Ducati's Other Runner

Well, Ducati may be struggling to catch up to the leaders in MotoGP, but not so in World SBK. Last year's champion, Carlos Checa on the Althea Racing Ducati is back at it again, topping the results on the last day of testing at Phillip Island with a time of 1'31.8", with Tom Sykes close behind at 1'31.9" on a factory Kawasaki. That's still a second behind Checa's fastest ever lap last year. There are eight riders within the first second, with six bikes clumped between 1'32" and 1'36". Looks like there could be some close racing in the lead groups at next week's Phillip Island season opener.

So things are looking a little better for Ducati in this series ... oh wait ... did I mention there are no Hondas or Yamahas in WSBK? I wonder if that has anything to do with it?

Eugene Laverty managed to crash on the last day of testing ... tank slapper coming out of turn one, which bumped his front brake pistons back into the calipers ... and ... yes, "I have no brakes!" going into turn one. He ran off track and landed hard on his hands and head, suffering a broken bone in his left hand and a sprained finger in his right. The report is that there's no significant head trauma ... but we'll see if he's drooling and staring vacantly into space on his 45th birthday. Anyway, he's expected to be fit enough to race next week. I hope the clutch is a light pull on the Aprilia.

Results
1. Carlos Checa (Ducati) 1'31.8"
2. Tom Sykes (Kawasaki) 1'31.9"
3. Leon Haslam (BMW) 1'32.2"
4. Max Biaggi (Aprilia) 1'32.3"
5. Joan Lascorz (Kawasaki) 1'32.4"
6. Jakub Smrz (Ducati) 1'32.4"
7. Eugene Laverty (Aprilia) 1'32.5"
8. Michel Fabrizio (BMW) 1'32.6"
9. Maxime Berger (Ducati) 1'32.9"
10. Leon Camier (Suzuki) 1'33.1"
11. Marco Melandri (BMW) 1'33.0"
12. David Giugliano (Ducati) 1'33.5"
13. Sylvain Guintoli (Ducati) 1'33.5"
14. Ayrton Badovini (BMW) 1'33.6"
15. David Johnson (BMW) 1'34.1"
16. Josh Brookes (Suzuki) 1'34.5"
17. Lorenzo Zanetti (Ducati) 1'34.7"
18. David Salom (Kawasaki) 1'34.9"
19. John Hopkins (Suzuki) DNS