Carlos to be King

Spain’s Carlos Checa should make light work of becoming the 2011 world Superbike champion at Magny-Cours in France this weekend, but he doesn’t want to make it a “celebratory walk in the park”.

Checa’s inevitable crowning could happen as early as race one, where he only has to finish 13th or higher even if closest rival Marco Melandri (Yamaha) takes the chequered flag – which will be a big ask on the Italian’s first visit to Magny-Cours.

“We are going to Magny-Cours where we want to make two good races, top level races,” said Checa. “The track is not particularly favourable to us but we’ll be giving it our all and we’ll see. We’ve demonstrated our potential all year long and… I prefer to work hard as we have done every weekend, because this is the best way to receive the title.

“I am expecting an unforgettable day but the prize should be awarded for a year’s worth of hard work, by the entire team. We have a great package and so I would like to accept the trophy in the correct way, which means that we’ll continue to give 100 percent until the very end.”

If Checa succeeds at Magny-Cours – and if he doesn’t there’s always the final round in Portugal to fall back on -- he will be the first Spanish rider, and only the fifth of European descent, to win the WSBK title, and it will also be Ducati’s first championship success since Aussie Troy Bayliss in 2008.

Checa has been ruthless all season, finishing on the podium in 18 of the 22 races for 12 wins. And the warning signs were there early in the season, when he dominated the opening round at Australia’s Phillip Island, leaving the rest of the championship contenders rattled.

And he hasn’t let up since, with Monza’s round four – a track tailor-made for his four-cylinder opposition – the only time that he hasn’t set foot on the dais.

Checa is currently on 417pts, ahead of Melandri (320), Max Biaggi (Aprilia, 281), Eugene Laverty (Yamaha, 256) and Leon Haslam (187).

For the Australians, Magny-Cours could be yet produce more proof of Mark Aitchison’s readiness to take on the mantle as Australia’s No. 1 world Superbike rider.

He’s recently been the fastest Australian on his rapidly improving Kawasaki, while Troy Corser (BMW) has been a pale imitation of his former self.

And Chris Vermeulen (Kawasaki) has only competed in a few rounds as he battles knee and elbow injuries.

Corser has fond memories of Magny-Cours, as it was one of the first places where he rode the S 1000 RR.

“Magny-Cours is quite a special circuit. It has lots of hairpins and some pretty fast chicanes,” said Corser. “I had a few good results there, including some pole positions. It will be nice to go back there.

“Important factors at Magny-Cours are top speed and braking. You brake from very high speeds down to the slowest corners that we have on the calendar. This is especially the case on the end of the back straight, where you brake from over 280km/h down to under 50km/h.

“So you need good stability on the brakes and a smooth connection, as the corners are quite tight. I think our RR will work well there.”

With Checa set to mop up the final few points he requires to become champion-designate, the other focal point at Magny-Cours will be whether Eugene Laverty (Yamaha) can intensify the battle for third place in the championship against Max Biaggi (Aprilia).

Of course, if Biaggi misses again with a foot injury, Laverty’s cause will be given a massive shot in the arm. But there are plenty of other fast men in the WSBK entourage around the French track, including lap record holder Noriyuki Haga (Aprilia), Michel Fabrizio (Suzuki), Leon Haslam (BMW), Sylvain Guintoli (Ducati) and Jonathan Rea (Honda).

Rea returned to form with a bullet at Imola last Sunday, and was on track for a clean sweep before an innocuous battery connector came loose in race two when he was 3.5 seconds ahead of Checa.

WORLD SUPERSPORT
Briton Chaz Davies (Yamaha) has another chance to wrap up the championship after his machine also expired at Imola while he was destroying the field.

Davies is on 171pts with two rounds remaining, ahead of Fabien Foret (Honda, 136) and Kawasaki pilots David Salom (123) and Australian Broc Parkes (120).

A couple of daring races to see out the year could still be enough for Parkes to finish second in the championship, and he was certainly on the pace at Magny-Cours last year before being sidelined with a mechanical problem.

All the action from both world championship classes will be live on SPEED at 7:30pm Sunday (Otcober 2).

WORLD SUPERBIKE STANDINGS (AFTER ROUND 11 OF 13):
1 Carlos Checa, Spain, Ducati 417
2 Marco Melandri, Italy, Yamaha 320
3 Max Biaggi, Italy, Aprilia 281
4 Eugene Laverty, Great Britain, Yamaha 256
5 Leon Haslam, Great Britain, BMW 187
6 Leon Camier, Great Britain, Aprilia 171
7 Sylvain Guintoli, France, Ducati 158
8 Noriyuki Haga, Japan, Aprilia 155
9 Ayrton Badovini, Italy, BMW 147
10 Michel Fabrizio, Italy, Suzuki 141
15 Troy Corser, Australia, BMW 71
19 Mark Aitchison, Australia, Kawasaki 36
21 Chris Vermeulen, Australia, Kawasaki 14