With racing at Miller Motorsport circuit taking place in the early evening (European time) race watchers had to wait until later in the day to follow Superpole and the two races live but, in the end, it was well worth it.
In Superpole, the certainty of Checa’s second place on the grid (X-lite X-802) contrasted with the anxiety felt by Melandri (Nolan X-802) who only managed 9th, and the atmosphere was emotionally charged before the race commenced. Once started, it was heads-up between Carlos and Marco to the chequered flag and Checa prevailed, keeping his concentration and not allowing Melandri to recover the gap between them which was down to a few tenths of a second. Carlos went on to take the win in Race 1 ahead of Melandri with Fabrizio 9th, Camier 13th and Badovini 14th.
In Race 2, after the action was suspended and the race restarted, it looked like the victory could be Checa’s again as he took the lead on the second lap and recorded the fastest lap of the race, but whilst pushing to the limit on lap 6, he unfortunately lost the front and crashed out. A furious battle for the victory then took place between several riders but it was Marco Melandri who took the win with a masterpiece of tactics and determination achieving the second victory on his BMW S 1000 RR. Race 2 also saw Camier finish 11th, Fabrizio 12th and Badovini 13th.
Melandri is now second in the overall standings and Checa fifth. The next race takes place at Misano on June 10.
Marco Melandri:
"It is amazing. My team and BMW did an awesome job. Here in Miller it was my worst weekend last year, and it was the worst for BMW, too. So going home with two podiums, a win and a second place, is like a dream. In race one, I was pushing like in qualifying from the first lap until the end. The tyre was working very well until the end. Yesterday we were struggling a bit too much, but today fortunately the weather was better for us. And I was feeling even more comfortable on the bike with less fuel in the tank. I tried to make the life not easy to Carlos, but in some corners, I could not go his line with the four cylinder bike. I tried to catch him, but on the last lap I tried not to push too much because it was easy to make a mistake, and a second place and the podium was good after such a tough qualifying.
In race two, for sure I had a little bit of luck in this race with Carlo crashing. I was struggling a little bit in the beginning, and when Johnny passed me I lost the concentration. It took me some time to catch him. But again, when the fuel dropped down I felt so much better on the bike and fortunately I could pass Johnny on the straight because my engine was so strong. Otherwise it would have been very difficult for me to try to make a pass. I am happy because the bike is working well on different types of tracks. But now we have to be focused, we cannot think that we are going to be on the top every Sunday so we have to keep working. But my team made a great job, thanks to everyone, to all the guys back in Germany. I am so happy and proud to be with BMW. This is the best team I ever worked with."
Carlos Checa:
"Race 1 - a great result, a great race, a great moment! I’ve always had a great relationship with this track and to win here again is just fantastic, especially after some difficult recent rounds. The race wasn’t an easy one and Melandri pushed right until the end, I couldn’t relax for a second! But I was feeling confident with the tyre that we had chosen and was able to make a great race. I had to work hard through the corners as we seemed to be losing a lot on the straights but I am very happy with the result, and happy for the entire team that has worked so hard this weekend. In this second race I was pushing, I was feeling confident with the setting but clearly I pushed a bit too hard and lost the front. I went back on track but there was nothing I could do, I’d lost too much ground."
