WSBK Preview: Can Checa win?
Round 6 of the World Superbike Championship heads to the USA, Miller Motorsports ParkAfter a recent dry spell, reigning World Superbike champion Carlos Checa will be salivating at the prospect of returning to Miller Motorsports Park in Salt Lake City from May 26-28.
Checa has been a law unto himself at Miller in recent years, and could have been coming off a four-race winning streak around the 4.905km circuit had he not been felled by mechanical problems twice in 2010.
But he hit back hard in 2011, winning both races en route to eventual championship success.
Now with the 2012 championship delicately poised after five of 14 rounds, Checa is desperate to get his name back on the winner's list after finishing on the podium only once in the last six races -- although he still remains well and truly in the championship hunt in fourth position behind Biaggi, Tom Sykes (Kawasaki) and Jonathan Rea (Honda).
“I have always enjoyed the atmosphere at Miller, the people, the mountains, the layout of the track itself. The track suits my riding style and I have many great memories thanks to the results I’ve obtained there these last years,” said Checa.
“At Donington we lost ground in the classification and so definitely need a strong weekend now.”
Only three riders have won World Superbike races at Miller since it joined the championship in 2008 -- Checa, American Ben Spies and Biaggi.
And history suggests that whoever wins race one next Monday -- the event is held on Memorial Day Monday in America, with first qualfying Saturday and final qualifying Sunday -- will go onto claim the double, which has been the case over the last four years.
But the biggest difference in the 2012 version of World Superbike is the even spread of top-flight campaigners, with the nine race wins so far shared between six riders and five separate manufacturers -- with BMW becoming the latest to join the parade in the last round at Donington.
That round was one for the ages, and even if Miller produces half the spectacle of Donington it will still be superb, especially with riders like Rea, Sykes, Eugene Laverty (Aprilia) and BMW duo Marco Melandri and Leon Haslam all in red hot form. And Leon Camier is starting to show some serious hustle on his Suzuki as well.
Camier was a podium finisher in the 2011 Miller round, as was Ducati pair Sylvain Guintoli and Jakub Smrz and Biaggi.
No Australian will compete in the Miller world superbike round, after the Central Coast’s Mark Aitchison and Team Grillini Progea world superbike team parted company this week.
The World Supersport championship is not competing at this weekend’s Miller round, and returns to action at Misano in Italy on June 10.
2012 World Superbike, Rd6, Miller Motorsports Park, live on SPEED from 6.30am Tuesday, May 29 Delayed highlights package on SBS nationally Sunday June 3 at 2pm
CURRENT WORLD SUPERBIKE STANDINGS (after five of 14 rounds):
1 Max Biaggi, Italy, Aprilia 128.5
2 Tom Sykes, Great Britain, Kawasaki 123.5
3 Jonathan Rea, Great Britain, Honda 108
4 Carlos Checa, Spain, Ducati 105.5
5 Marco Melandri Italy, BMW 97.5
6 Leon Haslam, Great Britain, BMW 89
7 Sylvain Guintoli, France, Ducati 85
8 Eugene Laverty, Great Britain, Aprilia 65
9 Davide Giugliano, Italy, Ducati 50
10 Jakub Smrz, Czech Republic, Ducati 44.5
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