MOTORRADonline.de - bis 10.02.2013

[WORLDSBK.COM]

The USA in general and the Miller Motorsports Park circuit in particular has always been kind to Max Biaggi and the Aprilia Racing Team. The Italian rider scored a double win two years ago on his way to clinching the Superbike World Championship title whereas last year he finished third in race 1 behind current champion Carlos Checa and Leon Camier, who was his team-mate at the time."The race in the USA is always a special round because it's different than the classic structure of the European rounds. I like this track. It's very technical and the fact that we have always had good results here attests to that."Max was one of the incredible five-rider battle for the win in both races at Donington Park and for this reason he is aware that the 2012 season has seen the bar of competition at the front of the field take a further step upwards and that anything can happen from here on. With so many riders, teams and bikes at the top of their game, every little detail can make all the difference and one of the key factors, according to the Italian, is to get an ideal set-up as quickly as possible during the race weekend."This year things have become complicated," he added. "There are more contenders for the podium and staying up front has become more and more difficult. We have the potential to do it, if we get off on the right foot straight away".

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[motogp.com]

Die neueste Ergänzung der MotoGP™-Weltmeisterschaft 2012 in Form der „Claiming Rule Teams", kurz CRT, hat nun in den ersten vier Runden der Saison Rennerfahrung sammeln können. motogp.com hat genauer untersucht, wie es ihnen bisher ergangen ist.

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[WORLDSBK.COM]

