Carlos Checa crash and race winner at Phillip Island

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Carlos Checa comes away from the opening round of his World Superbike Championship defence at Phillip Island celebrating a 21st career win, but also nursing some bruises after a spectacular crash in race one.

Coming into race day keen to give his title challenge the best possible start, Checa looked every inch the rider that dominated in 2011 as he quickly worked his way to the front of the field in race one.

However, just as he was coming under pressure from Biaggi on lap five, Checa pushed too hard out of the final bend and was flung into a spectacular high-side, a fast crash that he admits is the worst he has experienced since joining Ducati in 2009.

Carlos Checa crash at Phillip Island

“In race one I had the worst crash that I've ever had with the Ducati. I was under pressure and pushed a little too hard. It's extremely difficult to find the exact limit with the bike, the track, and with myself and today I exceeded that limit and fell.

Unhurt in the high-speed accident, Checa dusted himself off for race two and, assisted by Biaggi's off at the first corner, proceeded to make amends with a fairly comfortable win.

“The team made a fantastic job of preparing a bike that allowed me to win in race two. In that race, I started strong and when I saw that Max had gone off track, I pushed hard to get ahead and win the race. Max made a good recovery but I was able to maintain a strong pace and bring home what is a very important win for me and for the team.”

Scoring 25 points for his troubles, Checa ends the weekend fourth in the standings, 20 points adrift of early leader Biaggi.

Read Jed Metcher race report from Phillip Island.

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Carlos Checa on top - Biaggi and Melandri closing in

Max Biaggi (Aprilia Racing) and Marco Melandri (BMW Motorrad) moved closer to Carlos Checa (Althea Racing) in today's second session of official testing at Phillip Island.

 

In the warmer afternoon track conditions the world champion was unable to improve on his best time of 1'31"947 set in the morning. Biaggi however improved by a fraction with a sequence of fast laps towards the end, all in the low 1.32s. Melandri also made good progress, ending up with a time of 1'32.232, a full second better than the time he set in last week's private test.

 

Leon Haslam, who crashed in the morning, did not take part in the afternoon run. Checks carried out in hospital diagnosed a fractured tibia in his right leg and the BMW man is considering having a screw put in to race in a few day's time.

 

In the overall timesheets, Haslam was sandwiched by two more Brits, Jonathan Rea (Honda World Superbike) in fourth and Tom Sykes (Kawasaki Racing Team) in sixth.

 

Superbike Day 1 - overall

1 7 Checa C. (ESP) Ducati 1098R 1'31.947

2 3 Biaggi M. (ITA) Aprilia RSV4 Factory 1'32.132

3 33 Melandri M. (ITA) BMW S1000 RR 1'32.232

4 65 Rea J. (GBR) Honda CBR1000RR 1'32.379

5 91 Haslam L. (GBR) BMW S1000 RR 1'32.397

6 66 Sykes T. (GBR) Kawasaki ZX-10R 1'32.465

7 50 Guintoli S. (FRA) Ducati 1098R 1'32.768

8 59 Canepa N. (ITA) Ducati 1098R 1'32.836

9 96 Smrz J. (CZE) Ducati 1098R 1'32.848

10 17 Lascorz J. (ESP) Kawasaki ZX-10R 1'33.005

11 2 Camier L. (GBR) Suzuki GSX-R1000 1'33.104

12 84 Fabrizio M. (ITA) BMW S1000 RR 1'33.141

13 121 Berger M. (FRA) Ducati 1098R 1'33.246

14 34 Giugliano D. (ITA) Ducati 1098R 1'33.366

15 4 Aoyama H. (JPN) Honda CBR1000RR 1'33.479

16 87 Zanetti L. (ITA) Ducati 1098R 1'33.566

17 67 Staring B. (AUS) Kawasaki ZX-10R 1'33.704

18 44 Salom D. (ESP) Kawasaki ZX-10R 1'33.812

19 86 Badovini A. (ITA) BMW S1000 RR 1'34.234

20 19 Davies C. (GBR) Aprilia RSV4 Factory 1'34.303

21 35 De Rosa R. (ITA) Honda CBR1000RR 1'34.400

22 25 Brookes J. (AUS) Suzuki GSX-R1000 1'34.667

23 18 Aitchison M. (AUS) BMW S1000 RR 1'35.223

Alex

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Max Biaggi: More focused then ever for 2012

Max Biaggi says he will be coming into the 2012 World Superbike Championship feeling more determined than ever after being unable to defend his title last season.

The Italian, who was a dominant champion in 2010, enters into his fourth season with the Aprilia Racing team this year keen to make amends for a 2011 season that yielded only two wins and saw him finish comfortably adrift of champion Carlos Checa.

Coupled to an injury that sidelined him for three events towards the end of 2011, Biaggi is looking to put that year behind him and look forward to a more successful 2012 campaign.

However, while Biaggi is confident he will be a force this season, he is aware that the competition amongst his rivals is likely to increase.

"It doesn't matter how many seasons we have under our belts and how many titles we've won. At the beginning of a new season I am always motivated to the maximum. Besides that, I must say that for 2012 I am even more focused on the task ahead, after what happened last year.

