FIM World Superbike Championship Series
Round 12: Vallelunga, Italy
September 21, 2008

HANNspree Ten Kate CBR1000RR rider Carlos Checa was the top-scoring Honda Superbike rider at this weekend’s World Superbike round at the Vallelunga track in Italy. Checa had a pair of identical finishes, placing fifth in both races. Checa’s teammate, Ryuichi Kiyonari, meanwhile had a more frustrating weekend. Recently, Kiyonari has been something of an internet star, with videos of his amazing wet-weather riding at Donington Park two weeks ago being passed around the ’Net. At Vallelunga, however, “Kiyo” had a tougher time, with a DNF in race one and a 13th in race two.

HANNspree Ten Kate’s third rider and former Supersport Champion Kenan Sofuoglu crashed out of both Superbike races, while Roberto Rolfo clinched eighth and tenth place finishes in the weekend’s two races.

In Race One, Checa got a decent start (ninth, moved up fast, and by lap four was in fourth—just a spot off the podium. Breaking into the top three proved tougher, though, but Checa rode a strong race, holding fourth for more than three-quarters of the event. On lap 23 (out of 24), he surrendered his spot to Max Neukirchner.

In Race Two, Checa again got a mediocre start, completing the first lap in thirteenth. This time he moved up even faster, though, gaining a position every lap or so until he moved into sixth on lap nine. When Troy Bayliss crashed on the final lap, Checa moved into fifth.

Carlos Checa: “Starting from 12th place on the grid was always going to be difficult so I guess that two fifth places will have to do, but of course I am disappointed. I had bad arm pump in race one and luckily I got a pretty bad start in race two. I just saw this huge mess in front of me which turned out to be Biaggi and Kenan. I was convinced the race would be red flagged, so I shut off the gas, along with a few other riders. When they didn’t flag it, I had to try even harder to pass some riders, but the gap was just too big.”

Ryuichi Kiyonari: “I am very disappointed. I don’t know what happened in race one, just that it was my mistake. We changed tires for race two and on the warm-up lap I knew the bike was much better. Then Biaggi had a big crash that almost took me out – I was completely sideways and had to brake very hard. After that, I tried to push, but pushed too hard and crashed again. You do not want to hear what I was saying in my helmet. When I got back on the bike, it still felt good and I was able to do some good lap times.”

Kenan Sofuoglu: “The first crash was my mistake and I was very sorry because the bike was good in warm-up and I was looking forward to the races. In race two, I just felt a bump and then I was flying. The shoulder I damaged at Donington is sore, and my back will hurt tomorrow, but otherwise I’m okay.”

FIM World Superbike - Vallelunga, Italy - Race One

1. Noriyuki Haga (Yam)
2. Max Biaggi (Duc)
3. Troy Corser (Yam)
4. Max Neukirchner (Suz)
5. Carlos Checa (Honda)
6. Troy Bayliss (Duc)
7. Michel Fabrizio (Duc)
8. Roberto Rolfo (Honda)
9. Yukio Kagayama (Suz)
10. Shinichi Nakatomi (Yam)

FIM World Superbike - Vallelunga, Italy - Race Two  

1. Noriyuki Haga (Yam)
2. Michel Fabrizio (Duc)
3. Troy Corser (Yam)
4. Max Neukirchner (Suz)
5. Carlos Checa (Honda)
6. Fonsi Nieto (Suz)
7. Yukio Kagayama (Suz)
8. Shinichi Nakatomi (Yam)
9. Regis Laconi (Kaw)
10. Roberto Rolfo (Honda)

FIM World Superbike Championship Standings  

1. Troy Bayliss (Duc) 369
2. Troy Corser (Yam) 290
3. Noriyuki Haga (Yam) 280
4. Max Neukirchner (Suz) 280
5. Carlos Checa (Honda) 262
6. Max Biaggi (Duc) 212
7. Fonsi Nieto (Suz) 206
8. Michel Fabrizio (Duc) 201
9. Ryuichi Kiyonari (Honda) 193
10. Ruben Xaus (Duc) 160