Althea Ducati
Carlos in the top-flight again
Source: WORLDSBK.COM | NEWS - Friday, 5th March 2010, 10:49 GMTThe manner of Carlos Checa's win at Phillip Island last weekend may have been both thrilling and far from certain until the final two corners of the race, but we should not have been surprised by the fact that he was in contention for the race two win. Fast in all Phillip Island sessions and the previous winter tests, Checa has been reborn in a season which some may have seen as a relative slow-down from being an official Honda rider in 2008 and 2009. He is after all, 37 years old! As he proved, however, there is plenty of racing left in the Catalan rider, as Carlos gave himself and his recently reorganised Althea Ducati team his third and their first ever WSBK race win. Phillip Island was Checa's first race weekend on a twin cylinder four-stroke motorcycle, and his first meeting riding for his new team - two factors among several others that make his achievement highly noteworthy. Carlos has now started 58 World Superbike races, but he spent the majority of his career in GP racing, winning two 500GPs, his first way back in 1996. After his remarkable performance in Australia, Carlos put his win down to an immediate empathy with the nature of his latest bike. "I like the character of this machine", said Carlos. "It suits my riding style. This year, when I signed for this project it was because I wanted to have fun, to ride this bike, to ride a twin. At this stage of my career what more can I ask?" Read article
WSBK: 2010 World Superbike round one-Phillip Island results
Source: bikeracenews.com - Monday, 1st March 2010, 9:31 GMTLeon Haslam (Suzuki Alstare) and Carlos Checa (Althea Ducati) took a win each at Phillip Island in a sensational start to the 2010 WSBK season in Australia In dry conditions, in front of 65,500 fans, the action was intense in each 22-lap race, with the leading three riders within 0.769 seconds of each other in race [...] Read article
Haslam and Checa share Aussie spoils
Source: Insidebikes | Carole Nash » Bike News - Sunday, 28th February 2010, 15:18 GMTLeon Haslam and Carlos Checa shared the opening round victories in the World Superbike Championship today, after two thrilling races from Phillip Island. After securing his very first Superpole in yesterday’s eventful qualifying sessions, Haslam rode his Team Suzuki Alstare GSX-R1000 to his first win in the Superbike class in the opening race of 2010 - but not before confusion rained around the Australian circuit. Despite controlling the pace of the race from the off, Haslam was pressured throughout by the Ducati Xerox machine of Michel Fabrizio, with the Italian eager to be the first to take the top step of the podium this season. As the riders enjoyed their final lap of the twenty-two lap distance, Fabrizio saw his chance to edge into the lead, and lunged alongside the young Brit as they raced to the chequered flag. With the two riders crossing the line so close together it was initially difficult to separate them, until Fabrizio was handed the win. Upon closer inspection, and a number of replays, it was acknowledged that Haslam was actually the victor, by just 0.004 seconds. After two celebrations from two different riders and teams the eventual outcome of the race was determined, allowing Haslam to take to the top step of the podium for the first time in the WSB championship. Despite his earlier celebration, Fabrizio was forced to settle for second place, while his Ducati Xerox counterpart, Noriyuki Haga, followed him across the line in third. Brit Jonathan Rea enjoyed a fierce battle with his rivals, eventually taking fourth ahead of Max Biaggi, Sylvain Guintoli and Carlos Checa. Not too far behind, Jakub Smrz took the chequered flag eighth, while Troy Corser fought his way up to ninth from a thirteenth place grid start. Lorenzo Lanzi completed the top ten in this first race of the season. Returning British hot shot James Toseland was enjoying a strong race, until a twitchy back end on his Sterilgarda Yamaha forced him into a crash and out of the race. Commenting on his dream start to his 2010 WSB campaign, Haslam said: “It’s not sunk in just yet, especially as it was such a close finish and not knowing if I had won for a while. That definitely added to the anticipation. I can’t thank my team enough they have been solid since day one and to repay them with this is great. I’m a little speechless now. I changed my style towards the end and I rode as smoothly as possible. It worked, but it was close at the end.” Race two brought even more exciting action, with a number of race long battles going on throughout the field for the entire