Melandri Over Biaggi and Checa in Race One
Cycle News Staff | July 10, 2011
Yamaha’s Marco Melandri came out on top of a three-way battle with Aprilia Alitalia’s Max Biaggi and Althea Racing’s Carlo Checa (Duc) to win the opening race of the day at the Brno circuit in the Czech Republic.Biaggi and Melandri got away fast, while Checa started slowly and took half the 20-lap race before joining the fight.Over the final 10 laps the trio was rarely separated by more than half a second, with Melandri in the lead on every lap except the 17th, when Biaggi slipped by. His lead was short-lived, however, with Melandri taking it back on the next lap and holding it to the end.
The margin of victory was .241 sec. with Checa third at .436 sec.The win was Melandri’s second in three races, but it didn’t have much of an effect on the championship. Checa continues to lead with 277 to 238 for Biaggi, with Melandri third at 220 ahead of this afternoon’s second race and the five remaining rounds.Team Suzuki Alstare’s Michel Fabrizio threatened to be part of the battle before dropping back to a solitary fourth.Yamaha’s Eugene Laverty was fifth, with BMW Motorrad Italia’s Ayrton Badovini again the first BMW in sixth.Biaggi’s teammate Leon Camier was seventh in front of fellow Brit Leon Haslam of the BMW Motorrad team.Then came a pair of Kawasakis, Joan Lascorz and Tom Sykes.Race One:1. Marco Melandri (Yamaha)
2. Max Biaggi (Aprilia)
3. Carlos Checa (Ducati)
4. Michel Fabrizio (Suzuki)
5. Eugene Laverty (Yamaha)
6. Ayrton Badovini (BMW)
7. Leon Camier (Aprilia)
8. Leon Haslam (BMW)
9. Joan Lascorz (Kawasaki)
10. Tom Sykes (Kawasaki)
