It's race two for the World Superbikes at Miller Motorsports Park.
Can Carlos Checa do the double? He's done it at Miller Motorsports Park before. Max Biaggi and Ben Spies are the other two riders who have won both races during the World Superbike race weekends at Miller Motorsports Park in the past, since 2008 when they started racing there.
The grid is the same as race one was. Jakub Smrz has pole. The bikes are on the warmup lap. In the break between races, Eugene Laverty put more weight on the bike and Chaz Davis worked on the transmission of his Aprilia. The race is ready to begin. At the start, Tom Sykes sweeps past Carlos Checa into the lead. But Marco Melandri also had a huge start! Max Biaggi is also up there. Davide Giugliano was another bike to get a good start. So did Johnny Rea. 21 laps scheduled. Sykes on the Kawasaki is ahead. Through The Attitudes for the first time. Eugene Laverty moves in behind Max Biaggi. One lap is complete.
Max Biaggi wants to get past Rea, but no. Davide Giugliano is in this fight, too. Melandri and Checa are second and third after running 1-2 in race one. Davide Giugliano has fifth place. He is team mate to Carlos Checa. Biaggi and Laverty are right together. Marco Melandri drafts by Checa starting another lap at 200 miles an hour. Wow! Checa slides past Sykes back into the lead. Can he win both races? Sykes slams the door on Melandri's BMW.
Marco Melandri and others are just hanging on to Checa. Melandri can't let Checa check out. Melandri is trying to pass Sykes. Johnny Rea almost ditched his bike as the front wheel washes out briefly. Jakub Smrz is fourth behind Tom Sykes. Tom Sykes is a huge fan of American muscle cars. Hiroshi Aoyama ditched his #4 Honda and used it up. Will this bring out a red flag? Yes. The race is stopped. Aoyama is OK. But, there's fluid on the track that needs to be cleaned up.
The race will resume and be reduced to eighteen laps. The oil is cleaned up. On the restart, Tom Sykes gets a big jump, but the BMW of Marco Melandri will take the lead. Max Biaggi has a good start but loses a spot. Checa battles Sykes. Chaz Davies had a good start. Biaggi slid way wide. He's losing places. Chaz Davies and Davide Giugliano are battling. Checa wants to do the same he did in race one, breaking away from the field. Biaggi is being led by his team mate, Eugene Laverty. They're wheel-to-wheel. Laverty holds on.
During the red flag, the bikes got fresh tires and crews made mechanical changes. Chaz Davies ran 196 miles an hour in the front straight speed trap. Sykes is holding up Davies right now. Davies passed Sykes and is going for it. Chaz Davies used to run in the AMA road racing classes. The American riders are still languishing in the back of the pack as they were in race one. Aprilia, BMW, Kawasaki, Ducati and Honda have won in World Superbike. Suzuki has not won yet.
Johnny Rea is battling Sykes. Davide Giugliano muscled past Max Biaggi. Giugliano is Checa's team mate. Rea passes Sykes under braking in the last corner. Carlos Checa goes down! He throws this race away! He won't get the double at Miller Motorsports Park! Max Biaggi will gain in a big way in terms of points. What on earth? He made a mistake, just like messing up on tire choice at Assen a few races ago. Max Biaggi is right on Tom Sykes now, but can't pass. Marco Melandri is ahead.
Carlos Checa ended up grinding the foot pegs off his bike. It was a racing incident. Johnny Rea and Chaz Davies want by Marco Melandri. Will Rea make contact with the BMW of Melandri like Donington Park? It's Melandri vs. Rea. Max Biaggi is coming, fast. Johnny Rea is five kilometers slower than the other bikes. Biaggi sets fast lap at 1:48.662. Carlos Checa is back on track on the Ducati. He might salvage points but he's two laps down. Johnny Rea wants by Melandri into The Attitudes.
The Honda doesn't quite have the top speed of the BMW. Melandri wants a second win. Rea wants a third. Thw BMW has the horsepower over the Honda. Max Biaggi is all over the place. The race is half over. Nine of eighteen laps complete. Melandri leads over Rea. Johnny Rea takes the lead with Chaz Davies going to second. Melandri and the BMW is now third. Chaz Davies won the Daytona 200 back in 2008. But, he's looking for win number one in World Superbike. Seven laps left.
Four riders will battle for this race win. Checa's streak at Miller Motorsports Park has come to an end. Biaggi has also won at this track before. Marco Melandri passes Chaz Davies. Rea is his next target. John Hopkins is 16th while Holden and Scott Turpin are 19th and 20th. They've had fraught races. Biaggi and Davies battle. Davies has a customer bike and Biaggi is on the factory Aprilia RSV. Just three laps to go. Marco Melandri is reeling in Johnny Rea. Rea, Melandri, and Biaggi have all run in the 1:49 lap time bracket.
Marco Melandri takes the lead. Rea must come back. He hgas to be bold. Can't quite do it. Melandri protects the line. It's a two man race. BMW vs. Honda. Can Melnadri win it? Rea is doing everything he can. Melandri wins it! Max Biaggi is on the podium in third.
#33 Marco Melandri ITA. BMW S1000 RR
The next race for World Superbike is another Italian round of the championship to be run at the Misano circuit in two weeks.
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