race. As the field set off for the second time Haslam and Haga both enjoyed strong starts, with Haga attempting to launch into the lead ahead of the Suzuki rider. However, fully committed to maintaining his advantage, Haslam flew around the outside into turn one, enabling him to hold onto his number one spot. Behind, Chris Vermeulen stormed up to fourth, while Fabrizio muscled his teammate out of the way for second, demoting Haga to third once again. Just two laps into the race saw the first retirement, with British rider Tom Sykes slowly making his way away from the racing line, bringing his Australian experience to an abrupt end. Having seen his teammate doing well out in front, Guintoli decided to follow suit and stormed passed his rivals as if they weren’t there. Determined to emulate the triumph of Haslam in the first race, Guintoli slipped through into the lead, forcing Haslam to play second fiddle for a number of laps. As the top four began edging away from the rest of the field, another battle began forming slightly further back. Despite the early pace of Vermeulen, he gradually began losing ground, with the rejoining Toseland being the first to demote the Australian down the order. Next in line was Leon Camier; having seen his countryman pass Vermeulen just laps earlier Camier decided to have a go himself, promoting himself to fifth in the process. After setting the early pace in qualifying yesterday, Carlos Checa was determined to prove his worth in this second race and was soon the man to watch. Checa began picking off the riders in front of him one at a time, until he was riding with the front runners, eager to find a way into the lead. As the race developed Vermeulen suffered a crash, hitting the tyre barrier in unison with his Kawasaki. He was carried off on a stretcher, but no further news has been released yet. With the second batch of twenty-two laps nearing completion, the ending to race one was almost mirrored in this second race. As the riders progressed onto their final tour Haslam came under increasing pressure from second place, this time it was Checa piling on the pressure. As the pair entered the final section of the lap Checa lunged passed the Suzuki rider. Unable to catch the Spaniard, Haslam was forced to accept second, while Fabrizio again made it into a podium spot in third. A strong performance from Sylvain enabled him to cross the line fourth, with Haga pushed back to fifth. After losing ten seconds to his rivals earlier in the race due to running wide, Jonathan Rea fought back to finish sixth, while veteran Troy Corser succeeded with a seventh place finish. Max Biaggi secured eighth, while Sterilgarda teammates Cal Crutchlow and Toseland crossed the line ninth and tenth, with Crutchlow just managing to get the better of the Yorkshireman. Camier, having been forced off the track earlier on had a lot of time to make up but fought back to eleventh place at the flag. Having secured the maiden win for his privateer Althea Ducati team, Checa said: “The plan was to start the second race well and we chose a softer tyre. We changed the bike and we improved in the braking points, so I could overtake people. When you are close to four other riders it is not easy to overtake and make it permanent but I passed in the right time and at the right places. This was one of the best races in my life, so thanks to my new team.” Fabrizio commented: “I thought I had won the race. When I saw the big screen after the finish I saw my family and the crew chief celebrating, so I thought I had it.” He added: “We didn’t make any changes to the bike between race one and race two. I think it would have been very difficult for me to win, but if Carlos had not been in the mix I may have been able to push in the last three or four laps. I was having some problems by that time so it was very difficult to try and win.” Read article
Phillip Island WSB: Checa takes the win on the last lap
Source: | Motorcycle Sport | World Superbikes - Sunday, 28th February 2010, 9:10 GMTAlthea Ducati rider Carlos Checa won the second World Superbike race at Phillip Island after a last-lap pass on race 1 winner Leon Haslam. Alstare Suzuki rider Haslam finished just 0.3 secs behind Checa in the second close finish of... Read article
Phillip Island WSB: Checa takes the win on the last lap
Source: | Motorcycle Sport | World Superbikes - Sunday, 28th February 2010, 9:10 GMTAlthea Ducati rider Carlos Checa won the second World Superbike race at Phillip Island after a last-lap pass on race 1 winner Leon Haslam. Alstare Suzuki rider Haslam finished just 0.3 secs behind Checa in the second close finish of... Read article
Haslam and Checa share opening day victories
