As usual racing at Phillip Island never lets fans wanting, if Race 1 didn’t disappoint, Race 2 was an absolute thriller. The Italians have a very pictoresque saying about close racing: “correre con il coltello tra i denti” which literally means racing with a knife between between your teeth and that’s what Carlos Checa did today on his privateer Ducati when he won the race.

The Spaniard who debuted with Althea Ducati Racing had a bad start leaving him in 11th on the first lap, but Checa was a man on a mission after his 7th place in Race 1 began working his way through the pack to join the four front runners to make a last lap move to take the victory in front of race 1 winner Leon Haslam followed by Michel Fabrizio who would take third place on the podium.

Haslam seemed to be heading to his second career victory and the race looked like a perfect photocopy of the first race with Fabrizio closely tagging the Brit and Noriyuki Haga in third moving up from his tenth place on the grid, but it would be former MotoGP and BSB rider Sylvain Guintoli who would snatch fourth place from a fading and aching Haga who took fifth.

Hannspree Ten Kate Honda’s Jonathan Rea would finish sixth after a battling with with BMW’s Troy Corser who took seventh. Aprilia’s Max Biaggi would take a disappointing eighth place and Yamaha’s Cal Crutchlow and injured James Toseland both managing to stay on their bikes in Race 1, finished in 9th and 10th, respectively.

Chris Vermeulen crashed out again at Lukey Heights hitting the barriers after running as high up as fourth in race 2.

Round 2 of the World Superbike Championship will be back March 26-28 at Portimao, Portugal.

Race 2 Results:

1 7 Checa C. (ESP) Ducati 1098R 34′16.428 (171,192 kph)
2 91 Haslam L. (GBR) Suzuki GSX-R1000 0.307
3 84 Fabrizio M. (ITA) Ducati 1098R 0.434
4 50 Guintoli S. (FRA) Suzuki GSX-R1000 0.837
5 41 Haga N. (JPN) Ducati 1098R 3.453
6 65 Rea J. (GBR) Honda CBR1000RR 11.530
7 11 Corser T. (AUS) BMW S1000 RR 12.026
8 3 Biaggi M. (ITA) Aprilia RSV4 1000 F. 13.068
9 35 Crutchlow C. (GBR) Yamaha YZF R1 14.401
10 52 Toseland J. (GBR) Yamaha YZF R1 14.707
11 2 Camier L. (GBR) Aprilia RSV4 1000 F. 14.743
12 67 Byrne S. (GBR) Ducati 1098R 14.851
13 57 Lanzi L. (ITA) Ducati 1098R 15.143
14 25 Brookes J. (AUS) Honda CBR1000RR 30.947
15 88 Pitt A. (AUS) BMW S1000 RR 41.855
16 76 Neukirchner M. (GER) Honda CBR1000RR 48.844
17 31 Iannuzzo V. (ITA) Honda CBR1000RR 1′06.866
18 95 Hayden R. (USA) Kawasaki ZX 10R 1′07.751
RET 15 Baiocco M. (ITA) Kawasaki ZX 10R
RET 66 Sykes T. (GBR) Kawasaki ZX 10R
RET 77 Vermeulen C. (AUS) Kawasaki ZX 10R
RET 96 Smrz J. (CZE) Ducati 1098R

Standings after Round 1:

1. Leon Haslam Suzuki Points 45
2. Michel Fabrizio Ducati 36
3. Carlos Checa Ducati 34
4. Noriyuki Haga Ducati 27
5. Sylvain Guintoli Suzuki 23
6. Jonathan Rea Honda 23
7. Max Biaggi Aprilia 19
8. Troy Corser BMW 16
9. Leon Camier Aprilia 10
10. Lorenzo Lanzi Ducati 9
11. Jakub Smrz Ducati 8
12. Cal Crutchlow Yamaha 7
13, James Toseland Yamaha 6
14. Shane Byrne Ducati 6
15. Max Neukirchner Honda 4
16. Tom Sykes Kawasaki 3
17. Joshua Brookes Honda 2
18. Andrew Pitt BMW 2

(no votes)

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