Checa Clinches Title With Magny Cours Double

Carlos Checa - Photo Credit: Pirelli

At the age of 38, Carlos Checa has become the new Superbike World Champion after scoring his fifth double victory of an incredible season. The Spaniard entered the weekend needing just three points to secure the title but proceeded to take his 13^th and 14^th race wins.

Eugene Laverty made the early running in race one, taking advantage from a nightmare start from polesitter Jonathan Rea, but once Checa had battled his way past second-placed Leon Camier on lap three, the Irishman was living on borrowed time.

Checa relentlessly chased down the Yamaha before finally diving up the inside into Chateaux d'Eau on lap ten, giving him a lead he would never relinquish. Marco Melandri, the only man with a mathematical chance of delaying the title celebrations, did his bit by storming through to second, overtaking Laverty and Leon Haslam with three laps to go.

Haslam took the final place on the podium while Camier beat Laverty to fourth after passing him on the penultimate lap. Sylvain Guintoli took sixth while Tom Sykes had a lonely ride to tenth. Jonathan Rea's race never recovered from the poor start but it eventually came to an end with a crash at the final chicane four laps in.

The Castrol Honda rider made a better start to race two and led the early stages from Laverty, Camier and Checa. Laverty grabbed the lead on lap seven after outdragging Rea on the exit of the Adelaide hairpin, making slight contact on the way past but he soon had Checa giving chase again after Rea's CBR1000RR hit mechanical problems.

Laverty held on until lap 14 before Checa repeated his race one move to take the lead. Melandri would follow him home in second again but left it until the final lap before forcing his way past his teammate. In doing so, the Italian also made sure of the runner-up spot in the championship.

Haslam finished just off the podium in fourth ahead of Guintoli and Haslam but Tom Sykes didn't make it into the points this time after retiring without completing a lap.

Riders Championship (After Round 12: Magny Cours)