“I'm sure we can still play an important part in this Championship but at the same time I am aware of the fact that the level of competition, with the many team changes among my rivals, has increased even more. We'll have to work hard and never stop growing, but I can assure you that this year once again, everyone will have to deal with us.”

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Motogp HRC: 1000cc power only unleashed in 5th and 6th gears

HRC executive vice president Shuhei Nakamoto believes the biggest difference with the new 1000cc MotoGP bikes will only be felt in fifth and sixth gears.

“Even with the 800cc we had to reduce the power up to fourth gear,” he said. “So compared with the 800, with the 1000cc we have more power in fifth and sixth gear.

“Straight-line speed is a bit faster, but time gained is only in fifth and sixth gear acceleration. And because top speed is higher you must brake sooner.

“Cornering performance depends on chassis and tyres, which are not so different to 800cc, although the weight has increased. Of course, I expect the lap time to be better than the 800, but not a big difference.”

During the opening test of 2012, at Sepang, Honda's reigning world champion Casey Stoner dipped slightly under his best 800cc lap time from last year's winter tests. Further lap time improvements are expected in the second test later this month.

No official top speeds were recorded at Sepang, but the Hondas were said to be fastest through unofficial speed traps set up by some teams.

Yamaha's 2010 world champion Jorge Lorenzo has expressed concerns about the increase in top speeds with 1000cc bikes, but seven-time MotoGP champion Valentino Rossi thinks the risk is minimal.

“At the fast tracks the top speed will be quite impressive, but I don't think it will be more dangerous,” said the Ducati rider.

The highest official MotoGP top speed is 349.3km/h (217.1mph) by Dani Pedrosa during practice for the 2009 Italian Grand Prix at Mugello. Pedrosa was riding an 800cc RC212V.

The highest top speed of the previous 990cc bikes was 343.3km/h (213.6mph) by Honda's Makoto Tamada, during qualifying at China's Shanghai circuit in 2006.

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Marco Melandri unhappy with one-bike rule.

BMW Motorrad factory rider Marco Melandri has hit out at the new one-bike rule in the World Superbike Championship.

Melandri, who joined BMW after Yamaha's decision to withdraw its factory effort in the series, said the one-bike move was 'not very positive'.

“As far as I am concerned it is always better to have two bikes, because I always raced with two bikes. If in qualifying you have a small problem on one bike, you have the chance to continue on the second,” he said.

“That was also especially good for the sponsors. So for me this is not very positive, but it is the same for everyone. So now we need to prepare just one bike for the race. I am sure it will work out ok.”

The 29-year-old is joined by Leon Haslam in the team and Melandri is happy to link up with the Briton as they strive to get the best of the S1000-RR.

“We get on very well. I have known him since the time I lived fairly close to him in England. I think it is good for the team for us to be team mates because it means we can push each other, which is good for results,” he said.

“We do have different riding styles, but we have agreed on what changes to make to the bike so that we can work in the same direction in order to move the team forward.”

Melandri admitted that he was surprised by some aspects of the bike and the former MotoGP star is confident he can be competitive for BMW.

“I am happy with it. Before I tested it for the first time, some people made me very scared because I had some bad experiences with the Ducati in 2008.

“When I jumped on the bike for the first time I discovered some difficult areas, but I was also pleasantly surprised by many of its positives. During the test with the 2011 bike I saw that it is a 'normal' bike without any pitfalls.

“We just need to take the pieces and put them together in the best way to provide the optimal package. Of course it was a lot of work over the winter, and we will see how long it takes us to have this optimal package.

“However, I am happy about the bike and about how it feels, so I am very confident. I think good confidence is the only thing a rider needs to be fast.

“When I am fast I score good results – and I always enjoy doing that. That is why that is my target.

“I would like to have some good fights, score good results and feel good on the bike. Then it is a lot of good fun – and the good results will also be there.”

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Story from Crash Net

Valentino Rossi Tribute Helmet for Marco Simoncelli

Valentino Rossi first outing on the 2012 Ducati GP12 Motogp bike.

 

Sepang MotoGP Test Day Two - Conditions Dry

1 Casey Stoner 2:00.895 - - 29

2 Ben Spies 2:01.052 +0.157 +0.157 37

3 Jorge Lorenzo 2:01.068 +0.016 +0.173 40

4 Dani Pedrosa 2:01.508 +0.440 +0.613 35

5 Cal Crutchlow 2:01.565 +0.057 +0.670 42

6 Hector Barbera 2:01.788 +0.223 +0.893 50

7 Valentino Rossi 2:01.886 +0.098 +0.991 44

8 Alvaro Bautista 2:01.933 +0.047 +1.038 46

9 Andrea Dovizioso 2:02.160 +0.227 +1.265 42

10 Nicky Hayden 2:02.354 +0.194 +1.459 41

11 Stefan Bradl 2:02.414 +0.060 +1.519 41

12 Karel Abraham 2:02.598 +0.184 +1.703 66

13 Katsuyuki Nakasuga 2:02.941 +0.343 +2.046 40

14 Franco Battaini 2:04.311 +1.370 +3.416 38

15 Colin Edwards 2:05.603 +1.292 +4.708 37

16 Ivan Silva 2:10.297 +4.694 +9.402 16

17 Jordi Torres 2:11.893 +1.596 +10.998 2

18 Robertino Pietri 2:12.546 +0.653 +11.651 5

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