2011 Silverstone Superbike | Results

2011 World Superbike

Spoiler Alert: Silverstone World Superbike results below

Carlos Checa was completely unstoppable Sunday at Silverstone, Round 9 of the 2011 World Superbike Championship.

After doubling at the 3.666-mile UK circuit, Checa now has 10 wins in the 2011 World Superbike Championship, extending his lead to 343 points, 62 over the reigning WSBK Champion, Alitalia Aprilia’s Max Biaggi. This was his fourth double of the season following Phillip Island, Miller Motorsports Park and Misano.

But that wasn’t all the hype surrounding the Althea Ducati 1198R pilot following Silverstone WSBK. After Checa’s Race-one win, Ducati garnered its 300th World Superbike victory, and 301st in Race 2. And the second race was also the Spaniard’s 100th Superbike start.

Carlos Checa (Althea Ducati 1198R Superbike) says: “It was a wonderful day. I didn’t believe that it would be possible to win here, but we managed to do it twice over! To achieve the 300th win for Ducati is an important result and we are all very happy to have been able to repeat this in race two.

“I thank everyone involved, my team, Ducati and all the sponsors. I also heard that I have now completed 100 SBK races. I didn’t know this but the important thing is that I still feel young and am not yet 100 years old!”

Joining Checa on the podium in both races was the Yamaha World Superbike duo of Eugene Laverty and Marco Melandri, respectively.

Checa, who started from fourth on the Silverstone World SBK grid, remained in that position by the end of lap one. He then battled with Pata Aprilia’s Noriyuki Haga, who eventually crashed out, and pole-sitter John Hopkins, the wildcard entry on the Samsung Crescent Suzuki GSX-R1000.

Checa soon passed both Haga and the American Hopkins, and set his eyes on then-leader Laverty. On the sixth lap, Checa took the lead and wasn’t challenged again; the 38-year-old would finish 3.3 seconds ahead of Laverty, with Melandri in third. En route to Ducati’s 300th win, Checa also set the fastest lap of the race.

In the second race, Checa was in fifth at the second corner, and moved up to second by the end of the first lap. Again, as he did in Race 1, Checa took the lead from Laverty on Lap 6 and was never challenged again. He would finish Race 2 at Silverstone World Superbike 2.2 seconds ahead of Laverty, with Melandri in third.

With three races remaining, Checa has an optimal opportunity to take his first World Superbike title.

Carlos Checa says: “We have a good advantage for now but as we all know, it is hard to build up points and easy to lose them. We now head to tracks where I have had some good results in the past but we are taking it one step at a time; nothing is a given. It’s been a fantastic weekend that I will remember forever. Now the team can go on holiday in a more relaxed state of mind.”

Also, following Sunday’s Silverstone Superbike, Ducati continues to lead the manufacturer’s championship with 355 points; Aprilia and Yamaha have 320 each. As for the reigning World Superbike Champion Biaggi, he had an 11-4 finish.

2011 World Superbike: Silverstone Results:

Race 1 Results:

1.     Carlos Checa     Ducati     ESP     38’06.477

2.     Eugene Laverty     Yamaha     GBR     0’03.304

3.     Marco Melandri     Yamaha     ITA     0’04.782

4.     Leon Haslam     BMW     GBR     0’07.116

5.     John Hopkins     Suzuki     USA     0’11.057

6.     Sylvain Guintoli     Ducati     FRA     0’21.899

7.     Joan Lascorz     Kawasaki     ESP     0’22.308

8.     Maxime Berger     Ducati     FRA     0’22.734

9.     Troy Corser     BMW     AUS     0’25.491

10.     Ayrton Badovini     BMW     ITA     0’25.725

11.     Max Biaggi     Aprilia     ITA     0’25.844

12.     James Toseland     BMW     GBR     0’45.578

13.     Roberto Rolfo     Kawasaki     ITA     0’51.650

14.     Jon Kirkham     Yamaha     GBR     0’57.310

15.     Leon Camier     Aprilia     GBR     1’36.457

Race 2 Results:

1.     Carlos Checa     Ducati     ESP     38’03.361

2.     Eugene Laverty     Yamaha     GBR     0’02.274

3.     Marco Melandri     Yamaha     ITA     0’03.675

4.     Max Biaggi     Aprilia     ITA     0’03.960

5.     Leon Camier     Aprilia     GBR     0’04.405

6.     Sylvain Guintoli     Ducati     FRA     0’10.958

7.     John Hopkins     Suzuki     USA     0’11.387

8.     Leon Haslam     BMW     GBR     0’11.496

9.     Michel Fabrizio     Suzuki     ITA     0’12.247

10.     Ayrton Badovini     BMW     ITA     0’19.705

11.     Jakub Smrz     Ducati     CZE     0’19.753

12.     Maxime Berger     Ducati     FRA     0’21.582

13.     James Toseland     BMW     GBR     0’27.235

14.     Mark Aitchison     Kawasaki     AUS     0’30.702

15.     Jon Kirkham     Yamaha     GBR     0’42.579

2011 World Superbike Points Standings:

1. Carlos Checa, Ducati 343

2. Max Biaggi, Aprilia 281

3. Marco Melandri, Yamaha 272

4. Eugene Laverty, Yamaha 208

5. Leon Haslam, BMW 158

6. Leon Camier, Aprilia 146

7. Michel Fabrizio, Suzuki 141

8. Ayrton Badovini, BMW 118

9. Sylvain Guintoli, Ducati 109

10. Noriyuki Haga, Aprilia 99