Carlos Checa took his Althea Racing Ducati 1198 to a double podium on Sunday in the second round of the World Superbike Championship at Donington Park, with a third place in race one and a well calculated victory in race two strengthening his series lead. Jakub Smrz secured his first ever podium position with a career best second on his Team Effenbert, Liberty Racing Ducati 1198, extending the Manufacturers’ championship lead and underlining Ducati’s strategy of private team support.
Carlos Checa and his technicians changed their set-up to a softer tyre for the second race and with a higher track temperature made a great start, quickly passing Haslam (BMW) to take the lead and increasing the gap between him and the chasing pack. With the risk of the soft tyre choice becoming an issue during the final stages, Checa carefully controlled the race taking the chequered flag with a well-calculated 3.3 second advantage over Melandri (Yamaha). The early season results so far highlight Ducati’s continued commitment to their World Superbike strategy of supplying 1198 technical support to private teams while concentrating on the development of their Superbike product. The highly competitive series moves to the Dutch track of Assen on 17 April.