2012 World Superbike results from Imola,

When the riders arrived in Italy for Round 2 of 14, the favorite became the Italian Max Biaggi aboard the Aprilia Racing Team RSV4. But the 2010 World Superbike Championship missed out on the podium in both 21-lap races. Both races were won by Biaggi's rival, the reigning World SBK Champion who split a win with Biaggi at the season opener in Phillip Island, Carlos Checa.

Following his double at Imola Sunday, the Spaniard Checa now has five wins at Imola, and gave Ducati an impressive 13 wins in 19 races at Imola since the track debuted on the WSBK schedule in 2001. This was sure to delight fans of Ducati considering Ducati Headquarters is just north of Imola in Bologna.

Joining Checa on the podium in both races was Kawasaki Racing's Tom Sykes and BMW Motorrad's Leon Haslam.

Imola World SBK Race 1.

Carlos Checa (Althea Racing Ducati) waited until half race distance to put a move on early leader Tom Sykes (Kawasaki Racing Team) but when he did he rode at lap record pace and took his second win of the year in some style. Sykes had his best every dry race performance on the Kawasaki in second place, with Leon Haslam (BMW Motorrad Motorsport) and Max Biaggi (Aprilia Racing) disputing the final podium place. It went to Haslam, by a second from his Italian rival.

Fifth was Eugene Laverty (Aprilia Racing) but just behind Marco Melandri (BMW Motorrad Motorsport) and Joan Lascorz (Kawasaki Racing Team) finally passed long-time fifth place runner, Lorenzo Zanetti (Pata Racing Team Ducati). Zanetti was a still-impressive eighth.

Lap Check: Starting from the pole, Sykes opened race one with the lead, holding it until lap 11. That's when Checa, who started from third on the grid, passed the Kawasaki ZX-10R.Over the next few laps, Checa showed the dominance of the 1198R, setting the fastest lap of the race (1:47.877) en-route to the win. When Checa crossed the finish line, Sykes would follow 3.206 seconds later, and Haslam 5.593 seconds later. Biaggi would finish fourth, with his teammate Eugene Laverty in fifth.

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Imola World SBK Race 2.

Carlos Checa (Althea Racing Ducati) played a strong second card at Imola to take his first double win of 2012, ahead of Tom Sykes (Kawasaki Racing Team) and the hard charging Leon Haslam (BMW Motorrad Motorsport). Sykes set a new lap record of 1 minute 47.552 seconds to try and escape Checa.

Max Biaggi (Aprilia Racing) was fourth again, making the quartet of top finishers the same as in race one. Fifth this time around was Jonathan Rea (Honda World Superbike Team) who did well to survive a trip across the gravel after tangling with sixth placed Eugene Laverty (Aprilia Racing). Jakub Smrz (Liberty Racing Team Effenbert) was a very close seventh. Leon Camier (Crescent Fixi Suzuki) rode to eighth place.

In the points' standings, after four races, Checa has 75, Biaggi 71, Sykes 69, Haslam 47 and Melandri (tenth on race two) 46.

Lap Check: Race 2 was very similar with Sykes taking the early lead, setting the fastest lap that became the new lap record at Imola - a 1:47.552.But on lap seven, Biaggi was making his way to the front. He first encountered a battle with Biaggi, and then Haslam.On lap 14, Checa got pass Sykes, and took control of the race, eventually winning 1.935 second ahead of Sykes, and 2.969 seconds ahead of Haslam. Biaggi would again finish fourth, with Honda World Superbike's Jonathan Rea in fifth.

The 2012 World Superbike Championship now breaks for two weeks before heading to Assen April 20-22.

2012 Imola World Superbike: Race 1 Results:

1. Carlos Checa ESP Althea Ducati 1198R +21 laps
2. Tom Sykes GBR Kawasaki Racing ZX-10R +3.206s
3. Leon Haslam GBR BMW Motorrad S1000RR +5.593s
4. Max Biaggi ITA Aprilia Racing RSV-4 +6.519s
5. Eugene Laverty IRL Aprilia Racing RSV-4 +24.662s
6. Marco Melandri ITA BMW Motorrad S1000RR +27.261s
7. Joan Lascorz ESP Kawasaki Racing ZX-10R +27.384s
8. Lorenzo Zanetti ITA PATA Ducati 1198R +28.299s
9. Jonathan Rea GBR Honda WSBK CBR1000RR +34.067s
10. Niccolo Canepa ITA Red Devils Ducati 1198R +35.724s
11. Jakub Smrz CZE Liberty Effenbert Ducati 1198R +36.738s
12. Maxime Berger FRA Effenbert Liberty Ducati 1198R +37.257s
13. John Hopkins USA Crescent Fixi Suzuki GSX-R1000 +50.418s
14. Leandro Mercado ARG Pedercini Kawasaki ZX-10R +53.623s
15. Ayrton Badovini ITA BMW Italia Goldbet S1000RR +53.842s
16. Brett McCormick CAN Liberty Effenbert Ducati 1198R +54.139s
17. Mark Aitchison AUS Grillini Progea BMW S1000RR +57.944s
18. Hiroshi Aoyama JPN Honda WSBK CBR1000RR +1m 06.233s
19. David Salom ESP Pedercini Kawasaki ZX-10R +5 laps
RT. Michel Fabrizio ITA BMW Italia Goldbet S1000RR 8 laps completed
RT. Davide Giugliano ITA Althea Ducati 1098R 8 laps completed
RT. Sylvain Guintoli FRA Effenbert Liberty Ducati 1198R 1 lap completed
RT. Chaz Davies GBR ParkinGO MTC Aprilia RSV-4 1 lap completed
RT. Lorenzo Alfonsi ITA Pro Ride Honda CBR1000RR 0 laps completed
RT. Leon Camier GBR Crescent Fixi Suzuki GSX-R1000 0 laps completed

