WORLD SUPERBIKES ROUND 1.

Twenty one years of action was reason enough to celebrate, but Carlos Checa had more reason to party than most. Top time in Superpole and a pair of race wins made the start of the 2011 championship a dream one for the Spaniard.

The celebrations had started a week early for Checa, who topped the timesheets in pre-season testing, which was also held at Phillip Island. Checa's 1:30.578 on the Althea Racing Ducati 1098R not only beat the lap record previously held by Troy Corser, but also the best ever Phillip Island World Superbike lap by nearly half a second.

Come race weekend, the near-perfect conditions at Phillip Island continued, with Saturday qualifying and Superpole held in glorious sunshine. However, come race day, morning rain threatened to put a damper on the Island's 21st SBK Anniversary. Fortunately, the weather gods relented, with all the Superbike and Supersport races held in dry conditions.

Alongside BMW Motorrad's Troy Corser, the local contingent for this anniversary round was boosted by the inclusion of Josh Waters, Mark Aitchison and Bryan Staring, who had all scored wildcard or fill-in rides. Chris Vermeulen's knee injury, suffered at last year's Phillip Island SBK round, forced him to reluctantly sit out his home round. Of the local wildcards, Waters, the 2009 Aussie Superbike champion, drew the most attention following impressive testing times on the Yoshimura Suzuki GSX-R1000. With Wayne Gardner, Shawn Giles and Fujio Yoshimura (son of the legendary Hideo 'Pops' Yoshimura) in his garage throughout the race weekend, Waters wasn't short of support or advice for his debut World Superbike ride!

QUALIFYING & SUPERPOLE
Checa backed up his pre-season performance with the top time in Superpole, but only 0.013 seconds ahead of last year's World Superbike champion, Max Biaggi, on the Aprilia Alitalia RSV4. Arguably the surprise of Superpole was Sylvain Guintoli, who put the Effenbert-Liberty Racing Ducati 1098R into third place. Completing the front row was Leon Haslam on the BMW Motorrad Motorsport S 1000RR. Corser was the only local rider to make the final Superpole 3 session, recording the seventh-fastest time. World Superbike newcomer, Marco Melandri, completed the Superpole top 8 on the factory Yamaha YZF R1.

In World Supersport qualifying, David Salom secured pole on the Kawasaki Motorcard.com ZX-6R. Close behind was Fabien Foret on the Hanspree Ten Kate Honda CBR 600RR. Salom's team mate, Broc Parkes, was the quickest Aussie in fourth place, while Mitch Pirotta, the only other local Supersport rider, qualified in 22nd position on the Kuja Racing Honda CBR 600RR.

WORLD SUPERBIKE - Race 1
Race 1 started with a bolt from Biaggi, but a wide line into Doohan Corner allowed both Checa and Eugene Laverty (Yamaha World Superbike YZF R1) through. Guintoli undid his good qualifying work, dropping from third to 18th by the end of the opening lap. Laverty held the lead for the opening two laps before Checa made his move. Two laps later, Waters and James Toseland (BMW Motorrad Italia SBK S1000 RR) came together and ran off at turn 4. Both managed to rejoin the race, albeit at the back of the field. Guintoli's weekend went from bad to worse when he crashed heavily at Turn 12 on lap 7. Badly bruised down his right side, the Frenchman's weekend was over. By mid-race distance, Checa had opened up a 4+ second gap on Biaggi, a lead he would hold, on and off, to the chequered flag. Despite a blazing top speed of 320kph from the RSV4, Biaggi couldn't close the gap on Checa, who had the edge in corner speed. Castrol Honda's Jonathan Rea, who had been battered by a series of crashes in testing and practise, was running as high as fifth before he ran off the circuit on lap 14, rejoining well down the field. Joan Lascorz (Kawasaki Racing team ZX-10R) crashed out at Lukey Heights on the same lap. At the chequered flag, Checa recorded a comfortable 4.36 second victory over Biaggi, despite a last lap lunge from the Italian. Melandri had passed Haslam for third at mid-race distance, but Haslam fought back on lap 18 to take and hold the final podium place. Melandri dropped back a further place when Laverty slipstreamed past him over the line to take fourth. Of the Aussies, Corser was the best finisher in tenth. Staring was next best in 15th, followed by Waters and Aitchison in 18th and 19th respectively.

