TWO FANTASTIC RACE WINS, TWO FAST LAPS AND A NEW LAP RECORD FOR ALTHEA RACING AND CARLOS CHECA AT HOME TRACK MISANO!

Misano Adriatico (Italy), Sunday 12th June 2011: in a repeat of the recent performance at Miller Motorsports Park, the Althea Racing team and rider Carlos Checa were able to celebrate two race wins, two fast laps and also a new lap record this afternoon at the Misano World Circuit. A result made even sweeter by the fact that is was obtained at the team’s home track, in front of the Italian public.

In Race 1, starting from second position, Carlos found himself fourth at the end of lap one, behind Biaggi, Haslam and Sykes. After only a few laps, Checa had got past both Sykes and Haslam and went after Biaggi who had already built a one second gap. On lap five Carlos made the quickest lap of the race overall (1m36.660) and on the eleventh he passed Max to take command of the race. From that point on, his rhythm was relentless and his riding impeccable right to the finish line. Carlos won the first race 0.9 of a second ahead of Biaggi and an impressive 17.1 seconds ahead of Melandri in third.

In race two Carlos managed to take the lead after just two laps and by lap nine he had a one second advantage over Biaggi who followed him in second. Unfortunately for Checa, a crash for Melandri left oil on the track and this caused the race to be interrupted with a red flag. According to new 2011 regulations, the results of the two phases of Race 2 are not combined and Carlos thus lost the advantage gained in the first phase. Restarting part two of the race from pole position (according to the order of arrival in part one) Althea Racing’s flagbearer was second after the first corners but immediately found strong pace, recording the race’s fastest lap, a 1m36.520, which is also a new lap record. Carlos was 0.2 of a second from Max for several laps before he managed to get past his Italian rival on lap seven. The Spaniard remained the fastest rider on track until the finish line, winning the race 1.4 seconds ahead of Biaggi.

The Althea Racing team has won eight out of twelve races run so far in 2011. Thanks to these impressive results Checa today increases his championship lead and holds 245 points to Biaggi’s 173. Ducati leads the manufacturer’s championship with 252 points to Aprilia’s 212.

Carlos Checa:

“What a great result today! In the first race, I didn’t make a great start, losing some ground through the first corners. Max was strong at the start and it wasn’t easy to pass him but once in front, I was able to find good rhythm and build a small advantage. I’m extremely satisfied also because the tyre began to slide in the final laps and it was very hot today. We changed tyre for race 2 and it seems we made the right decision. Max was strong again in race 2 and both he and I had a strong pace, stronger than the other riders, but I perhaps had an extra couple of tenths over him. When I took the lead I managed the race well and took the second win of the day. We knew that Misano could be favourable to us, after results during testing here in May, but I didn’t expect the double win. Fantastic, and perhaps even more important that the Miller wins because we knew we could do well there while here it was far from easy and so even more special.”