Davide Giugliano Althea Ducati 4
30. Barry Veneman BMW Italia 3
31. Jon Kirkham Samsung Crescent Suzuki 3
32. Bryan Staring Pedercini Kawasaki 1
33. Fabrizio Lai Echo CRS Honda 1
34. Alex Lowes Castrol Honda 1
35. Viktor Kispataki Prop-Tech Honda 1
2011 World Superbike Championship manufacturer standings
1. Ducati 529 points
2. Yamaha 450
3. Aprilia 422
4. BMW 275
5. Kawasaki 228
6. Honda 194
7. Suzuki 169