2012 Imola World Superbike: Race 2 Results:

1. Carlos Checa (Althea Racing) Ducati 1198R 37'57.571
2. Tom Sykes (Kawasaki Racing Team) Kawasaki ZX-10R 37'59.506
3. Leon Haslam (BMW Motorrad Motorsport) BMW S1000 RR 38'00.540
4. Max Biaggi (Aprilia Racing Team) Aprilia RSV4 Factory 38'00.917
5. Jonathan Rea (Honda World Superbike Team) Honda CBR1000RR 38'16.496
6. Eugene Laverty (Aprilia Racing Team) Aprilia RSV4 Factory 38'18.751
7. Jakub Smrz (Liberty Racing Team Effenbert) Ducati 1198R 38'18.963
8. Leon Camier (Crescent Fixi Suzuki) Suzuki GSX-R1000 38'21.368
9. Joan Lascorz (Kawasaki Racing Team) Kawasaki ZX-10R 38'21.790
10. Marco Melandri (BMW Motorrad Motorsport) BMW S1000 RR 38'23.170
11. Sylvain Guintoli (Team Effenbert Liberty Racing) Ducati 1198R 38'23.347
12. Maxime Berger (Team Effenbert Liberty Racing) Ducati 1198R 38'23.575
13. Lorenzo Zanetti (PATA Racing Team) Ducati 1098R 38'28.743
14. Chaz Davies (ParkinGO MTC Racing) Aprilia RSV4 Factory 38'31.408
15. Ayrton Badovini (BMW Motorrad Italia GoldBet) BMW S1000 RR 38'43.112
16. Brett McCormick (Liberty Racing Team Effenbert) Ducati 1198R 38'48.378
17. David Salom (Team Pedercini) Kawasaki ZX-10R 38'48.654
18. Mark Aitchison (Grillini Progea Superbike Team) BMW S1000 RR 38'55.404
RT. Davide Giugliano (Althea Racing) Ducati 1198R 36'27.638
RT. Niccolò Canepa (Red Devils Roma) Ducati 1198R 30'58.155
RT. Leandro Mercado (Team Pedercini) Kawasaki ZX-10R 26'02.047
RT. Hiroshi Aoyama (Honda World Superbike Team) Honda CBR1000RR 22'12.494
RT. Lorenzo Alfonsi (Team Pro Ride Real Game Honda) Honda CBR1000RR 15'22.988
RT. John Hopkins (Crescent Fixi Suzuki) Suzuki GSX-R1000 7'27.009
RT. Michel Fabrizio (BMW Motorrad Italia GoldBet) BMW S1000 RR 

2012 World Superbike Point Standings (After two of 14 rounds):

1. Carlos Checa, Ducati, 75 points
2. Max Biaggi, Aprilia, 71
3. Tom Sykes, Kawasaki, 69
4. Leon Haslam, BMW, 47
5. Marco Melandri, BMW, 46
6. Jonathan Rea, Honda, 40
7. Jakub Smrz, Ducati, 30
8. Eugene Laverty, Aprilia, 29
9. Sylvain Guintoli, Ducati, 21
10. Maxime Berger, Ducati, 20
11. Lorenzo Zanetti, Ducati, 18
12. Joan Lascorz, Kawasaki, 17
13. Hiroshi Aoyama, Honda, 15
14. Leon Camier, Suzuki, 12
15. Niccolò Canepa, Ducati, 12
16. Michel Fabrizio, BMW, 10
17. Davide Giugliano, Ducati, 10
18. Bryan Staring, Kawasaki, 6
19. John Hopkins, Suzuki, 3
20. Chaz Davies, Aprilia, 2
21. Leandro Mercado, Kawasaki, 2
22. David Salom, Kawasaki, 2
23. Ayrton Badovini, BMW, 2
24. Joshua Brookes, Suzuki, 1

Copy and photos courtesy of worldskk.com