WorldSBK.com takes a look at all the facts and figures about the sixth round of the 2012 eni FIM Superbike World Championship at the Miller Motorsports Park circuit in the USA.RIDERS• Identical results for Leon Camier in Miller: fourth and second last year and two years ago, starting respectively from the eleventh and eighth grid spot. Leon climbed on the podium seven times in his career, but his best result, a second, was scored only in Miller;• Max Biaggi was able to take advantage of Checa's retirements in the two 2010 races to score a double. He followed that with a third in race two last year. Excluding the accident with Rea last year in race one, Max always finished the race among the first nine, even in 2009, when he started with the sixteenth time. He was able to start from the front row in second in 2010. In that year he took the lead of the championship standings in this race and never left it until he was crowned champion at the end of the season;• Carlos Checa is the absolute dominator of the Miller track, with four wins and three pole positions. We have to add to the above two retirements from the lead, in 2010, a second behind Ben Spies in 2009 and a fall in race two in the same year, when he hit a kerb with the engine casing of his Ducati while running third. In 2008 he recorded here his maiden pole and win. Both in 2008 and 2011 Carlos set pole, double win and double fastest lap;• In the 2010 Supersport race, Chaz Davies was sixth in grid and fourth in the race;• Marco Melandri posted a third for the starting grid last year - first time on the front row - finishing tenth and sixth in the races;• 20th and 18th in the 2009 Superbike races, David Salom was seventh in the 2010 Supersport race;• Sylvain Guintoli finished his Miller races always between third and eighth, climbing on the lower step of the podium last year in race one behind Carlos Checa and Jakub Smrz, for an all-Ducati podium. That was his maiden career podium;• Excellent results for Eugene Laverty in Miller: fifth and fourth in last year's races. He was second both in 2009 and 2010 in Supersport, beaten twice by Kenan Sofuoglu;• Jonathan Rea scored his best results in Miller in his first two races here, in 2009, when he was fifth and third. His performances then took a wrong course, with a fourteenth and an eighth in 2010 and an accident with Biaggi and an eleventh last year;• Tom Sykes scored last year in race one his best Miller result out of six races run: sixth. He was ninth in race two, 2009, despite starting from the 22nd grid spot: last year his only start from the top-10 here, tenth. Tom always scored points in Miller;• Eight superbike races in Miller for Michel Fabrizio, with a palmares cut in half: on the podium only in the first four (2008-2009), while in the last two years he was victim of two accidents in the first races, finishing on the podium in the second ones (ninth and fifth);• Last year Ayrton Badovini was the best BMW rider at the finish in both races, with a seventh and a ninth and in 2008 he was the best Kawasaki rider in race one (17th);• Only one podium for Leon Haslam in Miller, in 2010 race one, when he was second behind Biaggi after overtaking Leon Camier. His falls in 2010 and 2009 in the second races are the only ones in which he didn't score points;• One podium for Jakub Smrz in Miller: second in race one last year behind Carlos Checa. The Czech rider scored four more top-10 finishes, while he endured an unlucky weekend in 2010, when he retired twice for mechanical failures. Smrz qualified on the front row both in 2010 (fourth) and last year (second);• Maxime Berger last year was able to score points in both races with a fourteenth and an eleventh;TEAMS• Aprilia scored the double with Max Biaggi two years ago and was back on the podium last year with Biaggi and Camier, for a total of five podium placements;• BMW was never able to put his bikes on the front row or on the podium here: their best qualifying result is a sixth, scored last year by Troy Corser, and in the races a fifth, scored in both races two years ago by the same Corser;• Ducati won for the first time here last year thanks to Carlos Checa (double): they were always able to climb on the podium, except for race two, 2010;• Honda posted the double here in 2008, courtesy of Carlos Checa, then their performances faded: a double podium in 2009 and only one top-10 placement in the four races that followed. Last year in race one there weren't Honda bikes in the points, putting an end to a 162 races streak, started in Qatar, 2005;• The best result for Kawasaki came last year in race one, with a sixth by Tom Sykes. In eight races run here, only four times a Kawasaki finished in the top-10: Sykes finished twice in the top-10 last year, in 2009 Jamie Hacking was seventh in race one and in 2008 Regis Laconi was ninth in race two;• No wins for Suzuki in Miller, twice second: in 2008 race two, with Max Neukirchner and in 2010 race one with Leon Haslam.OTHER NOTESUp to now Miller has been a one-way track: in all the races run the winner has scored the double and in three cases out of four he also recorded the pole and the fastest laps. The only time when this pattern was not respected was in 2010 due to a double mechanical failure by Checa.The aforementioned doubles were scored every year by a different manufacturer: in 2008 Honda, in 2009 Yamaha, in 2010 Aprilia and in 2011 Ducati.In the last three years the winners in Miller went on to take the championship.MILESTONES IN THE UNITED STATES(from 1989 to 1991 the race was held in Brainerd, from 1995 to 2004 in Laguna Seca)1989 - first win for the future World Champion Raymond Roche;1990 - first win for Doug Chandler, that in qualifying scored the first Kawasaki pole;1999 - first win for Ben Bostrom;2000 - first pole position for Troy Bayliss;2008 - First pole and win for Carlos Checa, 100th win for Honda;2009 - Ben Spies breaks the record streak of pole positions, recording his seventh straight pole, the previous record was set by Doug Polen in 1991;2010 - tenth win for Max Biaggi;2011 - tenth win for Carlos Checa, maiden podium for Sylvain Guintoli, first front row spot for Marco Melandri.Compiled by Michele Merlino

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[WORLDSBK.COM]

A number of top World Superbike riders lined up this afternoon together with their AMA Superbike counterparts for the second edition of the Miller Motorsports Park Celebrity Kart Challenge at the circuit's go-kart track.Carlos Checa, Max Biaggi, Tom Sykes, Hiroshi Aoyama, Sylvain Guintoli, Leon Haslam and Leon Camier were chosen to represent the World Superbike contingent, with Josh Hayes, Ben Bostrom, Roger Hayden, Danny Eslick, Robertino Pietri, Elena Myers and Kyle Wyman from the AMA group. There was also an additional Wild Card team with special guests and executives that was not eligible to win prizes or trophies.This was made up of 1993 champion Scott "Mr. Daytona" Russell, together with SBK World Championship Director Paolo Ciabatti and MMP General Manager John Larson.14 teams took part, each comprised of a racer, a military member from one of Utah's nearby installations, a media celebrity and a fan. Fans were chosen from a drawing of all ticket-holders.The eventual winners were the team captained by female AMA sensation Elena Myers, with the Ben Bostrom group right behind. Top World Superbike representative was again Carlos Checa, who finished in third place, while Tom Sykes was surrounded by controversy first when he complained of a faulty transponder on his go-kart and then after kicking up the dust in front of the following drivers on a number of occasions!

