Checa Double Cuts Gap On Bayliss
Added on Monday, June 2nd, 2008 by Carole Nash Editor
Checa Double Cuts Gap On Bayliss
Carlos Checa claimed his first ever double win yesterday as he closed the gap on Troy Bayliss in the World Superbikes Championship.
The Spaniard took the chequered flag in both races at the newly-opened Miller Motorsports Park in Salt Lake City and recorded Honda’s 100th WSB victory in the process.
The result means that the WSB rookie is now just 28 points behind Bayliss in the championship after the Australian failed to pick up a single point.
The Ducati rider crashed out on lap five of the opening race and a mechanical problem in race two saw him finish outside of the points in 22nd position.
The result opens up a championship that was beginning to look extremely one sided prior to this weekend and Checa was understandably happy with the result.
“It’s been a fantastic moment to take a double win here in the USA,” Checa said.
“The last time I won a race was 10 years ago, these are my first wins outside my homeland Spain. I now have the taste for victory. I hope we can continue working the way we did today.”
The 35-year-old added: “At the start of the race I had some problems with my number one bike and had to use the other one. I think I had a good start, but then saw the other riders in front of me and I knew I had to work hard. When I saw Neukirchner in front I knew I could overtake him and take the lead. At the end of the race Corser was catching up on me and I had to stay focused and improve my pace.”
Yamaha rider Noriyuki Haga faces an operation however as he sustained a fractured collar bone as he crashed out on race one. Haga fought through the pain barrier in race two to finish sixth, an effort described as “incredible” by team manager Massimo Meregalli.
“What Noriyuki did was like a miracle; I don’t remember anything like it,” said Meregalli.
“Probably he will go to California tomorrow to get an operation on his collarbone. Now we are waiting to see if we can schedule in the operation.”
