Althea Racing Team - Ducati
Superbike World Championship
Date: 28-02-2010
Circuit: Phillip Island
Superbike races 1 & 2

Fantastic victory of Carlos Checa in race two!

In race one not a good start for Checa and did not take advantage from his start from the first row of the grid. Near to the middle of the race Checa was battling for fourth in a group of six riders. Checa ended the first race in seventh place.
Also in race two Carlos did not start quickly from the first row, ending the first lap in eighth place. As the race proceed Checa was able to recover some position and near to the middle of the race he reached the first group of riders in fifth place. With few laps to go Checa moved up to fourth position and with some incredible overtaking he worked his way up through the field to pass Guintoli, Fabrizio and Haslam to take the lead on the very last lap snatching an extraordinary first victory for Althea racing team.

Carlos Checa - 7th & 1st

"The second race was perfect. In race one we chose a tyre that was perhaps too hard for the conditions and I found it hard to brake.

In race two we selected a better tyre and I could brake much more strongly, I also had a very good pace and was able to pass riders fairly easily. My style of riding actually seemed to mean that tyre wear was less of a problem for me than for some other riders. By the last lap I was up in second and I could finally get pass Haslam. I wanted to pass him earlier but it was impossible and he didn´t leave me space to pass until the very end.

I am of course extremely happy with the result, it is my first race with the Althea team and on the Ducati 1098 and we have a good package with which to fight this season. My thanks go to the entire team for their hard work and dedication."

Results race 1: (Top ten)

 1 91   Haslam L.        (GBR)   Suzuki GSX-R 1000        34´13.435
 2 84   Fabrizio M.      (ITA)   Ducati 1098 R                0.004
 3 41   Haga N.          (JPN)   Ducati 1098 R                0.769
 4 65   Rea J.           (GBR)   Honda CBR 1000 RR           10.201
 5 3    Biaggi M.        (ITA)   Aprilia RSV4 1000 F.        10.782
 6 50   Guintoli S.      (FRA)   Suzuki GSX-R 1000           11.079
 7 7    Checa C.         (ESP)   Ducati 1098 R               11.208
 8 96   Smrz J.          (CZE)   Ducati 1098 R               16.522
 9 11   Corser T.        (AUS)   BMW S1000 RR                20.291
10 57   Lanzi L.         (ITA)   Ducati 1098 R               26.352

Results race 2: (Top ten)

 1 7    Checa C.         (ESP)   Ducati 1098 R            34´16.428
 2 91   Haslam L.        (GBR)   Suzuki GSX-R 1000            0.307
 3 84   Fabrizio M.      (ITA)   Ducati 1098 R                0.434
 4 50   Guintoli S.      (FRA)   Suzuki GSX-R 1000            0.837
 5 41   Haga N.          (JPN)   Ducati 1098 R                3.453
 6 65   Rea J.           (GBR)   Honda CBR 1000 RR           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   Touseland J.     (GBR)   Yamaha YZF R1               14.707