Miller WSB Race one: Checa takes convincing win ahead of determined Melandri

Carlos Checa continued his unprecedented run of form at the Miller Motorsports Park round with a brilliant race one win. The 39 year old Spaniard had to fight hard at the beginning of the race with Tom Sykes, Jonathan Rea and Marco Melandri but after hitting the front on lap eight he was never headed and won by 2.313 seconds after responding to a late charge by Melandri.

Checa said: “It’s a great result of a great race and a great moment for me. I always feel very comfortable at this track and it’s been important after the last few rounds not being on the podium to get the victory here. I had to push hard because Marco was very fast in the end so there was no time to relax.”

While Checa was expected to be fast the surprise of the race was BMW man Marco Melandri. The 28 year old Italian rode brilliantly to overcame a difficult weekend where he was plagued with tyre issue to go from ninth on the grid to second. His result is significant following his win and DNF at Donington park and he consolidates fifth in the championship standings.

He said: “It was an amazing race for me. Even after the qualifying I knew I could make a good race. My team made a perfect job with the setting and the tyres were working well at the end of the race. I started to catch Carlos very slowly and when he made a mistake I got pretty close. But when I tried to push more I made a mistake so I decided on the last lap to take the second place and be on the podium.”

Max Biaggi was another man that delivered the goods on race day. Having qualified seventh, the Aprilia man had to fight hard with Honda Superbike rider Jonathan Rea and eventually secured third place to extend his lead in the standings to 13 points.

Biaggi said: “I started from seventh position so to be on the podium is not too bad. I had to fight hard with many riders especially at the beginning of the race. In the end I was able to push, we lost grip from the tyres as the race went on but I guess it was the same for everyone.”

Despite losing out on the podium it was still an impressive result for Rea and his fourth place marks an impressive turnaround in fortune at the American track. Eugene Laverty rode a strong race to claim fifth spot after a tough battle with pole man Jakub Smrz.

Reigning WSS champion Chaz Davies secured his best result of his Superbike career with an impressive seventh place finish. The 25 year old finished just 19 seconds off winner Checa at the chequered flag.

It was a disappointing race for Kawasaki man Tom Sykes after leading early on he was thrown out of his rhythm after a hard pass by Checa and soon dropped down the order, finishing eighth.

Leon Haslam endured another tough Miller race onboard his BMW, unlike his team-mate Melandri, Haslam was unable to overcome the problems and lack of track time during qualifying and finished the race in tenth spot.

Miller – FIM Superbike World Championship – Race 1

1. Carlos Checa (Althea Racing) Ducati 1098R 38’21.283
2. Marco Melandri (BMW Motorrad Motorsport) BMW S1000 RR 38’23.596
3. Max Biaggi (Aprilia Racing Team) Aprilia RSV4 Factory 38’26.621
4. Jonathan Rea (Honda World Superbike Team) Honda CBR1000RR 38’26.800
5. Eugene Laverty (Aprilia Racing Team) Aprilia RSV4 Factory 38’33.484
6. Jakub Smrz (Liberty Racing Team Effenbert) Ducati 1098R 38’34.545
7. Chaz Davies (ParkinGO MTC Racing) Aprilia RSV4 Factory 38’40.945
8. Tom Sykes (Kawasaki Racing Team) Kawasaki ZX-10R 38’42.575
9. Michel Fabrizio (BMW Motorrad Italia GoldBet) BMW S1000 RR 38’42.733
10. Leon Haslam (BMW Motorrad Motorsport) BMW S1000 RR 38’44.716
11. Davide Giugliano (Althea Racing) Ducati 1098R 38’44.979
12. Sylvain Guintoli (Team Effenbert Liberty Racing) Ducati 1098R 38’46.035
13. Leon Camier (FIXI Crescent Suzuki) Suzuki GSX-R1000 38’50.683
14. Ayrton Badovini (BMW Motorrad Italia GoldBet) BMW S1000 RR 38’52.505
15. Loris Baz (Kawasaki Racing Team) Kawasaki ZX-10R 38’54.249
16. Maxime Berger (Team Effenbert Liberty Racing) Ducati 1098R 38’56.692
17. Hiroshi Aoyama (Honda World Superbike Team) Honda CBR1000RR 39’13.436
18. Shane Turpin (Boulder Motor Sports) Ducati 1098R 38’49.456
19. Jake Holden (Grillini Progea Superbike Team) BMW S1000 RR 39’00.843
RT. Leandro Mercado (Team Pedercini) Kawasaki ZX-10R 24’24.308
RT. Lorenzo Zanetti (PATA Racing Team) Ducati 1098R 20’25.943
RT. John Hopkins (FIXI Crescent Suzuki) Suzuki GSX-R1000 13’04.252
RT. David Salom (Team Pedercini) Kawasaki ZX-10R 13’54.828
RT. Niccolò Canepa (Red Devils Roma) Ducati 1098R 11’16.614