Assen WSB: Carlos Checa takes race two victory

Championship leader Carlos Checa has won the second superbike race at Assen to continue his excellent start to the 2011 WSB season.

The Spaniard led for the majority of the race after choosing a softer compound tyre for the second race. Second place finisher Max Biaggi, on hard compound tyres, stayed with Checa for the entirety of the race and started to close the gap in the latter stages of the race as Checa’s softer tyres became more worn.

With three laps to go Biaggi passed Checa, and it looked as if he was on course for his first win of 2011, with Checa’s Ducati struggling for grip.

Checa had other ideas though, and passed Biaggi on the brakes into the final chicane on the penutimate lap, forcing the Italian to sit up and settle for second.

Race one winner Jonathan Rea was unable to keep pace with the front runners, and had to settle for third place onboard the Castrol Honda. Marco Melandri was pressuring Jonathan Rea, but crashed on lap 15.

Starting from ninth on the grid Leon Camier had a much better second race, fighting through the pack to finish fourth ahead of Leon Haslam and Eugene Laverty in fifth and sixth respectively.

Early race leader Noriyuki Haga quickly went backwards once Checa and Biaggi got passed and eventually finished eighth.

1. Carlos Checa (Althea Racing) Ducati 1098R 35’38.693
2. Max Biaggi (Aprilia Alitalia Racing Team) Aprilia RSV4 Factory 35’39.217
3. Jonathan Rea (Castrol Honda) Honda CBR1000RR 35’42.277
4. Leon Camier (Aprilia Alitalia Racing Team) Aprilia RSV4 Factory 35’44.606
5. Leon Haslam (BMW Motorrad Motorsport) BMW S1000 RR 35’55.609
6. Eugene Laverty (Yamaha World Superbike Team) Yamaha YZF R1 35’56.068
7. Michel Fabrizio (Team Suzuki Alstare) Suzuki GSX-R1000 35’56.433
8. Noriyuki Haga (PATA Racing Team Aprilia) Aprilia RSV4 Factory 35’57.022
9. Jakub Smrz (Team Effenbert-Liberty Racing) Ducati 1098R 35’57.071
10. Sylvain Guintoli (Team Effenbert-Liberty Racing) Ducati 1098R 35’57.097
11. Tom Sykes (Kawasaki Racing Team Superbike) Kawasaki ZX-10R 36’04.977
12. Joan Lascorz (Kawasaki Racing Team) Kawasaki ZX-10R 36’05.746
13. Maxime Berger (Supersonic Racing Team) Ducati 1098R 36’17.307
14. Ruben Xaus (Castrol Honda) Honda CBR1000RR 36’19.517
15. Ayrton Badovini (BMW Motorrad Italia SBK Team) BMW S1000 RR 36’19.646
16. Roberto Rolfo (Team Pedercini) Kawasaki ZX-10R 36’19.675
17. Barry Veneman (BMW Motorrad Italia SBK Team) BMW S1000 RR 36’24.116
18. Mark Aitchison (Team Pedercini) Kawasaki ZX-10R 36’45.657
RT. Marco Melandri (Yamaha World Superbike Team) Yamaha YZF R1 25’56.759
RT. Troy Corser (BMW Motorrad Motorsport) BMW S1000 RR 11’29.069