Before leaving for Germany’s Nurburgring circuit and the 10th round of the 2011 World Superbike
Championship, Team Althea Racing’s Carlos Checa took time to visit the Ducati factory in Borgo Panigale,
Bologna and celebrate with the management and technicians of the famous Italian manufacturer.
Passing the historic milestone of 300 World Superbike race victories for Ducati was an honour taken by
Checa onboard his Ducati 1198 in race one of the Silverstone round of the series in July, a victory that he
dedicated to Ducati by autographing the celebratory graphic that currently welcomes visitors to the main
reception area of the Bologna factory. Ducati management officially thanked Checa for his incredible
achievements so far this season before celebrations continued with the staff of Ducati Corse in the race
department of the company.
The landmark 300th victory for Ducati represented the 9th race win for Checa in 2011, but victory also in race
two at Silverstone that same day brought his year’s total wins to 10, further strengthening his lead for the
Riders’ title and Ducati’s for the Manufacturers’ title. The impressive performance underlined the Spaniard’s
incredible form this year, the professionalism of Team Althea Racing and the continued competiveness of
the Borgo Panigale built twin-cylinder motorcycle.
Ducati’s historic 300 race wins in the World Superbike Championship started with victory for Marco
Lucchinelli in the first ever World Superbike race at Donington Park, England in 1988 and continued as 25
more Ducati-mounted riders wrote themselves into the pages of motorcycle racing history. Legendary riders
such as the incredible Carl Fogarty, Doug Polen, Raymond Roche, Troy Corser, Giancarlo Falappa, Neil
Hodgson, Piefrancesco Chili, Ben Bostrom, James Toseland, Noriyuki Haga, Troy Bayliss and many others
up until the current World Championship leader, Carlos Checa. The victories have generated a total of 155
Ducati pole positions, 753 podiums, 13 Rider’s and 16 Manufacturers’ World Championship titles.
Carlos Checa and Team Althea Racing now enter the German round this weekend with a confident 62 point
lead over Max Biaggi for the World Championship, while Ducati currently lead the race for the
Manufacturers’ title by 35 points.