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[WORLDSBK.COM]

Provec Racing, which manages the official Kawasaki Racing Team in World Superbike, has issued a further press release about its rider Joan Lascorz, following his accident in Imola during official testing at the circuit on April 2.Joan Lascorz was transferred to the Guttmann Institute on Monday May 14 after 40 days spent in the Hospital Vall d'Hebron. On arrival at the Guttmann Institute Joan spent a few days adjusting to the upright position of the chair after so many days in bed, as symptoms of dizziness and risk of fainting are common.He has already begun working with physiotherapists on a routine that is expected to last a minimum of 4 months.The team wish to thank everyone again for all the support that Joan has received in this period from riders and teams of both MotoGP and WSBK as well as the press in general.The team have set up an initiative in support of Lascorz by creating a symbolic shield sticker ‘Power for Lascorz', which has garnered consensus and encouragement from all parties.Provec wish to continue this initiative and would like to have the participation of all riders and teams again from the races in Misano (WSBK) and Montmeló (MotoGP) until the final race of the season, by asking them to place the sticker somewhere on the bike or the equipment of the team.The sticker will be distributed in the Paddock at Misano and Montmeló.

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[WORLDSBK.COM]

Following his bad accident at Assen in race 2, the Effenbert Liberty Racing Team rider Brett McCormick is now in Canada for rehabilitation and in this team interview he gives us an update on his situation.How are you?"I am recovering really well so far. I've kept my spirits up through the whole thing and trying to stay positive in every moment. I still spend most of the day with a smile on my face, so I can't complain too much!".Which kind of rehabilitation are you doing?"So far my rehabilitation has been really relaxed. I still have the neck brace on at this time so I can't do any rehab regarding my neck, but the break in my thumb is healed up and I've started to work with it to get it back to 100%. I've been able to move around easily for a few weeks and there isn't much pain in my neck break anymore so I can do everything normal day to day except training. Also, my doctor told me it wouldn't hurt my neck to do stationary bicycling so I've done a bit of that to keep myself active".Looking back at Assen, what do you remember about your crash? Can you describe the dynamics of the incident? "I remember pretty much everything until I fell off of the bike in my crash. I remember turning in and seeing a red and white bike come up the inside just before the apex. I didn't hear Carlos (Checa) coming because that's a pretty fast section and our bikes sound the same, so I didn't expect to see anyone pass me there. I thought we might touch if I stayed turned in so I re-adjusted my line, but it's such a fast corner I ran out of track. At this point I knew I was in trouble and thought maybe if I made it across the astro-turf I could save it, but I wasn't so lucky".When the doctors told you that your fractures were quite serious, how did you react?"When I found out I had a broken neck I was fairly freaked out at the start, but it didn't take long to accept it and realize I was extremely lucky. As soon as the doctors saw the X-ray of my neck they knew the break was stable, and I wasn't in risk of having any complications or paralysis, so that made everything a lot less stressful for me. All I could do was accept the circumstances and start healing".When will you come back on track? And when you will come back, which will be the realistic targets for you?"With a broken neck it's tough to judge the healing time because every case is so different. I've been getting checkups every week and I'm healing up really good. I hope to get the brace off in a couple of weeks from now, and after that hopefully be able to race within a month. I could be back by the end of July if everything goes perfectly, but I think August is more realistic. When I come back as long as physically I am back to normal, I'd like to pick up where I left off and keep working our way towards the front. In Assen I was getting closer to the top 10, so hopefully I can pick up from there once I'm back".