Source: WORLDSBK.COM | NEWS - Sunday, 28th February 2010, 6:29 GMTLeon Haslam (Suzuki Alstare) and Carlos Checa (Althea Ducati) took a win apiece at Phillip Island in what was a sensational start to the 2010 WSBK season in Australia. In dry conditions, in front of 65,500 fans, the action was intense in each 22-lap race, with the leading three riders within 0.769 seconds of each other in race one and the leading four within 0.837 seconds in race two. "Pirelli's opening race weekend saw spectacular racing with new faces on all accounts, starting from a Superpole led by Haslam, Fabrizio and Crutchlow on three different machines. Race 1 finished 7 seconds faster than previous year, a race so close between Suzuki and Ducati that it demanded a photo finish. New to Superbike, Sylvain Guintoli led Race 2 for many laps and set the Pirelli Best Lap on his first race on the Suzuki. Race time dropped by 4 seconds over 2009, and Checa impressively took his new bike and new team Althea straight to the top of the podium. The Supersport race, 5 seconds faster as well, Laverty lead a very precise race from start to finish on his Honda from Parkalgar. It's fantastic to see such diverse results from all the manufacturers, especially at the start of the season." Giorgio Barbier, Racing Director, Pirelli Moto. Race 1 It took a close look at the photo finish images to split Leon Haslam from his race long rival Michel Fabrizio (Ducati Xerox), but by only 0.004 seconds the Alstare Suzuki rider was given the win. It was the closest ever finish in the WSBK class, as Leon took his first career win in the Superbike World Championship. Fabrizio was originally awarded the victory but before the slow down lap had been completed, Haslam was confirmed as the winner. Noriyuki Haga took his Ducati Xerox machine to third, being part of the leading battle throughout. Jonathan Rea, Max Biaggi, Sylvain Guintoli and Carlos Checa battled it out over fourth place, with Jakub Smrz, Troy Corser and Lorenzo Lanzi completing the first race top ten. Haslam: "It's not sunk in just yet, especially as it was such a close finish and not knowing if I had won for a while. That definitely added to the anticipation. I can't thank my team enough they have been solid since day one and to repay them with this is great. I'm a little speechless now. I changed my style towards the end and I rode as smoothly as possible. It worked, but it was close at the end." Michel Fabrizio: "I thought I had won the race. When I saw the big screen after the finish I saw my family and the crew chief celebrating, so I thought I had it." Noriyuki Haga: "I did not have any big injury after my crash in morning warm-up but some swelling in my right arm. My personal trainer made a good massage before the race and I took some painkilling injections. The race was tough and I had arm pump, so that made me make some mistakes under braking. But it was fun to race with them at the front." Race 2 Carlos Checa (Althea Ducati) won a thrilling race two at Phillip Island, by only 0.307 from Leon Haslam, whom he passed on the final section of the track, in convincing style. Third went to Michel Fabrizio, but a great ride from new SBK rider Sylvain Guintoli put him fourth on his Suzuki Alstare machine in only his fourth ever SBK event. Noriyuki Haga was fifth, Jonathan Rea heading up a busy and exciting midfield battle in sixth, after losing ten seconds by running wide on lap one, and then fighting through the pack. Troy Corser took his BMW to seventh in race two. Carlos Checa: "The plan was to start the second race well and we chose a softer tyre. We changed the bike and we improved in the braking points, so I could overtake people. When you are close to four other riders it is not easy to overtake and make it permanent but I passed in the right time and at the right places. This was one of the best races in my life, so thanks to my new team." Leon Haslam: "I had a few laps behind Sylvain my team-mate and in some corners I could not stay with him given the grip he had out of the corners. But I got the lead again and it was all going to plan until Carlos managed to come along and nip up the inside to win." Michel Fabrizio: "We didn't make any changes to the bike between race one and race two. I think it would have been very difficult for me to win, but if Carlos had not been in the mix I may have been able to push in the last three or four laps. I was having some problems by that time so it was very difficult to try and win." World Supersport - Laverty wins by clear margin Eugene Laverty (Parkalgar Honda) won the opening race of the year by 4.359 seconds with a masterful display of front