The Brno circuit was host to nail-biting races today under blistering sunshine, as the three championship leaders battled for podium positions in the two World Superbike races. Marco Melandri provided a masterful display of race craft in both races to claim his third victory of the season in race one and settling for second on the podium in a hard fought second race of the day.

In race one the two Yamaha World Superbike riders, Eugene Laverty and Marco Melandri, stormed off the grid to take second and third place respectively. Melandri passed his team-mate to claim second place on lap two and tucked neatly behind Biaggi where he remained for a further six laps, while Checa moved in to take third place. On lap 9, Melandri pushed into the lead and proceeded to hold off constant advances from the fellow Italian, only temporarily rendering position on the 17th lap before powering his R1 to the chequered flag, claiming his third victory of the 2011 season. Team-mate Laverty got off to a perfect start off the grid to tuck into second place. Struggling to gain speed on the straights, the Irishman gradually fell back to fifth place by lap four. Fighting hard to keep the pace, Laverty maintained position and completed the race in fifth.

Race two was almost a replica of race one. Yet again, Melandri closely tailed Biaggi for the first nine laps before pushing ahead into first place. After just two laps, a persistent Biaggi took repossession of the lead. Melandri continued to perform impeccably, constantly on the attack and interchanging positions on several occasions, before settling for second place after a hard fought battle to the finish line. Similar to race one, Laverty was unable to gain sufficient speed to attack the leading bunch. The Irishman put his head down to take fifth place at the flag. Melandri produced the fastest lap times of both race one and race two recording 2’00.118 and 2’00.058 and registering the highest speed of the day reaching an impressive 292.7 km/h in race two on a track temperature of 54 degrees.

Melandri (240 points) and Laverty (168 points) are heading to Silverstone on the 31st July in third and fourth place in the championship standings. Melandri’s impeccable performance today reduced the gap behind himself and the leader, Checa to 53 points and remains 23 points behind Biaggi in third. Laverty remains an impressive 31 points ahead of Haslam in fifth.

Marco Melandri - Yamaha World Superbike Team - 1st, 2nd

"It’s a great sensation to be on my third win of the season but I still need to do a double. I’m really happy with today’s results. At the beginning of race one I didn’t think I’d catch up on Max, so I immediately passed Eugene in order to tail him. I was struggling to keep in front, at times Max was faster than me. Race two was also very difficult. I certainly didn’t give up but it wasn’t easy to keep pushing. Max and I had a nice battle which I think we both enjoyed, and I’m sure the spectators did also. I have to say thanks to the team for doing such a good job again. I’m looking forward to Silverstone."

Eugene Laverty - Yamaha World Superbike Team - 5th, 5th

"Today wasn't the best day for me, I had hoped to do much better. I had to settle for two fifth places when I could have done more. I was struggling with power, and getting up straight line speed. I was on the same pace as the top riders but losing time on straights even though I was riding to the limit. Considering the circumstances, the result wasn’t too bad. We need to pull out the data and investigate to understand where we can improve and be stronger for Silverstone."



Andrea Dosoli Yamaha World Superbike Team Manager

"It was a perfect conclusion to the weekend in Brno for Marco. He was fantastic in both races. Obviously it’s a pity he didn’t win the second race but considering the extreme track conditions and the fact that Marco and Max were fast and consistent throughout, we can safely say they provided great entertainment for the spectators. We reduced the gap to Checa by 13 points. That’s important and if we can continue like this it will be a very interesting championship. Eugene got two very good starts in both races. There are a few things we can still improve on his bike and we’ll continue to work on this. He proved to be constantly learning and we have to remember that he is still fourth in the classification and the top three riders have years of Moto GP experience behind them. He is performing fantastically for his rookie year."


Race 1 Results

1. Marco Melandri ITA Yamaha WSBK YZF R1 40mins 23.699s
2. Max Biaggi ITA Aprilia Alitalia Racing RSV-4 +0.241sbr/>
3. Carlos Checa ESP Althea Ducati 1098R +0.436sbr/>
4. Michel Fabrizio ITA Suzuki Alstare GSX-R1000 +8.448sbr/>
5. Eugene Laverty IRL Yamaha WSBK YZF R1 +11.863sbr/>
6. Ayrton Badovini ITA BMW Italia S1000RR +16.374sbr/>
7. Leon Camier GBR Aprilia Alitalia Racing RSV-4 +20.075sbr/>
8. Leon Haslam GBR BMW Motorrad S1000RR +21.399sbr/>
9. Joan Lascorz ESP Kawasaki Racing ZX-10R +21.555sbr/>
10. Tom Sykes GBR Kawasaki RTS ZX-10R +22.330sbr/>
11. Jakub Smrz CZE Effenbert Liberty Ducati 1098R +22.494sbr/>
12. Noriyuki Haga JPN PATA Aprilia RSV-4 +24.710sbr/>
13. Maxime Berger FRA Supersonic Ducati 1098R +27.958sbr/>
14. Roberto Rolfo ITA Pedercini Kawasaki ZX-10R +31.724sbr/>
15. Alex Lowes GBR Castrol Honda CBR1000RR +31.998sbr/>


Race 2 Results

1. Max Biaggi ITA Aprilia Alitalia Racing RSV-4 40mins 21.646s
2. Marco Melandri ITA Yamaha WSBK YZF R1 +0.222s
3. Carlos Checa ESP Althea Ducati 1098R +3.558s
4. Michel Fabrizio ITA Suzuki Alstare GSX-R1000 +7.863s
5. Eugene Laverty IRL Yamaha WSBK YZF R1 +8.534s
6. Ayrton Badovini ITA BMW Italia S1000RR +18.085s
7. Leon Haslam GBR BMW Motorrad S1000RR +21.650s
8. Joan Lascorz ESP Kawasaki Racing ZX-10R +21.862s
9. Sylvain Guintoli FRA Effenbert Liberty Ducati 1098R +25.306
10. Noriyuki Haga JPN PATA Aprilia RSV-4 +27.366s
11. Roberto Rolfo ITA Pedercini Kawasaki ZX-10R +33.716s
12. Mark Aitchison AUS Pedercini Kawasaki ZX-10R +36.549s
13. Lorenzo Lanzi ITA BMW Italia S1000RR +37.468s
14. Tom Sykes GBR Kawasaki RTS ZX-10R +46.878s
15. Viktor Kispataki HUN Prop-Tech Honda CBR1000RR +1min 38.074s


2011 World Superbike Championship rider standings

1. Carlos Checa Althea Ducati 293 points
2. Max Biaggi Aprilia Alitalia 263
3. Marco Melandri Yamaha SBK 240
4. Eugene Laverty Yamaha SBK 168
5. Leon Haslam BMW Motorrad 137
6. Leon Camier Aprilia Alitalia 134
7. Michel Fabrizio Suzuki Alstare 137
8. Ayrton Badovini BMW Italia 106
9. Noriyuki Haga PATA Aprilia 99
10.Jonathan Rea Castrol Honda 94