Haslam and Checa share Aussie spoils
Added on Sunday, February 28th, 2010 by Carole Nash Editor | No Comments
Haslam and Checa proved to be dominant
Leon Haslam and Carlos Checa shared the opening round victories in the World Superbike Championship today, after two thrilling races from Phillip Island.
After securing his very first Superpole in yesterday’s eventful qualifying sessions, Haslam rode his Team Suzuki Alstare GSX-R1000 to his first win in the Superbike class in the opening race of 2010 - but not before confusion rained around the Australian circuit.
Despite controlling the pace of the race from the off, Haslam was pressured throughout by the Ducati Xerox machine of Michel Fabrizio, with the Italian eager to be the first to take the top step of the podium this season.
As the riders enjoyed their final lap of the twenty-two lap distance, Fabrizio saw his chance to edge into the lead, and lunged alongside the young Brit as they raced to the chequered flag. With the two riders crossing the line so close together it was initially difficult to separate them, until Fabrizio was handed the win. Upon closer inspection, and a number of replays, it was acknowledged that Haslam was actually the victor, by just 0.004 seconds.
After two celebrations from two different riders and teams the eventual outcome of the race was determined, allowing Haslam to take to the top step of the podium for the first time in the WSB championship. Despite his earlier celebration, Fabrizio was forced to settle for second place, while his Ducati Xerox counterpart, Noriyuki Haga, followed him across the line in third.
Brit Jonathan Rea enjoyed a fierce battle with his rivals, eventually taking fourth ahead of Max Biaggi, Sylvain Guintoli and Carlos Checa. Not too far behind, Jakub Smrz took the chequered flag eighth, while Troy Corser fought his way up to ninth from a thirteenth place grid start. Lorenzo Lanzi completed the top ten in this first race of the season.
Returning British hot shot James Toseland was enjoying a strong race, until a twitchy back end on his Sterilgarda Yamaha forced him into a crash and out of the race.
Commenting on his dream start to his 2010 WSB campaign, Haslam said: “It’s not sunk in just yet, especially as it was such a close finish and not knowing if I had won for a while. That definitely added to the anticipation. I can’t thank my team enough they have been solid since day one and to repay them with this is great. I’m a little speechless now. I changed my style towards the end and I rode as smoothly as possible. It worked, but it was close at the end.”
Race two brought even more exciting action, with a number of race long battles going on throughout the field for the entire race.
As the field set off for the second time Haslam and Haga both enjoyed strong starts, with Haga attempting to launch into the lead ahead of the Suzuki rider. However, fully committed to maintaining his advantage, Haslam flew around the outside into turn one, enabling him to hold onto his number one spot.
Behind, Chris Vermeulen stormed up to fourth, while Fabrizio muscled his teammate out of the way for second, demoting Haga to third once again.
Just two laps into the race saw the first retirement, with British rider Tom Sykes slowly making his way away from the racing line, bringing his Australian experience to an abrupt end.
Having seen his teammate doing well out in front, Guintoli decided to follow suit and stormed passed his rivals as if they weren’t there. Determined to emulate the triumph of Haslam in the first race, Guintoli slipped through into the lead, forcing Haslam to play second fiddle for a number of laps.
As the top four began edging away from the rest of the field, another battle began forming slightly further back. Despite the early pace of Vermeulen, he gradually began losing ground, with the rejoining Toseland being the first to demote the Australian down the order. Next in line was Leon Camier; having seen his countryman pass Vermeulen just laps earlier Camier decided to have a go himself, promoting himself to fifth in the process.
After setting the early pace in qualifying yesterday, Carlos Checa was determined to prove his worth in this second race and was soon the man to watch. Checa began picking off the riders in front of him one at a time, until he was riding with the front runners, eager to find a way into the lead.
As the race developed Vermeulen suffered a crash, hitting the tyre barrier in unison with his Kawasaki. He was carried off on a stretcher, but no further news has been released yet.
With the second batch of twenty-two laps nearing completion, the ending to race one was almost mirrored in this second race. As the riders progressed onto their final tour Haslam came under increasing pressure from second place, this time it was Checa piling on the pressure. As the pair entered the final section of the lap Checa lunged passed the Suzuki rider. Unable to catch the Spaniard, Haslam was forced to accept second, while Fabrizio again made it into a podium spot in third.
A strong performance from Sylvain enabled him to cross the line fourth, with Haga pushed back to fifth. After losing ten seconds to his rivals earlier in the race due to running wide, Jonathan Rea fought back to finish sixth, while veteran Troy Corser succeeded with a seventh place finish.
Max Biaggi secured eighth, while Sterilgarda teammates Cal Crutchlow and Toseland crossed the line ninth and tenth, with Crutchlow just managing to get the better of the Yorkshireman. Camier, having been forced off the track earlier on had a lot of time to make up but fought back to eleventh place at the flag.
Having secured the maiden win for his privateer Althea Ducati team, Checa said: “The plan was to start the second race well and we chose a softer tyre. We changed the bike and we improved in the braking points, so I could overtake people. When you are close to four other riders it is not easy to overtake and make it permanent but I passed in the right time and at the right places. This was one of the best races in my life, so thanks to my new team.”
Fabrizio commented: “I thought I had won the race. When I saw the big screen after the finish I saw my family and the crew chief celebrating, so I thought I had it.” He added: “We didn’t make any changes to the bike between race one and race two. I think it would have been very difficult for me to win, but if Carlos had not been in the mix I may have been able to push in the last three or four laps. I was having some problems by that time so it was very difficult to try and win.”
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