running, heading up the official Kawasaki of pole man Joan Lascorz and the Honda of Kenan Sofuoglu. Laverty also set the race fastest lap, 1'35.204, on lap six. The first attempt at the race was first stopped and finally abandoned due to oil being dropped on the track, and a complete-restart was called. The subsequent 21-lap race saw Laverty lead from the early stages again. Behind Laverty, Lascorz and Sofuoglu, Triumph rider David Salom was fourth, and the privateer Kawasaki of Fabien Foret made it onto the top five also. Pirelli Performance Awards: SBK Race 1 - Pirelli BEST LAPLeon Haslam (Team Suzuki Alstare) 1'32.193 (Lap 2) SBK Race 2 - Pirelli BEST LAPSylvain Guintoli (Team Suzuki Alstare) 1'32.236 (Lap 3) WSS - Pirelli BEST LAPEugene Laverty (Parkalgar Honda) 1'35.204 (Lap 6) Read article
Haslam takes his first ever Superpole win
Source: WORLDSBK.COM | NEWS - Saturday, 27th February 2010, 6:44 GMTIn a new look Superpole, with the top 20 riders trying to go through all three sectors of Superpole in sessions which last 14, 12 and 10 minutes respectively, Leon Haslam (Suzuki Alstare) beat all the others to pole position with a best time of 1'31.229, securing his first ever WSBK Superpole win. Superpole 3 Eight riders fought it out for the first two grid places, with Michel Fabrizio (Ducati Xerox) just 0.016 seconds behind Haslam with a 1'31.245, Cal Crutchlow (Yamaha Sterilgarda) and Carlos Checa (Althea Ducati) slotting in behind Fabrizio. The second row will feature Sylvain Guintoli (Suzuki Alstare), Jakub Smrz (Pata B&G Racing Ducati), Jonathan Rea (Hannspree Ten Kate Honda) and James Toseland (Yamaha Sterilgarda) after ten minutes of close final competition sorted out the leading riders. Superpole 2 The eight riders who missed final Superpole qualification were, in reverse order, Leon Camier (Aprilia Alitalia) who was 16th overall, Ruben Xaus (BMW Motorrad Motorsport), Chris Vermeulen (Kawasaki Racing Team), Troy Corser (BMW Motorrad Motorsport), Tom Sykes (Kawasaki Racing Team), Max Biaggi (Aprilia Alitalia), Noriyuki Haga (Ducati Xerox), and Lorenzo Lanzi (DFX Ducati). Superpole 1 At the very start of the Superpole sessions, Roland Resch missed out on participation on his BMW Reitwagen machine after a big crash in qualifying, but of the 19 riders who competed in Superpole one, only his team-mate Andrew Pitt, Shane Byrne (Althea Ducati) and Max Neukirchner (Hannspree Ten Kate Honda) did not progress to Superpole 2. Byrne was still battered after his big crash yesterday but battled through Superpole. Times: 1. Haslam L. (GBR) Suzuki GSX-R1000 1'31.229; 2. Fabrizio M. (ITA) Ducati 1098R 1'31.245; 3. Crutchlow C. (GBR) Yamaha YZF R1 1'31.642; 4. Checa C. (ESP) Ducati 1098R 1'31.671; 5. Guintoli S. (FRA) Suzuki GSX-R1000 1'31.696; 6. Smrz J. (CZE) Ducati 1098R 1'31.757; 7. Rea J. (GBR) Honda CBR1000RR 1'31.912; 8. Toseland J. (GBR) Yamaha YZF R1 1'32.019; 9. Lanzi L. (ITA) Ducati 1098R 1'32.205; 10. Haga N. (JPN) Ducati 1098R 1'32.229; 11. Biaggi M. (ITA) Aprilia RSV4 1000 F. 1'32.293; 12. Sykes T. (GBR) Kawasaki ZX 10R 1'32.398; 13. Corser T. (AUS) BMW S1000 RR 1'32.430; 14. Vermeulen C. (AUS) Kawasaki ZX 10R 1'32.561; 15. Xaus R. (ESP) BMW S1000 RR 1'32.842; 16. Camier L. (GBR) Aprilia RSV4 1000 F. 1'32.895 Race date There will be two 22-lap Superbike races on Sunday 28th, the first at noon local time in Victoria, the second at 15.30. Leon Haslam: "You can get caught out quite easily in Superpole so we went out to go fast early in each session. We used a soft option race tyre for the first Superpole, didn't have any slides and felt really comfortable. When I put my first qualifier in I was sliding, so I was not sure which tyre to use in the final session, but we managed to go out there put a qualifier in and we put in a little bit of a quicker time. Sitting in the pit garage watching these guys go out to try and beat my time was probably more nerve-wracking than being out on the track. But it all ended up good and I got my first Superpole win." Michel Fabrizio: "The second qualifying tyre we used worked the best of all the ones we had been trying and that was the one I scored the best time with. I am fairly happy in the hot conditions if that is the way things turn out on raceday." Cal Crutchlow: "We made a good final lap but we made a small mistake in the second session, which made me run off the track. I had to use the two qualifying tyres we are given, which we could have used in the finals session. I then had to use a soft race tyre and we made it work, but I was pushing, no doubt about that. I hope I can maintain that position in the race and a front row start always helps." World Supersport - Lascorz the