Checa Edges Head-to-Head Battle with Biaggi

Carlos Checa extended his lead at the top of the World Superbike standings after a stunning late move to deny Max Biaggi at Assen.

Race Two turned out to a race-long duel between the reigning World Champion and the current points leader Checa who prevailed by just 0.524 seconds.

It was Noriyuki Haga who made the break at the start this time as he catapulted his Aprilia from the outside of the front row into the lead.

His time at the front was short lived however as first Checa and then Biaggi moved past him on lap three. By the end of the fourth lap he had been demoted to sixth with a four man group forming at the head of the field featuring Checa, Biaggi, Jonathan Rea and Marco Melandri.

After his race one troubles, Leon Haslam was enjoying a stronger race second time out. The BMW Motorrad rider was the next to overtake Haga but the major threat was coming from the second Alitalia Aprilia of Leon Camier.

After making light work of Eugene Laverty and the ailing Haga, the Ashford rider surged up to the back of Haslam, before taking fifth on lap eight.

Back at the front, the top two continued to run nose-to-tail with Rea and Melandri making it a four way tussle for the lead. That figure was reduced to three with six laps to go as Melandri made a costly error, sliding the Yamaha YZF R1 into the gravel trap.

With Rea seemingly settling for third, the stage was set for the two championship favourites to slug it out for victory. The Championship leader was the first to blink as the pair came through the final chicane to complete lap 19.

The Spaniard seemed to outbrake himself, allowing Biaggi to breeze past him on the start/finish straight. It appeared the choice to run on the softer tyre had caught up with Checa but he showed World Championship credentials to force his way up the inside of Biaggi at the same spot on the penultimate lap.

With Biaggi wrong-footed, Checa had the advantage he needed to safely negotiate the final lap to take his fourth win from six races in 2011.

Rea completed an exceptional weekend with another podium finish in third, with Leon Camier taking a lonely fourth. Haslam headed a six bike group to claim sixth with Michel Fabrizio overcoming Haga for seventh. The Team Effenbert-Liberty Racing duo avoided each other this time to complete the top ten, with Smrz finishing half a bike-length ahead of Guintoli.

Race Result: 22 Laps:

Riders Championship: After Round 3 (Netherlands)