News

RACES

• Carlos Checa takes his win total to fifteen in his 100th race, race 2, one less than Toseland and Biaggi and the total for Ducati to 301, the first manufacturer to reach this goal. Checa had already notched up two previous milestones: in 2008 he took his maiden win at Miller, the 100th for Honda;

• Carlos scored his tenth win this season, the same number scored by Biaggi last year on his road to the title. With eight races to go, the Spaniard is still on course to beat the outright season record of Doug Polen (17 wins);

• Marco Melandri reached and passed the 10-podiums mark (11) after only eighteen races run. The Italian is currently in a streak of six podium finishes. In the rookie standings he is already in third spot for podiums scored in a rookie season, behind the 17 posted by Biaggi in 2007 and Ben Spies in 2009 and the 12 scored by John Kocinski in 1996;

• Joan Lascorz had to retire with mechanical failure for the first time in ten straight races, eight of them inside the top-10;

• double retirement for Noriyuki Haga for the first time since Assen 2006. Also for the first time in his career he didn't score points at Silverstone;

• on his comeback James Toseland was able to score points in both races for the first time in exactly one year;

• with the points scored in Silverstone, Leon Haslam became the 21st rider to have scored at least 1000 points (1012). Troy Corser is looking for a major milestone in this chart as he can become the first rider to have scored 4000 points: after Silverstone his total is 3996.5;

• best career result for Maxime Berger, eighth in race one;

• it's a record-breaking season for Yamaha in Supersport: after one year in which they didn't score any poles or wins, this year they have already won six times, equalling their season best, scored in 1999, 2001 and 2009;

• in the Superstock 1000 championship Danilo Petrucci scored his maiden win in style, recording a hat-trick (pole, win, fastest lap). This win came after his three straight poles had ended in two podiums and a retirement;

• a magical year for Ducati in Superstock 1000: last year they were unable to score any poles, wins or fastest laps, while in 2011, just after the mid-season point, they have virtually equalled their season records: four wins (record 2009, five), five poles (2009 record equalled), and four fastest laps (record 2003, five). With its tenth season podium the Borgo Panigale manufacturer has already equalled its season best, 2009;

• maiden win in Superstock 600 for Joshua Day and maiden pole for Michael van der Mark. A Kawasaki hasn't won in this class since the 2006 Imola race and Joshua is the first American rider to win in Superstock 600.

QUALIFYING

• an amazing performance by John Hopkins: the American wild-card scoring his maiden pole in his ninth World Superbike race. In his 2009 season he wasn't able to qualify inside the top-10. This is the first time since the 2006 Silverstone race that a wild-card has secured pole: at the time Tommy Hill started from pole in his first World Superbike race. Suzuki didn't record a pole since the opening round of last season at Phillip Island, when Leon Haslam qualified in first place;

• Eugene Laverty equalled his best career grid spot, second, obtained for the first time at Monza;

• also Leon Camier equalled his career-best of third (Motorland Aragon);

• Carlos Checa extended his qualifying streak: he is on his fifth straight front row start;

• after seventeen straight weekends, Max Biaggi failed to qualify in the top 10: this sequence began last year at Monza.