Misano - a look back at 2011
Superpole was run in the wet and Tom Sykes set pole in front of Carlos Checa, Jakub Smrz and Marco Melandri.
At the start of race one Sykes took the lead, but his pace was not so good and he soon became an obstacle to overcome to fight for the win. The first to pass him was his countryman Leon Haslam on the opening lap, before being in turn passed by Biaggi, who gained a small margin over his rivals: his strongest opponent, Checa, passed Sykes on the second lap, Haslam two laps later, but the advantage of Max seemed enough to keep Carlos at bay. Checa's pace however was faster than Biaggi's: the Spaniard caught the Italian on the eighth lap and took advantage of a mistake of the latter to take the lead. Biaggi was able to keep in touch at first, but after another couple of mistakes he allowed Checa to pull away.
Sykes made another good start in race two, followed by Haslam and Biaggi, which at the second turn was overtook by Checa. Sykes' lead lasted only a couple of laps, before being passed by Haslam at Quercia and then by Checa and Biaggi at Tramonto. The first three soon pulled away from the rest, while Sykes held up the other rivals: on the third lap Checa caught Haslam and passed him at Tramonto, two laps later and also Biaggi passed the Brit at Carro, setting up the same scenario of race one. The outcome was soon clear: in his first lap out on his own, Checa was able to stretch the leading group, recording the fastest race lap. Biaggi reacted and he also recorded the fastest race lap, on the fifth lap. The pair proceeded in formation until the tenth lap, when a double crash by Melandri and Camier on the first turn prompted a red flag. The new grid saw Checa on pole, then Biaggi and Haslam, for a fourteen laps race. At the restart Biaggi took the lead, while Haslam managed to slot in second, momentarily slowing down Checa, who was able to pass the Brit next time around, setting his sights on Biaggi. Like he did in race one, Checa didn't attack and waited for a mistake by Biaggi, which came on the seventh lap, when the Italian completely missed his braking point at Tramonto, ending up on the concrete run-off area, leaving Checa with a large lead, enough to take the double. Haga finished third, passing Ayrton Badovini before the last turn, denying the Italian his maiden career podium.