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[WORLDSBK.COM]

Jakub Smrz (Liberty Racing Team Effenbert Ducati) posted a brave and committed lap time of 2'02.138 to take the top spot in the first free practice session at a fully wet Miller Motorsports Park today, ending up over two seconds ahead of the next quickest rider, Marco Melandri (BMW Motorrad Motorsport).In truly atrocious conditions at this fast circuit Sylvain Guintoli (Team Effenbert Liberty Racing Ducati) scored third place with Italian rider Ayrton Badovini (BMW Motorrad Italia GoldBet) fourth.World Champion and Miller favourite Carlos Checa (Althea Racing Ducati) went fifth. The first official practice session takes place later this afternoon.

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[WORLDSBK.COM]

Jakub Smrz (Liberty Racing Team Effenbert) pushed as hard in dry conditions as he had in the wet free practice session this morning to take the overnight fastest lap time of 1 minute 49.842 seconds. A good day for the Ducati riders saw Carlos Checa (Althea Racing) go second, heading up the BMW Motorrad Motorsport machine of Marco Melandri and the Aprilia Racing entry of Max Biaggi. Davide Giugliano (Althea Racing) and Sylvain Guintoli (Team Effenbert Liberty Racing) continued the good Ducati form in going fifth and sixth respectively. This year's qualifying pacesetter Tom Sykes (Kawasaki Racing Team) crashed out during the session and was only ninth.

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[WORLDSBK.COM]

Jakub Smrz's affinity for the Miller Motorsports Park race circuit on his Liberty Racing Team Effenbert Ducati continued into the final qualifying session as the Czech rider posted a 1 minute 48.517 second lap to enter Tissot-Superpole as the fastest rider. Second up was Carlos Checa (Althea Racing), the only rider to get close to the privateer machine of Smrz and the only other man under the 1m49s mark.Third fastest proved to be BMW Motorrad Motorsport rider Marco Melandri and the third Ducati in the top four places belonged to Sylvain Guintoli (Team Effenbert Liberty Racing).Eugene Laverty (Aprilia Racing) and Jonathan Rea (Honda World Superbike Team) posted fifth and sixth places respectively but the big move upwards came from American rider John Hopkins (Fixi Crescent Suzuki) who was seventh after combined qualifying.Tom Sykes was top Kawasaki Racing Team rider in tenth place.

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[WORLDSBK.COM]

Carlos Checa (Althea Racing) made the best of the blustery weather conditions at Miller Motorsports Park during the final free qualifying session to score the fastest lap of the weekend, with a 1 minute 48.283 seconds dash around the 4.907km racetrack. The Spaniard had an off and rejoined with 15 minutes to go but his quick time stayed good until the end.Provisional pole man Jakub Smrz (Liberty Racing Team Effenbert Ducati) crashed after losing the front on a medium pace left hander and ended up seventh - in a session where the red and white diagonal crossed flags were shown twice even only a very small amount of rain fell from the leaden skies.Second quickest was Jonathan Rea (Honda World Superbike Team) with consistently quick Marco Melandri (BMW Motorrad Motorsport) third and Sylvain Guintoli (Team Effenbert Liberty Racing) fourth.

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[WORLDSBK.COM]

Jakub Smrz (Liberty Racing Team Effenbert Ducati) scored his first Tissot-Superpole win of the season after setting a lap time of 1 minute 47.626 seconds in the last of three sessions. Despite a few spots of rain appearing on the riders' visors during a dry Superpole contest Smrz rode with full pace right at the end to earn the perfect starting place for Monday's two SBK races.Carlos Checa (Althea Racing Ducati) was second quickest and would have been on pole but for the late push put in by Smrz, a rider who has stamped his authority on the practice sessions since the start. Tom Sykes (Kawasaki Racing Team) posted third best time, with the front row places competed by Checa's team-mate Davide Giugliano.Jonathan Rea (Honda World Superbike Team) was fifth, Monza pole man Sylvain Guintoli (Team Effenbert Liberty Racing) sixth, Max Biaggi (Aprilia Racing) seventh and Eugene Laverty (Aprilia Racing) eighth, despite not being able to set a final lap in Superpole 3.

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[motogp.com]

Der Circuit de Catalunya wird zum Schauplatz des bevorstehenden nächsten Laufs in der MotoGP™-Weltmeisterschaft. Jorge Lorenzo wird bei seinem Heimrennen mit 90 Punkten als Rangerster in der Gesamtwertung der Königsklasse antreten.

