Checa does the double at Imola

Ducati’s Carlos Checa stormed to the top of the 2012 Superbike World Championship standings with a faultless performance at Imola overnight.

The reigning world champion’s second clean sweep at the Italian circuit in three years now has him on 75pts after two of 14 rounds, ahead of Aprilia’s Max Biaggi (71), Kawasaki’s Tom Sykes (69) and BMW’s Leon Haslam (47).

That quartet butchered the opposition at Imola, with polesitter Sykes finishing second in both 21-lap races, while Biaggi and Haslam were third and fourth – and then daylight to the rest.

Australian Mark Aitchison was 17th and 18th as he continues to develop his new BMW race bike.

But it was another incredible day for Checa, who initially played it cool in both races behind Sykes before hitting the lead. His Imola record now stands at five wins in the last six races, while Ducati’s CV around the challenging circuit is unmatched – 13 victories in 19 WSBK races.

“A day that I will never forget – it’s always great to win in Italy,” said Checa. “It was all an unknown today with the much colder conditions; we didn’t know which tyre to use but we took the risk of using one which we’d tested during the practice sessions – it was a risk but it paid off.

“At the beginning of race one I could see that Sykes had a very strong pace but I stuck with him. When I realised that he was beginning to have trouble in certain places, I took the opportunity to get past him. Then I was able to build a small advantage which meant I could finish comfortably ahead.

“The second race was very similar to the first. I made a small mistake near the beginning but was then able to find my rhythm.”

Eugene Laverty (Aprilia) and Marco Melandri (BMW) were fifth and sixth in race one, with the latter rallying back from 16th spot after he ran straight into the pit lane entrance on lap two after a downshift issue.

Honda’s big hope, Jonathan Rea, made up four spots to nail fifth in race two, ahead of Laverty who had his hands full keeping Jakub Smrz (Ducati) in check.

Australia’s Broc Parkes (Honda) was again left frustrated by a rear tyre that lost all grip almost immediately after the start, which forced him to pit after just five of the scheduled 20 laps.

Even though he was straight back on the pace – he even set a new lap record of 1:51.952 – Parkes finished a lowly 20th, in a race won by veteran Fabien Foret (Kawasaki). Honda riders Sam Lowes and Ronan Quarmby took the other two podium positions.

“The tyre for the race was completely destroyed after two or three laps,” said Parkes. “We put on a new tyre – again, exactly the same spec – and I went back out and set the best lap of the race, a new lap record, and lap times that were as good, or faster than the guys that won the race.

“That’s two races in a row where we’ve had issues and I feel sorry for the team. They’re spending all their own money to go racing this year and I guess they might rather go and play golf together, because this is useless to us.”

Melbourne rookie Jed Metcher (Yamaha) was 15th, collecting the final world championship point.

In the support classes, Bryan Staring was fifth in Superstock 1000, and Matt Davies was the best of the three Aussies in European 600, finishing 13th. Both were riding Kawasakis.

Race one: 21 laps
1 Carlos Checa, Spain, Ducati 38mins6.264secs
2 Tom Sykes, Great Britain, Kawasaki +3.206
3 Leon Haslam, Great Britain, BMW +5.593
4 Max Biaggi, Italy, Aprilia +6.519
5 Eugene Laverty, Great Britain, Aprilia +24.662
6 Marco Melandri Italy, BMW +27.261
7 Joan Lascorz, Spain, Kawasaki +27.384
8 Lorenzo Zanetti, Italy, Ducati +28.299
9 Jonathan Rea, Great Britain, Honda +34.067
10 Niccolo Canepa, Italy, Ducati +35.724
17 Mark Aitchison, Australia, BMW +57.944

Fastest lap and new record: Checa – 1:47.877 (Previous record: Checa – 1:47.934, 2011)

Race two: 21 laps
1 Checa 37:57.571
2 Sykes +1.935
3 Haslam +2.969
4 Biaggi +3.346
5 Rea +18.925
6 Laverty +21.180
7 Jakub Smrz, Czech Republic, Ducati +21.392
8 Leon Camier, Great Britain, Suzuki +23.797
9 Lascorz +24.219
10 Melandri +25.599
18 Aitchison +57.833

Fastest lap and new record: Checa – 1:47.552

CURRENT STANDINGS (AFTER TWO OF 14 ROUNDS):
1 Checa 75
2 Biaggi 71
3 Sykes 69
4 Haslam 47
5 Melandri 46
6 Rea 40
7 Smrz 30
8 Laverty 29
9 Sylvain Guintoli, France, Ducati 21
10 Maxime Berger, France, Ducati 20

Next round: Assen, Netherlands, April 20-22