WORLD SUPERSPORT
With a swag of new riders, bikes and teams, the World Supersport opener promised a lot and didn't fail to deliver! Arguably the race of the weekend, the battle for the Supersport win went right down to the wire, with Broc Parkes in the mix right to the end.

Parkes was the early leader, before Chaz Davies (Yamaha ParkinGO YZF R6) and Supersport rookie, Sam Lowes (Parkalgar Honda CBR 600RR), made their move. Unfortunately for Mitch Pirotta, his debut Supersport ride ended after one lap with a burnt out clutch. A loose brake reservoir, which was flapping around on top of his throttle hand, broke Parkes's concentration and he dropped as low as sixth while trying to deal with it. Fortunately, the Aussie was able to tuck it out of the way in the fairing and make a renewed charge for the lead.

On lap 6, Salom had taken the lead from Lowes, while another Supersport debutante, Luca Scassa (Yamaha ParkinGO YZF R6), had climbed to third place by lap 9. By the middle of the race, Szkopek, Praia and Gino Rea had joined Pirotta on the retirement list, followed soon after by Foret and Roccoli. With Davies and Salom dropping back through the pack, the race turned into a three way battle between Parkes, Lowes and Scassa. The Italian led the way, but Lowes managed to pass for the lead midway through the final lap. Coming out of the last turn, Lowes was in front, but both Scassa and Parkes were able to slipstream past the young Brit to take first and second respectively. Scassa's 0.009 second winning margin was one of the narrowest ever Supersport victories. Despite losing the race at the last gasp, Lowes was still happy with a podium in his World Supersport debut, while Parkes commented that, if this race is any indication, the 2011 season is definitely 'on'!

Tyres were the talk of the meet, with rubber troubles ending the race for Salom, Foret and Davies. Salom lost front grip, Foret suffered a badly-blistered rear tyre, while Davies, who was running as high as third, had a deflating rear tyre that ended his race one lap from the finish.

WORLD SUPERBIKE - Race 2
Checa picked where he left off at the end of the first race to lead the field by the end of the first lap. Corser was running in third place for the opening few laps, while a poor start from Biaggi saw him drop back to eighth. Haslam managed to snatch the lead briefly from Checa on lap 2, but the Spanish veteran proved too strong, holding off first Haslam, then Melandri and Biaggi. By mid-race distance, Biaggi had made his way into second place and was closing, but never seemed to be close enough to attempt a passing move. After a number of retirements and crashes in the first race, the second stanza was more settled. Corser undid his early form by running off at turn 4, while fellow Superbike veteran, Noriyuki Haga (PATA Racing Team Aprilia RSV4) improved on his race one form by moving up to fourth on lap 10. By lap 16, Haslam, Michel Fabrizio (Suzuki Alstare GSX-R1000) and Rea had all caught and passed Haga. Further ahead, Melandri and Biaggi traded places in the final laps, but Biaggi prevailed to make it two runner-up finishes from two starts behind the dominant Checa. Rea's performance was arguably the highlight of race two, as the battered and exhausted Brit fought his way to fourth, finishing just ahead of Haslam at the chequered flag.
"It has just been the perfect week, from the beginning of testing last Monday and Tuesday until today," Checa said after the race. "I've had a strong pace the whole time, but you just never know what's going to happen until the real action begins.
"Certainly, it may have been a bit boring for the spectators to see me out front by myself, but it was the best strategy to put in place and the 50 points is just brilliant."

Of the local wildcards, Waters had a more solid race second time round, running as high as twelfth. The performance has already secured him another wildcard ride with Yoshimura Suzuki later in the season. Aitchison and Staring, both on Team Pedercini ZX-10Rs, finished in 16th and 17th respectively. Forced by tyre problems to slow right down, Corser finished last.

The relatively low crowd of 63,200 for the weekend was attributed to heavy rain and overcast conditions throughout Saturday night and into Sunday morning, although Friday and Saturday numbers were good, according to event organisers. Round 2 of the series will be held at Donington Park on March 27th, followed by round 3 at Assen on April 17th.