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[WORLDSBK.COM]

Tom Sykes (Kawasaki Racing Team) headed the times in the morning warm-up, going 0.155 seconds faster than Miller magic man Carlos Checa (Althea Racing Ducati). Third in the final pre-race action proved to be Marco Melandri (BMW Motorrad Motorsport) with Max Biaggi (Aprilia Racing) fourth.Fine weather blessed the track finally although some degree of wind was still evident for the riders to deal with. Leon Camier (FIXI Crescent Suzuki) was fifth as he finds continual improvements in his machine set-up.

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[WORLDSBK.COM]

Carlos Checa (Althea Racing Ducati) pulled a controlled win out of the bag at Miller in race one, eventually heading home Marco Melandri (BMW Motorrad Motorsport) by 2.313 seconds. Third was Max Biaggi (Aprilia Racing) who had to work hard in the final laps to hold off Jonathan Rea (Honda World Superbike Team).Eugene Laverty (Aprilia Racing) finished fifth; with pole man Jakub Smrz (Liberty Racing Team Effenbert Ducati) sixth. Slowing front row starter Tom Sykes (Kawasaki Racing Team) was finally caught by Chaz Davies (ParkinGO MTC Aprilia) with Davies seventh and Sykes eighth.

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[MOTORRADonline.de]

		Superbike-WM in den USA: 1. Lauf
		Checa holt den Sieg, Melandri und Biaggi mit auf dem Podium
		Carlos Checa dominierte das erste Rennen in Salt Lake City ab Rennhälfte und ließ Marco Melandri und Max Biaggi hinter sich. ... > weiter

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[WORLDSBK.COM]

Marco Melandri (BMW Motorrad Motorsport) and Jonathan Rea (Honda World Superbike Team) went 1-2 in the second race at Miller, which was halted, shortened to 18 laps, and then re-started almost an hour-and-a-half late. The wait was worth it for the spectators as the last lap fight was tense and exciting right up until Melandri won by only 0.195 seconds.Max Biaggi (Aprilia Racing) was third and Chaz Davies (ParkinGO MTC Aprilia) fourth, easily the SBK rookie's best result of the year. Early leader Carlos Checa (Althea Racing) was unlucky to fall and no score. The big winner today was Biaggi, who took an 18-point lead away with him, with Melandri and fifth place finisher Tom Sykes (Kawasaki Racing Team) in joint second place.

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[MOTORRADonline.de]

		Superbike-WM in den USA: Miller Motorsport Park
		Zweiter Sieg für Marco Melandri und BMW in den USA
		Marco Melandri konnte Jonathan Rea in der letzten Kurve des Miller Motorsports Park schlagen und damit den zweiten BMW-Sieg feiern. ... > weiter

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[motogp.com]

Yamaha Factory Racing kehrt diese Woche zum zweiten Rennen auf spanischem Boden in der MotoGP-Meisterschaft 2012 zurück.

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[MOTORRADonline.de]

		Eine Feier verdient
		SBK-WM: BMW holt in Miller fette Beute
		Marco Melandri verschaffte BMW Motorrad Motorsport in den USA einen echten Grund zum Feiern, denn er gewann und punktete so gut wie nie zuvor für BMW. ... > weiter

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[motogp.com]

Die MotoGP™-Weltmeisterschaft 2012 macht am bevorstehenden Wochenende mit der fünften Etappe im Rennkalender vor den Toren Barcelonas Halt.

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[motogp.com]

Colin Edwards ist bereit, dieses Wochenende auf seine Suter-BMW zu steigen und beim Großen Preis von Katalonien in Montmeló zu zeigen, aus welchem Holz er geschnitzt ist. Das NGM Mobile Forward Racing Team freut sich über die Rückkehr des Grand-Prix-Piloten und wird die Entwicklungsarbeit an dem CRT-Prototypen fortsetzen.

