2011 Hannspree World SuperBike Championship Round 13, Portimao, Portugal, Oct 16th Race Report

  YAMAHA BOW OUT OF CHAMPIONSHIP WITH A 1-2 IN PORTUGAL

Infront of a crowd of over 54,000 race fans the final round of the 2011 World Superbike Championship concluded at the underlating Portimao circuit in Portugal. Already having wrapped up the title at the previous round in France, Carlos Checa (Althea Ducati) took his 15th win of the season in race one while the Yamaha WSBK team bowed out of the championship with riders Marco Melandri and Eugene Laverty taking first and second in the final race of the year.

Race One. Newly crowned champion Carlos Checa took his time to catch and pass long time race leader Sylvain Guintoli (Effenbert-liberty Ducati), but he was able to make his move on the last lap to take his 15th win of the season. Pole position starter Johnathan Rea (Castrol Honda overcame a bad start to finish in third, but the ride of the day went to former world champion Max Biaggi (Aprilia Alitalia) who came from 17th on the grid to finish in fourth. Joan Lascorz (Kawasaki Racing) managed to hold off Marco Melandri (Yamaha WSBK) for a solid fifth, while Supersonic Ducati's Maxime Berger gave the team it's season's best result in seventh. Tom Sykes (Kawasaki Racing) yo-yoed back and fourth to eventually finish in eighth with fellow Brit Leon Haslam (BMW Motorrad) and Jakub Smrz (Effenbert-Liberty Ducati) completing the top ten.

Race Two. The Yamaha team exited the 2011 World Superbike Championship on the ultimate high after Marco Melandri and Eugene Laverty gave the manufacturer a fabulous 1-2 finish in it's final race. Castrol Honda's Johnathan Rea took another third with Carlos Checa concluding his outstanding season in fourth position. Sylvain Guintoli rode to a solid fifth to wrap up sixth place overall in the standings. Leon Camier, who came through to sixth in the race had the minor satifaction of beating team-mate Max Biaggi in a straight fight, the Italian finishing seventh. Rookie Joan Lascorz sealed his status as the top kawasaki rider in eighth place ahead of Ayrton Badovini (BMW Italia) and Maxime Berger (Supersonic Ducati) rounding out the top ten.

SUPERSPORT WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP

Chaz Davies (Yamaha ParkinGO) concluded his fantastic World Supersport title winning year in fine style with a sixth victory of the season at Portimao. Davis, who controlled the race was ease was able to back off on the final lap to cross the finish line four seconds clear of David Salom (Kawasaki Motocard.com) with a solid ride from James Ellison (Bogdanka PTR Honda) in third.