top man after qualifying Spanish rider Joan Lascorz started his and his Provec Motocard.com team's season off in perfect style with a pole position performance at Phillip Island, scorching round the 4.445km circuit in a new best lap of 1'33.847. He left his best effort for last, and put his fastest lap down to making the best use of a good machine set-up. Kenan Sofuoglu (Hannspree Ten Kate Honda) was second fastest with a 1'34.116, while Sofuoglu's team-mate Michele Pirro slotted into third. Eugene Laverty will complete the front row for the 21-lap race on Sunday 28th, after qualifying fourth on his Parkalgar Honda. Katsuaki Fujiwara sent his official Kawasaki machine to the head of the second row and David Salom (despite losing the first day of track action) was top Triumph rider in sixth, on a ParkinGO BE1 Daytona 675 triple. Times: 1. Lascorz J. (ESP) Kawasaki ZX-6R 1'33.847; 2. Sofuoglu K. (TUR) Honda CBR600RR 1'34.116; 3. Pirro M. (ITA) Honda CBR600RR 1'34.156; 4. Laverty E. (IRL) Honda CBR600RR 1'34.300; 5. Fujiwara K. (JPN) Kawasaki ZX-6R 1'34.494; 6. Salom D. (ESP) Triumph Daytona 675 1'34.873; 7. Davies C. (GBR) Triumph Daytona 675 1'34.939; 8. Harms R. (DEN) Honda CBR600RR 1'34.999 Read article
Haslam takes his first ever Superpole win
Source: WORLDSBK.COM | NEWS - Saturday, 27th February 2010, 5:17 GMTIn a new look Superpole, with the top 20 riders trying to go through all three sectors of Superpole in sessions which last 14, 12 and 10 minutes respectively, Leon Haslam (Suzuki Alstare) beat all the others to pole position with a best time of 1'31.229, securing his first ever WSBK Superpole win. Superpole 3 Eight riders fought it out for the first two grid places, with Michel Fabrizio (Ducati Xerox) just behind Haslam, Cal Crutchlow (Yamaha Sterilgarda) and Carlos Checa (Althea Ducati) slotting in behind Fabrizio. The second row will feature Sylvain Guintoli (Suzuki Alstare),Jakub Smrz (Pata B&G Racing Ducati), Jonathan Rea (Hannspree Ten Kate Honda) and James Toseland (Yamaha Sterilgarda) after ten minutes of close final competition sorted out the leading riders. Superpole 2 The eight riders who missed final Superpole qualification were, in reverse order, Leon Camier (Aprilia Alitalia) who was 16th overall, Ruben Xaus (BMW Motorrad Motorsport), Chris Vermeulen (Kawasaki Racing Team), Troy Corser (BMW Motorrad Motorsport), Tom Sykes (Kawasaki Racing Team), Max Biaggi (Aprilia Alitalia), Noriyuki Haga (Ducati Xerox), and Lorenzo Lanzi (DFX Ducati). Superpole 1 At the very start of the Superpole sessions, Roland Resch missed out on participation on his BMW Reitwagen machine after a big crash in qualifying, but of the 19 riders who competed in Superpole one, only his team-mate Andrew Pitt, Shane Byrne (Althea Ducati) and Max Neukirchner (Hannspree Ten Kate Honda) did not progress to Superpole 2. Byrne was still battered after his big crash yesterday but battled through Superpole. Read article
Checa holds on for top pre-Superpole qualifying place
Source: WORLDSBK.COM | NEWS - Saturday, 27th February 2010, 2:15 GMTAfter heavy overnight rains and cool track conditions visited Phillip Island, Carlos Checa (Althea Ducati) held on for the fastest combined qualifying time, with only Superpole for the top 20 riders set to determine the shape of the final starting grid. On a dry but cool track surface today, Michel Fabrizio (Ducati Xerox) and Leon Haslam (Suzuki Alstare) also had to rely on their Friday best times for second and third best overall lap times. Cal Crutchlow (Sterilgarda Yamaha) was the best of the riders who improved in the final qualifying session, fourth fastest, while Sylvain Guintoli (Suzuki Alstare) also found a bit more pace today, to go fifth. Despite a painful crash on the first day, James Toseland (Sterilgarda Yamaha) bounced back to score a top six finish in the pre-Superpole charts. Local rider Chris Vermeulen (Kawasaki Racing Team) qualified eighth. The top 17 riders qualified within 0.729 of each other. All the factory riders made it into the final Superpole 20, with the privateer riders who missed out being Josh Brookes (Honda), Vittorio Iannuzzo (Honda) and the Kawasaki pairing of Matteo Baiocco and Roger Lee Hayden. Read article
WSBK: Althea Ducati Racing conclude testing at Phillip Island
Source: bikeracenews.com - Tuesday, 23rd February 2010, 19:42 GMTToday was the last day of two-day test session for Althea racing team at the Phillip Island circuit in Australia A wet track was present in the Superbike morning sessions due to showers in the early morning. The asphalt had completely dried out by mid-morning so Checa and Byrne started their first session an hour later [...] Read article