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[motogp.com]

Das Ducati Team bereitet sich auf den Gran Premi Aperol de Catalanya vor, der als zweites von insgesamt vier MotoGP™-Rennen in der Rennsaison 2012 auf spanischem Boden am Sonntag auf dem Circuit de Catalunya in Montmeló abgehalten wird.

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[motogp.com]

Nach vier Rennen in der MotoGP-Weltmeistersschaft wird sich wieder ein Gutteil der Aufmerksamkeit auf die Schlacht zwischen dem Electronics Aspar-Fahrerdoppel Aleix Espargaró und Randy De Puniet auf der neuen Generation von CRT-Bikes richten.

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[WORLDSBK.COM]

Giorgio Barbier (Racing Director Pirelli Moto) analyses the sixth round of the year, held at Miller Motorsports Park in Utah, USA from the point of view of the championship's official one-make tyre supplier."The two overseas World Superbike races held at Miller Motorsports Park offered Pirelli important feedback for its work over the last few months with the new R302 rear tyre, developed from the reference SC1 compound as an alternative for use also under lower temperatures and to prevent cold tearing often encountered with the use of soft compounds in harsh conditions. The R302 solution was first used by SBK riders at the Imola test, followed by a successful first-race showing at Donington Park in mid-May receiving great appreciation from nearly all riders. For this reason Pirelli made available this tyre for the USA round which proved positive: in both R1 and R2 the R302 solution was preferred to the SC1 and SC2 reference tyres by 20 of 24 SBK riders on the grid, and as a demonstration of its excellent adaptability to the various motorcycle makes, four different manufacturers finished in the first 5 positions for both races. We leave the USA very satisfied with how this weekend unfolded both for how this new tyre performed as well as how it positively contributed to the two very equal and winning races." Pirelli BEST LAP Awards:SBK Race 1 - Marco Melandri (BMW Motorrad Motorsport) 1'48.867 (Lap 18)SBK Race 2 - Carlos Checa (Althea Racing) 1'48.820 (Lap 2)Total BEST LAP (SBK): Checa C. (Althea Racing) 4, Biaggi M. (Aprilia Racing Team) 3, Sykes T. (Kawasaki Racing Team) 2, Guintoli S. (Team Effenbert Liberty Racing) 1, Melandri M. (BMW Motorrad Motorsport) 1

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[WORLDSBK.COM]

It was a bittersweet day for Carlos Checa and the Althea Racing Team at Miller Motorsports Park in Salt Lake City, the Spaniard dominating race 1 and then crashing out of race 2.In sunny conditions, Checa started from second position on the grid. On the second lap he was passed by Melandri and shortly afterwards both were able to get past race leader Sykes. On lap seven the Althea flagbearer got ahead of Melandri to take control of the race, remaining at the front of the pack until the finish line. Checa managed his race perfectly, keeping Melandri safely behind him and passing the chequered flag 2.3 seconds ahead of the BMW rider.By lap two of race 2 Carlos was already in front, having passed both Melandri and Sykes. Unfortunately a red flag stopped the race on the next lap, after Aoyama crashed, leaving oil on the track. The race was restarted, with 18 laps to run, an hour later. This time Carlos was almost immediately in first position and on the second lap recorded the fastest lap of the race but, pushing to the limit, he unfortunately crashed out on the fifth lap when he lost the front. After a brief pitstop Carlos returned to the track but had lost too much ground; on lap thirteen his team called him back to the garage.Carlos Checa: "Race 1 - a great result, a great race, a great moment! I've always had a great relationship with this track and to win here again is just fantastic, especially after some difficult recent rounds. The race wasn't an easy one and Melandri pushed right until the end, I couldn't relax for a second! But I was feeling confident with the tyre that we had chosen and was able to make a great race. I had to work hard through the corners as we seemed to be losing a lot on the straights but I am very happy with the result, and happy for the entire team that has worked so hard this weekend. In this second race I was pushing, I was feeling confident with the setting but clearly I pushed a bit too hard and lost the front. I went back on track but there was nothing I could do, I'd lost too much ground."

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