Misano Adriatico,  Spanish rider Carlos Checa’s race one  podium at the Misano round of the WSBK series cancelled bad memories of Miller, and gave his Althea Racing Team a positive outlook for the rest of the series. Checa’s two good races confirming his status and that of the Italian team’s Ducati 1198 as consistent threats  to match or beat the factory teams.

In the first race Checa battled Max Biaggi and Troy Corser, taking a well deserved second place finish. In race two he kept pace with the frontrunners in the first laps, before losing some ground; finding himself in sixth position, he continued to lap at a similar pace to the leaders.

“I’m happy with the podium of course”, said Carlos, “and incredibly I was the youngest on it! After America we needed a race like this, that one of my technicians felt was the longest race of the season.

“Race 2 was great but I didn’t obtain the same result unfortunately. Crutchlow and Haslam had better grip than me and when Biaggi escaped I lost contact with them. I found it a bit difficult to keep pace with the four cylinders on the straights but the weekend was positive, seeing as I’m back in third position overall.”

Satisfaction also for Shane Byrne who closed race 1 in ninth position, ahead of Toseland, and race 2 in seventh, in front of Scassa (a long time rival of the English rider), proof that his determination is not waning.

Genesio Bevilacqua, General Manager of Althea Racing said  ”race 1 was hard fought. Ahead of us were some very consistent riders on high performance bikes. In Race 1 Carlos made the most of the Ducati’s potential. Byrne showed us that he’s back on form but he can undoubtedly improve further. In race 2 Carlos started well, as he did in the first race. He had a moment of hesitation and then, when he pushed, he was ruffled by Michel’s pass. His lap times were fast but to get past riders of this caliber on this particular track is difficult.

Shane continued to ride with determination, obtaining a better result in race 2 than in race 1. All in all it’s been a positive weekend and I’d like to thank the entire team for the great work carried out here.”

Race 1: 1. M.Biaggi (Aprilia) 38’59″319 – 2. C. Checa (Ducati) + 0.387 – 3. T. Corser (BMW) + 0.822 – 4. M. Fabrizio (Ducati) + 4.911 – 5. S. Guintoli (Suzuki) + 5.916 – …9. S. Byrne (Ducati) +  16.490.

Race 2: 1. M.Biaggi (Aprilia) 38’59″319 – 2. L. Haslam (Suzuki) + 4.095 – 3. M. Fabrizio (Ducati) + 4.631 – 4. C. Crutclow (Yamaha) + 5.014 – 5. C. Checa (Ducati) + 6.256 – 6. S. Guntoli (Suzuki) + 7.677 – 7. S. Byrne (Ducati) + 10.144.