Checa and Melandri win at finale

Added on Sunday, October 16th, 2011 by Carole Nash Editor | No Comments

Newly crowned 2011 World Superbike Champion Carlos Checa and Marco Melandri shared the success at Portimao this afternoon.

An eventful display saw Sylvain Guintoli dominate the first race for much of the outing, before the charging Checa stole the lead from his grasp. As the chequered flag beckoned Checa steered his Althea Racing machine to his fifteenth victory of the 2011 season.

After losing the lead Guintoli managed to hold onto second place and a strong podium finish, while pole sitter Jonathan Rea fought back from a drop towards the back of the grid to finish in third place.

Max Biaggi enjoyed a successful outing to take the chequered flag in fourth place, to displace Joan Lascorz in fifth position. Marco Melandri crossed the finish line in sixth place, ahead of Maxime Berger and Brit Tom Sykes. Fellow Brit wasn’t too far behind in ninth place, whilst Jakub Smrz completed the top ten.

The second race of the day and final race of the 2011 season saw Checa’s previous main title rival Melandri end his season on a high note.

The Yamaha World Superbike rider rose to the challenge to score victory, with his teammate Eugene Laverty making it a one-two finish for the Yamaha team. Rea continued his strong performance of the weekend to complete the podium, despite his best efforts to try and steal second place.

Checa rounded out his championship winning season with a fourth place finish, ahead of Guintoli. Brit Leon Camier made his way into the top ten on his second attempt of the day to score a sixth place finish, with Biaggi seventh.

Meanwhile, the final three positions of the top ten were awarded to Lascorz, Ayrton Badovini and the charging Berger.

After an eventful the final points scores have been completed, with Checa settling on 505 points. Melandri secured second place in the final championship standings with a total of 395 points, ahead of Biaggi and Laverty who settled joint on 303 points.

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